Back to the City

Up in time for a pancake, yay!

But all good things must come to an end, and after a wonderful Spalding Christmas, Charlie, Penny, Andrew and I headed back to London.  A little challenging to get all of our stuff on the trains, but we got there eventually.  Quite tired, and feeling in need of a rest.

So we had a low key evening, ordering curry in, playing Small World and watching the last Harry Potter film (C not impressed) and squeezing in a bit of the big quiz of the year.

Our twelve days of Christmas

Day 3: A Quote

Charlie cited a quote that he had heard years ago from his Dad, and read for himself recently in the Robert Heinlein book 'Stranger in a Strange Land', "Love is that condition in which another's happiness is essential to your own."

Mine was a little more contemporary ... from Ratatouille, one of my favourites about the role of creator and critic:

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy.

We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.

But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defence of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations, the new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement.

They have rocked me to my core.

In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France.

I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more."

- Anton Ego, ‘Ratatouille’ (2007)