Chillichap's World

  Chilli Sauce Review: [Review - Tabasco Original Pepper Hot Sauce] Introduction Hello! Well, as the name Chillichap implies, I'm rather fond of anything chilli. When I was growing and attending sixth form, I worked in a college kitchen to earn some extra pennies and run my motorbike. I was eighteen and actually knew very little about food and drink, only that I loved it. One of the jobs as a kitchen porter was to clean out the massive store cupboard. It was like entering another world with condiments and ingredients that I'd never heard of. One was  Tabasco Original Red Pepper Hot Sauce.  Now at this point, my only source of heat came in the form of white pepper. I smothered everything with it, so it looked like whatever I ate had massive dandruff! Anyway, back to the college store cupboard. We (me and the other kitchen porters)used to take a teaspoon into the cupboard and try things. That fateful day I tried the Tabasco sauce and never looked back. Indeed, I bought a bo...

Hello! You're reading this blog for one of several reasons:- You can't cook rice no matter how hard you try and you're spending a fortune buying take-out or microwave rice You can cook rice very well, thank you and you want to see if I know what I'm talking about Or You're bored and you can't sleep It doesn't matter. I'm going to share with you my method for how I cook white rice. If you're cooking brown rice, this usually takes 5 to 8 minutes longer. I've been cooking rice for about 40 years and have experienced just about every high and low associated with cooking this staple food. I don't measure either my rice or the water that I cook it in anymore. This recipe makes about 4 good-sized portions of rice (I'm a big chap, so probably 8 portions for any normal human being). Once the rice is cooking, I always try and resist the temptation to keep taking the lid off to check the rice and stirring. I tend to use a glass-topped pot so I can k...

Hello! It doesn't matter what age you are, classical music touches you in one way or another. For me, it was via TV adverts as a young lad. One that sticks in my mind (I was five at the time) was the Hovis advert where a boy, wearing a baker's apron, was pushing his bike up a steep cobbled hill, which I assumed was in Yorkshire (because the old man retelling the tale had a Yorkshire accent). In his huge basket was the bread that he had to deliver. Once the boy had completed this arduous task, he freewheeled all the way back down the hill. Interesting fact-this advert was directed by a young Ridley Scott-who later went on to direct Alien and Gladiator! The music being played was Largo from Dvorak's Symphony No. 9. I remember liking the music played by the Ashington Colliery brass band (which was from Northumberland), as it seemed in sync with the lad's struggle and seemed a link to a better time of village life. The advert was actually filmed on Gold Hill in Shaftesbury,...

Hello! As a child, I grew up in the 70's, and let’s face it, there wasn’t a lot of choice. We had three channels — BBC1, BBC2 & ITV. That was it! Colour television was new (if you were lucky enough to have a colour TV) and there were still plenty of black-and-white shows which were repeats. One repeat I really didn’t mind was Laurel and Hardy. As a kid, I didn’t know that my parents had probably watched this comedy duo as children too and their parents had probably seen it at the cinema as it was released in 1937. I found myself laughing a lot at what I consider the greatest comedy duo ever seen, who managed to transition from silent films to ‘talkies’. Not only were they hilarious, but their timing was impeccable- they could sing, and dance, and both seemed damn-near indestructible, no matter what hit or fell on them (which was usually on poor Oliver Hardy). I was hooked. The action starts in a very busy Mickey Finn’s Saloon where Lola Marcel is billboarding. Beer is sliding d...

Hello! Love it or hate it, artificial intelligence, or AI, is here to stay. It’s definitely a transformative force and has become an integral part of our lives (even though we often don’t know it!). I’m still getting to grips with AI. When I say get to grips, I mean understand it more and maybe discover ways of using it in interesting ways. Today I’m taking The Amolfini Portrait Painting by Jan Van Eyck, and I’m seeing what AI can do to soup it up. I know, I can hear the gasps-why fiddle with something that’s already damn near perfect? Isn’t that what we do as human beings-fiddle, tinker, and even break things in our attempts to understand them? I’m not saying what A.I. produces is better, but I think that you’ll find that the results are certainly interesting! Title : The Arnolfini Portrait Artist : Jan Van Eyck Year : 1434 Medium : Oil on canvas Size : 32.4 in x 23.6 in (82.2 cm x 60 cm); panel 33.3 in x 24.6 in (84.5 cm x 62.5 cm) Location : National Gallery, London, England A Touch...

Hello! Welcome to my review of this film. Spoiler alert!  When I review films I tend to appraise the whole film but never reveal the ending. Well, YouTube has done it again. It recognised that I liked films with Sid James in and has thrown this one up for me to watch. What made Sid James such a great actor? I suppose his charisma and the way he seemed to be himself in each role-a loveable rogue with no pretensions and nothing to hide. The intro to the film has a picture of two pillows and the song 'Double Bunk performed by Sid James and Liz Frazer! We start at a rental property where some of the tenants seem to be struggling to pay their rent. Jack Goddard (Ian Carmichael) dashes across the hallway to Peggy (Janette Scott) with a newspaper that has an advertisement for a cheap home. The couple have been engaged for three months. Peggy realises it's a houseboat. Jack is frustrated because he and Peggy have yet to consummate their relationship.  The couple decides to go and visi...

