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Monthly Archives: September 2008

Durban or Dirtbin?

An old mate of mine, Frosty, from Durban, was kind enough to enlighten me on the diabolical state the Durban beachfront was allowed to get into this weekend past. This kind of follows on from a previous rant I had about certain members of our population getting away with blue murder and carrying on taking the piss out of our countries laws.

What makes some people above the law? I remember being in Durban some many years ago and being verbally pistol whipped by cops for so much as walking with an open can of beer. These days you can get away with this type of shit that resulted from antics that kicked off on Friday night while SCHOOL KIDS had back-to-back parties celebrating the break for school holidays. This is what happens when you have no corporal punishment and worse off no reasonable standard or policing anymore in this country. Where were the cops? According to iol.co.za, this is what the ANC considers the situation being “well under control” Check this out! (see comments below pics).

To all those who took part in defecating and destroying your own incredible city, you people are disgusting and should be ashamed!

 DirtBin01

DirtBin02

DirtBin03

DirtBin04

This is what a couple of people have had to say about it:

Some comments from WaveScape.co.za:

“The beach front was a supreme mess. It is the worst I have ever seen it. I ride early from the Sun Coast practically every Saturday and Sunday. It is always a mess. This weekend was diabolical. There was so much filth and broken bottles, not to mention the drunken people who were urinating and shitting all over. It stank. There were people who were so drunk driving their vehicles. When I arrived at 05H15 there was a Metro cop at the circle near the Sun Coast and the swimming pool diverting the traffic away from the road between Sun Coast and Blue Lagoon. I told him to call his mates and start arresting people for drunk driving, drinking in public, shitting and pissing in public. His response was “no I can’t do that.””

Some more from the East Coast Radio website:

“I am one of the many early risers in Durban who use the beachfront for recreational and exercise purposes and the scenes which greeted me at 6am on Saturday morning have left me in no doubt about the couldn’t care less attitude of our City Manager, Michael Sutcliffe and his inept Metro Police force.

I met up with some friends for an early morning run at the Snake Park car park at 6am. We arrived to a drunken festival of soccer in the car park, racing taxis doing wheel spins whilst racing each other around the car park. We were forced to relocate to the Joe Kools car park but it was too dangerous to use the road so we drove along the pavement behind the Beach Cafe!

The scenes at the Joe Kools car park were no better (fornication and aggressive behaviour) and we quickly decided to make our way to Durban North for our run. Might I add that we normally finish our run at the beach cafe and have breakfast there – so we, the paying “tourists” were not able to support the beachfront businesses. Might I also add that during the 30 or so minutes at the beachfront, I did not see ONE policeman! I actually found myself phoning friends and family to tell them to come and witness the madness.”

Lastly from the Independent Online:

Democratic Alliance ward councillor Avrille Coen said that the party had put forward a motion in July calling for a plan to be developed using increased visible policing patrols, adopting a zero-tolerance programme of enforcement and maximising the use of closed-circuit television.

She said the ANC had vetoed the motion, saying that the situation was well under control.

However, in the light of the weekend’s events, the Democratic Alliance would be reintroducing the motion.

 
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Posted by on September 30, 2008 in Hmmm, Politics, Rant 'n Rave, South Africa

 

A Sad Day For A Foo Fighters Fan

It was brought to my attention over the weekend that the legendary band the Foo Fighters are going to be “taking a long break” and that fans should not expect any new music from them for a very long time.

This news coming after my previously hectic travelling lifestyle meant that I missed seeing them live with front row tickets back when I was in Iraq (Check it out)

Quote taken from NME.com

“Frontman Dave Grohl told BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles that the band were set to go on hiatus then return with a new sense of purpose further down the line.
"We’ve never really taken a long break, I think it’s time," he said.
The former
Nirvana drummer continued: "After doing Wembley (the band played Wembley Stadium on June 6 and 7) we shouldn’t come back there for 10 years because we’ve played to everybody.
"We’re over in the UK every year, every summer, so I think it’s time to take a break and come back over when people really miss us."”

