I continue to experiment with random blog titles. I posted an entry (which sounds like a horrendous euphamism now that I think about it) last week about loving Trondheim. It was a random (which sounds like a sheep contraceptive) choice. I couldn’t say whether I love Trondheim or not. I’ve never been in the same country as Trondheim. But now I know 3 exciting things about the place:

• It was the capital of Norway until the 13th century.
• Kings were crowned there.
• The city has suffered 10 recorded great fires.

How do I know this? Because I got ‘pingback’ed and linked to by the official Trondheim website! If you don’t remember what the entry was about, it’s here. And Trondheim is now aware of me. And so I’m wondering now what sites/groups/wackos will find me after this header. Hee hee hee. So let’s see. Anyone care to come up with the joke that results in this punchline?

* * * * *

And a monday morning calls for 3 things.

1. Duvet days. Heard of them. Great idea. Never worked for a company who had them. Arse.

2. Coffee. In quantaties that could drown a hippopotamus.

3. Toilet humour. Because Monday mornings always need to be made funnier and lighter.

Can’t do anything about 1 and I’m dealing with 2 on and almost constant intravenous-style basis. So that leaves 3. Prepare yourself. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.

Last night wifey asked me whether I would prefer chicken wraps or chicken and rice for dinner. Being me (indecisive, but experimental) I suggested mixing the chicken, rice, garlic, onion, herbs etc. all together and then putting it in a wrap. We did so and it certainly works. It’s tasty and VERY filling. I looked a lot like the R101 five minutes after dinner. The Montgolfier brothers would have slung a basket under me and floated me off to Dijon. We ate as much as we possibly could and then we gave the excess rice to the dogs.

And while wifey and I both felt quite corpulent and rotund for the evening, it was the dogs that provide today’s entertainment. The excess rice had herbs in it. Just a bit of rosemary and basil I think. The dogs wolfed it down. (Do wolves dog their food I wonder?) Half an hour later, wifey and I are sprawled on the sofa with the laptop playing ‘hidden object’ games and watching the Simpsons. And suddenly the hairs in my nose curl and shrivel. And acrid smell like the diseased dysentry-ridden bowels of a thousand recent roadkill wafted across us. Immediately pulling my t-shirt up over the bottom half of my face and making sounds like ‘ack…ack’ I struggled off the sofa and shuffled around the room to find Seth. There he was, lying in the corner of the room, behind the sofa arm. And he had such a relieved and satisfied smile plastered across his face.

I ran to the utility room and got the air freshener. I also left the lounge door open for a while. We had a log fire going and I was a little dubious about the mix of naked flame and Seth’s output! After a liberal spraying, I closed the door. And then went to sit back down with wifey. We both pulled our Seth-proof veils back down, relaxed, picked up the mouse, reached to unpause the game, and heard, from the corner of the room   ‘Pffffffffffft!’

Yup. Facial coverings back up. Gagging in the green miasma of Seth’s comfort. And this went on at roughly 5 minute intervals for the entire evening.

It led me to questioning ‘where do all the farts go?’ I discussed this with wifey. Quite simply, how many farts are released into the atmosphere at any given time. I mean cows are notorious for it. But even just the one dog must have farted thirty or so times last night. And we were in one room. And I figure, the smell actually has to go somewhere. Nothing disappears completely. Andf ok, the methane is destroying the ozone layer, but I don’t believe that the farts are floating through the hole and out into space?! Though it would make an interesting NASA study and I suspect it might be difficult even for astronauts to spot an intestinal gas cloud floating past them in the deep dark emptyness of the cosmos.

So the upshot of that is that every fart that has ever been discretely shushed out in an elevator or released with a bovine sigh in an English field are still here! Every fart ever issued is still here somewhere. And to give you some idea of what wifey is like and why I love her, when I questioned where they all went, this was what she said:

“They’re behind the sofa. That’s why I don’t move it when I hoover.”

Gotta love that wifey.

Well that about wraps it up for Monday morning. Hope everyone has a most excellent day. Have fun y’all.

Me.

Even among the wise there is confusion. Even among the learned there is dismay. Even among the pious there is greed. Why is it we hold others to a standard we ourselves cannot keep? Why is it we would trust those who cannot trust themselves? Why is it we would hold the word of one person above all others? Surely if God is God, He would make Himself known to us in a way each and every individual could understand. Cannot the foolish know love? Cannot the uneducated know love? Cannot even the wicked know love? None comes before another for we are all in this together. Listen not to me, for even I can be confused. Listen to the wisdom of your heart.

