Random Thoughts on TV Shows

Another Friday.

It is the end of the week and it is a time for rest. Blantyre is showing "signs and symptoms of money" and the traffic jams are worse off  than those on a typical Friday. Ambiri zalowa ndithu and it is a fun weekend as people are rushing to watering holes and all sorts of fun places. Others are preparing for some benign fun like eating ice cream and chicken (while taking pictures for Instagram) but the point is that people are taking a break from work or school for the weekend. Tivine ma bridal shower and of course tionere mpira.

Apart from the above mentioned things that people use to pass time, there is this thing of watching (and discussing) TV series (or shows.... whatever) that has been keeping a lot of eyes and minds busy of late. Game of Thrones, Arrow, Scorpion, blah blah. Some of you know what those are.

To some of you who do not know what these TV shows are, they are basically movies with long story lines that are spread through a series of chapters called episodes unlike the typical movies which tell the whole story in a once off 90 minute or two hour clip. Something like that. The other thing about these series is that movie companies release yearly collections of episodes and this bunch of episodes is called a season. I am pretty sure that these are just useless details for the know it all audience I have which comprises of college students and young graduates whose lives revolve around TV series above many other things.

Despite having resisted the temptation of watching these endless and addictive series, I succumbed to the pressure and joined the series bandwagon when I started watching the then newly started series, Arrow. That was it and soon I have dived all the way in, watching series right, left and center. That meant I began watching all manner of series from action, political drama, history, espionage, thrillers and western (probably other genres too).

There is one interesting detail about series watchers and that is the types of watchers as classified by how they watch a series in relation to the release dates. A typical series would have about 10 or so episodes that are released at a certain period of the year with one week intervals in between. In this regard, a regular watcher "consumes" one episode at a time immediately after releasable a binge watcher waits for the whole season and watched it in a once off manner. Yet another piece of useless detail but that will be important when we get to the meat of the article.

As already noted, watching TV shows had become a habit for many. For the single, it is one thing for blacking out loneliness and for the married and dating it is one thing people use to spice up the enjoyment of each other's company. It is a hobby that offers get away moments for those at work and in schools.

Good as it is, the habit of watching TV series is not without it's down side. People will tell you of how what you watch in these TV series (and movies and music videos) are secret illuminati messages aimed at dragging watchers to hell. No comment on that. The issue I have with these series is their addictive effect and their capacity to derail one's focus from things that really matter. This of course comes when binge watching becomes superior to important things like work, studies, sleep and spiritual activities among other things. I have seen people who have back to back and six to six series watching sprees with forced  meal and snack breaks in between seasons. In fact the only reason some don't watch series 24/7 is the lack of consistency of power availability.

The other issue is that of unnecessary social media discussions about plots of TV shows. There are some of us whose Facebook timelines and Twitter handles are just summaries of plots and link banks to TV shows. We have turned ourselves into official fans and critics. Some have even made Facebook, Whatsapp and Telegram fan groups for TV series. Fun? Sure. Necessary? Your answer is as good as mine. Sometimes we just forget that not everyone is into this habit of watching TV series when we blast into spoilers and plots of the same. Si tonse amene timapanga zibwana zoonera mafilimu opanda matherozi so let's check the audience before bursting into series talk.

Away from binge watchers, there is another group that gives other people trouble when it comes to TV series. This is these fraction of non-watchers who think that the fact that they have not set eyes on a single (or particular) TV show entails massive maturity. That's nothing beyond a misconception. Ineyo ndatero.

Signing off...

Series are good for entertainment but they should not turn into our primary occupation or religion. Let us watch in moderation. Ideally I would have said it's not good to judge one another based on what we watch, but some of us go beyond the normal limit when it comes to the content and amounts we watch in a unit time.

For those who did not get the memo, there was an interesting statistic at the start of this year's season of Game of Thrones. Objective stats have it that the number of porn hits online drastically dropped drastically during the airing of GOT S07E01. That may or may not say much about the typical Malawian watcher who doesn't watch online but rather waits for one Atanazio Mgunda and share with a friend before it gets to them.

By the way, the new seasons of the Last Ship and Ray Donovan have started. You might want to check those out if you are a fan. As of me, I am looking for Season 4 of the Americans and the latest season of Black Sails.

Random questions...
Has Joyce Banda been arrested yet? Been some time since we saw the arrest warrant.

And who misses articles by the Venomous Hope? Because I do.

Have a nice weekend, everyone.

