This article and accompanying Bertoon appeared in the 17th May 2009 edition of the Malta Independent on Sunday
It was Founder’s Day this Friday. Most people who have not been lucky enough to have spent at least part of their formative years in the hands of the Lasallian brothers (or Frères) the words Founder’s Day would have no meaning. To those who like myself spent the urchin part of their education in Gzira or Cottonera Founder’s Day meant the day we celebrated the life and works of Jean Baptist de la Salle – a geezer from Rheims whose riches to rags transformation created a wondrous world of vocation and teaching. In truth, to the child at school ,Founder’s Day meant two things: summer uniforms and shorter school days, yet in many ways Jean de la Salle was my first exposure to the ideas of faith and devotion.
I must confess (ironically) that the Augustinian brothers in Paceville did not exactly tickle my fancy in the belief department (must have been the obnoxious concept of duttrina). In fact, my next update on hagiography would involve the sterner images of Aloysius, Ignatius and Francis under the stonefaced guidance of the soldiers of Christ (S.J).) but I would always remain impressed by these manifestations of inspired faith long after being exposed to the more uncontrolled, frenzied and blind devotion present in everyday Mediterranean life and best seen on festa days.
A couple of days ago I was lucky enough to be present at a concert by the wonderful Italian musical genius who goes by the name of Vinicio Capossela. One of the songs from his new album is called “L’Uomo Vivo”. The live performance involves circus-themed human pinatas, men on stilts giants and magicians so I was thrown a little bit of track as to the real theme behind it. Yet, hidden in the melodic tunes, the loud chants and the almost frenzied fervour with which the maestro led the crowd to a collective ecstasy of dancing I couldn’t help feeling that there was something strangely familiar.
Somehow the song brought flashbacks of similar circumstances – band club music, festive chanting and frenzied celebration – where the sacred and the profane would cross paths. Google came to the rescue. It turns out that Vinicio had witnessed the Christ the Risen celebrations in Scicli, Sicily and this had inspired the song I had heard at the Rockhal. Suddenly it all made sense – the lyrics, the happiness, the joy and the frenzy – all the pieces fit together. Viewing the video of the song in this new context (available on J’accuse the blog) brings goosebumps every single time. Everybody should be made to watch it. I hope I am not being heretical but you get to see the resurrection through the eyes of Jesus the man – a happy, joyful man who has rediscovered life.
Esplodono le mani
Elsewhere on planet earth we may be watching the unravelling of the “illegal immigrant” conundrum with more than a modicum of suspense but the really galling news of the week was Obama’s backtracking on the subject of Guantanamo and the military tribunals. First we had Obama’s government objecting to the publication of compromising pictures involving “harsh” interrogation procedures. Then, much to the joy and glee of Dick Cheney, we had the ultimate backtrack: Guantanamo would stay open after all and the tribunals would still try the prisoners there. No he can’t, it seems. Quite a downer.
A downer in Downing Street is what Gordon Brown is living through at the moment. The MP expenses scandal has struck Tories and Labourites alike but it seems that Brown’s government will bear the brunt of the damage. The Speaker of the House gave a performance that typified all that is sick and ugly about modern polticians who are a far throw from the likes of Disraeli and Gladstone. A whole stratum of politicians in the UK is under a very public scrutiny thanks to the efforts of a rather inquisitive journalist and the right of freedom of information.
The fourth estate is therefore alive and well and Fleet Street should be proud and beaming much as our fellow compatriots over at the competition should have been when their cause to expse expenses at Brussels was espoused by the European Ombudsman. The Brussels Gravy train might yet be subjected to the kind of scrutiny the men and women at Parliament House are seeing right now but it is still in time to make amends before it is too late. Again it will be the fourth estate that will probably be doing much of the asking since politicians have not proven to be the perfect custodians of all that is right and in accordance to the law.
Raggi sulla schiena
“The fourth estate” is a moniker acquired by the media in general over the years as it performed its sometimes nosey duty of guardian of the truth. The Enquirers, Chronicles, Times and Independents around the world have thrived since the Dickensian era on their role of reporting and were ubiquitously present at every techonological step that brought the world closer to being a global vilage. Whether it was the telegraph for faster retrieval of news to the steam printing press or other innovations the press would be at the forefront of change. Radio and TV would burst on the scene in the nineteenth century but there remained something greatly reassuring about reading the news from your paper of choice.
That was until the net came along. This weeks Economist reports that the economic crunch seems to be speeding up the demise of the printed paper. San Francisco is destined to become the first large city in the world to have no newspaper of its own. The San Francisco Chronicle is expected to kick the bucket soon if no new way of financing it is found. The main menace to the printed medium is without any doubt the internet and its pick’n’mix news.
