Author: Jacques René Zammit

Categories
Values

Ċensu

Ħa ngħidilkom ghaliex meta smajt l-aħbar li ħalliena Ċensu Tabone ħsiebi mar fil-parapett. Kont kbirt biżżejjed biex inkun nista nitlaq ‘il bogħod minn taħt għajnejn il-ġenituri. Dak iż-żmien Marsalforn kien għadu r-renju inkontestat tat-tfal fejn kull bieba kienet miftuħa, kull parapett kien jilqgħek u l-omm ixxurtjata tal-mument kienet issib kotra tfal jiġru ħafja wara l-bieb qed iħejju għad-doveri imqarba tal-jum. Sajf jew xitwa, Milied, Għid jew Karnival konna niltaqgħu. L-Għawdxin ta’ barra, il-Maltin imnissla minn Għawdxin u l-Għawdxin D.O.K.

Il-btala kienu jfissru il-bidu tad-divertiment. Roti jiġru mas-saqajn mill-Menqa sal-breakwater u tfal ma kullimkien jiskopru d-dinja u lil xulxin mingħajr ebda biżgħa u  l-uniku rażan kien il-homework li għadu ma tlestiex (jew jekk kont kemm kemm ikbar l-istudju għall-O level li għadek trid tagħmel). L-irkejjen kollha konna nafuhom – miz-zuntier tal-knisja ta’ Dun Marjan sal-buskett ta’ fuq il-parking li għalina kien bosk infinit. Kien hemm rokna speċjali għal dawk fostna li konna ninzertaw dawk il-ġimgħat kmieni tal-Għid qabel ma jaslu il-Maltin. Kien parapett enormi (kollox suġġettiv meta tkun żgħir) li kien jmiss ma’ tarf in-niżla tat-triq li mir-Rabat twassal għal Marsalforn.

Hemm, f’dik il-kantuniera bejn il-Marsalforn Hotel  u l-Lantern,  intlagħbu l-ikbar logħbiet tal-ballun li qatt raw dawn il-gżejjer. Kemm il-darba niżlu jilgħabu il-Liverpool ta’ Dalglish u l-Juventus ta’ Platini lanqas ma tista’ tgħoddhom. U fis-skiet għażżien ta’ tard filgħodu qabel ma tinstema’ kbira l-għajta għall-ikel kien ikun hemm elf għajta oħra ta’ “goooowl”… Ma kienx isir logħob biss meta’ l-persjani tad-dar tal-parapett kienu miftuħa għax dak kien ifisser li kienu ġew is-sidien u s-sinjura żgur ma kenitx tieħu gost bit-tambir tal-ballun jirbombja kontra l-injam (tal-ġild jekk jogħġbok mhux xi SuperTele kwalunkwe).

U l-ħafna drabi meta l-logħba tal-ballun tkun imprattikabbli minħabba l-wasla tas-sidien ma kien ikun ġara xejn. Għax il-wasla tagħhom kienet tfisser li waslet ukoll il-familja estiża ta’ tfal u neputijiet. Allura erħilna ilkoll lejn il-wied… kollha kemm aħna… Ċensu (jnr), Mikela, Francesca, Mark, Joe, Andrew, Nicky, Nicola, Paula, Joanna, John u… u … il-lista kienet infinta daqs il-familja enormi… (skużawni jekk insejt lil xi ħadd). Ta’ tfal li aħna konna insibu dejjem biex negħdew.

U meta fis-87 rajthom bit t-shirt ta’ Ċensu Tabone, dak li kien in-nannu ħa lewn ieħor. U bqajt insegwih kemm dam fil-politika minn dakinhar. Segewejtu avolja kien għażel li jibni fuq il-parapett u jestendi d-dar. Hekk jew b’hekk sa dakinhar żmien il-logħob kien għadda u Marsalforn kien sar iktar post fejn infittxu l-ewwel namrati. U mhux se tmur tinnamra fil-parapett tal-Ministru hux?

