Chaos theory: a reed shakes in the wind and Joseph Muscat ends up with a medical condition

Published: September 15, 2010 at 8:51pm

reeds-2

MALTASTAR NEWS
THIS EVENING

A reed shakes with the wind… but does a boat?

A Maltese idiom says that a reed shakes with the wind (qasba tixxejjer mar-rih), however in M’xlokk’s case- it seems like it is a boat shaken by the wind. The boat, which was abandoned on land, was pushed into the sea when it was very windy.

Since then, the boat was abandoned and was carried away by the sea creating a danger to other boats. The M’xlokk local council and local fishermen have reported the matter to the authorities but these fell on deaf ears.

Do they pay these people? Or do they work for free?

SACK THEM. THEY’RE RUBBISH. THEY WORK FOR A POLITICAL PARTY, FOR GOD’S SAKE, AND NOT FOR A JOKE WEBSITE RUN BY STUDENTS IN THEIR SPARE TIME…..OR…..YOU DON’T SAY?

And the way I know it, qasba tixxejjer mar-rih is a description of a rootless drifter, and not a Chinese-style observation of great sagacity: ‘A reed trembles in the wind.’

Idiots.

….local fishermen have reported the matter to the authorities but these fell on deaf ears. Lucky those deaf ears were lying around to cushion the fall or the authorities might have ended up breaking something like Somebody We Know.

Twits.




27 Comments Comment

  1. maryanne says:

    Not to mention that the authorities fell on deaf ears.

  2. Lino Cert says:

    Please stop being a spoilsport, and leave Maltastar alone. Don’t ruin one of the only few sparks of entertainment left in my miserable existence.

  3. ciccio2010 says:

    The expression “Qasba mar-rih” (shorter for “Qasba tixxejjer mar-rih”) was in fact used as the name of an anthology of poems written by the late Anton Buttigieg (former President of Malta, but apparently not a President Emeritus). That anthology featured in some O or A level syllabuses in our education system. From what I heard very recently, the term was in fact used to refer to a difficult period in Anton’s life where he was, as Daphne put it, a rootless drifter.

    • M. says:

      You just gave away your age, ciccio2010. “Qasba mar-rih” formed part of the Maltese O-level matriculation exam syllabus in the early 1980s. (Oh, and it included such wonderful two-liners as”Sodda ta; tnejn, mifruxa ta’ xejn”.)

      • ciccio2010 says:

        Actually, I did not. I just heard again about that book last week from the PBS program “Bijografiji” which dealt with the life of Anton Buttigieg. It was there that they explained the meaning of the title. Actually, that book did not form part of my studies, but I will stop there lest you really get to my age.

  4. Brian says:

    @ Maltastar

    Flok il-qasba….tistghu tmorru tixxejru intom personalment? Tkunu qedghin taghmlu pjacir kbir lil hafna nies.

  5. JP Bonello says:

    And the way I know it, qasba tixxejjer mar-rih is a description of a rootless drifter, and not a Chinese-style observation of great sagacity: ‘A reed trembles in the wind.’

    Int se toqtolni bid-dahq!

  6. John Schembri says:

    It seems that you are the only one who reads Malta Star.
    Just ignore them and let them have enough rope to hang themselves.

  7. Isard du Pont says:

    It seems that this boat was twice abandoned, first on land and then, to really add insult to injury, in the sea.

    Thus betrayed, it became a rogue boatl and a danger to other boats. Mother boats with minor boat-children who had just had certificates presented to them by Mrs Michelle Muscat, the wife of the Labour Leader Dr Joseph Muscat, immediately set upon the rogue boat and beat it, whereupon it developed a hairline fracture and spent the next two months lolling about.

    Then, on the horizon, to a score written by Ennio Morricone, salvation appeared in the form of a tug with a set of rosary beads wrapped around its starboard end and some bright orange make-up plastered over the prow.

    The tug and the rogue boat sailed away for a year and a day, pausing only to pick up an evil midget to broil for their supper. But the platform boots played havoc with their digestion, so they put into port and hatched a scheme to become The Leader of the World.

    First, they had to slay the sinister ventriloquist’s doll who wore white jeans and guarded the entrance to the throne room.

    Will this story have a happy ending? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

    • ASP says:

      “salvation appeared in the form of a tug.” And that tug was my father.

      • Hot Tongs says:

        No, no, you haven’t read the story properly. The tug wore rosary beads round its starboard end and orange make-up on the prow. It wasn’t missing a bit of its right palm.

  8. Not Tonight says:

    Well, I still can’t understand if it were the authorities or the local fishermen who fell on the deaf ears. Didn’t know people were so careless with their body parts.

  9. M.Bartolo says:

    Smajt wahda tajba fuq Super One: “Mal wasla tat-tebuti fil-knisja ……….”

    • M. says:

      Sa fejn naf jiena, nghidu “twiebet” bil-malti, mhux “tebuti”.

      • John Schembri says:

        M.
        Jekk nibdew nuzawha u imbaghad tidhol, hekk jghidu l-ghorrief tal-Kunsill.

        Bhal eskursjonijiet flok hargiet jew mawriet, jew varjazzjoni flok varjeta, in-nies ikkonkorriet meta jridu jghidu in-nies marret bi hgarha, u l-bqijja.

        L-idjoma ‘qasba tixxejjer mar-rih’ tigi riferuta lil xi hadd bla sinsla u jdur ma’ kull opinjoni.

        U fil-vangelu[Mt:11:7] Meta dawk telqu, Ġesù qabad ikellem lin-nies fuq Ġwanni: “Xi ħriġtu taraw fid-deżert? Qasba tixxejjer mar-riħ [Mt:11:8] Xi ħriġtu taraw? …
        “What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind.”

      • A.Charles says:

        In Sicilian, tebuti is used is the word used for coffins. Maybe some of the people in the MLP are spending a lot of time in Modica with Anglu Farrugia.

    • Isard du Pont says:

      You would have to be a Super One cretin to speak about coffins rather than cadavers.

      Mal wasla tat-tebuti: they were empty, I suppose.

  10. Dandy says:

    Time for a couple of haiku:

    The black clouds gather,
    A reed trembles in the wind:
    the ears are deaf.

    The boat floats to sea
    fishermen quaking with fear:
    but who the f… cares

    • H.P. Baxxter says:

      Seeing as you’ve thrown down the gauntlet:

      A sparrow alights
      Upon a quivering reed
      It laughs at Labour.

      Lonely does the reed
      Shake in the breeze. But never
      Will it vote Labour.

      A single reed stands
      On the Isle of Idiocy,
      Wishing it could leave.

      The sparrow meanwhile
      Has left. Visiting Malta
      Was such a mistake.

  11. Pat II says:

    Time for some entertainment now. But had to stop at Brian`s comment because I needed to go to the bathroom, ghax kont se mmut bid-dahq. Short and sweet dak, baghthom KOLLHA jixxejru.

  12. Zebbugi says:

    Tiftakru min kien qal li sa jaghmel widnejh ma’ l-art? Ma’ kienux qed jirreferu ghal dawk il-widnejn forsi, ghax ta’ dak torox ukoll kienu.

  13. red nose says:

    But those at Maltastar I am certain do not understand one single jibe

  14. Rene Debono says:

    Now Maltastar have written that Mintoff is 93.

    “Mintoff, 93, was taken to Mater Dei from his home in
    Tarxien.”

    Everyone else is saying he is 94.

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