Nic’s blog
I write about building businesses, failing and building a life, not a legacy.
These guys suck and so do their blogs
I am saddened, offended and upset by a string of blogs and website that I have stumpled across. Why South Africa Sucks and Free at Last Her in Godzone NZ are the two that have pissed me off the most. I will not be linking to either of these sites. If you want to read about them, Google them or something.Let me begin by saying that it will never be my intention to judge any person for leaving South Africa. If I do, I apoligise in advance. With that said, for anyone to slate an entire country and badmouth something that they can never, ever experience entirely, rationally or wholly is ignorant and naive. Yes I am calling you all ignorant and naive, do not turn around, there is no one else in the room, I am talking to you. If the shoe fits...A quote from the Free at Last site blurb:
"Free at last!" - Yes, and now living in Godzone New Zealand. Free from fear, free from rape, free from murder, free from discrimination, free from corruption, free from barb wire and burglar bars, free from hijacking, free to work and live a life that everyone should have. Free from the horrors of South Africa.
What the hell is this shit? What gives this person the right to say that in the whole of South Africa there is only rape, murder, fear, discrimination, corruption, etc etc etc? You fool. Why not express to the people reading your blog that your PERSONAL experiences in S.A. are what you talk about? I couldn't give a shit if you rip apart every person who did you wrong (shame poor baby, did it hurt?) 'cause life is tough. But leave the entire country out of your banter. You left on your own two feet so keep walking. Do not make your problems our problems. Do not propagate random experiences that affected you as the experiences of EVERY South African alive. Yes, there are issues here and they exist, but there are issues everywhere. And yes, the statistics for good old "Godzone" (what kind of a name is that self righteous crap?) are lower than those statistics for S.A. but so is the population you twit. I bet that if we look at the stats closely enough we will see that relatively they are similar for S.A and NZ.You irritate me. You anti-patriots, you ex-wannabe freedom advocate, you silent supporters of the South African past.Do me favour, leave S.A. that's fine, but don't choose to let it hang over your head and force it to hang over mine. Leave and let go. Leave and forget. Forget that you ever lived here if you are so bitter.Now to quote the Why SA Sucks blurb:
This blog chronicles the slide of a once magnificent, thriving First World Country into that of a crime ravaged, Stalinist turd world hell hole.
I'm sorry but do you mean the apartheid state of the past when you refer to a "First World Country"? That one? The one where black people were oppressed, raped, murdered, violated, restricted and could not find work? That Country? I must admit that the country you speak of sounds wonderful, if you are white (and I am assuming you are white, correct me if I'm wrong).Let us all just be honest here for a second, the South African population mainly consists of black people, strange hey. Go figure. So as a white man, you are confident to ask for the best person to get the job and BEE not to exist, but lets be honest the best person for the job is the one with the best education, for the best education to be recieved one needs to have been allowed in to University to start with. That was not the black man 15 years ago. Starting to pick up a trend here? To continue, if the black majority of the country was not allowed, by the past government, to attend University then how were they to become educated to get high end jobs? They weren't. Simple answer. Thus there are steps in place to correct the over 400 years of wrong doing. Still with me here? Good.If you can read this and still not at least understand what is going on in S.A. then you made the right decision to leave and you will not be missed. However, you will be missing out on an amazing country in the very near future and you will regret leaving. Good riddance to you.Now the same advice applies to you as it did to the NZ Godzone person: Leave, but leave peacefully and do not return. Do not claim to miss the sun, the sea, the people, the braai's and the laughter. Do us all a favour and Do not return, Ever.
Presents for the intelligent - Moleskine
If you are looking for a fitting present for someone who likes to think and write then look no further. Moleskine writing tools are perfect. They are elegant and worth while. They are personal (which is hard to find these days). There is no screen, there is no mouse and there are no keys. The joy about purchasing a Moleskine diary or writing book is that you can get a pen to accompany the gift perfectly.
Blogger Issues
I have been having some serious problems with blogger of the last 24 hours... is it just me?
Find a Band
- Guns 'n Roses
- Scissor Sisters
- The Rolling Stones
- The Eagles
- Smashing Pumpkins
- Gorillaz
- U2
- The Pixies
This is what other people have located:
- matchbox twenty
- Queen
- Spoon
- White Zombie
- Alice in Chains
- Red Hot Chilli Peppers
- Radiohead
- Led Zeppelin
- Whitesnake
- Black Flag
- postal service
- eels
- Iron Maiden
- Green Day
- Nine Inch Nails
- Blur
- 50 Cent
- Blind Melon
- The Postal Service
- Beach Boys:)
- Garbage
Fresh Faced Comic - Amish on the web
Ever seen an amish guy talk about sex/internet or anything other than his cows? Jokes, that was mean, but it was kinda funny! Anyways, here's an amish dude chatting about some wierd things.
