The Athenians had their agora, the Romans had their Forum, the Maltese have Xarabank. The Athenians produced Plato and Socrates, the Romans Cicero and Virgil, and we have Peppi and his blog. I do not enjoy having a go at Mr. Xarabank but he does represent (maybe inadverently) the race to mediocrity in this country – worse than that, satisfying the needs of the mediocre crowd is the fuel that keeps Xarabank’s engine running.
Sandro pointed out Peppi’s blog (although Sandro does not believe it is a blog) and I duly clicked on the link to check it out. Here’s a gem I found in the post of the 12th May:
Meta ltqajt ma’ Gerald James Borg biex nippreparaw għall-programm ta’ qabel il-Eurovision minn Għawdex rajtu jirrabja għall-ewwel darba f’ħajti. Staqsejtu “Allura x’messaġġ fiha din id-diska Vodka?” Ħraqtu.
Qalli “Mela llum id-diski jkun fihom bilfors messaġġ. Din l-idea li aħna niktbu s-songsgħax naħsbu li twelidna biex inbiddlu id-dinja m’għadiex teżisti. Din songbiex in-nies jieħdu pjaċir jisimgħu u jħossu li jridu.” Nahseb li Gerald għandu raġun.
Hawn Malta għadna mkaħħlin li ktieb, programm tat-televixin jew radju jrid jgħallem, irid ikollu messaġġ. Frankament inħares lejn din l-atitudni bħala arroganza ta’ min jaħseb li huwa moralment ‘il fuq mill-oħrajn u jrid jgħallimna kif għandna ngħixu.
Hafna nies jgħiduli li fl-aħħar Xarabank għandu jkollu konklużjoni, xi ħadd jgħid x’inhi l-verita’. Fil-blog li jmiss ngħidilkom għala naħseb li jekk nagħmlu hekk inkunu qed noqtlu lil Xarabank…
It is reassuring to find that Peppi has not yet discarded the “għ” in his communications with the people. On the other hand the part of the quote that I marked in red is proof, if you needed it, of the idea of Maltese Relativism. Oh won’t the reader be pleased when he finds out that it is arrogant of someone to expect that a book, a tv or radio programme, has to teach or has to contain some kind of message? For the next blog post we will wait for Peppi to tell us why it would be bad for Xarabank authors to state what is the truth at the end of the programme.
While the stomach turns the mind struggles to find a reply to this kind of reasoning. The only word that comes to my mind right now is actually “sandpaper”. I cannot tell you why. And I won’t. After all it would be arrogant of you to expect that there is a reason for everything.
12 responses so far ↓
Mark Vella // May 15, 2008 at 09:41 |
il-problema ta’ Peppi hija s-superfiċjalita’ ta’ min teftef ‘l hemm u ‘l hawn fl-għerf imma qatt ma ħass il-ħtieġa li jmur fil-fond…huwa wkoll sostnut minn apparat ideoloġiku li għandu interess isostni din il-qagħada ta’ medjokrita’ li tidher bħala demokrazija apparenti iżda li fil-verita’ hija anarkija taċ-ċwieċ…il-paradoss tal-ħsieb Peppjan huwa li jekk wieħed jixtarr sew dak li jikteb u jgħid, wieħed jagħraf proċess ta’ ħsieb li għandu mnejn ikollu punti validi, imma l-limitazzjonijiet inerenti ta’ min qed iwassal dawn il-ħsibijiet irenduhom redikoli. L-eżempju huwa rigward il-messaġġi fid-diki u l-kotba…huwa minnu li għadda ż-żmien fejn l-arti trid tkun didattika, imma ma naħsibx li l-eżaltazzjoni tal-vujtaġni ta’ Vodka hija xi riflessjoni postmoderna profonda dwar it-tifisr u t-tifsira tat-tifsir…is-superfiċjalita’ tikkategorizza u tiġġenralizza b’tali mod li fl-aħħar tgħaddi kollox bl-invell…
Jacques René Zammit // May 15, 2008 at 09:45 |
“is-superfiċjalita’ tikkategorizza u tiġġenralizza b’tali mod li fl-aħħar tgħaddi kollox bl-invell…”
Anything goes…. hence the sandpaper
Q.E.D.
Mark Vella // May 15, 2008 at 09:50 |
ala ma niktbuwix sanpejper? mhux ekk jajdua n nies meta jibatu sms?
Sandro Vella // May 15, 2008 at 10:05 |
Zgur ispirajtek jiena ghas-Sandpaper.
Sandro Vella // May 15, 2008 at 10:06 |
The Athenians had their agora, the Romans had their Forum, the Maltese have no choice.
Bertu! // May 15, 2008 at 10:15 |
Hadd minnkhom ma ra l-vera punt importanti li qal Peppi, li hemm mod kif jinqatel Xarabank!!! Kull ma rridu insibu lil xi hadd wara kull programm jghidilna l-verita.
Hemm sperenza nies
Sandro Vella // May 15, 2008 at 11:34 |
The blog post “Sandpaper Peppi” is featured on Maltamedia: The Maltese Blogosphere
- Nominate blog post of the month –
Jon // May 15, 2008 at 13:18 |
Ovvjament li jkollok nies li qass jafu xi tfisser il kelma deficit, li waqt Xarabank, imeru lil-Ministru fuq il budget, u jippruvaw johorguh ta njorant mhux arroganza…
Keith Chircop // May 15, 2008 at 15:40 |
LOL@bertu
That’s all we need… Peppi concluding each show by telling us what’s right and what’s wrong, Jerry Springer style. U b’hekk fil-qosor nikkonkludu billi nghid li l-internet huwa xihaga tal-biza! u paceville post tal-biza! u emmuni ghax Angelik qalli li l-madonna tara xarabank.
Who is the punk who suggested Peppi do this? It goes without saying it would kill the show, because Peppi is a bloody doofus.
Alex // May 15, 2008 at 16:21 |
I tend to agree with the gist of the first paragraph in red. However, unfortunately many people seem to equate lack of message with a dumbing down. Nothing could be further from the truth. Whether a song has a message or not is immaterial and does not effect the quality or lack thereof. In fact, in some cases the less the messages the merrier, especially when the final product is destined to be crap.
Fausto Majistral // May 15, 2008 at 18:42 |
I thought the (subliminal) message of “Vodka” was “reach out for the Smirnoff”.
danny attard // May 15, 2008 at 23:08 |
Spin overdose may empty one’s world and existence of meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value leaving a mind devoid of substance and in need to invent some compensatory alternate measure of significance.