An Englishman In America

My nephew has been staying with us the last few days so we have been checking out some of the local attractions for kids around the Reno, Nevada area. Today our excursions took us to the Fleischmann Planetarium and Science Center currently located on the campus of UNR (University of Northern Nevada) although potentially set to move elsewhere sometime in the future.

None of us had been to the planetarium before so we didn’t know what to expect. We were in all, pleasantly surprised as it turned out a pretty inexpensive way to spend around an hour and a half whilst slipping in a little education into the bargain.

The main attraction of the planetarium (at least for us) is the Star Theater where you can watch a variety of ‘movies’ projected on the large domed ceiling. We saw the Full-dome digital star entitled Black Holes which was an immersive look into the creation and formation of the black hole phenomena projected fully onto the domed roof. Despite not being a huge fan of astronomy myself, the 40 minute show was riveting and highly entertaining as well as being very educational.

The Sky Theater puts on a different show every hour (check their website for times and current shows) which at the time of writing includes The Human Body (a SkyDome 8/70 large-format feature film), DarkStar Adventure, The Secret Of The Cardboard Rocket and Pink Floyd’s classic Dark Side Of The Moon animated in a riveting star show. These change throughout the year so there is plenty of value in planning to revisit the planetarium.

The theatre itself is a pretty small venue which is perfect because it means less rustling and talking through the experience. You are advised to arrive early because the best seats are at the back with the further forward you are increasing the amount of ‘neck-craning’ you’ll need to do to get the full experience.

Outside of the Star Theater, the Flieschmann Planetarium offers a small exhibit area featuring various space-related exhibits including a one tonne meteorite which fell in Nevada and weighing machine which gives your weight on the moon and jupiter.

The gift shop is also worth a look (you’ll pass through it at least 4 - 6 times anyway as you move among the attractions) as, aside from the usual novelty items like squishy alien heads and packets of astronaut style freeze dried ice cream, there are various educational books related to astronomy and space in general, as well as a good sized collection of Telescopes and binoculars for viewing the night sky at tax-exempt prices.

Entrance to the museum area was free when we visited with a charge of $5 for adults and $4 for kids to see each show in the Sky Theater. Check their website for current times and prices though as things like this change often. The website also currently features several money saving coupons you can use which took $3 off our entrance fee so it’s worth a look as well.

In all, we all enjoyed our visit and will probably check it out again sometime in the future so we can see one of the other movies at the Sky Theater.

Fleischmann Planetarium : http://planetarium.unr.nevada.edu/

Technorati Tags: Reno | Nevada | Travel | Attractions | Planetarium | Kids | Children | Education |

So what made me smile this week? With all the depressing news coming out of the Middle East again this week there was at least one shining light coming out of my new home state of Nevada.

So what made me smile? The news that Ex porn star Melody Damayo (aka Mimi Miyagi) is running for governor of Nevada…as a REPUBLICAN candidate.

Now, that’s funny.

Of course, Miss Damayo is not the first ex porn star to attempt to get into politics. Mary Carey lost out to Arnold Schwarzenegger for govenorship of California in the 2003 elections and perhaps most famously Ilona Staller (stage name Cicciolina) actually won a seat in the Italian parliament…and continued making adult movies whilst in office.

Now, if Arnie can get elected, and one time pro wrestler Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura can take Minnesota, why not a porn star for Nevada? Ahh, smell that democracy in action…can’t think why some places are so eager to avoid it.

As the saying goes “Only In America”…

Last week I finally got around to visiting the Harrah’s Automobile Collection at the National Automobile Museum in my hometown of Reno. You know how it is, something quite wonderful is sitting on your doorstep so you never visit it…but if it’s a few thousand miles away then of course you’ll make the effort!

Anyhoo, like I said, last week I finally quit procrastinating and decided to check out Nevada’s premier classic car collection…and if you are ever in the area, so should you.

