Au Cochonnet Marin

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

“The customer is always right, as long as he pays and leaves a tip.” Gerard Bessette

OK, no argument about this, but lately, I have noticed that practically everywhere you go, you will be prodded about adding a tip to the bill. The question is, who really deserves a tip? Or should everybody get one?

A tip or “pourboire” is traditionally a sum of money given to someone as a reward for providing good service. It is awarded for certain types of employment such as waiters but also to workers such as hairdressers, taxi drivers, delivery people, hotel staff, etc.

This is understood but does a “barista” for instance or anybody standing behind a counter deserve a tip? They all provide a service, but they don’t do anything special. Why would they deserve a tip unless they do something above and beyond what they are paid for?

Should all the people who provide a service be tipped? Should I tip my plumber, the mail carrier, the doctor, the butcher, or the garbage collector? They all provide a service, don’t they? Personally, I think that in many cases, it should be the customer who should get a tip. For offering the service provider a cup of coffee, a clean bathroom facility, and paying promptly. That’s good service, isn’t it?

“Tipping first made its first appearance in the 18th century in a restaurant in Britain. The owner of this restaurant has installed a pot on his counter with the inscription To Insure Promptness (TIP) which means to ensure speed. Customers wanting to be served quickly had to put a few coins in this pot so the server would serve it before the others.”

 In France, the tip is automatically added to the bill, but most customers now add a tip to the tip. Unless the customer gets extra service, does it make sense? I don’t think so.

“In Japan, it was frowned upon to leave a tip, even insulting, since the server thought his income was sufficient and he saw the tip as an unnecessary favor. This habit is still maintained to this day.”

Since many employees take the tip for granted, they have no incentive anymore to provide “extra good service.” I am not against tipping, and I will gladly leave a good tip, but there has got to be a good reason for it.

In my opinion, (despite a glaring container appealing for it) handing a cup of coffee or a sandwich to a customer does not deserve a tip.

What do you think?

Alain