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In South Africa, racism is STILL more important than human life

2007-06-03T07:25:00.000+02:00

This article in the Sunday Times highlights the shocking levels to which we've sunk as a country when it is deemed more important to enforce affirmative action employment policies in hospitals in the Western Cape than it is to save the lives of the patients who are in them.

Up to 10 operations a day are having to be cancelled, because specialist surgeons cannot be found to fill the posts - "black" surgeons that is. There are "white" and "Indian" specialists available, who have applied for the posts, but the hospitals are not allowed to hire them.

So now, just like with apartheid, South Africans are dying because of racist politics.

This place is truly sick.

Goodbye World Cup

2007-05-17T11:20:00.000+02:00

As Dan Retief, one of the shrewder SA rugby analysts, has pointed out, we finally get our Super rugby going, with two SA teams in the final, and the country starts getting into a winning mindset - and literally within the hour, the politicians and administrators rumble in with the kind of heavy-handed authoritarian behaviour that we last saw from the Broederbond, completely overriding the coach and the selectors, and putting an immediate dampener on everything.

And once again, the overseas pundits shake their heads in complete disbelief at what a bunch of clowns we are.

This doesn't bode at all well for what lies in store as we prepare for the World Cup, so I'm going to go on record right now, and pray that I am proved wrong.

I reckon two things are certain in our immediate rugby future:

1. We are not going to be allowed to select our best team for the World Cup.
2. We are therefore not going to win it.

And one other thing I've decided - just as many of us supported the All Blacks in the days when Springbok teams were picked along racial lines during apartheid - if this year's Springbok team is picked on race, I'm going to support the All Blacks again, as my own personal protest against Apartheid 2007, ANC style.

This is getting sickening

2007-05-17T09:29:00.000+02:00

Listen, I sympathise just as much as everyone else with the parents of Madeleine McCann, the little girl who was abducted on Praia da Luz, and I applaud the worldwide awareness and the various campaigns and social networking initiatives that individual South Africans have started to try and help.

But it's getting a little sickening to see so many people in South Africa all of a sudden getting all socially conscious about it on web sites like Facebook and SA Reunited while completely ignoring the kids who regularly go missing on their own doorstep in South Africa.

Dare I suggest it's because she's cute and blonde and WHITE?!?!?!?

I'm speechless!

2007-05-09T01:34:00.000+02:00

Yeh, I know, it's not often. But this reply from Arno Carstens to an email I sent to Honda about the hilarity (and disparity) of using Blue Eyes in their Civic TV ad, has left me thus.

Hell, I'm under no illusions about what musicians need to do to make money - I just didn't expect Arno to actually use the "I have no artistic integrity" defense, ha ha ha!

This is what he wrote, as forwarded by Honda SA to me:

"With regard to Arno Carstens’ original meaning behind the song, Arno writes:

The song’s lyrics do not speak of any specific incidence or endorse violence in any way. ‘Blue Eyes’ was written as a lament to the tragedy of family murder, a relevant issue in South Africa when we first released the song in 1997. The intention in the song is to describe the tragic emotion that ensues in a family through the intensity of facing its own destruction. ‘Blue Eyes’, as with all other Springbok Nude Girl songs, does not attach any fixed meaning to any specific phrases or wording in the song, we express all of our songs with an element of ambiguity subject to personal interpretation; which is why we have never printed lyrics in any of our releases.
Now in 2007, ‘Blue Eyes’ has evolved substantially from what it was when we originally wrote it. It has become an anthem and one of our most successful songs; we perform it at the end of any SNG show as the climax of the show.

‘Blue Eyes’, over its 10 years, has clearly taken on a life of its own and seems to constitute more importance to the identity of South Africans, or what it is to be a South African, than anything else . We haven’t discussed the songs original meaning since we released it (although we did at the time), because, as we perform it every time we do a show, we don’t believe that its original meaning is relevant to it anymore."

Kudos to The Sowetan

2007-05-03T11:49:00.000+02:00

As reported by Bizcommunity the Freedom Day ad campaign by the Sowetan newspaper in South Africa seems to have provoked something of a controversy. It is based on Martin Luther King's much-quoted "I Have A Dream" speech, to neatly point out how South Africa is crudely squandering the potential freedom its people won with their own blood.

In a typical demostration of how the state-controlled media in South Africa will not tolerate press freedom (much less the expression of vital truths) the ANC's national mouthpiece, the SABC, has banned the radio ads.

SA president Thabo Mbeki has said that those inside South Africa who raise their voices about crime are "despicable racists", so I presume that the Sowetan's publisher, Bongani Kheswa is now one of those. He is also now one of the people that the SA Safety and Security minister, Charles Nqakula, has publicly stated should "leave the country" if they want to whinge about crime.

