Location: ABC Studios, Sydney, Australia

My pet weekend peeve – because it happens every weekend – is journos including themselves in celebrity interviews. Particularly those who do it in the first sentence. You’re interviewing them, you’ve described what they’re wearing, and I’m smart enough to figure out that you’re probably there. That You Met A Famous Person. Good for you.

In yesterday’s Good Weekend Janet Hawley interviewed John Safran. First sentence:

Heading into the night after spending a long, confusing, ultimately illuminating first day with John Safran, the image that remains for me is overwhelmingly of the lonely comedian.

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for the “for me” to be there.

Third sentence:

It’s on “the Jewiest street in Melbourne’s Jewtown – 3183″, Safran had told me with a grin as we wove our way past yarmulke-wearing bearded men ambling into kosher delis.

That’s just taking the piss. The story is about Safran, not Hawley. And as much as she’d like to think so, she is no Hunter S Thompson or Tom Wolfe or Truman Capote or any number of great writers who are/were also journalists. The next sentence – the fourth, for fuck’s sake – starts with “I’d” and on it goes.

In Sunday Life, Claire Black interviewed Maggie Gyllenhaal. First paragraph:

“What does it matter? What do you mean by genuine?” I’ve annoyed Maggie Gyllenhaal, although I didn’t mean to. We were talking about celebrities who get involved with “causes”, and I made the point that it can be hard to swallow when there’s a suspicion that it’s a publicity stunt rather than a real commitment.

Again, absolutely no reason why “I” should be there. It’s just lazy, self-important writing. And fucking annoying.

* Yes, I know there’s one in celebrity, but that would ruin my headline

Just Desserts

Has it been 10 years? Cripes Almighty! John Safran getting throttled by Ray Martin is going to be shown on the ABC after all!

THE ABC is inviting another battle with Channel Nine star Ray Martin following a decision to screen the long-lost John Safran pilot it banned more than a decade ago after complaints from the then A Current Affair host.

The ABC will broadcast the controversial documentary John Safran: The Lost Pilot “investigating TV presenter Ray Martin” as part of its summer schedule.

The one-off satirical doco contains the famous footage of Safran being throttled by Martin outside his home after the comedian rifled through the broadcaster’s garbage bins wearing a Mike Munro mask.

Martin claims ABC management gave him an undertaking the footage would not be aired by the ABC, but it turned up on Media Watch, infuriating Martin further.

For many years Media Watch ran the footage in its opening montage.

Martin’s reputation was damaged by Safran’s actions and he is still angry about the incident, referring to it as a sordid little incident with a “serial pest named John Safran”.

He devotes three pages to it in his current biography Ray Stories of My Life, published by Random House last month.

In the book he explains how the Safran incident was sparked by the broadcast of the Paxton series of stories on ACA, in which an unemployed family was portrayed as dole bludgers.

“Australia was outraged by the Paxton family’s lifestyle and attitudes,” Martin writes, but the story generated incredible ratings.

Safran was making the comic point that Martin was a bludger too because he was still at home at 9.30 in the morning.

Martin admits he “grabbed Safran by the throat, suggesting he mind his manners”.

10 years ago Ray Martin was the host of A Current Affair and he sent his crew in to tackle ‘dole-bludgers’  – in this case, the hapless Paxtons. The Paxtons if you may recall were three Melbourne siblings who had all been on the dole for some time and looked like the identikit for the kind of people who deserved to be reviled as ‘dole-bludgers’. Maybe it was the sign of the times of Australian Life under the particularly mean-spirited Howard Government, or maybe it was the 1990s and the enemy wasn’t as clear-cut as after 9/11.

In any case it was one big cheap shot at 3 people who didn’t exactly have a bright future at the time, who weren’t particularly well-educated and were not people you would consider to be world-beaters. Heaven only knows where they are today. The A Current Affair show exalted in humiliating the dole-bludging Paxtons over a couple of nights, dragging them up to Queensland and offering them a job far away from family and friends, and when they wimped out, made them look like the worst people since Adolf Hitler; All of which might have played into a certain kind of mean-ness that is out there in the TV viewing demographic. Let’s face it, it was a ratings-winner of sorts.

