If There Is A Dark Hard Brexit The First Group Of Writers To Suffer Will Be Those Most People Wouldn't Care About

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Regular readers of this blog will know that occasionally my brain will work from the most oddest of tangents and random thoughts just enter my head. Well you may remember that a few posts back I chatted about how Britain was in such a state of nervous breakdown now that if the government was stockpiling food in the event of a dark hard Brexit then I could seriously consider doing the same without being treated as alarmist. Also that in the event of a dark hard Brexit the most important writer would become Jack Monroe, as people would have to learn to cook with less choice available and probably at higher prices.

Now, as I said in that post, I don't belive a long dark hard Brexit of the soul will happen (not saying things are going to be better than staying in the EU mind) if only because of the electoral disaster that would await the Conservatives should it occur. But given that it's unquestionably a possibility and not that far away from a probability it's not unreasonable to think of the consequences of food shortages across Britain.

It occurred to me that in the event of a dark hard Brexit the first group of writers who will suffer would be.....restaurant critics.

Stands to reason really. After all in the event of food shortages restaurants would be affected. A lot would close down and probably none would open. After all most people would be unable to afford the rising prices and those that could would probably be too scared of being targeted by the hungry masses to go.

In that scenario how can you judge a restaurant without an adequate and regular supply of ingredients? It would be like watching Julius Ceaser without Brutus and Mark Anthony. The shell would be there but important ingredients would be missing.

Thing is of course most people wouldn't care. Partly because they would be too busy trying to survive themselves. But also because restaurant critics have the reputation of being London centric and elitist. I've no idea whether it's true or not but that's not the point. It's the perception.

I've reviewed in this blog an e book by the Observer Restaurant Critic Jay Rayner and liked it. But the above point didn't occur to me until now. I think the problem restaurant critics have is that unlike a movie or even a play the chances of most people being able to experience a particular place in London where you need a payday loan just for the starter would be extremely slim.

Possibly the best answer is that should there be no Brexit or at the very least a much softer one then papers and websites should consider a second critic, possibly in rotation. Perhaps people who would live in a town which for a Londoner would require a Satnav and a pack of huskies to visit. Who would chat about the local Italian or curry house. Who would look at the price and not necessarily the most expensive item on the menu. Who is not interested in the wine and would rather have cola without ice (why would I want diluted cola?).Who would wonder whether [insert food item here] goes with chips.

The number one critic goes for the headline establishments but this second group could go to places ordinary people could relate to.

Perhaps.

But restaurants and restaurant critics will have to survive Brexit first.

Until the next time.

Last Chance To See Bridgend Town's Main Post Office Plus Other Town/Book News

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Yesterday then I did something probably for the last time. I went to Bridgend Town's Main Post Office to get the car tax sorted before it's closed down and moved to the basement floor of the nearby W H Smith in February next year.

I've mentioned before that although the closure of standalone main Post Offices is a UK policy I believe that the Labour party, whether in the assembly or the council, have made the job easier because of their negligence/incompetence in the running the town which essentially has run it down thus not attracting people to it with a consequent loss of business.

To put insult to injury I also mentioned that a MERRY CHRISTMAS sign was put up outside the building by the council as part of the general town centre decorations. The Labour people here can be so crass.

Before I continue to chat about the Post Office and as I did refer to the town centre decorations this is apparently the Christmas tree nearby.

Is that all there is?

Hope there are more decorations to come. It looks like was just plonked in the first available space and then had the lights thrown at it.

And there's another vacant lot I've noticed since my last visit.

A Children's/Ladies Clothes Store 

But at least the Labour council aren't scrimping on Christmas decorations....priorities you see.

Back to the Post Office. Went inside and paid off the car tax. I remarked the move to the guy behind the counter and he confirmed that they would be going to the basement floor of the local W H Smith (which I'll chat about later). When I stated that would mean less space he agreed.

In the future this will be a historical picture of how things used to be

Paid the car tax and walked out. Probably for the last time.

