Yes, I know that it was a machine not a person. And yes, I get the reasons behind this, given the subject of the post and the sort of people that are out there.
But when you look at their messages to me:
How my post is “misleading” is a bit beyond me. The posts on 6000 miles… publish directly to Facebook so that you can access from there, and the biggest fan of this whole operation is Facebook itself, which is constantly (and irritatingly) reminding me to post more on there.
But when I do…
I have broken none of those rules. Sure, you will end up on the blog when you click the links I share, but I’m not trying to hide it. If you choose to click, that’s your problem, not mine.
We all know what you are letting yourself in for.
The other thing here is that they’ve removed my post, even though I’ve published a blog post every day for almost 14 years, and for at least half of those to Facebook, but then you look at the hate speech, AI images, misinformation, spam, the myriad of scams and general crap that gets through, and you think: why me?
And if it looks like I’m somehow elevating myself above other people posting stuff to Facebook, well yes, I am. Certainly above all of that stuff, anyway.
Who knows if this post will be removed as well? I cunningly tried to disguise the name of the social media service in the title of this post so that Facebook won’t know that the post is about it. I know: you didn’t even notice, right?
It’s also worth noting that Twitter had no issue with this morning’s post. But then their bar on content quality is so low that it’s a tripping hazard in Hell.
RBOSS continues apace. It was never going to be something that was ever going to stop, but there were (apparently forlorn) hopes that we could at least slow it down.
It seems not. Here’s that statue of the Bee Gees on the Prom in Douglas, now famous for the white line that surrounds the figures of Barry, Robin and Keith:
The statue itself is bad enough. It didn’t need treating to a DEHAZE wash drowning. And beagle-eyed readers will notice that this one has been used on a calendar. That means that there are at least 28 days (and probably more) when this image is going to be staring at you from your kitchen (or whichever) wall.
Absolute masochism.
And then we head to Sandygate: the oldest football ground in the world, and home to the second oldest football team in the world. But not for much longer, looking at the frankly apocalyptic clouds overhead here:
To be fair, this is less RBOSS and more r/shittyHDR. But the same rules apply.
And there’s absolutely no need for fawning comments like “an amazing capture” or “beautiful [heart emoji]”. Although they are all over this post on Facebook. This image is a record of a visit to a historical, non-league stadium in suburban Sheffield, not some Hurricane Milton lookalike contest.
Remove the ridiculously over-dramatic sky and it’s just perfect at what it’s supposed to be. But now everyone’s looking at the scary clouds and wondering of any of the (somewhat meagre) fanbase survived.
They’ve forgotten that you went to watch the footy.
Completely unjustified.
I know that there are a few people out there who think that these sort of blog posts are wrong, and that art is art. And they’re definitely right on the second bit. But art (is this really “art”?) should also be open to criticism, and when it’s blown out by too many lightroom or snapseed filters or sliders, I will call it out.
Things are often actually quite nice just as they are, and they don’t need stupid amounts of editing just to try and get you a few extra likes or karma points.
Note: I ran the concept of this post past a reader before I wrote it, and I got the impression that I maybe needed to find a different angle. This can like to be that angle.
Now. On with the post.
Bring back Bok!
That was my cry when I started getting adverts and flyers for this concert all over my socials and emails:
For those who aren’t aware, I have been plagued by Afrikaans singing sensation Bok van Blerk for many years now. Much like Herpes, your presence on his mailing lists is something that you simply can’t get rid of, no matter how many drugs you take or how desperately you try.
But could Lighthouse – that’s these guys:
We are Lighthouse, a family band that loves making music for Jesus, our Lord, and Savior!
actually be worse than Bok?
Yes. Yes, I rather think that they could.
They’ve been aggressively marketing their upcoming Praise and Worship Aand (evening) in Struisbaai this weekend all over my internet. They might even have taken it further: I haven’t looked at the front of my house, but it wouldn’t surprise me if their ubiquitous message had been daubed all over there as well.
They’ve also been punting their BIG SONG: Fear Of The Lord (negative reinforcement is rarely a successful means of control, and this title doesn’t seem to suggest a good way to run any sort of organisation to me) in partnership with the popular series “The Chosen”, on Youtube (76 subscribers). They tell us:
Go stream it free on The Chosen App. It’s a must-watch!
Hmm. Citation required.
At this point, I usually say something along the lines of:
I did this, so you don’t have to.
But in this case: no chance. You’re on your own.
I did watch the music video though:
Part smiley Jesus (especially when he realises that he’s turned the water into wine, lol), part Afrikaans singing family in their local school hall.
But wait. There’s more!
Binge Jesus for Free on thechosen[dot]tv/app
How exactly do you “Binge Jesus”? What does that process involve?
Yes, in the video, it does seem like he’s a nice bloke. Yes, in the video, she does seem to have a pretty good voice.
But that doesn’t mean that you have to get tangled up with what almost exactly half of Americans think saved Donald Trump from that bullet in Pennsylvania.
Let’s cut to the chase: I won’t be down in Struisbaai this weekend, and so I won’t be seeing Lighthouse in concert at the Suiderlig Dienssentrum. I will miss Pastor Walters Joubert from Bredasdorp.
Their appeal to:
Kom geniet die Aand saam met ons!
has fallen upon stony ground.
They should at least understand that metaphorical reference.
Meanwhile, in a cruel twist of fate, look who has pulled into my inbox again this afternoon:
This time, he’s singing about the threat that the Afrikaans people and language are [allegedly] facing, and trying to inspire (and here I quote):
…a new generation of Afrikaners who would like to remember the past, preserve it and build on what was good.
Ah yes. The good old days in South Africa.
