Watching flowers in the rain

Off to Singleton Park this morning, or more precisely Singleton Botanical Gardens therein, to buy some more plants for project 'nice garden'. The nice things about buying here, is that all the profits are fed back to the gardens, and it's staffed by volunteers.

Fuchsia, future, geddit?

Our Garden now looks wonderful! Hat-tip Kim

Beer of the week #2

 

Got the Louie this week. I'm not a major fan of Witbier, but this was just perfect on a summer's evening @ BeerRiff. Fresh, lemony, quaffable, but still a respectable 5.2 abv. All the way from Lewes, I must say that it travelled well. Hat-Tip Beak brewing 

Big chief Mounjaro of the Skinnifitti tribe

 Before:-

After:-

What a difference MJ makes; 24 little kilos...

DCLH & Myself have now lost over 24Kg in 3 months. The main difference has been the silencing of the 'food natter' in our minds. Sometimes we forget to eat. Hopefully this will lead on to fitter, healthier little soldiers. Work in progress, so watch this space.

All praise the MJ!

p.s. kudos for anyone working out the joke on the last T-shirt; reply below

Iron Zion Lion

Gutted that the lions tour will not be shown on Gringo TV. But happy that it's on Taff TV. Phew. I guess that we will have to turn the volume off & the radio up :-) 

Tough news for people outside Wales. Yet another reason why independence for Wales makes sense. 

P.S. I wish I hadn't bothered. It looked like none of the Lions had been introduced to each other, looked at the gameplan, and forgotten how to pass. I hope they get some team sessions in between now & the first test, or it could be a very sad affair.

When is a pint not a pint? - Public Service Information #1

From the excellent, if verbose, Money Saving Expert:-

You're entitled to a pint filled to the brim, or the line if your glass has one.

You should get at least 95% liquid.

If you don't want up to 5% to be head, you can ask for a top-up.

Not sure whether your pint meets the 95% liquid to 5% head ratio? You can use the width of a standard Biro pen as a rough yardstick for what 5% looks like – though of course, it'll depend on the size and shape of your glass.

or, if you want the long answer:-

When it comes to the pouring of the humble pint, and the size of its head – the layer of frothy foam on top – the law is unfortunately about as clear as a hazy IPA.This is why industry body the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) introduced its own guidelines – as agreed with the Department of Trade and Industry (since replaced by two newer departments) – back in 1993.So, let's not beat around the bush bar. Here, at a glance, are your pint rights according to those guidelines:

You're entitled to a pint filled to the brim, or the line if your glass has one.

You should get at least 95% liquid.

If you don't want up to 5% to be head, you can ask for a top-up.

Not sure whether your pint meets the 95% liquid to 5% head ratio? You can use the width of a standard Biro pen as a rough yardstick for what 5% looks like – though of course, it'll depend on the size and shape of your glass.

Unsatisfied with the pint you've been served?

If your beer doesn't measure up, simply head back to the bar – before taking a sip, clever clogs – and ask for your glass to be filled up.

The BBPA's guidelines state that pubs should be happy to top you up, so don't worry about bar staff thinking you're causing a fuss – you're only asking for what you've paid for, after all.

If you're refused, the BBPA says to try talking to the management. City of London Trading Standards, which ran a campaign on asking for top-ups back in 2018, says as a last resort you could complain to your local trading standards office. But before going that far, try to settle things in person or, failing that, in writing. 

You could also take to social media, which can be a powerful tool when it comes to consumer rights, but remember that many pubs are struggling at the moment. BBPA figures show that, across England and Wales, six pubs a week closed for good last year, so maybe err on the side of restraint.

Whether you decide to pursue your complaint privately or publicly, try to be polite and stick to the facts, even if you're frustrated – and who isn't when they're left disappinted (sorry).

As mentioned in the previous section, the law provides a similar level of clarity as someone who's had a pint too many.

Let's start with the basics. The Measuring Instruments Regulations 2016 No. 1153 state that pints can be measured by the brim of a pint glass or a line measure – that's the line you get on larger glasses which indicates where a pint comes up to.

So if you buy a pint, you should get a full pint – but sadly these regulations don't say whether that pint should include the head. And that's the real question. The debate over whether a pint measure includes the head has been raging for decades, if not centuries – it was even discussed in the House of Lords back in 1984.

There's some law on this too – when the Weights and Measures Act became law in 1985, part IV, section 43 declared that "in ascertaining the quantity of any beer or cider... the gas comprised in any foam on the beer or cider shall be disregarded."

That seems to suggest you're entitled to a full pint of liquid plus head – but confusingly, this section was then repealed in 1994, so the legislation no longer stands.

The BBPA told me this was because while some drinkers don't see the head as an important part of a pint, others see it as essential and also a sign of how good (or not) it is.

Since the 1960s, various legal cases regarding short measures of beer have ascertained that the head is intrinsic to a pint, but what hasn't been nailed down is the extent of that head.

As you may remember from when we set out on this search for truth, justice and sufficient beer, due to the lack of clarity on pints rights provided by the law, the BBPA has its own guidelines for pulling a pint, more formally known as the Guidance Notes on the Dispense of Draught Beer by Free Flow and Hand Pull.

