Listening to Michael Buble’s song I just haven’t met you yet, what a song??!!

I said waszup my people, man what a day to be alive ey? So whats so special about this day you might ask, well lets see, I woke up early this morning, nice comfy bed at the folks, my bro came to drop off something, got a fone call from my mate about a potential road trip, took a nice warm shower, moms made some yummy breakie as she tends to do, pops dropped me off at the airport where I am waiting to catch a flight in 3 hrs time to CT. How many people can say that? Yup maybe all of you I am sure, but we are so faaaar in the minority, so when situations and this movie set we call life becomes rather taxing remember the simple things, the things that matter and hopefully it will help provide a bit more perspective…

So the last few days this is what I have been hearing on the news, no not stories about Julius Malema, will get to that either later or another time…no man stories about Bafana Bafana, South Africa’s soccer team’s training facilities not being ready and the team requiring new facilities. Now for the life of me…IS THAT NEWS??? Firstly did any of us really know where they were going to set up camp in the first place…eeeeh not!!! Now that its not ready its big news. R16mil blah blah.

OK so they need R16m or so to renovate this Esselen School of Excellence, well poifect I guess, part of the legacy of the 2010 World Cup, but as luck would have it people didn’t know that we had a world cup to host from about 2004, I think they just realized last week that we were hosting the world cup in 2010 and a few months is mooooore than enough time to upgrade facilities to a standard acceptable for a team competing in the World Cup, lets put aside the fact that it’s the host nation. So point no one is incompetence!

Next point which is a simple one for me is why am I being bored with all of it , CONTINUOUSLY? Guess you guys are asking why I am boring you all with this well, it has just really occurred to me why, and that is this whole issue of incompetence and complacency.

I am finding that more and more being mediocre and substandard is ok. People its not ok. No one is responsible for their actions or in this case inaction anymore. And people it’s a cancer that will eat away at us and destroy us. What happened to the days when being sorry was real and you were truly really sorry, now I say sorry with as much meaning as I say because, and that my dear friends is not on. I listened to Tiger Woods’ apology what a waste of time. The most choreographed piece of media abuse ever known to man. If I watched 10 min of it I did well, cos I really wanted to vomit! Nobody cares anymore and worse still nobody makes people care.

We get married, and promise before God and Man these words: "I, ________, take thee ______, to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better – for WORSE, for richer – for poorer, in SICKNESS and in health, to love and to cherish, TILL DEATH US DO PART, and thereto I pledge thee my FAITH." We argue about the colour of the paint for the house, and it’s a divorce, or worse still we go for a little out of town gig with the company or with the boys, there comes a pretty young thing into our sights and vows, what are those??!! Our mates condone and sometimes even encourage such behavior.

Someone comes into my house, breaks in and take things that I worked pretty hard to afford, ok I worked for, if I am lucky they wont kill me, and that’s ok we accept it as the norm our answer is shoo at least they didn’t kill you.

We have politicians who use their influence to enrich themselves, not just here, look at what happened in America with Haliburton? We have big corporates who get big wigs with political affiliations to sit on our boards so that we can further our business interests. These self same corporate so and so’s will be the ones who shout the loudest about corruption when a political figure has been seen to be living their kind of life ☺

But wait there’s more there are normal people like you and I who knowingly break the law repeatedly, we drink and drive, overspeed, speak on the cell phones whilst driving. These laws are there for a reason. Let me paint a picture, you are hammered or distracted on your phone, run a red light or don’t see that kid crossing the street, booom, kid is dead, driver of the other car is expired. Now tell me how much better are we than those who break into our houses to rob and steal. Do I hear you saying intention?? You explain intention to a mother who lost her child or a husband who lost her wife or child who lost its parent…I think I make the illustration.

We give our word and we renege on it, sometimes we apologise other times we just ignore it, why because we can and who’s going to do what anyway huh?

I want to get ahead irrespective of who I screw over on my way to the top. Some say that’s the differentiator between a winner and in my mind if that’s what it takes to be a winner, well position 2 suits me just fine, but I have to keep on reminding myself that though, cos it’s a dog eat dog world out there and its sooo easy to get caught up in the flashing lights. So easy.