It is not being viewed as a catastrophic tragedy, but rather as an alteration of the modus vivendi. The way news is compiled, presented and ultimately selected is destined to change but in most cases it will be the forms of old morphing into the new skin. The latest Kindle to be marketed by Amazon has broadsheet newspapers in mind. Technology and commerce are adapting to the circumstance and the format of article purchasing is fast becoming the norm – just check out your Wall Street Journal or Financial Times if you had any doubts. Soon you could be reading your economic column from one paper, your art review from a journal, your sports from another magazine and of course getting your dose of aesthetically pleasing pictures from a fourth supplier of daily info.
It’s a tangible change that is already happening. I know people who only a few years ago would not have dared to touch a computer keyboard who now happily browse from article to article in the morning rather than traipse to the local stationer to the buy the paper. It makes sense. There’s more of it to go around, it’s in real time and much more up to date. Here’s to hoping then that the Indy takes its own little steps for internet survival!
Garofani
A paper that has already made considerable steps to establish a considerable internet presence belongs to the competition. Sadly whoever is in charge of running the show on the online version of the Times has succumbed to the current cut and paste trend that seems to have caught on quite visibly of late. The contestants for the five hot seats in Brussels have of course provided much fodder for the occasion. They have all miraculously sprouted some form or other of what they like to call a blog but which would be better off being called a bluff.
The Times have probably employed an expert in collages who has transformed his expertise into an online sport and created an MEP subpage for the paper. That means that you can surf on to the Times at any moment and open a cut and paste version of whatever candidates’ blog has tickled the MEP Page Editors’ fancy. It’s the fourth estate,…. but not as we know it. Pity because if it did not limit itself to allowing that constant flow of ridiculous comments on these pages there would be much to comment about in this hullaballoo of candidate expressionism.
Between a PL press release declaring how much PL holds minority rights to heart (it would wouldn’t it?) and some weird Imperium candidate holding a mysterious Oxford Degree in parapsychology there really is a gold mine of free commentary to get hold of. You get the laughs – Frank Portelli’s “I’ll be Frank with Libya” had me in fits – and the tears. It’s incredible but a useful exercise nonetheless. It goes to show how devoid of direction and purpose our main parties’ candidates really are. Opportunistic bandwagonism is rife and it is nowhere better expressed than in www.mep2009.eu -the PN portal to all the “blogs” purposely created for this campaign.
The peak of pathetic entertainment was reached sometime this week when someone from that group of open-minded non-thinkers at SDM was actually overcome with indignation when a “competitor” who had contested for KSU against SDM (on the list entitled ACT) was allowed to blog in favour of PN on the site. Facebook was flooded with calls to have the poor git removed because he was being …. hear this… opportunistic. See? Seems like someone got onto the wrong end of the slippery pole. Leche-cul-ocracy does have its ugly side. Pardon my french of course.
Don’t worry though. David Scissorhands is still going on and on about the Globalisation Fund and Claudette Abela Baldacchino has now put divorce at the top of her campaign list. Pity divorce is not a European Parliament issue… but who cares? There don’t seem to be any journalists around with the right question to point that out! Speaking of which… was I dreaming or was Xarabank – the closest we get to a talk show – actually enacting a crime scene bang in the middle of an EP campaign? What next? Two programmes about the Eurovision?
L’Uomo Vivo
Speaking of the Eurovision. I’ve been converted. This year’s semi-finals proved to be more than pleasant and I really really need to eat my words when it comes to Chiara’s impeccable performance. I write this on a Friday and although I have placed my bet on Chiara (and on Malena) I must say that the competition is damn hard and I would not be surprised to see a French, Portuguese or Danish win. I just pray it is not that Greek Geek with an attitude problem. Ok. I need to pop over to check if hell has frozen over because J’accuse has just dedicated a paragraph to the eurovision.
The real votes, not those for music, will be falling into ballot boxes on the 6th of June. Unlike the Italians resident in Luxembourg or Italian students or workers who happen to be in Luxembourg on the day, I will not be able to vote in my country’s embassy (or consulate) in Luxembourg. I will not even be able to vote in expensive Dar Malta a two hour drive away. Instead I will (hopefully) find a place on an expensive chartered flight – expensive to the taxpayer – in order to exercise my right to vote. This week, a 127 year old man in Hamchar Pradesh walked 4 km to exercise his right to vote in India. It seems that Malta’s is the only democracy with special needs. Thank you PLPN.
Gioia
This article should end as it started. With the “gioia di vivere” that the risen Christ must have felt. A colleague of mine who shared my frère and jesuit years must be experiencing that kind of joy right now. His wife just gave birth to baby Adam who will probably live in a world with less newspapers but more news at his fingertips. I can only wish him one thing … that by the time he turns eighteen he will have a much better choice than this charade that passes for politics we have to bear with nowadays.
Jacques has been bursting with joy and magic at http://www.akkuza.com. Come join the festa whenever you like.