Whatsapp Group

It is yet another Friday and we are feasting on this literature as per the Richie Online tradition. Hopefully your day and week were as good as mine.

I got a heavy barrage of criticism following last week’s article with people accusing me of personalizing it. Over-personalizing, is the phrase that was used. I could write a whole article on what the critics said, but I guess that should be a thing for another week.

I am pretty sure that some were expecting continuation of the “Be like a Tree” series. We have failed to bring that on today because the author to such things has been tied. Hopefully he will be free enough in the coming days.

It’s been long since I talked about the social media. I remember having written an article about the social network know-how deficiency syndrome and another article on Whatsapp. Those remain among the nicely appraised articles Richie Online has published because most people can relate to such. Tonight we will further narrow down and talk about Whatsapp groups.

Most of the people who read Richie Online articles get them via Whatsapp and almost every user of this app of the moment seems to be in a number of groups. The presence of these group platforms on the social media is a good thing for the information as it allows free communication and flow of information among people of common interests (ideally). People have made groups for classes, workplaces (I would have been off Whatsapp if not for the TEAM group at my department), churches and church groups, families and more recently drinking groups. I am also told that people with common tastes of sports, fashion and catering have been organizing themselves to form Whatsapp groups where they share on the same. This is in addition to the groups that are for advertising goods and services and groups for vacancies. What this means is that it shouldn’t be surprising for a normal human to be in 5 Whatsapp groups at the very least. In short, these groups create a certain level of convenience in information flow (as I have already said).

Having said that, the convenience and excitement that comes with Whatsapp groups does not mean that they are without flaws. The later days have seen people go a bit extreme with Whatsapp groups to the disadvantage of many. I might have talked about some of these issues in my previous posts but I guess a bit of a repeat wouldn’t hurt on the point of “ectopic posts”. Usually we do create a group for a purpose and it is not fair to post a Manchester United update in your local church grouping, in the same way it is very unreasonable to post devotionals in a recipe group. Some people simple have issues with playing along with this rule and they end up throwing everything everywhere. I could say a lot about this, but in as much as there is no limit as to what you can do with a Whatsapp group, there is a limit to what you should do with it. If it is a group about class work or for Kamuzu Academy, you might as well keep it as such as opposed to turning it into your local church group or your Manoma Nyerere Whatsapp forum. This we have heard before.

One thing I have noted of late is that nowadays people are taking the activity of Whatsapp groups beyond the social network itself. This has brought in mixed results, if you are to think of it.

In the first place, the carrying over of Whatsapp group activity to the real world (Whatsapp ndi virtual reality yachabechabe) has seen people in different groups do things ranging from poop in the pants drinking to donating valuable items to people in need. I have of the heard supporters of the Red Devils (achina Lukaku ndi alongo awo) donating equipment to hospital (and apparently they are pledging that they will not stop) and some church Whatsapp groups reaching out to people in orphanages and hospitals. Pretty awesome stuff. One the other end of the spectrum people have created groups dedicated to mapping out the routes to watering holes and everything of the sort on Fridays like this.

Still on the wrong side of things, there is this thing of promiscuity. Some people just can’t leave a person of the opposite sex with a good profile picture to walk free. There are those things of kulowerana ku inbox and before you know it what you hear is that people are doing things,most times without any commitment whatsoever. Some would say that this has more to do with the character of the people in question than it has with social networking but we have to acknowledge the role of the Whatsapp group in this case. To add the fuel to the fire, there are some Whatsapp groups that encourage regular introductions with updated pictures. Bwino nazotu.

Another vice that has come with these groups is the issue of playing the victim. Tikangomva zoti pali some people who are financially better off than us then all we want to do is ask for some khobidi. When we hear there is someone who works in the bank we suddenly become allergic to queues and when there is a doctor we want all our consultations and prescription via the same forum. Won’t say much on this one. Koma ndizoipa.

Last but not least, I have heard of one interesting thing happening in sports groups. I am told that Bullets and Wanderers supporters have a tendency of taking over each other’s groups. For those who are as blank as me, here is how it works. Bullets fan asks to be added to a Nyerere group. He pretends to follow the team and comments constructively. Then, on request (after investing a lot of time) he gets to become admin. One night he gets to invite fellow Bullets fans to the group, makes them admins, then removes all the Wanderers supporters before disbanding the group. I am not sure of how often this happens, but rumour has it that it happens a lot. Some of you would know better. One can only wonder as to why someone would do such a thing.