Kheswa says that “As Sowetan we feel that South Africa is ready to face the shocking truth of the adversities we went through to achieve our political freedom. Through this advert we would like to encourage people to celebrate this victory, but still keep in mind that the face of the struggle has now changed.

I hope that every person who will be listening to this advert will do so with an open-mind and realise that there is a need for South Africa to regroup as a nation to fight these new challenges we are facing in an effort to make this country a better place for the next coming generations.”

Now there's someone I'll vote for!

Click on the image below to read the ad:

The Final Sellout

2007-04-29T10:12:00.000+02:00

Look, Arno Carstens might be on the slippery slope to the kind of middle of the road mediocrity last visited by Matchbox 20 and Hootie & the Blowfish, but this boggles the mind...

We now have "Blue Eyes", the archetypal song about family murder, being used to sell Honda Civics in the new ad. Probably cos the agency doesn't realise what the song is about in the first place. Noses out of the coke bowl boys!

Let's not even start on artistic integrity ito Nude Girls, altho it's completely to be expected from Sony.

M

I'm the Fool

2007-04-28T00:47:00.000+02:00

Shades of Red found a delightfully whimsical site that allows you to determine what tarot card you are...

You are The Fool

The Fool is the card of infinite possibilities. The bag on the staff indicates that he has all he need to do or be anything he wants, he has only to stop and unpack. He is on his way to a brand new beginning. But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. Stop daydreaming and fantasising and watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Those 3 little words

2007-04-14T04:58:00.000+02:00

One of the most common responses I hear from people around me almost every day, when the talk turns to the state of this country, is "it's NOT SO BAD".

Of these people I want to ask one simple question:

Exactly what part of 1 rape every 8 minutes, 36 000 murders a year, and 160 000 other violent crimes a year do you find NOT SO BAD?

To my mind anyone who finds this state of affairs NOT SO BAD is either:
- from another planet
- certifiably insane
- just plain morally repulsive

Gems from Shantaram

2007-04-05T06:58:00.000+02:00

I've been waxing lyrical about Gregory Roberts' autobiographical Shantaram since I started reading it (after a lot of others had been waxing lyrical about it to me). It's also Johnny Depp's new movie project :)

What's amazing is that it contains more heartfelt wisdom than I've come across in almost any book on spirituality, let alone the raft of self-help books out there. Underlining again that one person's story, honestly told, can touch in a way that no "expert" can.

So I thought I'd jot down a few of the lines that have really touched me or shown me a new way of looking at things - or just made me put the book down to marvel at his
(hard won) insight, and that of the people he lived with in Mumbai.

A reminder for those of you who've read it, and hopefully motivation for those who haven't... yet ;)

*** It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realised, somehow, through the screaming in my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It doesn't sound like much, I know. But in the flinch and bite of the chain, when it's all you've got, that freedom is a universe of possibility. And the choice you make, between hating and forgiving, can become the story of your life.

*** There's a truth that's deeper than experience. It's beyond what we can see, or even what we feel. It's an order of truth that separates the profound from the merely clever, and the reality from the perception. We're helpless, usually, in the face of it; and the cost of knowing it, like the cost of knowing love, is sometimes greater than any heart would willingly pay. It doesn't help us to love the world, but it does prevent us from hating the world. And the only way to know that truth is to share it, from heart to heart, just as Prabaker told it to me, just as I'm telling it to you now.

*** It's a characteristic of human nature that the best qualities, called up quickly in a crisis, are very often the hardest to find in a prosperous calm.

*** One of the ironies of courage, and the reason why we prize it so highly, is that we find it easier to be brave for someone else than we do for ourselves alone.

*** There's no meanness too spiteful or too cruel when we hate someone for all the wrong reasons.

*** Lovers find their way by such insights and confidences: they're the stars we use to navigate the ocean of desire. And the brightest of those stars are the heartbreaks and sorrows. The most precious gift you can bring to your lover is your suffering. So I took each sadness she confessed to me, and I pinned it to the sky.

*** It isn't a secret, unless keeping it hurts.

*** Survival means more than simply being alive. It's not just the body that must survive a jail term: the spirit and the will and the heart have to make it through as well. If any one of them is broken or destroyed, the man whose living body walks through the gate, at the end of his sentence, can't be said to have survived it.

*** Guilt is the hilt of the knife that we use on ourselves, and love is often the blade; but it's worry that keeps the knife sharp, and worry that gets most of us, in
the end.

*** Every act of love is in some way a promise to forgive. We live on because we can love, and we love because we can forgive.

