The letter meme. Baa, baa, baaaaaaaa

[tree_and_leaf]

Comment and I'll give you a letter. Then you have to list 10 things you love that begin with that letter. After, post this in your journal and give out some letters of your own.

mrstater tagged me to name 10 things I love beginning with the letter P.

1. Peter Wimsey. Despite my urge to torture him in the AU of Doom, I love him dearly. I mean, how on earth could I resist some-one who is good with incunabula, cricket and wine - as well as being both passionate, honourable, and witty. Being able to talk piffle is also a good thing...

2. Potatoes. No, seriously. That, along with the absence of coffee and tea (and, er, reliable medicine) would really put me off time-travelling back to the middle ages. But I amost think that potatoes would be the worst loss of the lot, as it would probably do me good to be removed from coffee, and if you have fresh herbs herbal tea can be pretty decent. But no potatoes: no roast potatoes crisp on the outside and fluffy inside (best made with duck fat!); no mash with butter and nutmeg; no dauphinoise; no cheesy mashed potatoes crisped up in the oven; no shepherds pie; no dumplings.... Blast. I'm now really, really, hungry.

I always liked the story that Fredrick the Great, after failing to convince the peasants to grow the potato samples he had given them for free, introduced the potato to Brandenburg by putting the rest of the potatoes in an apparently heavily guarded warehouse - and ordering the guards to look the other way when people burgled it.

3. Parzival (note correct, Middle High German spelling, and not the odd variant adopted by a certain composer who shall - much though I love his music - remain nameless). Although the story of the innocent fool who learns compassion the hard way is certainly an engaging one, my love for it is chiefly due to Wolfram von Eschenbach's version. Full of strange metaphors, peculiar personal asides, and strange bits of beauty and wisdom, this is a remarkable poem. Cyril Edwards' new translation is pretty good. ... Actually, I love Willehalm, a crusade epic with a strong, resourceful and theologically and morally acute heroine, and serious doubts about the ethics of 'holy' war, even more, but it doesn't begin with the right letter.

4. Port Ellen whisky. A kind soul stood me some of this recently (the 21- year old cask strength. It was very good: obviously fairly peaty, but with quite a lot of citrus and something slightly reminiscent of toast. They don't make it any more, alas. It may also be taken as representative of many other excellent whiskies which don't begin with P.

5. Peas. Fresh from the garden. Nice raw in a salad, or very lightly cooked. If I don't eat them all while shelling them, that is.

6. Patrick Troughton, (Jon) Pertwee and Peter Davison. My three favourite Doctor Whos (though I don't really dislike any of them apart from Six - and I'm sure I'd like him more if it weren't for the dodginess of many of the scripts, and That Bloody Coat)

7. (A) Piece of the Action. This is a rather silly episiode of Star Trek, the original series, but one can't but love a story which involves Spock looking sharp in a fedora and insulting Kirk's driving skills. or Kirk escaping captivity by confusing his guards by making them play a totally incomprehensible game with contradictory rules made up on the spot... Looks like I'm sorry I haven't a clue will still be going on in the twenty-third century.

8. Paul Simon. Great songwriter.

9. Palaeography. And all variations of manuscript and incunabula studies. Old books are interesting by definition.

10. Poetry. Life would be so much poorer without it.

Comments

[greenwoodside.livejournal.com]

2. So true. And now you've made *me* hungry, about twenty seconds after finishing my baked potato with coleslaw.

[tree_and_leaf]

Ah, potatoey goodness... sorry. Would you like a letter? Have an F.