Search This Blog

Thursday 17 September 2015

You ether love it or hate it!

You ether love it or hate it!

Marmite is a sticky dark brown product which has a powerful flavor and is extremely salty! I like Marmite and if I can, I like to encourage other people to try it. Recently through my random browsing of the internet and YouTube I came across a video of an English man living in Japan. The video was about him introducing his friends to this delicacy.


At first things went well right until I saw how he presented the Marmite to his friends to try. I was shocked! Ether this man has never eaten Marmite himself or he was trying to guarantee his friends would not like it? (comedy value for the video perhaps?) He passed his friend a limp slice of white bread smeared in Marmite and quite thickly too! Now I like Marmite but if you were to offer it me like that I would refuse to eat it!

I've eaten Marmite on sliced bread, it's not ideal but done right it's OK. If you try to spread Marmite onto bread you'll find the bread absorbs the Marmite and you have to spread it quite thickly. You need to apply butter to the bread first, not thickly! Then you'll find the Marmite spreads easily and evenly meaning you don't need to use a lot to get an even coating.

My personal preference is to eat Marmite on toast. You need to allow the toast to stand a few minuets to allow it to cool and become crispy. You can then spread butter onto it without it melting and then spread the Marmite over this in a thin even coating! You'll find the butter and the Marmite compliment each other without being overpowering which Marmite can be!

I would also like to comment on the presentation of the food! Who only spreads half a slice? Or just randomly smears the bread with the Marmite. Food has to look nice in order to be enjoyed and this certainly did not look nice.

I would like to think that if these unfortunate people had been presented with bread or toast which had been properly prepared there might have been a good chance they would of enjoyed the experience.

Near the end of the video, just in case their was any lingering doubt's in the producers mind that his friends might be harboring feelings that Marmite might actually be nice he offers them a spatula laden with Marmite and asks them to eat it neat out of the jar … Vinegar or salt are nice when added to food in moderation but we would never up end them into our mouths! Why he thought it was a good idea is beyond me? (again comedy value?)

I do find his videos quite funny and the criticism of this video aside I would recommend too my readers that they watch his other videos!



Saturday 12 September 2015

MP's ... Money Problems


In this article we can see a number of politicians “named and shamed” for not paying their outstanding debts, public money that they had spent on themselves and refused to pay back. After the release of their names to the media a number of them paid their debts or provided information clearing their names whilst others have not. What gets me is that these expenses were being written off! The naming and shaming was the last action to be taken against them because it was not cost effective to pursue them further. This was after each MP was contacted at least four times. If the act of naming and shaming them had not been taken I'm quite sure not a single one of them would have taken any notice of the letters asking them to make repayments other than to feed them into a paper shredder.

Now lets bring this into context. If this had been myself in debt or any other 'pleb' we would not be having our debts written off because previous attempts to contact us had failed. Instead we would have bailiffs, police and a lock smith coming to pay us a visit and breaking into our homes to help themselves to our property to settle our debts by 'legal theft?'

It's not about the money so much as the principal, this shows a clear divide between the people running the country and people just living here, people who dream up the laws and the people who have to live under them. I'm not saying that politicians are 'above' the law but at times it does seem that it looks the other way whilst politicians line their pockets with public money, more so in the past rather than now thanks to the media exposing them!


The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal, first hinted at as details of the Conway Scandal leaked into the public domain, prior to further leaked evidence of malpractice, triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years. Public outrage was caused by disclosure of widespread actual and alleged misuse of the permitted allowances and expenses claimed by Members of Parliament (MP's), following failed attempts by parliament to prevent disclosure under Freedom of Information legislation. The scandal aroused widespread anger among the UK public against MP's and a loss of confidence in politics. It resulted in a large number of resignations, sackings, de-selections and retirement announcements, together with public apologies and the repayment of expenses. Several members or former members of the House of Commons, and members of the House of Lords, were prosecuted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment. The scandal also created pressure for political reform extending well beyond the issue of expenses and led to the parliament elected in 2005 being referred to as the 'Rotten Parliament'

I'm quite sure if the facts had not been leaked to the press MP's would of found a suitably large rug to sweep them under and they would still be lining their pockets with large amounts of public money today! The only thing it seems that changed is the amount of money being 'stolen?'

It would be nice if politicians were treated like workers in a private business, if your incompetent your fired, if you steal or fiddle your expenses your fired and the police are called. If you don't do your job your fired! We might start getting politicians who are worth their salary then!