La Blogotheque

Now, because my French is confined to 'shettemm', 'shomapell sofie' and 'shesui un fromage' (excuse the phonetics, I simply cannot attempt to spell any of that properly), I am not able to tell you a great deal about the contents of La Blogotheque. I can only merely point you in the direction of the Concerts a Emporter (Concerts on the move?). This website is just wonderful and here in Studio 15 Napiershall, we are hooked, and repeatedly turn to La Blogotheque to get us through the day. Our favourite is Elvis Perkins, walking around in Paris singing 'While you were sleeping' - especially when he walks into the Place Vendome, just as the song reaches its climax.

Just wonderful.

Enjoy!

#66.1 - Elvis Perkins - While you were sleeping
by lablogotheque

The Inner Workings of an Architecture Studio, or, F**K, Only 3 weeks left!

Oh dear. I thought I knew what hard work was, sitting in the MPH studying for my IB exams.

I didn't.

Now, knee deep in things to be done, me and Naomi decided we had to make the best out of the situation. What better to do than set up a studio in my unused livingroom and invite all my best architecture mates for a three week long party?
Liam has announced his arrival, bearing computer, mattress and espresso maker, and me and Names (yeah, I like to call her Names) are already hard at work.

Here are a few glimpses:


My favourite little setup, with the Ant shelf and all our architecture books close at hand. Note the Lidl bags used to transport all our model making scraps from the Real Studio.


The wall is our friend! It contains all our ideas and scrappy sketches.


The wall is not our BEST friend though, that would be UHU glue (the solvent free kind. We don't want to go completely loopy after all.)


When we get bored, we put the TV on. Watching the news for example. We need to know a little bit about what goes on outside these walls! Note also the stock of emergency food (sugar puffs, jaffa cakes, tortilla chips, granola bars and bourbon creams).

But, the most important feature of our studio is this wonderful view, reminding us what NOT TO DESIGN (Notably the gorgeous St Georges Road tower blocks):


Who knew stress could be so much fun!

Music Box Underway!

Trying to think of urban strategies for my new project, the 'Music Box' aka some sort of community performing arts centre. Here are my initial thoughts... (these must be regarded as sketches!)

The project is in Stranraer (where the ferry goes from Scotland to Ireland), which used to thrive as a sort of seaside resort but has lost a lot of its charm. Cars have take over the whole town, and i am torn: should we accommodate for the cars (and maybe bring back the 50's drive-in cinema?), or should we provide some areas that are pedestrianized, trying to minimize the use of cars in the tiny town?

Hmm...

The most delicious thing...

I just wanted to share a recipe that my mum has shared with me, and which I always make if I'm having a dinner party, because it is DELICIOUS! And easy!

1. Make pizza dough:
- white flour
- dash of oil
- salt
- yeast
- water

2. Chop up enough gorgonzola and sundried tomatoes to sprinkle on the pizza

3. Half the dough, use a pin to make two equally sized pizza bases (form depending on your preference)

4. Spread the cheese onto one of the halfs, then spread the sundried tomato on top of that

5. Put the other pizza base on top of the one covered in cheese and tomato

6. squeeze the edges together to stop the cheese from running out

7. use some normal grated cheese (mozzarella and cheddar mix for example) and sprinkle on top of the bake

8. sprinkle some thyme over the cheese

9. put in the oven at about 200 C until the cheese on top is golden and a bit crusty

10. EAT AND LOVE!

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of this bake yet, but I will post one once I make it again...
I always get compliments on this dish, so you should all try it! very easy!

Recent Things of Interest

Finally a little sign of life from me on the blog.
Seeing as I have been quite caught up in holidaying, reading for exams and trying to finish various academic tasks, I haven't really had time to do very much else of interest. However, I am a big believer in the need for a little break now and then, so one day I ventured down to a second hand bookshop just off Otago Street in Glasgow, and snapped up these books for an impressively tiny price:



Not only do I look forward to reading these books, but also I can't wait to put them up in mine and Anthony's flat in London! We have struck a deal: he makes shelves and I put books on them. I love books! Good both for the mind and the eye, I'd say.
Also good on the eye is this lovely hook (hook??? help me out here, Shane) that Anthony gave me one day:



I haven't put it on the wall here in Glasgow; I am saving it for London, seeing as I only have about 2 months left here.
I can't wait to get down there! Our hope is to get a flat close to Broadway Market in Hackney - which brings me neatly to my next point: I picked up this book one day before easter, from a bookshop in said market, because it was a sunny day, Ant was at work, and I wanted to sit in the sun with a book:



I picked it up not really knowing what it was, but it turned out to be a delightfully insightful novel about people, how they interact, why they act the way they do, what they think, what MAKES them. I found it very thought provoking, and it is hereby recommended to all of you readers.

