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July 30, 2004

Moules Normandie

Many of you who know Markiss will already be aware of his absolute dedication to Moules Marinere. The telling of Markiss recpie takes anywhere between 2 - 3 hours (ironic considering that it only takes 20 minutes to cook and eat the damn things) In the interests of variation I feel duty bound to post a slight modification on the classic Moule: Title: Moules Au Cidre De Normandie

Ingredients

2 kg prepared mussels
150 g butter
4 shallots; finely chopped
350 ml medium-dry cider
sprig thyme
2 bay leaves
175 ml double cream
salt and freshly ground white pepper
chopped fresh chives; to garnish

Instructions

1. First, prepare the mussels. If you know how to do this, skip the next paragraph.

2. Put the mussels into a large bowl of cold water, and clean well by scrubbing with a stiff brush, or scraping with a knife. Pull out or cut off the stringy beard, and then rinse again. Discard any mussels which have remained open during this process.

3. Melt 25 g of the butter in a large pan, and stir in the shallots. Cook these for 2-3 minutes over a low heat, until they are soft but not coloured. Turn up the heat, and add 300 ml of the cider; then add the thyme and bay leaves, and boil to reduce the volume by one-third. Pour in the cream, and then add the mussels. Cover with a well-fitting lid, and cook over a medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, occasionally jumping the pan to ensure that all the mussels cook evenly.

4. Place a colander over a clean saucepan, and drain the mussels into it. Pick over the mussels, discarding any which aren't open. Return the sauce to the heat, and boil until it is reduced to a syrupy consistency. Then add the remaining cider, and whisk in the rest of the butter, about 1 tsp at a time. Don't let it boil, or it will curdle. Taste, and season with salt and white pepper.

5. To serve, pour the sauce over the mussels, garnish with chives, and serve immediately.

The amount of mussels in this recipe allows about 20 per person. For a family meal, pile the mussels into a large bowl, and let everyone help themselves, while for a more formal occasion, remove the half shells and arrange them on plates. Find a way to keep the mussels warm while you are making the sauce, because they get cold quickly.

Posted by Markiss at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2004

When the cat is away

The mice will ... post recipes! So hopefully, when Markiss get's back he should find recipes for some of his favourite things. To kick off I give you Tapenade. Ingredients 3-4 tbsp olive oil 110g/4 oz olives, de-pitted 1 garlic, peeled and chopped 1 tbsp capers handful fresh flat-leaf parsley salt and pepper To Serve toasted bruchetta slices (optional)

Method 1. Place the olive oil, olives, garlic, capers, parsley and seasoning into a mini food processor and blend until smooth. 2. Transfer to a bowl and serve as a dip with toasted bruchetta slices

Note: this could be contrived as me being very very slack but I really couldn't think of anything better to post and it should mean that at Markiss' next party we get something good to eat!

Posted by Markiss at 8:33 AM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2004

Holiday

Holiday time is here.......... :) Have just come back from the pub and now realised that I have to start packing. Life is a bitch! Alarm set for 6:30am. Nooooooo! Anyhoo. Wanted to say that your host for the next week will be Rob from over at Xset. He told me tonight he will be updating my site while I was away. Nice one Rob. Haven't got a clue what he will be putting up here but i'm sure it will be entertaining. Speak soon you lot :-) Byeeeeeeeeeeee...............

Posted by Markiss at 12:14 AM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2004

Water Rats

Oh and forgot to mention. The Water Rat's Jazz band are playing this week. This will be the first time in years that I will not be going to it. Hope you all enjoy the week, wish I was there but hey? I will be in France having a good time anyway :-)

Posted by Markiss at 3:50 PM | Comments (0)

