I've got my trumpet ready

I never liked the sound of bagpipes. So miserable and whiney. I was intrigued by the news that a "man with a Scottish accent and wearing Hibernian Football Club shorts took [his bagpipes] out of his car and knelt down to play loudly in the faces of the [Insulate Britain] protesters. According to telegraph.co.uk 'He said: “They are holding up ambulances, fire trucks. Disgraceful. You're damaging your cause. What I was doing, obnoxiously, bagpiping in your face, is what you're doing to all this traffic - you're obnoxiously holding up people's lives."'

Rumours that the man was Alistair Campbell were denied by friends of the New Labour spin doctor who said "Alistair would never kneel to anyone".

The protesters were blocking the A40 but started their campaign by doing so on and around the M25. Which is why, when I next go to Kent, I shall be taking my trumpet with me. I reckon I can make more frightening noise than a bagpiper although, given it will be more pleasant, I might just gain a rapt audience.

I felt I should at least find out what Insulate Britain's aims are. They have two simple "demands":

1. That the UK government immediately promises to fully fund and take responsibility for the insulation of all social housing in Britain by 2025;

2. That the UK government immediately promises to produce within four months a legally binding national plan to fully fund and take responsibility for the full low-energy and low-carbon whole-house retrofit, with no externalised costs, of all homes in Britain by 2030 as part of a just transition to full decarbonisation of all parts of society and the economy.

On the face of it these seem entirely reasonable. IB's analysis is robust:

The UK has some 29 million homes and they are the oldest and least energy efficient housing stock in Europe. Every year vast amounts of precious energy are wasted in heating and, increasingly, cooling our buildings. 

In order to meet UK commitments under the Paris Agreement to stay below 1.5C, and legal obligations under the Climate Change Act 2008, as amended in 2019, emissions from heating and powering homes must be reduced by 78% in less than 15 years and then to zero by 2050. 

Nearly 15% of the UK’s total emissions comes from heating homes: an overhaul of the energy performance of the UK’s housing stock is needed to reduce the energy demand.

So is the government not interested in this issue? I guess it's the sheer scale and cost of it. The Green Homes Grant scheme was discontinued after just six months but there are still home energy grants such as the Warm Home Discount but this is applied as a rebate to your electricity bills - unless, of course, your supplier has recently gone bust. Reasonably, the discount prioritises vulnerable people and others in need. I think the government is committed to home insulation as one of the means of moving towards carbon neutrality, but there is a vast space between the government's fiscal means, its pace of change and Insulate Britain's "do it sooner" demands.

As with many protest movements, the drastic tactics of Insulate Britain - an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion - are designed to draw attention to the cause (surely a worthy one) at the risk of alienating the public opinion that is eventually necessary to give the government a shot in the arm. Guerrilla tactics are no substitute for a mass movement; indeed, they may hinder that very swelling of public opinion that should be the ultimate goal.

Early next month I'll probably be in my (diesel😠 sorry IB!) car on the M25. If I meet them, I'll get my trumpet out and attempt a deal with the protesters: "I'll play you the whole of the Trumpet Voluntary if you let me (oh and maybe my fellow drivers) go on our merry way".

Think it'll work?

Aisle 26

Aisle 26 sounds like a movie title; think District 9, Super 8. But no, it's the answer to a quiz question I posed today to an Asda employee: "where can I find tofu?"

My lunch today was a feta, tomato, pecan, tofu and olives salad, with a sprinkling of Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It's an interesting mix of quite strong flavours, of which the tofu is probably the most piquant. Surprisingly the pecans almost disappeared in terms of flavour, which was a disappointment. I created this concoction after, concerned that I couldn't get my weight back to normal after lockdown gains, I researched foods which were healthy and low carbohydrate.

I discovered that nuts are good sources of "good carbs" (net carbs = carbs minus fiber) and walnuts and pecans particularly so. Tofu is low in calories but high in protein and fat (presumably "good" fat). Feta is lower in calories than most cheeses. Olives are one of the staple components of Mediterranean diets. Olive oil has zero carbs. Followed by some raspberries and strawbs (low carbs, high fiber, containing antioxidants) and a glass of water.

I'm not fetishing, just trying some hopefully healthy options. Better than a bacon sarnie and a beer though.

To be honest, I find the texture of tofu takes some getting used to. We'll see about that.

70,000

My co-blogger and co-grandparent MiceElf recently completed 70,000 'steps' and has so far raised over £300 for Greenwich Mencap.

I don't know what a 'step' is, and I do not have a smart watch, stepping app or FritBrit [I know that's not accurate; I just think it sounds like all you anti-Brexiteers out there] so I have no idea how much of an achievement this is. Is it just one stroll around the garden, a hike from Greenwich to Hastings or 1,000 walks from my car to/from the store entrance in the Asda car park?

Greenwich Mencap provides "care, advice and support to people with learning disabilities, learning difficulties and autism and their families". Their Riverwood Project helps Adults with Learning Disabilities (AWLD) through therapeutic work: "Using recycled wood, our members create hand-made furniture and craft items which are sold to the public to help fund the project. By teaching skills and promoting teamwork within a positive environment, we aim to help our members develop social skills, experience independence and feel a sense of value and purpose."

