Total War and the tsunami disaster

Queen Firey-Bou · 13 January, 2005, 05:53:35 AM

Blimey proffeser bear, sorry to hear that mate, condolenses all around, deeply traumatic one for the whole family.

youre right about the media thing, you know those helplines at the end of soaps these days? its getting silly buggers isnt it, " if you or any of your family have been affected by your uncles brother in-law having had an affair with your grannies pet wallaby please phone our helpline which features a pointless recorded message & no doubt some fecking enya music in the backround "

i will personally calling for pizzas to be banned, as they remind me of my loss, and shit 80's music, and the colour blue...bann it you insensitive bastards.

paulvonscott · 13 January, 2005, 08:12:58 AM

Hmmm... I spent New Year with friends and we had to laugh (though twas a strange laughter) at the fact that all the programs we seemed to watch, seemed to be urging us to call the Samaritans. Whether it was Jedi or Wickerman.

I appreciate there was a serious point to it, but actually it seemed to highlight a situation which was probably being happily distracted by escapist weirdness. It certainly added a little ray of darkness to our lives.

Then again I feel rather cynical in spotting they never made these announcements during the ad breaks, where presumably it would detract from the happy go lucky consumerism and all those material fantasies that make us all feel so inadequate in the first place.

That's probably off topic, sorry, it's just something I spotted over Christmas and it's been bothering me.

Generally Contrary · 13 January, 2005, 05:21:32 PM

Regarding humour and death, I thought that this article by Peter Baynham was pretty good.

Of course, there is a difference between comedy that mocks death, and comedy that regards death of other people as trifling, as if they somehow aren't as important as us. The motives and perspectives of the speaker matter, not just the words they use.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1186447,00.html" target="_blank">Peter Baynham - Dead Funny

DavidXBrunt · 13 January, 2005, 05:22:59 PM

No you're quite right Paul, it often seemed to be in the middle of things that you'd hope would be the most distracting for people. It's the equivalant of someone popping round to your house to make sure you're okay just as you're trying to move on and have managed to go a day without thinking about things in the past and stirring it all up again.

Though the message should have been changed on the I.T.V. film at New Year from 'If you're not feeling Christmassy and want to talk about it ring....' to 'If you're not feeling Christmassy it's probably because you're watching the Wicker Man. Duh!'

paulvonscott · 13 January, 2005, 05:44:53 PM

I felt as if somehow, ITV, this purveyor of fucking mindless shit, had targetted me for watching some of their less bland hired products as being somehow suspiciously different and potentially at risk. I bet the people watching 'celebrity dumps, sponsored by toilet duck' never got the message scrawling across their screens.

Anyway, basically I doubted their motives, and believe their timing was probably quite dangerously misjudged. If someone wants some harmless escapism for an hour and a half, it seems callous to drop the reality of their situation on their lap half way through. If I was stuck watching X-Factor or Tat-vendors Ant and Dec, then I might admit to needing help.

GordonR · 13 January, 2005, 06:23:15 PM

It's those tsunami appeal ads featuring Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne that get right on my wick. Have we sunk so low that we need celebs like them to morally badger us to spare a thought for other human beings in need?

Conexus · 13 January, 2005, 06:29:39 PM

Have we sunk so low that we need celebs like them to morally badger us to spare a thought for other human beings in need?

Err, no plenty of money was already coming before celebs started geting involved (I don't think the appeals with newsreaders counts as a celebrity appeal really)

Queen Firey-Bou · 13 January, 2005, 08:44:23 PM

some twat in a suit had a brainstorming session on how to morally badger the yoofs, hey it worked for geldof 20 years ago, lets get sweary ozbourns cos people are too thick to donate without a celeb.

i was concerned at recent adventures, when every bus, every door way, every plane, every inn had a bucket & people badgering, i just worry that the bucket thing takes on its own cynical self righteous, sheep like momentum & turns people away from .... or what the hell. if it raises cash.

Krustabi · 13 January, 2005, 08:50:37 PM

Although I feel that bleeding heart celebs are sometimes a necessary evil, it's still evil.

Oddboy · 13 January, 2005, 09:08:10 PM

, sheep like momentum & turns people away from .... or what the hell. if it raises cash.

We're doing some fund raising for Help the Aged at the moment (of which I'll plug properly on a seperate thread - but basically it's a charity disco) - and you get some twonks complaining that we should be raising money for tsunami victims.

WHAT?? Just because there are suddenly new people in need of aid does not mean that you should immediately forget about all those who are already in need.
(In any case, Help the Aged are supporting tsunami victims as well...)

UZI 4U · 13 January, 2005, 09:16:32 PM

The Sharon and Ozzy appeal thing is a bit cheesy but I reckon their hearts are probably in the right place. They're a bit more down to earth than your average celebs so I'll hazard a guess that they'll have put their hands in their pockets to back up their words.
Regards Jim.

Queen Firey-Bou · 13 January, 2005, 09:29:26 PM

s'funny, we do brigadey charidy stuff thru the year, & normally i'll do the fairly aggressive sponsor money hussel, normally cash is divvied up to local causes , wee girl burns victim, this year playgroup burnt down etc ( which we are still doing )... but laying on the patter badger speeches for the tsunami thing we're doing on Saturday just feels a bit distateful. i notice other groups have their nebs on the local papers promoting their fundraising efforts, & fire boss has asked us to get photos for PR, but in this case, i just wanna raise cash not get brownie points.

any way, we'll be walking several miles, in full Breathing apperatus & fire kit, sponsored, rattling buckets, dunno seems frivolous but we've got a few hundred so far, let you know if i die of heat synchophy.

shazhughes · 14 January, 2005, 06:39:40 AM

Slightly moving away from the money side but trying to stay on the subject, does anyone know why when the country seemed to grind to a halt along with the rest of Europe there was a three minute silence?
Seems slightly odd to me that we can hardly get up the enthusiasm to get anyone to give up one minute and stay silent on remembrance day to remember the lives that were lost in wars that have more of a direct relation to the people of our own country but when it comes to a freak wave on the other side of the world we grind to a halt.

Carlsborg Expert. · 14 January, 2005, 06:50:00 AM

I think your makin a moot point there fella. Every year for the past 50 years we, the people, have congregated to some area of discontinueance, and decided to give up a charitable ammount of time, to remember those who fought bravely, then lost their lives campaigning for a wiser world.

Carlsborg Expert. · 14 January, 2005, 06:57:32 AM

I dont foresee any *world* grinding to a halt. Not in this universe any hoo.