TIM TAM REDUX
 

Seriously Margo,

What treat from New Mexico do you fancy? Some nice chili powder? Senor Murphy candy? or ???. Send us your mailing address to [email protected] and we'll look for a treat for you. Those Tim Tams sustained us through our move.

xox
AndrewDavid

Just out interest, I have heard about New Mexico honey. Only from one source so maybe not reliable.

So is New Mexico honey something special?

Poppy seed orange cake.

Johnj, John was flatterd by your hurrah. We have moved into temporary quarters . We started construction ont he new house today. W/ an 8 month build out we should be ready for your arrival in April '06. If you come earlier we have a crowded guest space here9 cum office cum wardrobe). Hope you and Jenny are OK. I early voted today; but Democracy Now on National Public Radio had a depressing report on how much easier it will be for the Republicans to manipulate this years vote than in 2000 best wishes A

Jane, We always buy local NM honey at the weekly Tesuque Pueblo flea market. Supposedly good for seasonal allergies: juniper and chamisa and tasty too. Cheers
A/D

The Sydney Morning Herald noted that New Mexico was one of the undecided states, so there is some hope for you!

Yes, New Mexico is one of those "battleground" states.

Dh and I are both presiding judges at our local middle school this year; it should be an interesting day!

Lee Ann

Given the rising clamour about untrusted voting technologies, I guess we can expect some legal challenges if the result is close?

That's probably an understatement, Neil.

At our presiding judge class last week, we were told that at least a couple hundred lawyers are on their way here. I don't know if they're sneaking in over the border or if they're doing nighttime parachute drops, but we expect to be invaded any minute. ;-)

Lee Ann

Which state is "here", Lee Ann? Sounds like a lawyer's feast, all right.

I just listened to a regular weekly interview with a guy named Bruce Shapiro, who writes for Salon.com. Seems that its a lay-down misere that there'll be court challenges whatever happens next week - and the Supreme Court has been showing some troubling signs of independence lately.

I think that Neil has been leading you up the political garden path AndrewD, particularly about the Aussie election and political processes. Our Labour Party ( I refuse to Americanize the word Labour just because they have) are about as close to your Democratic Party as the National Front/ Nazi Party is to the Family First or Christian Democrat Party. Not least of all your Democrats have men who are something resembling Politicians with a workable modicum of policital demeanour about them/him.
You should never believe what men who live in Canberra say about our Politicians - a bit like the unbiased people of (GWB hometown) in Texas.
Although I have been away and therefore was not here for our election I did have the chance to check the forum once in a while and wished I could have a nice verbal stoush with Neil during our elections, am I getting your "Irish" up yet Neil? I have missed your spirited missives on the posts here and as I am trying to get over my jetlag at 3AM I hoped that you had written more so that I could have some fun :0)

Neil, I'm in New Mexico, a little south of AndrewDavid.

Lee Ann

Liz, please stop trying to confuse our American cousins. There really isn't much ideological difference between the US Democrats and Labor, especially since the ALP dropped its commitment to socialism (and maybe since the Dems lost their conservative Southern base to their opponents).

On the spelling issue: when the Australian Labor Party was founded, in the late 19th century, the "-or" spelling convention was very common in Australia, and was considered a viable alternative up to relatively recent times. If you examine colonial-era documents from ca. 1800 you'll often come across it, as in "I have the honor to be..". British-English spelling is actually hopelessly confused on the matter, anyway ("governour" changed to "governor", and they use "honorary", not "honourary"). I suggest you consult the OED's article on the matter, and Fowler's Modern English Usage. From memory the OED's view is that the only reason the Brits haven't moved to "-or" is pigheadedness, insofar as the Americans got there first.

I don't much care whether we use British or American spellings. British English continually changes anyway, and there's no particular reason why Australians should favor British conventions over American.

(BTW, I liked your tongue-in-cheek use of the American "-ize" ending, rather than "-ise", in "Americanize".)

Thank you Neil for noticing the "ize" usage, you see I am actually bilingual seeing that I spent 2 years in North America and totally confused because of spending over a year in England - that would then make me trilingual wouldn't it? Add that to the fact that I am dyslexic when it comes to spelling in the first place be it in any language. Hense the reason I learnt Japanese so no one would notice!
Thanks also for clearing my confusion over the spelling issue with the "or" or the "our" because I always thought that it was because people just couldn't spell within the Australian Labour Party at the time and that was the problem but now I see that it really is only a preference between Med. English or Old French or Cicero. You really would have thought that they would have been able to spell, wouldn't you? I am using here the Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology Neil which was edited by the Hon. Mr. Onions so anyone with a name like Onions would be a tad suss at the best of times I should have thought so that would explain the confusion. Like you I think that life would have been much more tasty and less confused if the French has been a bit quicker with the sail boats back in the 1700s.

PS: Anyway Neil as a peace offering I will let you try some of my recipes from this cook book that I brought home with me from S.W. France being recipies from some of the Stately Homes etc of that region. Would make a nice change from Asian food!

Good heavens, Liz, no peace offering needed, although I'm always a sucker for a French dish (would that be Audrey Tautou?). In return I'll be glad to share my prized recipe for Sichuan Strange Flavour Chicken (collected at vast expense from last weekend's "Sydney Morning Herald", courtesy of Ms Siu Ling Hui).

Japanese looks like a challenge. My son was so impressed by his visit to Japan that he's now learning the language in preparation for a longer stay. Me, I learned just enough Mandarin to get us delivered to the wrong hotel (twice) and get two warm beers when I thought I'd ordered one cold beer.

A/D, sorry for hijacking your thread - please feel free to get it back on track.

I can (sort of) get it back on track...

I had a meeting this morning in Glorieta, A/D, and stopped in Santa Fe on the way home.

After thoroughly scouring Trader Joe's and Kaune's, I can report that neither of them sells Tim Tams. :-(

Lee Ann

Lee Ann, Just back from CA sorry about lack of TimTams. We still have one of our packets unopened and would be glad to give you a taste if you stop by. A/D