Day after the Party

I was hoping the party on Saturday night was going to be a success and I was right. Everyone seemed to have a good time. God my head hurts. We raised over £500 I think. Thanks to the auctions and ticket sales. Talking about auctions, Judy has your Bat and Ball Rob. £28! you must have been pissed :-) I ended up having to set up the P.A system and start off the night with the music and also do the backing music for Elvis. I managed it even though I was getting a bit worse for wear by then. After I had done my bit I left it to the pro's. They all did such a good job. So thanks for that guys. When the party finished we, eventually, got a lift back in the minibus. Which was quite strange, we were plodding along in the bus when suddenly the driver decided to drive into a wall. Bang! We all flew forward and I hit my head, nothing serious and tell you the truth it was hilarious. Why this guy hit the wall I haven't got a clue. Anyway, he just reversed and carried on, on his way as if nothing had happened. XLNT!. Then back to my place for some more drinks and ended up getting to my pit at 7am. Feeling a bit fragile now. Now I am going to do some packing for my hols. This will probably be the last entry for a week, so I will say bye for now. See you all when I get back. Take care :-) Au Revoirs (getting some practice in)

Posted by Markiss at 3:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2004

Moblogging SMS

Since I am going away soon I decided to try out a moblogging thingy. Moblogging basically updates blogs using sms or mms making blogging mobile. So far I have tried twice to use it with no success. Maybe you will suddenly see two new entries to my blog in a couple of days, it could just be slow. Maybe they wont turn up at all! I will try and sort it out before I go and then I can keep you updated on my trip to France. Am going on a bike ride down to the Devil's Hole with a couple of mates tonight. The ride down there will be nice considering the weather but the ride back will probably be falling in bushes and generally crashing into each other. Why? Two reasons really, it's Friday and also the Breda. For some reason my head goes a bit strange drinking that Breda stuff. Can't wait :-) Then tomorrow night is the party down the Prince of Wales. Elvis will be doing a few numbers. That's right Elvis Presley Lives in St Ouens under the name of Ecobichon. "Line pinched from local band Wet Wet Le Geyt" :-) Then drinking games galore. Going to be a right laugh. Will tell you about it on Sunday sometime. Sunday is the Anniversary of us buying our house. Yup 1 year already and my bank account can feel it ;-) So having a B.B.Q in the garden that day. Seems like a good weekend in all. Have fun on your weekends people. Au Revoirs ------>

Posted by Markiss at 4:38 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2004

I found em funny

Q: Why are the Japanese so smart? A: No blondes.

The boss went up to the bartender and asked, "Have you been fooling around with the waitress?" "Oh no, sir, I sure haven't," replied the bartender. The boss replied, "Good, then you fire her!"

Q: What's the difference between husbands and prisoners?
A: Prisoners complain behind bars. Husbands complain in them.

"What did Dad say when he found out you're pregnant?" Mary asked her mother. Mary's mother asked, "Should I leave out the profanity?" "Sure, if you want, " said Mary. Mum replied, "Nothing."

Posted by Markiss at 5:27 PM | Comments (0)

Hot Hot Hot

It's far too hot to be working in my, attic, office today. The temperature was 27°C outside our work this afternoon. So must be in the 30's in my office. With no air con! Luckily I was called out on site again today and that lasted 1½ hours. O.k it's still work but at least I could breathe out there. The site we were on overlooks the French coast and looked absolutely gorgeous. The sea was so smooth, wish I had my boat out today. Talking about my boat. I'm thinking twice about whether or not to sell her. I have got to pay the insurance on it soon and that has come down just short of £300 ($550 usa). I don't get to use her as much as I would like now days. So if, like last year, I take her out just 6 times that is going to cost me £50 a time to go out. That's not including fuel or fishing tackle/bait. Seems a shame but it looks like she's going. There are always other people who would take me out though, so i wouldn't miss the sea too much. Now for the link of the day. Fancy having a baby? Fancy having a baby and taking the fun part away (sex, for those of you who didn't know ;-) Well then this is for you. Welcome to Black Market Babies.com!

Posted by Markiss at 4:52 PM | Comments (0)

Halving

Robert over at Xset has reminded me of something we were discussing at the pub the other night. It was : If you continued to half something would it just keep getting smaller and smaller and smaller or would it at some point just not exist? You can see the rant over at his site entitled "By way of proving a point".

