Category: learning curve

What could possibly go wrong?

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The measles outbreak in the USA has now killed at least two people, including a 6 year old girl, and has infected at least 430.

430 might not seem like a huge number, but it’s worth remembering that even if infection doesn’t cause death, it can result in deafness, blindness and brain damage, as well as having other serious long-term effects.

And we’ve been through some of the reasons that this outbreak is happening. Indeed, the parents of the little girl that died gave an interview after her death in which they said that they remained strongly anti-vaccination. And while you can argue that that’s their right (sadly, it is), maybe for some context we should add another of the things they said in the same interview:

“The measles wasn’t that bad.”

That ‘s them describing the disease that just killed their daughter.

Absolutely terrifying. Not least given that they have 4 other kids.

Of course, one of the other reasons (other than religion) that measles vaccination has waned is Andrew Wakefield’s long-disproven link between MMR and autism.

A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

There are now many, many studies refuting Wakefield’s “work” – and it’s a horrible lesson in how incredibly damaging and dangerous spreading falsehoods can be.

It’s absolutely clear that Wakefield’s “study” was – at best – terrible science, and – at worst – completely fraudulent.

So it’s both weird and worrying that The Department of Health and Human Services in the US has decided to launch a study into… er… “the connection between immunisations and autism”, and even weirder and more worrying that [gosh] they’ve chosen a prominent anti-vaxxer to help run it.

David Geier has written several papers on the alleged dangers of vaccines in causing developmental disorders in children, several of them funded by the non-profit Institute of Chronic Illnesses (ICI), Inc.

The CEO of the Institute of Chronic Illnesses (ICI), Inc. is one David Grier.

He’s certainly never medically examined children even though he holds no medical qualification.

Grier and his father have long been grifting while pretending that there’s a link between vaccines and autism. They then tested and “treated” their patients at huge expense to the parents, while raking in money for representing them at (unsuccessful) legal hearings into their childrens’ disorders.

Anyway, he seems like the perfect guy to run an unbiased, objective, non-partisan study into this allegedly contentious and emotive non-issue.

What – I ask again – could possibly go wrong?

Contempt

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A reminder to self to look further into the 1963 Jean-Luc Godard film, Le Mépris (literally translated it’s “Contempt”, hence the post title).

Starring Bridget Bardot and Michael Piccoli, the Georges Delarue theme, Camille, from the movie was the music used by Cigarettes After Sex for their entrance onto the stage each night* for their Cape Town performances.

(Mainly) young, excited – dare I say “giddy”? – South African audiences need a bit of a reminder that there should be something of a pause between their pre-show chatting and their during show chatting, and this stunning, deep, orchestral piece bridged that gap perfectly as the house lights came down, Greg Gonzalez stepped onto the stage, and the screamy teenage volume went up.

A quick scan of Delarue’s catalogue shows just how prolific he was. There are some big name movie soundtracks in there: Céline, The Day of the Jackal, Twins (yes, that one) and Boomerang to name but a few of the 351 films he scored.

Jeez.

* I know this because Little Miss 6000 managed to snaffle a last minute free ticket for last night’s show as well

Cigarettes After Sex: gentle, monochrome joy

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I’ll be honest. I wasn’t sure what to expect from last night’s concert at Grand West.

Texas band Cigarettes After Sex were in town (and they are again tonight), and while I love their music, I’m far from their target audience.

Except, do they actually have a target audience? Because it seemed to all intents and purposes that they were just there last night to enjoy playing their music. And maybe that’s it: the age of the audience stretched from 12 to 70, and so while there might be some demographic or other to whom their music appeals more than another (it’s white, mainly female, teenage and 20-somethings, if you want to know), I don’t think that the band really cares at all.

And that’s fine.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a concert that’s had less band interaction with the audience. Literally “This is our first concert in Cape Town. We really appreciate you all coming along”, halfway through the set, and “Thank you, Cape Town. We love each and every one of you”, at the end. And that was it.

But that was also fine.

It left more room for the music – which is what I was there for – and (as I mentioned above), clearly what they were there for, too.

No flashy lights, no colour. Just a lot of spots, white LEDs and all of the CO2 that they could muster. They began playing in a light “tank”, with dry ice walls lit between them and the audience, but those came down early on, leaving light beams picking out the band members in front of a huge screen full of monochromatic images and videos of moonrises, sunsets, grasses, clouds, rain and snow.

This was very simple stuff, done simply.

And then for the big finale – Apocalypse – a couple of MASSIVE glitter balls which filled the place with dancing, shimmering stars for a couple of breathtaking, spine tingling minutes.

