Monday 28 March 2022

Kitchen therapy. Angry actors. Over-reacting. Schemes that don’t appear to work.

I’ve been making soup. We had the family round for roast chicken and all the trimmings yesterday. Today I am using use the chicken carcass and other odds and ends to make soup. Voltaire might have said we need to cultivate our garden, but I think we should be busy in the kitchen. There is something very calming about chopping vegetables and the like. One of my granddaughters seems to follow suit, except that in her case it’s making cakes and biscuits that calms her down whenever she feels at all stressed. She would never make soup as she has refused to eat fruit and vegetables, apart from chips, if chips even count as vegetables, ever since she was about three years old. Watching her remove too obvious tomato from a pizza is quite something! 


Each to their own!


The weatherman on the radio has just said that colder weather is on the way. It could even snow by the middle of the week apparently. Today though the fine weather continues. We must go out walking before the blizzards begin!


A lot of fuss is being made about the Oscars as usual. One actor offended another by making rude comments about his wife, leading to the second actor punching him and then having to apologise while making an Oscar acceptance speech. How the famous live!


As regards actors and directors and writers, I read an interview with Aaron Sorkin, creator of programme such as The West Wing. Here’s something he said that I quite agree with:


“Question:-

There was some Twitter fuss about the “inauthentic” casting of Javier Bardem in Being the Ricardos. How do you deal with controversy?
Answer:-

In terms of accuracy in casting, it’s absolute nonsense. We know the difference between being demeaning and not being demeaning. We know the difference between, say, blackface and someone who is Spanish playing someone who is Cuban. How do you deal with the noise? You don’t. I don’t argue with people online. I actually don’t have any social media. You have to ignore it.”


On the radio news I just heard that the NHS is being instructed not to buy supplies from Russian companies. At least I think that’s what it was. The important thing is that we are urged not to finance Putin’s war machine. And on that subject, here’s an odd news story:


“Italy’s former prime minister Giuseppe Conte Is under pressure to clarify an arrangement under which Russia supplied aid to Italy early in the coronavirus pandemic, as questions resurface over the Kremlin’s motives.

Conte, who was forced to resign last year after the collapse of his second administration, could face questioning by Copasir, a parliamentary committee for the security of Italy, amid concerns that Russia may have exploited the aid mission for espionage.


Italy was the first western country to have a major Covid-19 outbreak, and Russia came to its rescue at the height of the emergency, dispatching military doctors, PPE, ventilators and mobile disinfection machines on cargo planes from Moscow. A convoy of lorries emblazoned with the slogan “From Russia with love” was broadcast on Russian state TV making its way to Bergamo, the province most severely affected in the pandemic’s first wave.”


It’s all getting a bit silly, if you ask me!


Our government has made a lot of noise about providing shelter for refugees from Ukraine but things seem to be moving slowly. According to one charity organisation it’s just not working properly:


“A charity that is helping Ukrainian refugees trying to come to the UK has said no visas have been granted to those it is supporting, nearly a fortnight after a government scheme was launched.

The head of Positive Action in Housing, Robina Qureshi, said the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme had given people “false hope” and amounted to a “gimmick”.”


If it doesn’t properly organised, then there is the danger of people traffickers stepping in to fill the space. There are always those who will try to benefit from the misfortune of others. 


Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

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