You can put it in a different context too.
For example. A runner was going to run a mile, then ½ a mile, then ¼ of a mile etc etc. Would his run ever stop?
My theory is no it wouldn't. Even though at some stage the distance would get so small that they would just become points. But an infinite amount of points. So therefore would take an infinate time to run. Thus never ending.
Any suggestions?

Posted by Markiss at 1:38 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2004

A Better Day

Today has been one of those days that everything goes right. Have finally got all the Hotels to send their confirmations. So I now know that the Hotels are all sorted and can now concentrate on the eating and drinking side of things. Also, since it's been nice and sunny over here in Jersey, I have been out most of the day visiting various sites and generally acting like an Architect. Which reminds me, I have a meeting out at St Ouen in 20 minutes so bye for now.

Posted by Markiss at 3:55 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2004

Anastacias tits

Some really interesting people stop by my site now and then. The latest, approx 10 minutes ago, came to my site looking for Anastacia's tits! Well there's a thing. Wonder if he or she found any nice pictures?

Posted by Markiss at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)

French Hotels

Now I am getting annoyed. Having booked the boat over to France, I now need to book the Hotels. Sounds pretty straight forward to me. Well, I tell you, it's not as easy as it sounds. Booking online seems to be a nightmare. I can find the Hotels but when I press the "Book online" button, it all goes wrong. I need some help. Anyone know of any good sites I can be looking at?

Posted by Markiss at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2004

Exotic Death Test

Pinched from DRC Test Results - Exotic Death Test I will be struck down by a meteor! (Just my bloody luck!)

How will you die? Take the Exotic Cause of Death Test"

Posted by Markiss at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)

Finally booked it

So why didn't I blog on Friday? Because I was booking my holiday to France :-) Yup it's finally booked and I have something to look forward to now. First holiday this year! Spending 6 days over there. Haven't booked any Hotels yet but will be doing that online later today. So what is planned over there? Nothing! Nothing at all, it's a holiday so I am going to relax......... Drink and eat (for a change). In other news: Blogger seems to have updated again. Now we have a lot more formatting options to muck about with. Colour of text, Numbered lists, bulleted lists etc etc. About time too. What did I do this weekend? Well, it was a good crack really. Pretty much the same as normal. Friday down the Pub, with this really bad band playing. I decided that this band consisted of 4 blokes all in a mid life crisis. They couldn't play or sing. So obviously just formed the band to re-live their youth. Some of the tracks which they were trying to play were quite good but what a noise. No you don't sound better if you just turn the volume up! You would sound a lot better if you turned it off! Get a life and pack it in guys :-) Then upstairs for a few late night drinks. Saturday night was headfuck night down the Mary's and it lived up to it's name. Just a load of us talking about rubbish and having fits of laughter. (Must remember to grow up sometime) Then back home to watch a movie with a bucket of Revel's. Nice! Sunday was a great day. Had Mum and her Friend Jean over for a B.B.Q. My Brother and his familly. And Birgitta, Stephan's Mum. We all had a real good time. The weather was great and went through about 15 bottles of wine. I say "about" because the last count was 12 bottles and I can't really remember how many we had after that. Now back to work again, these weekends seem to be getting shorter and shorter............

Posted by Markiss at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)

July 15, 2004

Orgasmatic

O.k then. Here's one for you girl's........ Wouldn't do much for us men so that's equal now. Hmmmm? So that's why girl's ride horses! The Orgasmatic Washing Machine.............

Posted by Markiss at 4:17 PM | Comments (0)

Urine Control

Having a pee in the urinal will never be the same with this : You're In Control (Urine Control) Bit sexist though, may get a bit messy if a woman wanted to play with it!