And the Paxtons, as they appeared on the show, really were pathetic and ill-equipped for the media humiliation. And let me remind the reader that this came long before the horde of people who voluntarily humiliated themselves on Reality TV. That particular brand of evil-crap was yet to come. It was in the day when media still pretended to be… uh… for want of a better word, ethical (hey, stop laughing!).

All of which makes John Safran’s illustration that maybe Ray Martin himself was not the best judge of people if he was going to have his daily life nit-picked by media, a very good point. It was such a brilliant skit that it didn’t need to be shown. The controversy was enough to dent Ray Martin’s reputation. What was – and still is – remarkable about all this is that Ray Martin didn’t see how Safran’s point applied to him as he called the stunt all sorts of names, and each and every one of his denunciations applied to his show equally. To this day, Ray Martin probably thinks he is above the same scrutiny just because he’s Ray Martin – which is laughable.

Yet, when you think about it, the point that applies to the Chasers going after a charity for the disabled applies equally to Ray Martin. If you’re going to go after somebody, go after somebody powerful. Picking on the weak is easy and makes a mockery of your stance as some arbiter of rough media-justice. Nonetheless, there was Ray Martin, essentially having the uncomfortable anal-probe of media applied to his life, reacting very badly.

It showed conclusively that Ray Martin couldn’t take what he was dishing out, and that maybe, just maybe, the Paxton kids were pretty gracious; after all Ray Martin’s crew did a lot worse to the Paxton kids’ reputations than what Safran’s stunt did to Ray Martin. It’s a good thing the show is going to air, just to remind us just how shallow media judgment actually is. To me, this episode is the nadir of Ray Martin’s public career and perhaps one to put in a fantastic collection of John Safran’s greatest hits.

This is part 3 of my Web Feature Portfolio for Writing and Editing for Digital Media. My articles are for ‘the Australian online magazine of culture and the popular arts’, The Enthusiast. My third article is for one of the regular columns in their ‘TV’ category, The Best Stuff On TV This Week.

Celebrity Masterchef – Wednesday, 7:30pm, Ch10

I know, I know, but my pleasures are simple: celebrities attempting gourmet imitations, the comfortable dinnertime-viewing format and Matt Preston’s facial expressions. But if Peter Rowsthorn doesn’t out-chef Fuzzy and Alex Lloyd, there’s little else to keep me watching a semi-final full of C-grade celebrities next week.

Hungry Beast – Wednesday, 9:00pm, ABC

Kind of like curated channel surfing, or someone browsing the internet at random for you (and their website goes hand-in-hand with the show). Learn how the US military’s grim robot future is already upon us, then watch a funny sketch about vegetarianism, then an assortment of sobering factoids, then another funny sketch, and so on. Not every little segment hits the mark, but the next one probably will.

John Safran’s Race Relations – Wednesday, 9:30pm, ABC

Media outrage over this has been surprisingly subdued so far. Maybe this week’s show will get there. He’s stolen and sniffed Eurasian underpants, donned semi-realistic blackface before going speed-dating and wanked over Obama in the spirit of Jewish/Palestinian (Jelestinian) unification. It’s like a Jewish-Australian (Jewstralian?) version of Jackass, but intelligent.

Beauty and the Geek – Thursday, 8:30pm, Ch7

This week sees the geeks getting a makeover, but won’t this undo the entire premise? No! For this is manufactured and unchallenging, but an overall trashy and fun ‘reality’ TV staple.

Q&A – Thursday, 9:35pm, ABC

Last chance before summer! Watch party politicians trying to dodge meaningful questioning, see bold/awkward audience questions and witness principled rants from the one non-politician guest. You can do it, David Marr!

Can We Help? – Friday, 6:30pm, ABC

Pete Rowsthorn is great, and interesting answers to interesting questions are brilliant. Especially when they involve surprising linguistic origins for various words. Or just an explanation of why men have nipples.

Beached Az – Friday, 10:10pm, ABC

You either love it or you hate it. It’s time to pick a side, if you haven’t already. Or, if you will, “puck a side, eh bro”. Of course, you could just watch what ABC has put up on YouTube, but that would defeat the spirit of this column now, wouldn’t it?

