i haven't posted anything to do my nihilism-tag any justice recently, so here goes:

the myth of ubuntu
according to some ubuntu is a philosophy or tradition inherent to african/ south african society. it basically means that a person is a person through other people. It is based on the notion that communities are nurturing and caring and its core values are tradition and respect.

i don't see much nurturing, caring and respect in south africa. look at the murder and rape rates. look at the way zuma's supporters acted. look at the way some striking security guards acted. look at the posh suits politicians are wearing, the black bmw's they're being driven around in (and then you have to make way for them), the huge lunches they get for free in parliament while a lot of the people they tell us they are serving are still hungry, poor and uneducated.

tradition is often one of the worlds most evil things. it gives people an excuse do stupid, absurd things, serving no purpose and delivering no benefit to society. and in south africa, it often keeps paternalistic, unfair power structures and practices in place. it keeps people from being themselves.

so, seriously, is ubuntu going to improve africa, mr mbeki?

reflections on narcism

last saturday i decided to postpone my exams and took photos of myself of almost every reflective surface in and around the house. is that weird?
i'm probably overdoing this reflected photos thing. sorry. i'm sure one of these days i'll get a new photo fascination.

en toe was dit verby

thank you/dankie/enkosi

i'm writing my blogging article now. its going pretty well. thanks a lot to everyone who contributed. extrasuperbig thanks to arcadia and karen little who posted links to me on their blogs.

check dit uit:

in my navorsing virri blogging artikel kom ek op dit af:
'n homeless britse vrou se blog, wel sy was homeless, nou't sy 'n home, maar sy't alli tyd wat sy homeless was geblog. weird.

reflections on a good weekend

aaaa, 'n week gelede die tyd was ek in kleinmond. toe hoef ek nie engelse opstelle oor te skryf nie, maar kon ek in vrede whiskey drink en weird foto's neem. kyk gerus die slideshow.

calling all bloggers!
i am writing an article on the noble pursuit of blogging. instead of doing the normal thing and interviewing people for info, i thought it would be cool if people commented on my blog. so, if you want my eternal gratitude and a mention in a june-exam article, answer the following questions as a comment to this posting:

why do you blog? what keeps you interested in blogging?

did blogging became a part of your lifestyle? in what way? why?

how do blogging influence the way you perceive society?

antwoorde in afrikaans baie welkom (die artikel gaan in die soetste moedertaal wees, so jy sal my 'n bietjie vertaalwerk spaar).

thanks a lot!
baie dankie!
enkosi kakhulu!

nog 'n illusie is begrawe

since i am going to bombard the blogosphere with posts about the most awesome kleinmond weekend, i might as well do arcadia's quiz and reveal facts about me i would rather have kept quiet (actually i'm just looking for excuses not to study...)

1.Three Best films you’ve recently watched
Havn't watched as many films as i would have liked. transamerica was the last one i've watched. it was pretty good. not any other movies come to mind just now.

2. Three favourite songs at the moment
after a sonic diet of dylan, cohen and ingrid jonker, sung by chris chameleon, i had to revert to modern rock the last three weeks, for my sanity's sake.
'be yourself' by audioslave - the title says it all, and chris cornell's voice, morello's weird guitar solo: magic.
'resolve' by the foo fighters - resolve was what i needed last week, the foo's delivered.
'tuna in the brine' by silverchair - have no idea what they're going on about, but the song is hypnotic. its in waltz time or something. very weird, very cool.

3. Favourite dessert
the klein-karoo. oh, you meant poeding? my mum's malvapoeding: the best in the world.

4. Your favourite two physical attributes a) of yourself b) of a partner
a) of myself? you must be kidding... b) dont have a partner, but i like eyes, and something that sounds a lot like it, if you pronounce it the american way...

5. The ultimate unforgiveable act in your book is
i'm all for forgiveness and suchlike shit.

6. If someone had to dress up as you , what would you give them to wear?
my favourite grey jersey, jeans, black boots, my well-worn denim jacket, and sunglasses. oh, undies too.

7. Three favourite magazines
strangely enough, as a journalist in training, no local mags interest me. when i do have some cash lying around, uncut, mojo and dazed and confused are cool. they're british mags, would you believe.

8. A newly acquired bad habit
haven't acquired any new bad habits lately (that i now of). however, i tend to overindulge in my old vices lately. more than a pack of cigarettes a day, insane amounts of coffee, and i perfected the art of procrastination after years of practice.

9. Dream house, described in a few sentences
a loft in the mother city, view of table mountain on the one side, view of table bay on the other. with a balcony (so i can smoke outside, even if its raining).

10. You take five people to a deserted island.....who are they? (and does each one have a purpose or not?)

Minister of Safety and Security Charles Ncqakula, with AJ Venter, Schalk Burger, Corne Krige and Bakkies Botha. They'll moer him every halve an hour, and if he doesn't like it, he could always leave. not.

ej

kyk, hy kan lees!

cool mense

retha, aldi, rene, gm, niel

Jors Troelie

diep in gesprek met my nuwe tjommie, jim beam. foto deur master edward-john bottomley (met my fkkn kamera, natuurlik).

die koelste huis in kleinmond

thanks rene!

kleinmond

kleinmond
Originally uploaded by Jan Gerber.

na 'n ekstrasuperkak week (deur die dal van helskadu en sulke stuff -ook bekend as projekteweek) het 'n lekker plek, lekker mense en lekker whiskey my weer soos 'n mens laat voel. dankie.