jump.

Great, fun viral video for the launch of Am I Collective illustration crew's Muti T-shirts. The music rounds it off perfectly.

Video: Rob Nicholls; music: Remy Gold.


Muti t-shirt launch from Robert Nicholls on Vimeo.

smile!

I've stuck up a few photos of our Sydney travels (Surry Hills and a capoeira roda in Newtown) on Facebook if you want to check them out. We're currently in Melbourne for new years adventuring... photos will be sure to follow.
More importantly, tomorrow i'm off to the MCG for the final day of the test match against Australia... where SA will (hopefully) make history and win the series! Who would have thought this possible after our dismal batting on day two? Forgive me if i have a smug grin on my face for the rest of the week!

the positivity of kakness*

This is beautiful!

I know you are not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover, but if there is one book I’ll buy based on the title alone, it is this one:
Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Kak?
The Whinger's Guide to South Africa - from AA to JZ

The co-author, Tim Richman, has just released a sequel, Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Still Kak? More than that though, he’s written an interesting post for SA Good News, on finding a way through the polar opposites of blind optimism and distrustful pessimism. If you are a South African concerned and/or hopeful about the country’s future, I’d suggest you read the short article. Here are some good extracts:

Grumpy, angry, annoyed, aggravated, disappointed, dismayed, irritated, irate, incensed, infuriated, indignant, outraged, ticked off, hacked off, pissed off - guilty as charged. When I'm stuck in traffic, standing in queues, dealing with my bank, listening to hold music, listening to Julius Malema, then I'm all of these things and more. (Who isn't? And what medication are they on?) But I'm also a generally positive guy who loves South Africa and celebrates the fact that he can call it home…

"If you scratch a cynic you find a disappointed idealist."

Cynicism has its localised appeal, there's no denying it. It can be humorous and even insightful, and when dealing with certain elements of life - advertising, estate agents, Telkom - a cynical approach is possibly the only way to stay sane. But people who live their lives as daily distrustful pessimists, always predicting the worst, are ultimately insufferable. Not to mention boring.

"Utopia" does not exist…(The word, invented by Thomas More in 1516, comes from Greek and literally means "not a place".)

So you can call me a realistic skeptic. Or a skeptical realist. Take your pick. It boils down to this: while I hope for the best, I also plan for the worst - which means I genuinely believe that our country has every chance of a bright future ahead but I'm not overly disappointed when the rand drops through the floor or Malema says something particularly stupid or the Scorpions are finally disbanded.

One thing's for sure: there isn't much humour at those outer ends of the scale, and at times like these you're going to struggle to survive if you can't see the lighter side of things.

You can find more info on the books from the publishers TwoDogs who print ‘South African books worth reading.’ They also have quite an interesting selection of books, including another catchy title: Why I’ll Never Live in Aus Again.

[*for the non-Saffers reading this, 'kak' is an afrikaans word used widely by english speaking South Africans. It's literal afrikaans meaning is 'sh*t', but when used by english people it approximates to a milder expletive, similar to 'crap', but with more emotion. (Isn't it funny how other languages feel free to use words that, in the original language, wouldn't be acceptable?)]

travel advisory

Quantas had a 2-for-1 deal on international flights yesterday, so Julie and I scooped up tickets home for half price. Hooray! We’ll be visiting for 3 weeks over Easter next year, and be back in Australia-land just in time for Aus Nationals in Perth. Unfortunately it does mean I’ll miss New Zealand Nationals in early April, but sometimes Frisbee has to take the back seat for family and friends!

I’m already looking forward to the visit. We’re going to be in Jozi, Durbs and Cape Town, so as to see all our friends that we miss so much. If you are in either of the cities, please pencil the dates in your diary (28Mar-18April).

SA at Worlds - follow the action

"Worlds" has been on this week, and the SA team have been giving it all against some stiff opposition. They lost their crucial match against Italy today which means they didn't make it to the top bracket. Tough luck guys. There are still 4 games remaining, so follow the division schedule, and SA's stats, on the World's website. However, for the real story (with pictures), be sure to read Steve (and others') great commentary on the SA blog.
Good luck for the next stage of the tournament team! (and kudos to Mike Weston for what sounds like an awesome layout score against the Swiss on Sunday. Wish i could have seen it!)

sad frisbee news...