A word on Negativity

2007-02-07T00:41:00.000+02:00

It seems that there are few things as misunderstood as the nature of negativity - there appears to be an automatic assumption in many people that identifying problems and being outspoken about them is "negativity".

I think I've finally managed to crystalise my thoughts on this, so here goes...

All of us who were outspokenly opposed to apartheid were not being negative when we kept "moaning" about what was wrong in various forums and refusing to let go of the issues, were we? We were speaking our truth. To speak your truth is never negative, it's just honesty.

Even if people weren't actually doing anything more than voice their opinions, their refusal to lie down and accept the situation was crucial to it changing for the better.

That's what punk was all about - in fact it's the traditional role of the musician/artist/writer in society - where would we be without Dylan's WHINING, Bono's MOANING, Bright Blue's WEEPING, The Sex Pistols' FURY, The Clash's sardonic political VENOM, Nirvana's CYNICISM, Green Day's SARCASM?

Sure, these are all "NEGATIVE" words, but they have power to change things. As PiL sang: "Anger is an energy".

(Yes, I know music has lost much of its ability to change the world, because the powers-that-be immediately co-opt anything threatening, but allow me the romance, if you will :)

THE REAL NEGATIVE THING IS TO KEEP QUIET - like those in the USA who were opposed to Bush, but did not speak out, and thus let him have his way.

That's why we can't just assume that, because someone is saying things that are not nice or comfortable or optimistic, they are automatically negative.

Follow-up - or not

2007-01-18T15:15:00.000+02:00

We reported the theft at 11:00. By 15:00 the police had still not arrived to take fingerprints or search the building (knowing this would be the case we did this ourselves with the help of the building security guards).

But it's not surprising, given that the police in this country far prefer other activities, like extortion, having forced sex with prostitutes, beating defenceless women into a coma, intimidation and launching manhunts for witnesses who see what they do. As this article explains.

According to social workers quoted in the Star newspaper, police are now expected to go on a "vicious" rampage of retribution as a result of this story being published.

BUT HEY, SOUTH AFRICA'S NOT THAT BAD, GUYS, WE'VE GOT THIS WONDERFUL CONSTITUTION THAT GUARANTEES THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN. AND BESIDES, NO COUNTRY IS PERFECT, RIGHT?

Give me a break.

Another clear indication

2007-01-18T11:42:00.000+02:00

I was mentally preparing my next post, which was going to be about how conditions have dramatically improved in downtown Jhb, and Braamfontein - how clean these areas are, how they're showing signs of revival and turning into potentially thriving centres of business and pavement cafe social activity... but, typically, that's all become a bit soured now, and what I'm rather going to talk about is this...

One of my clients, a very forward thinking person who gave up his lucrative career in London and came back to SA to try and make a difference in the local internet industry and make a contribution to SA in general, has recently rented office space in downtown Jhb, both because he enjoys the sense of renewal and because it's his way of putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to being positive about Jhb and SA. The building, Corner House (corner of Commissioner and Simmonds) is being restored by a property development company that is going out of their way to ensure that they create the best conditions possible to attract businesses back into the centre of town, as part of their positive contribution to Jhb and SA.

We've been enjoying the sense of revitalisation that we're seeing in the city, and it's become quite a pleasure driving in every morning (I spend half days in his office). I've even toyed with the idea of taking an office next door to him to run my own freelance business from.

Until this morning, when we arrived back from getting coffee at the Ninos in Fox Street to find that the office has been broken into and his laptop stolen - of course containing most of his business. (Now we can have a separate discussion about the need to back up your work, but that's not the point right now.)

The point is that, once again, no matter how much positive attitude and action one takes in one's own small way, the stark reality of this place is ultimately that, you know what, at the end of the day the rot runs so deep that it's really just too little too late.

I'm trying not to get too angry or self-righteous about this, but it's really just another sign - I don't need this shit in my life and I'm now even more determined to go and live in a civilised country. OF COURSE theft happens everywhere, OF COURSE there is crime everywhere - I'm not naive. But it's an odds game. In poker, if the odds are too high, you fold. If you continue to play against the percentages and you don't get incredibly lucky, you lose your money. No-one in their right mind would argue against that.

In SA, we're so clearly on the wrong side of the percentages, so all I'm after is to live in the place where the odds are more on my side. So AGAIN I'm not saying that anywhere is perfect - I'm just looking for something a bit better. It's a no-brainer, really.

It's been very interesting getting responses to my decision to leave from people in SA vs people outside the country.