Khulu Radebe is on the Hillside Digital board of trustees and a member of the council of elders in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg. Khulu is a retired MK (ANC military wing) soldier. He was jailed during the Apartheid era on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela.

While in exile during Apartheid, Khulu; a jazz drummer, played in New York and Geneva. He played with some of the best jazz musicians of the day. Here he is explaining the meaning of the word “ubuntu” to founder of Hillside Digital, Danny Lurie.

Thanks to Tess Martin-Fox, in Chicago, for her courage in sharing her journey battling cancer, and for her passion for this project, that like a fire has spread to many folks there. To my dear Rushay, Port Elizabeth, for his “ubuntu” photo, that started all of this, he has become such a wonderful brother to me and to my best friend Angela in Miami, who  helped create this u tube video of the podcast :  she is in hospital today with major surgery and our thoughts are with her.

This interview was created in response to the #tatforanangel project started as a result of community across the world responding to a desire to raise a voice for the people of Alexandra via the work of Hillsidedigital.

This week Danny Lurie and his team will start training of selected individuals in the Alexandra Township. Several individuals will be trained in citizen journalism  film production. Their voices and stories will be shared with their local community groups as well as the international online media. Their needs will hopefully be enabled to access appropriate funds.

This work is overseen by the Council of Elders, for whom Khulu Radebe speaks. For the project to be sustained international & local support for Hillside Digital online Ecommerce platform must begin.

We are all so grateful for the many individuals across nations particularly on twitter and facebook who have already given their support. The Tattoo of  Ubuntu that myself and Tess will get is a creative a solidarity for that. Across the world we see the need for people to grasp that we are “One Humanity” and together we can make a difference to the lives of others less fortunate. That is the spirit of Ubuntu

Ubuntu Is Humanity

One business who always seems to be in the news when it brings out a new advert is Nando’s. You can’t argue that Nando’s has probably the most creative adverts in South Africa. They use satire in such a way, that even Mandela would give a chuckle. Zuma, Malema and other easy targets are however not going to be amused that easily. Well they deserve it… It’s their fault that they are the centre of attention.

If there are readers out their that do not understand the situation, is actually missing out on the hilariousness of this satirical maddness. Well, let me show this Nando’s advert – maybe you might just get it…

Hahahaaa… I wish economics worked that way, but unfortunately it’s just the same as paying the right price and getting the right product and wishing that the cashier has missed out on a rand or two (or ten). Even though this is not a true statement by ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, it could have been. It is just one of those typical saying that Malema is famous for. Like the opinion on Caster Simenya (“Hermaphrodite is not in my culture, I look down there to see if it’s a boy or a girl.”), but poor Julius Malema… It’s not his fault that everytime he speaks nonsense rubbish flies out of his mouth or that his opinions are as valid as a R1 note…Wait! It is his fault! It’s not like he is controlled by Martians who would like to destroy the country and later on the earth. And yet…

The next advert is HILARIOUS!!!! Everyone can appreciate this advert. It just comes to show how funny blonde jokes actually are. My sister is blonde and she is always in the centre of  it all. Luckily I’m not blonde – not that I have anything against blonde girls, it’s just they are such easy targets…

See what I mean… I wonder how all the blondes felt. Probably 10% of them laughed and 90% stared at the screen in confusion (sorry). I loved the fact that they made the blonde an afrikaner, even though I’m an afrikaner, it just makes the advert funnier. This ad just wants me to buy Nando’s so badly, and believe me, they do have the tastiest chicken in South Africa – KFC can’t compare to the tenderness of Nando’s chicken. Don’t worry blondes, we still love you…

Last, but definitely not least, is an advert with a guy who achieved popularity overnight. He may be just another guy who thinks he is the next Chuck Norris, but he surely has a personality of gold. This is Vernon Koekemoer. South Africa’s very own Chuck Norris. Just watch this advert, it’s randomly funny…

Seeing Chuck Norris at the end was classic. I wonder what he really thinks of Koekemoer. I laughed so much at the end of this ad, and after it I have to say that the marketing team at Nando’s are geniuses. I would love to work with them, they are just so creative.

