I’m making lots of changes in here at the moment.
For example, you can see a new tab up at the top, On Travel, next to Home and About. Under it, you’ll find all my travel-related blogging, nicely archived in one place for easy avoidance or public ridicule.
I’ll be making quite a few other changes.
If you spot any further significant changes in coming weeks, and if you’re the first to tell me in the comments, I’ll take your address and send you a packet of Hobnobs, king of biscuits (and the only rolled oat product that will stand up to repeated vigorous dunking).
Yes, this is something akin to a competition, albeit in a pathetically amateurish way. There is, however, nothing pathetic about Hobnobs, so I’m the only one at risk of looking stupid here.
Note: I *will* attempt to send winning Hobnobs abroad, say, to the U.S., if Customs don’t impound them, ie. eat them – but I cannot guarantee you won’t receive a packet of pulverised biscuit crumbs. Hobnobs are very crumbly. (If this happens, use the crumbs to make the biscuit base of a lemon cheesecake).
Further Note: I will be the judge of what constitutes a significant change. For example, if you demand I enbiscuit you for noticing that my rotating banner image wasn’t the one you saw yesterday, well, tough. My banner has been rotating for years. If my banner is abruptly replaced by streaming porn, well, that would count. (Those of a nervous disposition will be glad to know this will never happen is highly unlikely will only happen if when I’m really strapped for cash. Thx).
Image: missy & the universe.
Hobnobs are a reasonable biscuit. Certainly up from rich tea (urgh) but not really the heady heights of a malted milk or even, dare I whisper it, a party ring…
I assume that McVities are paying you for this product placement? Did you know they were once sold in Italy as ‘Suncrok’? Brings all the wrong images to mind in a way that Hobnob doesn’t.
No, McV are entirely unaware that I’m using them so shamelessly. They’d probably have something to say if they did, such as “McVities is not affiliated with Fevered Mutterings and is unlikely to be so before Hell freezes over. Furthermore, he’s not even offering our chocolate-coated range which is much nicer, which we take as an additional slap in the face”.
I’d forgotten about malted milks. As long as they’re the type with the ridged bits round the outside, which for some reason are slightly more tasty, even though they’re just the same thing but thicker.
The Suncrok name is obviously the Snickers of the biscuit world. Except *this* story has a happy ending, and Hobnobs remain Hobnobs.
Frankly, I’m still bitter about Marathon/Snickers, and always will be. I mean, honestly: which is the better name? A famous race, harking back to a glorious battle in Classical Greece? Or the noise someone makes when they see someone slip on a banana skin? I know what I’d damn well choose.
Ohmygosh, how much am I in love with the word “enbiscuit”?!
Um, VERY.
I’m not sure I haven’t stolen it from somewhere. But that’s the thing about new words – they almost always aren’t.
I notice that you are actually posting, Mike. That’s the biggest change of all.
To be honest – you’re absolutely bang on the nail with that one.
Hobnobs awarded.
I need your address now, Judith.
I’m to be enbiscuited? Hoorah!
I love the title! And the prize of Hobnobs is not to be sneezed at. (Unless they arrive as crumbs and get up your nose, of course.)
Sadly, I’m the least observant person I know so I shall be Hobnobless.
Do not underestimate your self-enbiscuiting powers. There will be plenty of subtle (yet substantial) changes. Only have to spot one of them.
i noticed that you didn’t take the picture of the biscuits.
i’ve noticed that you’ve barely played with your camera.
can i have some cookies now?
and i love the word “enbiscuit”
Changes that are glaring omissions don’t count.
Otherwise let’s face it, I’d be bankrupting myself with postage fees.
Nice try.
..but no biscuit.
(Yet).
Hi Mike,
I noticed the width of you banner changed by a pixel or two. Also, there’s a message left by me which wasn’t there.
Please enbuiscuit me so I can start imbibing….