Almost all the people in SA are cautioning me against making rash decisions, and arguing that things are actually not so bad here, that I'm too negative (that's a favourite), that I'm employing black and white thinking etc, but if I really feel this way, then of course I need to leave. (The sub text being that the problem lies with me, not with this country). Of course there are exceptions, I'm generalising here, so don't take it personally if the shoe doesn't fit, lol :)

EVERY single person that I correspond with outside SA, be they ex South Africans or not, is saying things like - "Hello, what took you so long / of course things are better here / we're so glad you've woken up".

That in itself speaks volumes to me.

Back in SA - the backlash

2007-01-07T16:23:00.000+02:00

Interesting - finding myself mildy depressed being back here. It started as soon as I sat down in the departure lounge at Abu Dhabi airport - being surrounded by South African accents.

While overseas I didn't miss a single thing about SA; didn't feel "homesick" for a single second. Yet as soon as I landed in Jhb and while driving home, I missed Dubai. I've yet to unpack this psychologically, but it's freaking me out a bit.

Now I know what Trevor means when he says that every time he comes back here he feels "crushed".

This trip seems to have triggered some very old archetypes and, I guess, prejudices, that I have had my whole life, particularly in my teens and early twenties.

Old memories of growing up here have been retriggered - of thinking every single day that all I wanted to do was get the hell out of this country. I thought I had made peace with living here as I grew older, but I think I am realising that I have been bullshitting myself (helped massively by the influence of all the alcohol!)

This feeling of living in a conservative backwater, being caned at school for not adhering to and speaking out against "verkrampt" rules, the religious indoctrination, being denied access to the books I wanted to read, being surrounded by people who didn't realise that SA was not the extent of the known world... all of these feelings have come flooding back, exacerbated immeasurably by spending time in a cosmopolitan environment for the first time in my life. The essential South African-ness that for years made me feel vaguely nauseous seems to be back in full force. Its main characteristic seems to be a small-mindedness that sickens me.

Now it's just a different kind of small-mindedness - things like believing that a shower will prevent AIDS, that Jeremy Mansfield is actually funny, that inefficient service is not such a big deal, that Watershed or Prime Circle are credible bands, or that driving drunk is cool.

Of course I have always made sure to surround myself with friends who are not small-minded, who are not "South African" in their thinking processes. Broadminded and sophisticated people. But they are such a small minority in a country where the top grossing movies are made by Leon Schuster. I've realised that of all the relationships I've had in my life (friends and girlfriends), the vast majority of them were either born overseas, or come from families with strong ties outside SA.

I realise at a rational level that a lot has changed in SA over the past 10 years or so - but these feelings persist. Sure we have one of the most enlightened constitutions in the world, but how free has this really made us, and how happy and free of anxiety are we really?

Because with those changes has come a disintegration of society at a frightening level and pace. The impact of spending time in a place where you don't worry about your physical safety and that of your possessions on a daily basis has been huge. It's made me realise that we live like prisoners here.

Before anyone jumps in with comments like "I don't feel unsafe here" or "I feel free to do whatever I like, you're just neurotic" :) - just stop and question yourself for a moment...

* When was the last time you walked alone at night into the centre of Jhb to have coffee at the Ninos in Fox Street? (Yes there really is one there ;)

* When was the last time you parked somewhere without the thought of "Will my car be safe" momentarily and automatically flickering across your mind?

* Do you have an alarm system in your house, or do you pay extra on your rent or bond in your townhouse complex for security? Have you ever moved into a new place and NOT given any thought to security?

* If you have children, when was the last time you let your child go off to play on his/her bicycle alone, without worrying about something bad happening? At night?

So I've just dumped this all down here - not trying to open up an argument or bash SA - just trying to get to grips with some really strong and disconcerting feelings that I thought I'd dealt with long ago!

Dubai Journal 12 - The Gold Souk & Final Night

2007-01-02T21:35:00.000+02:00

The posts from here on are going to be non-chronological, given that tonight is my last night in Dubai, and there's still a lot to blog about the time here. On the one hand I'm looking forward to getting home to my cats and friends (and to watching all the DVDs I've bought, lol) - on the other hand there is a certain amount of trepidation at how Jhb is going to feel now that I've discovered how green the grass really is elsewhere.

I'm interested to see how the energy feels after having felt so free and safe for 3 weeks. That's not a long time, granted, but it's been enough for me to grow accustomed to not locking doors and not worrying about what one leaves exposed in cars, and such everyday things that we simply can't take for granted in SA. My good friend Trevor, who left SA a few years back, says the tension in Jhb feels "crushing" every time he comes back for a visit, but he's been away for longer periods - I suspect it will just be a small adjustment for me after so short a time away.

