Friday, December 29, 2006

Pre-new years eve dinner

Just a little starter before it becomes serious!

*** Sautéed spinach with apple cider, sour apples and a dash of cream, garnished with shrimps fried with garlic and peanuts.

*** Roasted pork tenderloin marinated in maple syrup-vinegar and lemon, served with roasted root vegetables, rosé mushrooms á la crème and a creamy clove sauce.

*** Chocolate soufflé

Thursday, December 28, 2006

... 2

A graphic scenery
Fragments and contents of reality
Shattered across the ground
Get on your knees and pray
Ask for the act will make a difference
Alter Egos lined up in front of the mirror
Grasp the pain as broken glass penetrates your skin
Embrace the joy of feeling anything at all
While meadows of blood are burning into shadows and dust

...

The days have now turned black

Please do not stop up... and look back!

End of the road

I dance
I sing
I sense

As I collapse
As the void opens up beneath me
As I wither away

Sunday, September 17, 2006

The drugs that bakers do

After having kept my pie intake on a minimum for a good while, I fell of the wagon and purchased a chocolate pie the other day. Though while consuming the first piece of it, I realized I wasn’t the only one battling with addictions.

The first bite was good as always, then some confusing tones hit my taste buds, scents of vanilla and a savoury sweetness that normally isn’t found in a chocolate pie, together with a soft jelly-like consistency puzzled me, until I took another bite and a good look at the pie!

The mystery then slowly materialized and I found that the pie was a hybrid of a chocolate pie and an apple pie. The normal chocolate pie that I normal get (and as I had bought earlier that day), with a layer of apples and apple jam beneath the chocolate and butter-based crème, quite a surprise.

It didn’t taste bad, the 2 elements did actually compliment each other quite well, when I first had tackled the thought of it, even though I am pretty sure it wasn’t the intended idea the good baker had when he made chocolate and apple pies that day, somewhere in his drugged up mind the yellowish apples and the brownish chocolate just got mixed up and all pies ended up as hybrids of chocolate and apple… and people say nothing good comes out of drugs!!!

The first game is home

The first hockey match in the league went ahead as it should, AAB took Sønderjyske with 4-1 with goals scored by Tobias Holm (Jens Nielsen), Tobias Holm (Jens Nielsen, Ronny Larsen), Martin Rejthar (Dejan Matejic), Dejan Matejic (Ilya Dubkov). The game was also secured by the really well-playing goalie Brian Greer. And just for some salt in the wound Brian Greer and Dejan Matejic played in Sønderjyske last season! So far the league is lead by the team we (read me) hope takes the gold this season!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

The Danish ice hockey season is about to start

Wee wee, here we go, finally time for the Danish hockey season to start! Danish ice hockey you might say, what the fuck is that? Well, is it comparable to NHL or the big European leagues? Not at all, but pretty entertaining and must be getting close to the top ten of European hockey, at least the quality of the players and the play have become a lot better the last few years!

My team is called AAB Ishockey and is located in Aalborg, the town where I live, so far they’ve been slated for the favourite role to take the Danish championship this year, and they do have the best team in the last few years in my opinion. And the last 3 years, the team have been in the finals and ended up with the silver, this year only gold will do it!!!

So far this season I’ve seen 3 games, 2 pre-season matches, lucky enough the 2 the team won and then yesterday the last game in the quarter-finals of the Danish cup, where AAB won 5-0 over Herlev Hornets, which gave AAB a total victory of 9-1 (over 2 games) and they are now ready for the semi-finals vs. Rødovre Mighty Bulls!

Though this Friday (15/9) the season will begin with the game Sønderjyske (the championship winner from last year (the 2005/06 season)) vs. AAB and then we’ll see how it’ll all go! Small updates might follow here!

Emotional Hangovers

"This is my very first rejection, no need to hide it away, if I can't get others to publish what I do I will myself and hopefully this won't be the last rejection (hell, I know it won't be!!!). With a wee bit of luck this will also mark my awakening of a dark slumber! Enjoy!"

In darkness, a heavy head, darkened thoughts, mental overdrive.
All has been postponed too long, caused an instant feed of too many impressions and happenings.
To grok or not to grok, it all needs to be understood, every stone needs to be turned.
What does this and that mean, how does one look upon that and this?
Who needs a response and who needs a mere reaction, who needs to be ignored?
The questions grow in numbers; thoughts expand and demands more attention.

