Due to the hoopla here and elsewhere, I broke down and read the book. The BDSM parts didn't bother me, and I read lots of "less than great" writing for fun, so the fact that the author isn't DH Lawrence didn't bother me, either. The three things that bothered me about the book were: 1) the hero being Mr. Moneybags. I just never like that. 2) the use of the word "jeez" all the time. 3) the fact that the author set the book in the US but left in so much British-speak. It just seemed lazy and distracting. Other than that, I can see why the books are popular, as well as seeing why some people are blaming them for the downfall of western civilization ;-) My question for others who enjoyed them: who would YOU cast as Christian? My first thought was Ed Westwick (from Gossip Girl) but then I had a better idea, and one which will show my age. All we need is a time machine and this guy would be perfect:

“-----Thanks for that link, although I had trouble understanding the parts!!---“ Lars, I don’t have a BGE, but based on what I know about this kind of things, the following is my analysis: All grills, gas, wood, charcoal or electric, have issues with temperature control. That is just the physics of how things work. It makes no difference how much money you paid for the appliance. The gadget Jessyf linked, IMHO, is a very useful device. It seems to me that it incorporates a computer type of cooling blower, which is driven by a brushless DC motor. This type of motors run very efficiently and is practically noiseless. They are normally rated with service life of 50,000 hours. However, those types of motors are mostly 12VDC or 5VDC motors. The Party Q model uses 4 AA batteries, that makes it 6VDC. Also, brushless motors are somewhat sensitive to heat. In my experience, if the operating environment is near 130F, and voltage at 6VDC, the motor life can be much shorter. But I don’t think this will be too much of a problem. The blower is controlled by digital electronics controller using a typical Type K thermocouple temperature sensor. The controller should have no problem to keep temperature to within one degree range. I will not go into PID controllers at this point, which is capable of figuring out the characteristics of the combustion and the thermal insulating quality of your appliance. The controller determines how much air to feed the fire to keep the accurate temperature setting and that allows you to grill at a significantly lower temperature, if that is what you prefer. You will also save fuel because there will be less wasted heat. You will be able to reach higher grilling temperature much quicker. However, it will not be able to give you a much better temperature distribution within the appliance. The will remain more or less the same. dcarch

Wow, that was some pie like I have never seen. I think the point I would like to make is that people throughout the rise of civilization have learned to eat the food that was available where they were. Until the mid-century refrigeration was not available. During WWII I grew up in SF ....no refrigerator in my life. we had an "ice box" and an 'ice man' who delivered. My family had recently left the farm in Ohio..(German heritage).. and their foods were those that were kept in a root cellar, or grown and home canned and meat grown and processed on the farm.... pigs and very little beef It was pretty close to a self-sustaining lifestyle. That is what I witnessed in MY overseas adventures. When a Scottish housewife of limited means fixes a kidney pie and makes it edible....using what is available, that is admirable. My grandmother's menu was pretty basic using a good amount of corn (because they grew it), green vegetables because she grew and canned them or stored them in a root cellar.And dried corn...ugh.Beans are a PROTEIN... used when eggs and meat are unavailable. Carbs??? when people used to live in sparingly heated stone houses.... carbs and fat kept them warm.....did not make fat people. Eskimos that lived in igloos and below freezing temps, chewed on and survived their climate by eating blubber.... mainstay of their life.What's that about! As for Alcohol.... Blokes do have their beers and scotch. They take the bite out of the very cold climate and add merriment to every occasion.. Yes, we knew some that overindulged.... sometimes we did too. BTW, the first thing we noticed when we arrived in our little village was that they were 20 years behind the times. No doubt about it.... we had 2 hours of TV in mornings, and a few in the evenings ....2 channels BBC1 and Grampian. Loved it. I know the OP posted the first post somewhat in jest. Much of it is true. UK cooking was (probably is) bland.... I did have pasta, Their 'fast food was Fish & Chips..(Oh how we loved them....grease sand all.....in the newspapers and part of the fun). Sometimes they made their "pasties " with 'mince" which is ground beef (really good BTW). Different regions had their own 'pastie" style and flavor. So, that was Nanny's brief history lesson on the Villages around the Cairngormes. It was a special time to turn back the clock and live in times past. Now, they have North Sea Oil, Texans in boots and cowboy hats on the streets of Aberdeen, old mansions renovated and updated and super markets and a hurrier lifestyle than in 1960. Memories

Our mothers' war : American women at home and at the Front during World War II --Emily Yellin