Language Rocks!

Language and words are of vital importance in all human relationships. A bold statement to be sure, but what does it imply? How do we use them, why, and how?

We humans communicate with each other in a variety of ways: bodily, sensually, mentally, linguistically. All human communication involves highly evolved and complex processes. To me, language is particularly interesting because it can be expressed both in verbal and written forms, and both are powerful tools in our communication arsenal that we all too often take for granted.

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Harry's Fish Pie

My fish pie is rich, healthy (only mildly!), filling and packed full of exciting flavours, textures and aromas. I could eat it any time, but it’s especially satisfying on a cold, winter’s day. It takes a while to prepare and cook, but boy it’s worth it! Great to put in the middle of the table so that everyone can dig in. Just make sure you get your share though!

Pie Filling
(measurements are approximate as I do it by eye really)

25g butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
250ml dry white wine
250ml dry Vermouth
500ml fish or chicken stock
500ml double cream
1/2 tsp English mustard
400g mix of boned, skinned white fish chunks (cod, haddock, pollack, monkfish)
400g boned smoked haddock chunks
200g raw peeled king prawns
200g cooked, shelled mussels (optional and the fresher the better and none of that jarred nonsense)
1 lemon
Handfull of flat leaf parsley, chopped (chop the stalks as well as they’re tasty and add extra texture)
Freshly milled sea salt and black pepper

Pie Topping

5-6 large Desiree (Maris Piper will do) potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes (they’ll cook faster)
Large knob of butter
100g grated mature cheddar
Milk (optional)
30g bag plain crisps, crushed (optional)
Dash of Worcester sauce (optional)

How to do it!

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The Open starts on Thursday this week at Turnberry, just 60 miles south from my location in sunny Gourock.

As a keen watcher of golf, I am relishing four days glued to my TV to watch sportsmen at the top of their game exhibit their prowess (and see how they fare against the legendary Scottish deep rough, which is sure to yield plenty of shankers), as well as beautiful scenery of Turnberry with its coastal views, especially of Ailsa Craig.

I checked out the official Open Golf website and was bowled over by the video content available portraying The Open Championship; and the tournament hasn’t even started yet!

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Pork and Veg Leftovers Stirfry

This is a delicious, filling, incredibly quick stir fry I made today from fridge and freezer leftovers that’ll satisfy for lunch, dinner, coming in from the pub, or (if you’re as twisted as me) for breakfast (next-day curries are WAY better though).

Total time spent, including raking about in the fridge and freezer was 10 mins and if I was to guess the cost it’d be £2 at an absolute maximum.

What I Had As Leftovers

1 pork loin chop
A handful of beansprouts
1/4 onion
2 spring onions
1 red birds eye chili
3 slices sandwich ham
1 takeaway-sized portion boiled long grain rice (I make mine in batches using my awesome microwave rice steamer from Lakeland. No fuss, 10 min perfect rice every time).

How To Do It

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“Words are dodgy things”

A colleague of mine once uttered these words. I don’t believe he intended them to become legendary, but within my circle of friends they most certainly are and, I think, rightly so.

What is a word anyway?

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I’m not usually a fan of e-mail anecdotes, especially the ones that start with “Fwd” in the subject box, but this one hit my language-loving funny bone, and sent my train of thought immediately from impulse power into warp drive out of the station (or should that be spacedock):

An English professor wrote the words:

‘A woman without her man is nothing’ on the chalkboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly*.

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In my post “The Zen of Communication, Part 2“, I wrote about a fellow who said “hello” as he passed me on his walk. About that encounter, I wrote “I’ve had this simple, spontaneous thing happen to me many times, but every time it happens, it reinforces to me the beauty of friendly connectivity and communication between people.”

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What is “upspeak“? Upspeak is when you make a spoken statement sound like a question by raising the pitch of your voice at the end of a sentence (technically called a high rising terminal). If you want examples, just watch any Wayne’s World or Bill and Ted movie, or eavesdrop on teenagers’ or 20 somethings’ shopping mall conversations.

The written equivalent is the simple question mark? However, there is a world of difference between upspeak and a question mark.

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It’s pointless me writing a treatise on Zen. There are plenty of ways for you to read up on it if you’re so inclined. However, I’m going to write about it anyway, and how its ethos can open up our ideas on how we can learn more about ourselves, life, and the marvelous way that ideas are communicated.

Zen Buddhism doesn’t have any formal sacred texts. It has no equivalent of the Bible or Qur’an. So how do Zen Buddhists learn? Well, Zen is about experience.

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A couple of weeks ago I was teaching my son how to spin for mackerel on the shore just in front of our house.

I’d just casted out and was reeling in when a seagull swooped down. I knew what was about to happen and shouted out “Oh NOOOOO!” I felt a tug on the line and thought the worst. It thought my lure was bona fide food. But, as the gull lifted into the air, minus my treble-hooked spinner attached to it, so did my heart.

I didn’t relish the thought of having to wrestle a “live kite” to the ground with a fishing rod, then have to put the poor bird out of its misery in front of my young son.

So, now when we see gulls or gannets circling overhead, or shags, guillemots or eider ducks diving, we just take a breather from fishing and watch the birds show us how it’s really done.

“See it all, till tomorrow”