(In Your Honor)

Hurry back boys. You never did tour South Africa and we still dig you even if those boring Poms don’t fully appreciate your talents and are easily bored! Welcome to Africa. Mi casa es su casa

     

Thanks to V Festival 2003 though, I did see them live. From a distance

 
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Posted by on September 29, 2008 in Africa, Music, Party!, South Africa, UK, Wishlist

 

Hoox… That’s not my name!

** Updates below

Errrrr actually it is. I just like this song!

In fact I can remember one day many many years ago I was sitting with my folks and we were having a kewl chat about names and stuff. I asked where they came up with my second name [insert name] and my pops (aka AH) just laughed and he said, “That’s not your real name. We just call you that because your real name was too complicated for you to pronounce and learn how to spell as a child.”

I was mortified. He was joking! 8)

What’s in a name? I know some people with some really crazy names and nicknames. I think it’s kewl.

Here are some nicknames of people I have known that have been referred to as their alternate name so regularly that some people actually don’t even know their real name:

  • Fluffy
  • Twinx
  • Courage
  • Tango
  • Mullac or Skelm
  • Mr Blatt
  • Bone
  • Rowdy
  • Spoonz
  • Bean (runner, jumping, special & magic beans)
  • …. I’m sure I could remember more given the time.

I have had some pretty odd nicknames growing up but have mostly just derived from a combination of my initials and or first name / surname. Hoox, Hooxster, Hookie, Chook (That stuck for a while, mainly with the Australians since in Aus, a chook is a chicken!). Oh and Chrispy Chicken. What’s with the chicken bit?  The one that has stood the test of time and dates back to when I was born is Kiffie. That came about when my brother Tango, 2 years my senior, struggled to pronounce my name and it came out Kiff-ta-fa. Or summing like that. 8)

What’s the craziest, kewlest, oddest names or nicknames you have ever had or heard?

 
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Posted by on September 26, 2008 in Family, Friends, L & J, Music

 

SMS Subscriptions

I think it’s almost criminal how people are being persuaded over multiple TV ads to sign up for extremely annoying and irritating baby crying or screen smashing ringtones and equally stupid pictures for their phone by simply SMSing (Texting) a number and becoming a member of this service. I wonder how many idiots fail to read the entire screen carefully and not realise that they are actually signing up for a regular subscription service costing them as much as R40* or higher per week. A fool and his money are easily separated.

SMS

What also gets to me is how these people are now tugging at the heartstrings of the religious. "Just SMS the word Save to 12345 and receive daily scripture passages guaranteed to change your life". What they fail to emphasize is this happy little miraculously life altering SMS is going to cost you R35 per week.

Then there’s poor little Billy No Mates who is sitting at home alone on a Friday night cos no one loves him. He can simply SMS the word flirt to 54321 and get laid. I guess if that was true then it’s a bargain at R40 per week + R1 per SMS sent.

It is really annoying that there are services such as GloMobi and the likes who are just out to rip people off with ridiculously stupid content. I also question the mental capacity of their target market who keep on paying, certainly enough to keep them advertising and creating opportunity for more of these services to start up! I think my greatest concern is for the the kids though who have no real clue and no real concept of the value of money but who have cell phones topped up by mom and dad for safety reasons so they can make a call if they run into trouble.

One smart bastard getting stinking rich off the idiocracy of the masses. Now that’s what the world considers an entrepreneur.

*R = Rand. 1GBP = R15. 1US$ = R8.
**Values mentioned are not 100% accurate but simply an indication as to amounts charged

 
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Posted by on September 25, 2008 in Money, Rant 'n Rave, South Africa, Technology

 

Train crushes railway sex couple

News flash in thanks to WG:

map

Train crushes railway sex couple

A couple in South Africa who were having sex on a railway track in Mpumalanga Province have been killed by a goods train, police say.

Spokesman Abie Khoabane said it took place on Friday evening and the victims were yet to be identified.

He told local newspapers that the couple ignored the driver’s shouts as he moved the train into the disused station in Kinross town.

"They continued with their business," he told the Sowetan paper.

According to South Africa’s Beeld newspaper, the area was deserted with no cars or houses nearby.

The man died at the scene and the woman died later at hospital, the Sowetan reports.

The police have appealed for those with missing relatives to come forward to help with their investigation.

