Yes, Possums, I know you’ve been hanging out all summer. (Maybe you need better-fitting board shorts?) But the time has finally come! (Maybe get a cloth?) Stilgherrian Live returns for 2009 tonight at 9.30pm Sydney time — with a conversation about Internet censorship.
For those who’ve only recently found me through Twitter or wherever, Stilgherrian Live is my continuing experiment in live video on the Internet — a chat show of sorts. You can find out more by reading all the posts in the Stilgherrrian Live category, or watching the previous episodes linked off the program page. People have also written about why they watch Stilgherrian Live.
There’ll be new segments for 2009, though not in this first episode. More on that another time, including news of the Stilgherrian Live Road Trip to Yass later this month and the occasional Urgent Squawk mini-programs. Tonight’s episode is a quickie, with little preparation, because I know that people want to talk about the latest Internet censorship news and its implications.
And yes, this means nominations are now open for “Cnut of the Week”…
In each week’s edition of Stilgherrian Live we commemorate the wisdom and humility of King Cnut the Great by asking you to nominate someone (or something) who’s futile trying to hold back the relentless tide of Change. It might be the change being brought by the rapid digital hyperconnections we see, or it might be something else — and in the past we’ve had nominations including humans, animals, chemicals, organisations, whole nations and even abstract forces of nature.
As usual, I’ll close nominations and select a shortlist at 8.30pm Sydney time, and you can vote during tonight’s program.
Last year Senator Stephen Conroy has nominated numerous times and actually won three episodes in a row. Something in my waters says he’ll be nominated again today — but can we spread the net more widely?
Who do you nominate, and why?
Well the winner will be Conroy.
I will be there if
a)If I don’t kill my clients today
b)My internet connection will allow
I would like to nominate Wilson Tuckey for Cnut of the Week.
Coming out and waxing partisan political about the Bushfires while they were still in full swing (and they of course not over yet), was f*cking unacceptable.
The man should be drowned in a vat of his own hell-fear sweat.
Not sure if the count for holding back the tide of progress… but the Catch the Fire Ministry also need a mention.
Danny Nalliah for this complete and utter rubbish: http://tinyurl.com/cysqf2
@wolfcat – it counts because Nalliah is trying to hold back the tide of reality and decency.
Malcolm Turnbull, for managing to self-wedge himself on the stimulus package and freezing himself out of the negotiation process.
I second Tynan on Nalliah.
Definitely Catch the Fire Ministry, and anyone else who is using personal tragedy to push their own agenda.
A big angry +1 for Danny Nalliah and the Catch the Fire Ministries, just for his downright stupidity and insensitive timing.
More Cnutish though would be the Freeview consortium, trying desperately to hold onto their dwindling viewer number by offering a supposed 15 extra free to air digital channels. So far no sign of any new programming to fill these channels, and the likelihood is there will be none.
The day is young, they’re still sitting in the big house, and Steve Fielding may come roaring back into contention.
But he’d have to work harder at it than usual to depose Danny Nalliah.
I also nominate Danny Nalliah.
But if you’ll allow me to stretch your net even further, an empty headed London radio host called Jeni Barnett has been thoroughly Cnutish in the last week or two.
She hosted a phone-in radio show on LBC spouting runny poo about non-existent risks in vaccination.
The marvellous Bad Science columnist and blogger Ben Goldacre posted her show as a podcast.
LBC have come on heavy with the lawyers and the Streisand effect has kicked in, spreading the audio and transcripts far and wide in a footbullet the likes of which I haven’t seen since a certain diminutive actor claimed he was the only one who could help at a road accident.
I encourage you to check the story out.
Ben needs our support, anti-vaxxers need some critical thinking skills and Jeni Barnett deserves to be runner-up Cnut of the Week.
1. Danny Nalliah -easy
2. Wilson Tuckey
3. Daylight
Thank you everyone for the nominations so far. I can see that Pastor Danny Nalliah is going to be a popular choice today, and I certainly won’t disagree with the arguments in favour of his nomination.
Keep ’em coming… as usual I’ll close off nominations at 8.30pm Sydney time.
Well I’d like to nominate a few people because it’s so hard to tell them apart.
These are in no particular order:
1. Danny Nalliah
2. Steve Fielding
3. Nick Xenophon
4. The entire Coalition caucus in the Senate
5. Stephen Conroy
Senator Xenophon’s single-handedly holding back a $40b+ stimulus package, if that doesn’t smell like holding back the tide i don’t know what is
Can I nominate:
Danny Nalliah for his wonderful display of sensitivity to the families who have lost people in fires, along with his work to help bridge the divide between the islamic and christian peoples of australia.
After this afternoon I should say Nick Xenophon & Stephen Fielding could be up for a group award …
Oh, what the heck, here’s a few more
1) Wilson Tuckey for his apolitical wisdom on how to deal with bushfires
2) Turnbull and the Coalition who line up behind him – for their services to the environment, and their support for combating climate change, and for their willingness to put ideology aside and work with the Government to address the financial tsunami that is approaching Australia.
Eddie McGuire.
It’s horrible to watch a TV host who doesn’t have a TV show… subject us to a ‘Special TV Event’.
I nominate Nick Xenophon, for simultaneously torpedoing the $42 billion dollar stimulus package and deflecting blame away from Turnbull.
Conroy ran a great campaign but Danny Nalliah and the Catch the Fire Ministries should romp it home effortlessly.
Personally I’d like to see the taxi driver who raped his drunk passengers get up for the win. But then if he goes to jail he’ll get what he deserves. Preferably nightly by a guy named Blocko.
I’ll weigh in with :
1. Danny Nalliah
2. Gary Hughes (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/11/2488272.htm)
– Sad as it is, Centrelink STILL has to obey the laws it has to work under.
3. Xenophon (been said above)
4. Fielding (he deserves auto-nomination)
Thank you, everyone. Nominations have now closed. Stilgherrian Live begins in under an hour.