Will Self destroys Jamie Oliver

[somerset]

Tedious article padded out with adjectives simply to make himself look clever, and complaining about having a cardboard straw in his coke instead of a plastic one just shows me how irrelevant this Self character is.

 

[The Spanish]

alcohols not a drug, its a drink

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

The name NewStatesman always put me off, scared me in the sense that it would fizz over my head. Only when a chap, in the year above me at school, started writing for them, did I read it and I'm glad I did.

Seems to be the season for Celeb vs Celeb.

I read an open letter from Robert Webb to Russell Brand on there this very morning.

http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/10/russell-choosing-vote-most-british-kind-revolution-there

Robert Webb eloquently says what I've been struggling to get across for quite some time. Shit. This means I'm going to have to start reading the N'S again.

 

[The Spanish]

Tedious article padded out with adjectives simply to make himself look clever, and complaining about having a cardboard straw in his coke instead of a plastic one just shows me how irrelevant this Self character is.

he is right about the little zinc buckets of chips though i will give him that.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

As far as I can see, Self hasn't 'destroyed' Oliver at all, since his article makes little to no sense. I'm no fan of Oliver as a personality (though I think his cookery books are excellent), but I'm also not sure what his other projects have to do with the restaurant Self is supposed to reviewing.

Self's writing always seems to be of the sort that sounds good, and appears to set the world to rights, but actually, behind all the linguistic acrobatics, doesn't really skewer anything at all. He sneers at Oliver's Fifteen campaign (and there's plenty to be cynical about), but doesn't actually explain what the problem is - it's just a gap left for sympathetic readers to fill in blanks that Self can't. The best bit is when he mentions poor people having to borrow against their equity to buy bruschetta - as far as I'm aware, Bruschetta is toasted bread with perhaps tomatoes and garlic on it, and a good way of using up stale bread, so it's this kind of food which would be the very opposite of the point he's making - the fact it 'sounds' impressive is more important,

Oliver is simply guilty of becoming too big for his own good, believing his own ego, and having too many people around him who say yes. The furore over his comments on release of Save With Jamie are a case in point - the book is actually very good, but someone at some point should have pointed out to Oliver that believing it was aimed at the very poorest in society was foolish, and if he thinks those people can be transformed by this kind of cooking he's got very limited knowledge of the real world.

This. That article is utter guff

 

[The Spanish]

Robert Webb eloquently says what I've been struggling to get across for quite some time. Shit. This means I'm going to have to start reading the N'S again.

thank god for robert webb.

badfish has it right who gives a shit about these people. some bloke who says ooh dinky winky gets told off by someone who says numberwang. mr wordy druggy moans about someone who cooks your tea. alan partridge slags off mark from peep show. all very entertaining in a depressing for the future of our society way.

being in footlights or voting labour only makes them the slightly more palatable celebrities spouting nonsense or at least relatively ill informed opinions (except in the case of coogan who knows loads about the ethics of the press due to taking loads of gear and shagging about).

all these open letters from middle aged entertainers about politics or our society currently flying about are amazing in their vanity. its as deluded as me thinking anything i say on here is relevant or insightful.

 

[Guinness Boy]

There are a couple of lines in there that really hit me quite hard:

What this society needs is a culture that values its eternal soul above its lemon sole

On face value it's a pun and yet it describes perfectly the situation where more and more working poor are using food banks while there seems to be a cookery programme on tv every minute of the day. It's not quite right and I say that as a self confessed Masterchef fan and someone who's posted recipes on the net in the past.

The other one is

there’s a chirpy little missive from Jamie himself, wherein he witters on about “great food values and ethics” and “sustainable and local ingredients”, all of which leads inexorably to “yummy healthy dishes”.

It's this sort of **** that led someone on the the supermarket thread to announce 'I source my produce locally' or words to that effect. Whether they were taking the mickey or not, that there are people that trumpet this sort of thing openly is actually frightening. My nan sourced all her produce locally because she didn't have a whacking great Tesco up the road. When did we start sneering about shopping?

Sourcing your produce locally may not even be the panacea we all think. In the link below Jay Rayner explains why. Sadly the Observer have removed the original article as their copyright expired but the video gives you a flavour (sorry) of what he's on about. And yes I'm aware of the irony that he's promoting a food book.

http://eater.com/archives/2013/05/15/jay-rayner-explains-why-local-food-wont-save-the-planet.php

Finally, I know Self doesn't literally destroy Oliver but it's my experience that unless you post a new thread under an incomplete, misleading or hyperbolic title here no one reads it

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Look at me leaving 'a tenner tip'

 

[vegster]

Quite the most interesting restaurant review I've ever read because it isn't one really. Will Self analyses class, politics and modern Britain and, in doing so, puts the fat tongued Mockney in his place.

http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/10...-pious-harmony-new-outpost-jamie-olivers-army

4th Paragraph, 1st line. Is that a deliberate spelling mistake ? Is Self trying to be even cleverer ?

