I know I’m starting off yet another column by referring to Zimbabwe, but watching the meltdown occurring there is a bit like watching an armless, legless mutant woman giving birth to a flipper child on a rubbish heap — yes, it’s disgusting, but damn, you gotta look. You just can’t resist looking.
So South Africa is beginning to make the front pages of the world’s media as it continues pretending to “not notice” the genocide, starvation and terrorism in what was a pretty decent country next to us. Read what the United Kingdom’s The Spectator had to say at SA Ignores Mugabe’s Reign of Terror.
And seeing as we taxpayers will probably end up paying for secret food aid to Zimbabwe, you might want to read what the UK’s Telegraph said at Mugabe’s Food Boasts Exposed as Lies.
A gear change, at last. One of my favourite words was used this week by the vice-president of the United States. Naturally most US media glossed over the actual words that “Big” Dick Cheney used in the Senate, but take your pick of overseas coverage where the word actually was printed. Go read what oozed out of Dick Cheney’s Potty Mouth.
For some amazing examples of the weird things people think they can say to a pet-food company — and not have it end up on a website — go stare in amazement at some of the listings at Pet Food Complaints and Questions.
And staying with dumb stuff, have you ever looked at a web page and wondered why oh why did they do this? For an example of this thought in action, take a look at the page known as Star Wars Origami.
Zombies are a particular passion for me. And although I’d put most of the current local politicians in this category, I’m talking more about film zombies. I realise most of you haven’t wallowed in the orgiastic, over-the-top eyeball-ripping, flesh-tearing, bad dialogue and bizarre design sense inherent to the genre known as zombie movies (Italian cinema circa 1970 was a very good period for this awfully yummy kink) but luckily there are many fans out there online who agree with me — some of whom you can see at Zombie Pinups!
One of the fun things about humans is the way they always figure that the age and generation they’re in now is the coolest, sharpest and most suave example of human civilisation to date. To give you an idea of how times and our perceptions change, take a slow and frightened look back at what was considered to be great examples of interior design at this next site, which is a collection of the worst interiors in Europe 1974. Go to Eurobad!
“Propaganda” is the original and accurate term to describe what is known as “public relations” and “advertising” — but naturally the term has become hidden in plain site, as otherwise thousands of wannabe copywriters and PR bimbos wouldn’t dare think of choosing “propaganda” as a career. It’s just not sexy enough. So Madison Avenue, post World War II, began softening the term until we have the rather bizarre sight today of column space in newspapers and programmes on television with propagandists blatantly discussing the effectiveness of their latest economic propaganda (“adverts”) designed to manipulate the public. And no one sees this as being bad — thanks to the aforementioned propagandists stealing and couching what they do in non-emotive terms, so that you, the sheep, don’t start bleating until you’re so riddled with debt you’re barely able to function.
This lengthy preamble is to make you help provide a framework in which to perceive this next site, which focuses on propaganda for political purposes. It’s the industry behind the politicians, talking to itself. And usually, you’ll never be shown this glimpse of the puppet masters in mainstream media — so it’s worth taking a deep breath and browsing through the articles and discussions on how various companies intend to “sell” you concepts, ideas and political decisions. Go browse Disinfopedia. You might also find a subsection interesting: Case Studies in Deceptive PR Campaigns and Spun Events.
And given the “pedia” mention, it occurs to me that perhaps you might like this next site, which is a user-built, online dictionary. So if you have some expert knowledge, you can actually add it to the site to help other users who might one day be hunting this or that nugget of useful information. Go participate at the ultimate example of information-sharing at Wikopedia.
Then, if you happen to be one of those few people who believe in the odd idea of a supreme being and the standard flavour of this idea, known as Christianity, then here’s a searchable online facility of the bunch of texts known commonly as The Bible: Bible Gateway. And to get a taste of the origins of this cult, pause by the very interesting Vintage Faith.
Alternatively, staying in the epic fiction mode: if, like me, you’re also up late at night wondering whether JRR Tolkien accomplished so much just to hide the fact that he came from Bloemfontein, why not be ridiculously elitist and learn something totally useless to make yourself stand out from all the other geeks — like Write Your Name in Elvish.
If the idea of eating raw fish has an exotic appeal to you (or you like trying to increase the mercury levels in your blood generally), then for those of you who don’t know what Mimimata disease is, try to ignore the odd-looking folks in the photos and focus on the lessons at Roll Your Own Sushi!
There’s a new film of note on its way. Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot series of stories has been put through the Hollywood blender in order to create an inoffensive, crowd-pleasing 100 minutes of celluloid action. It’ll probably be awful with great special effects, in which a lot of US cinema seems to specialise. That aside, for those of you who like your robots real, there is a wide range of interesting news, articles and info to be found at Android World.
Then, for you determined and compulsive test takers who just have to take part if there’s a test on the go, see how well you do at the True or False Test. And while you’re there, take a look at the Top 100 April Fool’s Hoaxes of All Time.
Despite being one of the last people on Earth to be happily using Windows 98 — and enjoying watching everyone else struggle to find enough RAM to power the latest Windows operating systems — I have noticed that there’s an even newer operating system on its way. You’ve probably heard about it; currently it’s called Longhorn. Go do some browsing at Longhorn Blogs.
Then, if the significant computer in your life is giving you problems, dip through the following serious support sites: Tech Support Guy and Experts Exchange.
Some cartoons to look at — reminiscent of the old Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella comics, which in turn linked back to the 1930s horror comics, the time before the government realised that it needs to control the levels of nastiness available to impressionable young minds. Go browse the great art work and strips available at Back from the Depths.
And finally, some grease, cholesterol and non-vegetarian junk-food voyeurism. The UK is rather big on eggs and bacon, and there’s an even larger cult dedicated to eating the truck driver’s staple of eggs, bacon, chips and beans — in the misguided belief that this is somehow healthy or nutritious. So what could be more sensible to do in a culture where violent death isn’t a daily occurrence than to find plates of the previously mentioned food, take pictures of them, and put them online for other fans? Go browse through the artery-clogging delights of Eggs Bacon Beans and Chips.
Until the next time, if PR people don’t get me.