I believe MiceElf's fundraising is still open and you can donate at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=JaneLawson13&pageUrl=1

Apologise for this?

Quinton de Kock is a South African cricketer. He is in the country's squad for the T20 World Cup, currently being held in that great cricketing country the United Arab Emirates. Due to play the West Indies on Tuesday, he withdrew from the team because of an instruction from Cricket South Africa that the whole team must Take A Knee before the match.

De Kock explained "I am not a racist and I do not feel the need to prove that with a gesture. When you are told what to do with no discussion, I felt like it takes away the meaning. I come from a mixed-race family. My half-sisters are coloured and my stepmom is black. For me, black lives have mattered since I was born. Not just because there was a movement."

I have always felt uncomfortable about this aspect of Taking A Knee. If it becomes - or has become - a mere gesture, and individual players are culturally coerced into conforming, the action itself comes close to being a racist one. I understand South Africa's recent history and its special sensitivities about any suggestion of racism but they should understand that forcing a player to doing something which he is not comfortable with is no different to some regrettable aspects of the nation's recent past.

De Kock continued "I am deeply sorry for all the hurt, confusion and anger that I have caused [really? HE has caused?]. I was quiet on this very important issue until now." He has decided he will now conform to the team's wishes and Take The Knee before matches.

I don't believe you have anything to apologise for, Quinton de Kock.

This is not a library!

Standing in my way in Asda, about to buy my newspaper: man completely absorbed in reading the Daily Express. What? You think this is a library? Get your money out and pay for it! Stop spreading your germs all over an item someone else will shortly be buying. In fact, have you been reading my Times?

What I actually said was a polite "excuse me", although there was a bit of a nudge involved, I confess.

Selfish man. Passive me.

Defeated, Fallen and Succeeded

A really good Netflix series: The Defeated. Set in Berlin in the immediate aftermath of World War II, it provides an evocative portrayal of a city struggling to cope with a desperate lack of law and order. The city has four sectors, one each controlled by the occupying powers: America, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. A New York detective has volunteered to work with the police force in the American sector as an adviser, although he has a personal mission: to find his brother, an American soldier who went missing in the last days of the war.

Detective Max teams up with Elsie, the German police Superintendent and they come across a mysterious man called the Angel Maker, who recruits young girls to elicit information from the occupying soldiers in whatever way works, and passes this intelligence to whoever pays best. This organisation appears to be responsible for the murder of two US soldiers and so the hunt becomes intense. Elsie also has a private mission: to find her husband, a German soldier who has been captured by the Soviets.

The plot is convoluted; it turns out Max's brother Moritz, traumatised by his experience of liberating one of the Nazi concentration camps, is on a personal mission to torture and kill as many high level Nazis as he can. I'm not going to spoil any further; there are 8 episodes and a second season is in the pipeline, delayed by the pandemic. It's really well produced and has no flaws, to my mind.

The same cannot be said of another Netflix series, The Fall. It's a psychological thriller in three seasons of 5, 6 and 6 episodes, set in Belfast and originally aired on the BBC and RTE in 2013-2016. A Detective Superintendent from the Metropolitan Police is seconded to the Police Service of Northern Ireland to review the progress of an ongoing murder investigation. It becomes apparent that there are other, similar cases and it metamorphoses into a hunt for a serial killer with a penchant for particularly perverted attacks.

The first problem encountered is that we are told very early in season 1 who the murderer is and the narrative then morphs from a standard police procedural into an examination of the psychology of the killer, with long, slow close-ups of anguished faces. This is balanced by the frankly odd lifestyle and rogue methodology of the lead detective and she is subjected to a similar pseudo psychological examination by camera and sound track. The result is that the plot moves along slowly - and frustratingly, given that we have knowledge the police don't. The worst part is that, in order to keep us interested, a number of sub-plots are inserted and some of these - the killer's 15 year old babysitter and the detective's recruitment of young, attractive male colleagues onto the team for her own pleasure - are superfluous and unpleasantly voyeuristic. There is a definite undertone of misandry in the treatment.

By the end of season 2 and continuing into the (hopefully) final season, the plot has run out of steam and improbable twists occur. There is so little narrative left that there are long, tedious psychiatric sessions with facial close-ups, a nurse who looks very much like one of the victims and who cares, in a way lovingly it is teasingly suggested, for the killer in hospital and almost nothing happens. I suppose psychological dramas are supposed to be uncomfortable for the viewer but, for my taste, this tries too hard.

Finally, and much more satisfyingly, to season 3 of Succession. A superior family soap opera based in corporate America, the cast largely speaks management gibberish very fast but somehow it's fun. There is literally not one character with whom I can in any way empathise. I hate them all but not necessarily equally; that changes by the minute with the show's fast moving direction. There's a plot of sorts but it's all about the characters, which are well drawn and well acted. catch it on Sky Atlantic.