A little history:

Hotelier and casino owner Bill Harrah assembled over 4,000 classic cars until his death in 1978. His hotel and casino empire, and later automobile collection, were then sold to Holiday Corporation who later announced their intentions to sell off the collection piece by piece to private collectors.

A public outcry by Nevada residents immediately followed this announcement leading to the donation of around 175 of these automobiles to a non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving what’s left of the collection. Later, public and private donations helped build the Nevada Automobile Museum at its current location on the banks of the Truckee river in downtown Reno which houses the remains of the collection.

The rest of the 4,000 piece collection is now scattered around the globe.

What’s To See:

Firstly, I’ll say this: if you’re not into cars then don’t let that put you off of taking a trip to check this collection out. I’m not a big fan of motor vehicles but this museum is an experience regardless of whether you are a car fan or not.

The museum is a like taking a walk through history from the late 19th century through to the 50’s and 60’s. Each walkway between showrooms is decked out like a roadway from the past, complete with vintage movie theatres, 20’s mailboxes, fire hydrants, vintage coke machines and everything you’d expect to see from that era and have seen in those classic black and white movies.

It’s a very cool experience, which totally gives you the feel of walking through 60 years of American history in around the 2 hours it’ll take you to make your way around the place.

There are over 200 classic cars here to see, many on temporary loan from private collectors which boosts the remnants of Harrah’s collection. Years range from 1892 onwards, and features well known classic and vintage automobiles, as well as one of a kind, and experimental antique vehicles you’ve probably never heard of.

Each exhibit comes with its own placard outlining the name, manufacturer, date and place of manufacture as well as giving some piece of trivia or insight into the history of the car or brand. Original sale prices are also included…shame you can’t buy a Rolls Royce like that for $12,000 now…need a few more zeros.

As well as classics there are a few novelty additions including a gold plated Delorian (of Back To The Future fame) and right now, a fantastic VW beetle fully decked out in hippy era artistry.

As well as the cars there are numerous interactive exhibits and working models like a 50’s garage and other exhibits as you walk around. There are also many celebrity cars on the curb side as you wander around with names tied to owners like Sammy Davis Jr., John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Al Jolson and more.

The curators of the museum have done an excellent job of tying in the motor vehicles with the evolving history of America making this more than just a collection of cars and much more like a real experience.

The Museum was named among the “Top Ten Museums” by Car Collector magazine and selected the “Best Museum in Northern Nevada,” year-after-year, in Nevada Magazine’s annual reader’s poll, and it’s easy to see why.

If you’re ever in the area then this place is well worth a visit especially since it’ll cost you less than ten bucks for entry.

For more about the Harrah Collection and the National Automobile Museum, including current pricing, opening times and more on the exhibits and history of the collection check out their website at: http://www.automuseum.org

I thoroughly enjoyed the first Pirates Of The Caribbean movie and would count myself amongst those who having seen that movie had been eagerly awaiting the inevitable sequel.

I have loved pirate movies since I was a kid, watching classics like Captain Blood, The Black Swan, Captain Kidd, Treasure Island…umm, I even liked the somewhat widely panned Cutthroat Island when it was released in the 90’s so when I heard Disney was backing a big budget pirate movie with the likes of Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush starring, I was all over it.

No surprise then That I was one of the first in line for the first showing of this movie at my local movie theatre the day it was put on general release.

Was this sequel a disappointment?

Hell no!

Pirates of the Carribean : Dead Man’s Chest is a rip-snorting, action packed rollercoaster of a pirate movie. It has few pretentions to be anything other than a whole heck of a lot of fun and in that it delivers on all its promises.

In this sequel, the curse of The Black Pearl may have been lifted but now an even more dangerous problem faces Jack Sparrow and the crew of the Black Pearl. It seems Jack (Johnny Depp) owes something of a debt to the legendary Davy Jones (an unrecognisable Bill Nighy) captain of the accursed Flying Dutchman…his very soul.

