Long time, no see.

In this rather famous segment from a 1982 episode of the candid camera show The Live Mike, Gay Byrne is repeatedly prevented from recording a scene in Trinity College Dublin. I liked it, not just because seeing an infuriated Gay Byrne is hilarious, but because of the few glimpses of Parliament Square back then.

In the past week or so we have witnessed two extraordinary interruptions.

First, some background information:

The first interruption occurred when Barack Obama delivered his healthcare reform speech to a joint session of Congress. As he once again confirmed that his proposed health plan would not cover illegal immigrants, Obama was childishly and loudly interrupted by GOP congressman Joe Wilson, from South Carolina. You could see the shock and anger on Nancy Pelosi’s face as she heard ‘You lie!’ from the opposite chamber. Presumably after being smashed about by his party whip, the congressman came out afterwards and apologized.

The second interruption, while in rather different circumstances, was equally inappropriate and laughable. As Taylor Swift stood up to accept her first Video Music Award, the gold-plated imbecile who is Kanye West burst in to declare that ‘Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time’, then stormed off the stage. Again, he calmed down, and issued an apology to minimize the media carnage.

What unites these two events? While it’s true that Obama commented on Kanye’s temper tantrum, calling him a ‘jackass’, I think this video sums it up more eloquently:

And that’s all I have to say.

The 6th of June will stand out in the minds of many (including me) who, due to the remarkably catastrophic failure of a single person to carry out their duties, had to sit a re-scheduled, alternate higher-level English paper 2 for their Leaving Cert in 2009.

At a cost of over one million euro to the already strapped taxpayer, this has to go down as the most Irish thing to happen, ever.

The famous 'Paper three' incident

As part of the investigation into why and how such a basic error could be made, the State Examinations Commission has published this report detailing what the investigation discovered, what actually happened on the day and what may have caused it to happen, what should have happened on the day, and how such a disaster will be prevented in the future.

Some of the more hilarious extracts are

A number of changes were made to the examination timetable in 2009. Arising from these, the SEC
included in the 2009 General Instructions for Superintendents a specific section entitled
‘Significant Changes of Procedures’ on the inside cover of the document. This section made
specific reference to the timetable changes and to the fact that ‘Leaving Certificate examination
paper boxes will contain two green packets of papers for English – Paper 1 for the morning of
Wednesday 3 June and Paper 2 for the morning of Thursday 4 June.’ It was also highlighted, in
bold, that ‘it is essential that the Day to Day Instructions for Leaving Certificate and Junior
Certificate be carefully consulted before each examination session to ensure that you correctly open
and distribute the appropriate examination papers’.

and

Superintendents were also instructed not to proceed with undue haste at the
commencement of an examination session and it was indicated that it was preferable to commence
the examination a few minutes late, ensuring that the candidates are given back this time at the end,
rather than open the wrong packet or distribute the wrong papers under pressure.

As if that wasn’t enough, the day-to-day instructions for the 6th of June specifically stated:

ENGLISH Paper 1

Morning 9.30 – 12.20

Important: The examinations in English Paper 1 and English Paper 2 are morning examination
sessions and both packets therefore are coloured GREEN. Before opening the packet this morning
ensure that you have the packet for Paper 1 and NOT Paper 2

Naturally, the SEC seems to be thoroughly embarrassed. It proposes a number of things that will supposedly stop this from happening again, including putting the papers face-up on desks, so that candidates can immediately spot any mistakes.

In any case, I’m still amazed at how something as basic as reading a label on a packet can have such far-reaching consequences. Thank God John Montague came up!

A new site kicks off with an old video. In 1969, the Post Office Research Station published this 8-minute film, showcasing its bizarre, amusing, yet often surprisingly accurate predictions about what electronic communications would be like in the 1990s. Most troubling is the ultraviolet photocopying mechanism built into the telephone terminal…