Monday, December 16, 2013

Snow? Peter O’Toole.

Snow on PyramidsThe weekend has been snow, snow, snow. Saturday it snowed virtually all day although it was a very fine, light fall then Sunday it continued to snow but bigger flakes came down. It certainly covered everything in sight. From the reports on TV though, we didn’t get as much as some areas. It is supposed to warm up Snow Camelsagain during the week and, as Christmas is still over a week away, who knows whether we will have a white or a green Christmas. Stephen Tremp posted pictures on Facebook showing the Pyramids, in Egypt, covered in snow which hasn’t happened for 100 years. There are also pictures of camels in the snow, they must be wondering what on earth has hit them. Later I saw pictures of Jerusalem covered in snow.

I was very sorry to hear of the death of Peter O’Toole this weekend. peter-o-toole-star-of-lawrence-of-arabiaHe was my all time favourite actor. He was absolutely brilliant and we all admired him when I was in drama school as a young woman. At the time the general opinion was that anyone who acted with the Bristol Old Vic was going to be outstanding, it had a very good reputation. Although he is most well known for his part in Lawrence of Arabia, I always loved his portrayal of King Henry in Becket. Apparently both O’Toole and Richard Burton (who played Becket) both drank heavily and their off set carousing made headlines. In those days, mind you, actors generally drank a lot. I remember some actors would keep a case of beer in their dressing rooms during performances. I loved the quoted comment by Nöel Coward, “if O’Toole had been any prettier they would have had to call it Florence of Arabia”. O’Toole also smoked Gauloises (French cigarettes) and I am surprised those didn’t finish him off years ago. When I was in France I tried them and they were, in my opinion, lethal.

This looks like a yummy way to cook shrimp
.
Foil packet shrimp

Anastasia YoungFoil Packet Shrimp

1/2 stick softened butter...
1 cup chopped parsley
2 chopped garlic cloves
Salt and pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
1 lb unpeeled large shrimp
Pinch of red pepper flakes

Place all ingredients into 2 foil packets, fold up and seal
Grill 8-10 minutes or until shrimp are fully cooked.

Have a great day
Jo

10 comments:

  1. Hi Jo .. yes sad about Peter O'Toole, but he had a good life ... lived it well. The artichoke recipe in your previous post looks very good .. and snow - I gather north America is somewhat covered .. it's whipping over the Atlantic .. mostly towards Scotland I'm glad to say ... windy here, but still 'warm' ... cheers Hilary

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    1. Friends in Whitstable say they are wet and cold at the moment, so if it's warmer where you are, I guess you are lucky. We sure have had lots of the white stuff. Just hope it hangs around for Christmas.

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  2. In the freezer now - snow on the ground and it's staying! Brrrrr! Makes the Christmas decorations sparkle though!

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    1. Yup, Christmas decorations do look great with snow around.

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  3. A hundred years is a long time. I'm sure those camels were really confused.

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  4. Shame about O'Toole. Fine actor.
    Snow in Egypt is just wild.

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    1. He was my hero on stage.

      Isn't it just. Israel as well.

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  5. I loved Peter in "Lawrence" and Omar Shariff as well -- sigh. How they remembered all their lines and could drink so much must be attributed to a special gene.

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    1. I loved Omar Shariff in Dr. Zhivago too.Must have been a universal gene for actors I think.

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