If Jack is to prevent himself becoming one of Davy Jones’ crew of phantom sailors he has to find a way to beg, cheat, lie or con his way out of his pledge, which leads to a thrill ride adventure involving cannibals, voodoo, legendary sea monsters, phantom sailors and generally one whole lotta fun!

Oh sure, the storyline is a little overly convoluted, the comedy a little on the wooden side when delivered by Bloom and Knightley and the acting more hammy than Miss Piggy’s butt cheeks but toss aside your grouchy adult persona and find your inner pirate-loving child and this movie is a stonker.

Just on the visual side alone there is a lot of eye candy on display here (and I don’t mean miss Knightley either). The kraken in a fantastic beastie, Davey Jones’ crew is suitably bizarrely fused with sealife and the Bahamas setting makes for some sumptuous scenery.

This is one of those leave-your-brain-at-the-door affairs which most people love and most critics hate. Personally, I loved it although it does suffer slightly from “middle of a trilogy syndrome” in that, it doesn’t exactly ‘end’.

Still, as a modern day movie-goer you’re used to that right?

Rating: 8/10

So you’re tired of those expensive gas prices at the pumps huh? Wondering where to find the cheapest gas in town? There’s help out there!

I found a few of these services specific to the UK when a fuel shortage there sent prices rocketing a few years back. Considering the hikes in the U.S. right now and predictions of a further dollar going onto the average price of a gallon of gas, I figured now would be prudent to find a few gas price comparison services for here as well.

The following are a few of the helpful online services for finding cheap gas prices in your area:

Gas Buddy : http://www.gasbuddy.com

MSN Autos: http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx

Gas Price Watch: http://www.gaspricewatch.com

For my UK readers try this site to find cheap petrol:

Petrol Prices: http://www.petrolprices.com/

Welcome to European pricing.

According to gas price comparison websites the average cost of a gallon of gas in the United States right now is around $2.98. The highest price is over $3.60 and over the last few days there have been spotty reports of individual gas stations boosting prices up to just below $4 per gallon.

Recently, some analysts have been predicting the current, continuing and escalating conflict in the Middle East will eventually lead to AVERAGE gas prices topping the $4 a gallon mark possibly a lot sooner than expected.

Scary huh?

Well, maybe for anyone used to seeing gas priced so low but not for a recently repatriated Englishman. I’m still enjoying what to my mind is half price petrol.

If anyone European seems somewhat uninterested and perhaps unsympathetic there’s a pretty good reason - unleaded petrol prices in the UK are currently priced at the equivalent of $6.84 per gallon and that’s pretty typical for Europe in general.

And prices are rising there too.

“OMG! How do you cope over there?” Is pretty much the reaction I received when announcing this fact at a recent obligatory family group grumble following a news report about continuing rising gas prices.

How do we cope? We buy normal sized cars, not hulking great beasts which average 15-20 miles per gallon. My last car back in England did around 45 mpg, my parent’s car closer to 60 mpg. In the U.S. I see car commercials boasting their fuel consumption rate of 20-25 mpg as a good thing.

My current vehicle here in the U.S. (a hand-me-down 1999 Dodge Caravan) does around 21mpg according http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/15418.shtml and probably performs worse now it’s older and that seems about average for a typical American car which is somewhat horrific by comarison…or would be, if I could stop looking at those prices compared to what I have been used to paying all my life.

Regardless of how difficult it is for me to care ‘too much’ about these gas price hikes I do understand there are differences which make rises in U.S. gas costs slightly more painful than elsewhere.

One thing you learn when you move to the U.S. is that things are no longer ‘close by’ as they once were. A trip to Costco can send you 30 miles out of your way and that’s considered close by. A family visit might send you 200 - 300 miles out of state and no one even flinches at the prospect of making the trip.

It’s a state of mind which certainly doesn’t exist in the UK. You can have relatives 50 miles away and consider them too far away to visit very often. Here in the U.S. my brother-in-law makes a 600 mile round trip every other weekend to come visit without flinching.

