Ghost Mail Weekender

Happy Sunday Voornaam,

If you’ve spent any time doom-scrolling through Donald Trump’s social media feed lately, you might think that presidential speech has reached peak chaos. But long before “covfefe” (a 2017-classic) and all-caps Truth Social tirades, there was another commander-in-chief known for his, let’s say, unorthodox relationship with the English language. George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, was so well-known for his distinctive soundbites that they became known as “Bushisms”. Here’s a roundup of our favourites:

"Families is where nations find hope, where wings take dream." La Crosse, Wisconsin, October 18, 2000

"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." – Poplar Bluff, Missouri, September 6, 2004

"Yesterday, you made note of my - the lack of my talent when it came to dancing. But nevertheless, I want you to know I danced with joy. And no question Liberia has gone through very difficult times." – Washington, D.C., October 22, 2008; to President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." – Washington, D.C., August 5, 2004.

"We must stop the terror. I call upon all nations, to do everything they can, to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you...now watch this drive." – to reporters while playing golf.

You could say that Bushisms walked so today’s presidential posts on Truth could run. Luckily (or perhaps unluckily) for us all, President Bush wrapped up his term in office before the advent of meme culture.
Politicians regularly make us feel like we need superheroes in real life. Although adults are forced to, well, adult, our kids can at least put on the masks and pretend to save the world. Movies and TV series are responsible for that thinking these days, having replaced comic books. The intellectual property web around Spider-Man is quite something to behold though, with Sony up against the clock to keep producing movies. Resident cinephile Dominique Olivier tells a story that is truly worthy of popcorn. Find it here>>>
Read on for a tale of why the Irish should perhaps stick to St. Paddy's Day instead of branching out into Halloween, as well as Dominique's Fast Facts about bands having to improvise national anthems under pressure. Yes, really.
Have a great day!

The Finance Ghost (follow on X) | Dominique Olivier (connect on LinkedIn)

Sony's stuck in a Spider-Man spiral

Long on Guinness, short on ghouls

TL;DR: If you ever feel embarrassed about falling for a group chat rumour or mass-forwarded WhatsApp voice note, spare a thought for the thousands of Dubliners who showed up to a non-existent Halloween parade last year.
On October 31st, 2024, O’Connell Street in Dublin was packed with expectant crowds, bundled up in spooky costumes and high spirits, waiting for a grand Halloween spectacle that had been widely shared online. Supposedly organised by legendary Irish theatre group Macnas, the parade promised all the trimmings: giant floats, celebrity appearances by Cristiano Ronaldo and MrBeast (sure), and what one can only imagine would’ve been an aggressively TikTok-friendly vibe.
There was just one problem: it was all completely made up.
The source of the “event” was a website called MySpiritHalloween.com, which had listed the fictional parade with just enough believability to set the whole thing in motion. People showed up, but nothing showed up for them. Eventually, the Gardaí (Irish police) had to get involved, issuing public notices to help the disappointed crowd disperse safely and reminding people to maybe double-check their sources before heading out in face paint and false eyelashes.
At the centre of the chaos was Nazir Ali, the Pakistan-based owner of MySpiritHalloween.com, who spoke to WIRED from what we assume was a very stressed-out inbox. He clarified that it wasn’t an intentional hoax, just a cocktail of AI-generated content, human error, and the internet’s favourite pastime: not reading past the headline. Apparently, the site uses AI to draft event listings, but it’s up to editors to fact-check before posting. This time, someone recycled an old parade listing without realising it had been cancelled, and by the time anyone caught it, the post had already gone viral across TikTok and Instagram. In other words: it was too late. The ghost was out of the bag.
Ali said they would’ve taken it down immediately if they’d known, and stressed that it wasn’t a prank, but rather just a very public reminder that even robots need babysitters. No criminal charges were filed, but the Gardaí did take the opportunity to gently suggest that maybe we all start getting our event info from places that don’t use chatbots and vibes to write their schedules.
While there were no floats, no Ronaldo, and no MrBeast handing out iPhones from the back of a truck, Dublin did get a Halloween story to remember. It was a mass gathering summoned not by spirits, but by the algorithm.
Perhaps St Paddy's Day is worth sticking to instead?

Dominique's Fast Facts: Anthem? Close enough.

An assortment of facts that will only take you five minutes to read.

Opening ceremony of the Kiel Canal, Rendsburg, Germany, 21 June 1895: When the Ottoman ship "Fuad" sailed past the naval band present as part of the ceremony, the band noticed that they did not have the sheet music for the Ottoman anthem. Instead, they played the German folk song "Guter Mond" (in English, "Good Moon"), a reference to the crescent moon on the Ottoman flag.

1920 Summer Olympics, Antwerp, Belgium: After Ugo Frigerio won the gold medal in the 10 kilometres walk, the band present was unable to find the score of the anthem of Italy, and instead played "'O sole mio”. The music was so well known by the public that the crowd all sang it together.

1952 Summer Olympics, Helsinki, Finland: The band improvised a tune in lieu of the anthem of Luxembourg after Josy Barthel unexpectedly won gold at the 1500 metres, as they did not have the sheet music.

Canadian Football League match between Las Vegas Posse and Sacramento Gold Miners, 16 July 1994: US singer Dennis Casey Park was approached with one day's notice to sing the anthem, which he assumed would be "The Star-Spangled Banner." He was only told a few hours later that it would be "O Canada," with which he was unfamiliar. He attempted to learn it, but at the match, he was unable to remember the melody as there was no backing music. He sang part of the anthem to the tune of "O Tannenbaum."

6th Kostanay Regional Festival of Skiing, Kostanay, Kazakhstan, 5 March 2012: At the opening ceremony, the first seconds of "Livin' la Vida Loca", a Latin pop song by Ricky Martin, were played instead of the anthem.

Amir of Kuwait International Shooting Grand Prix, Kuwait City, Kuwait, 21 March 2012: "O Kazakhstan", a parody anthem from the film Borat, was played during gold medallist Mariya Dmitriyenko's award ceremony.