Hmmm... That curry Saturday night was excellent. Usually I make them from scratch, but I found a packet in that strange little foreign foods section they have now in Tesco's for a Bombay Byriani Mix made by a company called Shan. It comes in a little box like a packet of stuffing mix rather than a jar or packet and looks very low-rent/authentic iykwim. Didn't do it exactly as it said on the packet, but close enough to thoroughly recommend to any curry lovers out there. 'Tis quite spicy, so hang fire (no pun intended) with the extra chillies until you've had a taste...
So. Fer fer fer fer fer Firth's a ker ker ker ker ker King's Speech winner at the Oscars then?
Good on him, and everyone else involved, but I couldn't help thinking of Kate Winslett in 'Extras' saying you're a shoo-in if you play a holocaust victim or a 'disabled'. And that in turn got me thinking that unlike the real world of DLA benefits or Carer's Allowance etc the eligibility criteria in cinematic terms is getting easier to fulfil every year.
Not that long ago, Daniel Day Lewis portrayed Christy Brown - a profoundly disabled man with cerebral palsy who overcame massive communication and physical handicaps as well as extreme poverty to tell his story to the world. Tom Cruise got his Oscar for Born on the Fourth of July, depicting a man torn apart physically and emotionally by the ravages of war. Sean Penn and Dustin Hoffmann may have set back understanding regarding autism by years with their stereotypical portrayals, but at least the storylines of those films tried to address the realities of disability for disabled people by exploring issues like social stigma, value judgements and long-term institutionalisation... But the Kings Speech? A film about one of the richest, most privileged men on the planet, with access to the most up to the minute professional Speech and Language input from the most highly regarded practitioners available... Am I missing something here?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting for a moment that a severe speech impediment doesn't have a potentially devastating impact on the life and opportunities of an individual, or overlooking the additional pressures implied by status, position and public duty, but I can't help thinking that any disadvantages were probably more than compensated for by having access to all that MONEY.
So what for next year’s Oscars? Bill Gate's ongoing struggle to overcome Athlete's Foot? Warren Buffett's dramatic fight against verucca infection and his eventual rehabilitation via duct tape and a rubber swim sock? The Queen's Cold Sore?
For anyone going to the cinema to see The King's Speech, I hope you enjoy it. For anyone losing their DLA benefits in the latest round of cuts, I hope you can still afford the price of admission.
My left knacker
Hmmm... That curry Saturday night was excellent. Usually I make them from scratch, but I found a packet in that strange little foreign foods section they have now in Tesco's for a Bombay Byriani Mix made by a company called Shan. It comes in a little box like a packet of stuffing mix rather than a jar or packet and looks very low-rent/authentic iykwim. Didn't do it exactly as it said on the packet, but close enough to thoroughly recommend to any curry lovers out there. 'Tis quite spicy, so hang fire (no pun intended) with the extra chillies until you've had a taste...
So. Fer fer fer fer fer Firth's a ker ker ker ker ker King's Speech winner at the Oscars then?
Good on him, and everyone else involved, but I couldn't help thinking of Kate Winslett in 'Extras' saying you're a shoo-in if you play a holocaust victim or a 'disabled'. And that in turn got me thinking that unlike the real world of DLA benefits or Carer's Allowance etc the eligibility criteria in cinematic terms is getting easier to fulfil every year.
Not that long ago, Daniel Day Lewis portrayed Christy Brown - a profoundly disabled man with cerebral palsy who overcame massive communication and physical handicaps as well as extreme poverty to tell his story to the world. Tom Cruise got his Oscar for Born on the Fourth of July, depicting a man torn apart physically and emotionally by the ravages of war. Sean Penn and Dustin Hoffmann may have set back understanding regarding autism by years with their stereotypical portrayals, but at least the storylines of those films tried to address the realities of disability for disabled people by exploring issues like social stigma, value judgements and long-term institutionalisation... But the Kings Speech? A film about one of the richest, most privileged men on the planet, with access to the most up to the minute professional Speech and Language input from the most highly regarded practitioners available... Am I missing something here?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting for a moment that a severe speech impediment doesn't have a potentially devastating impact on the life and opportunities of an individual, or overlooking the additional pressures implied by status, position and public duty, but I can't help thinking that any disadvantages were probably more than compensated for by having access to all that MONEY.
So what for next year’s Oscars? Bill Gate's ongoing struggle to overcome Athlete's Foot? Warren Buffett's dramatic fight against verucca infection and his eventual rehabilitation via duct tape and a rubber swim sock? The Queen's Cold Sore?
For anyone going to the cinema to see The King's Speech, I hope you enjoy it. For anyone losing their DLA benefits in the latest round of cuts, I hope you can still afford the price of admission.