It’s about time I let my blog in on some sad news… After nationals I was chosen as part of the SA team to go to Worlds in Vancouver in August. Worlds! Like where all the best ultimate players in the world go. I started training and strategising and all. BUT, in my last game in Cape Town, I hurt my ankle rather badly (read: torn ligament). Pants! I had hoped that I would recover in a few weeks, but it’s been 6 and I still can’t run properly. So, last week I had to call the captains and cancel. Big downer.
There’s not much I can do about it, but I would have given my left ankle to play at Worlds. Quite a few of the players all started playing with me about 4 years ago, and I would have loved to play alongside them. All I can do now is wish them luck, and make sure I fix my ankle and play in all the tournaments I can here in Aus. Hopefully I’ll stay in shape and in 4 years time I’ll still be good enough for the SA team. That is debatable though, as there are some really skilled young players coming up through the LoveLife program and schools’ leagues. Good news for SA ultimate, but bad news for (what will be) and old fogey like me in 4 years time. We shall see!
Good luck to the rest of the team… they leave in under a month for Canada.

Shameful dark days in South Africa

UPDATE: My friend Jo has just put together a moving video of the Cape Town situation, where things are still desperate and relief needed. If you are on facebook, watch it here.

cartoon © JONATHAN SHAPIRO. 26-5-2008

Man, SA is in a strange place. Crazy-ness has been going on here lately - horrible xenophobic violence, looting, raping and killing. It started in Alex (Jo'burg) two weeks ago, and reached Cape Town on Thursday. On Friday the air in CT was really tense, and we were worried about the safety of friends in the townships. Not fun at all! Jules and I had our farewell party on Friday night and it was hard for anyone to be really present knowing what was going on around us.

I’m sure people are trying to work out what went wrong and why SA (the 'rainbow nation') is so anti-foreigners. One of my surmises is that it is not really xenophobia, but systemic injustice. You can’t stand on people for so long without them getting angry. Scholars will talk about Gini coefficients and economic policies and crab-bucket syndrome, but, in plain talk, the poor had had enough of the poverty and unemployment levels here and were expressing their anger. (The interest rate hikes, huge food & petrol price increases and Eskom woes all contributing) Unfortunately the scapegoats were fellow poor people, who just happen to be born North of our borders, and their manner of expression was violent and destructive.

So, South Africa erupted, and we had some of our darkest days since Apartheid. Although xenophobic violence is not new to SA, something somewhere has tripped, and this was on a different scale. My question though is - once we have patched up this eruption, will there be structural change and action from government and the ‘haves’ to ensure the root causes are dealt with, or will we just wait for the next crisis? And, if things don’t change, who will be the recipients of the anger this time? Will it be the real creators and benefactors of the status quo - privileged whites? You and me?

I’ve been offline for a bit (reasons to follow on the blog) so I followed these developments via word of mouth, radio and newspapers. Today I was able to scour the net and read some of the online and international commentary on what actually happened, and how multi-faceted the issues are. If you want a brief synopsis of what happened, here are three helpful articles with background, commentary and interviews:

M&G - Hunted by gangs, migrants flee flames.
BBC - Tensions erupt in city of promise. (Joburg)
M&G - Is this the end of the rainbow nation?

And for those of us in SA, the problems aren’t over. 45 000 displaced foreigners is not an easy task to deal with, nor are the sights and stories at the community centres and churches where those chased out are gathered. It is good to hear some stories of communities reaching out. I was especially glad to hear of the apology at Masiphumelele, where the community has asked the foreigners to come back, and are going around returning the looted items. Maybe there is still some rainbow here in our nation, barely visible shining through the dark clouds?

Being a Christ follower in SA

http://kleipotgemeente.typepad.com/soulgardeners/2008/04/being-a-christ.html

A thought-provoking and timely post by Thomas at Soulgardeners to be read by SA gospel people (if he isn't on your blogroll already). His questions at the end of the post are very pertinent. I have a semi-confession on issue no. 2 to make sometime soon, so watch this space.

Ultimate Frisbee Nationals

Is happening tomorrow!
More details here.

If you are in CT, come by Bergvliet on Sat or Sun this weekend and watch the best (and only) teams in SA compete for the SA National title. There is even a Maputo team coming through. My team are the current champs (Cape Disc Doctors) ... will we be able to retain our title?
This is THE chance to come and see what Ultimate is about (and even join us for the 80's themed party tomorrow night).

Soooo looking forward to it. We've been practicing most of this year, and had a carbo-loading pasta party last night. Good times!

double good news

South Africa, the Good News is a website that recently made it onto my Bloglines feedreader roll. It helps to counteract the (bad) news that the press throws at me daily. Two recent entries caught my eye today:

• A Restorative Justice pilot project in a township in KwaZulu Natal - I'm a big fan of restorative justice, and think this is a great project. Here's a line in the opening paragraph of the article that also made me think:

"I heard someone once say that our townships were designed to be “bastions of apartheid control” but with the advent of democracy, they have become “fortresses of criminal control”

• Secondly, a piece on "The Most Beautiful Object in SA". Need i say more?

Another good news site to watch is makenewsgood.co.za which has just been launched by Jo Higgs, a friend of Julie&I. She's involved in video journalism and also wants to see a change in the way news is reported and the belief that only bad news sells. I agree!