Having said all this, Whatsapp groups are still the useful thing they were meant to be. Once in a while there will be people posting unrelated things. Don’t be part of this bandwagon, but be tolerant. Anthu ndife osiyana and enafe sitimamva. As of this issue of taking things out of the group to the real world, it is a good thing so long as it benefits us and others but we can do better than being admins of groups that are dedicated to vice.

Some things need are meant for Whatsapp groups and strictly so. Let this stick in your mind.

Random Thoughts on Sex and Relationships

Yeah. It's Richie Online.

We are back and that is the topic.

Some of you have been asking as to when we are completing the "be like a tree" series. Zopanda ntchito zija.  Let's look at stuff that actually matters tonight.
I remember writing an article titled "Matters of the Heart" pretty recently. I can hardly remember anything that I wrote in the article but all I remember is that it was an article about how people should handle themselves around love (ironically an area I haven't registered much success in, myself). I am at it, yet again; offering some unsolicited insights and advice like the hypocrite I am.

One would wonder as to what has triggered this whole writing. I am pretty sure that trigger Will be relatable to either you or someone you know.

You might know some nice guy or flawless girl who is in your hood living a lonesome life for the lack of a proper suitor. Then there is that one who has always lived a good life but ended up dating some idiot who the rest of the world objectively rates as substandard for his or her caliber (zabwino zimadyedwa ndi apumbwa, so goes the saying). We have such couples of people who rate as mismatches, objectively or otherwise. Then there is this issue of people having MCPs (multiple concurrent partnerships). Sexual MCPs. These have spam across the board with people being involved regardless of marital or relationship status, denomination, faith financial status or whatever you can think of. It's just sad. I remember having asked someone as to whether things were the same years back, a question to which I got a no for an answer. The truth of the matter is that there has been an exponential increase in the rate at which people are having sexual relations without any commitment or outside of the same. Blame it on the social media, some would say.

This whole "zabwino kudyedwa ndi apumbwa" thing makes me wonder as to why it happens that the guys who are regarded as not bad (and the few ones who are good; it's hard to find a good guy nowadays) struggle to find a befitting spouse while there is a multitude of ladies who are also looking for spouses. A couple of theories could explain that.

The first one could be the theory of irreconcilable differences. This may sound shallow but this whole issue of race (and closer to home, tribes), religion and denominations, financial status and education status plays a big role in deciding who marries who. There have been times people have refrained from dating or marrying a soul mate just because their parents or church elders said no on the grounds of tribal or religious differences respectively. Sizachilendo. Enanunso zinakuchitikiraponi. We shouldn't waste time on what we all have experience in.

The second is the pride theory. Many are the times that girls come up with such stupid statements as "he is not my type". One thing you should know, however is that boys are no different. There is this unnecessary pride among people that makes them miss out on potential suitors. The sad thing about this is that nowadays is that for guys who see girls who are not their type for a long term thing see them as girls of their type for pleasure. Girls too. Chichewa chaka akumati "zongodya". We are seeing it, but there is little we can do to control this.

The third theory? The desperation and frustration theory. Iyiyi yakhudza ambiri. There are a lot of people who are out here frustrated with their old relationships and/or desperate for new relationships. People have resorted to extreme measures in a bid to find love, most of which have led to catastrophic ends with a few happy endings. Tikumakalemba mu newspaper ndithu kuti tikufuna munthu omanga naye banja. People have ended up splashing huge sums of money to win over a girl or a guy who ends up to slipping out of their hands to the next "undeserving" candidate. And then there is this thing of girls using sex to win over a guy. These desperate measures just lead to a downward spiral and are somehow contributing to the decay in the sexualmorality people had in the olden days.

Having said this, we should all note that there is some serious moral decay and that this needs fixing. The route people have taken nowadays is that of the fear of HIV and unwanted pregnancies and people have replaced abstinence and faithfulness to their partners with the use of infamous rubbers called condoms. What we fail to realize is the fact that there is more to sex than pregnancies and the STIs that we all dread. One psychologist, Prof Chiwoza Bandawe, in one of his lectures pointed out that sex is very economical, spiritual, emotional and political. In short, there are more attachments we server and form in the form of these seemingly benign sexual contacts. For the love of giving solutions, the best solution is to attach some commitment to the whole thing.

There is no need for this unwarranted pride. Personally I do believe that there is a point in this whole "love is blind" madness. In as much as this statement isn't meant to deprive us of objectivity in choosing a spouse, there are some things and imperfections that we don't have to pay attention to when in love or in the search for a partner.