Seeking the truth in both darkness and light, is there more than one answer to each question?
How far does one have to look to see where infinity ends?
Are matters of love and hate connected, does one exists without the other?
The mechanisms of life and all that is beyond demand attention, even though nothing but hours of mind-bending result thereof.

A man once saw the green flash of the sunset, a beam of green flash of light from the sun, the manifestation of Thule, the land long lost, a sight that should give peace in mind and balance to the soul, though that man is one of a few, so the rest can nothing but question the sighting, after how much questioning will that blessed man, start to question what he saw?

Of life and death, of flesh and blood, from dust to dust... How does death impact the lives of bystanders, relatives and friends, is it possible to ignore one of one's own kin and walk away unaffected by the person's death? Will "kiss and make up" on the deathbed have any effect, die in peace, rest in hell, live in hell, rest in peace, which of the 2 is the truth, if any of them are? Live and let live, what happens is destined to happen, who are we to alter the way of nature and fate?

If one asks to be loathed and hated, aren't we in the right to grant that wish, if the same person asks to be forgiven, aren't we in our right to set demands of forgiveness? And continue to loathe and hate, if those demands aren't fulfilled? Will death or the soon to be death of that person affect the decision once made in anger, or more concerned, should it affect it? A question that stirs up emotions, beliefs and ways to look upon the world and one self, when, if not will, the question be answered and will the answer appear in time?

Left in darkness, drowsy, aching limbs, the mental overdrive has gone into an apathetic mode. What’s next? Nothing, all has been done. For now at least, somewhere on the other side of dawn or was it dusk, the next task awaits!

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

The butterfly effect

Roughly according to chaos theory: When a butterfly bashes its wings in Denmark, someone dies in China. The butterfly effect in effect! Does the butterfly effect work? Most likely, but just as I described, I don’t think so, and I can imagine it will be hard to monitor, to get hard proof. Though if it does work I have killed a lot of Chinese today!!!

I took a walk in the forest, and the green grassy plains up there were crowded with butterflies, and as I trampled through the forest I made the butterflies flee in motion. And that! Must have made a lot of ripples in the spheres and then later on been the cause of many deaths, as their wings were pumping like crazy… Do the math!

Another thing I like about the forest, besides walking in it, not all the slaying of course, is all the cherry plum trees that grow wild there. Old huge trees stuffed with red and yellow cherry plums, and so far it seems like the animals, the insects and me are the only ones knowing where the trees are located. Year after year I haven’t noticed a single soul near the trees or seen any evidence of humans near by. A lost treasure in my eyes, though who am I to complain, it leaves more cherry plums for me!

On a spot another place in the forest, bathed in sunlight, when the sun shines of course, is a huge old gooseberry bush, with the sweetest, most aromatic, amazing and most delightful gooseberries. A thick bitter shell and sweet velvet-like fruit meat and juice, yummy!

Do I have to tell you that my tummy is hurting right now???

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

The Evil That Pies Do

Pies, a modern instrument of torture. Pies, a thing that illustrates all that is wrong with today’s society. Pies, the root of all evil. I can only dream of how much better a place the world would be without pies!!!

Well, the above doesn’t make much sense, does it??? If it does, you have the same problem as me! A pie addiction. Be it apple or chocolate, I’m hooked and I need one a week, otherwise I get a nervous breakdown, I can’t sleep, eat or drink. My vision becomes blurred, my head becomes heavy, I feel drowsy… I just feel like lying down to die!

Then I get my pie, I start to smile, I become happy, the sky turns pink with rainbows all over, small fairies are dancing around my feet, all my problems are gone, all is dandy!

Or is it? Hell no, all those pies are getting me fat! All that excessive sugar, butter, flour, chocolate and apple jam. It is all aggressive and performs multiple all-out blitzkrieg attacks on my belly. It doesn’t even come creeping in the night, noooo… it attacks straight on in the bright daylight…!

That, ladies and gentlemen, that is why you never should trust a pie, never invite a pie into your house, and never, mark my words, never let a pie’s sweetness caress your tongue!!!

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Unsung Hero, a new writer to check out

Who isn’t fascinated by the books from the 2 former SAS (Special Air Service, the British equivalent to Delta Force) soldiers Andy McNab and Chris Ryan. Not exactly big literary masterpieces the 2 write, but great and entertaining easy-reading, if the mind needs some relaxation, the storylines and action just blaze ahead without too many complications.