Now I have to question the entire ordeal as I’m trying desperately to work out which of the three major factors in this story are worse:

  1. People would choose a railway track to shag on? Surely that must be close to the most unconfortable place to shag. OR…
  2. They were than engrossed in railway sleeper shinanagons that they didn’t see or hear a big ass train about to run them over. OR…
  3. The driver, who shouldn’t have been using a disused station to start with, continues to drive his train over two people shagging even after admitting that he saw them!

You have to love Africa! Do we quality for the Darwin Awards?

 
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Posted by on September 24, 2008 in Africa, L & J, South Africa, Transport

 

Are South African police racist?

This is a question that I have heard discussed somewhat frequently lately. Are South African police racist? And for the sake of the international readers who may assume that I am talking about the very commonly confused racism of white people oppressing black people, allow me to clarify that what I’m talking about is completely the opposite. The South African police force is made up almost entirely of black officers. And when I say police force I am also referring to the Traffic and Metro departments too.

I can see why people would be asking this question. All you have to do is drive around a bit and it will become blatantly obvious. Taxis are a law unto their own. They have carte blanche on the streets breaking every traffic law put in place that is supposed to govern everybody equally. But simple mom picking up her kids from school doesn’t indicate when turning at a yield traffic light get pulled over and fined. I saw this only last week.

 taxi-pic 01

Some time ago I was driving from Midrand in Johannesburg to O R Thambo Airport and I had to go through the back end of Thembisa to avoid the highway traffic. At one intersection there was an actual flow of taxis driving offroad 4×4 style around an intersection to avoid the traffic buildup, then crossing 3 lanes of traffic holding everyone else up in the process, then over the centre medium, through another 3 lanes of traffic behind me and pushed in at the intersection again ahead of me and went on their merry way through a red light. This was all happening while crossing in front of 6 black traffic police officers that had pulled over 4 cars with white drivers. Coincidence? Surely not. Do we all live by different rules? It seems so. Or a more likely scenario is that the police are either shit scared of the taxis or simply know they won’t pay the fines anyway so why bother. The pain is greater than the gain but white mom and pop make a very soft target and the force knows they are much more likely to pay.

taxi-pic 02

A friend of mine just the other week was driving and caught for speeding and pulled over by the supposedly illegally camouflaged traffic cop who was hiding away in bush out of sight. When she asked the (black) cop why he had pulled her over and not the 4 taxis that had come past her even faster just moments before, his only response was, “Are you calling me a racist?” I wonder. My answer…. YES!

**Images found on Google.

 
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Posted by on September 24, 2008 in Rant 'n Rave, South Africa, Transport, Travel

 

Government Vacuum

This news just in from Reuters

More than a third of South Africa’s cabinet stepped down on Tuesday after President Thabo Mbeki resigned, deepening the biggest political crisis since the end of apartheid.

The list of resignations included respected Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, immediately shaking markets, but they recovered when his office said he was ready to serve under a new president.

The resignation of 10 ministers and the deputy president out of a cabinet of 30 followed Mbeki’s decision on Sunday to step down after his ruling African National Congress withdrew its support.

Dude wheres my government

OH BOY!

 
4 Comments

Posted by on September 23, 2008 in Politics, South Africa

 

FarCall by CellC

Just bumbling around the internet this morning I came across an ad which can be extremely useful for people that have friends and family abroad that you like to call fairly regularly. This service is called FarCall and it is powered by VOIP (Voice Over IP) by CellC. Certainly for most South Africans it covers the more popular destinations: England, Australia and USA and of course others.

logo_01

All you have to do is call that number shown 084 198 0001 and then further dial the number you want to call internationally when prompted. Just be careful though, they do state that calls to international cell phones are currently limited to specific countries which is a bit of a bummer since we all rely almost completely on cellular communications when overseas.

I am yet to have a need to use it but I would appreciate some feedback on this service if it is indeed worthwhile. Most particularly I would like to hear about the call quality and reliability.

 
2 Comments

Posted by on September 23, 2008 in Good News, N.W.R., South Africa, Technology, Travel, UK, USA

 

Highveld Stereo (94.7) vs Radio 5 (5FM)

If you are in or around Johannesburg then you really only have 2 radio stations to choose from, (ok there are more but no-one really cares), the regional station Highveld Stereo 94.7 or the national station, Radio 5, or 5FM as it is better known.