Ċensu ma baqax biss in-nannu ta’ sħabi iżda sar ukoll il-politiku li missu ikun xempju għal dawn l-iskuża ta’ politikanti li għandna illum. Sar President u wettaq dmirijietu lejn il-pajjiż. Baqa’ jitkellem b’dak l-aċċent inimitabbli Għawdxi li kien jagħmlu iktar ġenwin. Il-figura tan-nannu Ċens kienet saret dik ta’ – kif isejħulu l-Ingliżi – a statesman. Tajjeb li jibqa’ imfakkar hekk.

Imma għalija jibqa’ l-ewwel haġa li tiġini f’moħħi. Dak il-parapett….

Strieħ fil-paċi nannu Ċens.

Min hawn nixtieq nagħti l-għomor lill-familja kollha ta’ Ċensu Tabone – wieħed mill-aħħar politiċi popolari tas-seklu għoxrin.

 

 

 

Categories
Local Councils Politics

The Julian Galea Electors

Julian Galea is the only PN candidate in Sliema to have survived the mess from the previous council. On any other day he would have been hailed as a resilient survivor instead, like an ugly wart, he has become the latest manifestation of the obsessive symptoms of Maltese electoral practices. Galea’s infamy began when he was unlucky enough to be entrapped into a recording of vile pronouncements expounding quite succinctly his base intolerance for anything Labour (Apparently, if you believe Galea this happened two years ago in a meeting between PN candidates – bravu Cirillu). It was too late to withdraw him from the electoral lists (even death is not strong enough to nullify a candidate’s listing once the nominations are closed).

We all know where it went from there. It’s not like no one had heard about Julian Galea’s insipid pronouncements – Labour made it quite a point to have them broadcast all over the place. Armed with the knowledge of Galea’s behaviour any voter in his right mind would have desisted from even mistakenly marking the little square on the ballot beside the candidate’s disgraced name if only to spare him the ignominy of having to remaining in the public eye for an extended period of time.

Julian Galea was – how shall I put it kindly – not just not presentable but also supposedly unelectable. The only persons you’d expect would put their mark near his name in the hope of his getting elected to the Sliema council would be scheming Labourites hoping to capitalise on his glaring presence. Yet….

Julian Galea got 233 votes. Two centuries and a third. He “only” lost 60 votes from his previous tally in 2009. True he got elected on the 17th count when he had still not reached the quota of 517 having obtained 376 votes in all (inheriting 143 from other candidates). What would have been a miserable performance must be seen from another perspective though.  Who were those 233 souls who still rallied for Julian and his phobias?

Forget the noise from the pundits trying to desperately fit the Local Council shoe onto the twin ugly sisters’ General Election feet. This has nothing to do with labour/nationalist swings. It has nothing to do with the supposed “changing of Malta’s political demography”. Here you had the plain and simple reality of what makes up the bulk of Maltese politics.

On the eve of the elections we tried to warn you in “The Ugly Dress Rehearsal“. J’accuse described what the voter should be looking at in the candidates:

It should be obvious to anyone who stops to think for a moment that the ultimate consideration therefore when casting one’s vote is the competence and potential of the candidate. To summarise it more succinctly: It is not WHO is behind the candidate but rather WHO HE IS and WHAT HE STANDS FOR. 

Did the voters do any of that? Do the results of the Local Council Elections show us a discerning voter who is involved in large scale swings and confidence issues and is busy sending “messages” to this or that party? Not really no. You might enjoy the charade of conflicting interpretations that the PLPN circus is likely to feed you over the next coming weeks. You might love the myriad interpretations: “PN must listen. Labour has gained inroads in the North. Time for change.” Lahdidah.

In reality what happened is much simpler. Occam’s razor again. It rained. Heavily. Most people had had enough of the circus (except maybe Silvio Zammit). They just could not be bothered. Who bothered to go out to vote? The die-hards. They are the people who wouldn’t miss a trip to the ballot if they were dying. It’s ingrained. Their vote is tattooed on their brain. And then in Local Councils there are what we can assume to be the core of voters for each candidate. Families, neighbours, close friends who feel obliged to get their man in.