The sun doesn't only shine on London though, even Glasgow has been blessed with some uplifting sunshine lately. My next post might just be a little photographic story from sunny G. Till then, au revoir!

Taxes, continued

In my politics lecture this morning my professor, Frank Aarebrot (the picture), told us what we should say if we ever met an American who couldn’t understand how we could pay the high amount of taxes we pay. Funny, I thought, my friend Shane asked this question last year on the blog I don’t think neither me nor Sofie had great answers. So I will rephrase his words:

Imagine that Norway and USA has the same currency, called “money”. Both the Norwegian and the American earns 100 money a month. The Norwegian pays 44 money to the state each month while the American pays only 20 money to the state. But the American also pays the health insurance company 15 money and puts away 5 money for his or her children’s college fund. So in the end about the same proportion of money is spent on the same things. The difference is that in USA you have the freedom to be irresponsible and the freedom not to send your kids to college. The so-called Free Society based on value choices made by the citizens.

Just a little anecdote before the weekend. Now I’m about to make a “Mediterranean pie” before we have a guest arriving this evening. Thank you both so much for the post cards, they filled my with great joy. 

A Fortuitously Delicious Dinner

Now, I don't fancy myself a food blogger or anything, but my dinner last night [note: I wrote this in my journal weeks ago!] was so good I just have to tell the whole internet about it. It was also incredibly accidental in its composition. This is what was in the fridge and why:

1) Half a hummus container of orzo with mushrooms, onions, and cilantro, left over from a breakfast quite similar to this.

2) One hummus container of orzo carbonara which was quite accidental in its own composition: I had bought on a whim some halal turkey bacon the week before, and we were slowly working our way through it -- or rather, Brett was. Desperate to do something with the last couple of pieces, I typed turkey bacon into tastespotting.com (best website EVER) and happened upon a recipe for carbonara sauce, which I thought I'd try my hand at. It worked out pretty well, though a little too meat-ish for me :).

3) Marinated feta with roasted red peppers, garlic, herbs, and balsalmic vinegar. I am pretty sure that last Friday was Seniors' Day at Trade Fair, my friendly neighborhood grocery store. Waiting in line at the deli counter, the woman in front of me gestured to her desired cheese with a swing of her cane, and teh woman behind me, walker in grocery cart, complained loudly in an old New York accent about the crowds, the deafness of the other Trade Fair patrons, and her leg. Just as I made it to the front to ask for my half-pound of feta, a babushka-wearing grandmother walked laboriously by in the opposite direction, a traffic jam of three impatient shoppers behind her. I guess my request got mixed up in the kerfuffle, and I ended up with a pound of feta instead of a half (isn't life hard?). Remembering the deliciousness of the rather expensive Apetina feta, I cut up some of the excess feta into cubes, roasted myself a red pepper, found some herbs and black peppercorns, and dropped them all into a jar with oil and a splash of balsalmic vinegar. Every day it gets yummier!

4) A bunch of spinach just days away from going bad.

5) Half a little jar of Newman's Own tomato sauce -- after reading this article, I decided to stop buying fresh tomatoes in winter to make my own sauce. Don't know if Newman's Own is much better, but I'm hopeful.

And this is what I did with it:

I put all of the mushroom/cilantro orzo and a couple of spounfuls of the carbonara orzo into a container with the washed and torn up spinach. Then, I fished many pieces of feta and roasted red pepper out of my jar of yumminess and threw them in as well. Finally, I added a couple of spoonfuls of tomato and mixed the whole thing up. Then I ate it and was very very happy :).