Chillichap’s World: Navigating AI & Fake News in Social Media — A Quest for Trust and the Renaissance of Books & Libraries AI & Fake News: A Societal Examination and the Shift in Social Media’s Zeitgeist — The Power to Reclaim Control. A Copilot AI-generated picture It Started with BREXIT Let me tell you when this journey of asking these questions started for me. It all circled around BREXIT which is an abbreviation for Britain’s Exit From the European Union. I won’t go into this too much, suffice it to say that the eventual vote polarised the UK. I was on the fence at the beginning and honestly could see the pros and cons of leaving/staying. I found myself confused and when I started watching various TV programmes, visiting social media sites, or even reading newspapers, I became even more confused. Key ‘facts’ were being debunked regularly and we (the British public) were told it was all fake news. I realised that the people in power were trying to influence my decisi...

Hello! I like my music, but I love Two-tone. This was popular music in the UK in the late 70's and early 80's. The music was a fusion of Jamaican SKA, Rocksteady, Reggae, Punk Rock, and New Wave music. It was fresh and lively and when people got up to dance, whether performers or fans, legs and arms went everywhere (they still do-I have my own dance called 'The Plonk' AKA the Funky Chicken). The Original Version Get ready for a shock-The Specials didn't write this song. It was one Dandy Livingstone, in 1967.  Apparently, the song took him 10 minutes to write and he had a cold at the time of singing! You can listen to this version on YouTube - just copy and paste this link into your search engine bar:- https://youtu.be/7BwNgQ51hSI?si=xhrHyhZEBCvxkqtW He later called upon legendary Tombomist Rico Rodriguez (who also appears in the Specials version) to add to the melody and a tenor saxophonist called Pepsi to also contribute. The Specials Version I can't begin to t...

Hello! Well, I thought I'd pay homage to perhaps one of the greatest film franchises ever seen in the UK-The Carry On Films (it has the largest number of films of any franchise). I grew up watching these films and still watch them now. Some were before my time, but repeated of course on British TV. These days, Carry On films will probably be regarded as politically incorrect by the Wokerati-social justice activists who are determined to find offense with anything and everything. To me, the Carry On films represent a light-hearted era where people just had fun. Directed by Gerald Thomas, written by R F Delderfield and screenplay by Norman Hudis, Carry On Sergeant is the first ever Carry On film. Most of the actors in this film went on to become household names (some were already famous). Spoiler Alert - When I review films, I usually talk about the whole film, but never reveal the ending. I hope you enjoy my review. The film starts with the wedding of Charlie and Mary Sage (Bob Monk...

Hello! Guess what, I'm at it again-diving headfirst into the rabbit hole of YouTube's movie recommendations. I seem to be on a bit of a roll with comedy horrors which kinda slap you in the face before they apply a nice soothing balm afterwards. How do I feel about zombies? They're scary and seem relentless in their pursuit of us humans. Their hunger doesn't ever seem to be satisfied (a bit like me on a midnight fridge raid). This said I penned a collection of poems titled 'Zombie Apocalypse Poems Book I'. It chronicles the hilariously macabre events of a chap (it could be me) who retains his conscience when he becomes a zombie:- The film starts off with three guys-Munch (Rowe David McClelland) a milkman, Ed (George McClusky) a postman, and Boris (Michael Gamarano Singleton) a parking warden who are hiding from a group of zombies led by The Zombie King (Edward Furlong) who is riding a motorcycle. A young zombie girl finds them and the milkman throws a milk bottle...

Hello! I love technology and have been having some fun with A.I. I thought I'd pop a few classic poems into it and see what I could come up with. In this case, I've used Copilot I'll post the original version of the poem unadulterated underneath. So in this case the A.I. has changed the poem as if told by a pirate me hearties! Aye, here be a pirate’s version of the poem for ye: I Roamed As Lonesome as a Ghost Ship I roamed as lonesome as a ghost ship That sails on high 'cross seas and mounts, When suddenly, I spied a shroud, A crew of golden daffodils' founts; Beside the cove, 'neath palm trees tall, Flutterin' and dancin', they enthral. As endless as the stars that gleam And sparkle on the Milky Sea, They lined the shore in a golden stream Along the edge of the bay, so free: Ten thousand I saw, me hearties, in stance, Bobbin' their heads in a lively dance. The waves beside them pranced; but they Outshone the shimmerin' waves in mirth: A buccane...

Hello! When I logged onto YouTube today, a vampire-related movie caught my attention. I decided to give it a try since I love anything vamp-related. In 1987, The Lost Boys became one of my favorite vampire films. Up until that point, most vampire films were serious and followed the classic dusty Hammer style, with an eternal battle between the Prince of Darkness and his arch-nemesis Van Helsing. The Lost Boys introduced elements of humor and brought a new focus to the horror genre. Since then, vampire films have never been the same. The film begins with a Star Wars-type scrolling narrative that explains how vampires have had to evolve. Their savior, the powerful and righteous Count Mardulak, (I can't see any anagrams there...) has led the vampires out West. By using sunblock, UV-A glasses, and feeding on synthesized blood, they can learn to live in harmony with humans. We then meet the Harrisons, an American family with two young daughters. One of the girls has an unhealthy fascina...