Exotic Ingredients

Haggis.

Black Pudding

Offal.

Blade & Chuck Steak

None of which would set the world on fire if it was put up for sale...

On a recent episode of MasterChef, a lady (Of Scotch extraction) cooked Haggis to the absolute disgust of one of the judges & a lot of the viewers too.)

I suppose many were offended at the humble nature of the dish...

But I find this odd; in a world of super exotic ingredients, the only ingredients that count are the "top shelf sort"

Truffles

Scotch fillets only

Wagyu mince...

Himalayan Yak Butter...

Admittedly, some of this is the Heston Bloomenthal "Food as Porn" thinking & there is a place for this sort of display; & these shows should inspire us to use the ingredients to the utmost not snob ourselves out of the cheep cuts

I find this Odd; We watch House renovation shows & they do cool things with some not top shelf materials. This is Not the cooking shows; top shelf all the way & the same goes for most of us.

Say that you like Black Pudding & people look ill.

Say that you eat Rabbit & they sneer 

Then we gripe that meat is so expensive!

I take the view that an animal has died for this food, so embrace it & eat it all.

This brings me to this Rabbit Killed on Air. 

For the record; the rabbit was then cooked & eaten. The Announcer said it was to highlight hypocrisy about meat production in Denmark. I don't think so. It was a blatant grab for attention. The only reason that I wince is that it reportedly took several blows to kill the rabbit; This is the only "wrong" in my opinion. To break a rabbits neck should be a quick clean exercise. Again, from my experience - this is the what I have seen when animals are slaughtered; a shot to the head & it is over quickly for the animal. Butchered & then eaten.

AND regarding the rabbit in Denmark, I just don't care. And I am not Sorry to PETA either. All the Twitter feed outrage is crass. It is an animal that was destined to be eaten; get over it. 

I wonder how many people out there were upset that it wasn't a premium cut that the family ate?

So, how do we go forward? In Australia, the humble bunny is an absolute curse upon this land. I will now defend the consumption of rabbit meat as an important environmental initiative. And the consumption of all the other unfashionable cuts & I call upon anyone out there to do the same.

Leigh

Struggle Street Thoughts.

In response to the rather clever marketing, I watched the SBS show “Struggle Street”. To those that have not seen it, or, heard about it, this show is about life in the decidedly working class Sydney Suburb & predominately Housing Commission area of Mount Druitt, the struggles of the unemployed/unemployable in a complicated world. Whilst this Sydney location was highlighted in this case, In truth, this could have been set in many rural towns/cities; or in similar suburbs of Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra… ANY WHERE in Australia.

Chief amongst the complaints about the unfair portrayal of the citizens as a pack of toothless drug addled Bogans & ignored the positives (or at least downplayed the positive works) happening in this city – Indeed, a Highlight for me, was the positive action of one young woman who stepped in to save a young girl who had been kicked out of her home after a disagreement with here mother.

In many ways, the show seemed to be a soap opera, but with real people & very with real issues, not the saccharine sweet shallow Bimbo/Himbo seen on the Australian Soap operas that seem to be having a drama over someone kissing/shagging/hating/loving/stealing… The issues depicted in Struggle Street were very raw & very real. Consequences were dire for these people. To watch it in some ways was shocking; in other ways, it was, as someone described, it “Poverty Porn”.

To many this show represents a rallying point; that call to arms to Say to the Rest of Australia: We Have To Fix This! Others will just be dismissive, as they see themselves as far too removed from “those People”, safe in the knowledge, that they will never ever EVER have to live in “that sort” of housing, or in that sort of situation, secretly, getting off thinking about how their life is SO much better than the life of the residents depicted in this show… that typical dismissive of “OH, What a pack of Booners… AND …Gee, I’m Glad that I live in (insert Middle Class Location Here)…”

To my mind, however, what this show highlighted is the effect of the Weird upon every single one of us. I refer to the Weird in this case in its Scots or perhaps slightly archaic form meaning the Unearthly hand that governs your fate… Think of the Norns, the witches that governed your fate… To sum it up differently, “There, But for the Grace of the Gods, Go I”

What I saw when I watched, was, this is your life if something goes wrong. 

Suddenly. 

Brutally. 

Systemically.  

Not in any way your own fault. 

The Australian in this case rapidly finds out that Australia quite simply does not give a flying toss about them or where they end up. This Australian, unless they have very large support networks, will be made into the sort of Human Flotsam & Jetsam that they had previously sneered at on this show.

As always, it is just so easy to blame the victims; we have throw away lines about “well, if you only applied for more jobs”… “If you didn’t look the way you do” … “If your wore some Nice clothes” … “If you stopped taking those recreational drugs” … In all cases these little snide remarks hide the fact that the person usually making them is only a Norns burp away from a similar fate.