So next time, when you are craving for a decent chicken meal and you happen to be close to a Nando’s store, why not go in? You can trust me when I say that the chicken is delicious, and their adverts are fantastic!!! If you could eat their adverts then your taste buds would sing…

Some people say that satire is ruining the country (and/or the world), but they are WRONG, it is making people think and therefore making smarter people, making the world a better place for all of us.

Hmmm… I’m suddenly hungry…

Wow! Congratulations Jennifer! She is set to play the title role in Winnie in a biopic about the wife Nelson Mandela. 

She states “I was compelled and moved when I read the script,” Hudson told the trade mag of the part, which will be her first since the tragic deaths of her mother, brother and nephew last fall. “Winnie Mandela is a complex and extraordinary woman and I’m honored to be the actress asked to portray her…”This is a powerful part of history that should be told.”

More info on E! news: www.eonline.com

In recent reports, Jennifer Hudson has landed the title role in “Winnie,” a new film by Darrell J. Roodt, the veteran South African filmmaker, based on the life of Winnie Mandela, wife of South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela according to Variety.

In response to landing the role, Hudson says, “I was compelled and moved when I read the script.” Hudson addes, “Winnie Mandela is a complex and extraordinary woman and I’m honored to be the actress asked to portray her. This is a powerful part of history that should be told.”

According to sources, The film begins shooting on May 30th in the South African towns of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Transkei, and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his prison sentence.

International Men’s Day is an international event celebrated on November 19 every year. It was inaugurated in 1999 in Trinidad and Tobago and was supported by the United Nations, and received in principal support from men’s groups in USA, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Speaking on behalf of UNESCO, Director of Women and Culture of Peace Ms. Ingeborg Breines said of IMD: “This is an excellent idea and would give some gender balance.” She added that UNESCO was looking forward to cooperating with IMD organisers.

The objectives of celebrating an International Men’s Day include focusing on men’s and boy’s health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, and highlighting positive male role models. It is an occasion for men to highlight discrimination against them and to celebrate their achievements and contributions, in particular for their contributions to community, family, marriage, and child care. International Men’s Day is celebrated in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Australia, India, United States, Singapore, United Kingdom, Malta, and South Africa on November 19, and global support for the celebration is broad.

We at Kingdom Ambassadors firmly believe that the institution of the family is the cornerstone of every society and that men are the foundation of the structure of the family, while our women are the center. Therefore, as a result we are driven to provide as the backbone of our operations these basic yet fundamental functions, which we have summarized and presented in the vowels (A.E.I.O.U.)

A-acceptance and affirmation

E-empowerment and encouragement

I-identity and independence

O-ownership and opportunities

U-uniqueness and unity

The functionality of men is so essential that the absence or presence of a father determines the future of the family and ultimately that of the society. Behavioural scientists have concluded that Dad is destiny. The father is a compass that navigates the youths through the vicissitudes of life. I encourage the world to not only highlight the plight of men’s countless delinquencies, but rather offer them the opportunity to be redeemed. Since forgiveness is more powerful than vengeance and mercy more needed than criticisms, how long will we continue to emasculate our men rather than show them the way? Some men feel victimized by the responsibility of the role that society has ascribed for them to perform. There needs to be much more discussions on the functionality of men, materials that not only stimulate our sexuality but equally our mentality and also our spirituality. Below I have included some of my poems that honours, respects and also provide a road map for the reconciliation and atonement for men. Thank you for your attention and my message to the men is to become the change you seek.

I surrender

(A decree for all men to surrender to God)

My will, my life and my soul

My ambitions, my desires and my goals

I surrender

My wishes, my needs even my determination

My sins, my inadequacies and my condemnations

I surrender

My struggle, my fortitude and my resolve

My tenacity, my courage and what I’ve dissolved

I surrender

My lord to you my time, my existence and my future

I will always surrender

The pledge for men

I pledge myself to do my best

And my faith in God gives me rest

I see the need to be responsible

Committing to goals and never fickle

Called of God, the foundation for my family

Providing their needs is my ministry

I serve as a son, function as a father

Never blaming, ever becoming

And fulfilling the mandate thereafter

A believing man, a son of God, entrusted with divinity

To love, to serve and in harmony with CHRIST identity

I am in this world as an agent of change

Let thy Kingdom come and our minds be rearranged

I am a man

I am a man not only by biology and my anatomy

But by divine assignment, grace and functionality

I am a man given the capacity to be a father

To be just like God, the source and sustainer

I am a man and being a leader is my nature

Though power given to me is the ultimate test of my character

I am a man appointed to be the foundation for my family

Setting an example for the entire community

I am a man grateful for the favour of God

 Thanking Him out loud even when it seems quiet odd

Yes I am a man placed upon the earth

To subdue and have dominion before returning to dirt

Who will care for the people?