Posted by Markiss at 4:09 PM | Comments (0)

Software

Since I have been talking about crap software, I thought I would see what your software was like. As in your most useful and most useless software on your computer. You know the one? The software on your computer that you had completely forgotten was there because you have never used it before. My most useful must be Autocad. It is my living and makes me money. My most useless apart from Via Voice has got to be my Pig Latin software that came in a computer magazine. I mean what the hell is it used for? And - It'sway otnay exactlyway ootay ifficultday otay anslatetray osay ouyay an'tcay useway itway asway away ecretsay anguagelay eitherway! So what is your most useful and most useless software on your computer?

Posted by Markiss at 1:40 PM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2004

Giant Amazonian Duckling

David Attenborough meets his match with a Giant Amazonian Duckling - Dukus Giganticus. Poor sod, looks agonising!

Posted by Markiss at 5:25 PM | Comments (0)

Talking Crap

Computers really amaze me sometimes. A mate of mine has just given me some software to look at and amongst it was this ViaVoice software. It basically listens to your voice and then types out what you have said. "Great" I thought....... Well until I actually used it :-) It's crap. Well it is at the moment, anyway. Apparently I have to teach it my voice. I have to read over 400 sentences before it starts getting good at it. I will give it the benefit of doubt. But what do people want to do when they get new software? Use it straight away. That turned out to be hilarious. Here is an example: I will talk to my computer and see how it writes these sentences out. "Hello. I am trying out this new software from Via Voice. It doesn't seem to be doing a very good job at the moment but is quite funny. What a useless piece of crap." This is what I got: "Now just a time try out business away would combine it. It doesn't seem to be doing a very big job permanent but it is quite funny. Would it be useless piece of crap." I can understand where it is coming from though. But can't see me using it for anything in the near future.

Posted by Markiss at 3:30 PM | Comments (0)

Icemans Kiss Page

Any fans out there? Any fans that have some good bootlegs by ? If the answer is yes, then a mate of mine has got a site that may interest you. He has a growing collection of bootlegs to download. You must sign up for a username & password, then you can download 2 albums. After that you have to upload an album to download another. Get it? One for one! Hopefully this site will grow so I can keep expanding my collection. Only thing is, I have to get broadband before I can do anything yet! Yes I am still one of the few on dialup. Tell you the truth I have never even used broadband yet, so don't know what it is like........ Anyway go and have a look at Iceman's Kiss Page and go to the contact's page to request a username & password.

Posted by Markiss at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2004

Recent Comments

I have now put up "Recent Comments" on my blog. Why? Because I wanted to and I can. Oh and just to keep up with the Jone's :-) So thanks to FeedSweep it's just down there to the left. If you want to put recent comments on your blog, it's pretty straight forward just go and fill in the bits and peices in this form and Hey Presto! You're done. If you have any problems let me know and I can give you a hand.

Posted by Markiss at 5:38 PM | Comments (1)

Party Weekend

Hi Strangers...... Yes I know I haven't been here for a while but I have been a little busy. Friday was Stefan's funeral. It was a very sad occasion but the ceremony was very good. It was a buddhist ceremony. Much nicer than other ones I have been to. Hopefully the family can now work on rebuilding their lifes now Stefan has been laid to rest. Friday night was Dot's leaving party. We went to the Mary's and had a few too many then back to La Mare Vineyard's for a few more "too many" drinks. In typical Jersey style, I left there about 3:30am. Then came Saturday. Was feeling a little heavy headed from the night before but was getting ready for another party day. It was Neil's "qualies party". Basically you have to live in Jersey for 15 years until you qualify to be able to buy properties over here. So Neil decided to throw a party and celebrate that he has now got them. Any excuse :-) Well that started at 3pm. Loads more to drink!!!!!!!!!! Didn't take me long to get back to square one. A couple of lagers and I was well on my way again. Left his house to go to the Mont Felard pub at about 7pm. Loads of food and beer there. Then back to his place when that closed at 11:30pm. Things got a bit blurry then :-) Left there at 3am a little bit worse for wear. Had a great time though. Thanks for the party Neil, hope your head is back to normal today! Sunday was spent trying to get my head back into some kind of normality. So just watched a movie and made a shepherds pie. Mmmmmmm lovely. Oh and then went down the pub in the evening, as you do. So now back to work....... Just checked my emails and found out that Anastacia is playing in Jersey again. I want to go..... But can't get hold of any tickets and even if I did I am going to another party that night anyway. Not fair.

