Happy Holidays

I just want to wish everyone a great festive season. Normal service on the blog will return in the new year. Expect some drunken and maybe even some normal photos from jolly old England.

Mankini pub golf

To celebrate me going back to the UK and passing my viva I let my sister organise a night out. True to form it involved a drink...

... or three

The idea was to do pub golf down Division St in sheffield. As I said my sister made it up so it involved me wearing something stupid. A Borat mankini.

I did say we had a few drinks didn't I?
It was a little tight....
But it got a little comfier after a while
Well maybe not
We found out it wasn't that tight.... you can fit Jon and I in
and a few friends....
Introducing 'Kinky Slimer' available for birthdays, weddings etc

Good times! Thank you everyone who made it out. Also thank you to the guys over on this side of the pond for giving me another celebration, my head hurt for a while after that.

Back to the UK and back again

I have been away for a while as I had to go back to England to 'defend my thesis' or have my viva voce (depending on where your from). I passed with minor corrections just in case you didn't know. I am pretty chuffed with it, even if it hasn't really sunk in yet.

I was a strange week back in the UK. It was great to see all the old faces, family and friends. Sheffield has changed, loads of new buildings, but it was great to here the accent especially people calling each other 'luv'. Dronfield is still the same, as ever. That is comforting though. It was still really strange being back, I don't think I really got used to it at all. I was only back for a week.

The things that made it strange were the little things. The way roads look (apart from the obvious), here they just don't have the gentle curves we have, here they are wide and things make sense. The difference here is somebody thought about what was going on back in the UK some guy just went ooh that looks like the quickest way to get me sheep down the hill so I can get to the pub.

I have also got used to shopping here. The 'Hi, how are you?' ..... 'Have a nice day' that you always get. Paper or plastic? I never try and add my shopping up as the tax is always added later. Paying by card. I went to the Sainsbury's in Dronfield and you get a sweaty teenager serving you with all the social skills of a wet sponge and a granny paying in coppers. I am not saying the American or the English way is better but the American way is not as annoying as 'Have a nice day' is portrayed, in most cases it's not as false either and you do actually get genuine conversations. Maybe it because I'm in the south y'all.

I was also quite surprised about my lack of jet lag. I experimented getting up 2 hours early the week before flying back. This is so I would be 'fresher'. It worked, after two days I was pretty normal for me. My air miles are gonna be great as I will have racked up about 15,000 in just over a month.

One very nice thing about being back is that it was 26 C today. Not the kind of weather you get mid December in blighty.

Thanksgiving

Today is thanksgiving in the US. It's a pretty strange day for someone not being from the US but a welcome day off from work and and an excuse to eat if nothing more. The food is pretty much a variation on the Sunday roast/Christmas dinner we all know and love in the UK, except with more American foods like sweet potatoes. The nice thing is that the build up to Christmas is not as visible as in the UK, so it's not saturated. Here are my experiences of two different thanksgivings.

My first was an annual bash put on by Andy as a pre-thanksgiving warm up before people head home for the holidays. It is also known as Turkeyfest. I was going to paraphrase the invite but it's quite funny so I shall post it:

Hello all,

The holidays are upon us. There is no better way to start the season that with deep fried turkeys (yes, plural), casserole as far as the eye can see, and desserts from pillars of the Triangle baking community.

It is time once again for the annual Thanksgiving gathering at the HQ II. For those new to the event, it promises gluttony, good times, and some of the most intense dining you can imagine. For those that were here last year, we're looking to break the record which means six turkeys over the course of the afternoon. In addition, if Luke shows up, we'll have at least two Indians, adding to the overall authenticity.

For those of you can make it, the rules are simple:

1. RSVP ASAP with what you are planning on bringing, anything from full turkeys to cranberry riddy to halloween cookies, we've seen it all. We'll have the deep fryer and a grill for use for those that want to cook another turkey and/or twinkies. We'll also have 2 turkeys, 1 oven roasted and 1 deep fried, and enough canned cranberry sauce for half of Marc.

2. Be creative, be generous, but don't be the napkin guy. Multiples of the same dish are fine, but please use common sense if there are already 3 green bean casseroles coming.

3. The event is socialist in nature, so overt sassiness regarding portion sizes is not acceptable.

4. We've finally removed "the beast" from the last party so let's not have that happen again.

5. While Helen [Andy's car] is a part of the family, she's not allowed to eat people food.

Feel free to bring significant others and the inevitable people who should have been on the guest list. We hope to see you all there, food/drink in tow.