That is how Julian Galea, no matter what he says or does will keep getting at least around 250 votes every time he contests the Local Council elections. It is anything but an assessment of his capacity to convince voters to vote for him. If you want a litmus test for that just look at AD’s darling Mike Briguglio. In 2009 Mike got 457 votes and was not elected (Edward Cuschieri – PN – got elected on the 10th count in that election even though his first preference votes numbered 222). This time round his tally was 485 votes. Not much of a shift was there? That 28 vote increase transformed AD’s failure into success. Or at least we would like to think so.

Another way of reading the results – and by this I mean most of the results is that they are about as prophetic and indicative as tea leaves at the bottom of a teacup. Voters have neither swung nor used their votes to express any particular concern. Even less should we be worrying about those who did not bother to turn up.  Protest vote my foot. At this rate the only conclusion that I am willing to draw about these absentees is that they saw nothing available to make the trip to the ballot box worth it. More than a protest vote it is a lazily calculated snub at what  is on offer on the menu. I’m guessing there will be much less of these when the General Elections come along.

So there you have it. What have the LC Elections in 2012 taught us about your average voter? That he still remains that – average. The intelligent voter stayed at home this time round. He is still out there however.

 

Will the parties take note?

 

Categories
Festschrift 2012

and then there was Kenneth.

We’d like to apologise if our list of MMV bloggers for the festschrift was not exhaustive. I’d originally stuck with 7 bloggers – like the years that had passed. Then some, like David and Alex ended up being added to the list, not as an afterthought mind you but purely out of their interest to join the festival of reminiscence. Then Toni told me… what about Kenneth? Have you spoken to Kenneth? To be honest I’d forgotten about Kenneth – we had lost touch ages ago. I sent out some feelers but thought it was probably too late for Kenneth to send in his two cents’ worth. Apparently it wasn’t…*

Seba’ snin ilu kelli blogg. Kont ftaħtu f’nofs is-sixth form u ndukrajtu għal sentejn u ftit. Imma llum insejt x’kien fih għax kont ħassartu.

Qabel ma miet zoptu, ħin biex neqred b’kliem tant mirqum ftit kien għad fadalli. Imbagħad naħseb li kont bżajt li seba’ snin wara għad nerġa’ nsibu ma’ wiċċi, għeruqu mħawla fis-sod tal-garigori tal-Google. Li nkun nixtieq l-art tiblagħni, imbagħad, jien u naqra dak li kien kiteb il-jien tal-bieraħtlula. Li forsi nintebaħ li wara kollox ftit li xejn kbirt, ta’ 25, mill-jien ta’ sbatax/tmintax. U dik tbeżżagħni mmens.

L-ekosistema kienet bdiet tinbidel ukoll. Sirna iżjed ikkakkmati mal-iskrijn minn dak iż-żmien ‘l hawn u sa bdejna nġorruh fil-but, iżda tgħażżinna. Qabad il-Facebook f’Malta. L-għodda l-ġodda għamluha faċli li taqsam ħsieb (tant li l-ħin kollu jsaqsuk x’qed taħseb) imma qatlulna l-ħeġġa. Dak iż-żmien kont tinzerta post fuq blogg fejn id-diskussjoni kienet taħraq fis-sezzjoni kummenti. Fausto, Mifsud, Stagno, l-Imżebbel; il-bella kumpannija. Ġieli argument kien ikarkar għal ġranet qalb l-‘elit krepuskolari’, qabel tfantsu u reġgħu daħlu f’qoxrot il-pitazz fejn jiktbu l-kotba. Imma ridt tinzertaha d-diskussjoni biex tkun taf biha. U ridt tiftakar terġa’ tidħol tiċċekkjaha, bla ebda ‘1 new notification’ bl-aħmar li ttellfek milli tqatta’ ħinek tqalleb fuq ħajjet ħaddieħor u tindokra r-ritratti tiegħek itteggjat f’xi ikla fniek mal-ħbieb.

