Dear Mr Consumer... You sir are an idiot!

This is where we're going as a society.
I want the one with the bigger GB's. WTF!
WARNING: IF YOU OWN A BLACKBERRY DON'T READ FURTHER. We are becoming dumber and dumber as consumers. Its going to get to a point where companies are going to give you shit, tell you it smells like rose and it doesn't look like shit, and you're going to buy it. I personally know a lot of people who have made purchases based solely on what the salesman and the marketing for the item says. We are just consuming everything because its there. A company tells you they are the best and immediately they become the best. What kinda shit is that? Disclaimer: Before I continue I must stress that I have a preference/bias towards certain manufacturers/companies. I will always consider their products/services before I look anywhere else for something similar. That is not to say that I advice against other products/services.
Steve Jobs was really at telling people what they want. He just always seemed to get the timing right. All the devices and most device features that companies like Apple launched; had already existed in some form or another. They just managed to either time or initiate, through their marketing, the mass acceptance of the technology. Okay, okay, okay they also packaged it in a way that only Apple can.
Closer to home, looking at Blackberry. I've only met a handful of blackberry owners that know that their devices are just shit that smells like roses. Maybe there's something I'm not grasping, people say that nothing does email like blackberry does email. What exactly does it do to this email?! I'll admit that I'd be the first to advice you to get a blackberry if a major concern of yours is airtime. But please stop talking about that shit like it's anything more than a way for students to spend as little money as possible. Before you make your next purchase, think carefully. Don't just buy what the salesman says you should. That fucker works on commission. Due diligence is something we're seriously missing in our society.
If you really really like something then fine, there's really no better reason buy something. Just don't consume shit as a result of hearsay. Do your own research. The internet is rich with information.
Another thing, get pc/internet literate. Times have changed. Knowing how to change the font is no longer considered computer literate. That's equivalent to a little child learning how to read, and still pronouncing each letter.
I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed... I'm a consumer too. But I take the time out to research what I'm buying. I don't buy shit just because I'm told that it's the best thing since sliced bread. I want to know why they say it's better than everything else around it. Honestly I cringe every time I see "ipad" and "blackberry". Anyway, I have nothing more to say regarding this shit. Nothing constructive anyway. I'd just be talking in circles if I continued. My point though is that, like the bear in the video above, the average consumer is an idiot. That is all.

To being BACK...

Being back... What is being back?! Is it about where you've been? Does it mean you went away and now you have physically returned?

NO! Being back is a state of mind. Being back is philosophy. Its a choice. Its a way of life. Something like the SECRET... As a matter of fact, its EXACTLY like the secret. You can be back in many many different ways. Nobody can tell you how to be back. Before I ramble on and on about the BACKNESS I want to give an example: So once upon a time, at a pool house in Pretoria called Players, I was playing pool - obviously- with a few of my friends. Tony, Vin and I think Gates and Tsobs were there too. Anyway Tony, who probably plays a mean game of pool, had a decent stroke of luck. I mean he was pocketing ball after ball, we got excited and exclaimed "TONY IS BACK!!" and he looked up at us, as if to say "Fuck you guys, I can't believe you don't believe", and said "I was never gone!". That is what being back is about. They'll tell you about the laws of attraction in the universe. That's bullshit. Its all about being back. The backer the better. When you churn out work better than your bosses expected, its because you're BACK! When your friends and family know that they count on you, its because you're back! When you know that you've got the job or the girl, its because you're back! Now I personally live by the laws of backness. Everything I do, I do with the knowledge that I'm BACK! Some might call it confidence, others might call it swag. But no, that's bull shit! Its BEING BACK! Like I said earlier, backness is a state of mind, its a choice, its a way of life! I mean of course you go through those days where you aren't as back as you usually are. Those days when you aren't as back as you should be. It always helps to surround yourself with people that are back! They will help you be back! Like you been gone :-)

I know this might not make a lot of sense right, but thats because you're not BACK! Sit down, think about it. Look back on your life. All those people you wanted to be? All those people you considered legends? All those guys that got all the girls? They were BACK! They just didn't know it yet. They just couldn't word it then. So yeah, BE BACK! That is all.

Touched... A play...

Touched
In the interest of full disclosure: my girlfriend directed the second half of this play. I may have some bias.
This play is a lovely double bill, filled with laughter and moments of real emotion. After traveling to Grahamstown to witness the launch of the show, and somewhat having been involved in the development I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by this showing.
Its funny, its witty, it tugs at your heart string. A pleasant piece of theatre. Malome in the first piece will have you stitches as he reacts to what he witnesses while visiting his nephew Gift, who moved to the city and made a life for himself. Benson, the male ancestor, will have you contemplating the decisions we make in youth with his, for lack of a better word, deep comments about what he sees happening.
Do yourself a favour and go watch this play. Its on for one week only at the Market Theatre. Also it will only set you back R30.00. You won't be disappointed.
That is all.

Are we expecting too much of ourselves?!

Warning: Stong Opinion Ahead. We live in an extremely diverse country. 11 Official languages and many many more unofficial. Yet we expect everyone to speak our language and understand our culture? We continuously compare ourselves to countries like China, France, Germany where the children can speak the language of the land; forgetting that we don't have a single language of the land.
Personally I get upset when the president is delivering his state of the nation and switches to Zulu, seemingly without any regard for the rest of his fellow citizens.
I constantly ask myself whether there is a country, anywhere in the world, that is diverse -culturally and linguistically, as ours? Looking at the size our country and our population I think you would be hard pressed to find an example.
All this fuss around language leaves one wondering where we would be linguistically, had the policies of the former regime not forced a single language down the throats of the silent majority.
I can understand and to some extent speak all of the sotho family languages(Sepedi, Setswana, Sesotho, Khelobedu, Sepulana and Setlokwa to name a few), but you expect me to understand and speak isiZulu, Xhosa, Swathi, Ndebele etc etc.
Are not expecting too much of ourselves and our fellow country men? In a country as diverse as South Africa the least we can do is find a common language that we can all converse in.
If we take a country like India for example, a country rich in diversity similar to South Africa just on a larger scale, Hindi is the common language.
If we all just swallowed our pride for minute, and all acted as South Africans and not Pedi's, Zulu's, Xhosa's and Afrikaners or what have you. We can turn this around. Until then, mind your language That is all. p.s I'm of the belief that we need to have one official language. Save money, save paper, save time and foster togetherness :-)