Who are your current most favorite people?
I am a misanthrope, or at least that’s how I come across. My reflections in this blog definitely paint me as one, with my take on human nature. A line from Scrooge The Musical by Leslie Bricusse sums it up, when Scrooge sings ‘I Hate People’!
“Picked at random, I can’t stand them!’
That much is true. The full picture is more complex. I don’t read people very well so I tend to put the barricades up. If I assume that they are not acting selflessly then I can be safe in a manner of speaking. From my school days onwards, people have been unreliable and, in a number of cases, actively unpleasant. My ‘friends’ from my teens and twenties have one by one drifted away, ‘proving’ to me that they weren’t real friends in the first place. I have come to the conclusion that assuming that people are not going to be anything other than transient is the best approach.
What this means is that I don’t have favourite people outside of my immediate family. I just don’t want to let people in to that extent. My approach is both safe and restrictive but at present I don’t want to change it.
I have just been on holiday to Salzburg and I have met, in passing, many people who were patient with my low level German and who made the effort to help me by switching to English when I was completely at sea. The interactions showed me the positive side of human nature up close and in a way that was very difficult to argue against. It is experiences like these that make me feel like I could perhaps temper my approach, but I think it’s going to remain a work in progress because you can’t really change your basic nature.
I have always said that I only need my wife and that is undoubtedly true. To be honest, the rest of the world doesn’t count as long as I can rely on her, which I can totally. However, my suspicious nature makes life outside the house more difficult and I feel like I have to change my mindset to some extent. I have doubts that it will work, but I won’t know if I don’t try. I can’t promise I will try, but 2026 needs a resolution or two so it could be that I give it a go!
What are your favorite animals?
I am not the type who enjoys being up close and personal with other members of the animal kingdom other than my cat! However, I can definitely appreciate the majesty of the other species we share our planet with. I love seeing animals roaming in the areas they naturally inhabit.
I remember when I was about 9 years old and I went to a circus which had set up on the playing fields opposite my house. At the time, I loved watching circuses on TV so I was really excited. After the performance we could pay 5p and go to see the animals ‘backstage’. It was something that completely changed my approach to the rest of the animals we share so much with genetically speaking. This lovely lioness was in a cage barely longer than she was and it broke my heart. From that moment I hated circuses and everyone involved in them. I never went to, or watched, another circus and I would never allow my children to go. I know that by the time they were old enough to go circuses were no longer using animals, but as far as I was concerned, any circus still going was built on abject cruelty and shared guilt with their predecessors in the circus whose approach to animals, using whips and the brutal training was medieval in nature. I remember an episode of the children’s series Mr Benn involved people walking around and looking at sad animals in cages, but Mr Benn as the zookeeper managed to trick the visitors into the cages where they were locked in and stayed while being looked at by the animals! I was with Mr Benn 100% on that.
Animals should be free in their natural habitats. Unfortunately, the worst animal has destroyed so much of their old surroundings. Our cities demonise lovely birds like pigeons who flew messages for us in World War II and who are incredibly intelligent and loving creatures. We complain that they are in our surroundings but completely ignore the fact that we have displaced them, along with foxes and other creatures. We are driven by a sense of superiority, backed up by a verse in the bible that gives us dominion over everything else, and we have used that to cause havoc with nature, havoc that is ongoing and getting worse. The sooner we realise that we are simply one outlying branch of the animal kingdom and not some special creation the better it will be for all living things, but such is our arrogance I can’t see that revelation ever coming.
Whatever animals you love, you should try to see them in their natural surroundings, free, majestic and far more appealing as herds and flocks than human beings ever could be.
BEN FINLAY celebrates the BBC that used to be.
Let us now praise: BBC Four
This is the first time I have tried reblogging an article but I just thought it was so good I really had to. If, like me, you enjoy old programmes take a read and you will end up agreeing with every word.
Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why?
The scenery of a place has never been as important as who I am with. As long as I am with family, I can take any scenery in my stride. However, the scenery is important to them so I have learned to see the surroundings as an integral part of where we are.
The rest of the family are beach lovers, so I have been content, by and large to go along with the wishes of the majority. For example, last Christmas I was over in Australia and my wife and I wanted to visit a beach pretty much every day. This was not my natural habitat but they were in their elements so I went to the beach with them and tried to take every opportunity to walk along Australia’s coastline.
As I type this I am early morning on my last day in Salzburg. The mountains, or more accurately large hills, around the city are a spectacular backdrop to the holiday, but our focus has been on visiting the old town and experiencing the Christmas Market. We have not ventured up to the hills, apart from going up to the castle that overlooks Salzburg using the funicular railway.
I am much more at home in cities or rolling hills rather than mountains or beaches but the backdrop is only a very minor part of the equation for me. I just enjoy the experience of a new place or revisiting an old favourite place in the company of those I love. With family, any place at any time of the year can be an amazing experience. So, beaches or mountains? Well, take a look at the pictures below and decide for yourself. Happy exploring!
What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals?
As a family we have always had favourite meals. I am a very good home cook and I have always been able to make the most of my ingredients in terms of both taste and cost. When we were struggling somewhat financially, I cooked basic meals from scratch and they went down very well with the children. Even now that we are more comfortable, basic meals, albeit with better quality ingredients still rule the roost.
The favourite meal in our household is Chilli. I make it with Chilli Garlic Sauce in a jar which I buy from the Asian supermarket just off Leicester Square. It is now freely available in any UK supermarket but it’s more expensive. Anyway, it adds so much to the overall taste if you use it instead of the packets with a mix of dry spices. Don’t get me wrong, I used to love those packs but once you have used Chilli Garlic Sauce as we did for the first time in Hong Kong, you never go back.
The next meal that always hits the spot is Spaghetti Bolognese, which is my wife’s speciality. She cooks it a couple of times a month and it’s one of the meals she always makes better than I do. I also leave the bulk of the baking to her as she’s incredible with cakes, buns and desserts.
Out of season, but only just is the final meal of the set, the Christmas dinner! I also cook it for my birthday in March and I have pretty much perfected it to our tastes. For years we had it with salads, Australian style, but after an attempted coup in my kitchen (!!) I added hot side dishes, and I have to admit that it’s made a difference to the overall combination.
So there you have it. Three favourite dishes that my family enjoy. However, that is not the only aspect of cooking. To concentrate too much on old favourites means that you run the risk of your fare becoming boring. I had got to that stage last year as my daughter rightly pointed out. The result was me diving into cookbooks, looking online and experimenting for myself. It’s given me a new lease of life in the kitchen and I now try to cook at least two or three new meals a month. My recent attempts have included a very nice prawn linguine, Home made burrito and a Parsnip Loaf, which will be a new addition to the Christmas table. So, make your favourite meals but always be on the lookout for new meals you can add to your repertoire.
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 