This sense of freedom was further underlined today, when I went out to the old part of Dubai, where all the "souks" (markets) are. Tiny alleyways lined with shops crammed with all manner of goods, in the least savoury part of the city. And yet not once did it occur to me that I could be in any danger of being accosted in any way that could be called threatening - unless you feel that being sidled up to by pimps qualifies, lol :)

Contrast this with Jhb, where we simply DON'T go to certain parts of town - period. It's actually ridiculous that I should feel safer in the really salubrious parts of a foreign country than in the place in which I live! Oh, and it's CLEAN!

Right in the middle of this area (Deira) is the Gold Souk - rows and rows of shops selling gold, gold, and more gold. I'm not a fan of the stuff, but it was amazing to look at. And the incredible thing was that this is essentially a giant gold fleamarket - yet no need for any security whatsoever! Didn't see a single policeman or private security guard in 6 blocks. Not even bars on the windows. These are all small shops, and when the owner goes to the toilet, he just asks his neighbour to look out for any customers and leaves his shop open to the street!!!

I couldn't believe what I was seeing - never seen so much yellow gold in one place in my life - this pic is of one shop window out of easily 70 shops. And this is ALL 22 carat gold!
(Click picture to see the full effect)

Time to get some sleep - booking luggage in at 10am tomorrow so that's done, and the airline will take it to the airport for us - great way to cut down check in time at the airport.

Dubai Journal 11 - Desert "safari"

2007-01-01T19:15:00.000+02:00

One of the recommended excursions was the desert safari. You get picked up in at home and driven out into the desert (stopping for the mandatory souvenir shopping along the way - a fair old racket). Once in the desert, the driver indulges in his favourite part of the tour - some sandhill bashing. All the safari operators seem to go to the same place, so that there are around 40 4x4s of all description flying around the dunes at the same time. It turns into "desert dodge-em" and it's great fun. The dunes are steep and the sand is really deep - I have considerable new-found respect for the Toyota Landcruiser. They're incredible machines, and by far the most popular 4x4 in Dubai.

Then it was off to our encampment for coffee and dates, a camel ride, and dressing in traditional garb. Camels are bloody uncomfortable things to ride! And uncharacteristically, I consented to a little dressing up...

Dinner was a Middle Eastern buffet, followed by a belly dancing display. After this everyone except our family party of 6 left - turns out we were the only ones who had booked the overnight stay - sleeping out in the desert was high on my agenda in the first place, and to have the place to ourselves was an unanticipated pleasure. We smoked shishas and drank real Pakistani chai tea round the fire with Noor and Rihan, our Pakistani guides, and then slept.

Here's a pic of where we slept, taken the next morning (you can just see the camp on the upper right - or just click to see a bigger pic)...

I made sure I got up in time to see dawn over the desert the next morning - it was thoroughly worth it!

Dubai Journal 10 - Woolworths

2007-01-01T19:13:00.000+02:00

In case anyone was wondering ;)

Dubai Journal 9 - Wonderful irony!

2007-01-01T19:10:00.000+02:00

Was taking an ironic photo of a garish little consumer temple called Faith (a shoe shop) - and this gentleman happened to walk past, thus completing the irony beautifully...

Dubai Journal 8 - Ibn Battuta

2007-01-01T18:47:00.000+02:00

This is the best looking mall in Dubai, hands down...

Ibn Battuta was a legendary Arab explorer, who now has the dubious honour of having an entire mall in Dubai dedicated to his memory. Perhaps dubious isn't the word, cos throughout the mall are museum pieces and exhibitions covering his travels and discoveries, as well as those of his contemporaries. He alone walked, rode and sailed 120 000km in 29 years. I spent a fascinating 3 hours looking at them all, reading the history, and taking pics (Flickr gallery to follow.) While I was doing this, a couple of educational tours came through - it seems the local colleges send their students to the mall to learn about their history - which should give you an indication of quality of the exhibitions.

Here's an example of one of the hundreds of exhibits dotted throughout the mall - the Islamic Astrolabe:

The mall itself is 1.25km long! (Which means that if you arrange to meet someone there, you'd better specify exactly where - you could face a loooong walk otherwise, lol.) It has 5 "courts", each named after an area the explorer traveled in: Tunisia, Egypt, India, Persia and China. Each court has its own unique decor and they are all exquisite. And there's a Starbucks in every one! Below is the gorgeous Persia court food hall...

This is the Egypt Court:

India Court looks like this:

And then there's China court:

On the way home, I saw a Hummer limousine - what on earth next!

Dubai Journal 7 - New Year

2006-12-31T22:56:00.000+02:00

Watched the various hotels competing with their New Year fireworks displays, from across the lake of the villa complex where my brother lives. The bunch on the villa balcony behind us being Australian, it was inevitable that at some point the words "not as good as Sydney" would be uttered. Unfortunately, they were right, lol.

