Not looking twice…

By 6000 | 6000 | January 24, 2012

Oh dear. The DA Student Organisation have launched a new poster campaign – “in OUR future, you wouldn’t look twice” – and SA has gone utterly mental over the first release.
The general reaction has been rather depressing to read, from accusations that it is racist, to complaints that the poster promotes sex, to terrifying over-analysis and allegations of it having overtones of slavery and sexism. I don’t see it that way at all – it seems to me that people sometimes desperately leap onto any passing bandwagon – but here it is so that you can judge for yourselves.

Let’s allow Jacques Rousseau at Synapses.co.za to explain for those who have a mental age below 5, shall we?

It simply highlights the fact that some people would look twice at an inter-racial couple, and reminds viewers of the poster that in the ideal DASO future, this wouldn’t happen.

While it has certainly got (some of) South Africa talking, as I said, the chatter is all rather depressing and I really don’t feel like joining in.
Fortunately, an amusing internet meme (which I am happy to propagate) appears to have risen from this general nonsense and added some amusement to the otherwise miserable proceedings:

      

Click images to upsize your viewing experience.

UPDATE: Oh – and Jacques sums it up just perfectly here:

What this sort of thing goes to show is that if you want to find a problem, you’ll do so – regardless of the intellectual contortions necessary.

Yep.

UPDATE 2: A point proven by this from the CDP’s Theunis Botha:

In a country with high levels of Aids and an overdose of crime, especially the high incidence of farm murders this year, this poster sends the opposite message to the country than needed.

Yes, when a white man hugs a black woman, farm murders happen. And God kills a kitten.

2 Comments | Tagged , , , , | Posted in annoying people, in the news, politics, that's a bit mad, this is south africa

Alone

By 6000 | 6000 | January 23, 2012

It’s Monday, it’s raining in Cape Town and you might need something to get you going. Not going like a rocket, but just a chilled entry into another week.
May I suggest the dulcet piano beats of Jasper Forks’ Alone?

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I obviously like this track since it seems that I have looked it up several times on SoundHound. Soundhound really should just go ahead and download it for me now. It’s a feature that I’ll suggest to them. Three lookups on the same track and you’ll automatically find it in the My Music folder on your device.
This is a perfect example of Throwaway Dance Music (TDM). TDM is great to listen to for a short time, but in 10 years, only pub quiz aficionados and true dance fans will actually be able to recall who made the track. And Jasper Forks’ similarity to Robert Miles may even confuse those individuals.
This, as you’ll be aware, is the official video for the radio edit. You might also enjoy the Extended Radio Mix, which is like the song above, but extended.

1 Comment | Tagged , , | Posted in music

$aving

By 6000 | 6000 | January 22, 2012

A couple of weeks ago, Eskom warned us that we were once teetering on the edge of load-shedding (aka “rolling blackouts”) and that we must try to save as much electricity as possible to prevent this. People see this as counter-intuitive coming from the people who generate our electricity and therefore make more money when we use it, but it’s nothing unusual: I was brought up with YEB doing roadshows at our school telling us to use less electricity, so let’s forget the exceptionalism, shall we?

Anyway, it was a reminder to up our power saving and in turn, it reminded me that I never updated you lot on how my Geyserwise installation had worked out.

Geyserwise is a timer that lets you decide when and to what temperature you choose to heat your water for use in the house. This might seem like a bit of a no-brainer for those overseas, but that fact is that most South African households (who have geysers) leave them on 24/7. And it’s a pain to remember to switch it off on your distribution board or to climb into your loft to alter the temperature on the thermostat.

Now, instead of our geyser being on 24/7 (or when I remembered to switch it on/off), it’s on for less than an hour each day. Instead of being set to 65°C, it’s set to 50°C. And wow – what a difference to our electricity bill.

That bill has come down by around 45%, which means that rather than paying for itself in the 3 months I was hoping, the unit started saving us money within 6 weeks. We’ve fiddled with it very slightly – just altering the times a little to suit us better and taking the temperature down a little more – but I cannot fault the unit or its effect.

If you’re reading this and have been considering getting one of these, just do it.

Those contact details again: Leon at Geysol (076 036 0623).

This is not a sponsored post.

4 Comments | Tagged , , | Posted in 6000 recommends, economic issues, in the news, no electricity, this is south africa

First week nerves

By 6000 | 6000 | January 21, 2012

The first week back at school has gone swimmingly for the boy. But then he finds himself in familiar surroundings surrounded by familiar people. Monday was Scoop’s first day at “big school”.

Before and even during arrival at school, she was excited and upbeat. I captured this as she lined up for the first time, ready to go into class and, I guess, as the reality of the situation suddenly hit home. But there were no tears. She’s a tough little thing and by Wednesday, we were dropping her off at the front gate and she was making her own way through to the school yard – albeit with her big brother by her side.

I imagine that there will be another little dip in confidence on Monday morning, but all things considered, she’s settled really quickly and we’re proud of them both.

One quick mention for Pammie-Jane who is (health willing) going to be playing with the sharks in the waters of East London (and more!) as she attempts another ridiculous Ironman. Good Luck!

1 Comment | Tagged , , | Posted in from the blogroll, learning curve, positive thoughts, the parenting bunny

Red Hot Chili Peppers in South Africa in 2013

By 6000 | 6000 | January 20, 2012

Yes, apparently this time the rumours might be true: The Red Hot Chili Peppers are set to tour South Africa (ie. visit Joburg and Cape Town) in 2013.

We’ve all heard that the Chilis will be playing in South Africa in 2010 before the World Cup and in 2010 after the World Cup and that they also are playing in South Africa in 2011 and, of course, who could forget those several times in 2012 that the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be playing in South Africa?

However, this new information (much like all the other information), which pushes the potential concerts back still further to 2013 comes (apparently, allegedly) straight from the horse’s mouth. And the particular equine in question is Attie van Wyk, founder of Big Concerts. This demonstrates the sheer desperation of the social media music scene in getting very excited about a band whose biggest hits wowed us just 21 years ago who may or may not play a concert which may or may not be happening in South Africa in the next 23½ months.

If the tour does happen, they will be supported (ever so ably, I’m sure) by The Parlotones. Tickets - to our great surprise and annoyance - will be available from Computicket, whose website – to our great surprise and annoyance – will crash on the morning that sales open.
The concerts will be well attended, the beer will run out after 20 minutes and the sound at the Cape Town Stadium will be a bit crap.

See you there!

2 Comments | Tagged , , , , | Posted in in the news, learning curve, music, positive thoughts
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