Bit awkward. Especially since the title of the song is in Dutch (although there is a lengthy backstory, which I read, so you don’t have to) (see? I am a nice guy, really).
Oh man. Nationalist politics or Organised religion?
My two most very favourite things which are doing somuch the make the world a better place right now.
This morning, I saw someone on Facebook lamenting the amount of time people spend looking at their cellphones. Of course, if I had spent a bit less time on my cellphone, I wouldn’t have seen it. If they’d spent a bit less time on their cellphone, it wouldn’t have been there to see in the first place.
The irony was not lost on me.
Of course, like anything, our phones can have their downsides. And there are certainly people who are – to varying degrees – addicted to their device. And because it is always there, it is always so easy just to take a quick look, and then to begin that lifeless doomscrolling. For however long.
And yes, while you are doing that, you are missing out on everything else around you.
It’s an important thing to remember even as a photographer: one of the arguments about making memories by taking photos is that you are not living in the moment and experiencing the actual event that you are trying to preserve.
But hang on, let’s not get our knickers in a knot.
It should be pointed out that Stephen Store was actually giving the lecture in question. And he wasn’t happy when he looked up from his notes and saw people on their phones:
“I saw at least dozens of you who spent the entire lecture looking at your phones. You’ve come here. You hear a talk and you can’t even pay attention to whom you’ve come to listen to. How can you pay attention to the food you eat or feel the sunlight on your skin?”
After a moment of silence, the audience erupted into applause. After this, Shore concluded, “I think this is a good place to stop,” stood up, and left the stage.
But… but…
According to SHINE, a witness claimed that there had been a misunderstanding. A person who reportedly attended the lecture said that many people were indeed looking at their phones, but some of them were actually listening and taking notes. “We’ve already conveyed this to Shore through staff members,” the person said. Another attendee added that they showed Shore their photos and videos of the notes everyone was taking, “and he said he felt much better about it.”
So perhaps this is just another example of society (and by “society”, I mean “older people”) needing to catch up a bit as technology outpaces the rules and etiquette we set around our daily lives. Because taking notes electronically is not an unusual thing to do, whereas when I (or Stephen, three decades before me) was studying, it was – quite literally – unheard of.
While there may be plenty of negatives about cellphone use, we shouldn’t overlook that there are many positives as well. And as part of the… ahem… “older generation”, perhaps we shouldn’t be quick so quick to judge. Because:
It would appear that, once again, reports heralding the death of civilisation at the execrable hands of technology might have been greatly exaggerated.
Remember this image?
Kids looking at their phones instead of the magnificence of Rembrandt’s ‘The Night Watch’ in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Pfft. Tsk tsk.
Clearly, to lots of folk, the photograph epitomised everything that is wrong with young people these days and their ‘addiction’ to technology. These children were being distracted by their technology to such an extent that they weren’t paying any attention to the beauty surrounding them in the real world.
Only they weren’t. It turns out that the Rijksmuseum has an app that, among other things, contains guided tours and further information about the works on display. As part of their visit to the museum, the children, who minutes earlier had admired the art and listened attentively to explanations by expert adults, had been instructed to complete an assignment by their school teachers, using, among other things, the museum’s excellent smartphone app.
Because there is more to cellphones and technology than distraction from what we should be experiencing. Yes, “kids these days” all have cellphones and we have to deal with the parental challenges which come with them, but I bet that there’s a whole lot more information – and in a much more age-appropriate, user-friendly, engaging format – about that painting, on their devices.
My barber was telling me yesterday that she was going shopping after work so that her daughter could try out another recipe that she had found on social media. Because of what she has learned from the oft lamented (and quite reasonably so) TikTok, she’s honing her cooking skills and now has aspirations of becoming a chef. She has found her passion through her smartphone. Who knows where that might lead?
For balance: a quick note that we saw plenty of people “creating” utterly vacuous “content” for that same platform while at the Waterfront yesterday. So yeah, very much two sides to this whole thing. If civilisation – as seems ever more likely – comes crashing down around us, I’m not sure that the ability to accurately recreate a 12 second dance routine will stand society in great stead.
There’s no argument to me that this is clearly an generational thing. They’ve been around for 30 years now, but cellphones are still “new” to our generation, simply because we didn’t grow up with them. Our kids have never experienced anything else.
It is a failing of human nature to detest anything that young people do just because older people are not used to it or have trouble learning it. So I am wary of the “young people suck” school of social criticism.
Steven Pinker
So sure, let’s set boundaries and let’s communicate the rules we set for using cellphones in classrooms and lecture theatres, but also, let’s not be quite so quick to judge just because there’s a smartphone being used by a young individual (or anyone else).
Back to José Picardo at the Rijksmuseum:
I wonder whether the photo would have caused so much indignation and disapproval if it had depicted students ‘ignoring’ the masterpiece while reading a paper leaflet or museum brochure instead.
So, I wonder, what is more likely to bring about the death of civilisation, children using smartphones to learn about art or the willful ignorance of adults who are too quick to make assumptions?
Try hard not to be that adult. No matter how much it feels like you need to make a point about how your generation was so much better than theirs is.
I did think about using my time this afternoon to write a long blog post, the like of which hasn’t been seen on here since last week.
But maybe it was the early morning wake up call by the f*****g builders (yes, different builders to the ones that have been plaguing us in Cape Town for almost 6 months, and yes, today is a Sunday).
Maybe it’s the sea air (which is moving past the cottage at very, very high speed) or maybe it’s this morning’s beach walk in that gale force wind, but right now, I’m feeling that:
afternoon nap > long blog post
I realise that this decision won’t necessarily make some readers very happy, but please rest in the knowledge that I think it will make me very happy.