Well, here's to a great new year!

Dubai Journal 6 - Catching up

2006-12-31T19:26:00.000+02:00

Shew - been doing so much, haven't gotten around to blogging anything, so now to recap - I'll blog highlights individually...

Spent quite a bit of time in the desert, first just for a night braai and then on an overnight "safari" as they call it. Discovered another stunning mall, Ibn Battuta, which commemorates the journeys and discoveries of a prodigious Arab explorer. Went out to Dubai Creek, the waterway that divides the two parts of the city. Saw Henry Rollins live in a spoken word performance and had the best espresso I've ever tasted (Jamaican Blue Mountain). Met one of my best friends from school days whom I haven't seen in 14 years (he's an architect whose firm has designed some of the pretty famous buildings here, one of which is on a bank note). Did yet another mall, this one called Madinat, with an "old quarter" feel to it. And have now just come back from Hatta, which is in the middle of the Hajah mountain range in Oman - the most jagged mountains I've ever seen.

I bought a digital camera a few days ago - decided that my 1.3 mega pixel cellphone camera wasn't doing the place justice, so I'm going to create a Flickr gallery and will then upload photos and link to them from the individual entries to follow.

Meantime, here's what I mean about jagged mountains.... (it's worth clicking on to view full size)

Dubai Journal 5 - Midnight stroll

2006-12-22T22:09:00.000+02:00

Just came back from a midnight stroll by myself around one of the many lakes. Bumped into my folks' Canadian neighbour, Jamie, who was out walking his Beagle. He's just arrived and loving it - even enjoying the weather. Clear night, with my constellation directly above - Orion - it was the first constellation I ever learnt as a kid, and I've always seen it as "my" one. Aah, this is the life :))

Dubai Journal 4 - Alien vs Consumer

2006-12-21T18:59:00.000+02:00

This is at the entrance to a shop selling traditional Arab souvenirs - as you can see by the surrounding items. Bizarre!!

Dubai Journal 4 - Raffle - Dubai Style

2006-12-21T18:53:00.000+02:00

A major property developer is holding a raffle, which you can enter by buying one (or more) of their properties. One for the Pam Golding marketing department? lol ;)

Dubai Journal 4 - The House of Aoud, Amber and Perfumes

2006-12-21T18:36:00.001+02:00

Went to an incredible Arab perfumery shop today (once again in the mall), where they make up perfumes using ingredients of your choice. Absolutely beautiful shop, with sumptuous appointments, and prices to match of course!

Some of the ingredients are displayed in tall glass containers (1.5m) as you can see from the pic. They also sell wood chips (aoud) which you burn in a burner, similar to oil or incense burners, using the same method as you do to burn tobacco in a hookah (on top of the "coal"). The wood chips either have a natural aroma, or they can be perfumed for you as well. They smell gorgeous (which you'd expect - enough to cover about half the palm of your hand will cost just under R600, lol!)

Dubai Journal 3 - What the hell!

2006-12-19T23:07:00.000+02:00

So let me get this straight: avocados are indigenous to South Africa. They grow on the KwaZulu Natal coast. So how is it that I can buy them for R11 a kilogram in the Middle East, but I pay R5.95 for ONE measly bruised little avo in PicknPay at Rosebank??? What a farce! It would be funny if it wasn't so sick, and if thousands of people in SA weren't starving to death.

How can they say that the economy is coming right when we can't even sell our own food in our own country at the same price that they can half way around the world???

Dubai Journal 3 - The weather with you

2006-12-19T12:19:00.000+02:00

Wouldn't you know it - this is what the sky has been like pretty much all the time since I got here. But it really doesn't matter!!! The locals are talking about strange weather not seen in the last decade and there are rumours of a big sandstorm cos the wind is pretty strong at times. Cool :)

Dubai Journal 3 - There is something wrong with Africa

2006-12-19T10:30:00.000+02:00

What is striking me so forcefully here is that there is really something truly screwed up about the African psyche. Our moral degeneration and lack of respect for life and other human beings and, quite frankly, our outright stupidity, is not caused by poverty or apartheid - because other cultures live in dire poverty too, and have been brutalised as much as people in South Africa have been.

There is just as much poverty in rural Middle East as in Mpumulanga. The Arab people have been persecuted just as much as black South Africans - and for FAR longer. The Phillipines was systematically raped by first the Japanese and then the Americans for decades.

So why is it that illiterate Arabs and Phillipinos still have a basic dignity and respect for life and morals, while Africans will steal the copper out of the very pipes that provide them with electricity, will murder for a cellphone, and will rape babies as a "cure" for AIDS.

