Weight and see

Michael Kors used a helicopter, charter plane and two cars to go to a dinner party in Munich; and spent $5,100 on a cab to Brussels. Most of the rest of us had to rely on technology to help us connect with others.

Indeed, that is what I did in order to communicate with several journalists who had covered the papal visit; Rabat was described as a 'seaside village'; the Apostolic Nunciature was placed in Floriana, the Valletta Waterfront was called the 'Waterflor', and the Granaries were placed 'nearby' St John's Co-Cathedral.

I find it pathetic and amusing rather than irritating to see that these columnists writing for prestigious papers thought they were beyond having their errors rectified by someone who lives in the country about which they were writing.

So I suppose the Biscuit Award this week must go to a local journalist who replied to my two simple questions with alacrity - and a 428-word letter which, he insisted, ought to have been reproduced herein in its entirety. Most of its contents have nothing to do with television, and actually, all I needed was a 'yes' or a 'no', neither of which was given to me. This, ironically, after he had said he finds it "absurd to reply to questions forwarded by a TV critic".

This is yet another illustration of when hubris does not allow people to do their jobs properly. And this includes contacting people if the context in which you are mentioning them is something controversial, before going to press. This, to me, is of paramount importance and not 'totally irrelevant'.

'Hot' on the heels of the news that Enemalta is launching the new, improved SMS-alert system to provide clients with information about scheduled maintenance works two days before they begin, Tx (One television, Wednesdays, 8.45 p.m.) tackled the new power station issue as a topic.

Just for the record, I had been subscribed to the 'old' alert system - and yet I never received a message that would have enabled me 'to minimise the inconvenience (sic)'.

Miriam Dalli informed viewers at the start of the programme that Minister Tonio Fenech was not on the panel since he had wanted to field any questions alone, or with only an Opposition spokesperson going head-to-head with him.

I found it weird that no one mentioned the fact that a 'substantial' amount of money had been offered to a number of our favourite personalities in order to front an advertorial campaign for the new structure. These have now been replaced with others.

Be that as it may, the panel was made up of Leo Brincat, journalists Godfrey Grima and Karl Stagno Navarra, and Paul Mifsud, a long-time public service employee, who gave a consummate example of how to hold a balanced discussion about whether or not the government is hoodwinking people by comparing the Delimara station to the Marsa one.

I think it was a good idea for Dalli to move away from the hackneyed format of turning the studio into a debating forum; we have enough programmes, as it is, with one person 'for' and another 'against' an issue.

Meanwhile, I contacted the company behind the advertorial campaign with some questions in relation to this column, and I was told that the company is "...not at the (sic) liberty of discussing client-agency matters (since the company) treats all of its clients, whether (sic) Enemalta or any other client, in a confidential and respectable way".

The public will have to wait to see who else will grace television screens and laud the new power station besides the person who already has. It is somewhat disconcerting to realise that two recent very similar articles in the press told us the names of those who refused to do it, and not the names of those who did. Let's just give the writers the benefit of the doubt and say it was looming deadlines that hindered them.

The finals of the International Malta Hit Song Contest 2010 will be held on Friday on One Television.

Fifteen local singers and 12 foreign ones will compete for the title. The organisers have explicitly chosen the eve of May Day for this event since May 1 is traditionally the date on which nationwide music festivals are held in different countries.

Now there is even more proof that television is harmful to one's health. In the line of fire this time is 3DTV, which may cause confusion, altered vision, nausea or motion sickness, postural instability, nervous tics, cramps, and even epileptic fits in susceptible people.

These warnings also target children, pregnant women, and the elderly, as well as insomniacs or otherwise sleep-deprived people, and those who would have drunk alcohol. This occurs because the technology involved puts unusual strains on the body's systems, sending them into overdrive.

3DTV is cashing in on the success of films like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland. However, these were one-offs, and not meant to be watched throughout the day. You can, of course, opt out of wearing the glasses that come with the set 'to rest your eyes' - but that would defeat the purpose of purchasing such equipment in the first place.

Warnings placed on company websites are meant to avoid legal wrangles. It is salient to note that there are also caveats about placing television sets near open stairwells and other potentially dangerous places such as broken balconies.

television@timesofmalta.com