Posted by Markiss at 1:06 PM | Comments (0)

July 8, 2004

Roundabout

Stefan's funeral is tomorrow. I thought I would mention it because today would have been his Birthday. Strange how life goes in roundabout's. My thoughts are with his family.

Posted by Markiss at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)

Happy Birthday Rob

Have a good Birthday Rob. I would tell people to go over to your site and wish you a good one but you've gone and decided to stop blogging! I suppose you guys can still go over to Rob's site and tell him to re-think about closing his blog and wish him a Happy Birthday at the same time :-)

Posted by Markiss at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

July 7, 2004

Ripping your Boss off

So how many off my readers here tend to surf the Internet or email your friends while you are supposed to be working? Huh? Well, I bet it is most of you guys. So, since I am a Boss, I thought it would be good to see exactly how much it did cost us to pay people to Surf and generally do nothing with your time at work. So here's the deal......... Go to this link and try it out for yourselves. When you feel a surfing session coming on, fill in how much you get paid a year and how many hours you work for each day then click the start button. When you feel you have got to get back to working, click the stop button. This will work out how much you have just been paid for doing absolutely nothing! This includes going for a dump, having a cigarette break, talking to your mates on the phone, texting, emailing, scratching your arse etc etc etc. Then when you have sussed how much you are making, maybe you can leave a comment and let me know :-) Ripping your Boss off

Posted by Markiss at 6:20 PM | Comments (0)

Seems familiar

Ever had that feeling that you had too much to drink? Trying to walk back home and it feels as though you are on board a boat in a force 11 gale! Well I stumbled on this little game which brings back some fond memories. I suppose you could use it too practice for when you next get that pissed.

Posted by Markiss at 1:54 PM | Comments (0)

July 6, 2004

Target practice

A good story deserves a good airing. What follows was spotted in Bike magazine, which had spotted it in Pilot magazine: Two members of the Lothian and Borders traffic police were recently having a pleasant time out on the Scottish moors, trapping speeding motorists with a radar gun. Suddenly their equipment went crazy, registering a speed of over 300 miles per hour. It then locked up completely. Seconds later the startled boys in blue understood why, as a low-flying Harrier jet screamed over their heads. Upset that their radar gun had been broken, the policemen put in a complaint to the Royal Air Force-only to discover that the damage could easily have been much worse. The R.A.F informed them that the Harrier's target-seeker had locked on to what it had interpreted as enemy radar. This immediately triggered an automatic air-to-surface missile attack. Fortunately for the two policemen, the Harrier was operating unarmed.

On another note:
Anastacia is, apparently, in Jersey at the moment! I have tickets for the Simply the Best gig on Friday night. I hope she is playing that night. Would love to see her live. Fingers crossed.
I know Lionel Ritchie is already here, would be good to see him too. Let's see what happens.

Posted by Markiss at 5:54 PM | Comments (0)

July 5, 2004

As Promised

O.k so as promised before. I said I would take a photo of myself at some of the sites around Jersey. So here ,just for your entertainment, is a photo taken yesterday by Gorey castle. As you can see, the day turned out much better than I originaly thought. This picture is of me on my way to the castle, as you can see I was in a bit of a hurry :-)

Posted by Markiss at 2:32 PM | Comments (0)

