Of heroes and bigots

Hello folks,

It’s a fairly open secret that, as a chemist, one of my heroes is the author of the fantastic “Bad Science” column that features in weekend editions of the Guardian, the brilliant Dr Ben Goldacre, whom I admire for his efforts to fight climate change denialists and the peddlers of scientifically suspect alternative remedies the world over (as well as highlighting the dodgy “credentials” of “Dr” Gillian McKeith.) So it was with great interest that I read last weekend about the story of one of his heroes, Zackie Achmat, a man who has not only campaigned against South Africa’s apartheid regime, and for gay rights in South Africa (earning himself a spell in prison, for his troubles), but also successfully campaigned to make anti-retroviral drugs for the treatment of AIDS available on South Africa’s public health system.

All noble causes, one might think, but not for the vitamin peddlers (Anthony Brink, in particular) operating in his country. It was with great horror that I read that, not only has Brink been repeatedly trying to overrule the verdict on state provision of anti-retrovirals, but has also filed a ridiculous complaint in the Hague Criminal Court accusing Achmat of “genocide” (!)

Leaving aside the spurious claims made by these people about the HIV medication (that it is not only ineffective, but also harmful) in desperate attempt to flog their own useless vitamin pills (which, as a scientist, is already enough to make my blood boil), what’s particularly despicable about the complaint lodged by Brink is the way it increasingly descends into the type of nasty (and, one could argue, racist) remarks which even the female members of the Big Brother house would be shocked by. Not only should this spurious case be laughed out of court, but one could also argue that Achmat has a good case to bring charges of slander against Brink (while, given Achmat’s relevance to South Africa’s past, charges of incitement to racial hatred against Brink might also be justified.)

Anyway, rant over. I hope to speak to you all on cheerier subjects during the coming week; I may be receiving the results of my recent exams this week, so (depending on how good they are) a cheerier-sounding blog may soon be around the corner, who knows.

Later,
Liam

Brit nominations - 2007

A belated post this, but I though I’d chip in with my two penn’orth on the Brit award nominations, which were announced on Tuesday (the full list of nominations can be found here, in case you’re curious.)

It might, at first glance, seem unusual for a grizzled music fan such as myself to be commenting on one of the most rampantly commercial music awards around (after all, the Brits is an industry award, with most gongs being voted for by record company execs who invariably will vote for whoever scores the most sales), particularly since the bands/artists I’m into are largely bypassed when it comes to the nominations. However, against my better judgement, there’s always the odd award that manages to get me worked up (when some lesser known band/artist gets a token mention); in the case of this year’s awards, it’s not so much the mention of the Arctic Monkeys or the Kooks that have got me hyped up (after all, both bands have already well and truly made their breakthrough this past year), but rather the inclusion of the brilliant Cat Power in the best international female category. I suspect that part of it is my clamour for an underdog to win one of these awards; the Arctic Monkeys and the Kooks arguably have a strong chance of winning one or two of the awards they’ve been nominated for, but Cat Power is probably rank outsider in her category (despite being the best of the nominees by quite some distance; I would argue that Shakira probably has a stronger claim to such an award than the rest of the nominees.) I must admit to being a bit disappointed that Cat Power’s most recent album wasn’t nominated in the best international album category (do the awards panel honestly think Justin Timberlake and the Scissor Sisters made better albums last year?), but I guess one can’t have everything

Anyway, to close with, here are my predictions for who the winners will be:

Best British Male Solo Artist – James Morrison (should be Jarvis or Thom Yorke, but won’t be; also, why was Morrissey not nominated?)

Best British Female Solo Artist – Lily Allen (no prizes for guessing that one.)

Best British Group – Arctic Monkeys (again, no prizes for guessing that one.)

Best British Album – Arctic Monkeys (Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not): Well, it was the fastest selling album since records began…

Best British Single – Take That (Patience): Expect all the female, 30-something Take That fans to come out of the woodwork and vote in droves for this one.

Best International Male Solo Artist – Justin Timberlake (ought to be Beck or Dylan, but Trousersnake wins on sales.)

Best International Female Solo Artist – Beyonce (although we all know who should win.)

Best International Group – Red Hot Chili Peppers (though that one could be close.)

Best International Album – Gnarls Barkley (St. Elsewhere): The combination of critical acclaim, high sales, and the novelty of THAT single (you know the one I mean) should give Cee-Lo and Dangermouse the gong.

Best International Breakthrough Act – Gnarls Barkley (see Best International Album section above.)

As ever, any predictions you have, as well as any other viewpoints on the awards (who you think should/ shouldn’t win, who deserved to be nominated but didn’t, who shouldn’t have been nominated but did, and the like), will be gratefully received.

Liam

Auf Wiedersehen, Basti

Hello, my patient blog readers!

Apologies for my blog inaction since the beginning of 2007; unfortunately, the preparation for, and sitting of, exams has deprived me of the time to pen any blogs. Thankfully, having sat the last of said exams yesterday morning, I’m now free to re-enter the blogosphere (for another 4 months, at least.)

Unfortunately, though, my first blog of 2007 is not on the cheeriest of subjects, given that this week saw the premature retirement of former Great White Hope of German Football (TM) Sebastian Deisler. This excellent article by Raphael Honigstein goes into many of the reasons why the man nicknamed “Basti Fantasti” (a nickname he apparently loathed) decided to quit the game at the tender age of 27 (a mere 5 years older than this column.) What makes me feel particularly sympathetic towards Deisler is the fact that he was always quite a fragile, shy character even before embarking on a career as a professional footballer, a career which, despite Deisler showing flashes of his great talent, was blighted by one of the most unenviable injury records in the history of the game. What isn’t mentioned in this article (but which is perhaps particularly sad) was that Deisler’s first bout of depression was triggered not only by the injuries that kept him out of the 2002 World Cup squad (and which blighted his first season at Bayern Munich), but also his Brazilian wife miscarrying in 2003; such relentless misfortune would destroy anyone, so it was perhaps not suprising that Deisler felt that he was “at the end of his tether”, as he once remarked to Bayern’s general manager, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

What was also interesting about Honigstein’s piece was his account of the comparisons in Germany between Deisler and soon-to-be galaxico David Beckham, which seem bizarre given that you couldn’t get 2 more different characters (as evidenced by their contrasting responses to the media glare, with Deisler seemingly petrified by the attention of the German press, while Beckham and his anorexic, silicone-enhanced, Scientology-dabbling wife seem to have well an truly embraced the Hollywood lifestyle.)

Anyway, on a final note, it’s perhaps no great shock that, given the brevity of Deisler’s career (due to chronic injury problems, he only played 62 league games for Bayern during his five year stint there), not a lot of video footage exists, but what there is can be found here, as well as this footage of his last great outing against Hamburg (where he provided the assists for both goals), which can be found here and here.

Later,
Das Prof.