Dexter – Saturday, 11:05pm, Ch10

Season Three of Dexter has been a slow build for me, and it was an unsettlingly welcome relief to find Miguel in the ol’ room walled with plastic wrap, ready to face death by Dexter. This season finale will undoubtably find Dexter dealing deftly with the consequences of murdering his best man. There’s definitely some loose ends to tie up before he ties the knot. You know it’s a special show when you’re morbidly drawn to the exploits of such a monster, especially when he’s David from Six Feet Under. Also: among the best opening credits ever.

Newstopia – Sunday, 12:35am, SBS

Shaun Micallef has hit the mainstream after the success of Talkin ‘bout Your Generation, but even on repeat, Newstopia is an underappreciated earlier gem. The Micallef Programme was possibly better and less reliant on then-current affairs, but when it’s Micallef, it’s all gold. Gems. Golden gems.

I’m really looking forward to John Safran’s Race Relations tonight. Safran has a talent for bringing up issues in an insightful and funny way. Especially when it comes to matters of religion. From placing voodoo curses on his ex girlfriend, to door knocking dressed as Prince talking about the Jehovah’s Witness faith, to going on a date with a Roman Catholic Priest, Safran’s work is thought provoking, informative, and hilarious.

Make sure you check it out. The trailer is underneath the jump.

FR Bob

Originally uploaded by cameronreilly

http://www.fatherbob.com.au/

yes, this guy does happen to be an australian catholic priest as well… a quite well-known, unique one too…who i first spotted on sbs in john safran vs god and speaking tongues documentaries a few years back…

even though the episodes poked fun at some of the popular beliefs/faiths around, it did make me broaden/look at other ways of life/mindsets in a different way then i normally would

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Safran_vs_God

here’s a sample of the show where unfortunately the mormons were a target…

and you would expect this father bob to be typically old-school, conversative by the way he looks but is actually such a larrikan, so open-minded, accepting of other religions…so i am sad that the catholic church has to lose this guy…he made interfaith dialogues so interesting and invigorating…

http://www.theage.com.au/national/catholic-church-tells-father-bob-to-retire-20090907-fdae.html?comments=15

http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-national/church-asks-fr-bob-maguire-to-retire-20090907-fd9f.html?page=-1

Church asks Fr Bob Maguire to retire
Jeff Turnbull
September 7, 2009 – 12:59PM
The Catholic Church appears to have left the door ajar for Father Bob Maguire, a tireless advocate for the homeless, to continue working in his inner city Melbourne parish past the retirement age of 75.

The church has asked Fr Bob to offer to retire when he turns 75 on September 14, but says it is then up to Archbishop Dennis Hart to decide whether to accept it or not.

In a statement released on Monday afternoon, Archbishop Hart said that under the Code of Canon law when a parish priest reaches 75, he is required to offer his resignation.

The Bishop, after considering all of the circumstances of the priest and the parish, can decide whether to accept or defer the resignation.

Archbishop Hart said that he had written to Fr Bob, one of Australia`s best-loved and most-respected priests, to advise him of his responsibilities under Canon Law and of the support available to retired priests of the Archdiocese.

“Father Maguire has for many years provided exemplary service to the Archdiocese of Melbourne and in particular to the people of South Melbourne,” the Archbishop said.

“I am deeply grateful to him for his exceptional pastoral work over many years.”

Support for Fr Bob has exploded on the internet social pages, demanding that he be allowed to stay on and continue his work with the homeless.

The priest, who’s been running the South Melbourne parish for 36 years, says he will fight to stay on.

Fr Bob, who received an Order of Australia in 1988 for his services to the homeless, told his 200-strong congregation on Sunday that he may be forced out of the parish.

“I heard five months ago of some blokes who had hit 75 and received their `pink slip’ and I felt sorry for them because they were still active,” Fr Bob told AAP.

“If you were a parish priest and people want you as their spiritual representative then that’s an unwritten contract and these blokes were that sort of people.

“I will be telling (the church) I’m not of a mind to resign.”

Before he was appointed to South Melbourne, Fr Bob spent four years counselling young conscripts before they were sent to Vietnam between 1969 and 1973.

He received a Reserve Forces Decoration (RFD) for his work.