(In Honour of Mr Hamilton Ratshefola)

Who will care for the people; lost, confused and can’t find their home

Who will care for the people; raped, striped and left without anything of their own

Who will care for the people; who once had land, cattle and a harvest to reap?

Who will care for the people; who now possess despair and fear that denies them sleep?

Who will care for the people; that served only kindness but were fed a platter of pain?

Who will care for the people; who have been inflicted with cruelty again and again?

Who will care for the people; who for generations were treated unfairly? Who will care for the people; that are the reflection of me?

They maybe many but I will mention the one that is familiar

This can be none other than the honourable Mr. Hamilton Ratshefola

The Age of grace and timeless wisdom

(A tribute to Nelson Mandela)

Have you ever observed a lion bound?

Or witnessed the ants freely running around

Did you ever stop to ponder your destiny?

Journeying beyond your daily responsibility

What is the purpose of tomorrow?

If there is no comfort in times of sorrow

Could you clarify the functionality of masculinity?

And explain the multiplicity of femininity

Nelson Mandela, you have given us a proud legacy

Thus to future generations you are legendary

You have thought us your people to forgive

And have shown us that only in love can we live

Your life displayed the fundamentals of greatness

And uncovered the power of selflessness

We thank you for giving us back our home

A paradise where all of mankind has made their own

You have suffered inconceivable cruelty

To ensure the preservation of our humanity

As a people, our coming together in celebration

Demonstrates to you our sincere love and appreciation

We recognize the relevance and power of spirituality

While experiencing the beauty of our freedom in unity

Your life has become the essence of the human story

One of love and resolve, equality and destiny

You are a hero internationally and not only in Africa

So the world pauses to honour, Nelson Mandela

The man we call father

(In honour of Selwyn Collins)

The man we call father

Has become the one we admire

You are now awaken Poised, powerful and unshaken

We acknowledge and respect your journey

Recognizing that you are my future and my history

You have been our silent guide

Carefully observed and never consumed by pride

Your wisdom empowers

And your giving delivers

You are being prepared for the prophesy

Competently answering the call to your destiny

We are because you are

And thus you will always be our star

Your life has become a testimony

Of God’s grace and His majesty

Together we have all risen above the effects of adversity

Bettering our best while uniting our diversity

You have thought us the importance of selflessness

And has demonstrated the benefits of fearlessness

You stand on the pedestal of our hearts

As we marvel at your ability to use words as piercing darts

We are continually challenged by your writings

As I seek the meanings of my own meanderings

Your wisdom is a light of inspiration In the darkness of deception

Our frequent conversations are motivational

Discussing from the trivial to the spiritual

We are better because of you

Not because of what you say but by what you do

We thank you for your divinity

And for the opportunity to know our true identity

Due to the limitations of vocabulary, we really don’t have much to say

So beyond the frivolities of words, we honour you with our life as we pray.

Written by Astell Collins

Le 13 janvier 2009, Clint Eastwood, le génialissime acteur/réalisateur connu par tous, sort son nouveau film intitulé Invictus. Dès que j’ai vu la bande-annonce, l’histoire a fait écho en moi. D’une part parce que je la connaissais déjà cette histoire de Mandela qui demande à François Pienaar, alors capitaine des Springboks (équipe de rugby d’Afrique du Sud), de l’aider à souder l’ensemble du pays en l’unissant derrière l’équipe nationale d’un pays qui organise la coupe du monde. D’autre part, parce qu’elle parle de rugby bien évidemment, sport que j’apprécie ô combien! Et j’irai même jusqu’à dire que Clint Eastwood a eu là une bonne idée d’adapter cette histoire car elle est sans nul doute le symbole de la création d’un peuple, celui de l’Afrique du Sud, enfin réconcilié. Une petite bande-annonce où vous découvrirez Matt Damon dans la peau de l’emblématique capitaine des Springboks.

