Monthly Archives: May 2020

As a very welcome contrast to the past few weeks, the only cooking I had to do was to heat the main course on defrost for one minute in the microwave, and put the baked Alaska in the fridge while we ate the rest of the meal.

There was an element of shyness around the laptop screen as we started with a toast ofthe pink champagne and dipped into Dabbous first starter which was strawberries, avocado, basil and pistachios in a chilled pine broth.

But Sarrasin kept things going with lots of information about the wine and food pairings, and the more gourmet of our new dinner companions chipped in with their own tasting notes and suggestions for wines that could also have worked well with the dishes.

Following the broth, Dabbous had provided a scallop tartare with Exmoor caviar and then a breast of cornfed chicken poached in Champagne with sptzle and black truffle.

We ate the first courses out of the bowls they had arrived in - not wanting to tip the scallop out to dislodge its hearty dollop of caviar. But we served the chicken off our own china and I preferred that in the end.

As we gradually got to know our fellow diners, we discovered that one couple was celebrating an anniversary, another a 50th birthday. They were from around the world, from South Africa to South America, but the thing everyone had in common was a love of delicious wine and a desire to make the evening feel special.

By the time wed arrived at the port and pudding, wed all resolved to recreate the evening in the flesh when lockdown is over.

As Sarrasin said, these are very tough times for restaurants and their employees. It is clearly our moral duty to support them as best we can. And if that means a Michelin-starred feast at home, Im all for it.

Hedonism and Hide at Home dinner, 500 for two. Dates of upcoming tastings will be released at hedonism.co.uk or to be added to the waiting list customers can call +44 (0) 207 290 7871 or email events@hedonism.co.uk

Sign up for theTelegraphLuxurynewsletterfor your weekly dose of exquisite taste and expert opinion.

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The 500 home tasting menu from Hedonism and Hide: is it worth it for a birthday or anniversary? - Telegraph.co.uk

T

wo months into lockdown, it is an exciting prospect to be sent an invitation to a Zoom meeting with a dress code of party wear, along with instructions to drape festive lights across the screen. As a result, the gallery view of this interactive theatre show starts off looking like a virtual hen party, with participants bopping to Gloria Gaynors Its Raining Men in glittery tops, feather boas and elaborate headdresses. Everyone, it seems, is delighted to find an occasion to be out in their glad rags.

There is a level of intrigue, too, given that the organisers have also asked us to collect together a long list of household materials, which range from tinned fruit for cocktails to less explicable items such as pliers, padlocks and gaffer tape. What kind of virtual party is this, exactly?

A fun, feelgood one, it turns out one that captures the spirit of a night out. Party Skills for the End of the World was originally commissioned for the Manchester international festival in 2017 as a site-specific performance in a building in Salford. This version, which is part of an online series created by MIF to keep theatre alive during lockdown, squeezes itself into the 2D realm of the screen.

Like the cocktails, which are made from the remains of our store cupboards (mine is a mocktail of ginger ale and mashed banana, very tasty) the hedonism has a blitz spirit, make do quality to it.

Our hosts, Nigel Barrett and Louise Mari, who are from the theatre collective Shunt, encourage us to drink up, and later to gulp down shots. There are resident DJs who blast out synthesiser music, and we drink and dance together while intermittently convening in break-out rooms to be taught skills that might help us to live and to party after an imagined Armageddon.

Most of these are tongue-in-cheek, with one lesson in self-defence teaching us how to turn keys and pens into weapons against an assailant. Others feel like a craft-making session from Blue Peter, with demos on how to make party poppers from a balloon and an empty toilet roll, or paper flowers (newspaper, Sellotape and an elastic band).

Barrett and Mari offer philosophical snippets about life and death in the interludes between the organised revels. We are told to close our eyes and imagine ourselves together. They advise us on how to stop recurring nightmares, and leave dark thoughts to hover in the air: What do we fear? That we will be forgotten? That we knew it was not what we wanted to do but we never had the courage to change? We will all die. What sort of world will we build? These sober reflections come unexpectedly and have the potential to go deeper, but the scenario switches too soon and suddenly.

The show seems to deliberately work against building a cohesive narrative and veers away from becoming too serious. It is a picknmix bag of fun and frolics. There is a long dance at the end, which has the feel of a silent disco we are a collective body yet still in our own isolated worlds. There is a welcome relief in coming together this way, though the virtual hedonism, for all its fun, has a melancholy side too.

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Party Skills for the End of the World review a wild night out without leaving the sofa - The Guardian

In the run-up to Chinas 13th National Peoples Congress (NPC) on May 22, the chairman of its Standing Committee, Li Zhanshu, said how important it was that the session was being held in the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic. Li remarked the session was being held at a time when overseas COVID-19 epidemic situations remain grim and complex, while in China major strategic achievements have been made.

Such differentiation between China and the rest of the world is likely to become more prominent in Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rhetoric as the nations success is attributed to its socialist political system. The English version of the Peoples Daily commented in its coverage of the NPC that foreigners will be looking to Chinas socialist system for enlightenment and guidance as they emerge from the shadow of the pandemic.