Youth worker Les Twentyman, who has known Fr Bob for 30 years, says he is shattered the church could ask the priest to resign.

“I can’t be believe that someone as alive and spiritual – he’s as sharp as a tack – could be retired off,” Mr Twentyman said.

“He was the first one to recognise we had street kids in St Kilda 35 years ago – I’m just staggered by this.”

Saints Peter and Paul parishioner Tony Long says the congregation hopes to convince the archbishop that Fr Bob should be allowed to continue.

“We are hoping that the support Father Bob is getting from within and without the parish will be influential on the archbishop,” Mr Long said.

“We are very, very happy for him to continue as our parish priest.”

In his earlier days, Fr Bob hosted his own show on Melbourne radio station 3AW.

He had a guest role on the SBS television program John Safran vs God. And from November 2005 to January 2006, he joined Safran as co-host of Speaking in Tongues, also on SBS television.

Happy Easter, hope you’re having a good one wherever you are and I hope you didn’t have as tough a Good Friday as John Safran did!

P.S. Thanks Mum for the chocolate eggs!

Yes, actual video footage of the event. I’ve been browsing the net for more info on this and only A handful of people seem to ‘get it’ because they know Safran’s shenanigans. But more of the comments have been the typical “Christians up in arms” that Safran is making a mockery of A ritual. But I mean; It appears that he’s actually going through the ritual. So satirical theatrics or not it’s going to make for great TV. Is this Life imitating Art or Art imitating life?

Here is some King Missile to celebrate some supper which some dude who apparently had a beard and a few friends (except one who he thought was his friend) had. Mr Safran is in the spirit it seems…

Anywhoo – don’t eat too much chocolate.

Talk about being on topic. With me posting a blog a mere few hours ago speculating on the nature of John Safran’s upcoming new series, media outlets including news.com.au and The Australian are reporting that he’s taken part in a local ritual in The Philippines that mark Good Friday celebrations by nailing people to a cross. It’s being reported that John identified himself as “John Michael, 33 and from Melbourne” but Reuters photographs clearly show It’s Safran.

From The Australian;

Safran, who was half-naked and wearing a long-haired wig with an improvised crown of thorns, joined the Filipinos in a procession carrying a huge wooden cross to a crucifixion site, flanked by men in Roman centurion costumes.

Safran could be heard moaning loudly as the nails were driven into his palms and as his cross was hoisted up, allowing him to hang for about five minutes.

When he was taken down, the centurions rushed him to a medical tent for treatment. Safran would not say why he had joined the ceremony but an Australian companion merely said “this is a personal thing for him”.

And I thought there was no way in hell he could outdo his “Exorcism” at the end of Vs God. Unlike that skit, This seems to be the real deal. Either John is willing to go to new and totally original heights for his Television or he’s been a closet fundy all along. I’ll stick with the former. This footage and his new series is now officially the most anticipated show in 2009.

I can’t actually remember when I became a fan of John Safran, it was probably during the later screenings (repeats) of the ABC’s 1997 series Race Around the World and then subsequently catching a late night screening of Music Jamboree on SBS. My love and inner-geekdom for music was effectively channeled from living as private inner thoughts to being exorcised as John went on and on blabbing about the music industry on television accompanied by zany skits and rants. Since then of course, I’ve also purchased the Vs God series and I probably speak for a lot of people (well perhaps a fraction of the population of Carlisle St) when I say; Enough ranting and raving on Triple J’s Sunday Night Safran… Is a new series around the corner?

If your an avid listener to the Sunday Night JJJ show then you’ll probably remember John mentioning very briefly that he shot a pilot for MTV America and it was subsequently not picked up (John, I highlight ‘not’ in bold as to identify MTV’s lack of credibility, not your own) And in case everyone is wondering why I’m directing comments your way; Let’s just say It’s quite obvious you Google yourself at least once a week.

Now according to Wikipedia; The ABC has bought that same program and it’s set to air here in Australia in 2009. I’ve scoured the Internets for it’s air date but to no avail. I’d hazard a guess that perhaps additional episodes/scenes are being filmed as we speak because Triple J’s Sunday Night Safran hasn’t returned so far this year with the excuse that John is shooting a new series.