Pregnancy Bullshit
So I was chatting to Jen-Jen-Jen just now the kids issue came up some how. She said she never wants children and I called bullshit. This is not, I repeat, not a sexist post or statement in any way shape or form. I am arguing for freedom of choice here 100%. However I believe that when two people are together it is necessary to know that the option of having kids is available. If I am told straight out by any woman I'm with that kids are not ever, ever going to happen then her and I will never, ever happen. I might never have kids with anyone. My life might get in the way of things, I might find myself to become incapable of caring for children, there are a billion reasons I might not have kids. But there is one that overrides all the others, love. If you love the person you are with then children is the ultimate expression of the love that you share with your partner.I know that there are a million counter arguments to this; gay couples, infertile couples etc etc etc. But these couple can and do adopt children to express their love and foster children. If I am given the gift and the choice then I will take it with both arms wide open. And so would you if the circumstance was right.
G8 Summit
You know that feeling when you find R20 in the pocket of a pair of jeans you haven't worn for months? That's what I had today, except my feeling was about photographs. I went to the G8 Summit last year in Scotland. I did some freelance work and had a bit of a riot filled protesting holiday, it was grand. I thought that I had developed all the film I used (I like to use film when I have the chance). I was wrong, there were about 5 films left that I hadn't thought about in over a year. So today I took them in to be developed and below is one of the photos that I took and have edited. More to come
Christmas Time - The way I like it
Explosm.net does it again. On the floor, off my feet, doubled over, laughing. Fantastic way to start a week.
Forty Sumtin' Dollars a Day
JT (Justin Timberlake) has a new album out, this album has an awesome song on it called Losing My Way. The song has a great feel to it and is catchy, as most JT songs are.There is something that pisses me off so much about this song. It speaks of "the pipe" and speaks of poverty, dropping out of school and failure. The opening line: "Hi my name is Bob I work at my job, I make forty-sumtin' dollars a day." What pisses me off is that JT in all his wealth reckons that $45 (+-) a day is a poverty stricken, drug induced wage. My son, let me tell you that JT has no fucking clue about poverty. If you work out the conversion and a monthly salary on $45 a day it comes to a whopping R6930 a month. Fuckin' shit bags that's not bloody bad if you ask me.I recently did a story on a project for the blind in a township in Jo'burg. there were 16 people that worked at this project. The monthly grant for unemployed blind people is +-R900. The project was earning each of them a couple hundred more. Lets work that out in dollars for Mr. JT:Call it R1000/22 working days = R45 per working daytake that R45 and divide it by an equal $7 = $6.49 per dayThat is what I call extreme poverty for normal people. $6.49 wage. That is twisted shit.JT you are a spoilt brat who cons the American Mob of idiots in to believing that 40-sumtin' dollars a day is slave wage. You moron, open your eyes.
Words and Sayings
Here is a brief list of words and sayings that I find interesting and particularly irritating. If you can think of any more (I couldn't remember them all) let me know:
- Stutter - Try having a stutter and pronouncing this word... "stu-stu-stu-stutt-stutt-stutt-stu-st-stu..." You get the point.
- Lisp - Try having a Lisp and pronouncing this word..."Lithp" that's just cruel.
- Friendly-Fire - I bet if you were hit by friendly fire it wouldn't seem so fucking friendly.
- Drink like a fish - fish live in water, they don't necessarily drink it. Silly.
- Sleep with - Let's be honest, when using this euphemism the last thing you are doing is sleeping.
She's Coming Home
Four days (incl. Sunday) until Jen comes home. I cannot wait. It has been close on 9 months that we have been doing long distance. I can confidently say that this has been one of the most difficult things that I have ever done. It is also easily one of the most rewarding. Knowing that in four days our nine months of patience and care will pay off with a feeling of euphoria and nirvana. What joy. Love is a fantastic fuck up! I love it.
Gay Marriage
I am personally all for gay marriage. I have no issue with and am impressed by the S.A. governments liberal and progressive stand point regarding this issue. I do have an issue with rushed marriage, gay or straight.I think that marriage is something that should be considered carefully, financially, emotionally, mentally and physically. It should not be fucked with, at all, ever. I fear that many, many gay South Africans will soon be following Vernon Gibbs and Tony Halls who went to get married on the day that same-sex marriage was legalised in South Africa. I am concerned not because of the implications and that bullshit banter. I am concerned because I think that many people will simply be getting married cause it's the latest trend in the pink circles. Crit me, mock me or disagree, but I think that there will be many, many gay divorces in the near future. Join the heteros and get married, cool, but lest us not forget that marriage is all too often followed by divorce.
