Hugh Masekela, probably Africa's greatest jazz trumpeter, died a natural death the other day. He, who in essence fled the - at the time - bloody country of his birth for many years, was able to return (from the land of Louis Armstrong, whom he i.a. befriended) without compromising his often hurtfully truthful themes in his works. (As in one of my favourites, "Stimela", describing the coal train, taking miners to Jo'burg for another months-long life-endangering stint to drill for coal & gold & phosphor.)

He seemed to have always been a very generous guy. He liked to speak & sing in his performances as well as display his mastery on the trumpet, as he does (both) in this South African song* of, for me, one of the best Blues singers Berlin (in fact: Germany!) has ever produced: Joy Denalane...

Rest in Peace, musically holy man!

So, here's the text for an Introduction to constructing your Inner Hype Resistors, a fictitious course I'd like to give any who are up for it. Not that I'm an expert on hype or the history of agit. propaganda through the last century or so, or on what the exact difference is between hype and fascist disinformation of the Nazi era. Or anything.

But I am, and for the longest time, have been a doubter; and you probably need a basic practical experience of healthy doubting, on a daily basis, before you take this course...

Here is a starting set of resistors for you to build as soon as you can. Each has two sections - first, how recognise the hype - in form of a question you need to honestly put to yourself - and last, how to then build resistance!

Hype can be...

• DISTRACTING... = Do "breaking" news of some sort make you follow that "new ball" a little too effectively at a time when life seemed complicated, but perhaps solveable? If it's unexpected & perhaps even shocking, it may well be intended to distract you, to pull you away from the (truths of) other more general problems, for which a solution may be in fact be obvious or just around the corner; it's just that the hype mongers don't want you to see that. Resolution: Keep your eyes on the old ball! Focus your attention on what you find truly important & ignore the rest for the moment, or in a crisis. Finish up that thought/deed. You can always come back to the "new" big thing later.