U l-folja kompliet tinqaleb għall-bloggosfera Maltija. Il-moviment sar mainstream, kważi kważi. Minn mezz imperreċ fil-beraħ iżda xorta mistur biżżejjed fl-oskurità tiegħu, għajr għall-ftit li jafu bih, sar mezz taparsi ħieles iddominat mill-ftit li jafu bihom il-ħafna. Il-bluwmers minxura fuq il-bejt f’daqqa waħda mxew għal fuq il-ħabel ta’ quddiem li jidher mit-triq. U b’hekk DCG ġabet magħha l-merħla li ħesrem għarfet il-velenu li jiktbu dawk l-imġiddmin bloggejja. Il-velenu li qabbadhom il-leblieba għal iktar, għax il-Malti għatxan għal hekk. Imma tal-MMV kienu diġà ħbew idhom u bewġu ‘l ġewwa.

Illum ‘blogg’ sar sempliċi kumment fuq artiklu tat-TOM. Il-‘bloggej’ tal-lum jifraħ li ngħata leħen għax m’għadux jistenna l-ġranet sa ma tidhirlu l-ittra ‘l-editur; il-moderaturi saru jtellgħulu l-kumment fi żmien siegħa, sagħtejn l-iktar! Intant, l-eks-bloggs tal-elit krepuskolari, m’għandix dubju, jitqallbu f’qabarhom.

—

Diamonds in the rough:

L-Istordut Kroniku – Fost l-istrixxikli u diversi tpenġijiet, kien kiteb serje bl-isem ‘Iċ-Ċirku Bertu Funtana’. Fiha kien irrakkonta l-praspar ta’ klikka żgħażagħ li kienu jinġabru l-Belt fit-80ijiet. Smajna b’ċertu tali mlaqqam il-Bauhaus; bir-Riku; bl-Istordut innifsu. Ħadd ma basar li dawn il-karattri kellhom jieħdu l-ħajja meta nxterdu l-vidjos tal-Maltasajf ’86 fuq il-Youtube tliet snin ilu.

Books & Beans – Mejlak kien jibbloggja darba f’mitt qamar, iżda wara kull waħda kien iħallina ssummati. Kellu (u għad għandu, insomma) ħabta kif ipoġġi l-kliem. Darba minnhom il-kitbiet sparixxew mill-blogg iżda, b’xorti tajba għalina, sabu ruħhom f’Qed Nistennik Nieżla Max-Xita.

Ereżija – Is-silta infami “Li Tkisser Sewwi” kien ilha tgħix fuq l-eteru ferm qabel ġiet ippubblikata f’Ir-Realtà. Jew ħadd ma kien familjari mad-diversi bloggs sperimentali ta’ Vella Gera, jew ħadd ma kien jitkaża wisq dak iż-żmien.

Tal-Maqluba – Antoine Cassar kien maverick letterarju dik il-ħabta. Il-mużajki tiegħu – poeżiji li jħaddmu diversi ilsna, xi kultant anki fl-istess vers – kienu xi ħaġa tal-meravilja ngħid għalija. Tant kienu tajbin li saru jispiraw il-ktib tar-rapport tat-temp dal-aħħar.

Il-Kurat Gybexi – Darba kiteb dwar idea li kellu għal riforma tat-trasport pubbliku f’Malta. Niftakarni naqra fuqha fuq il-blogg tiegħu, imma ma nafx qattx ippubblikaha fid-dettall. Jew forsi kien diġà tarrafha ‘l Delia.

Lamppost Campaign – Fl-2005 saru l-elezzjonijiet għall-ewwel MEPs Maltin. Ftit qabel kienu saru popolari serje t’intervisti ta’ Norman Lowell li ttellgħu fuq il-Maltafly (kien għad għandha l-ġwienaħ dak iż-żmien). Ħafna mill-bloggejja raw oltrè l-valur komiku tagħhom. Kien diġà beda l-assedju ż-żgħir, kif laqqmuh iktar tard il-Brikkuni, u żdiedu l-miġjiet bid-dgħajjes mill-Afrika. U magħhom id-diversi arson attacks. Il-Lamppost Campaign, mibdija proprju minn J’Accuse, naħseb kienet l-ewwel kruċjata diġitali tal-għamla tagħha f’Malta (għalkemm żgur ma nxterditx daqs ir-‘rivoluzzjoni’ virtwali li rajna fi żmien ir-referendum għad-dħul tad-divorzju fl-2011).