It was great fun, in the end there was 5 turkeys and a Turducken (turkey-duck-chicken) all in one. Deep-fried WHOLE turkey is interesting! To say the least. It does taste good but it doesn't half spit when you put it in the fryer. All in all it was a good day out, the weather was fantastic so we could all sit out side, chat, watch the world go by, throw the American football about etc. I was so surprised at the quality of the food. Most of it was homemade and it was great. Also I found out if you try and deep-fry a turducken they do an alien chest burster impression except with birds and hot oil. I am going to try that one day, well maybe.


My thanksgiving today was a pleasant surprise. I felt bad for turning down LAM!LAM!'s thanksgiving bash but I had to study and go to bed early. I was just going to cook myself a little Sunday Lunch type affair. My landlord came round and asked if I wanted to come round to his, as his wife was away. So I got some turkey after all, and a chat with my landlord. It was a nice day, and I get to go to bed early. Boo. Hopefully I will be around next year for more festive fun.

PS just found this video, it's a quick tour of the Raleigh/Durham area.

Fall on Campus

Here are a few snaps I took today of campus while I was going to get my visa validated so I'm allowed back in the US. The weather is great at the moment, clear blue skies and still slightly warm. It makes so much difference not being grey, wet and windy all the time. We also get slightly longer days than the UK.

I will try and get some more autumnal shots later this week as the 'fall colors' will be gone by the time I'm back.

Duke Basketball

Here is my photos from a Blue Devils game. Apparently getting tickets for a 'Dook' (as the local say it, and the occasional ahem slip from me) basketball game is like finding rocking horse shit. How I found myself at the first game of the season I am still not entirely sure. I am guessing it was because the opponent was NCCU and are considered not as good as Dook even though they are also located in Dirty D. I was looking forward to it none the less. Andy was 'super pumped' all day and even skipped work to join the grad line. Here is where it all goes off, the Cameron indoor stadium. It's a pretty small stadium, clocking in at less than 10,000, but it's got a pretty good atmosphere.

I found a colonial to sit next too. Who of course was eating a BBQ sandwich (which was actually quite good). Ryan went to UNC Chapel Hill for undergrad, who are dook's main rivals. It's kinda like a Wednesday fan being at BDTBL. He looks happy though, bless 'em the locals do try.

Here is some particularly good photography of the start of the game.

A better action shot. Notice the guy on the floor.

Here are the Cameron Crazies in action. This is a free-throw. The crowd all hold their arms till the ball goes in. Unless the other team are taking it then it's all fair game. The best thing they did was all crouch down on the floor except for a semi-naked guy in lederhosen who proceeded to dance around making noise, I nearly wet myself.

A view of Cameron during the game. All the flags at the top are something that Dook basketball has won. They ain't bad these so called Blue Devils.

Here is a picture of the team during a time-out. The guy in the middle is Michael Krzyzewski (pronounced shuh-shef-skee) or coach K. I think he looks like Dr. Evil. He is pretty much a legend on campus, has been offered loads to coach in the NBA and swears like a trooper. He's that good they even named the floor after him.

Here is another pic of the crazies. The guys in the chefs hats are known as the shuhshefskee chefs. You can even pick Andy out in this photo. He is the one seen shaking a whisk at the opposition. It did indeed show them.

Crazy stuff happens during a time-out. Although disappointingly no time-out chicken is given out. Here is the Duke Blue Devil surfing on the band.

And of course American sports would not be complete without cheerleaders. They did look lovely.

Adverts on the BBC

Notice everything different?

Yes I bloody well did. They have been experimenting with the site and adverts all day. I am glad they took the banner off the top. I understand why they are doing it. I just hope us non-UK users get all the videos and radio feeds now we have to put up with the adverts.

You lucky buggers back in the UK

Ice Hockey

Yesterday I went to see the Carolina Hurricanes NHL ice hockey team in Raleigh. It was $10 for really good seats and a free coach thanks to the good people at Duke. It's not bad to say the nosebleeds are $20 and they were pretty high and the seat we were in were $90.

It was pretty cool. The 'canes won 5-0 against the Washington Capitols. There was even a fight. It was great. I loved the go-nuts for do-nuts competition, where the crowd went crazy for a 12 pack of dunkin' donuts. Only in America.

NC State Fair

This is the last of the North Carolina state fair series (I'm actually going to have to do something blogworthy now). It was a good experience, I wouldn't go every week, but it's a pretty cool thing to do once a year maybe. Here is the NC flag, the sky was beautiful, even a touch of Carolina blue at the bottom of the picture.