The CCP is now proclaiming its success over COVID-19 as a victory for President Xi Jinpings brand of Marxism.

Read more: China's new coronavirus recovery strategy explained

Early in the war against coronavirus, it was predicted that the CCP would be one of the most high-profile casualties. But rumours of the CCPs demise were premature. As China deployed an increasingly vast and sophisticated surveillance system, the pandemic has accelerated the partys authority and control, not caused it to crumble.

While many countries declared war on COVID-19, China stressed it was a Peoples War. Such an analogy recalls the rhetoric of Mao Zedong, who called for a Peoples War to liberate China from the Imperial Japanese in 1938.

By talking about the pandemic in the same language, Xi identified the magnitude of the threat posed by COVID-19. But he also signified that the war would be waged according to the spirit, ideology and beliefs of the CCP and in an effort infused with Chinese socialist characteristics. Victory in this war will be a vindication of Xis Marxist strategy.

As a researcher of the uses of contemporary Marxism in bolstering ideas of citizen obligation and state legitimacy, Im looking at how China channels revolutionary analogies. Seventy years after the founding of the Peoples Republic,Xi has been notable in his efforts to re-establish Marxism at the heart of Chinese politics.

One of the key rationales Xi gives for the strengthening of Marxism is that the ideology can restore Chinas social cohesion. This is required to address the ills of hedonism, extravagance and corruption which have infected China as an inevitable result of opening up to the West.

As China recovers, its success in containing the virus is being put down to the devotion and solidarity of the people. Such claims are not unfounded: a WHO-China joint mission report particularly praised the Chinese peoples solidarity and collective action during the pandemic. Such praise for solidarity will doubtless vindicate Xis efforts in creating a more cohesive and collectively minded populace.

Read more: The urban history that makes China's coronavirus lockdown possible

Xi consistently asserts that Chinese leadership is guided by Marxisms scientific truth. An ambiguous term, Xi often explains this approach as one that uses Marxist theory to identify the best way to solve practical challenges. As the CCP deploys a mix of advanced technology and traditional socialist organisational models to tackle COVID-19, this will doubtless exemplify such practical use of Marxism.

Successfully tackling the outbreak is vital for the CCPs domestic legitimacy. Since the early years of the Peoples Republic of China, the promise of eradicating disease and improving the health of all has been at the centre of communist propaganda. Such focus has created an inextricable link between health and Chinese politics. Given this link, the war against COVID-19 was of vital importance for the CCPs legitimacy.

Nonetheless, the global nature of the pandemic means that the success China has will also be judged in relation to how other countries, especially Western liberal states, handle the crisis.

Chinese state media claimed Chinas low death rate relative to other hard-hit countries was due to the superiority of socialist Chinas institutional framework. Such assertions have been made in the context of an ideological war with the West, stressing the benefits of Chinese socialism in relation to the weaknesses of Western capitalism.

In the Hong Kong edition of the China Daily, this political message was explicit: COVID-19 should make the people of Hong Kong, who have long been under the influence of Western ideology, recognise the benefits of the alternative socialist system.

In Marxist philosophy, progress comes through conflict. Chinese officials have evoked such belief, quoting Friedrich Engels in particular to claim that Comrade Xis new era will emerge stronger from its struggle with COVID-19. The CCP is already in the process of drafting a book to be published in multiple languages showcasing the key role of the CCP and Chinas socialist system in defeating the virus.

Rather than causing communist China to crumble, the virus will likely serve as a catalyst in Xis bid to present his brand of Marxism as a challenge to the global capitalist system.

Originally posted here:

China: victory over coronavirus will be heralded as boost for Xi Jinping's brand of Marxism - The Conversation UK

The Sunday Mail

PRAYER is always part of our daily life, especially before leaving home and after returning safely.

It is something that we need to do as often as possible for the mercy the Almighty continues to show us despite our numerous transgressions.

A hedonists life depends on a strict code involving the relentless pursuit of pleasure and sensual self-indulgence.

But believe it or not, hedonism, though satisfying, is dicier than some of the duties performed by our esteemed security services. The pursuit of happiness always leads to places where you are unwelcome at times or get to mingle with people that have a bone to pick with you.

In most cases, you are in the dark and will only get a rude awakening.

The confrontations are seldom peaceable.

Talk of occupational hazards!

Protection from foes is one of the reasons we believe in the power of prayer.

However, we have of late been earnestly praying for Covid-19 to disappear.

We miss our real live shows!

Perhaps let us start by commending the brains behind all the recent live studio acts that are currently screening on the national broadcaster and various other online platforms.

The shows have given the public, both within and outside our borders, something to cheer about in this Covid-19-induced lockdown. Insofar as the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation-Television (ZTV) is concerned, at least viewers are having an opportunity to watch some fresh content.

ZTV, as we highlighted a few weeks back, is in the habit of repeating the same programme(s) up to a point where one can recite word-for-word most of the lines in the productions.

This applies to both locally and internationally sourced programmes.