Alors loin de moi l’idée de donner un avis sur le film à travers une bande-annonce, mais, amateur du cinéma eastwoodien, ayant apprécié énormément ses dernières oeuvre, j’avoue attendre avec impatience de pouvoir voir ce film qui raconte une histoire que j’ai pris plaisir à découvrir et qui est une vraie leçon d’humanité donnée par l’immense Mandela (qui d’ailleurs est joué par le superbe Morgan Freeman dans le film!).

Mais Invictus, ce n’est pas seulement le titre du prochain film de Clint Eastwood. C’est aussi le poème d’un poète (tu m’en diras tant!), William Ernest Henley (1849–1903), qui l’a écrit après s’être fait amputé de la jambe. A noter d’ailleurs, qu’Henley était un ami de Robert Louis Stevenson et que ce dernier s’inspira de l’handicape de son ami poète pour imaginer son célèbre personnage, Long John Silver, capitaine pirate de L’île au trésor.

Voici le poème dans une traduction certes pas très poétique, mais de toutes celles trouvées, c’est celle qui me plaît le plus dans son sens le plus proche du poème original.

Le poème est surtout connu pour ses deux derniers vers.

Už ako mladý študent sa Nelson Mandela zapojil do politickej opozície proti režimu bielej menšiny, ktorá potlačovala politické, sociálne a ekonomické práva juhoafrickej čiernej väčšiny.

Kotleba chce robiť to isté ako Mandela, len ide o čiernu menšinu. Je to divné. Robia to isté a vzájomne sa taký ľudia často ohovárajú. Keby mali rovnakú farbu, vychvalovali by sa a možno by spolupracovali. Taký istý debili obaja. Aj Mandela aj Kotleba a všetci im podobný. Obaja si mysleli, že ich utláča menšina, pričom utláčali menšinu burcovaním väčšej časti davu. Poštvali väčšinu proti menšine ako keby menšina nemala právo žiť. Presne tak získavajú moc a podporu vrahovia. Ale za akú cenu ? Za cenu zmasakrovanej menšiny. To je tak, keď si niekto myslí, že je vyvolený a má právo rozhodovať aj proti prírode. Taký debil by časom zakázal aj čierne leopardy. Rád by som videl Kotlebu ako to tomu leopardovi vysvetlí. Pri leopardovi by potreboval dav ľudí, alebo zbraň. To isté potrebuje aj na cigáňov. Nevedel som kde berie Kotleba inšpiráciu. Teraz to už viem. Medzi bielym a čiernym rasistom nieje žiadny rozdiel. Daniel Landa nazýva Mandelu teroristom, ale keď vláda nazve Kotlebu extrémistom, už je to neprávo a pritom robia to isté.

Med sovjetimperiets fall mistet Cuba salg av overbetalt sukker og kjøp av underbetalt olje. Castro måtte trekke troppene ut av Angola. Regimet i Sør-Afrika fryktet ikke lenger kommunisttrusselen – og slapp Nelson Mandela fri. Resten er historie. The Economist har meget interessante perspektiver.

Også velstandsøkningen i India er et resultat:

India had depended heavily on the Soviet Union for military hardware and political support against both China and Pakistan. America and China, with which India had once fought a disastrous border war, both had close ties to Pakistan. It took prickly India a long time but, having opened up to more Western investment, it then improved relations with America: a needed counterweight to a China that loomed larger as Russian influence and largesse fell away.

Cato går rett inn i debatten.

BUG MAFIA – Cu talpile arse [2009] : ,,Am indurat prea multe ca Mandela in arest…”
HOURS – Ali in the jungle [2006] : ,, Like Ali in the jungle, like Nelson in jail…”

Pentru blonde aici.

The American Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton has just announced that America will not recognize the legitimacy of settlements put up in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. She made the announcement in Cairo in the presence of top Arab officials. I doubt if any body takes her seriously any more. How can the Americans be honest brokers in the Arab-Israeli conflict when they do not back their words with action?

Israel has refused to stop building settlements in the West Bank and Gaza strip and a Kangaroo civil court in Israel recently evicted an Arab couple from their apartment building in East Jerusalem on the spurious ground that the building was an illegal structure and had no planning permission. The eviction of Arabs from their homes in the Eastern part of Jerusalem has become a way of dispossessing them of their lands and heritage and cementing the occupation of Jerusalem by the Zionist state in defiance of UNSC Resolutions 242 and 338.

When Barack Obama visited Israel before he became President, he declared that Jerusalem was the indivisible capital of the Jewish state. When he made that ill judged statement, he took sides with Israel against the Palestinians Can he be an impartial umpire in negotiating peace between the Arabs and the Palestinians in the Middle East when he has taken such an unequivocal stance?