Now my dear people, I am no patron saint I tell u, not by any stretch of the imagination but we need to start being accountable, thoughtful and helpful. The older one gets the more some of realize that the flashing lights are great and all but life is more than that. Because at the end of the day DEATH comes for us all. It does and you know I was having a conversation with my brother a few days ago and he said something to me he heard at church. When we die on our tombstones will be your name, father, brother whatever, 1976 – 20whenever, the only part we have control of or can decide what to do with is the dash part. The others are all beyond our control. So before we criticize others around us, what are we doing in our own lives?? Are we holding people accountable, you cant turn a blind eye! Its not OK.

Birthdays
22nd Vix, Kimmy, Susan, Lindsay
24th Paddy, Kirst
25th Seempie, Abby
26th Sarah, Lethlogonolo, Thembs, Meeeee ☺
27th Zuraida,
28th Tumi, Lucie, Brett

Woow, I look at this list and I think I may have a thing for Piscean women ;). Oh yes Vixxy what a ripper weekend with the whole crew in Clarens, people if you haven’t been to Clarens, best you do yourself a favour and head out there

On that note that’s me over for another week, remember if you are reading this, you mos alive ne? so if you are alive you can make a difference ne??


Respect

Y

Hey sup man, so last week was a pretty eventful week for us here in SA. 20 years since the great man was released from incarceration. 7 more years and he would have been out for as long as he was in, hope he makes it yeah?! Then there was President JZ’s first state of the nation address.

Now I think about those 2 figures and however similar they may be, they are poles apart in terms of public character. But much has been said about the man called JZ, but as far as I am concerned not enough can be said about the one we call Tata Madiba.

20 years on and where is this country? Has South Africa become the country that he fought for and lost the better part of his life for? Was it worth him not knowing his grandchildren during their earlier years or straining his relationships with his children?

I am not him nor am I a member of his family, but as a ‘young’ South African, I think I have my thoughts on this. You guys might remember or have heard these words before: "I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination,I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony, and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for, and to see realized. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

That’s a mark of a true hero. I watched the movie Invictus a few weeks ago and man that story made me proud to be a South African man, a few goose bumps here and there and just thinking back I thought if he came out an angry and bitter man, wanting to destroy all the beacons that represented the regime that took away almost 3 decades of his life, no one would hold it against him. But that wasn’t his plan he came out with a message of forgiveness, acceptance and unification. Takes a special kind I tell ya. If the movie is a true indication of the events that happened after his release, the amount of time and effort he put into making sure the country was behind the Boks was phenomenal and a master stroke. To those who don’t believe in God and his ways, this may seem a trivial example but it to me is a great indication of his work. We were poised on a knife edge, if you lived here during those times you would know, I lived in Cape Town at the time and so we weren’t as affected as those living in Jozi and Durbs. The Boks had been playing some disgusting rugby up until the point of the first game of the World cup, no one gave them even half a chance of winning against Oz, because they were the flavour of the month man. But they triumphed against all odds, won a game against The French which some argue to be questionable and then the final against the favourites the All Blacks. I don’t care what anyone says, but winning that tournament and the newly elected president coming out and wearing the no 6 Jersey of the captain of the game of the oppressor, did more to stabilize this country than a lot of us realize.

But I guess more is needed than winning a RWC, isn’t it? His release held high hopes for many. Most of whom I am sure are disillusioned at the moment. There are tons of positives to be noted and it would be amiss not to mention them. We have a financial services system that in my mind works, from reserve bank to micro lenders. Some might argue the ethics behind micro lending but unfortunately the fulfill a requirement that many banks refuse to fulfill, there is a demand, they provide the supply, at a cost, but everyone is happy in the end I guess. The economy is fairly robust. Many people who were once not in a posisiton to freely exercise their rights in terms of speech, movement, education, work etc. have that opportunity. There is a rather healthy black middle class that has developed and mock it all you want, that group is what is really fueling the economy at the moment, BMW’s, Porsches, Louis Vuitton bags, Gucci Sunglasses, Christian Louboutin shoes, Camps Bay Villas for weekends, no man the middle class is rolling hard, and so too the economy. 20 years on we have hosted the Rugby World Cups, the Cricket World Cup, ICC 20Twenty world cup, plenty conferences, Bill Clinton, Music concerts, u name it they been here. We are hosting the biggest sporting showpiece in a few months time.