 

[Chicken Run]

Will Self is prime example of mundane lazy socialism, almost trendy somewhat, he wouldn't walk a "cunty" mile to help some impoverished obese kid eat properly either, it just sounds "cool" to seem to care. Utter prik imho.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

alcohols not a drug, its a drink

No, beer is a drink. Alcohol is the often destructive drug found within it.

A bit like saying heroin's not a drug, it's an intravenous drip.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

Can we add that article to the 'load of old shit' thread?

 

[The Merry Prankster]

hmm, but what has Will Self done to try and help anyone? seems a bit churlish and playing the knock-success card to have ago at someone who has tried to make meaningful difference for people, rather than merely talk about social ideals.

A lot actually. He has been a big (and active supporter) of RAPT.

 

[Notters]

What a shit article. He doesn't really say anything! And why do people always call Oliver a mockney? Have I missed something? He's from Essex and sounds like he's from Essex.

 

[Mellotron]

Self is a parody, an ex smack head espousing the virtues of socialism despite having had a privileged upbringing himself and sending his own kids to private school.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/self-admits-taking-heroin-on-pms-jet-1268111.html

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/im-a...y-son-is-going-to-private-school-6898981.html

The reality is that Self is the thin end of the wedge, once he attains any form of credibility before we know where we are we will have the pissy pant earnest types holding out the incoherent narcissistic ramblings of Self's fellow ex skag fiend (but less privileged) Russell Brand as some kind if prophetic wisdom............at that point the sane in this country may just as well turn the lights out and smother their children.

What a nasty, spiteful, bigoted post. Great work.

 

[Notters]

There are a couple of lines in there that really hit me quite hard:



On face value it's a pun and yet it describes perfectly the situation where more and more working poor are using food banks while there seems to be a cookery programme on tv every minute of the day. It's not quite right and I say that as a self confessed Masterchef fan and someone who's posted recipes on the net in the past.

The other one is



It's this sort of **** that led someone on the the supermarket thread to announce 'I source my produce locally' or words to that effect. Whether they were taking the mickey or not, that there are people that trumpet this sort of thing openly is actually frightening. My nan sourced all her produce locally because she didn't have a whacking great Tesco up the road. When did we start sneering about shopping?

Sourcing your produce locally may not even be the panacea we all think. In the link below Jay Rayner explains why. Sadly the Observer have removed the original article as their copyright expired but the video gives you a flavour (sorry) of what he's on about. And yes I'm aware of the irony that he's promoting a food book.

http://eater.com/archives/2013/05/15/jay-rayner-explains-why-local-food-wont-save-the-planet.php

Finally, I know Self doesn't literally destroy Oliver but it's my experience that unless you post a new thread under an incomplete, misleading or hyperbolic title here no one reads it

I was taken in by that Jay Rayner article but it was subsequently proven to be a load of bollocks. For example the New Zealanders didn't take into account the environmental impact of all the refrigeration needed to keep their apples fresh.

 

[mikeyjh]

thank god for robert webb.

badfish has it right who gives a shit about these people. some bloke who says ooh dinky winky gets told off by someone who says numberwang. mr wordy druggy moans about someone who cooks your tea. alan partridge slags off mark from peep show. all very entertaining in a depressing for the future of our society way.

being in footlights or voting labour only makes them the slightly more palatable celebrities spouting nonsense or at least relatively ill informed opinions (except in the case of coogan who knows loads about the ethics of the press due to taking loads of gear and shagging about).

all these open letters from middle aged entertainers about politics or our society currently flying about are amazing in their vanity. its as deluded as me thinking anything i say on here is relevant or insightful.

Slightly harsh on Robert Webb I think - If you ignore for a second the fact that he is a celebrity, he makes a very good point that no-one else was making, that Brand was talking hogwash. Someone needed to say it.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

So an article that says close to bugger all and shows Self up as being a spiteful liar ?

 

[Guinness Boy]

4th Paragraph, 1st line. Is that a deliberate spelling mistake ? Is Self trying to be even cleverer ?

Yes and yes. Actually my least favourite line of the piece.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

I like oliver. Will self can't stand the bloke. As much as I hate michael gove he certainly put him in his place on question time that time, made him look stupid. I would like to see will self be as successful as oliver one day, at least oliver does something practical.