July 4, 2004

Life goes on

Well, life does go on. So what am I going to do today? Well I got up at 6:30 this morning! Why? I don't know, it just happened, couldn't get to sleep at all last night. Went for a walk round the green lanes early this morning. It's amazing how many animals are out and about. I seem to miss all of that normally. Think I may get used to this time keeping (Nah bollocks!) I think I will go to the pictures today and watch "The day after tomorrow". Have heard that it is a good movie. Looking forward to that. After watching that I don't know what to do. It's a miserable day today, just really wet and horrible. Wanted to go to the Jersey Museum but it is closed today. Haven't been there for years. Was thinking how weird it is living over here. There are so many places to go to but I just never do. All of the Museums and Castles etc. Like Mont Orgueil, The Jersey Museum, Elizabeth Castle and the Jersey War Tunnels (a.k.a The German Under Ground Hospital) the list goes on and on. But just because I live here I don't bother going to see them. It seems as if us locals leave them for the grockles to go and see. But I am going to change that this year. I'm going to make it my mission to go and see all of them this summer. And to prove it, I am going to take a photo of me there and post it up on my site. Anyway, hope you are all having a good weekend. A demains!

Posted by Markiss at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)

July 3, 2004

A Sad day..........

O.K bear with me. A little pissed. Stefan............ Has been found! Dental records have proved it is him. Not in the papers yet but just wanted to let you guys know first. I feel soooooo alone. Don't know what to say............. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Posted by Markiss at 12:24 AM | Comments (0)

July 2, 2004

Holiday Update

Well since I haven't had any positive feedback on my trip to France (Thanks guys ;-) I have decided to do the following. Boat to Saint Malo then ferry across to Dinard. Stay there for a day. Then down to Dinan for a couple of nights. Then to Rennes for three nights and back to Saint Malo for one night before getting the boat back to Jersey. Now my only problem is how to get from place to place. It's a right bitch trying to find taxi's or bus routes online but i'm sure I will manage it.

Posted by Markiss at 4:19 PM | Comments (0)

July 1, 2004

Rich Farmers

Carrying on from Rob's entry on Property prices in Jersey being astronomically high, I find myself in a similar position sometimes. O.k I have my own house now. It has taken me 34 years to get it and a lot of money and I still don't own it outright myself. It wont be paid off for another 29 years and even when it is, I will still only own 38% of the property. I am one of three people who are paying into this property. So what's the point of this entry? Well, in my trade (Architect) I get to see most of what goes on in the building trade in Jersey. Recently I have been working on a house for a client of mine, I have designed him a 4 bedroom house with Study and Dining rooms too. So could easily be a 6 bedroom house. It will have a very large back garden and large front and side gardens. Ample parking with double garage aswell. Now to get to the point. It will cost in the region of £200,000 to build, that's including my fees and the Structural engineer's fees. If he fancies selling the house once it is completed he can put it on the Jersey market for at least £750,000! That's right £550,000 pure profit. Why you ask? Because he was given the land by his family for nothing. They paid about £20 for it 40 years ago. You see, they are one of these Jersey farmer families that are becoming millionaires just because of land they own. So do you reckon if I had put £20 in a bank account 40 years ago, it would be worth £550,000 now. Nah! don't talk crap. Just boils my head when I work on jobs like these. Not annoyed with the people I am doing the jobs for, not at all, they are paying me to design them for them :-) I'm annoyed with the States of Jersey for letting all this crap start in the first place. By the way, most of the States over here are farming families too. Suprise suprise. All loaded. Well most of them. Right, think I got that off my chest for now........

Posted by Markiss at 4:20 PM | Comments (0)

Meet the Talibans

Just had to put this up. O.K I am not racist and don't get invovled in politics in any way. I don't watch soaps either but this just had me in stitches. Think it has something to do with the audio that goes with it. You have to have sound enabled for this one. So watch it at home and not work :-) This will have me crying on the floor after anight at the pub..... So go on and Meet the Talibans

P.S. Was just reading through this guys website that I got it from and he has some great hate mail. So if you do get a bit freaked out by Stick men getting blown up, could you please email him at rob@stickdeath.com I am sure he would appreciate the slagging off!

Posted by Markiss at 1:59 PM | Comments (0)

Dirty Prizes

I have now got 5 soil samples from Jeremy. They seem to be getting dirtier (is that a real word? Just looks wrong) as we go along. What is all this about :-) Should find out one day..............

Posted by Markiss at 1:19 PM | Comments (0)