tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627322010786735293.post1594246895683707573..comments2023-10-01T09:35:35.894+02:00Comments on Antipodes: Fantasies and nightmaresWilliam Skyvingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10052367756561555096noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627322010786735293.post-52587392230628694592010-10-20T22:20:47.127+02:002010-10-20T22:20:47.127+02:00Apologies for my error in adding a 'u'.
Y...Apologies for my error in adding a 'u'.<br /><br />You are so right about the viral syndrome. <br /><br />Sometimes it's hard to be the one dissenting voice at the golf club or other gathering. Easier to keep one's peace or simply not attend.<br /><br />Now we're waiting for our PM to do something. She keeps getting shaken by negative comments and setting up review committees. Time to bite the bullet, methinks.Anniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10806660109196835114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627322010786735293.post-40865255993430562112010-10-16T18:08:34.106+02:002010-10-16T18:08:34.106+02:00The processes by which a deceased person acquires ...The processes by which a deceased person acquires the status of a saint in the Catholic Church are quite complicated. Several abstract terms come to mind: <i>glorification</i>, <i>sanctification</i>, <i>beatification</i>, <i>canonization</i>, etc. I like the new one you've added spontaneously: <i>beautification</i>.<br /><br />I would imagine that the media atmosphere in Australia is excruciatingly papal and catholic this weekend. It's surprising how certain happenings can go rapidly viral in Australia… in ways that would be unthinkable here in France. When I returned there in 1985, I was amazed to discover that two novel phenomena had apparently gone viral, to such an extent that even schoolkids were talking about them in their casual conversation: <i><b>repetitive stress injury</b></i> and <i><b>sexual harassment</b></i>. At the time, after too many years living in Paris, I was quite naive and ignorant concerning these two social afflictions. More recently, I've noticed that the concepts of <i><b>bipolar disease</b></i> and <i><b>carbon footprints</b></i> have also gone viral in Australia. When this happens in Australia, it's amazing to discover that practically everybody seems to be saying more or less the same thing. Through being talked about by everybody, a viral entity becomes common knowledge from one end of the continent to the other, but it doesn't appear to become any more profound or better understood. The spread of a viral idea is quantitative, but rarely qualitative. My aunt often used to preface her news on such-and-such a viral topic by saying <i>"All the women at the golf club are talking about X"</i>. The fact that viral entities rarely get handled in an in-depth manner is probably an outcome of journalistic traditions in Australia. I'm not sure that the media have the habit of organizing heavy-weight conflictual debates on viral phenomena that arise. They merely contribute to their proliferation, rather than trying to analyze what's happening.William Skyvingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10052367756561555096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627322010786735293.post-29978404285078653622010-10-16T02:50:42.198+02:002010-10-16T02:50:42.198+02:00Wish they'd hurry up with the beautification -...Wish they'd hurry up with the beautification - we're sooooo sick of reading about it here in Oz.Anniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10806660109196835114noreply@blogger.com