Biex nagħlaq, lil Jacques nawguralu l-ad multos annos. U lill-eks-ġirien tal-Bloggosfera MMV, insellmilhom mill-ġdid talli kienu mewġa ta’ tama f’baħar ta’ baħħ. PTP.

 

* J’accuse note: One last thing. The image that has been accompanying the festschrift is taken from Gozo artist Christopher Saliba’s collection. You can find a gallery of his works here.

Categories
Festschrift 2012

pierre j. mejlak – books & beans

I thought he wouldn’t make it. Then I got an SMS at four in the afternoon “Nibza li ha niddizappuntak habib. Qieghed imsiefer u l-isfiga kollha qed tinqala’. Forsi guest post mar-ritorn ghalkemm ma tkunx l-istess.” Then four hours later “Sibt internet!!! Gej tieghi! x”. By nine in the evening I had received Pierre’s piece. The Festschrift was completed – in “photofinish 1996 style” as Pierre himself described it. Pierre was a wonderful discovery – two Gozitans meeting in Luxembourg – and if there’s one thing I envy him it’s his smooth talking charm peppered with trés gozitan humour. Books & Beans was the name of a bar/café in Luxembourg before it became the name of the blog of one of blogosfera’s most pleasant wordsmiths. I’ll stop here – ladies and gentlemen I give you the fashionably late Pierre J. Mejlak. It’s not his fault he was in Paris….

Ma’ Jacques fis-Sul Palco

It-Tube llejla xbajt għall-mewt. Qisu r-rużarju. Dejjem l-istess daqqa, b’New York, New York dejjem l-aħħar radda tas-salib. Iżjed ħadt gost il-bieraħ għand Mark. Kien hemm Ludvic, ħabib tiegħu, li f’għaxar minuti sajjar platt għaġin b’dak li sab mhux-maqtugħ fil-kċina ta’ Mark. Għoġbuni t-tnejn – kemm l-għaġin kif ukoll Ludvic. Kien hemm ukoll Matthew, li qed iżur lil ħuh u qisu mħajjar jiċċaqlaq hawn ukoll.

Barra l-ksieħ. U fejn noqgħod jien, f’wied li jiġi eżatt taħt ground tal-futbol, il-kesħa tinħass iżjed. Mhux suppost indum ħafna hawn. Hekk kif jitlesta l-appartament f’rue Adolphe Fischer niċċaqlaq. Hemm inkun waħdi u nkun iżjed komdu.

Illum erġajt rajt lil Maria. Vera post żgħir dan u jekk tiltaqa’ ma’ xi ħadd u ssellimlu bla ma biss tindenja tistaqsih x’jismu, sa ġimgħa wara hemm ċans tajjeb li tkun erġajt rajtu. Darbtejn jew tlieta. Ma’ Maria laqqagħni Vincenzo fl-ewwel ġimgħa tiegħi hawn, fejn inzerta kien hawn fiera – speċi ta’ lunapark kbira – bl-isem Schueberfouer. X’ħin toqgħod tqis, naħseb infaqna għoxrin euro nilagħbu tellieqa taż-żwiemel. Tixħet ballun u skont f’liema toqba ddaħħlu, iż-żiemel jiġri. Jien kelli ż-żiemel numru sitta. Għajjien immens u ma damx wisq ma beda jinqatagħli lura waħdu. U x’ħin rajtu dejjem wara nett, kollu grif u melankolija ġenerali, sirt kważi kważi nħobbu iżjed.