Further speculation from Wiki; In the series John; tries to convince emos to fight in Iraq, hits the couch with therapists who claim they can cure people of racism and attempts to become gay to increase his standing in Hollywood.

Race Relations will air on the ABC in 2009.

Finally, whilst Googling for more information I came across a website that I’d rather not link that had a forum post about the upcoming series. The website in question was a White Pride/Power portal (from the USA) linking to a Youtube video of John’s earlier work on ‘Vs God’ in where he gains access to a meeting with the Grand Dragon (leader) of the Californian KKK and attempts to join (with the slight hitch that he’s Jewish) and goes on to make a comment about beating up Hitler. The forum poster went on to post John’s production company Address with the statement that someone should “sufficiently humble him”.

What better Antidote to tripe like that than a show called Race Relations!

P.S It seems to be getting harder to find so here’s a link to the original pilots that John made back in his college days (Confronting Ray Martin in ACA Style)

How do you like it, you door to door, tie-wearing, magic underpants bastards!?!?!

Presented for your listening pleasure, on Friday 10th October, 2008.

Dr Ginger Campbell - Brain Science Podcast

First – apologies for the delay in posting this blog entry – we were at the Australian Skeptics National Convention held in Adelaide over the weekend and will bring you footage to prove it for later episodes!

Introduction by Richard Saunders and Stefan Sojka – we have over a thousand subscribers and over 2000 downloads so far! We’re still growing and are inspired by the cool skeptic shows out there on iTunes, so get subscribing to us all!

One of the other great shows that we are proud to feature in our interviews is Dr Ginger Campbell of the Brain Science Podcast.

Stefan ponders if it’d be possible for us to one day have brains that pick up TV, radio and podcast shows, like the second episode, released last week! Our new feature is Dr Rachie Reports, with Live Blood Analysis. The ‘Think Tank’ returns, with its own wonderful theme songs.

Don’t forget, our theme song is available as a ring-tone on our site! We’ve been getting fan-mail for our show and we look forward to more comments and reviews, especially at iTunes and Digg.

[We especially send our love to the blog 'Musings, Silliness', for being the first to Digg us and we have an upcoming photo to prove our technological miracle status... or maybe just be a bunch of posers who can use photoshop... ]

Our second half of the Dragon*Con 2008 show we did! Kylie gets up to something not scripted – a tiny musicbox playing of ‘Waltzing Matilda’!

Dr Ginger Campbell discusses her early influences and multiple podcasts. She mentions the ‘Grande Dame’ of podcasting, Mur Lafferty (who features on this episode of Books and Ideas) – Ginger talks about the great Australian Sci Phi show and the support from Jason Rennie – she features on The Sci Phi Show, Outcast #50.

Oh no! Her early episodes of ‘Books and Ideas Podcast‘ ended up profiling some of the worst books on Audible.com last year! She discusses the influence of Dr Eugenie Scott in an interview, where Ginger was able to tackle the ongoing issue of ‘evolution vs creationism’ and refutes prejudice against those with religious beliefs:

‘I don’t take what I call “a radical skeptic position”, because my goal is to have a show that everyone with a brain can listen to and I don’t intentionally try to alienate a person who has beliefs, because I think the more you learn, the belief thing will take care of itself…’

Richard praises the inclusion of Dr Eugenie Scott on Episode 21 of the show and hopes to interview her for a future interview and highly recommends her contributions to any podcast.

'Hawkeye' Pierce is NOT a real ER doctor!

Ginger discusses the episode on ‘The Myth of Free Will’ by Chris Evatt, with pieces by Daniel Dennett and Susan Blackmore; are people really claiming that ‘my brain made me do it?‘ Apparently people are trying to get that excuse accepted and she talks about brain imaging in her recent recording of Brain Science Podcast #46: Recorded LIVE at Dragon*Con 2008 with Dr. Shella Keilholz and Dr. Jason Schneiderman.

Karen asks about myths about the brain discussed in the Skeptical Inquirer – will science fiction and paranormal claims ever be realised, with more research via fMRIs and the like? Dr Ginger talks about how the study Karen references discusses how scans could demonstrate simple actions ten seconds ahead of time; how conscious awareness is a popular topic on the Brain Science podcast. Our responsibility isn’t removed despite our thoughts – but Richard does deserve some hitting, we agree!

