Tag Archives: England

Colts win in stunner; stadium food service company denies media access to witness food safety improvements

Posted on by
Reply

Maybe it was the stadium food that somehow lifted the Indianapolis Colts to a stunning come-from-behind 35-34 victory over the New England Patriots in another chapter of the U.S. football rivalry of the decade, Peyton Manning (right) versus Tom Brady (below, left).
 
After being hammered by local health types, the folks who run the food concessions at Lucas Oil Stadium swooped into town and promised to set things straight. WISH went out to ask some tailgaters to see how confident were about buying food inside the stadium.

Tailgater Glen Vigar reacted to the news,"(It’s) a little scary. I mean it’s a brand new building. I wouldn’t expect it."

Vigar said that he wouldn’t eat the food there anymore.

Centerplate said it planned to have 15 of its own food safety inspectors inside the stadium Sunday to make sure conditions are clean.

24-Hour News 8 had asked to be inside the stadium to see how that was going, but a Centerplate spokesperson denied that request.

I’m bona fide. I’m the paterfamilias. I have a residency card and can leave the U.S. and get back in

Posted on by
1

Or something like that from George Clooney in the 2000 movie and Courtlynn favorite, O Brother Where Art Thou.

As far as the U.S. government is concerned, I am indeed somewhat more bona fide, having received my permanent residency (below), so let the food safety world tour begin.

First stop – the motherland, U.K., in early January. Amy has a conference in Manchester, so thought we’d see some of my relatives in Newport, some friends in Cardiff, and visit the statue of my now confirmed great-great-great-great grandfather, William ‘The Tipton Slasher’ Perry, bare-knuckle boxing champ of England in 1850 and 1856, in Birmingham.

The Tipton Slasher and alcohol sanitizers revisited in British prison

Posted on by
Reply

William Perry, aka The Tipton Slasher, was the bare-knuckle heavyweight boxing champ of England in 1850 and 1856.

Apparently, I am related, through my father’s father’s family.

You can see it in the profile (left).

I figured this out during a grade 8 genealogy project in 1975.

Now that Al Gore has invented the Internet, I looked on-line, and there are lots of purported relatives of The Tipton Slasher.

But I have a collection of newspaper clippings outlining the alcohol-fueled antics – and downfall – of the Slasher, as well as a copy of the 1959 Pictorial History of Boxing, by Nat Fleicher and Sam Andre, passed through the family to me.

Hey, the Slasher’s even got his own wiki page.

“William Perry (21 March 1819 – 18 January 1881), known as the Tipton Slasher, was an English boxer of the bare-knuckle era.

“Born Tipton, Perry claimed the heavyweight boxing championship of England twice, in 1850 and in 1856. He was finally defeated by Tom Sayers in 1857.

“He died in Wolverhampton aged 62. A statue stands in the town of Tipton, yards away from the Fountain Inn public house, which was once his headquarters. The building received Grade II Listed Building Status in 1984 on recognition of its association with Perry, who regularly fought fellow boatmen on the many local canals in order to be first through the lockgates.”

Another site described great-great-great-great-great uncle Perry as possessing average physical skills but was “tricky, cool under pressure and used good judgment.”

Except when he bet everything he owned, including his bar, on a comeback title match for which he was woefully underprepared and lost everything, returning to work the canals and dying, penniless and drunk.

Cool statue though.

When they’re not bare-knuckle boxing in British prisons – I wonder which inmate has insisted on the nickname, The Tipton Slasher — they’re drinking alcohol-based sanitizers.

Peter McParlin of the Prison Officers Association says inmates were using hand sanitizer distributed to control H1N1 flu,  to make illicit alcohol.

The gel had been distributed around the prison to stop the spread of the swine flu virus. McParlin said on Thursday that giving inmates access to a gel with an alcohol content was unwise.

The Tipton Slasher would approve.
 

Beware of falling mice!

Posted on by
1

The Birmingham Mail in England reported a couple weeks ago that half a dozen expired mice dropped to the floor next to diners at the food hall in a local Selfridges department store.

The rodents were victims of pest contol measures carried out after mice droppings were spotted in a back-of-house area during regular checks.

caterersearch, who reported the story today, says the mice fell out of the ventilation system.

The surprised diners were refunded and the company apologized in a statement for any distress caused by the fallen mice.

Pest control personnel were called out to clear away the remaining mice.

Additionally, a spokesman explained,

“Environmental health officers were called in to make sure the matter was dealt with and doesn’t happen again.

“At their recommendation we have now identified areas the mice may have been coming in and had those blocked off.”

The spokesman added there had been no more incidents and the food hall was open as usual as soon as these steps were taken.