I love this place, it is an amazing, self-indulgent paradise.
First visit (St Aldates)
Order: Just a cup of tea but it was a good one. Nice large cup.
Criticism: The serviettes could be softer.
Experience: Sat there for an hour because I forgot to put my clock back an hour and showed up for Christ Church brunch an hour early. Lovely. I sat in the window by myself, I felt no awkwardness at sitting alone. Very relaxed place. Staff very friendly. Wonderful place to sit and chill, watching St Aldates bustle go by and be cosy warm when it’s raining outside.
Second visit (Little Clarendon)
Order: Sesame bagel with ham and swiss, mad cow coffee (filter coffee with baileys ice cream)
Crit: due to generous sized coffee, felt a bit sick by towards the end of the cup – own fault for ordering such a thing I know! Not many tables, might struggle for seats at lunch time.
Experience: Confirmed my love of the place, especially noticing the flying cows on the wall above the door. I want them.
Good service, good bagel, bread was warm
Coffee surprisingly works despite seemingly weird concept of ice cream in coffee, it just melts and doesn’t cool the coffee down too much. Decided to have an ice cream float in ginger beer next time, followed by a cookie ice cream sandwich and to try ‘This’ and ‘That’ ice creams. The Oxford blue looks yummy, and they do ice cream drowned in espresso. Yes, just yes.
Third visit (St Aldates)
Order: Cookie monster (one chocolate cookie, one dime bar cookie sandwich with Oxford blue ice cream) and a filter coffee
Experience: Popular on a Sunday, not many seats but not long wait til a table became available. Good coffee, regular size is large enough never to ask for a ‘large’. Cookies good, especially the dime bar which tasted a bit like apple strudel. Cookies were warmed I think. The ice cream had a more cream flavour than blueberry and I would have liked it fruitier. Chocolate ice cream would have been the optimum combination with the cookies. The coke float looked great and confirms I will have a float next time. The helpings are huge, the one scoop is more like three scopes. The experience definitely improved my mood.
Fourth visit (Little Clarendon)
Can’t believe I haven’t been to Cowley Road G&D’s yet.
Order: Elderflower drink and a tuna cheese melt on cheese and jalapeño bagel. (I think, time lapse since visit, eek!)
Experience: evening visit, pretty popular. Found the lights a bit bright. Drink was too fizzy, I couldn’t drink more than half, but it comes in a nice glass bottle. Very subtle taste. The bagel, hmmm, being a personal favourite when made by yours truly, it has been notoriously difficult to find a pleasing café made version of this sandwich. This was a fairly good effort, though not enough cheese. Veggie bagel looked good, jam packed with filling.
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
A totally impractical idea, practically realised
(written August 2008)
Years ago, when I used to walk up the hill from town to my house pretty much on a daily basis, I thought about how cool it would be if pavements were musical and that your own soundtrack followed you wherever you stepped. I imagined concrete paving slabs being replaced with white pads a bit like the effect in the film ‘Big’ with Tom Hanks playing the piano by jumping on the keys in the toy store. This of course is an impractical idea, and what has actually happened is that some young people have started walking around with their phones playing music, or their headphones so loud everyone can hear the music or beats they’re listening to. I call these personal soundtracks and think it’s pretty cool.
I don’t have an ipod yet.
Years ago, when I used to walk up the hill from town to my house pretty much on a daily basis, I thought about how cool it would be if pavements were musical and that your own soundtrack followed you wherever you stepped. I imagined concrete paving slabs being replaced with white pads a bit like the effect in the film ‘Big’ with Tom Hanks playing the piano by jumping on the keys in the toy store. This of course is an impractical idea, and what has actually happened is that some young people have started walking around with their phones playing music, or their headphones so loud everyone can hear the music or beats they’re listening to. I call these personal soundtracks and think it’s pretty cool.
I don’t have an ipod yet.
Soundtrack of my life
(written Aug 08)
I’ve heard plenty of people say that songs remind them of certain times in their lives. Certain songs can really speak to you, be it through what the lyrics are about or the feeling the song gives you, tapping into an energy or emotion. For me, I’ve always been very lyricy with my musical preferences. This is a major reason why Bad Religion have long been my favourite band. The lyrics really express my world view as a liberal and an idealist humanist. It does help that the songs are written by an academic.
To follow:- Some of my favourite lyrical snippets…
I’ve heard plenty of people say that songs remind them of certain times in their lives. Certain songs can really speak to you, be it through what the lyrics are about or the feeling the song gives you, tapping into an energy or emotion. For me, I’ve always been very lyricy with my musical preferences. This is a major reason why Bad Religion have long been my favourite band. The lyrics really express my world view as a liberal and an idealist humanist. It does help that the songs are written by an academic.