This was one of the first things I saw as I entered the fair ground. I was told there was going to be wall to wall red necks.

Thats more like it....

I think this is a really nice picture of Andy and Bonnie. Also one of the few photos I have taken of Andy when he is not doing something stupid.

Back to the locals. It was a bloody massive thing. They get you with the deep-fried food as you get in. Then the rides halfway through. Someones gonna be sick.

This picture has two purposes. Firstly it shows the place where I got the ostrich burger. Secondly some fat Americans for y'all. To be fair, even at a place that sells deep-fried everything there weren't that many fat people and I'm sure you will find a similar amount in Blackpool or Skegvegas. Has my radar gone, or I am joining them.

You gotta love those Carolina sunsets.

Although after dark the freaks come out....

Red necks will pay to see anything. Oops, sorry thats Andy. Notice above only 50c to get in. Thats 25p.

I thought I'd finish with a nice one.

The state fair may not be the most intellectual of pursuits in the world, but I'll say one thing, it was a lot of fun. I recommend anyone going to one, just don't expect much and you will be pleasantly surprised.

NC State Fair - Ass and Big Melons

One of the reasons for having the state fair is so that the farmers can show off their produce. It is fantastic as they show all the huge and weird looking looking fruit and veg. The pumpkin behind me is over 1,100 lbs, which is about 500 Kgs or bloody huge. You could actually buy huge pumpkins in whole foods these last few weeks, I didn't fancy spending $30 to eat pumpkin for the rest of my life.

I just think these look geat

Here is Andy checking out the workings of a chicken.

You could do many people an injustice with that bad boy.

I really wanted a chili after this. I also wanted a bacon sandwich after seeing the pigs too...

It is just crazy the amount of stuff they had on show. I loved the strange looking stuff. Yes I gaupped like a slack jawed yokel. You know what they say, when in Rome...

Well I promised you ass..

.... and big melons

What did you think I was going to show you..... you are a dirty bunch aren't you.

Trying not to get fat.......

As we all know I am a lazy man and I am not the best at being motivated to do physical exercise. Unless there is a beer afterwards maybe. The has pretty much continued if not got worse since moving to the states. Recently it has got better as I joined the football team. This is only once a week and is pretty sporadic so tonight I finally broke down and ran round the Duke East Campus track, see Figure 1.

Figure 1. Bob trying to feel better about himself.

According to the source of all knowledge, or wikipedia as some call it the track is 1.5 miles all the way around. I did it in 16 minutes which is pretty bad (I did have to walk a bit). My aim is to get it down to about 12 ish. As in my youth I ran a mile in about 7 and a half minutes therefore it would be about 8 minutes a mile. I am waiting for the abuse in the comments.

NC State Fair - Food

As already mentioned in the last post I went to the NC state fair. Making small animals run round a track is not generally a major pastime in North Carolina, but eating is. Typically the unhealthier the better. The state fair is no exception, in fact it makes kebabs look almost healthy. As y'all know Andy and I are seasoned eaters, so much to our surprise it was Bonnie who "didn't want to really eat" who got the first culinary delight. A really buttery corn, which was pretty nice actually. Andy not wanting to be out done got a giant turkey leg, which I also tasted (you can take the boy out of yorkshire...)

I forgot the bloody fiver didn't I....

Not wanting to be outdone by the Yanks I decided to actually pay for something. A deep fried Twinkie (a normal one can be found here). Not necessarily the healthiest start to my evenings eating but I tell you what, it was fantastic. The shop I got it from pretty much did everything. Fried snickers, oreos, several dough related items and even chocolate dipped frozen cheesecake for those not wanting their food battered. It would go down a treat in Scotland.

Yep I ate that. Aren't y'all proud of me. Yes I am wearing my cowboy shirt.

After the successful taming of the twinky I was on fire. I needed more deep fried goods. Somebody thought of a great way for kids to get their 5 veg a day. Deep fry the bugger. Here pictured are, pickles (gerkins to the educated among us), mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli and zucchini (or as civilized people call it courgette).

Andy was tempted by the slabs of cooking meat. Good job the have the drool guard.

For desert I had a chocolate covered frozen cantaloupe. The lady who served me used to live in Skegness.

I say it was desert. I had an ostrich burger after the pig racing. I didn't eat loads of but it was good fun. I think I would have been a little I'll if I had any more. Well you can always fit an ice cream in can't you. Even the half a tub they gave us and called it a bowl.

All in all some interesting culinary delights. The ice cream was probably the best. Mmmmm cookie dough.