Maniac Mondays: As Mad as a March Hare or maybe a Hatter!

This installation is the first Maniac Mondays installation for the month of March as we at Meady's Musings Production have been busy as a beaver at the full-time day job! And so here we are for the first time posting an installation on Maniac Mondays and it makes us feel as mad as a March hare! :)

You see we are just fresh out of the cinemas after seeing Disney's and Tim Burton's latest take on Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland(aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) and we feel as mad as a hatter and a March hare all rolled up in one! Oh Dear! Seriously it was an interesting movie and a fun enough ride all the way...and we didn't even see it in 3D or IMAX just plain ole Dolby Surround Sound LOL! I think!

For sure the film to us adapts the tale for the modern day audience, making Alice the kinda girl we think Charles Dodgson aka Lewis Caroll would have wanted Alice to be had she lived in today's world and had to go back in time and stand up to a 19th century English aristocratic crowd...you see she always questions things you see...and it gets curiouser and curiouser...so we think if Lewis Caroll saw the movie today with its own spin and twist on his 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass' tales he would have quite frankly liked it!

Which brings us on Maniac Mondays today to explore this funny English thing...the concept of saying...

As 'x' as 'y'

Oh My! Why?! :)

Well...there you have it as in our title lines...

As mad as a March hare!

As mad as a hatter!

And then right after in our opening lines I said:

As busy as a beaver.

But what else...what else?

As busy as a bee.

As quiet as a lamb.

As quiet as a mouse.

As quiet as a Church mouse.

As quiet as a lamb.

As quiet as mice.

As soft as silk.

As white as milk.

But now before we really turn into a Mad Hatter we will tip my top hats and bid you adieu until another Maniac Mondays, Tumultuous Thursdays, Funtastic Fridays or Slumbering Saturdays installation we might write! :)

And on this Maniac Monday...don't forgot to have a cup of tea while considering six impossible things before breakfast! Here are some we'd consider:

1.That animals can speak!
2.That plants and trees can speak!
3.That we can fly!
4.That we'd one day meet a real March Hare that would then speak to us like in impossible thing #1! :)
5. There will be no more countries just planet earth!
6. And that we would all one day live as one! :)

And if you like go see the real Mad Hatter if you please on 3D, IMAX of just plain Dolby like us! But watch out for the appearance of that sneaky Cheshire Cat! OH DRAT! Nothing can prepare you for a cat like that!

Advent Calendar:Sun 21 Dec-Twinings Voyage, Indian Chai

On this day of Advent I give you Twinings Voyage Indian Chai. Chai is tea in Hindi and masala chai is usually chai made with a mix of spices. I've always enjoyed it and tea as a whole but yep masala chai has always been one of my favs. In the Western English speaking world especially North America masala chai i.e. tea made with a mix of spices is usually called chai so I guess masala chai = chai and is one of the newest cross over words from India and Hindi to English with their own special meanings joining words like pundit and chutney. So usually in the Western English speaking world if they say chai they mean masala chai and so it is tea made with a blend of spices. I often make my own version of masala chai from scratch i.e. throwing in my own cardamon, cloves and cinnamon things like that...but since I've discovered Twinings Vogage India Chai...well I find the need to make it from scratch less urgent...course it doesn't quite stack up but it does come in a good second and I often find myself swirling up a bag into a cup. So on this day of Advent I give to you Twinings Voyage Indian Chai! I still like to add a dash of cinnamon at the top ... I guess I like cinnamon as much as I like chocs! :)

Now you know I can't relax and treat myself for too long without wondering something or the other...and so now I'm all on this fair trade business so I had to check... Twinings is not fair trade but the company has this to say about ethical and fair trade practices on their website:
'Ethical & Fair Trade Policy

Twinings is committed to the ethical sourcing of tea and we do this through our membership of a growing international organisation called the Ethical Tea Partnership.

The Ethical Tea Partnership works to monitor conditions of tea production around the world to ensure that tea estates comply with the relevant laws and union agreements of their country in the areas of employment (including minimum age and wage levels); education; maternity; health and safety; housing and basic rights. The Ethical Tea Partnership strives to work in close partnership with tea producers and other stake holders to encourage open dialogue to ensure appropriate living and working conditions of tea estate workers and seek improvements where needed.

Full details of the Partnership and its work can be found on www.ethicalteapartnership.org'

And here is what the site ethical tea partnership says:
'Drinking tea is a global pleasure. Behind each cup of tea lies a much bigger picture: growing and producing tea provides a livelihood for millions of people around the world.

The Ethical Tea Partnership works to make this picture transparent – to monitor living and working conditions on tea estates, with the aim of making sure that the tea you buy from the members of our Partnership has been produced in a socially responsible way.

The following pages explain how we work and the progress we are making. Our initiative has grown successfully because it doesn’t stand still. We’re always learning and to continue to develop we need to share what we have learned and benefit from other people’s experiences. That’s why we are also committed to communicating with others about what we do.

Many consumers are increasingly curious about the quality of the products they buy and the ethical practices adopted to produce goods in overseas countries, particularly in emerging nations. We welcome this interest in what we do and hope this site provides you with the information you require.'

Now Twinings as a company is a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership but Twinings Voyage line and the Indian Chai part of that line that I so love is not a brand that is under the Ethical Tea Partnership agreement so far...but I'd like to think it will get there...You can check out the tea brands that are currently part of the partnership at this link and the fairtrade tea brands at this one.

All pics copyright of Meady's Musings Production