Rant & Rave (07/10/12)

Rant

Thanks to Nigella Lawson for the latest in a new genre of cooking programmes that all assume the viewers are lazy oafs. "This dish is so quick and easy," the chef must say, "that I practically just rolled over in bed and it made itself. And look: only three ingredients, and they're all out of tins." They say this while "blitzing" things in blenders, churning them with electric mixers, boiling them to a sticky consistency in three different pans, and then saving half a kipper "to use another time" (aka turn to penicillin at the back of the fridge). If you include the washing up, these "15-minute meals" tend to take five hours, all for a meal of Nutella on some biscuits. Chefs: could it be that people who watch cookery programs might not mind cooking? Go wild – show us a real recipe!

Rave

Congratulations to Orlando Cruz, who is number four in the World Boxing Organisation's featherweight division and, so far, officially the world's only gay boxer. Cruz "came out" last week, saying: "I have and will always be a proud Puerto Rican. I have always been and always will be a proud gay man." Subsequently, the sky didn't fall in, he was not struck by lightning and there are still only three men in the world who can beat him up. As we all know, men's sport is a statistical anomaly in which practically not a single person is gay, and so Cruz joins the Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas in the elite group of sportsmen who are man enough to be out. It's likely to stay an elite group, as clearly there are no gay footballers. Which is a shame, as this group of professional fallers-over could do with a more ballsy image.