From the archives (2) Blogging and human rights

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In case you were curious, the word blog in Farsi looks like this – وبلاگ. Iranians who didn’t like the way things were going in their country started وبلاگ’ing like crazy after the 2000 crackdown on Iranian media. Iranians who interact with the internet are by definition risk-takers. Photo Christopher Rose As recently as late 2016, five Iranians were sentenced to prison terms for writing and posting images on fashion blogs. The content was decreed…

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From the archives (1) Bedside Manners

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So I’m visiting John in hospital and it’s just as well I didn’t come the day before, he says, because he was in a world of pain. Knee operations are like that. Hospital rooms evoke all kinds of memories, most of them not very pleasant, even a private room with a TV, telephone and a view of the painless world. John was telling how his daughter phoned on his world of pain day to see…

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Disappearing acts

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  By Guest writer Lyn Nuttall Introduction by Bob I did say last week I’d be serving up items from the FOMM archives while I’m away, but could not resist this post by Lyn Nuttall, curator of the website Pop Archives (Where did they get that song?). The other day some bloke tweeted, “Anyone remember Dionne Warwick?” Dionne Warwick answered, “Doesn’t ring a bell.” When I wrote about a Top 20 hit by Sydney singer…

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Why our media mostly ignores New Zealand

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The young New Zealand journalist broadcasting from down town Auckland described the rain storms which drenched Auckland last weekend as ‘completely apocalyptic’. This may not be overstating the case. as Auckland received 284mm (nearly a foot in the old measurement) in the 24 hours from Friday to Saturday –  and it kept on raining. As The Guardian reported on Monday, intense rain on January 27 brought more than 200mm in 18 hours, as recorded by…

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