In my opinion they are both great and both suck equally but for different reasons.

Highveld have very good DJs and I especially like the Rude Awakening team in the morning and Alex Jay in the afternoon. They also have great ideas helping out with charities, events etc and have some brilliant public interaction with fantastic ideas and competitions. I used to help them out quite a bit some years ago when my ex worked in the “Fun and Games Department” – Event Management, so I kind of understand how these things get put together. But let’s be honest here, the music sucks! Come on guys. 5FM has a slot in the afternoon called “Cheesy Tune” or something. All they do is grab music off your playlist!

5FM’s music rocks. They have a wide selection of music and it is mostly current and good vibey tunes. To be honest I have only started listening to them again recently but so far I haven’t picked up a lot of repeats although I’m sure there might be especially with the newer stuff and trying to respond to listeners requests. Highveld has a “No Repeat Workday Guarantee” which sounds impressive but how bad was it in order for them to create that to bring listeners back? What 5FM lacks badly though are good DJs. Again this is in principle only my opinion but really, they actually drive me to change station. Regular mistakes and stupid comments irritate me. And when a listener calls in, LISTEN to them for a change and try to have a reasonable conversation with them! They are after all your bread and butter!

The perfect radio station now in my opinion would be Highveld DJs playing 5FM’s playlists. But as it’s been said before, that’s only my opinion!

 
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Posted by on September 23, 2008 in Ideas, Music, South Africa, Wishlist

 

South Africa No Longer Presidentless

News just in. It seems the ANC in all their wisdom have announced the name of the individual who will be picking up the reigns of this beloved country and steering it the way he sees fit. Right, now let’s see who this chap is.

Kgalema Motlanthe is the man of the moment. “Who?” I hear people ask (or maybe that’s just me), so I will try and do a bit of scratching around.

Motlanthe (right) as placeholder president for Zuma (left)
Motlanthe & Zuma

First result, from our good old faithful Wikipedia. This is what they have to say about him (Click here). Isn’t it incredible that it didn’t take Inspector Clueso to find the word “corruption” associated with this man:

Corruption

In February 2006, auditors revealed that a total of about R2 billion in loans by the Land Bank, a government institution established to help farmers, had gone sour. Earlier, a R800 million (about $112 million) 10 year loan was given to Pamodzi Investment Holdings, a company whose shareholders include Motlanthe. This amounted to nearly one-third of the Land Bank’s total assets, and was a non-agricultural investment. There is no suggestion that this particular loan was non-performing. Pamodzi chief executive Ndaba Ntsele denies there was any wrongdoing. The government has since fired the Land Bank chairman and agreed to inject R700 million to keep the Land Bank operative.

Here’s what The Times had to say about him:

“Motlanthe has repeatedly said that his job was to “accurately and as faithfully as possible” reflect the views of the membership.

This seems to have put him on a collision course with Mbeki.”

“The calm, respected, trust-inspiring 59-year-old Motlanthe would be given the go-ahead if the race between Zuma and Mbeki turned bitter, bloody or divisive.

If it came to that, the left, Cosatu, the SACP and the Youth League are likely to endorse his candidacy enthusiastically.”

A bit more about the whole situation from the UK paper, The Telegraph

“Motlanthe will be the president, not interim, he will be the president of the republic until the election,” a party spokesman told a major news agency.

Mr Motlanthe was appointed to the cabinet in July after defying Mr Mbeki to defend Mr Zuma in a corruption trial and is a possible choice for the deputy president if Mr Zuma wins next April’s election.

The 58-year-old leftist intellectual was a student activist, trade unionist and soldier in the ANC’s military wing UmKhonto we Sizwe – for which he was imprisoned with Nelson Mandela during white rule.”

“The real cause for concern this morning, as we continue to digest these big events, is that the ANC has put the party before the people on this account, in a move that will have serious and long term consequences for us all”.

Kgalema Motlanthe is to be sworn in as acting president of South Africa. Lindiwe Sisulu will be acting deputy president.

 
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Posted by on September 22, 2008 in Hmmm, Money, Politics, South Africa

 
 
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