Ma’ Maria rġajt ħbatt is-Sul Palco, il-bar ta’ wara l-Posta. Taħdem bartender hemm. Ma nnotajthiex mill-ewwel. Fuq it-TIME kien hemm artiklu dwar Barack Obama, li mix-xejn sar Senatur Chicago. Toni Sant kien ibbloggja dwaru u meta ġiet quddiemi tistaqsini x’irrid kont mitluf fih. Come vanno le cose? staqsietni. Ma stennejthiex hemm u billi togħġobni imbarazzajt ftit ruħi.  Għidtilha tajjeb. Ma sibt xejn aktar x’ngħidilha. Flok macchiato ħarġitli macchinato u ħarġitli imkissra qisha ż-żiemel li lgħabt fuqu. Vera stħajt imma hi tbissmet għax ħasbitni qed niċċajta. Kont se nistaqsiha jekk ratx Fahrenheit 911 iżda hekk kif kont se nibda d-domanda Maria telqet fuq mejda oħra bi tbissima li biha qisha riedet tgħidli kkalma, daqt nerġa’ lura.

Fuq it-televixin bdew juru tellieqa tal-Formula 1 u kif bdejt nara min hemm quddiem jidħlu żewġ Maltin. L-ewwel smajthom. Imbagħad rajthom. Kien għadni qatt ma ltqajt ma’ Jacques, għalkemm wiċċu ma kienx ġdid u ismu lanqas. Kien endorsja lil Cassola u bħal għoġobni li ħareġ għonqu. Miegħu kien hemm wieħed jismu Owen. Jacques qalli li kien għadu kemm mar dawra bil-karozza. Mar Remich, qal, u wara baqa’ sejjer Remerschen. Ra ħafna baqar. Sejjer jara Juve Ajax l-Erbgħa f’bar Taljan qrib il-gare u stedinni mmur miegħu. Nitħajjar immur. Semmejna lil Toni Sant u lil Mark, li t-tnejn qed jibbloggjaw. Jien imħajjar iżda x’naqbad ngħid? Jacques ma jikkommettix ruħu. Iżda ma nimmaġinahx se jdum wisq iħares mill-ġnub. Ma jidhirx it-tip ta’ fuq il-bankina.

Kien qed jgħidli li anke hu Għawdxi u kont se nistaqsih minn fejn, meta reġgħet ġiet Maria tara hux kollox sew. Id-domanda dwar Fahrenheit 911 kont, ormai, fassaltha b’mod sabih u kont se nixħitilha qisna ħbieb tal-qalb li dejjem jixħtu l-affarijiet lil xulxin, iżda Jacques, pront pront, ħa f’idejh id-diskursata, li għandi ma reġgħet spiċċat qatt.

Categories
Festschrift 2012

ġakbu sfi*o – il-bollettino della sfi*a

We didn’t really invite this bloke he just submitted his stuff and we feel obliged to print it. If only for the sake of superstition. For a long time his blog was much, much more popular than J’accuse (and probably still is even though he’s gone AWOL for what seems to be an eternity). Il-Bollettino della Sfi*a began in 1999 in the form of a series of newsletters  exchanged by email between Master studies students in Valletta, Bruges and Malta. Sfi*o brought it to the blogging world in August 2004. Bear with the guy, his Maltese is not exactly modern and he has a few problems and fixations…..

Scideu il chahda ia bloggeira tale nithadditchem. Le nista nemmen liema avveniment bombasticu mahsub min sid dan il blogg uassalna sabiesc nohorgu mill-ueghda ta’ silentiu illi chonna ilna nosservau b’dedittioni assoluta. Hasseina pero illi naghmlu present u nsemmghu lehen l’ispavaldi bhalna illi chatt ma cedeu ghal assediu costanti u incredibbli ta’ l-inservienti ta’ dich il cahba bendata. Ma nafsc chemm minnchom taphu biha. Ghaib ghalichom iecch m’ghandchomsc idea ta’ min hi u sc’taph taghmel cuando meno te l’aspetti. Sci cummidianti primi isibuha bhala “Donna Fortuna”. Psatas. Inioranti. Maleducati. U sfi*ati. Ahna insibuha bhala l-omm imscaitna ta’ chull event li int ma tistiecsc li iigri imma iigri sciorta. Siniuri nippresentaulchom is-sors ta’ chull dueiiach, ta’ chull malann u sors indirett ta’ chull daugha li zzarzar mal-curiduri. Nippresentaulchom l-omm li ggialna nitchellmu hasin u l-omm li tobbligana ingorru amuleti u controamuleti. nippresentaulchom l-iSfi*a.