People know who we are and for the right reasons. We are seen as one of the major economies on this continent. If Thabo can afford to and he wants to, he can live in Booysens, Lens, Sandhurst or Soweto, date Celeste, Kerishnee, Nicole or Nomsa, eat at Wadis or the Villamoura, send their child to St Andrews or Ngangalizwe high…

BUUUUUUTTTTT!!! Its not all smiles and happy places for most, not many, MOST!! 20 years on and still they are where they were 20 years ago. Education has gotten worse. I will categorically state that, not that I am a teacher or in the system. We were lucky in the Transkei cos we were exposed to some quality teaching and syllabus. These politicians are preaching dropping the syllabus, that my dear friends (picture it said in Mike Tysons voice) is ludicrous! What is needed is money in teaching to pay the teachers and train them, but that’s not enough…evaluate them too.

We have money but then we have with all due respect monKeys in some public offices, particularly those offices that are responsible for service delivery. The result being Vusi who lived in a shack in Gugs, after being promised a better life for all, now has not even an RDP house but at least an open latrine instead of the bushes. Running water, no its still coming.

We have an AIDS issue in this country which is ridiculously insane. People are falling like dominoes! It’s the real deal and getting worse by my reckoning, I think the media are just bored about reporting on it. But you know can you blame them when the once custodian of this AIDS crisis, now state president is setting a sterling example.

Then there is this huge bug bear, crime. Crime of need is one thing and as much as no crime should be condoned, it can be sort of understood. But crime here is a different animal. It is embalmed with entitlement and greed and ignited with hatred and violence. It’s a problem, one of the biggest facing this country.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, after taking into consideration the evidence presented. This here country has plenty going for it, and loads not going for it and in my mind a lot of it stems from the attitude of entitlement from many here. I have just had a conversation with a gentleman from Zim. I asked him whether he is enjoying his time in South Africa and he answers no. So I ask him what he used to do back home and he said he used to be an human rights practitioner, but here is a waiter at Doppio Zero in Rosebank. We, my bro Nana and I, looked at him and said that right there is the main difference with hime and a lot of the masses here, he realized that he has to make things happen and instead of bitching and moaning about it, he got on with it.

Yes, loads was promised and hopes were high, but not much has been achieved or delivered but there is still much to be done and many an opportunity out there if you are willing to take off your entitlement hat and get down and do the hard yards. One may have to revise their aspirations.

You know at the end of the day all we have to do is work together and make the circle beega…watch this link for a reminder about why we are such a special kind…http://www.timesurl.at/7a7f6c

Birthdays
14th Barbs
16th Jane and Luntu
17th Nadia
18th Lourie, Sarah Cronin
20th KJ

And that’s a wrap folks.

But before I go though, this Wednesday was what many Christians know as Ash Wednesday, you know the same song…instead of giving up something how about giving something to those less fortunate and also trying to be a better you for the next 40 or so days….think about it

Y

“Have a baby, Have a baby by me, baby! Be a millionaire, Have a baby by me, baby! Be a millionaire, Have a baby by me, baby! Be a millionaire, Be a millionaire, Be a, Be a millionaire”
Apparently that is our new national anthem in SA….kwaaa

What a glorious day it is in Joburg today, man blazing hot, people on the move, I need to get back into the game, who’s got a job for me?

This week was an interesting week na. Something I never understand is when people are protesting about service delivery, or about anything really, what I never understand is why they have to turn violent and break things? My thinking is if those people who were meant to fix broken things or provide you with the basics are struggling to deliver as it is, how will making a mess in the streets and breaking things speed it up? Are you not just creating a bigger problem, or am I on tik?

Moving along, so many amongst us have been floating on cloud 9 this week, isn’t it. Aphrodite, Eros, Cupid are all doing the tango on your heart. The normal circular shapes of Irises have undergone a metamorphosis and have now taken on the shape of a heart.

