PistoriusBalls 12

Before the break:

I once did a project for almost 15 days and then I simply had to give up, so fair play to the journalists sitting in the courtroom for a few hours each day and being paid to tell people about it. Sterkte.

Euphemism, right?

😐

Probably her most incisive comment yet.

That’s a rather thick anticlimax. Much worse than a mist of disappointment or a haze of letdown.

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Aaand we’re back! Welcome to bring your own soft-furnishings to court day.

 

To be fair, I think he could have chosen just about anywhere better than to meet her than there. Amirite?

You want pure nature? OK, die young.

I spotted a nice little rant from Jeffrey Kluger on Time.com on anti-vaxxers.

I hope that writing it was some sort of cathartic experience for Jeffrey, as while it carefully explains all the reasons that anti-vaxxers are foolish, short-sighted and downright wrong, it will have about as much effect as bringing a banana to a gunfight. But I recognise that sometimes you just need to get these things out of your system before the frustration makes your brain go totes cray cray and you start using sloppy internet slang.

Parents who oppose vaccines are not only misinformed, they’re spoiled, having grown up in a world that stands behind the berms built by the scientists and vaccine developers who came before them. If you’ve never seen measles — or polio or whooping cough or mumps — you have the luxury of believing they don’t exist.

Forget the pretty flowers and the Instagrammable sunsets. There’s another side to Nature: viruses, evil bacteria, disease, sickness. Yep, sadly, it turns out that Nature is actually a bit of a bitch. As Jeffrey points out, science (or “messing with nature”) allows us to live longer, it means that we don’t die in childhood, it means that simple infections don’t kill us anymore (for the moment, anyway).
Because those were all things that happened a lot before science happened (see here).
Now, I think that those are good things. Positive things. Fine reasons to embrace and celebrate the progress we have made. Working in science, it’s disappointing when others don’t feel that way, but it’s tragic when their irresponsible decisions impact on the defenceless individuals in our society.

I’m not going to carry on. My rant would have about as much effect as Jeffrey’s and rather than raising my blood pressure by thinking about the idiots, I’d rather be doing my (little) bit to stop quite so many people dying of TB. That said, do click through and have a read of Jeffrey’s column, because it does make very good sense.

Getting started on podcasts to avoid Grant Nash

Note: This post is mainly aimed at Android users, but obviously the podcasts suggested are available across all platforms.

With the surprise departure of Gareth Cliff from the 5fm Breakfast Show, you’ll have been hoping to find something nearly as good to occupy your morning drive to work. Sadly, until their “relaunch” at 5am on the fifth of the fifth (read: “We weren’t ready for this. At all.”) you’re certainly not going to get it, as Grant Nash, one eighth of the much-loved Grant and Anele duo* “fills in” for Cliff and the team.

No thanks.

I’ve decided to try podcasts, given that the other radio options are rather limited in desirability. And I should mention that we’re in SA here, where digital and satellite radio are as likely to be seen in the next few years as that hoverboard from Back to the Future. In addition, we’re still battling with the joint foes of Grant and Anele slow internet and high data costs, which means that, for many people, streaming – especially on mobile – is a non-starter.

Podcasts are things that I have previously pretty much ignored, but Gareth’s departure and Grant’s arrival twixt six and nine have pushed me to explore a bit. And it’s not (quite) as daunting as I had imagined.
Basically, all you need is a podcast manager app and a willingness to explore a bit.

For the former, I chose Podcast Addict [QR code], simply because it had the best reviews on the Play Store and I’ve already found that it’s pretty easy and intuitive to use. Also, it’s ad-driven, so it’s free (although if you find that you are going to be using it full-time, you can chuck R30 at the developer to lose the ads).
Next, I had to decide which podcasts to try. This is obviously a very personal thing, but the internet can help with some starting points: here, here and here, for example. I looked at some comedy, some topical stuff and some educayshonel things. It’s worth noting that the BBC has a HUGE repository of podcasts on just about every subject. The only downside is that almost everything involving music can only be downloaded in the UK, because of copyright laws. And yes, I’m well aware that there are ways around this, but that’s your indaba, innit.

Something else I found were video podcasts. Hundreds of them. This might not suit though, because a) bandwidth and b) driving. However, if you have unlimited data and/or cash and you’re brave enough to take public transport, this could be for you. At two hours from Kenilworth to the Waterfront, God knows you’ll have the time to watch them. It’s worth noting that PodcastAddict’s search feature allows you to choose to look for audio, video or both. Typically, you’re looking at about 1MB per minute for most of the audio podcasts I’ve seen, so it’s “doable”.

So, what did I end up starting with? Here’s my list:

Frank Skinner on Absolute Radio
Alex Horne Breaks The News
Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 1 (unsigned artists and DIY labels = no copyright issues)
Justin Moorhouse About 30 Minutes, No More Than 45 and
A History of Britain In Numbers

I also tried Stuff You Should Know, but I thought that it was a bit rubbish.

Early days, sure, but I’ve enjoyed my journeys with my podcasts and I really don’t feel that I’m missing out on much given the live alternatives available. I’ll keep you informed and updated on how things are going.

Meanwhile, if you have any thoughts on this subject or have any podcasts that you want to suggest, then please let me know in the comments below.