U ahna servienti taghcom chonna u ghadna investigaturi u chronisti ta’ eventi fein hi tolchot bl-eghmil taghha. Ghalhecc il-Bollettin jintebagh biss chull mita uihed ierdeu. L-istatistica turi illi din is-sena hia uahda sfi*ata immens. Ghasc il-hidma taghha chien bla uachfien. Tidhcusc. Titilghusc fuc sci fessbuch jew tuitter u tiftahru b’chemm tacghu ghan neich. Gharfu min issa l-pericolu li tintaghrsu maghha. Ghasc hi ma ddahachsch imma tbicchi. U allura ahna, mill-isuali u curiduri tar-redattioni bollettinescha fein iingabru l-iprem sfinchronisti ta’ l-istoria ricenti nistacsu: Sc’il-cuccuttlu hemm x’ticcelebra li ghalact 7 snin tibbloggja? Sc’minghalih dan Zammit? Iaph l-autur ta’ din il-blog liema nessi occulti u semiotici ghandha in-numru seba’ fost il-cabbali universali? Sc’il cahba irid iishet? Bloggosfera shiha?

Ser ichollna allura nghaddu ghal mantra importanti u nitlobchom f’din is-siegha tinghacdu mieghi f’mantra li tbieghed u tbezzgha lill forzi tal-cahba bendata. Nittamau li tchun bizzeiied. Minfloch detto del giorno (DDS) ser naghtichom haunecch it-talba tal-isphi*at. Lissnuha ghaitu, anchi iecch hemm sci hadd hdeichom (scorta ma tistghusc tacghu ichtar ghan neich milli ga uachaitu)….

It-talba ta’ l-isphi*at

Jiena (INSERT NAME HERE) nigbed leiia chull siech ta’ fenech, gozz ta’ bzar ahmar niexeph, ghain ta’ dghaisa mitluqa f’marsasclocch, chrun tal-landa, baid tal-barri, pubu ta’ tphaila vergni, gharac ta’ serial harrai u amuleti ohra ecc. ecc. illi bi sperantia li iahdmu fuchi ghal tul din is-sena u chiph ucholl fuch l-ahua tieghi fi tbatia li iacsmu mieghi l-eteru nittama u nispera chif ucholl (without pushing my luck too far) nimmagina ser ibarrdu lis-sinioria taghha il-cahba bendata u l-inservjenti taghha u izommuhom fi stat ta’ coma ghal hin bizzeiied sabiesc iissorvolau l-esistenta inutli tieghi u iacbdu ma sci hadd iehor.

Ninitima minn issa il-famusissimi boscla sciaten, mortacci loro, familii ta’ paternità u/jew maternità sconosciuta u l-povri eruieh tal-porgatorio illi iista iaghti l-cas illi (f’kas ta’ nuqqas ta’ efficacia tas-susesposta talba) iigu inondati u importunati b’imprecattioniiet adatti u proportionali ghal chull deni illi iista (barraminnfuchna) iincala.

Seuua? Prosit lil chulhadd ta’ dan l-avveniment gustus. Hadt gost nara haphna phostchom illi chienu ucholl carreiia regolari. Nittama li dacht nergghu nibdeu scogholna fuch il-bollettin. Ghadna nistenneu pero li titnehha sahta illi intbaghtet minn incarnattioni tad-dea bendata lio tghisc geuua Milan.

a bien tot

Gakbu S.

