Au Cochonnet Marin

Most people in the West agree that Russia’s attack on Ukraine was wicked and criminal. But a large majority of Russians (mainly the uneducated and the elderly) don’t think so. They obediently toe the line advocated by Vladimir Putin. Ukraine is Russian territory and has no business being friendly and doing business with the West.

How could it be that educated, intelligent people believe accept such nonsense?

In today’s Russia, a free, independent press has been totally eradicated. The media is totally controlled by the state which does not allow any dissenting voice. Anyone daring to disagree or protest risks long prison terms, and this prospect is enough to keep everybody quiet.

Propaganda, insane propaganda (trumpeted by a certain Vladimir Solovyov) is saturating the airwaves with hysterical rhetoric and has brainwashed most of the population listening to official channels.

According to mister Solovyov, Ukraine is populated by Nazis, pedophiles, gays and Satanists, and has to be decontaminated. You cannot allow them to exist and continue drifting toward the West. Ukraine is Russian territory, and the Ukrainians have nothing to say about it. Bitter ex-Soviet Union babushkas are eating up this kind of malarkey.

Encyclopedia Britannica defines propaganda as “the dissemination of information—facts, arguments, rumors, half-truths, or lies—to influence public opinion.”

Merriam-Webster says that brainwashing is “a forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up basic political, social, or religious beliefs and attitudes and to accept contrasting regimented ideas. “

 Brainwashing is insidious, and to some extent, we are all brainwashed. We all harbor a set of beliefs often brought up by the repetition of partial, slanted bits of information.

The Germans, the Russians, the Chinese, the Jews, the Muslims, the Democrats, etc. are all monsters never to be believed or trusted. If you meet one of those, don’t even talk to them… they are all crooks and liars…

“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. It really is public brainwashing and misinformation.” ~ Robert Kane Pappas

 People believe what they want to believe… what they have been conditioned to believe. If you hear or read the same lies again and again, you cannot help being influenced. The Nazis, and the Communists were brainwashed, and to a large extent, so is today the Russian population.

It is an immense tragedy, and this willingness to remain silent and condone a catastrophic war is tragic. The sooner Russian citizens revolt and adopt a drastic change of regime, the better.

Alain

Closed Captions in Movie Theaters are a must!

This afternoon, we drove to a local theater to watch a movie called “Living”; it proved to be a great disappointment. It was disappointing because I caught only 10% of the dialogue, and my wife about 20%.

Why was that?

“The film is an adaptation of Akira Kurosawa‘s drama, Ikiru, and derived from Leo Tolstoy‘s novel entitled The Death of Ivan Ilyich. In it, Bill Nighy plays a civil servant forced to reevaluate his life choices after receiving a terminal prognosis in 1950s Britain.” 

 The movie was captivating, and Bill Nighy is an outstanding actor but… the dialogue was almost totally unintelligible. It was so (at least for me) for several reasons. First, this is a British production, and Nighy used a highly accented English/Scottish not familiar to our ears. Secondly, most of the actors spoke intimately, almost in whispers. And finally, even if you understood a few words, you still struggled to understand the whole plot.

Ironically enough, if you ask, the theater provides a clumsy Closed Captions device, but it didn’t fit in the seat’s cup holder, and I could not use it.

Granted, I am hard of hearing, but according to the Center for Hearing and Communication, so are 48 million American adults… Netflix has long understood this predicament and most of its movies have closed captions. If Netflix accomplishes this, I don’t see why it is not done in movie theaters. For many people, closed captions are an absolute must.

“Closed captions are a text version of a movie’s spoken words and other key audio elements. Not only do they make movies accessible to those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, but they also help others who struggle to understand the speakers.”

 On a common agreement, unable to follow the plot, we left the theater halfway through the movie. It is only after coming home, and reading the story on my computer, that I understood what the film was trying to show.

 “Living received two Oscar Nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, those being Best Actor for Bill Nighy and Best Adapted Screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro.”

 If you watch the Oscars tonight, you might see Bill Nighy being rewarded for his acting talent in Living.

Alain

“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.” ― George Bernard Shaw

And this love (unlike the conventional kind) will never fade away. You will never break up with, or divorce food! Regardless of the circumstances, it is a bond that will never be shattered.

What do you do when it has been raining (or so it seems) for 40 days nights and 40 nights? Look for the first available Ark, or barricade yourself in your abode and start a sinful relationship with your fridge?

I have no doubt that when the present Deluge will be over, many people will discover with horror that their waist size has increased by one inch or two. For food is the ultimate comforter… and it is difficult to fend off its solicitous embrace.

“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.” Federico Fellini

When it rains, I usually turn on my computer and try to shrink my vast collection of pictures. But when I do this, I will inevitably come across some food pics which might tempt me to visit the fridge.

For I usually document with photographs the great variety of dishes that I have sampled over the years. I never eat large portions, and with age, I have become more selective, but my love for food never faltered. It is a holy covenant made years ago between Jacques Pepin and me.

After I started this selection process, I suddenly thought that I should share these pictures with my audience. So, I picked a few photographs illustrating my various encounters with food, and if you are inclined, it might inspire you to duplicate some of these dishes.

“After a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” ― Oscar Wilde

 Alain

PS: enjoy the pictures