Given the amount of schlock on the internet (and yes, I include much of what I write under that disparaging blanket) it’s always refreshing to come across a blog that isn’t (a) self-indulgent (ditto my caveat above) (b) an attempt at omnipotent prosthelytizing on the state of our planet/nation/backyard (ditto again, sigh) or (c) just plain annoying (oh dear).
One blog I’ve discovered recently (thanks ) is British comedy writer Jon Brown’s called “1000 Tiny Things I Hate” (thanks Bridget McNulty) – an ongoing rant about those little things that get up Brown’s nose. And they really are little things. Take a look at some recent additions to the list:
#0153. THE CONSTANT AND OVERWHELMING URGE TO LET MY ONE ASIAN FRIEND KNOW THAT I’VE FINALLY SEEN ‘SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.’
#0149. OLD MEN WHO RECKON THEY’RE REALLY GOOD WITH COMPUTERS.
#0141. USING A PIECE OF GYM EQUIPMENT IMMEDIATELY AFTER A WOMAN OR A CHILD.
The list goes on. Self-deprecating, hilarious, observational comedy at its best. It’s also wonderfully irreverent and, well, just spot on the way he captures those little things he encounters that make him see red. Well worth a visit if you have some time to kill and you want to remind yourself why the internet can be great.
My personal favourite from his list is this video – covertly recorded by Brown on a train journey. The blog entry is titled
South African blogger Donn Edwards is being sued for libel by a timeshare company called Quality Vacation Club (QVC) after he wrote of his experience with the company. I have no axe to grind with the timeshare industry. But if they bend the rules and dupe people into buying things they don’t want, then they should get exposed.
But this post isn’t about the rights and wrongs of Donn’s case or the relative sleaziness of those who employ dodgy means to sell timeshare. What worries me, as someone who from time to time vents online about bad or downright shady service they get from someone, is the prospect of the floodgates being opened for litigation from any big corporate who is feeling hard done by or belittled by a blogger. This is going to be an interesting test case for South African online journalism and free speech.
But there’s another angle to this. Bloggers are quick to demand the same rights afforded other media and citizens, to jump up and down if they feel they are being silenced or muzzled in some way. However they are less quick to adopt some of the practices the other media use to ensure that, in exercising their right to free speech, they also adopt the principles of fairness and balance.
This week: Mandy Rossouw on the Jacob Zuma/Nkandla scandal PLUS how it played out behind the scenes; and a new report leaked to the M&G paints a sad story of the state of education in SA. […]