DDS

haphna bloggers geuua il-festschrift

chitbu u irraccuntau

ieech inbarru lil bendata

imbaghad sigur niccelebrau

 

It-test ta’ l-euuel bolletinata li dehret f’forma ta’ blog:

L-ettronika tilhak il-bollettin.

August 19, 2004

Egregi hbieb.

Bid-dmugh niezel sal-paletti tal-warrani (maghrufin ucholl bhala “fesses”) l-editur tal-verzioni letzeburgianiza (tipo furianiza imma fil-lussemburgu) ghandna piacir inhabbru l-wasla tal-bolletino della sfiga (ndr: bds) fl-eteru internawtiali. Ezattament illum, u ichtar preciz din is-seconda, il-bds ched jezordixxi storikament fuch is-sistema ta’ bloging. Tant biesc naghrfu nadegwaw ruiehhna. Issa, prevja u tramite (chif ucholl permess ta’) din is-sistema, ser jigu ippustjati regolarment eventi illi jghaddu u jigru gewwa l-Letzeburgu.

Mela gharfu zidu din il-pagina mal-favuriti u anki ghamlu markachtieb.

Insellmilchom.

Gakbu S.

illum u mhux ilbierah.

 

Categories
Festschrift 2012

fausto majistral – malta 9 thermidor

It took us a while to put our finger on what this majistral bloke was about. In 2005 we were convinced he was the mother (or father) of all PN apologists. It was not that though. It was an assiduous attention to detail. Thermidor was a formidable political observer with whom to cross swords. Then suddenly, for no apparent reason the blog that had become a reference point on all things political just stopped. Fausto soldiered on as chief proof reader, fact-correcter and contradictor on J’accuse with the occasional (very welcome) guest post in the Zolabytes. Here’s another one then, telling you how the blogosphere died:

While blogging in the US really took off in the aftermath of 9/11 as “citizen journalists” put online whatever content they felt mainstream media was leaving out, in quite a few other countries the watershed year was 2005. Particularly in the Middle East (Egypt and Syria immediately come to mind), PCs and modems became as powerful weapons as guns and grenades.

Malta’s big year of the blog was also 2005. At no other time since did the Maltese blogosphere flourish as much in quality and quantity. But it was not just that. There was a good vibe from trying out a new medium whose potential was as yet undiminished with competition from the likes of Facebook and Twitter. The motivations to blog were very strong: in my case (as possibly with many others), the feeling that on the Maltese mainstream media contributors either (a) had nothing very interesting to say, (b) could only express themselves very poorly or (c) all of the above. Usually it was (c) so out we set to set the world aright. And then when an Independent intern, Aurelie Herbemont, wrote an article on the Maltese blogging scene, it really felt that the blogging revolution was on the way and, with some more effort, it might even be televised.

J’accuse was born into this happy world. Having been born under the right star sign, in a thriving community were members were genuinely interested in reading and responding to what other members were saying, the blog’s editor frequent positings quicky placed the blog in pole position. While, of course, readers came from far beyond the confines of the small blogging community, most reactions and responses were from other bloggers. That was somewhat dispiriting at the time (at least to me). Had I the gift of foresight with the ability to see the Times commentator in the future, I would have been happy that somehow what we wrote attracted like-minded people rather than contributions which, like most graffiti attest nothing except the writer’s (unwelcome) presence.

Sadly, the blogosphere decline set in quite quickly. An annus horribilis was 2008, an election year which attracted many “occasional bloggers” as well as “occasional readers” who were looking for the latest online rumour through google. Some gave up. In the case of J’accuse, its editor responded to an odyssean song becoming a contributor, first on the Sunday Times then the Independent on Sunday. The blog content suffered, becoming almost an appendage, at most a “peek preview”, to the weekly column. The writing which had looked so natural and authentic with the varying lengths, intensities and time of blogging was now subject to the fixed lengths, fixed styles and fixed publication date only the dead tree media could impose. Thankfully, the editor is now again free and some of the old J’accuse shine is back.

Not all, of course. Not the spirit of ’05 expressed in that old wordpress template. But at least J’accuse is still around to remind us of better times.