Officially disguised as a Canadian
I recently navel-gazed about what it means to be funny. While I do believe in free speech, there has to be a limit on speaking freely when it hurts other people. The recent news about James Gunn and Roseanne Barr reminded me that I have some pretty twisted jokes on this site, some of whichContinue reading It’s just not funny anymore
I spend a lot of time on Twitter, for better or worse. It has negatively affected the volume of content I produce for this website in any event. Twitter is a cesspool and a goldmine rolled into one. I can barely scroll fast enough through American politics, only to be caught by surprise by anContinue reading What it means to be funny
Last year on Facebook, I engaged in a discussion with a friend about the fact that violent acts seem to be the norm to make people notice things, in place of that time-worn cliché of “rational discussion”. While my response does refer directly to South Africa, in hindsight it could apply elsewhere. Here it is,Continue reading On violence in South Africa
Many years ago, my family was on holiday at a cottage owned by an uncle. It was a seaside cottage, with no electricity. Light was provided by paraffin lamps, and cooking was done with bottled gas plugged into a gas oven. One evening, my brother and I, both recovering from chicken pox, were comparing ourContinue reading What Would You Do?
Two vastly different reasons for remembering the date today, and both have resonance. 14 August 1989: (Picture credit: Alex Jay on Twitter, but I’m not sure where he got it from, because it’s a photo of a frame from a public television broadcast.) State President PW Botha, the second-last apartheid-era leader of South Africa, theContinue reading 14 August
(Trigger warning: swearing and queer shit.) So much hate and anger stem from ignorance. The difference between ignorance and stupidity is that with ignorance you can learn, change your mind, and not rely on confirmation bias to continue thinking a certain way.
(Source.)
Today I have been listening (via Apple Music) to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, most famous for its choral section in Part IV. And I realised that I attributed this piece to “Beethoven”, as opposed to (in this case, a very good performance by) the London Symphony Orchestra with Wyn Morris, and the singing talents ofContinue reading Classical Music Attribution
Eusebius McKaiser wrote this essay on Facebook earlier today, and with his permission, I am reposting it here. On male rape, and the taboo around it: Earlier today I was interviewed for a news channel by one of my favourite television journalists. I had told her I would share some of my reflections of howContinue reading On male rape
Site theme change. I really liked Scott’s Decode theme, but the menus, oh, the menus. WordPress 4.1 launched two weeks ago, and Twenty Fifteen is pretty much what I was looking for. Now I’ve got a custom menu structure along the left of the screen, which expands to show the items more clearly. If youContinue reading Change of heart