* approximate calculation based on BMI.

Wakefield Anti-Protest Photobomb

Spotted this while whizzing through the Yorkshire bit of t’internet and felt it deserved sharing.

The photo is by Dean Hinchliffe and was taken in Wakefield on Saturday. The man partially hiding behind his WBC-style sign is Bryan Barkley, who is standing as an independent candidate in the Normanton Town Council by-election and the women staging the brilliant impromptu anti-protest are Antonia Lines and Beccy Smith.

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It appears as though Dean was about to take the photo anyway:

Just seen this man in Wakefield City centre and wanted to take a photo to highlight the blind bigotry that still exists but he covered his face. Then, as I was taking the photo these girls appeared.

As Beccy remarks on her Facebook page: “Had to be done.”

Mr Barkley’s protest and the subsequent anti-protest came on Saturday as the law was changed to allow same-sex marriages. As I write, the UK has not been struck down by fire or brimstone, although there has been some slight drizzle, which is obviously to be expected, as it’s a well known fact that teh gays are responsible for the rain, innit?

V.G.B, the SABC and e-tv

Ah, splendid! A welcome return of letters to The Southern Suburbs Tatler, although this one is an SMS, I believe. (To express your viewpoint via this particular medium to this particular publication, SMS “TAT” (yes, really) to 32263.)

That what V.G.B did. V.G.B lives in Pinelands, so we probably shouldn’t take his/her viewpoint too seriously, but still, if he/she is going to take the time and make the effort to SMS “TAT” and then have his/her rant, it’s only fair that we should at least read what he/she had to say. Which was this:

IMG_20140328_111556Quoth V.G.B:

Who sees to the content of what is shown on TV? Why can’t that person do their job properly? The shows on TV are mostly repeats. Please employ somebody who knows that they are doing. The SABC is going down the drain. And, why are you showing porn on etv? Have you at etv got no morals? Then you wonder why there is so much rape and kidnapping in your community

V.G.B, Pinelands.

Woah! That’s a whole lot of questions and opinions in one single SMS to 32263, V.G.B.

My first issue with your first question is that you seem to have tacitly answered it within your second question. You are seemingly aware that it is the job of one person (who can’t do it properly). Are you perhaps looking for a specific name? “Bob”, perhaps? And why do you think they’re not doing their job properly? Maybe it’s just you that doesn’t like repeats (it’s not, but I bet you never considered that). Maybe other people like repeats because they missed the first broadcast. Maybe you’re just watching too much TV. Have you really got nothing better to do, like trying to escape from the 531 hood or SMS’ing to your local newspaper or something?

The SABC, you tell us, is going down the drain. Is this something you’ve only recently noticed, or is this statement the culmination of a decade or more’s worth of square-eyed research by your good self? I’m just asking because many of us came to that conclusion quite a while ago. Surely an expert on matters televisual such as yourself would also have noted this before now.

But you’re not content with poking fun at the ailing national broadcaster, are you? Oh no, etv is in your sights as well. It’s not entirely clear if you believe that the same individual (“Bob”) is also responsible for the content of what is shown on etv as well, but if so, you clearly remain quite disappointed in their scheduling abilities. Why are they showing porn? Well, obviously, as you state, it’s because they have no morals. Or because there’s a market for it. Which probably means that you think everyone watching has no morals. But then… how do you know etv is showing porn? Have you been watching it (solely for SMS-to-the-local-rag research, obviously)? Did you see that one with the plumber last Friday? Excellent cinematography, I felt.

Now, not only is this individual (“Bob”) scheduling repeats on SABC and showing porn on etv, he’s also apparently wondering why there is so much rape and kidnapping in his community. (How do you know where he lives, by the way?)
Your lack of any conjunction here leaves it unclear if you are linking these activities, but let’s assume that you are, in which case, let’s remind ourselves of the lack of any link between porn on tv and rape.

But then, that still leaves us the thorny issue (eina!) of why etv showing porn (and having no morals) should affect the prevalence of kidnapping in any given community. I have searched extensively and have failed to find a single article linking (or even suggesting any sort of link between) late night televisual sexual proclivities and kidnapping. Or burglary. Or money-laundering. Or any other crime, really. Do you have some other, hitherto unseen, evidence for this etv porn/community kidnapping link? Perhaps you have someone in mind who is simply so appalled by the choice of repeats or amoral smut that he goes out and steals people off the street as alternative entertainment or maybe even, as some sort of bizarre protest?
Or did you just choose a couple of random crimes to bolster your none case for the rubbish “Bob” has been giving us on Welfare TV? I wonder.

I guess that we can only hope that etv don’t start showing repeats of porn. Pinelands would simply not survive your apoplectic rage at such a coming together (careful now) of your much-maligned, twin travesties. )My concern is not for Pinelands, obviously, but for any collateral damage to surrounding, more important, suburbs.)

Having read the above, you may feel that I don’t really appreciate your insight into the issues of the day, electronically transmitted to the pages of the Tatler and then stuffed halfway into my letterbox. But that’s simply not the case. It’s merely that I don’t agree with anything you’ve said in this particular effort.
I’m sure that if you get your little 3310 out again this week, we can enjoy further discussions about other fascinating topics on here again this time next Friday.