Maybe this state of mind has a lot to do with gas prices. European prices don’t encourage you to travel out of your way too much, U.S. prices have never encouraged people to think about it until now.

It’s the same with vehicle ownership. Head to Europe and you see a lot more smaller, fuel efficient cars and not the proliferation of SUV’s, trucks and other gas guzzlers you become accustomed to seeing here.

If gas prices continue to rise and start to fall in line with many other countries around the world will Americans be able to continue this kind of love affair with the automobile? I strongly suspect not. Whether it’s smaller cars, more fuel efficent vehicles, hybrid cars or just travelling less, something has to give.

Crumpets are one of the mainstays of the British breakfast table so I was delighted to stumble across them on a trip to our local Trader Joe’s recently.

Never heard of a crumpet before? Well, neither had anyone else in my household when I came home with several packets so you aren’t alone but in England, ‘tea and crumpets’ is a British institution like fish and chips or bangers and mash.

Not to be confused with the Scottish Crumpet which is made differently, or the English Muffin (despite Harry Potter editors using the term interchangably), the traditional English crumpet is a small-ish, round slightly rubbery flat bread with a smooth base and a top peppered with tiny holes. Crumpets are best served lightly toasted and then topped with your favourite preserve or just buttered and eaten plain. In England crumpets are usually served for breakfast, elevenses or as a light snack anytime during the day.

The term “crumpet” has also been used as a slang term for a female object of desire in England since around the 1930’s (it’s Cockney rhyming slang for ’strumpet’) so if you happen upon the word being used seemingly out of context then you know why. For example, if someone tells you they are hoping to pick up some crumpet on a Friday night, chances are they aren’t going shopping! It is a rather old-fashioned term however and usually used in a more tongue-in-cheek way these days although it does offer countless opportunities for innuendo over the breakfast table…

Why are crumpets called crumpets? Apparently, the origins of the Crumpet name dates back to the late 17th century and may either refer to a curled or crumpled cake or come from the Celtic ‘krampoez’ (thin, flat cake) or Welsh ‘crempog’ which is a type of pancake.

Trader Joes “British Style Crumpets” can be found in the Breads section of your local store…and to find your local store, check their website (linked to at the beginning of this post) by clicking on the ‘locations’ banner on the welcome page.

You may also be feeling adventurous and want to try to make your own crumpets, if so try this crumpet recipe here: http://www.toomanychefs.net/archives/001118.php

One of the things I find myself missing most about England is the food I grew up with and the brand name products I have come to love and trust. You never know quite how much you rely upon the ability to just walk out and buy a product until suddenly it isn’t there anymore and living in the U.S. I find myself increasingly having cravings for one food or another which is difficult to come by on these shores.

For instance, British-style bacon (or Danish bacon really) is pretty difficult to find as America seems to prefer what we call ’streaky bacon’ which, as far as I am concerned looks and tastes more like the bits I have been cutting off and feeding to the birds all my life…but each to their own.  

British chocolate, sweets, biscuits and general junk food are also often tough to find but do find their way into some of the major grocery stores lurking amongst the plethora of American brands. Junk is of course where most cravings lie, so tracking down a source of this is a goldmine and I’ve found a few.

Curry, which is close to becoming the national food of Great Britain, is surprisingly something which took a lot of hunting around to find. Hispanic and Oriental food stuffs are dead easy to come by but curry is another matter and often you’ll need to hunt out a speciality store, or find a good source for a Jar of Patak’s or Madhur Jaffrey paste…or the ingredients to make your own from scratch.

Anyhoo, whenever I come across a good source of British food products in the United States I have been keeping notes so I can find those products again. I figured there are thousands of British expats in America who might also be interested, or Americans who have found a liking for those products for one reason or another who might also be interested in finding them here, so I will be intermittantly blogging those sources right here rather than keeping them to myself.

