Pie in the SKY
"I blame SKY," Jez suddenly said.
"What for, now?" asked the long-suffering Angeline.
"Prices of food. In pubs," answered Jez.
Angeline wished she'd never asked; she got comfy, anyway.
"For years, MasterChef and Great British Menu have given TV chefs over-inflated opinions of themselves…" Jez began.
She sighed; it'd started.
"…not to mention their food, their prices. Have you seen Ramsay's New Year menu? £345 PER HEAD! For stuff that no one in their right mind eats!"
To be fair, Jez had a point.
"But the worst thing?" he continued (there was always a 'worst thing'), "Pubs have all put their grub prices up thinking they're in the same league as these 'celebrity' chefs!"
['Celebrity chefs, my arse', Angeline mentally pre-empted]
"Celebrity chefs, my arse!" Jez exclaimed. "All these bloody cooking programs. Nothing wrong with roast beef, lard, Yorkshire pud and treacle pudding!" he said, scratching his ballooning belly before returning to his newspaper.
Was that it, all over? Angeline wondered. Yes.
"Shall I order you one of these new-fangled Lickable TV sets, then?" she asked.
"Might as well. But make sure the cans taste of English food!"
She went to fetch the meat cleaver…
(image, BBC/Reuters)
The End
For 'The Brief', see below:
The Brief
From Sci-Fi Roundtable, Thursday, 30th December, 2021:
Thursday Writing Activity
Write a flash fiction about this piece and let us see how you use it as story fuel!
Write a flash fiction inspired by the article "Netlicks? 'The TV screen you can taste' | BBC";
200 words is the limit
If you find yourself wanting to write more, post the first 200 words in the comments and direct people to the rest that you upload in the files.
A prototype "lickable" TV screen which can mimic food flavours has been developed by a Japanese professor, Reuters reports.
Dubbed "Taste-the-TV", ten canisters spray flavour onto a "hygienic film" which is rolled over the screen for the viewer to lick.
"The goal is to make it possible for people to have the experience of something like eating at a restaurant on the other side of the world, even while staying at home…"