Yet, as the accompanying picture shows, here in Dubai they have see-through glass charity collection containers all around, and they don't get broken into. In South Africa they would be smashed up, the money taken and the wood used as firewood.

And on a totally different level - how come an illiterate Filipino shop assistant can work quickly and efficiently, being friendly, personally hygienic, polite and quick-witted, while you simply don't get that at the PicknPay in Melville?

Apartheid and poverty seem to be no excuse - what the hell is it that makes Africa such a basket case?? Is there really (gasp, shock horror) a "cultural" difference? Are some cultures just more enlightened and less primitive and brutish than others?

Dubai Journal 2 - The long arm of Naspers

2006-12-18T20:26:00.000+02:00

Seems you can run, but you can't hide. I suppose many South Africans take comfort from the fact that they can read the same rubbish in Dubai as they can at home!

Dubai Journal 1 PS

2006-12-17T22:28:00.000+02:00

Just went for a quick midnight stroll with my brother-in-law (Eddie) - as we got back he says: "This place feels a bit strange... I dunno, like freedom?"

Dubai Journal 1 - My first taste of civilization

2006-12-17T21:24:00.000+02:00

Decided that I may as well use this blog to jot down my impressions of Dubai while I'm here. Today was my first day here and I got an unexpected shock when I went to my first supermarket -

BILTONG IS CHEAPER IN DUBAI THAN IN JOHANNESBURG!!!!!!

Besides that: everywhere is clean, the people are polite, service is slick, there are no bars on the windows, there are designated smoking areas in malls, cigarettes are cheaper (Marlboro 20s cost the equivalent of R11.70) - in fact so far everything is cheaper, from Red Bull to fruit salad, Brie cheese to books and DVDs. Not only are the local supermarkets (Spinneys) cheaper than the Spar in SA, they make Woolworths seem low class. Thrupps comes close, but can't compete on prices. These supermarkets are open til 10pm every night, and the staff are friendly, efficient and have an air of intelligence and helpfulness about them that you just don't get at your local Pick n' Pay in Johannesburg.

I've seen people strolling along the streets enjoying the sunset, and children riding their bikes unsupervised, past houses with low walls, open gates and no security features.

Oh, and I'm typing up this blog entry while sitting on my bed, having plugged my laptop into the internet connection point that is fitted standard in every room in one's house!!

What did I learn today? The myth that South Africans fool themselves with about the standard of living overseas being lower and more expensive than in SA is BUSTED!!!!!!

The joke is on us, people :) There is MORE space, not less; there is MORE freedom, not less; and it is CHEAPER, not more expensive.

So THIS is what civilization feels like - after 41 years it's an awesome feeling - yeeeehaaaahhh :))))

The problem with POSITIVE South Africans

2006-11-29T14:51:00.000+02:00

I'm often accused of being too negative about South Africa, so let me try and explain why I believe negativity is the most postive approach we can take - in the same way that saying NO is often the best response to something that is unacceptable.

The thing is that the solutions we need are so radical - nothing short of a wholesale purge of all levels of government and the police and the declaration of martial law is going to save us. You can't stop a flood by sticking your fingers into the holes in the dyke. Extreme situations require extreme solutions - and no-one can deny that we are in extreme crisis - the latest being that our police force has just declared that they are too scared to fight crime because they are just getting fucked up, and the Commissioner of Police is implicated in organised crime on a massive scale, while the President says, "Oh don't worry, trust me, he's a good guy."

And how many people have gone on strike and marched on the Union buildings and refused to pay taxes in protest?

None. Because that would be a "negative" response wouldn't it? And we need to be "positive", don't we?

We're all looking on, going "oooh, let's not be negative, let's be positive - negativity is BAD!"

Meanwhile if more people took up radical negativity and said - STOP! we have had enough and we are not going to carry on trying to be positive while we are being driven over a cliff, then the more positive the future of this country would be.

I agree with JG Ballard on this type of thing - we need people (like me? lol) to keep rubbing our faces in it, cos we are so complacent and scared to confront what is actually going on outside of our little electrified picket fences.

If the black people in this country had taken a more "positive" attitude towards apartheid we'd never have escaped it!

I am not at all negative about our ability to have a healthy society - as long as we stop using positivity as a way of not confronting the task that lies ahead if we are going to get there.

Not to mention, it's easy for whites to be positive in this country when most of them are drinking or drugging or taking prescription medication to make themselves feel better about things!

Al Lovejoy Interview

2006-10-18T00:00:00.000+02:00

My mate The Chiz scored a truly awesome interview with Al Lovejoy, author of "Acid Alex", one of the most honest and brutally illuminating books ever to have come out of South Africa. (See link on the left to my earlier blog entry about this book.)