Richard discusses a similar interview on Skepticality about Dr Susan Blackmore and how she came to her conclusions about the brain – Dr Campbell critiques the ‘Buddhist-like’ view that Blackmore has and how she considers it more of a non-conscious element. Intuition and feelings are a big topic for many; whether it is part of the paranormal. One of Dr Campbell’s most recent guests was Robert Burton and his book ‘On Being Certain’ – you can catch that episode here! Intuition and gut-feelings from ‘lower circuits’ in the brain; how Burton is a novelist and how he discusses the myth of the ‘muse’ in creativity and novel-writing.

Support Robert Lancaster - buy a shirt like Kylie's!

Kylie raises the question about superstitions in the Emergency Room! Dr Campbell relates some funny and fascinating stories about the profession she’s in, the ghost in the hospital and how coincidences create the impression that the hits are more than the misses.

What about House and shows like ER – how do TV shows contribute to people’s impressions of doctors? Richard regrets how the actor Alan Alda, who played M.A.S.H’s ‘Hawkeye‘, just wasn’t as impressive in real life as he was on the screen!

Dr Campbell relates a sobering story about how people’s high regard for the ER doctors can result in being the preferred point of call for medical advice.

We thank Dr Campbell (don’t worry – she also got a Skeptic Zone T-Shirt and you can get one too!) – and do enter in for the Brain Science video contest! The deadline for entering is December 15, 2008.

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The Think Tank returns! This time it’s stories whilst a Mahjong tournament takes place in the background! A request for a ‘virtual wall’ in NSW and a discussion of the media’s treatments of Jewish beliefs. The story that is related by Michael is probably best reflected in John Safran’s depiction of Jehovah’s Witness Prince doing his door-to-door promotion of ‘The Watchtower’:

Michael discusses an article about Swedish taxpayers supporting Scientology! Rachael recalls an E-Entertainment item on vegan fads and how a child died from starvation after being put on a diet. And is colonic irrigation and ear-candling seriously being used in detoxing claims? Apparently so! We even have a Skeptic Zone T-Shirt saying ‘no ear-candling!’

Starsigns? Rachael recalls a classic feature of the mysteryinvestigators.com site and we urge you to encourage Richard to write more ‘Orb Fontal’! And what’s this about women’s panties in a pastor’s pocket?? Rachael reports on virulent strains of HSV1 known as BGKL and how it is striking down Sumo wrestlers and rugby players – scrumpox! She defends it as being very much related to ‘medical issues’ and important to skepticism. Or maybe she just enjoys a laugh about the name. Rather like Michael’s report on Dutch Christians Cancel Naked Service. Or how the Vatican Gets Solar Panels?

We don’t do innuendo on this show, by the way… We say farewell in a variety of languages and will catch you next episode! Watch out for the Australian Skeptics National Convention where we uploaded this very show! Here’s a sneak preview of what it was like:

I’ve received several emails from David, Producer of John Safran’s show “Sunday Night Safran” on ABC’s National Youth Radio Station, Triple J.

Triple J wants to interview a Young Person from Planetshakers to get an honest insight into what it’s like to be a part of Planetshakers City Church in Melbourne.

Unfortunately, Planetshakers is no longer available to do this interview – the interview is being recorded very soon – and I’m not 100% comfortable about doing it myself.

That’s why Jon Safran’s producer, David, asked me to ask if anyone was interested in filling the gap:

I produce Sunday Night Safran on Triple J. We have a weekly segment called Religious Song Of The Week. Healer my Michael Guglielmucci made headlines all over the world this week so this week it will be Religious song of the week.

A lot of people would have heard about Planet Shakers for the first time in relation to this story, so I would like to speak to a Young person involved in Planet Shakers so they can explain what Planet Shakers is all about it is all about. Why it’s fun, what makes it different etc etc. It would also be good to talk about the role music plays at Planet Shakers. It will be a really short interview, like 2 to 3 minutes on the phone.

Please give me a call asap if you are able to talk to us. I’ll be working late tonight. My number is 03 9626 1950

David

(If you’re lucky, you might even get to ask John Safran off-air about his exorcism experience in his TV series exploring religion)