In Australia, we have long despised those that are not “economic”. That is actively growing the economy. We treat the disabled appallingly. We despise those that are not able to work; we tell those that have been feed through the corporate grinder of “downsizing” “Hey, It’s Just Business” & the law of Supply & demand - It’s not Personal…And to those whose industries are collapsing about them & leaving them with training & work experience that is no longer required we say; Just back on the band wagon.

All of which, the individual must pay for themselves. We continue with the Victim Blaming.

I support the Anger of the Mayor of Blacktown in the defence of his constituents. I too am sick of the poverty porn aspect of some of these shows & the middle class twat-dom that applaud the “edgy” nature of the work whilst knocking down that bottle of Sav-Blanc – these are real people & they are not there for the entertainment of the mortgage belt. Unfortunately, there has been a History of the press in “picking on” the residents of the Western suburbs & television shows can easily fan these flames even if unintentionally.

As an Australian, I am ashamed, that we have a country where we so readily accept that generations of unemployment, & lack of opportunity are seen as acceptable. We can’t deny this problem & the sooner we fix these situations the better the outcomes for US ALL. Just remember that old bar room quip about sports stars that don’t make it to the highest level of their sport: What is the most Wasted Natural Resource? Talent! How much Talent must Australia waste? The waste in this case is easily measured in the human terms.

So, as with all things; what can I do? I am continuing to stop the victim Blaming (I have said this before) and by challenging the bigoted throw away one-liners that we all say...

...AND by not repeating them

I will watch the last double episode of Struggle Street, but I will be Supporting the residents of Mt Druitt, because they are humans like me, & there, but for the grace of the gods, go all of us 

Leigh

An Open Letter to Mr Paul Gallen

This is a copy of a Letter that I sent to the Rugby League player, Paul Gallen.

The context is Paul's admission that he struck up a long distance letter friendship with the Convicted Australian Drug trafficker, Andrew Chan.

To often, we only criticise the modern sportsman; often ignoring when they do the right thing.

Here is my support for a "star" doing what I believe is "the right thing": 

7/05/15

C/O The Cronulla Sutherland RLFC

Dear Sir,

As the father of a Mad Cronulla Sutherland Sharks supporter, my son, is a fervent Paul Gallen fan & is playing in his first season of Junior Rugby League with the Bloomfield Tigers JRLFC (The Country Group 10 junior competition, under 8’s). He was most upset that he could not get the Number 13 jersey! (not being available in the under 8s competition). Given that my son is such a massive fan, I felt that I would take the time to write to you about your recent admission on the MMM football show, that you struck up a remote friendship with the convicted Australian Drug smuggler Andrew Chan.

Whilst Mr Chan & Mr Sukumaran were ultimately the victims of their own devices; they were fellow human beings. They were, (by all accounts) reformed & trying, in their own ways, to make the world a better place – I suppose, to an extent, they were atoning for their reckless & self-destructive pasts. I do not believe that the world is a better place because they are now dead.

Thus, I applaud your behaviour in relation to Andrew & treating him as a human being. Whilst it is easy to demonise anyone for their guilt, it is inspiring to see that you acted with the type of compassion that I would expect of a man, any fellow man, A REAL man,  when responding to another human being in a bad situation.

You acted with deep compassion & integrity. By tour actions you chose to become role model; the type of man that was sadly lacking from these guys lives; a man that, had he been there, perhaps could have prevented Andrew & Myuran from sliding down that awful path.

I feel that you have, very publicly, very correctly led by example & I congratulate you for this.

In relation to drugs, society has developed a very strong “moral code” that if broken causes much angst. This code is frequently hypocritical & forgets that the people involved & affected are still human, someone’s son or daughter, mother or Father, or, even grandparent. The argument of “Drugs are bad”, therefore “those involved are evil” does not quite work when you look at the individual men & women who are caught up in this maelstrom. Frequently, they are just “other people on the bus”. Prior to their executions, I saw the school boy pictures of these men & I thought of my children; I hope sincerely that my kids never end up in a similar situation. The heartbreak would be too much for a man like me. Against all this emotive arguments, you chose the compassionate path.

This is why I applaud your actions; you chose to be a man & exercise public compassion. You chose to help make the world a better place (in your own small way); by both offering the hand of friendship to a “sullied” individual, & by then not being ashamed of telling the community about that friendship.

Displaying Compassion is a character that I respect deeply in a man & in so doing; you have become a role model that I am proud to say that my son looks up to.

Best Regards

Leigh Meagher

(I Put my e-mail address here in the Original)

Note: I am not a convict, nor are any members of my family. Nor am I the holder of a hidden agenda; I just felt that you needed to be applauded for your act.