Tattoos
I am somewhat tattoo obsessive. I love tattoos, I love getting them, having them and designing them. I recently got it in my head that I want a new one (I have 3 already and got my first one done at age 14). So I started to design it. Below you will see the initial stages of the design for my upper back between shoulder blades. I have a couple others that I have designed for shoulder add-on.
But then I thought about the money that I wanted to spend on my new addition to my body work. I was aiming at designing something that would cost me close on R2000. After some thought I honestly think that this is a complete and utter misuse of cash for me right now. I am not saying that the money would not be well spent on the tattoo. It's just that at the moment the money would be better spent in other areas and interests. Like buying a DSLR Camera for work purposes. This would make me money not make me look cool.So after much internal debate (Jen you will be happy to know) I have opted not to get another tattoo right now.
Pulitzer Goes online
Pulitzer now offers a prize for online journalism, or blogging, or whatever it is you want to call it.To some it all up a quote from the Pulitzer Press Release dated 27th Nov 2006:
The Pulitzer Prize Board announced today that newspapers may now submit a full array of online material-such as databases, interactive graphics, and streaming video-in nearly all of its journalism categories.
Read the full release on the Pulitzer site now. Thanks to the Blog Herald for the story.
FakeYourSpace - Online rent a crowd
Things have now reached a sad level in the social world of the web. Myspace has become a promoters paradise where the point of the exercise has been lost. Other social networks have also been abused by users and now this.FakeYourSpace allows users to buy friends. For a nominal fee of 99c users receive 8 messages on your facebook or myspace profile that are posted by "models" and will stay on your space forever. Now you can appear to be popular without actually knowing anyone or anything about anyone. How fucking unbelievably sad is this shit?Next thing you know there is going to be a big Hollywood movie made about some teenage loser who has no "space friends" and pays to have people post on his space and then gets caught. But wait, there will be a moral, people in cyberspace will all feel bad and become this twats friends. Please.I really, really think that this has reached a dire state. If you cannot make friends in the real world you WILL NOT be able to make friends in cyber space. If you think I am wrong, you are one of these losers. I will not be apologising for saying any of this so don't ask me to. If you have ever thought of paying for visitors on your site then you are also one of these losers. Everyone tries to get more hits, that's fine, add content, submit to search engines make things interesting etc etc etc, but paying to have visitors you have never met, seen or heard of before to post comments on your site is upsettingly sad. Go and see a psychologist.To the man/woman who thought this idea up: Well done. This is capitalism at work, at it's best. I applaud you for recognising a niche and exploiting it. I am just upset that I didn't think of this first.
World AIDS Day
I nearly forgot about this. I am actually quite embarrassed to say that, but I almost forgot.Now that I have remembered, I have dedicated a little section of Shutterview to World Aids Day (WAD). I am going to make reference to two sites that you should check out and read with regard to WAD.1. DATA is an amazing project, Debt, Aids, Trade, Africa (DATA) is an organisation that has only managed to do great things for Africa and the people of the world.2. The World Aids Day Website is a great read and has lots of information regarding many topics centred around HIV/Aids. Read it, now.Lastly I would like to implore every blogger who reads this to dedicate a section of their blog to WAD. A post, A comment, an image, a sidebar feature, a footer, anything. Just show the world that you are conscious of what is happening around you.
Band Review - Acceptance
Update: Apparently Acceptance is no more. On their Myspace blog I read that they have recently broken up and formed two new bands. One unnamed and one named Thunder Thunder.I have once again made use of Last FM to find an amazing band called Acceptance. Brilliant lyrics, rhythmic guitaring, ripping leads and emotionally charged singing from the lead man. Incredible meshy of lyrics and haunting little riffs that plague the lyrics and torment the drumming. Absolutely fanstastic bassline that compliments the drumming and the singers accenting of words.Get to Limewire or Last FM and check these guys out.
Religion Ends a Friendship
I have already linked to the Today Trip Religious banter but I am sad to report that some people just can't keep their shit together. The debate has ended in the termination of a friendship and that saddens me. It saddens me because I thought that religion preached tolerance and understanding not brash decisions that end in the loss of a friendship due to a debate. Ridiculous.I am of the school that believes that challenging yourself and the norm is the norm. I believe that without debate, challenging thought and progressive movement the wheel would never have been invented and Africans would still be slaves. If you do not agree with this and are still taking lessons from your preacher who was taught be another preacher who learnt from the same book that the same people have been studying for 2000+ years then I feel sorry for you. This is ignorance. Learn from the bible, that's cool, it's a great little book with some little gems hidden in there somewhere. But please, please do not tell me that it is the be all and end all of knowledge. That my friends is blatant disregard for common sense and a choice to remain ignorant due to fear.Rant over and I'm out.