Now we have a new guy coming up, Kevin Fulton who has written the book Unsung Hero. Though he isn’t that popular within the “official” British intelligence system. But I can’t help think to myself that if the story was true and the British intelligence services have it all confirmed, why not let the good writer disappear, instead of making a lot of fuzz of it. Is it a mere publicity stunt or is there more hidden in it than we know? At least it is going to be good to read the book!

And Fulton might go from an unsung hero to a fallen hero, so check out this lyric for the song ‘To The Fallen Hero’ by the American heavy metal band God Forbid and check the song as well, if you can find it somewhere…!

All hail the art of eating and drinking

Not much is better than a lot to eat and drink… Well preparing the food can be quite fun as well, and often more satisfying than eating it, for some strange reason. One being a lot of expectations has to be met during the meal, and that can take focus away from the pure joy of eating a good meal. Though the more wine accompanying the food, the more relaxing it becomes.

Yesterday I prepared a meal for some friends, I took care of the food and one of the others took care of the wine. The final output was quite satisfying if I have to say so, both regarding food and wine.

During the afternoon, in between insane amounts of coffee (well, I was the only one engorging that, though I was also working) we started out with a German Riesling spätlese, a quite good drink. Then for the appetizer (I will go through the menu a bit later) we got a grand cru Riesling from Domaine Bott Geyl in Alsace, vintage 1999 if I remember correctly. Then for the starter, a nice Moury Saint Denis from Nicolas Potel (I do not remember the vintage to be honest), a good burgundy. Then for the main course we had two wonderful burgundy’s a Gevry-Chambertin premier cru Clos St. Jacques (I can’t remember the producer here for fucks sake!) from 1996 and a Nuits St. Georges 2001 from Nicolas Potel, 2 really grand wines, hard to find wine a lot better than those. For dessert we had a German ice-wine from 1986, it wasn’t as fresh as it could have been, but quite fun to taste.

After the meal for the fun of it, we had a Gewürztraminer Vendange Tardive (late harvested) from Alsace and a late-bottled vintage port wine from 1994.

Now let’s take a look at the food. For the appetizer I had prepared a cold cucumber soup garnished with julienne of fresh cucumber, small balls of cantaloupe melon, shrimps and dill. The starter was steamed plaice (covered with chopped celery leaves), a sauté of fennel and red bell-pepper seasoned with a wee bit of vinegar, a sweet red wine sauce and a sauce mousseline, that dish turned out really well!!! The main course was pork tenderloin roasted with thyme and baked garlic. The sauce was a thick chicken broth with shallots, bacon and slow fried “rose” mushrooms. For the garnish I had made caramelized shallots and fried celery root with pistachios and of course slow baked potatoes with thyme and dill.

The dessert deserves a paragraph for itself; it was a variation of raspberry, how poetic… I had a biscuit cake with raspberry filled with a white chocolate mousse, a raspberry coulis, a raspberry parfait (which I forgot when decorating the dessert, so we had to eat it later) a raspberry crème, a sauce anglaise and finally a grape fruit jelly to bring some bitterness and freshness to the dish, the dish was decorated with melted dark chocolate.

All in all a quite good evening with great wine and food, cosy and relaxed, for my part the last half of the meal at least, I don’t think I started to relax before that point, haha.

Against all predictions all the surreal stuff happened on my walk home last night (if 4:30 am can be called night). On the harbour a ship was being loaded with logs, not a normal sight that early and on the other site of the fjord a young couple was diving into water, off a tugboat for some reason, not that I disapproved as the girl didn’t have much clothes on, though not that interesting that I could be arsed to stop and look at it. I was more eager to get home in bed, before too many rays from the sun would hit me…

(Why have I only linked to Wikipedia...??? Simply because I am lazy... and it is a good start... you can always go on from there ;)... and if there are any questions regarding anything, feel free to give me a shout...!)

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Headwind... A blessing in disguise?

Cycling in headwind truly sucks! Or does it? I can’t really make up my mind. Though when riding in headwind, all muscle groups are used more intense and it really makes you feel alive.

I was also supposed to go to the zoo today, but that got cancelled in the last minute. Too bad as the tigers just had kittens, well some other day.

