When James Martin was born, doctors told his parents that he might never speak. However, he did not only learn to speak, but 31 years later, on his birthday, he walked on Hollywood’s biggest stage to collect his Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film, An Irish Goodbye. James became the first actor with Down syndrome to win an Academy Award. And, as icing on the cake, the entire audience sang “Happy Birthday” to him.
James Martin never let his condition hold him back.
James Martin’s father, Ivan Martin, is very proud of his son and revealed that he does everything with great gusto, and he’s very glad that his efforts have paid off.
“He has spent his life pushing the envelope. People are very good at saying, ’You can’t do this, and you can’t do that’… He’s done it, and he does it consistently,” he said.
Martin is the first person with Down syndrome to win not just a BAFTA but an Oscar too, and he’s very proud of himself. “It doesn’t matter if you have Down syndrome, as long as you’re doing what you do. I do what I can to be funny,” he said.
His girlfriend also supports him and says the win was a magical moment. “It shows to everyone that it’s changing your mindset on how people with disabilities can achieve as much as everyone else can,” she declared.
For the past 10 years, Martin has been working at Starbucks.
His co-workers and manager at Starbucks are very proud of Martin and his acting success, and to support him, good-luck posters were placed in the coffee chain’s city stores.
However, Martin’s dad revealed that despite the fame, he doesn’t see his son quitting his job as a barista anytime soon.
Martin caught the acting bug after he joined the Belfast-based Babosh theatre company for children with learning disabilities.
There, Martin did all types of shows, and he enjoyed every moment spent there. This was a stepping stone for him, as he later managed to land the lead role in Ups and Downs, starring alongside actress Susan Lynch.
Martin then went on to land a role in the series, Marcella, but his role in An Irish Goodbye, which won him both a BAFTA and an Oscar, is his most high-profile role to date.
Preview photo credit MICHAEL TRAN/AFP/East News, An Irish Goodbye / First Flights and co-producers
Fake Meat Industry Gets Cold Shoulder From Consumers Again As Beyond Meat Faces…Meat
Plant-based meat was supposed to save the pIanet, make people healthier, and liberate enslaved cows, chickens, and pigs everywhere. Instead, after an impressive start, folks have learned some hard truths about the industry and are turning away in droves.
Once consumers began to Iearn that plant-based meats were still super processed, not nearly as healthy as advertised, and required an enormous amount of machinery to produce hungry consumers largely decided that the old-school options, nameIy chickens, pigs, and cows, were better tasting and better for you.
The biggest player in the industry, Beyond Meat, released its third-quarter numbers in November of 2023, and they taste worse than ersatz ground beef. Net revenue slid, declining 8.7% year-over-year and 26% versus the previous quarter.
It wasn’t all bad news, however, as the company actually achieved free cash flow for the quarter but does not expect that to be the case in the fourth quarter. One anaIyst at the firm TD Cowen took it a step further and said the firm is in ‘survival mode’ and will need to tap the financial markets in 2024 to maintain operations.
Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown said: We anticipated a modest return to growth in the third quarter of 2023 that did not occur. Though we are encouraged by pockets of growth, particulariy in the EU where we saw double digit gains in net revenues on a year-over-year basis, we are disappointed by our overall results as we continue to experience worsening sector-specific and broader consumer headwinds. Beyond Meat has cited numerous reasons for its poor performance, inciuding declining foodservice sales and flagging American retail sales, but declined to suggest the possibility that the product just isn’t that good.
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