In the local Welsh Ambulance charity shop I was pleased to able to buy two pre ISBN Penguins costing 99p each (remaining budget now until Monday 17p). The bad news was that it was both by John Galsworthy, a writer I don't like on the purely technical grounds that he's rubbish.

831 - John Galsworthy - The Man of Property

2653 - John Galsworthy - To Let

Before leaving the town I went to the local W H Smith to have a look at the Post Office's new home. Here is the basement :

Not exactly welcoming

And of course not only will the Post Office lose space but so will W H Smith. The basement stuff here that won't be flogged off at discounted rates will be moved to the ground floor so that they'll be less space for (for example) books. To be honest though my love for W H Smith has weakened through the years. It's branch in Ilford Essex played a big part in my reading education as a child in the seventies. But now it seems to be some sort of bazaar flogging off anything it can. Yesterday I even noticed e cigs behind the counter!

Have finished the ebook My Dining Hell by Jay Rayner. A collection of restaurant reviews he's done through the years. It was admittedly a book only bought to finish off an Amazon voucher. But I enjoyed it.

Can't say I'm a great restaurant visitor. In recent years money, or the lack of it when I was unemployed,was a factor. Nowadays it's just a matter of, dare I say it, taste.

The restaurant critic I would argue has an advantage on other critics in that for the normal reader a bad review would confirm his/her prejudices about restaurants. And when I'm talking restaurants I mean the sort where the food is placed artistically on the plate and where the menu is apparently written by a Booker prize winner.

For the most part this is the sort of pretentious place that is attacked here and entertainingly so. I'm sure Jay Rayner written forests (and now electronic forests) of reviews where praising restaurants to the hilt but let's face it, for the average reader My Dining Heaven wouldn't be as interesting and he knows it.

He gives McDonalds a bad review. I'm slightly more enthusiastic about it than him. It reminds me of the sort of bestseller book you enjoyed at the time but forget soon after (Dick Francis comes to mind) and I prefer McDonalds to Burger King where you have a race to finish the burger before the bap dissolves in your hands.

I wondered also what he felt of Nandos. My personal view being that it was ponced up KFC. Got to google and find that out.

Anyway I do recommend it. The next book on the great ebook unread is The Call Of The Wild by Jack London. The sort  of classic you've been meaning to read for years but life interfered. Now's my chance.

Until the next time.





    

In Early Shift Days and Longer Nights The Surprising Winner Is George Orwell

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

For the past four days I've been working the early shift at work. Six in the morning until two in the afternoon to be precise. In terms of reading haven't done that much during this period because, if you've been lucky enough not to have worked outside the nine to five, what you get is a sort of minor jet lag.

So on this case I wake up fine, do my job, drive home, have a sandwich and in front of the television proceed to nod off between two forty five until half past three when a sort of mental alarm clock jolts me up with a reminder that I need to pick up my daughter from the school bus. I don't mean to nod off you understand. It just sneaks up and takes over.

I'll come back to that waiting for a god awful long time school bus in a moment. Let's just finish off by saying that during these early shift days I'm ok between four and seven thirty when I have to prepare for the next day and then get ready to sleep around an hour's later.

So you see reading wise I've not really had the chance expect that it for the Kindle. It had not occurred to me whilst waiting for my daughter from school that even at around four o'clock the light begins to difficult to read the current "car book" I have from Alan Coren. So the Kindle with it's backlight comes into it's own as well of course reading in the evening and the collected essays of George Orwell was finished.

Being "collected essays" there were some I liked and others I didn't but on the whole I liked it. There were important political stuff (though I didn't agree with his definition of Welsh nationalism) but it was the range that impressed me the most. He could write articles on politics one moment then working in a bookshop the next. What also interested me were his demolition jobs on Kipling (who I've never read) and H G Wells (who, based on the books I've read I don't like).

So the next book on great electronic unread is My Dining Hell (a Penguin ebook special) by Jay Rayner. A slight tome which basically seems to be a selection of his worst experiences as restaurant critic of The Observer newspaper. To be honest only bought it to finish off the last bit of an Amazon gift voucher given on my birthday so I don't have high expectations.

Until the next time