Budget time!

Tomorrow the SA finance minister (lets call him "Trev") is giving his budget speech outlining the midterm budget and econimic forecasts for the next three years. Many people will be listening to see what impact the allocations and changes will have on their bond repayments and investments. Nothing wrong with that. However, for the last few years, there has been another budget speech - the People Budget Campaign. The PBC is a coalition of the SACC, COSATU and SANGOCO (SA NGO coalition). These three groups, representing a huge swath of the SA working population, get together throughout the year and work on the PBC. I encountered some of this work while at the SACC, and found it most worthwhile. Trev and his economic gurus look at the national budget from the point of view of the government and big business, while the PBC looks at it from the point of view of the people on the street. Good idea! They were the folks who created and have been spearheading the Basic Income Grant movement here in SA, and continually call for a fiscal policy that takes job creation and welfare seriously. Our current macro economic policy, along the lines of the Washington consensus, grows the economy but does nothing for the unemployment crisis that SA faces.
(See all the new finance language I learnt at the SACC ;). See their 2007 input here)

Anyways, the People’s Budget Campaign said their thing today, in anticipation of Trev’s talk tomorrow, and they made some headlines. Hooray for the PBC. Now to hear what Trev says. He has made some mention of ‘greening the budget’ and must have a word to say on the Eskom power issue. We shall see. Who will be happier - international investors and big business, or local South Africans?

Need a doctor?

Disclaimer: the content below may offend pious viewers. You have been warned.

Do you suffer from anything. No really, anything?
From court cases, bad luck, body pains, to promotions, bewitchings, and strong penises, Prof Raoul has the herbal remedy for all your problems.

As tongue in cheek as it may sound, this is for real. Whenever I catch the train to work, I am bombarded by advertising about this "Prof Raoul". Exiting the Cape Town station (via Golden Acre) onto St George’s Mall, the minute I come up the escalators I am greeted by the famous Cape Doctor. (For the uninitiated, this is the south-easterly wind that blows incessantly in the city) However, there is also another doctor that greets me, through a couple of people standing at the top of the escalator eager to shove these little flyers into my hands:

Click to enlarge for full array of remedies.

So, I give in, and take one. The first time I read it made me laugh. It still makes me laugh (mainly due to the bad grammar). However, I thought this would be a valuable example to my US friends of the varieties of cultures and beliefs that are all mixed up here in wonderful SA. It was also a wake up call to me in realising how little these wildly differing worldviews actually interact with each other. For many people these ‘superstitions’* and remedies are real, and I’m sure Prof Raoul makes a healthy income as a ‘doctor’. Though I may need a promotion or desire a solution to this countries unemployment, I somehow don’t think he has the herbal remedy for me. ;)

*I use the word ‘superstition’ humbly and carefully. Western culture is as superstitious as any other (eg. you won’t find a seat row 13 on an aeroplane). There is also nothing inherently ‘Christian’ or ‘better’ about allopathic medicine against traditional or alternative forms of medicine.

procrastinators are the leaders of tomorrow

Man, the internet is a great seducer and excuse for procrastination. As you may have seen under my ‘blog-bling’ bar, I’ve been exploring the SA blogosphere some. I’ve signed up with two local blog aggregators, Afrigator and Amatomu, and now find myself constantly analysing stats and graphs and things. I’ve worked out what ‘link-love’ is, and that my Technocrati ‘authority’ is a massive 4 points! Together with an ever increasing Bloglines subscription list, there is always some new information to distract me from work. (Distracting isn’t very hard, considering ‘work’ for the next week will be transcribing tapes of the Child Rights Symposium sessions from last month.) The whole SA blog scene is rather small, full of mainly white, wealthy people, but if you do want to check it out, have a look at these two aggregators. I filed my blog under ‘religion’ on the Amatomu site, and am already at number 16 in SA! Woohoo! Thanks everyone! (please ignore the fact that it is only16 out of a total of 29 religion blogs! As i said, rather small.) Again, I’m still getting a feel for the blog world here, but it is encouraging to recognise a bunch of the names and blogs on the various lists already.

However, I do wonder what the role this online, niche, religious community can play in SA in seeking to transform the country and the ecclesial institutions.

Once I’m a fluent SA blogger, and have an answer to the above question, all that remains is to develop a healthy time management system to make sure half the day isn’t spent surfing and blogging and procrastinating - as I’m doing now! ;)

Hooray! SA are world champs!!!

Just so that all my CTS friends know the great news (in case it didn’t make breaking news on CNN):
South Africa are the rugby world champions!