Also, When are you coming for a visit? (bring the biscuits with you – save on postage)
Please see above for my policy on omissions, Dave. And my banner hasn’t budged / shrunk / expanded a single pixel. Nice try, biscuitless boy.
However, I’ll allow you the word “imbibe” in context, in the sense of ‘absorbing wisdom’, which I feel is something that Hobnobs are very good at, along with absorbing tea.
And – soon. Greek food ahoy!
You know what I really like? The chocolate Hobnobs. You know the ones? You can get them in Canada, which is exactly what I plan to do when I am next in Canada. I noticed you are not in Canada. Once you ARE there, that will be a change. Will you enbiscuit me now and do I have to tell my husband about it?
Chocolate Hobnobs are indeed the best, by far. When dunked, they’re almost lewdly wonderful. Something about how the chocolate goes gooey while the biscuit remains crispy when you bite into it.
I’ll stop. I have no biscuits in the house, and this could get ugly for my emotions if I continue.
It’s true, I’m not in Canada, and will be. That is of course a pre-emptive attempt to very cleverly fix the competition by already making TBEX ’11 in Vancouver, thus propelling me Canadiawards.
But, rules are rules.
So you’ll get your biscuits next year.
(Also? One change I did make was based on a suggestion at TBEX – all my images are now 580px wide, up from 480px. That’s one of many damn good suggestions I scribbled down that afternoon).
Oh, man, I love those things! The British sure got that right
For all that their culinary skills are ridiculed throughout the world (unjustly so, too) – we Brits know what to do with oats. From porridge to oatcakes to cookies to beer…to HobNobs. Yes.
Well, I haven’t popped by in a while, so this may be old news, but… hasn’t your subtitle/tagline changed? “The Art of Unfortunate Travel”, isn’t that new? I like it, by the way, and I’m not just saying that for the hobnobs either
HobNobs awarded to the lady with the wayward knowledge of English beer.
(I need your current address, dude).
Wahey! Score one for the — waitagorramminute, whaddya mean “wayward”?!
Regardless of your insults, I will claim my prize… my meatspace address shall be communicated to you shortly.
“Meatspace” delights and disturbs in proportions weighted towards the latter. Good work.
And yes, send along.
Um, I was with you until you mentioned beer… For one, British beer is hardly something I would tout as a culinary achievement of any positive nature — could someone please tell British brewers that humanity has some time ago invented two wonderful processes known respectively as “carbonation” and “refrigeration” — and secondly, dude, not much oats in beer. Except in oatmeal stouts, but that’s kind of a niche category; tasty and nourishing, but hardly the most common. You might have been thinking of barley, or wheat?
– The Pedantic Belgian
I was indeed referring toi the delights of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stout#Oatmeal_stout – and niche it may be, but damn fine it is nontheless.
Secondly – http://www.blacksheepbrewery.com/ . Proper, *proper* beer. None of your Continental rubbish.
*ducks*
Ah, that’s alright then. Oatmeal stout is indeed quite yummy.
Hehe, let me horrify you further… these days, I’m not drinking much Continental rubbish, but worse: I’m drinking upstart rebellious Colonial rubbish! Sam Adams FTW!
http://www.samueladams.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams
You’re drinking that loathsome firewater they make in the Colonies now?
*hawks into the fire, fires Baker rifle wildly into the air, aims a vicious kick at the nearest servant*
Or do you mean you’re drinking it because there is no alternative – the same way sailors lost at sea resorted to drinking each other’s urine? (I should add that I’m making an analogy, not a comparison, having not tried said beer in question, however American it might turn to be).
Hah, I’ll raise the insult to the next level and say that these Colonial brews are a damn sight superior to your limey pisswater!
Sam Adams is actually very decent, not only for an American beer, but for beer in general — and though I’m tempted to specify “well, non-Belgian beer anyway” just to be annoying, I’ll acknowledge that Belgium would not feel dishonored to adopt Adams as one of its own. And here I’m just talking about the “basic” Boston Lager, but in fact the brewery offers quite a range of seasonal and “specialty” brews that altogether satisfy my palate and save me from having to fork out the extra dinero for Belgian imports, which are available but pricey.
