Monday 16 January 2012

why #UglyUGGs are bad for economy

It's a known fact to my Twitter-followers I am not fond hate UGGs and that I keep on calling them #UglyUGGs (the #, called hashtag, is something typical Twitter-like to make searching for some topics easier). I think #UglyUGGs are the worst things in fashion over the last years. Well... together with skinny models. They look horrible (both the models and #UglyUGGs), they are bad for your feet (so are high heels, but at least these look good on a woman) and if they get wet they will not keep you warm at all, no worse they'll cause influenza because of wet cold feet!

So WTF is the advantage, why are women wearing these horrible things? Because they are so comfortable and  warm is the most heard answer. Warm? But once they get wet? Which could happen in winter (especially in the Netherlands). Then you end up having soaking wet and cold feet all day! Comfortable? Ow so you girls walk on heels and other fancy shoes because they are comfortable? I don't think so, most women just buy shoes because they look nice, or make them look nice. Which is absolutely okay! I like to look at women (what an eye-opener this must be for some people), I like to see women with nice shoes or boots. Especially with heels, it makes their legs look even better. But hey, if you want to feel comfortable, no problem at all! But why does comfortable needs to be horrible and ugly? There are many many comfortable, warm and still great looking (and CHEAPER) alternatives!

The point I wanted to make is: #UglyUGGs are bad for economy! Today in a short twitter discussion between me and two (until last week completely unknown to me) women concluded that #UglyUGGs are probably the best contraception there is! And likely to be allowed by the Church as well: they cause absolute sexual abstention! And that is what makes them bad for economy! In today's crisis we need people to spend and we need as much people as possible working to pay our future pensions, so children are a must!

So if you want to get your economy going: STOP buying #UglyUGGs!


Friday 13 January 2012

We don't need no #TVOH !

It happened last year and although I should've known better this year I fell again for the "purity" and joy of the blind auditions of a new Talent Show on Dutch TV: "The Voice of Holland", on Twitter known as #TVOH. For those who haven't seen it in their country yet an explanation of this concept:
this talent show starts with so called "blind auditions" where the jury members can't see the candidates in the beginning. They're turned with their backs towards the podium. Based on only the vocal performance they have to decide whether they want the candidate to go through to the next round, if they think he/she is good they hit a button and this juror's chair turns around and so he/she can see who is making that great sound.
It's especially nice when the candidate is a bit weird, particular, like the fully tattooed Ben Saunders. He was one of last years' contestants (and winner). Watch the video of his audition below here. Ben turned out to be a sheep -no a lamb- in wolves' clothing.

To make it even more interesting for the viewer the jury members who turned their seats (and thus want the candidate to go through) have to convince the candidate to choose him/her over another juror to join his/her team. So roles turn, it's not the candidate anymore that needs to convince the jury, it's the jury pulling on the candidates' limbs.

But back to what I wanted to point out. Right after so called blind auditions the Voice of X (fill in your country) turns back into being any other talent show with SMS votings and so the best looking boys are way ahead of the other candidates. (It's a known fact that teenage girls are the most active voters. Although Ben's charisma even managed to beat that.) But what made this show even worse is the infinite trust and positive comments by the jury. Even after a lousy performance. Where X-Factor was so interesting because the jury was sometimes very hard and direct this show looses it because it's soft, way too soft and it lacks criticism. So last week it was enough... I couldn't handle it anymore! This was too sweet and t0o incredible!

And then yesterday evening I saw the best "talent show" of this year. Seven teenage girls, tonight they'll  probably be voting for one of the cute boys in #TVOH's semi-final, were selected out a group of over 400 girls by one of Holland's best DJ's trying to become the Dutch Birdy. It was a very compact election, the 400+ girls send in a video via YouTube, the DJ (Giel Beelen) selected the best seven and they performed in the studio yesterday morning. Live on national radio and then Giel announced the winner. Apart from the fact that the best one won (Anna Verhoeven) I was very impressed by the performance all seven gave that very same evening in my favourite TV-show "De Wereld Draait Door" #DWDD singing Birdy's hit "Skinny Love". And that led to my conclusion that we do not need shows like TVOH. We just need YouTube, Social Media to push them and talent watchers like Giel!

Here below the clip of the performance by the Dutch Birdies, judge for yourself and let me know what you think by leaving a comment! (and here a link to the entire item/interview with all seven Birdies - in Dutch)

Saturday 7 January 2012

Pizzoccheri della Valtellina




Via Twitter, Facebook and Google+ I received some requests for the recipe of Pizzoccheri. I have taken the recipe of the box of the pizzoccheri I usually buy in our local supermarket.

Ingredients (for 6p):
500g pizzoccheri
300g potatoes (in 2x2cm cubes)
150-250g butter (I think 150g is more then enough)
300g Savoy cabbage, chard leaves (the white stamps) or spinach (I prefer Savoy cabbage) sliced
500g half fat cheese from Valtellina (Casera, Bito) - these can be hard to find outside Italy, maybe Fontina, Toma or (worst case) Brie can be used as an alternative (sliced)
150g grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic
some leaves of sage

Preparation (15-20mins):
Cook the potatoes and vegetables in boiling water, add the pizzoccheri after a couple of minutes and boil it for another 12-15mins until the pasta is nicely cooked "al dente".
When the pasta (and potatoes and veggies) are cooked drain the water and mix the slices of cheese and grated Parmesan under the pasta and veggies.
Meanwhile melt the butter on low fire with the garlic and sage (don't fry the garlic) and serve it over the pasta.

Buon Appetito!