Ok that’s me trivializing what this day means to many, and once again when the time comes for me to make a big deal about it trust u me I will, cos as I said before, my momma didn’t raise no fool but hear me out. 14th Feb, now it’s the whole month of Feb, now known as the month of love. Marketers I tell u. Same thing as with diamond rings but even worse. A bunch of flowers which I most probably could pick up for R100 today I will have to pay R400 or something insane for on the 14th Feb. A bottle of wine in a restaurant price shoots up.

I guess simple economics demand and supply, but still I don’t get it.

Anyway I don’t have much to say this week woop woop, super 14 has started ☺

Birthdays
8th Kwaku, Bibi
9th Thembi
11th Zahir,
12th Glamb, Nonku, Dodds

Ok that’s mee for another week.

Hope your weekend is full of humungous love and appreciation and recognition…sincerely

Remember no better time than the present

Y

Number one hustler gettin' honeys, Why you wanna count my wifeys?
I'm a hustler and don't need them One of y'all, you see, I'm so laid…

That ladies and gentlemen is the JZ remix. Really whats up with that? Lets just hope it is just allegations and nothing more. You have just come out of a scandal married 2 wives inbetween and now you have a baby with one of your close friends’ daughters…ai ai ai The man needs to join Tiger in rehab and he cant say no no no!

And then there is the captain of my soccer team, Chelsea…I shake my head…

The wives I have no issue with culture is culture man, cos to be honest if I think about it Monogamy is largely a Western European principle which gained worldwide acceptance as the ‘norm’ over the years. Some might argue its from Christianity, but I would beg to differ. Many of the Bibles founding patriarchs were quite openly polygamous.

Anyway so I did some reading and found this out. Monogamy was instituted by the Romans in order to protect their possessions. So anyway how it started was like this. In the early years AD, Christians were persecuted plenty by the then dominant Roman Empire. They tried to kill off all Christians, but because the religion was spreading so quickly they had to shift to plan B, which was to embrace it and use it to further their own objectives. 4th Century, enter Emperor Constantine the Great, first Pope and also the birth of the Roman Catholic church.

At this time it was still alright for priests and other church people to have more than one wife provided the man took care of his all his wives, Romans apparently on the other hand were very monogamous in marriage but polygamous in fornication. Then it dawned on them wait, all the money and the land of the Roman Empire is largely in the possession of the Church and those who represent it, so if we allow them to have many wives and resultant offspring, the churchs property would be carved off to these wives and kids as inheritances and these people may not necessarily be church folk…hmm problem…BINGO….solution right all church people no more wives, if you are married divorce. All your kids…illegitimate. Done

So now that it has been discussed that monogamy does not have a Biblical birth, but a Roman birth, why then is it so prevalent and seen as the norm? I got a quote form a guy called Dr. Nathaniel Branden, a so called authority on the subject of romantic love wrote a book called Taking responsibility and he defines it quite well in this book as follows: "Romantic love means finding a soul mate – someone whose values and sense of life mirror our own. We feel a drive to organize our life around this person and no one else. If someone says, ‘I love you’ in a romantic context, this what they are understood to be saying."

Deep hey? I haven’t read the book but I got a quote from this article I was reading and it makes sense. We as humans want to ‘own’ the object of our affection not so? It’s a selfish and possessive nature within us. My world revolves around you and yours around me awwww sigh happiness. Your love is for me only not for me, nomsa, michelle, mary, just me…heaven!!

What monogamy and this practice called asceticism (the practice of celibacy to achieve holiness) does do is helps breed a more ‘morally correct’ society no? it tries to stop the spread of diseases for one, controls the world population…somewhat and I guess it also does teach us commitment and the consequences of betrayal it promotes a world where a wo/man’s word is worth more than the spit with which it is uttered!

Anyway my 2 cents would love to hear yours…

Birthdays
31st Refiloe Ramogase
1st Feb Kirst, Nezaam, Leila Khan
02 - Ari Levitan, Cameron, Raphael, Zaahid Ismaiel
03 - Kgomotso
04 - Sameena Khan

And that’s me this week, yall take care now