To follow:- Some of my favourite lyrical snippets…
Tearjerkers and guilty pleasures
(written Aug 08)
Tearjerkers
There are some songs that make me cry when I am not feeling the slightest bit emotional when the song comes on! If I try to sing along to Shania Twain’s ‘From this moment’ specifically the part that goes ‘my dreams came true because of you’ I just choke up.
Guilty Pleasures
It’s not very cool to like these female artists, but I do.
Britney Spears
Kelly Clarkson
Gloria Estefan
Avril Lavigne
:-P
Tearjerkers
There are some songs that make me cry when I am not feeling the slightest bit emotional when the song comes on! If I try to sing along to Shania Twain’s ‘From this moment’ specifically the part that goes ‘my dreams came true because of you’ I just choke up.
Guilty Pleasures
It’s not very cool to like these female artists, but I do.
Britney Spears
Kelly Clarkson
Gloria Estefan
Avril Lavigne
:-P
Music Room 101
(written Aug 08)
I recently compiled this list after hearing Hi Ho Silver Lining and witnessing someone singing their heart out to the chorus, clearly loving it. I tried to explain what was so objectionable about the shouty repetition of the same note. I have the same opinion of other songs that do the same, repeat one note in a shouty way in the chorus. Other songs are objectionable because of a similar obnoxiousness and lack of musicalness.
Here stands the list:
Hi Ho Silver Lining (repeats note in chorus)
Slade – Merry Christmas Everybody (repeats note in chorus and other horribleness)
Dexys Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen
Tony Christie - Show me the way to Amarillo
The Waitresses – Christmas wrapping
I recently compiled this list after hearing Hi Ho Silver Lining and witnessing someone singing their heart out to the chorus, clearly loving it. I tried to explain what was so objectionable about the shouty repetition of the same note. I have the same opinion of other songs that do the same, repeat one note in a shouty way in the chorus. Other songs are objectionable because of a similar obnoxiousness and lack of musicalness.
Here stands the list:
Hi Ho Silver Lining (repeats note in chorus)
Slade – Merry Christmas Everybody (repeats note in chorus and other horribleness)
Dexys Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen
Tony Christie - Show me the way to Amarillo
The Waitresses – Christmas wrapping
Room 101
(written Aug 08)
Everyone’s blog should have a room 101. It’s so easy to do when you’re already a grumpy old man or woman like me :-)
What is a room 101 for? From 1984:
'You asked me once, what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world.'
This will be gradually added to, as I don’t have a list ready compiled in my head of bug bears. What an awful link, but talking about bugs…
It’s difficult as you can’t put things like spiders or wood lice in here because they are ecologically needed - though I do despise them. Despise is probably not the right sentiment, with spiders it is fear, not wanting them to be near me, being quite happy for them to exist anywhere else, just not in my personal space. Woodlice I don’t like because of their colour, their hard shells and their under bellies. Also, the fact they are associated with damp and appear in the house where you have to suck them up with a vacuum.
Brown sauce. Yuk, yuk, yuk. But lots of people like it. Why, I never will. In fact, everyone has a list of foods they just do not like and can’t imagine EVER liking. It’s not like acquiring a more mature taste and growing into red wine, stronger cheese or vegetables.
Everyone’s blog should have a room 101. It’s so easy to do when you’re already a grumpy old man or woman like me :-)
What is a room 101 for? From 1984:
'You asked me once, what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world.'
This will be gradually added to, as I don’t have a list ready compiled in my head of bug bears. What an awful link, but talking about bugs…
It’s difficult as you can’t put things like spiders or wood lice in here because they are ecologically needed - though I do despise them. Despise is probably not the right sentiment, with spiders it is fear, not wanting them to be near me, being quite happy for them to exist anywhere else, just not in my personal space. Woodlice I don’t like because of their colour, their hard shells and their under bellies. Also, the fact they are associated with damp and appear in the house where you have to suck them up with a vacuum.
Brown sauce. Yuk, yuk, yuk. But lots of people like it. Why, I never will. In fact, everyone has a list of foods they just do not like and can’t imagine EVER liking. It’s not like acquiring a more mature taste and growing into red wine, stronger cheese or vegetables.
Phone Charger
Why why why why why do I forget my charger so often when travelling? They are expensive to replace, expensive and a hassle to post. Because they are attached to the wall they get forgotten.
Why does no one ever have the same charger for you to borrow? When you put your sim card into another phone, why does this wipe said phone’s inbox etc. and make the borrower feel terribly guilty?
My current phone charger makes a noise when it is plugged into the wall whether the phone is plugged into it or not. When I unplug it, it’s whirring sound winds down like an engine. It makes an extra special whirring when a text comes through.
Why does no one ever have the same charger for you to borrow? When you put your sim card into another phone, why does this wipe said phone’s inbox etc. and make the borrower feel terribly guilty?
My current phone charger makes a noise when it is plugged into the wall whether the phone is plugged into it or not. When I unplug it, it’s whirring sound winds down like an engine. It makes an extra special whirring when a text comes through.
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