Anyway, that is not the agenda of the day.

While the live studio shows are exposing artistes to a much wider audience and generating online traffic/viewership for handlers, they are still far from satiating real show-goers cravings for gigs.

There is a big difference between these on-screen gigs and our traditional live shows the ones that remain banned by the ongoing lockdown measures.

The studio milieu just does not bring the best live act zeal in artistes that are used to perform in front of bumper crowds.

Probably this explains why sungura king Alick Macheso gave a subdued act one that is not even a quarter of his known capacity on one of the studio sets, or why Jah Signal did not deliver his trademark euphoria jump.

The studio acts concept can work perfectly for sound movements like Judgement Yard that make use of DJs and an MC or some of the dancehall acts that make use of backtracks. There is a reason why our kind is prepared to endure cold nights at live gigs.

A reason that can never be found on television or online.

I never knew Mhere (Mathias) has such a solid act, confessed Mai Panashe during Mheres lockdown performance.

And indeed, thousands, if not millions of people, are witnessing some of these artistes perform live for the first time.

This is a group that is certainly enjoying this initiative more.

But for some of us, we realise pane zviri kushota (there is a missing link).

The energy that drives artistes in front of crowds is not easy to create in front of cameras and studio lighting alone.

Some of us have resorted to making use of video albums (DVDs) or live recordings of gigs on YouTube and various other social media platforms to quench our longing for the real deal.

The videos are way better than most of the current live studio gigs that appear too artificial.

We continue praying that God gets rid of this pandemic for us.

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Virtual gigs a noble initiative, but . . . - sundaymail.co.zw

You have to see it to believe it, and you still might not believe it.

By Evan Saathoff May. 25, 2020

RED, WHITE & WASTED begins with its primary subject, Matthew Burns, dumpster diving in the shadow of Disney World with his two daughters, looking for scrap metal he can later sell. One daughter gets hungry when she smells pizza in the trash while Matthew marvels over an unused credit card swiper like he just found a brick of gold. If this were fiction, youd accuse it of being way too on the nose. Instead it is a documentary, telling you right off the top what your next ninety minutes will look like.

There are no good people in the film, but Burns is the easiest to watch. A near-perfect mixture of Geoffrey Lewis and Dana Carvey, Burns sad eyes and soft-spoken demeanor automatically make him the most likable of anyone else we see, despite still being awful. He also centers the films two very vague stories: the eradication of his beloved Florida mud holes and the birth of his first grandkid.

With this mudding stuff, you might think the documentary will offer insight into a subculture filled with nuance and rules people outside of it just dont understand. Documentaries do this all the time. But thats not this film. Directors Andrei Bowden-Schwartz and Sam Jones have no interest in this Florida pastime except as an extreme example of redneck hedonism. From Burns perspective, the act of taking big trucks into muddy swamp areas and getting drunk with friends has fallen downhill since modernity barred him and his friends from doing this stuff on private property. Now young people do it on a much larger scale in sanctioned spots, but the events have supposedly devolved into a sea of white trash sex, drugs and violence. He does not make a strong case that anything of importance was lost or that it wasnt a sea of white trash sex, drugs and violence to begin with. At times he comes very close to realizing this but never quite gets there.

It can be difficult to take the film at face value because the interview subjects speak as though every sentence is dialog in a comedy written by someone who hates them. Mudding is not some cherished pastime but a stupid thing enjoyed by stupid people. The films most frequent topic is not mudding at all but the values of being a redneck and why this or that racist view does not make this or that person racist. We get a lot of guns, a lot of talk about Lord Trump, and a lot of twerking.

I cant speak for the filmmakers, but there doesnt seem to be any search for hidden value amongst the subjects of RED, WHITE & WASTED. We are invited to look in terrified awe at the America represented here, not find ways to relate to fellow human beings. But at ninety minutes, it becomes an exercise in tedium. Person after person self-seriously offering the most perfectly ironic proof of their own idiocy, occasionally cutting to a SPRING BREAKERS-level montage of redneck partying. The ugliness of it all - with no hints of redemption or humanity hiding under all the rebel flag posturing - grows wearisome. The point, made nice and loud in the films opening minutes, never evolves into anything bigger, so youre just stuck stewing in the pessimism until it finally ends. It doesnt strike me as valuable or worthwhile. Youre not learning anything, and its not entertaining. Mostly you go through feelings of disgust and fear, followed by guilt for even watching.

The film concludes with Matthew Burns wearing the Confederate flag andtaping a homemade music video of him singing Hank Williams Jr.s A Country Boy Can Survive. Its impossible not to recall TIGER KING, which seems like a Disney production by comparison. The thing is, TIGER KING had a story. It was filled with wild people who occupied a strange subculture we got to know and upon which the real world eventually intervened (sort of). RED, WHITE & WASTED doesnt have any of this. Its just a worst-case-scenario look at America in its present form, and I feel like I get enough of that on the news already.

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The Chattanooga Film Festival: RED, WHITE & WASTED - The Role Of Florida Will Be Played By Florida - Birth.Movies.Death.