While the BBPA encourages the 20,000 pubs it represents to follow these, it says they're best practice and intended as reasonable guidelines that can be comfortably adopted across the broader hospitality industry. This is why they're backed by its fellow trade bodies, the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations (FLVA) and Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA).

The guidance, which is based on the use of more traditional fill-to-the-brim glasses, states: "A measure of a beer served with a head must include a minimum of 95% liquid."

Now, if like me you like a good head on your beer, that's fine. But if you don't, then for every, say, 10 pints you buy, you're actually only getting nine and a half.

Or to put it another way, if you pay the average price of £5.17 for a pint of draught beer as calculated by The Morning Advertiser, you're losing 26p in beer.

Ouch.

But the good news is that the guidelines also state: "Requests from customers for top-ups should be received with good grace and never refused, subject to avoiding spillage of liquid."

That sounds more like it.

So there you have it. Enjoy your (full) pint and, of course, as we always say, please be Drinkaware.

RastaSwansaii

Swansea is honoured to have been visited by a living god. 

Apparently Hailie Selassie visited this god's country several times. He popped in to see his nephew who was studying at the bible college Wales just up the road on Derwen Fawr. 

Honoured as a living god by some Rastafarians, he enjoyed camping here in '39 & '40. From wiki:-

Rastafarianism, is a relatively young religion that originated in Jamaica during the 1930s. It's an Abrahamic, Africa-centered faith with strong ties to social and political activism. Rastafarians believe that Haile Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, is God (Jah) incarnate, and that he will lead people of African descent back to Africa. 

I want to claim a connection, also to another Howell linked to this story of Rastafarianism. Leonard Howell was instrumental in its genesis.

Leonard Percival Howell, also known as The Gong or G. G. Maragh, was a Jamaican religious figure. He was one of the first preachers of the Rastafari movement, and is known by many as The First Rasta. 

I love that he was known as "the Gong". I think as from now I wish also to be known as the gong.

Although Leonard P. Howell suffered much abuse for the foundation of Rastafari, his legacy as a perceived true hero and leader in anti-colonialism took root throughout Jamaica and the Caribbean and eventually globally. Ironically, the same government who sought his continual persecution has in 2022 awarded L.P. Howell or 'Gong' with an Order of Distinction.

I can't claim any relationship to him, apart from the vague & shameful tradition that black slaves often took their surname from their white owners. I know several Welshmen were complicit with this crime against humanity, perhaps the most notable amongst them being General Picton of waterloo fame. I guess a Howell was one, too.

Amazingly, yet another Howell is involved in this story. Rees Howells (note the added 's'), was instrumental in the setting up of The Bible college, Wales.

 Rees Howells was director of the college until his death in 1950.[10] He was succeeded by his son Samuel Rees Howells who led the college until a year before his death in 2004. In July 2009 the Bible College of Wales saw its last graduation.

The story of the Bible College of Wales is fascinating itself, but for another post

 

El Grupo Libros

Off to Pigshire to meet up with Rob & David for El Grupo Libros - Nick is now excused due to his death. We have been meeting since Jan 2005 - some 20 years, off & on.

Permalink to our list of books here

Here are some old posts from Stuff & Nonsense mentioning the book club:-

el-groupo-libros.

el-grupo-libros

The story-so-far

el-grupo-libros

top-10-books

Here are some of Nick's posts re: El Grupo

Rebel Rebel

Following from my post, Chapeau Tiny Rebel, the cutest big little brewery in South Wales. They make a huge range of interesting beers, from Jam doughnut ales, to Frambuzzi raspberry sour

To date, they have launched hundreds of new beers, with Cwtch, and Clwb Tropicana (renamed tropica due to legal threats from Pepsico who seemed to own the word tropicana) being prize winning favorites, to Stay Puft marshmallow ale, Frambuzzi, Electric boogaloo, Cali pale et al. Current range here. I have tried 107 of them :-//. See below

They never fail to impress, whatever crazy combinations they try. Oh, and the logo is cool, too. 

Owain & I went on a brewery tour a few years ago, & had a brilliant time, being shown around by a passionate member of their team. 

Long may they brew. 

I have tasted:-

107 entries in 'The Beerhunter'. 5% of my list. Impressive.

We visited the brewery tap on Father's day, & added another 4 to the list. Halves of course.

Pwll Mawr, Iesu Mawr!

A sad but lovely Father's Day this Sunday. Missing our dads, especially Bill, who's birthday coincided with this day this year. I can't believe that it's a year since he died. We miss him every day.

Saying that, I believe we had the best day in the spirit of what he'd have wanted. A family day with all of us together celebrating family. (apart from Katie, who was seeing her bunch, of course)

We met up at Pwll Mawr (The Big Pit) in Blaenafon. What a great experience! We spent about an hour down the mine, and then visited the King Coal exhibit, which was really 10/10. 

Then off to Tiny Rebel Brewery Tap, followed by a take-away Curry @ H&O's. Smashing

Kalashnikov

 

I posted an ambition back in 2006 to own a Kalashnikov AK-47.

I went someway towards this last month at a shooting range in Orlando, by having a darn good go with one. The kickback was quite soft, but the muzzle got really hot. I didn't follow the mudjahideens technique of pissing on the barrel, as I thought the staff might object.