Street life - That's Entertainment!
I am in a situation, it reminds me of the absurd experiment that invariably fails, in which you are asked to close your eyes, empty your mind and think about anything you wish - other than elephants. Yes, anything at all... go ahead... close your eyes...
I am in a situation, it reminds me of the absurd experiment that invariably fails, in which you are asked to close your eyes, empty your mind and think about anything you wish - other than elephants. Yes, anything at all... go ahead... close your eyes... did you manage to push that hefty lump out of the spotlight and into the wings of the arena?
Hark, arena, did someone say circus? It was the Roman consultants who first taught those in power how to keep the plebeians content; give 'em bread and circuses, they advised, and by Juvenal, how right they were ( I am trying to help us forget the great, big elephant that simply won't budge).
Was my radical friend, whom I shall refer to as Received Pronunciation, right when he said that one should not be held responsible for the rest of the world's ignorance?
I think we are all accountable, those who create the appealing packages, and those sucked in by the hype; those benefiting from privileges while not contributing to the betterment of others. Those who point fingers but never stop to reflect. Who is to say who is ignorant and who is not? Without sin... cast the first stone... you know the drill.
I have looked around for several weeks now in the hope of locating a local Diogenes who would be able to help separate the fiction from the facts. But alas I have found no such person brave enough, and objective enough, with whom to extract the sense out of the non-sense.
I am sitting quietly in one of the last Maltese gardens enjoying the rare sight of a cabbage white butterfly, wondering if anything can be done to change the way my islanders blink and receive, wondering if I am wrong to question the craving, and subsequent satisfaction, for bread and circuses: low-cost, low-quality, high-availability food and entertainment in many glittering guises.
Ignorance is only lack of information. What irks me most is the lack of analytical discussion in our society, where few seem concerned with the qualitative. I am about to break into yet another diatribe about the arts, human rights, public works projects and democracy itself, when I am briskly told off by the fatted mules: "Now please be quiet so we can watch Desperate Housewives on the leather (white) sofa," they say, "and never mind our IQs, eh, these days they tell us (on E! Channel) that it's our EQ that matters".
In my confusion I ask whether they are referring to Emotional Quotient but they are quick to correct me. "That's entertainment quotient stupid," they bray, "and even better you get points towards your next mobile phone upgrade".
This attitude may account for the plethora of fools who trip, loop, lob and gloss over all the facts as suits them; after all, no one is really interested in the truth are they?
What the people want (apart from ħobż biż-żejt and circuses) is hyperbole and understatement, a veritable football match with rivalry, losers and winners.
Alas, that elephant is still in the centre of the arena, about to perform a circus trick or two and the crowd (on both sides of the arena) is wild with anticipation and mirth.
And who am I to tell them to stop chanting, forget the elephant, return to their studies and cosy up with Plato the bore? They'd soon join forces, throw rotten tomatoes at me and tell me to go choke on a metaphor. Now that would be entertaining wouldn't it!
Hark, arena, did someone say circus? It was the Roman consultants who first taught those in power how to keep the plebeians content; give 'em bread and circuses, they advised, and by Juvenal, how right they were ( I am trying to help us forget the great, big elephant that simply won't budge).
Was my radical friend, whom I shall refer to as Received Pronunciation, right when he said that one should not be held responsible for the rest of the world's ignorance?
I think we are all accountable, those who create the appealing packages, and those sucked in by the hype; those benefiting from privileges while not contributing to the betterment of others. Those who point fingers but never stop to reflect. Who is to say who is ignorant and who is not? Without sin... cast the first stone... you know the drill.
I have looked around for several weeks now in the hope of locating a local Diogenes who would be able to help separate the fiction from the facts. But alas I have found no such person brave enough, and objective enough, with whom to extract the sense out of the non-sense.
I am sitting quietly in one of the last Maltese gardens enjoying the rare sight of a cabbage white butterfly, wondering if anything can be done to change the way my islanders blink and receive, wondering if I am wrong to question the craving, and subsequent satisfaction, for bread and circuses: low-cost, low-quality, high-availability food and entertainment in many glittering guises.
Ignorance is only lack of information. What irks me most is the lack of analytical discussion in our society, where few seem concerned with the qualitative. I am about to break into yet another diatribe about the arts, human rights, public works projects and democracy itself, when I am briskly told off by the fatted mules: "Now please be quiet so we can watch Desperate Housewives on the leather (white) sofa," they say, "and never mind our IQs, eh, these days they tell us (on E! Channel) that it's our EQ that matters".
In my confusion I ask whether they are referring to Emotional Quotient but they are quick to correct me. "That's entertainment quotient stupid," they bray, "and even better you get points towards your next mobile phone upgrade".
This attitude may account for the plethora of fools who trip, loop, lob and gloss over all the facts as suits them; after all, no one is really interested in the truth are they?
What the people want (apart from ħobż biż-żejt and circuses) is hyperbole and understatement, a veritable football match with rivalry, losers and winners.
Alas, that elephant is still in the centre of the arena, about to perform a circus trick or two and the crowd (on both sides of the arena) is wild with anticipation and mirth.
And who am I to tell them to stop chanting, forget the elephant, return to their studies and cosy up with Plato the bore? They'd soon join forces, throw rotten tomatoes at me and tell me to go choke on a metaphor. Now that would be entertaining wouldn't it!