Read this lucid, gritty and down-to-earth interview on his blog (link below) - especially if you're a writer, or aspire to be one:
The Chiz

And if you're South African and haven't read the book, read it now! It's available at the braver bookshops, or you can buy it online here.

Record companies STILL don't get it!

2006-09-24T14:52:00.000+02:00

Just went to try and buy a video download off the Sony/BMG site - www.sonymusicstore.com.

Chose the video, entered my credit card details and discovered that if I don't have a US zip code I can't purchase!

So what's my next step? Get an "illegal" download, obviously.

For heaven's sake, even when you WANT to do it legally they make it impossible.

And then they whine about piracy!

Summer in Johannesburg

2006-09-17T17:27:00.000+02:00

Defined as: that brief interlude of relative warmth between the frigid winter and the onset of the crappy rainy season.

Born and bred Johannesburgers love to say they have "the best weather in the country".

Poor fools, they've never had the pleasure of experiencing long hot summers with endless clear blue skies unsullied by dark rain clouds on a daily basis. Imagine growing up like that!

Save the environment - don't breed!

2006-09-06T15:39:00.000+02:00

I'm getting a little tired of people whingeing about saving the planet while not curtailing their breeding instincts. The planet's problems are largely due to overpopulation, imnsho, and so it's only logical that the single biggest contribution any human can make to preserving the environment is to not have any children. It's that simple.

Baby On Board

2006-09-06T15:33:00.000+02:00

For the life of me I don't see the point of those stickers on cars proclaiming "Baby On Board" and the like. What are these people trying to tell me? Are they saying that I need to be careful not to get too close to their cars - something I tend not to do in traffic anyway? Or are they warning me that they may be distracted by their offspring while driving and may become a little erratic ... in which case, what the hell are they doing on the road in the first place?!

Global Beauties

2006-04-17T21:29:00.000+02:00

I see we're doing it again!

Global Beauties

Boulevard of Broken Songs

2006-02-06T02:19:00.000+02:00

If you haven't already heard this - check it out. This is an "intermix" rather than a remix... Boulevard of Broken Songs. Green Day vs Oasis vs Travis vs Eminem.
Beautifully done!

Acid Alex by Al Lovejoy - South African Author

2006-02-06T02:16:00.000+02:00

Acid Alex by Al Lovejoy - South African Author

I cried my way through this book - as did everyone I know who has read it - this is a tough story - from reformatory to international drug smuggler - it could be just another hectic South African story. But it's the devastating insight that floors you and puts it up there with the likes of Nadine Gordimer and Andre Brink.

Click through, read the prologue and buy one of the most important books to come out of this country...

Ain't got the power

2005-05-04T10:37:00.000+02:00

Guy I work with has been having a lot of power outages where he lives in North Riding/Bryanston. He got in this morning, having had another one. He says he got really angry and sat on the phone to City Power until they finally put him through to a "manager". Who flatly told him that they need to do an upgrade in the area, which will take about 2 years, and that residents can expect power cuts roughly every 2 weeks until then.

Still haven't seen lights on William Nicol (just after the Hyde Park split) since December last year!

And no streetlights where I live for 3 months now.

Well at least the last person to leave won't have to.... you know.

Please torture this woman

2005-01-21T08:28:00.000+02:00

Listening to SAFM (www.safm.co.za) this morning - discussion of the latest report on police torture in custody.

The moronic presenter of the discussion - hang on, I'll get her name - Nikiwe Bikitshwa - throws out the following: "Just how rife is torture in custody? How much force do police use - how much force are police ALLOWED to use during interrogation?" !!!!

I'll leave it to you to work out the implications.

Stupidity - and other crimes against humanity

2004-11-25T13:27:00.000+02:00

Having a day of it, so my first actual post is a rant - who would have thought?

We prosecute and punish those who cause "problems" for the rest of us by committing crimes as a result of some sort of, shall we say, congenital maladjustment. The kleptomaniac shoplifter, for example.

So why then do we not prosecute people for their inherent stupidity when it causes distress or difficulties to others? Outlaw stupidity, and come down hard, I say. The teller at the bank who has been too stupid to give you all the information you need on a third-party transaction, thus forcing you to go back to the third party to complete the extra form she forgot to give you in the first place, thereby delaying a deal and costing you money - even incidentals like petrol. Oh and the fact that you charge for your time by the hour as a freelancer.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to go straight to the nearest police station, lay a criminal charge, and have the moron arrested?

I guess I can dream...

'Tis Time

2004-11-23T09:50:00.000+02:00

Guess the first post should be momentous and filled with pithy observation about reasons to blog. On the other hand it could just be a space filler to get the page set up...