Chevy Chase was funny (he isn't anymore and hasn't been for a long time).

In much the same way that Bill Murray was doing the slacker / loser comedian thing for a while before he found could actually act, I wish the same would happen to Chase. I've no idea if he's got it in him or not but I would like to see it.

there's always a lot of talk about what stupid insufferable imperialist uncultured arrogant fat violent ignorant parochial bastards the Americans are

I've never really found this, and my friends are exactly the kind of right-on lefty guardian readers that I think you're trying to slur. They do talk quite a lot about what a bunch of loony lying bible-thumping science-hating warmongers the current american administration is. Personally, I dislike the current american government, but I love american popular culture, and the americans that I've met have been great and awful in the same proportion as every other country.

Also, I really thought Chevy Chase already was dead.

Mustn't.. feed..

William Goldman writes quite amusingly of his short stint as writer of the Invisible Man remake. Ivan Reitman wanted to make the usual Chevy Chase comedy, but Chevy wanted to focus on the "loneliness of the invisible man". Trouble was, he wanted that focus in the script. Eventually Goldman quit.

> exactly the kind of right-on lefty guardian readers that I think you're trying to slur

I'm not trying to slur anyone, thanks. (You'll know when I do.) There is a lot of talk like that; it's general background noise throughout Britain, and is no more prevalent on the Left than the Right. What is more prevalent on the Left, I find, is a tendency not to notice the difference between a serious point and frivolous nonsense.

There is a lot of talk like that; it's general background noise throughout Britain

Well as I said, that hasn't been my experience. Perhaps you just have more xenophobic friends than me.

Friends? I'm a blogger.

Speaking of Bill Murray (as I was), did anyone see this?

Do you think Chevy Chase would do that? If it got him in the newspapers then I believe the answer would be 'yes'.

"Shortly after doing the dishes, Murray left the party, the students said." - oh, that's fantastic.

Well, if we are going to be feeding the trolls after all then...

The "I don't hate Americans, just the current administration" bit always strikes me as being like the "Anti-semitic? Nonsense, I'm anti-Zionist" argument.

I have to get myself in a heap of trouble here and say that I think Will Ferrell's Mugatu in Zoolander is one of the funniest characters I've seen in recent years. I do, however, live in Japan, and we all know what Japanese TV is like.

No wedding presents for you, Sushi-boy.

Awww! A pox upon your unswavering opinions!

You can buy me a beer at least...

Chevy Chase hasn't been funny since he left SNL. And most of us know it, too.

Now the French and Jerry Lewis ...

Beer? Ha! I laugh at your paltry beer! If I recall correctly, I promised you a bacon and egg soda on the patio next time you're round. It'll probably be a bit cold for the patio, but it's an adaptable offer and can be moved indoors. Though it's unlikely you'll have time, of course.

Has Y ever had a bacon and egg soda? Vic makes very good ones, you know. It'd be a shame to return to Japan without having experienced such a thing. And potato bread. Fried in butter.

Steven,

It's not an argument -- just an assertion of fact. I hate the Chinese government much more than I dislike the current American government, yet oddly I also don't hate Chinese people.

Well, if we are going to be feeding the trolls

Who's the troll here, Steven? You're the one trying to derail the conversation over to your obsession with imagined lefty antisemitism.

My wife is going to get very fat during our month in the UK. And no, she's never had soda bread. God, a whole new world is opening to us.

Sorry, Ekmi, were the hints too subtle? There is only one person here who has derailed the conversation, over to their obsession with Left versus Right, and whose reaction to having this pointed out to them was to insult their host. All Stephen's done is join in your conversation, only without insulting me. I'm generally quite easy-going and don't often delete comments, so if you want to steer the comments of a really very silly post towards earnest political whinging, be my guest. But I will draw the line at your then complaining that other commenters are changing the subject away from what you were discussing. You want to do that, get your own blog.

Meanwhile, I think most of us are happy to ignore you and discuss fry-ups instead.

JB,

A month? I had no idea you were over for so long. Well, you'll have plenty of time to come and eat eggs, then. And see the baby, too. Eight days till its arrival.


Ronnie,

Having gone to St Andrews, I can just see that happening.

Pray what is this "bread of soda" that ye be wittering on about?

No, I suppose it's not prevalent in England.

Looking for an answer to your question led me to this, which is kind of hilarious. The guy's clearly very upset about people putting the wrong ingredients in their soda bread. But it's also informative.

Basically, it's bread made with bicarbonate of soda instead of yeast as a raising agent and containing buttermilk, because all Irish recipes contain buttermilk — it's the law. It is excellent toasted or fried, or even toasted then fried, and makes an excellent bacon & egg sandwich. Which last part is useless to you, of course, but you should try the bread, maybe with just lots of butter on it. Mmm.

I had "Irish soda bread" with a single, unpeeled, uncut raw carrot baked into it once.

It was vile, and a bit laughable.

Just the thing for troll food.

That may have been soda bread, but it weren't Irish. The Irish would use a potato, as eny fule no.

Does sound vile, yes.

I understand now.

I could make a macon-and-egg sandwich, if I could get any soda bread at the local kosher bakery. Although come to think of it I haven't seen macon since I left SA. It's just cured kosher beef, but supposedly tastes very similar. (Ach, who am I kidding? I wasn't always kosher- I've eaten bacon. It does taste very similar!)

Macon? Naw.

Pastrami? Yes!

Pastrami is lovely, but has no place in a fry-up.

Speaking of cow-based pig-like meats, bressaiola's really good.

Yes, it is. Very. So is salami, though that is pork. And we're avoiding pork because ... ?

We're not, but Stephen keeps kosher. Hang on — macon may be kosher, but macon & egg isn't, is it? Or do eggs not count as dairy products?

No, eggs are not dairy, they are parev, meaning neither meat nor milk, as are fish and of course all vegetables, fruits etc. In fact, chicken itself was parev long ago: if you think about it, the meat and milk prohibition arose from the injunction not to seethe a calf in its mother's milk: since chickens don't produce milk, there isn't prima facie a problem. However, due to the similarities between chicken and "proper" meat, the rabbis decided we should treat it as meat to prevent confusion.

Incidentally, eggs must be checked for bloodspots, because we can't eat blood (hence the soaking and salting of meat) but if no bloodspots, you can mix egg with meat or milk as you like. I happen to like omelettes with feta cheese! And my local kosher deli imports a nice product from Holland: whole eggs in a carton, just shake and pour into a hot pan. No eggshells!