The other thing we all have to appreciate is that there will always be differences in our statuses and belief systems. We need to understand what can be compromised and what not lest we fall into the temptation of thinking that things cannot work when they can or the other way round.

Last but not least, let us learn to appreciate that love or dating is more of a matter of the heart (by heart I mean brain) than it is a matter of what lies in between a human's legs. We all need to realize that sex is no way of either gaining or sustaining love.

Ndi mawu amenewa, tisiyane pomwepa.

Za be like a tree tipange sabata la mawa.

Mwamva achina Harry?

On Politics

It is yet another Friday.

Last week Harry came up with something very useful here. It is pretty difficult to fill those shoes when you have had a very busy week with the work-home and repeat routine… of course with one diversion to some watering hole after some hectic Thursday’s work.

Having had nothing to write, I almost failed to resist the temptation of writing one of those “feel my pain” articles, just to talk about the social, spiritual, professional or financial challenges I am facing. I was halfway through that sort of article when I finally remembered that there is something that I could talk about; local politics.

Some of you may not know this, but I at one point took an active part in politics. Allow me to make a confession that I once joined the DPP through its College of Medicine wing (y’all probably never knew that such a thing existed) but eventually I got too busy for the whole thing and somehow I lost touch with the whole politics thing. JB got out of power, anyway, and there wasn’t much to do in politics after that. I have remained a non-partisan idiot since my exit from the DPP (unlike my friends like Louis who is an MCP diehard and Harry who is the National Youth Director for Chipani Cha Pfuko) and something within me tells me that I need to join a political party if not start one but what happens on the outside screams against the idea.

There could be a lot of reasons for which many young people like me refrain from taking part in active politics and I may have a few of those. It might be something that some of you may already know, but you will still get to reflect on it again, having gotten some guidance from yours truly.

First reason? The Malawian (or is it African?) political scenery is a dirty one. I would understand you if you thought of this in terms of the kicking and punching that happens all over with people painting each other black just to maintain a position or to dislodge the one in power. That might be one side of it, but on the other side of the same coin lies the spirit of self-enrichment that has somehow engulfed and possessed politicians. Many would stand on the podium and claim to be the providers of solutions to the problems the nation faces before switching to embezzling the moment they are ushered into the seat of power (or is it service?) The tricky side of the whole phenomenon is that even those who join with a heart of servitude get converted along the way. Most of the young people have chosen to stay away from such systems and to work on changing the fortunes of the nation from without. Sounds like a good idea, if you think of it. I hope they are not doing what the politicians do wherever it is they are, outside the system (topic for another day).

Second reason? The political scenery lacks innovation is too rigid and poorly responsive to innovation. Too much old school politics around here and the innovative can’t fit in. Two years ago I happened to be chatting with one young brilliant “blue” MP. I was in my final year at the College of Medicine at the time and in the midst of the tough academic work we received the demotivating news that government was not going to be recruiting us straight out of college as had been the case.  For some reason this issue was being debated at the Sports Complex Breezer Bar and somehow I had managed to miss the party. Lucky enough I caught up with the legislator and I couldn’t hold myself back. I asked as to why the “ruling party” was trivializing the issue of the employment of new health workers while prioritizing malata subsidies and all (let us not debate this for now…. I was only working on finding the truth of something that directly affects me). The gentleman’s reply was strange, but for some reason I was not surprised. He told me that prior to tabling issues in parliament, they hold caucuses where they discuss what to vote in favor of and what to shoot down should things pop up. He also mentioned that there some political hot shots who dictate what people should do for the good of the party regardless of the effect on national development and that somehow if you try to bring a contrary suggestion, however diplomatically, you are labeled as opposition. Now that is bad for business and ruling MPs do not like that brand. Result? Good ideas are suppressed ad thus no change happens despite the presence of those who would like to provide it.

I would have gone on to the third reason which I would have called “the curse of the Vice Presidency” but I am getting sleepy. Better leave that for next time. But hey, I hope you saw the VP playing basketball (forget the gym photo shoots and the cycling madness). Dude has some handles and he is a real baller.

Back to politics, I would like to agree with the assertion that it is people who don’t actively participate in politics who are ruining this country. Nanga mukumati boma likupanga zofoira inu musakuchitapo kanthu bwanji? If you are part of the ruling bandwagon, I would say you are not active enough because everything that is happening shouldn’t be happening on your watch. Izi zomati we will change the system from without can only work to a  certain extent. Tikuyenera tilowe ndale basi. Tiyambitse chipani chathu basi.

Mwamva a Peter Yakobe?

Have a lovely weekend.