Hi team,
Welcome to the thirty-first installment of Furloughed. Maybe it’s a newsletter about things I’m doing while furloughed, things you can do, or both.
This week, I made 17 slices of lasagne for a friend’s baby I’m about to become an auntie to.
Then fell into a spiral of I-must-sell-my-Oxford-flat-now-and-find-a-Bristol-home-to-move-into-permanently-and-immediately.
After I had booked a Bristol house viewing I was very pleased with myself.
Then the viewing was cancelled twice.
So I went into meltdown.
Sometimes, capitalism is so horrible I want to jump off the train. But I can’t. Because the world is the train.
Things to watch
Short things
Thanks to Mike who writes Everything is Amazing for sending this video.
My partner spent quite some telling me about this video on how aluminium is made.
Series
Mainstay recommendations are City of Ghosts and Waffles + Mochi. And We Are Lady Parts.
While having another middle-aged gripe about how iPlayer won’t stream on Chromecast at the moment, I watched all of The Chair on Netflix instead.
I (like everyone else) love Sandra Oh. My favourite thing she’s in is Under the Tuscan Sun, which I love (even though it’s very cliché).
Anyway, lots of people said The Chair was cliché. But lots of those people work in academia. Snooze. I enjoyed it. I saw someone on Twitter say, “it’s not satire, it’s journalism.”
Films
This week, I watched Chocolat on Netflix because I am having a cliché week apparently.
And last night I watched The Old Guard, which I enjoyed immensely.
It pairs well with Sleepy Hollow the series. One point though — I’m not sure why the bad capitalists in these movies always have to be flimsy caricatures, to the point that the immortal saviour characters are more believable. You *can* just do a true-to-life depiction of big pharma and incite an uprising, it’ll be okay.
Things to read
Star of ‘you wouldn't be long getting frostbit’ video revealed to be swimmer saved 4km out at sea
“I saw these black tails in the water, and I wasn’t sure were they dolphins or sharks,
“I just thought to myself, maybe it wouldn’t have been the worst idea to have googled this before I jumped in, but they were just dolphins.
“They wouldn’t have done any harm to you. I’d no problem with them.
“They were just swimming around me. If anything, they may have helped me. It was definitely an experience.” —Ruairí McSorley, the star of the viral video ‘Frostbit Boy’ as quoted by Eavan Murray
Books
I bought two new books this week, including Feminism, Interrupted by Lola Olufemi. This, The Book of Trespass looks good.
Feel good
Denmark, Costa Rica seek alliance to speed up the end of oil and gas
Scottish Government start work on Minimum Income Guarantee policy
Things to listen to
Podcasts
Mainstay recommendation is this Blindboy podcast with Emma Dabiri. And more Blindboy - How to Solve the Housing Crisis. And a podcast about doughnut economics.
This week I listened to a funny story about a woman who became a dog stepmum…
Music
This song was the trach for The Chair trailer. The Linda Lindas also interviewed Sandra Oh.
Join a union and find your local mutual aid
You can join a union to help protect yourself and others. And your local Mutual Aid group.
UK government ‘failed to consider gender’ in its response to Covid pandemic
Sustainable Suppression
I am reaching the end of my self-guided graded exposure therapy to going into shops. After 18 months of food deliveries only. Partly because Covid cases in Engand are 26 times higher than a year ago and schools go back next week. Partly because — even though we were both masked and the shop was well ventilated — a member of staff in a local shop obviously had a cold (or Covid, who knows) and sneezed while I was in there.
So I’ve ordered toilet paper from Who Gives A Crap, coconut milk and tinned tomatoes from Biona and some more U-mask filters (although I’m told KN95 masks are the best, I’m just not sure where to get legit ones here in the UK. FFP2 are sold in pharmacies).
So… avoid the three Cs - Confined. Crowded. Close-contact settings. Mask up.
Here’s Independent Sage’s vaccinations FAQ, if you or people you know have vaccine questions. They have also put out a document about the continuing need for support measures.
A video on how to ventilate a room
After two million deaths, we must have redress for mishandling the pandemic
People to listen to
Things to do
Sign this petition: Ban urban and garden pesticides to protect bees, other wildlife and human health
Make a Corsi cube to filter a room/ set up a crowdfund to make them for classrooms
Send me any fun things to do or look at you see so I can include them!