Other people’s stuff

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A bit of a mishmash of stuff I didn’t write, but that I think you should read today.

But first off, a health warning. How’s your energy frequency today? I’m still recovering from the weekend and my bad back, so I’m only mid-50s.

Oh, and Fresh Food = Death. Who knew?

No photo description available.

Seems legit.

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Next: CLIMATE! SeeOhToo is huge, glaciers are melting, and it’s not quite as hot as it was 4 years ago. I’ve said before that I’m not going to get too deeply involved in this debate, but I enjoyed reading this article on the subject. Again, I’m not fighting the science, I’m fighting the reporting of the science.

I asked the Australian climate scientist Tom Wigley what he thought of the claim that climate change threatens civilization. “It really does bother me because it’s wrong,” he said. “All these young people have been misinformed. And partly it’s Greta Thunberg’s fault. Not deliberately. But she’s wrong.”

I would not like to see us motivating people to do the right thing by making them believe something that is false.

Been there, too.

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Here’s an interesting twitter account: FootyQuakes

Measuring the seismic effect of goal celebrations in the EFL Championship.
Amazing.

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A brief intermission here, as I just asked someone at a multi-million Rand business (we’re talking 9 figures here), and was told that I could pick it up in Bellville. I don’t want to go to Bellville, so I asked for it to be sent via email, and was told:

We do not send so many pages via email.

Wow. Should I ask for a fax?

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And – vaguely linked, actually – I’ve been using WeTransfer to share some files recently. While the files are uploading, you get offered links to wepresent – their photographic essay site. Some of the stuff there is pretty good.

I’d advise https://wepresent.wetransfer.com/story/nuuk-york-state-of-mind/ and https://wepresent.wetransfer.com/story/corey-arnold-aleutian-dreams/ but the whole site is worth a look.

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Enjoy your day!

Political hysteria

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It’s election time in the UK, and I’m really glad I’m not there.

If the hysteria and hypocrisy on social media is anything to go by (and to be fair, it’s probably not), it must be an absolute crapfest over there at the moment.

Taking a step back 6000 miles… away from the situation, it’s always interesting to me what the combination of acute politics, access to the internet and a glass or two of wine can bring out in people. In an age when we are trying desperately hard to educate our kids as to the dangers of poor social media etiquette, people – parents! – really don’t seem to think before they share and post stuff online.

Take this hilarious meme, for example. Yes, yes, I see what they’re trying to say here, and of course they’re entitled to their political opinions, but in stating one particular party in the slightly altered heading (did you even notice?), for me, they’re implying that any other party’s propaganda is fine.

That definition of propaganda for you:

information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view.

So if one party is lying, that’s [emoji poo], but for anyone else, it’s fine?
Ok then.

It’s another good example of the hypocrisy that is conveniently overlooked when shouting about these things. Because if you think that Labour or the Lib Dems (other parties are available) are going to deliver on their election promises, you really haven’t been concentrating on any election ever.
And yet the people posting this sort of crap are (mostly) well-educated, professional individuals who wouldn’t dream of saying something so clearly illogical in any other area of their life.

There’s some major sociological study just waiting for a suitable PhD candidate right here. (It’s probably already been done, to be honest.)

I’ve said it about sport:

…it’s fine to be irrational, as long as you know you’re being irrational. Sport brings out the irrational side in a lot of people…

The trouble is, much like sport, politics encourages this weird kind of behaviour as well. And, much like sport, it’s exacerbated by social media.

Take a look at your friends’ posts online now. And if you don’t see this phenomenon, you’ve either chosen good friends (well done) or you’re deep inside the echo chamber with them (oh dear).

Jaded

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I will admit to feeling a little jaded today. Last night was a lot of fun, but a scary amount of alcohol was drunk and I’m really not feeling ever so brilliant today. In fact, I’ve even just taken an afternoon nap in an attempt to mend myself. It’s only partially succeeded. Very partially.

The food was good. I am a big believer in keeping things simple and doing them right, and I think I got at least half of that right yesterday.

The back continues to improve as well – thanks for asking. I’m fairly sure that the disc has popped itself all the way back in now. No more pins and needles in my foot and ugly pain down my leg. Gym tomorrow then? Nah – maybe not quite yet, but it will happen sometime this week.

And that’s about it. When you’re hungover and still have mildly sore sacrum, you don’t want to be sitting writing long posts. You don’t really want to be doing anything, which is exactly what I plan to continue (not) doing now.

See you tomorrow.

Food

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Friends round for dinner this evening, so I’ve mainly been busy in the kitchen today. Tonight’s menu may feature one (or more) (OK, it’s one) dish from the Henderson’s Relish Cookbook. A little bit of a Sheffield speciality in deepest, darkest Africa.

And a greasy chip butty…

Whatsapp translated

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I have to be careful here. It’s one of those “close to home” things that is a bit borderline to be sharing. Usually, I would err on the side of caution, but this is just too good not to blog.

It concerns a neighbourhood Whatsapp group that I am on – one that’s probably 90% Afrikaans, 10% English. As well as being a useful group to be on, it’s also improved my Afrikaans, and that’s no bad thing. Polyglottism is massively useful. These two reasons are why I want to stay on the group, and why I probably shouldn’t be sharing this.

But really, this isn’t a post about a whatsapp message. This is a post about a brilliant Google translation. It just happens to have come from a whatsapp message, which is why you’re getting a bit of the backstory.

Anyway… someone reported something on the group which they thought was a little suspicious. Let’s quickly deal with what happened on that shall we: it was investigated and found to be all above board. Still, I thought that it was a perfectly reasonable thing to be concerned about, and a perfectly reasonable way to get it addressed.

But once that had happened, someone weighed in with an unpleasant, uncalled-for message chastising the individual for voicing their concerns in the first place. It wasn’t very nice. And elicited a full-blooded response in Afrikaans.

I tried my hardest to translate, but I was struggling. I could get some of it, but there were words I didn’t recognise. (In my defence, it was later followed up with “Sorry ek so kwaad ej tik verkeerd” – “Sorry I’m so angry I typed wrongly”.) (And I really don’t blame them for being angry.)

Thus, I fed it into Google Translate, and what came back included what might be the greatest line I have ever read (in a (translated) whatsapp message):

I am now bursting that every time I dare say something my head is bitten. I’m going to leave the flu noy. Both buses are located at the parking area for approximately 2 hours. Not enough of your bitchness now. Now enjoy your own hannah Hannah on the paths of dogs, etc., which are not gut-wrenching.

Wow.

I think that:

Now enjoy your own hannah Hannah on the paths of dogs, etc., which are not gut-wrenching.

…might be my new go-to insult.

That it was borne out of entirely righteous anger (coupled with the best that Google Translate could manage thereof) just makes it even better.

And if you think you’ve seen it before, maybe you have. It’s the new tagline of the blog. I think it sums up a lot about the sort of stuff I try to write on here, especially given that much of it is about many of the paths of dogs, etc., which are not gut-wrenching.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to leave the flu noy.