Thursday, June 16, 2016

my mate Jamie

hey there


sorry for the delays in posting. it's purely, look you see, a lack of time. weirdly i have quite a few things of the slightest interest to post here, to be sure, but just don't seem to get the moments to do it. this is a well worn start to a blog post for me, so rather let's boogie.

earlier this week, or perhaps it was last week, i got something either unexpected or forgotten about in the post. yes, by the grace of Royal Mail, an item of mail mailed to me was delivered to me, rather than to a random address that vaguely sounded like mine.

it had escaped my memory, as things as so prone to do, that i had written a congratulatory letter to Jamie Oliver earlier in the year. the imposition of a so-called "sugar tax" was something he had long campaigned for, and so it felt right to acknowledge the time, dedication, effort and commitment he had given over to arguing for it.

that was early April or possibly March, i think. as i heard nothing close to the time i had assumed he never got it, or did and just left it on a pile of other mail that he gets. however.......



yep, a nice quality signed picture of the popular chef and champion of healthy eating, along with a letter. the letter, admittedly, is a standard issue release, explaining that Jamie does not have the time to enter into direct correspondence, but expresses thanks for all messages.

was i a dick, or more of a dick than usual, in my letter to him? i had every intention of being so, but no, in the end, no i was not. my intention was to ask him to now start campaigning for a balancing reduction in tax on cigarettes, since they are in theory sugar free. however, in retrospect, i did not. if i am all that bothered then i can spend the time, effort and resources he did myself, or, you know, i could, well, quit.



oh yes, my beard and hair really are getting all shabby and long like you can so clearly see in the above. i will shave and see a barber soon, i suppose. eventually.

despite my diet not being "as" healthy as it could be, i happen to advocate and support the calls for a sugar tax to be imposed. a lot of people are critical of it, saying that it makes food unaffordable for those of us who rank as the poorest of society. it's not about that; the intention is to try and force the food production companies to stop overloading their products with unnecessary levels of extra sugar.

i know that a lot of people, for various reasons, do not like Jamie Oliver. Spiros, for one, blames him for an ill-fated investment in the champange industry during the mid-90s. to me, however, he's someone who, calmly, rationally, factually and patiently campaigned for a change that he both genuinely believed in and genuinely believed would make the world better; a change that few could argue with the merits of. with that in mind, i would say to all that you don't have to like or agree with someone to respect and admire the courage they have to stand and campaign for what they believe in.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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