Check out the zoo’s website here. Though use a cooperate browser, the site does not work properly in Firefox at least, which is kinda weak, considering our present standards. I should write them an email and bitch about their website design!!! Some day, maybe, if I get around to it.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Getting fit and discovering the horrors of nature

I decided to become sporty and fit, again, a couple of days ago, so today I went out to get me a bike, so I could start to enjoy the wonderful Danish nature and cruel weather, while getting fit at the same time. I got me a mountain bike, this model, as that was the last kind of bike I owned, and I enjoyed riding on that one. The nice thing about this time a year is that cycle-retailers are having sales, so I also got it kinda cheap, which always is a nice thing.

Well, I got on the bike and headed home, quite funny to ride a bicycle again, as I haven’t rode one since 2001, where I sold the before mentioned mountain bike. Though as they say: “Riding a bicycle is like sex, if you first have learned it, you’ll never forget it!” (HEY! If it works one way, it should work the other way as well!).

After returning home, and getting ready for the virgin-voyage. A little trip to a spot called “hesteskoen” (the horseshoe), a nice small place by the fjord, a small bay like area with a couple of small docks, where people can bathe from, benches and the likes. A great place to relax on a hot spring or summer day.

Though one minus with “hesteskoen” is that, on the other side of the fjord, the county has placed a huge power plant, the damned thing that supplies most of North Jutland with electricity. Mountains of coal, cranes, bull- (or coal- in this example, hoho) dozers, smoking chimneys and pylons en masse. Not exactly things of beauty and things casting idyllic shadows, but what the heck! My bitching will not make the thing go away, and I do kinda need the power from it.

But… when we are at it, such a place does also attract unwanted individuals. At least unwanted in my universe. Small noisy children and their grandparents aka fat men without shirts, proudly sporting their pale belly. Together with their loud obnoxious wives, who don’t spare a moment to make everybody within miles, aware of their presence.

Though I’m pretty sure the above scenario won’t change in my time. As the propositions I have come up with to fix such problems, all have been rejected by government officials. I still have a hard time to realize how the propositions that follow became stamped as: “Evil, cruel, inconsiderate, heartless and thoughtless”. I guess the world isn’t ready for my kind of radical thinking yet, all systems are still too damn conservative.

How to make nature and public spaces better and more peaceful!

Proposition one: “Kids should at all times be kept on a short leash, if loud gagged. If they can’t be controlled while on leash, a cage will be available.”

Proposition two: “Older loud women have to be gagged at all time, besides when eating. Sign language classes will be made mandatory in schools and sign language classes will also be offered to the rest of the population.”

Proposition three: “Older overweight or beer gut equipped pale men, are advised to keep their shirts on. If the advice isn’t followed, the shirt will be stapled to the person’s in question body.”

The End

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Food for thought, alcohol for numbness

Alcohol opens your senses and sets your mind in gear, is something commonly said, that might be quite true, and in vino veritas is also a quite correct expression. The Romans were right in many fields, and wine does indeed loosen the tongue and make people talk. Though does all the talk make sense (I assume some will make sense, as that is quite normal until a certain point). If we take 100 people and let them get drunk on their own terms, how many percent sense and how many percent babble will we end up with? If I take myself as an example, I am certain the babble will take a comfortable lead and personal experience suggests the same regarding many others.

So if you wanna pull out the big thoughts, feed yourself with dietary fibre, greens, things that contains protein, vitamins and minerals, and to keep it a bit unhealthy, insane amounts of caffeine goes well into the mix too. The key is quite healthy and have a good nutritional value, just not get it too fatty, as that will make you comfortable, and that is never good!

Give food for thought a chance, and save alcohol for when you are done with the thinking or to slow your mind down and finally numb it, when it becomes too much.

Disclaimer: The above method is thoroughly tested on one human being! Though we do not offer refunds if you are dissatisfied with our product!!!

Welcome

Welcome to this brand new blog! What will it contain you might ask yourself? The typical commentary regarding this or that, a book review or 2, perhaps even an interview with a writer, or several if it turns out to be a success and the occasional short story. In other words, Sane Mallard will contain everything you don't expect, together with a bit of what you suspect, entangled in the wickedness of my view.

And if you now sit back and asks yourself of what a mallard is and what it has to do with anything going on here, have a look at this photo, and for the question: "What does it have to with this blog?", then the answer must be: "It'll might be revealed in the turn of time!".