Welcome to a sunny and pleasant South Manchester where we are in the middle of a slight heatwave. We had temperatures of 30°C and more this week in Manchester which is about as hot as it ever gets here. Now, though, it is a pleasant 24°C on a Sunday afternoon.
Let’s dive in to Sunday Stealing with a set of silly questions.
FOOD
TWO foods you can't stand
1. Rhubarb. I am certain that rhubarb is either cultivated and grown in the deepest bowels of hell itself or is an extraterrestrial monstrosity that was planted by aliens intent on eventually taking over from humanity as the dominant species on planet Earth. I hate rhubarb so much that I can barely suppress the urge to retch when I see it. Horrible stuff.
2. Apricots. I recently accidentally bit into an apricot, thinking (stupidly) that it was a small peach. I realised my mistake within two nanoseconds and threw the whole thing away, while trying not to heave. Disgusting vegetation masquerading as fruit.
FOUR foods you love
1. Cheese. I love cheese so much that I have to try my best not to eat it all the time. There are cheeses that I am less keen on but 99% of them are wonderful. One of my current favourites for a treat is sold in our local cheese shop (and yes we do have one). It is called Harrogate Blue and I love it. At Christmas we get together with our next door neighbours for a cheese and wine evening and I am in heaven trying all manner of different cheeses.
2. Roast pork. If we go out on Sunday for a traditional Sunday lunch, Mrs PM always predicts that I will have roast pork with crackling on the side. She’s always right.
3. Mrs PM’s paella. Mrs PM decided that she was going to have a go at paella and it was the best decision she has made. She tries it with a variety of meat and vegetables but it is always amazing. She is allergic to seafood so we can’t always try it in Spain itself unless there is a meat one (which there isn’t always). But I love it.
4. Indian food. It took me a while to get into Indian food because I was never sure what to eat. However, I have a couple of Indian friends who have guided me over the years and now I know exactly what to have. We have a couple of Indian restaurants locally and they mic things up from the traditional Indian food you find in restaurants. I just love the spices – as long as they aren’t too hot.
PLACES
TWO places you never want to see again
1. Johannesburg, South Africa. I worked on a project that covered four airports in South Africa and the main computers were at Johannesburg airport and, being a key team member, I was the idiot who always had to stay in Jo’burg while my team mates got to go to places like Cape Town. And Jo’burg is a very dangerous place. I loved parts of it, like Sandton City and the people I met were wonderful. But I wasn’t really allowed to venture out because of the high crime rate.
2. Salvador, Brazil. Mrs PM and I started our Brazil trip in Salvador and as I was flying over, I read that this city was one of the most dangerous in Brazil We were staying in a tourist friendly area but when we arrived, the taxi driver was telling us where not to go because we would risk being robbed – if we were lucky. He told us that there were certain no-go areas even for the police. I liked where we stayed but to go again? No thanks.
FOUR places you'd like to revisit
1. Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo is absolutely enormous and I didn’t realise the scale of this magnificent city until I actually got there. We were there for three days and we only scratched the surface. I think if we had spent two weeks there we would still need to go back. And of course Japan itself is a wonderful place that I want to visit again.
2. Hong Kong. I have spent about 18 months of my life in Hong Kong due to lots of work trips and the odd holiday trip and I absolutely love the place. In fact, we are planning to go there early next year on our way back from Malaysia and I can’t wait. The longest I stayed there was three months and I loved being an honorary Hong Kong resident. I was sad when I left but I have returned and I will do so whenever the opportunity arises.
3. Nice, France. Mrs PM and I tend not to go to the same places in Europe more than once but Nice is one of the few exceptions. It is a beautiful city on the south coast of France that can be used as a centre to visit a lot of amazing other places, like Cannes, Monte Carlo and Antibes. We were there earlier this year and we are thinking of perhaps going again next year.
4. New York. I’ve been to New York twice and the first time I was basically shown around so quickly that I didn’t get a chance to really see the place because the woman who was our guide (a friend we were staying with) was scared of the place. This was back in 1989. However, Mrs PM and I went back for New Year in 1998/1999 and as intrepid explorers we just walked around ourselves. I felt perfectly safe and even wandered back to our hotel at 2am after visiting Times Square for New Year and an Irish Bar. We were there for four days and it wasn’t enough.
MUSIC
TWO musical artists who make you want to change the station
1. Justin Timberlake. Mrs PM went to see him recently and up to that point and for a while afterwards she has been incessantly playing his music. And his music, in my opinion, is dreadful. We have a joint playlist and there is no way on this Earth that Justin Timberlake’s music will get anywhere near it.
2. Kanye West (or whatever he calls himself these days). I don’t like hip hop at all but Kanye West is right at the bottom of the pile when it comes to hip hop artists I would give a chance to. Enough said.
FOUR musical artists you love to listen to
1. Steven Wilson is a British progressive rock singer and musician who is the main man in the band Porcupine Tree as well as having a successful solo career. As well as that he continues to work in two other projects called Blackfield and No-Man. He is prolific and as well as being a singer and multi-instrumentalist he is a producer and he remixes the albums of other artists. He is a man of many talents.
2. Devin Townsend is a Canadian progressive metal singer and guitarist who is very prolific. His musical style ranges from extreme metal to ambient electronica with quite a few genres ticked off in between. His vocal range is incredible, ranging from melodic vocals to screams and growls.
3. Riverside are a Polish progressive rock band who have successfully filled a gap that I missed since my favourite band, Rush, ended following the sad death of their drummer Neil Peart. They are my current favourite band. The singer/bassist is called Mariusz Duda and I love his songwriting style as well as his solo career and other project called Lunatic Soul. I've seen them a couple of times recently and intend to see them when they next venture across the English Channel.
4. Nine Inch Nails have been around for decades and their music has featured in a lot of movies. I saw them live this year and they haven’t lost anything. The raw anger from their earlier music was still there as well as the more subdued recent material. Trent Reznor is a genius in my view and is still going strong. The band are releasing a new album to run alongside the new movie Tron: Ares.
MOMENTS
TWO moments you'd like to erase
1. The entire Brexit campaign and Brexit vote. If ever anyone wants an example of ignorance, incompetence, lying, gullibility and stupidity, just study that whole campaign. It is the biggest mistake that we as a nation have ever made and it embarrasses me immensely. People just can't see the damage it has done and will continue to do.
2. The day that Boris Johnson became Prime Minister of the UK. I will say no more, lest I rant mercilessly.
FOUR moments you'd like to relive
1. The day that Mrs PM and I got together in Hong Kong.
2. This isn’t a real moment but I would like to relive some of my days at Liverpool University. It was one of the happiest periods of my life.
3. My trip to Japan (again not really a moment).
4. The day that I told my dad that I had passed all of my A-Level exams to gain me entrance to Liverpool University. He was so happy and I was delighted that he knew before he sadly passed away shortly afterwards.
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