It's almost election time. I'm looking forward to playing my part in our democracy. But do you know who your current elected representatives are?

[Poll #1731353]

Having had some time to think about the budget, and to hear the arguments being expressed about the various measures, I think that I broadly approve. I can’t make up my mind about the VAT increase though — is it a better tax to increase than NI or income tax?

So time for another poll. (To fill in the poll you’ll need a LiveJournal account, or you can log in with an OpenID.)

[Poll #1582885]

Eggs are my favourite breakfast food. Usually I have fried or scrambled eggs on toast, with an occasional detour into the world of boiled eggs. At the weekend Kate mentioned that she was a whizz at making omelettes (proving that one can still learn something new after years of marriage), and she made me an excellent omelette for breakfast this morning.

So I thought it was time for an egg poll. (I think you’ll need to be logged into LJ to vote.)

[Poll #1578494]

[Poll #1530603]

I like brown sauce. I like tomato sauce too, but there is something special about brown sauce. Going back a few years, tomato ketchup was my favourite sauce, and in the ketchup world there is one true sauce: Heinz. Nothing else comes close. With brown sauce, on the other hand, I don’t find a single sauce superior to all others. The big seller is HP Sauce, and I used to always buy HP. In the last couple of years I've been experimenting with different brown sauces — there are quite a variety of brand-name options.

HP is a good all-rounder. Daddies sauce is runnier, thinner tasting, and more vinegary than HP, and I find it particularly appealing on chips. Branston brown sauce is zingier, a little fruitier, and very appealing with mashed potatoes, or in veggie-sausage sandwiches. Tiptree brown sauce is good, and tastes “posh”, which is perhaps why it doesn’t work for me as an everyday breakfast sauce.

Both HP and Daddies are owned by Heinz, and nowadays are produced in the Netherlands.

[Poll #1514776]

But whatever the brand, it always tastes better from a glass bottle.

People have all sorts of funny views.

Some people think that capital punishment is a good thing. Some people think that the government can spend its way out of a recession. Some people support abortion. Some people are happy that those on benefits should pay income tax. Some people think that football is worth watching. Some people believe in organised religion. Some people think that socialism is a good thing. Some people like going to nightclubs. Some people think that immigrants are taking their jobs. Some people think that Windows is a sane choice of operating system. Some people have no respect for age and experience. Some people like watching reality TV. Some people think that the monks who make Buckfast should be blamed for Glaswegians being unable to drink sensibly. Some people think there is an international Jewish conspiracy controlling the world’s entertainment and finance industries. Some people vote for the Liberal Democrats.

I don't agree with them. But I don’t let it bother me.

[Poll #1514207]

I was interested by the results of my poll last week. The most popular choise was "Red, Yellow and Blue", which I guess is what we were all taught to be primary colours in art classes at school; primary colours from primary school.

A dictionary definition of primary colours says 'those from which all others can be derived' (Chambers Consise Dictionary), and goes on to list several possible combinations of colours that could be considered primary colors. There is no single set of colours when it comes to primary colours

Looking at the answers I provided in my poll:

• Red, Yellow and Blue The basic simple answer, and arguably the wrong answer. Because red, yellow and blue aren't evenly spread around the spectrum, mixing them gives only a limited gamut, meaning that some colours can't be produced, including bright greens, cyans and magentas.
• Red, Yellow, Blue and Green Artists became aware of the limitations of red, yellow and blue, and added green to the mix to enlarge the gamut. Leonardo da Vinci used RYBG (together with the addition of black and white). The Insights wheel uses RYBG.
• Red, Green and Blue The common additive primary colours, used for mixing coloured light, RGB is used in computer monitors and televisions. All colours on web pages are expressed in RGB.
• Cyan, Magenta and Yellow The subtractive colour model is used for mixing paints, inks, and the like. Black is added (refered to as K) because practical problems in mixing CMY don't allow the mixing of a pure black, so it is often referred to as CMYK. Almost all printed colours will have been expressed in CMYK.

So a simple conclusion: all the options in the poll are primary colour except for 'Red, Yellow and Blue'.