I’ll add also that it’s not just Sam; American beer has in the past decade, unbeknownst to many Americans, evolved well beyond such watery atrocities as Bud Light.
There are also good Canadian beers that we get here since Montreal is fairly close, so when you’re in Canada, try to get your grubby paws on some Fin du Monde, Ephemere and Maudite, for example. They’re brewed in Quebec but I think you should be able to find them elsewhere in the country too. They’re lovely and well worth a try. Mind your intake though — they’re deceptively smooth, but pack quite a wallop. Anybody who says Canadians are wimps has clearly never watched ice hockey.
I like the odd Belgian beer, but you just can’t binge drink it. Give me an ale you can quaff any day!
Blimey. Can it be…?
It is! Welcome back, Mr ‘Sachimp, after an 18-month commenting hiatus.
So, you’ve quaffed? As in proper quaffing? I’ve never managed it. Spills everywhere. I was told that you can’t quaff unless you have a thick beard (because without facial hair to block the sides of your mouth, it spills everywhere).
Please define “quaff”. Ta.
Oh, my dear Mr. Sachimp, I’m afraid you’re laboring under a most common delusion… There’s much more to Belgian beers than the fine, delicate quality of the world’s best. Their immense variety also provides rugged quaffable ales for the less refined among us. No offense
When I bring to mind Belgium and its ironing-board topography, I find it difficult to insert the word “rugged” anywhere in there.
But then, describing Belgian beer as “flat” might not do it any favours. So it’s allowed a little artistic license, I guess.
*puts fingers in ears, backs away*
Why the cowardly retreat? Belgium is not rugged and its beer is not flat. I find nothing objectionable in the truth.
If you had made a value judgment, on the other hand, such as “Flat countries like Belgium are incredibly boring” I might have had to send a few missiles your way. Even though I agree that flat is boring (that might be part of the reason I keep expatriating myself).
Ah, my eyesight is failing (from too much computer use) but my sixth sense clearly tells me that this is just the first step. First a new tab, soon a whole new blog devoted to travel. Trust me, it’s coming. Best not to fight it.
As much as I trust in your ineffable wisdom (which itself is a wise thing to do)….my plan, when I’m travelling, is to keep using this site (and keep all my incoming links firmed up), but dig back into it, adding all sorts of tabs and widgets and clutter that will later deeply embarrass me when I know more about web design.
Not that I actually have a real *plan*, as yet. Ahem.
(I know, I know. I need a plan. Don’t say it).
Can you send me some Hobnobs just because I can’t get any here???
Yes.
But I’ll need an address.
GG –
The cowardly retreat is because I know of no other form of retreat that suits me quite as well. Ditto the cowardly advance, more popularly known as “running away”.
I’d never draw links between geographical and cultural topography. Not me. Well, okay, I tried to, but specifically I failed which means I never did it, which means, no, not me. It just so happens that I’d never do it because I’d fail, rather than I’d never do it because I didn’t mean to. Different approaches, same destination.
I’m aware that this is moral cowardice. And that’s exactly the way I like it.
Having said all that, I hate beer.
So, what Belgian alcohols would you recommend to a beer-hating coward?
Have you added an “Advertising” Tab full of useful information for would-be advertisors or am I imagining things?!
You’re not wrong.
Good. Someone I can actually just hand a packet of Hobnobs to, rather than putting them in the unreliable hands of the Royal Mail.
Woohoo!(and a second woohoo from Laura). We like biscuits.
We wouldn’t have conquered (some of) Hadrian’s Wall without Hobnob fuel.
Ah, swirly-swirly memories.
If you want to buy real estate, you will have to receive the business loans. Furthermore, my sister all the time takes a commercial loan, which occurs to be the most reliable.