Hooray! We won last night in France in a tough match against defending champions England. There were crazy celebrations all around the country, partying like it was 1995. (in 1995 we won the World Cup for the first time, here at home). I’m especially happy because our captain John Smit, was at high school with me! Hooray again!

Captain John Smit, left, and coach Jake White
with the Webb Ellis trophy [GALLO/GETTY]

Now for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
(PS - standing offer to all foreign friends - come to SA for the 2010 Soccer World Cup and you can stay with me and experience the whole thing!)

Ultimate frisbee helps the fight against AIDS!

Those close to me often playfully ridicule my addiction to Ultimate Frisbee. As a youth pastor I often joked about being more excited telling people about Ultimate than Jesus. However, for two years it was, in a sense, my saving grace. Even today, a run around on the Frisbee field keeps me grounded and clears my head. Well, my faith in the sport seems to have been well founded. I’ve just found this article that shows how LoveLife (a major youth HIV/Aids organisation) wants to use Ultimate as their flagship sport development project:

Johannesburg – 9th July 07 -
Many regard a Frisbee as similar domain to 'beach bat and ball', or the mouth of a Golden retriever, but Lovelife are taking this mere piece of plastic a lot more seriously.
They are training over 6000 youth to play 'Ultimate Frisbee' in 2007 as part of their major sport campaign to combat HIV/AIDS.
Max Pichulik, Development Officer for Ultimate Frisbee in SA says, "This could be a major weapon in HIV/AIDS prevention and the promotion of health to youth in South Africa."

Download the full article here, and keep those discs flying!!
PS. On that note - Jozi Ultimate has started a Sunday game that should be very competitive. Tomorrow at 3 at Sandton Sports Club. I'm looking forward playing with my old teammates.

tea time

Tomorrow there is a special "international students" coffee hour in the refectory at 10. They have asked us to address the student body and say how our year has been here, and what we find peculiar about US culture. Should be interesting! BUT, more importantly, they asked us (the internationals) to bring a dessert from our country. Yummy! There will be desserts from Korea, Mexico, England, Czech Republic, Kenya, Hungary and... yes! you guessed it - South Africa!

Koeksusters were just way out of my league, so... I got all patriotic (and Afrikaans) and, armed with a recipe from Allrecipes.com, I stayed up past midnight to create...
...two big, fat, tasty Melkterts! (That's 'Milktart' for all the English folks.) Aren't you proud of me? I have a headache from licking two bowls clean. Good night. (oh, and these are real live pictures from our kitchen an hour ago.)

sad day

Don't mention the cricket. Just don't. Thanks!

ouch

SA vs Australia UPDATE:
ouch! Australia batted first and scored 377 for 6. Even Pollock got hit for more than 8 an over. The players are having tea/lunch now. When they come back SA will have to bat amazingly to reach their target. It will be a thriller!
Live scorecast of the match here. General cricket rules here.

(and yes, i went to play frisbee. Now for the cricket. It's great to have my cake and eat it)

Ouch again! FINAL SCORE: Graeme Smith and AB DeVilliers gave us an explosive start, but when they lost their wickets, things started to slow down and fall apart. Pants! We were all out for 294 in the end. SA goes through to the next round anyway, but losing to Australia is never fun.

cricket or frisbee?

YES! I found a place that is showing the World Cup Cricket! It's a neat little pub in Little5. Just in time for the crucial SA- Australia game tomorrow morning! There are two problems though:
1. Spring league Ultimate is starting this week, and i have games tomorrow at 10:00 and 11:30. Urgh - cricket or frisbee? Tough one!
2. If I decide to go watch SA get some revenge over the Aussies, I can't go alone. I'm not sure if my friends here love me enough to spend 6 hours watching a strange game. Any takers, wonderful Atlanta people? I'll explain the rules, i promise!

Anyways, at least i now have a place to watch. Reading a live scorecard on the internet just doesn't conjure up the same excitement.

schedule & sport

The next few weeks I'm going to be rather thin and silent. Have deadlines each week for my thesis, so it looks like I'll be keeping a low profile for a while. Oh well! Time to act like a grad student i guess. To encourage me I have two frisbee tournaments lined up at the end of it all: frostbreaker in Florida on the 10/11 March and Terminus in ATL the following weekend. Yay for Ultimate! It keeps me sane.

In another great sport, South Africa have moved up to NUMBER ONE in the world ODI cricket ranking! Just weeks before the World Cup starts just across the gulf in the West Indies. The sad news... there's no place to watch it here in the US. Zilch. Nil. Nada. Nothing. 'Cricket?' What's that? Urgh!! (Oh, and Polly is the top bowler in the world, with Ntini at number 3. Our batting aint so hot though. See all the players here)

Closer to home, Sarah is having a South African friend, Stephen, come visit for a couple of days. I'm in charge of the welcome braai next week! It will be great.