Boxwine on the Box (I)
Another fillum in which Dinklage turns out to be a sex god, as if such a possibility remains interesting. A better punktumdote: the adventure of bedding the woman who may be MacLaine-character’s daughter starts with dodgy wine poolside. (NB. pool belongs to pictured house, which probably subscribes to Goop.) Post-coitus, she coos “I’ve never had…
Google vs. boxes
When I first started teaching a module on Globalisation for a course on learning how to think about things happening in the world, the big story was China vs. Google. The Americans had agreed to – and subsequently violated – numerous conditions laid out by the Chinese government for the roll-out of a search bar…
Outside the Frame: Ramallah
Less than a month ago I messaged my sister to ask if she was OK after learning that she was in Ramallah for work. Today, in that terrifying party or the world (thanks, WhatsApp), this: And these images of Palestinians going about prayers during Ramadan next to the rubble of a destroyed mosque: (There’s a…
CMA CGM Masai Mara
240m. Belgian flag. An even stranger name than Bear Ridge Mountain. WTF? Makes me think of House of Cards and Kenyan warriors. But pretty in its way – for a giant that is tranquil. Well-laden. Stable. Why leave? It’s not like anything was happening. Anymore, after the “death ship” livestock carrier finally left and carried…
Self-Determination (I)
Monday (19 Feb) was Day 1 of the ICJ’s hearings on “Israel’s illegal occupation of Gaza”, as Al Jazeera describes it. 6 (or so) lawyers representing Palestine, each with 30 mins to do persuasion about one facet of what they painted a pretty convincing picture of as Israel’s* systematic and orchestrated – and quite successful!…
MSC Capri (and “optimism” about SA ports)
207m. LIberian flag. A baby, really. But shame, there was at least something going on (look carefully for the box in transit, which moved so fast I almost missed it), even though the port(s) apparently closed early today because of an “unexpected union meeting.” (This was a little blow for Chad, whose box of Farmina…
Canals (I)
Found a 3-part documentary charmingly titled Suez: A Very British Crisis, which I have yet to watch. Aperitivo: “The Story of British Canals”, in which I learned a number of interestoids (IODs). IOD 1: IOD 2: IOD 3: IOD 4: IOD 5: * Speaking of “hopeful investors”, I’m reading a book my mother stumbled upon…
Outside the Frame: Sudan
DR.dk yesterday published a story about “The World’s Forgotten Conflict”, which has now displaced up to 8m of Sudan’s 49 million inhabitants (after decades of conflict already, did they ever call it home?). They rightly call attention to an attention issue: The article quotes Jan Egelund, the GS of Norwegian Refugee Council, as being horrified…
Queen Mary 2, the cost of VOR, and stuff
No visits to Maker’s this week, as the cruise ships kept coming. On Wednesday (31 Jan), Queen Mary 2 (QM2). Slightly less boring, as she’s apparently the “only ocean liner in service in the world”. (Unlike “normal” cruise ships, ocean liners carry people, things, and mail. JR and family arrived in SA on one such…
Iver Huitfeldt
A belligerent vessel en route from Denmark to the Red Sea, on an expedition the Danish Navy call their “sharpest mission since 1864” (something to do with Prussia and Austria). For now, the big clean boat carries big-ass missiles that will cost 10 million DKR a pop. They’ve got five shots. This is where it…