I have also decided to compile a directory of speciality British food stores and resources which will be added when I have the time and inclination to do so. Many of these are a great one-stop shopping source for all things British-related but the prices reflect the scarcity of the products so I try to find them elsewhere first.

Now, how this dish earned its name is anyone’s guess! There are no toads and nothing to do with holes so far as I can tell either, but it is definitely a British classic which has sadly fallen somewhat out of favour in many modern households. 

The origins of toad-in-the-hole (or “toad in a hole” as it was originally termed) are pretty vague to say the least. Recipes involving secreting meat in a batter pudding date back to Roman times with recipes existing for such things as pigeon in a hole and all sorts of other delights, so it certainly isn’t a new concept.

One of the earliest surviving written records of a toad in a hole recipe dates back to the early 18th century where this type of pudding first became popularised in Great Britain. How it got its name though is something which remains a mystery..to me at least. The ‘hole’ part makes perfect sense, considering the meat part of the dish is placed within a batter pudding mix, but the ‘toad’ itself remains confused. We assume no one actually ate toad in batter pudding at the time….but if times were hard enough, who knows!

Despite the entertainment value of serving “toad in the hole” to unsuspecting American guests and watching their faces turn green at the thought, there are no toads, frogs or any other forms of amphibious lifeform in a traditional British toad in the hole dish. 

The classic toad in the hole recipe instead consists of several good old British bangers (that’s sausages to the rest of the world) baked into a batter pudding. This delicious dish is great served with traditional British roast potatoes, parnips, vegetables and lashings of Bisto gravy. One recipe (the one I use) is as follows…and remember, you can substitute just about any red meat for the sausage part of it if you so desire, lamb chops are equally great.

Traditional British Toad In The Hole Recipe

- 8 British Sausages (pork perferably)

- 300ml / half pint of milk

- 2 eggs

- pinch of salt

- 100g (4oz) of plain flour

Fry the sausages until just cooked (not well done) and put aside. Reserve some of the fat and juices extracted during the frying process.

Preheat your oven to around 200 centigrade (400 Fahrenheit).

Beat together the milk, eggs and flour until you have a thick sticky batter mixture with lots of air bubbles.

Pour around 3 tbsp of the sausage fats and juices into a yorkshire pudding tin or other small roasting tin.

Place the sausages in a single layer on the bottom of the baking tray and briefly place into the oven to heat the oil slightly.

Pour over the yorkshire pudding batter mix and return to the oven.

Bake for around 25 - 40 minutes until the batter has risen and turned a golden brown.

Serve immediately (or the pudding with flatten) with roast potatoes, vegetables, parsnips and good ol’ Bisto gravy for a hearty traditional Great British meal.

It was a brave performance in which England looked like the better side for a great portion of the match (maybe a little bias there but not much…probably) but ultimately they fell to an under-stength Portugese side missing two of their star players after that ridiculously refereed match against Holland left two of their first team picks with red card suspensions for the day.

England’s downfall came from the penalty spot again. What’s that now? 4 times out of the last 5 major competitions and twice to Portugal in 2 years? Ugh!

It’s the worst way to leave a cup competition but it’s also something the England national football team seems to make a habit of in recent years leaving us all to wonder what might have been if the whole match had been played with 11 a side.

That was ruled out after a Rooney sending off after a somewhat blatant stamp on the family jewels of a Portugese player midway through the second half which happened right under the referee’s nose.

England battled bravely and carved out more chances with 10 men than they did with 11 but ultimately it came down to penalty kicks again just like it did in Euro 2004…and just like in Euro 2004, Portugal won through after some expert goalkeeping from the Portugese goalie denied England 3 times leaving Owen Hargreaves as England’s only penalty scorer.

It was the best performance in the 2006 world cup by an England side which started off slowly and seemed to be getting better but it just wasn’t to be their day.

Tactically, one wonders whether a different manager might have taken a few more attacking chances and fired up an obviously hugely talented squad of players, not just today, but throughout the world cup but hey, it’s too late now.

Next time boys.  

Next time…