Randall and Jacob never moved from their respective stations, while lead singer Greg Gonzalez occasionally marched down to the front or out to the wings of the stage and offered up his guitar to the audience like some sort of subservient soul looking for praise or recognition, as he delivered the final riff of a song.

It might all have seemed rather emotionless, and yet it was weirdly, deeply spiritual at the same time. Outwardly cold, and yet completely captivating. I was entranced, and I could have spent literally hours just listening to their music. And I think that they could have spent hours just playing it for us.

Tejano Blue and Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby were memorable, while Dreaming Of You was surprisingly rocky and upbeat, before Apocalypse brought the house down (as much as something that slow, gentle and profoundly beautiful could break anything other than hearts). And then Opera House as a single track encore was just gorgeous.

So, after all my wondering before the evening began, am I now more sure of what I got?
Yes, I suppose so.

All in all a rather odd, but really incredible performance that will live long in the memory.

Cycling For Saffron – can you help?

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tl;dr – Help my friend’s partner out by donating towards her medical expenses after she had a stroke aged 24, and then was hit by a brick during a taxi protest by donating here and sharing this post.

It’s not often that I ask my readers to consider helping out with a charitable cause.

There was that one, of course, where we were able to make such a massive difference to a young lad’s life.

We were even on CNN. Incredible to think that that was 13 years ago now.

Can we do something as big again?

I play football with a great bunch of guys. I’ve mentioned this before. One of those guys is Andile.

Here’s the story of his girlfriend Saffron, and how you might be able to help her out.

These are words from her physiotherapist, Jennifer.

Saffron is a lovely outgoing 27 year old young lady who suffered a massive stroke in October 2022 that left her with severe paralysis of her right side and unable to use her right arm or leg. 

Through incredible hard work with her therapists, she regained the ability to walk again and even started going to the gym. In June 2023, after months of work, she started getting some movement back in her right shoulder and elbow and could even close her hand a little bit.

On July 26th 2023, Saffron suffered a setback when she had a significant seizure. This was due to the scar tissue in her brain causing a short circuit. She was immediately put on anti-seizure medication – which she has to be on for life. 

On Saturday, August 5th, 2023, Saffron and Andile were driving past the IY township in Hout Bay, when the thugs that were participating in the taxi strike violence threw a brick at their car. It entered the passenger window and hit Saffron on her head – right over her new skull implant. It shattered the implant and caused a new bleed on her brain. Saffron had to have immediate emergency surgery and the broken plate had to be removed.

After her second surgery, Saffron continued with intensive therapy and was able to start walking within 6 weeks. This took a huge effort, as the second injury damaged her brain further and really impacted the movement in her right arm and leg.

In October 2024, blood tests showed ongoing cellular inflammation despite Saffron being otherwise healthy. Finally, she got a diagnosis – Takayasu’s arteritis. This is a rare, incurable autoimmune condition that causes inflammation in large blood vessels, clot formation and strokes. By starting large doses of steroids, she was able to slow damage, but will sadly have to be on medication forever. The treatment also has significant side effects and it has taken all Saffron’s courage and determination to continue her fight to recovery.

At the moment, Saffron is still requiring a combination of Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Biokinetic Therapy, which adds up to about R25 000 a month. Medical aid has not been covering any of this for the past year, which has depleted all our previously raised funds. Saffron still needs all these therapies for at least another year, if not longer.

Her boyfriend, Andile, has never left her side, and is now adding to his health goals in support of her. As a cyclist, he is dedicating his ride in the coming Cape Town City Cycle Tour to raising funds for Saffron. I will also be doing the cycle race to bring awareness to patients who have had neurological injuries.

If you would like to support Saffron in her recovery, please consider donating a few rands for every kilometer of the race. It is 109km in length and follows the beautiful Cape Peninsula.

As her physiotherapist, I have been very honored to have worked with Saffron during the past 24 months. There is no-one more deserving of our support to assist her to overcome these setbacks.

Thank you for considering a contribution to help this gutsy young lady. All donations will be used strictly for medical costs.

Here’s the link you need.

https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/cycling-for-saffron

I can vouch for Andile, Saffron and backabuddy (the local equivalent of JustGiving or GoFundMe).

Every little helps: even just sharing this post or their website link on your social media.

Foreign currency goes a LONG WAY in South African Rands. Just saying.

So… please… go for it.

Help out financially if you’re able.

Share this post on your social media and maybe someone who sees it will also donate.

Thanks, all.