Archive for the Life the Universe and Other Things Category
Friday 23rd April 2021
Posted in Life the Universe and Other Things on April 23, 2021 by bishshat
Keiller’s marmalade is named after its creator James and Janet Keiller (nee Mathewson, 1737-1813), and is believed to have been the first commercial brand of marmalade in Great Britain. It was made by James Keiller in Dundee, Scotland, later creating James Keiller & Son, a brand name which became iconic in the 18th and 19th centuries, and has been sold several times.
In the 18th century, James Keiller on speculation bought a Spanish ship’s cargo that included Seville oranges when the ship sought refuge from a raging storm. The ship had started its journey in Seville but the delay caused by the storm had made the oranges less fresh than they ought to have been. The bargain gave Keiller’s mother, Janet, the opportunity to manufacture a large quantity of marmalade. She boiled the bitter oranges with sugar which resulted in the creation of orange marmalade.
The true story is that Janet Keiller did not invent marmalade. Marmalade existed in Spain and Portugal since at least the 15th century and a Scottish recipe for orange marmalade appears in “Mrs McLintoch’s Receipts (sic)” of 1736.
In the 1760s, Keiller ran a small confectionery shop producing jams in Seagate, Dundee. Janet Keiller’s main modification to the recipe in 1797 was in the addition of thin strips of orange rind, creating peel or “chip” marmalade. The peel was thought to aid digestion, but the pith and much of the fiber was discarded. The consistency was also changed, from its former solid form (akin to quince jelly), to a spreadable semi-liquid form, and only at this point did it begin to be placed on toast (especially morning toast).
James and Janet Keiller were not a couple, but rather son and mother. James Keiller was single at the time that this story takes place. The shipload was probably no more than some boxes, particularly of Seville oranges, which were used medicinally and in a few recipes but not really a fruit consumed fresh. The name “marmalade” originates from the Portuguese word “marmelo” or quince, the fruit which made up the preserve with thin bits of peel. The Keiller contribution was to add the bits of the peel to the marmalade which are the signature of Seville orange marmalades to this day.
Contrary to local myth, the Keillers’ main business remained in running a grocery, and marmalade accounted for only 5% of trade in 1833. James Keiller died in 1839 and the business was continued by his widow, Margaret, and son, Alexander Keiller (1820-1877). In 1840, they moved to a new shop on Castle Street in Dundee, and were also running a small marmalade factory off the High Street.
The first commercial brand of marmalade, along with the world’s first marmalade factory, was founded in 1797. In 1828, the company became James Keiller and Son, when James junior joined the business[6] In 1859 the company set up a factory in Guernsey in order to avoid the sugar tax charged on the mainland and with a view to eventually expanding business in the south of England. In 1888 (following the abolition of the sugar tax on the British mainland), the company opened a factory at Tay Wharf, Silvertown in London.[7] By the late 19th century the marmalade was shipping as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and China.
Only in 1867 did marmalade become the predominant company product. This also linked to a conscious promotion programme in the British colonies. The 19th-century expansions were done under the directorship of John Mitchell Keiller (1851-1899). John took over in 1877 on the death of Alexander.
In 1876, when the British Trademark Registry Act came into force, Keiller’s Dundee Orange Marmalade was one of the first brands to be formally registered.
It is believed that James Keiller and Son was also the first to produce Dundee cake commercially and to give it the distinctive name. By the 1920s, after the firm had been acquired by Crosse & Blackwell, the company had become a producer of a wide range of confectionery, preserves and cakes. After this acquisition in 1920,[7] Keiller was sold again several times before becoming part of another company of Scottish origin, Robertson’s. It is now produced by Hain Celestial Group for export only.
The company ceased to exist in 1992.
A 22° halo is an optical phenomenon that belongs to the family of ice-crystal halos. Its form is a ring with an apparent radius of approximately 22° around the Sun or Moon. When visible around the Moon, it is called a moon ring or winter halo. It forms as direct sunlight or moonlight is refracted in millions of hexagonal ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. The halo appears large; its radius is roughly the length of an outstretched hand at arm’s length.
A 22° halo may be visible on as many as 100 days per year – much more frequently than rainbows
Wednesday 21st April 2021
Posted in Life the Universe and Other Things on April 21, 2021 by bishshat
Sunday 18th April 2021
Posted in Life the Universe and Other Things on April 18, 2021 by bishshat
Back In the U.S.S.R.
The Beatles
Oh, flew in by Miami Beach B.O.A.C.
Didn’t get to bed last night
On the way the paper bag was on my knee
Man I had a dreadful flight
I’m back in the U.S.S.R.
You don’t know how lucky you are boy
Back in the U.S.S.R. (Yeah)
Been away so long I hardly knew the place
Gee it’s good to be back home
Leave it ’til tomorrow to unpack my case
Honey disconnect the phone
I’m back in the U.S.S.R.
You don’t know how lucky you are boy
Back in the U.S.
Back in the U.S.
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out
They leave the West behind
And Moscow girls make me sing and shout
That Georgia’s always on my my my my my my my my my mind
Aw come on!
Ho yeah!
Ho yeah!
Ho ho yeah!
Yeah yeah!
Yeah I’m back in the U.S.S.R.
You don’t know how lucky you are boys
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out
They leave the West behind
And Moscow girls make me sing and shout
That Georgia’s always on my my my my my my my my my mind
Oh, show me ’round your snow-peaked mountains way down south
Take me to your daddy’s farm
Let me hear your balalaikas ringing out
Come and keep your comrade warm
I’m back in the U.S.S.R.
Hey you don’t know how lucky you are boys
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Oh let me tell you, honey
Hey, I’m back!
I’m back in the U.S.S.R.
Yes, I’m free!
Yeah, back in the U.S.S.R.
Ha ha
Saturday 17th April 2021
Posted in Life the Universe and Other Things on April 17, 2021 by bishshat
After The Thrill Is Gone
The Eagles
Same dances in the same old shoes
Some habits that you just can’t lose
There’s no telling what a man might lose,
After the thrill is gone
The flame rises but it soon descends
Empty pages and a frozen pen
You’re not quite lovers and you’re not quite friends
After the thrill is gone, oh,
After the thrill is gone
What can you do when your dreams come true
And it’s not quite like you planned?
What have you done to be losing the one
You held it so tight in your hand well
Time passes and you must move on,
Half the distance takes you twice as long
So you keep on singing for the sake of the song
After the thrill is gone
After the thrill is gone
You’re afraid you might fall out of fashion
And you’re feeling cold and small
Any kind of love without passion
That ain’t no kind of lovin’ at all, well
Same dances in the same old shoes
You get too careful with the steps you choose
You don’t care about winning but you don’t want to lose
After the thrill is gone
After the thrill is gone
Bishshat Annex 