Category: that’s a bit mad

Let’s do this again

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14 years on, and we haven’t learned a thing.

We’re supposed to be grown-ups. Adults. And yet, at 6pm this evening, we’ll head out onto the pitch for another potentially epic 5-a-side football game against some other supposed adults.

Nothing wrong with that, you might think – if you aren’t in Cape Town, that is, because if you are in Cape Town then you know very well that there’s something very wrong with it – because it’s rather warm out.

Really actually quite warm already.
Almost bordering on hot, one could argue.

And, as I alluded to above, there’s history here. And it really isn’t pretty.

It was horrible. One of the worst footballing experiences of my life. Within 2 minutes of running around, I was gasping, drenched through with sweat, and feeling dizzy and nauseous. These, even by Cape Town standards, were extreme conditions. The ball wasn’t even flying through the air properly. I felt truly awful.
Some sort of sense of self-preservation should probably have kicked in here. But it didn’t. And so, with a couple of breaks, we continued to toil for an hour. What utter, utter idiots.

We all (mostly) remember (some of) that day.
I think my therapist called it PTSD: Phenomenal Temperature, Stupid Decision.

And it’s already 6 degrees warmer today than it was back on that day in February 2012.

Common sense says that they call the games off this evening. At best, it’s going to be extremely unpleasant, at worst, it could actually be dangerous. But they probably won’t. And that being the case, common sense says that we should forfeit the game. But that’s absolutely not how we roll, and I grudgingly have to respect our determination. Even though we’re clearly being very daft here.

I really wouldn’t recommend such bravado though.
To coin Wilfred Owen:

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro manus mori.

The game is still going ahead as I write this.

See you on the other side, I guess.
And yes, you can choose any meaning of that phrase that seems fit.

World’s gone mad.

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How is this a real image?

I know it’s couple of days old now, and that things move fast these days, especially in the case of this conflict. But it looks like something from a cartoon.

And yet it’s also tragic that there are kids inspecting this unexploded missile in a field in Syria.

Still, could be worse…

“Ahmed! Stop that right now!”

Careful now, Iran

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Incoming from the whirring newsreel on my second monitor this morning, this:

What? Threatening the stability of the Middle East? That absolute paragon of stability throughout my lifetime? The shining example of security, solidity and steadiness for the global population? The role model for how neighbouring nations should get on with each other in perfect harmony?

You, Sonny Iran, have got an attitude. You’d better buck your ideas up – you’d better buck them up sharpish. Or you will be out that door. Capeesh?

How very dare you threaten the stability of the Middle East?

Whatever next?

Someone threatening the unblemished integrity of Donald Trump?

It’s a slippery slope.

New hoodie?

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Looking for the perfect gift for a loved one with winter apparently on the way?

How about this hoodie featuring – almost – a well-known proverb about education and empowerment?

Think about it: every person who sees you in the mall or at the bar will have something – something deep – to consider for the rest of their day.

Or to a lifetime.

A little premature?

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That thing I did on the drama of the Doomsday clock.

Awful. But then, this also suggests that we could keep going at the frankly horrendous rates of killing each other and destroying the environment that we’ve been working so hard upon for the last 12 months for at least another 88 years, and we’ll still be ok. Just.
See, they’ve gone in all too dramatic, and now they have no wiggle room at all.

And the follow up post, a year later.

Once again, I am calling for a reset of the Doomsday Clock. Think of it like decimalisation hitting the UK in 1971, or the introduction of the Euro in 1999 (and 2002). Because at the moment, the Doomsday Clock is pointless. The constant attempts to drag the time down as low as possible for dramatic purposes means that it not longer has any value.

I stand by both of those posts, but I’m also very willing to admit that they might have a bit of a point if they were to chop and extra minute or so off any interim update in the very near future.

The US has launched “major combat operations” in Iran, designed to eliminate “imminent threats” from the country’s regime, Donald Trump announced on Saturday.
The operation is “massive and ongoing”, the US president said in a video on social media, pledging to use “overwhelming strength and devastating force” to destroy Iranian missiles and ensure it cannot develop a nuclear weapon.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks aimed to “remove the existential threat” posed by the Iranian regime, as he urged the people of Iran to topple the government.
A short time beforehand, Israel said it had launched “preventative” strikes on Iran.

‘No red lines’ in Iran’s response to attacks, says official
A senior Iranian official said there would be “no red lines” to the regime’s response to the Israeli and US strikes on Iran.
“We are telling Israel clearly to prepare for what is coming,” the official told Al Jazeera.
“Our response will be public, and there are no red lines… All American and Israeli assets and interests in the Middle East have become legitimate targets.”

And yes, we’re only a couple of hours in and already Iran, Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE have been attacked by one side or the other.

Russia has condemned the US/Israeli attack, but wants to keep Trump onside. The UK is trying not to get involved. South Africa hasn’t woken up properly yet after a bit of a bender last night.
China is just sitting there laughing…

…at least, for the time being.

Me? Big concerns over the 15:25 at Kenilworth this afternoon, and also whether United can bounce back away at QPR after a somewhat disappointing result midweek.

Oh – and also the potential end of the world thing as well.

Yeah. Also that.

Oh. But don’t forget about the Epstein Files.