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<\/a><\/p>\nWe\u2019ve been watching the weather in the States with interest and were pleased to hear that family and friends were not yet engulfed in the deluge of snow they had in western New York<\/a> the other day. I hope it doesn\u2019t come our way \u2013 it\u2019s too soon for that sort of thing.<\/p>\n Ms Playchute and I enjoyed a splendid afternoon out on Wednesday \u2013 we went to the \u201cold people\u2019s\u201d afternoon showing of Mr Turner<\/a> at the cinema. As you know full well by now, I would not be taking Ms Playchute out for an afternoon\u2019s entertainment if I didn\u2019t have some sort of voucher \u2013 this expedition was courtesy of a 2 for 1 offer from our cell phone provider. Hey, I don\u2019t care who provides the discount, just as long as there is one. And, since we\u2019re both old people now, it\u2019s an absolute bargain.<\/p>\n We had been looking forward to seeing it ever since one of our friends gave it a very positive review\u00a0and I have to say we were not disappointed. I\u2019m not sure I would \u201crave\u201d about it but it was certainly very, very good and the two and a half hours positively flew by. It is, of course, a film of the later years of Joseph Mallord William Turner, the English landscape painter with Timothy Spall playing Turner. It\u2019s directed by Mike Leigh and, like all his work, the cinematography is stunning with wonderful lighting, rather like a Turner painting, as it happens. Now what are the chances of that?<\/p>\n The film was great and we both enjoyed it.<\/p>\n A wonderful, rich film. Spall is superb.<\/p>\n – Befouled Weakly News<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Films like this always make me wonder \u2013 how accurate is Spall\u2019s performance? One presumes that everyone did their homework and that Turner was, indeed, a cantankerous, eccentric old man. Assuming that to be the case, Spall certainly does cantankerous old codger very effectively.<\/p>\n While chatting with Dad the other day, he reminded me of the impact of a volcanic eruption on Turner\u2019s paintings, especially his sunsets<\/a>. One of the reasons some of Turner\u2019s skies are so stunning is because he was painting at the time of the Tambora eruption in 1815<\/a>. Thought to be the largest in recorded history, the Tambora eruption killed around 10,000 people directly and more than 60,000 others due to the starvation and disease during the ‘volcanic winter’ that followed.<\/p>\n The volcanic ash and gas that was spewed into the atmosphere during the eruption drifted around the world and produced bright red and orange sunsets which were seen in Europe for up to three years after the event. Not much fun\u00a0for the 70,000 to 80,000 who died as a consequence but it did provide the inspiration for some great art.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve run across a worrying sequence of stories over the past couple of weeks concerning chocolate. First of all, I saw the good news in the Guardian that a recent study seems to suggest that chocolate can reverse memory loss<\/a> in older people. I suppose one ought to take the results of this study with a pinch of salt as it was part-funded by Mars (the confectionary company, not the planet in case there was any confusion). Still, it\u2019s a helpful study for those of us who are concerned about what we eat \u2013 red wine and chocolate certainly can find their way onto my healthy diet plan!<\/p>\n But not a day or so later I came across several articles suggesting that the world is running out of chocolate<\/a>!<\/p>\n The world is running out of chocolate and by 2020, the sweet treat may be endangered.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This potential calamity is due to a variety of factors but the bottom line is that we are eating more chocolate than is being produced.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/turner_dutch_boats_in_a_gale.jpg?resize=150%2C150\")
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