Obama has little or no clout with the Israeli government. Netanyahu treats him with disdain and scant respect. He could not even persuade the Prime Minister to freeze the building of settlements in the occupied territories during the mini summit at the UN recently. I almost bust a gut laughing when I heard on the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

What peace has Obama negotiated or achieved? This is a fellow who is engaged in the twin conflicts of Iraq and Afghanistan. I would have thought that he was more of a warmonger than a peacemaker. The award is an affront to eminent personalities like Henry Kissinger (for his efforts in negotiating a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and Egypt in the late 70’s) and Nelson Mandela (for ending Apartheid in South Africa).

I am a great fan of Obama and I will continue to admire his great tenacity in tackling urban under development and Health care reforms in America, but I suspect that the chap has bitten more than he can chew and has lost his way on the Palestinian – Israeli matter.

If I were brave….

This was Sent to me yesterday via twitter through my friend Tess, who I have just got to know in last couple of weeks  http://twitter.com/girlzoo .

She has been so encouraging to me particularly through the music she sends me every so often via  http://blip.fm/girlzoo and also her support of Hillsidedigital, which I am now working for in online support. Hillside Digital is a foundation that creates citizen journalist digital film production units in impoverished and marginalized communities around the world, about to launch shortly in South Africa.

In fact she is so inspired by all that is happening at Hillsidedigital she has even got a South African Twibbon on her avatar though living in the US!

Although neither of us are particularly big fans of tattoos, we both understand the concept of Ubuntu…a traditional African Philosophy, that is at the heart of our thinking ~ a view also endorsed by Nelson Mandela, Bono, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Clinton amongst others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wi..ki/Ubuntu_(philosophy)

After being inspired by a photo taken by http://www.rushay.org, shown in the post below, sent to me on facebook this week, we have both decided to get an Ubuntu “Tattoo“!!

This will be to raise awareness & funds for the work that is launching very soon at http://hillsidedigital.com in Alexandra Township South Africa.

Approximately $700000 is needed to launch the media & online e commerce platforms for people in marginalized areas to have a voice.

Others online have started to join us in designing a custom made calender of the #ubuntugirls! Thanks to Justine Warrington , a Canadian actress and singer, now based in LA   &  Kathryn Jennex,  a Canadian Film Director and social media expert   supporting so far …more welcome!!!)

We are also  so grateful to Steve Brogan (my hero)  (Chris Brogan’s Dad..a little name drop there! lol), who will start a Fundraiser for us in his hometown  and heywho,  who has helped with branding/calendar ideas!

Today Tess sent me a video of her photos taken whilst undergoing chemotherapy for Breast Cancer. It was sent in response to my telling her she was so brave to get a Tattoo! Its the second time she has ever sent this video out…so its not something she shares easily. I feel so priviledged and was quite simply in tears

The video really hit home to me that LIFE IS SHORT and people like this who have been through the valley really know that ~

It makes you truly think…

What would I do today ? ..if I were brave…

This is why #tatforanangel will be that…not some sort of gimmick, but will  really to show a visual statement on our skin that is shown through what we mean is the spirit of Ubuntu.

A sign that we are all in this together ~ I am I because of you

She has already decided to have hers this design but hot pink & black!! http://twitpic.com/o3×1w

Danny Lurie & @heywho have also committed to getting Tattoos done!! Though I believe Danny will be behind the camera for mine in SA for a live broadcast!! ouch ouch! The pain … I can feel it already!

We are very grateful to those who have started to volunteer to come over to South Africa to give time & support. Already 3 three folks in Canada, one in Italy, Denmark, another in Germany as well as myself . Those in SAfrica are also committing time. Rushay, who lives in Port Elsizabeth has offered to travel to Cape Town for one month to support training, along with Francois Verster a South African filmmaker who I met in June 09 at the Guth Gafa festival Ireland.

We are so blessed.

I need to thank one of my very first online friends who I met via lastfm, Jennifer, for her introduction to Rushay ~ without whom the #tatforanangel project would never have started! Apart from Francois Verster I have not met any of the people that have offered to help. This is social media community and this is what we also hope to do through Hillside Digital. We want to enable  the voices of people in impoverished communities be heard  by teaching online skills and also basic TV production skills that enable them to access both their own community as well as the international community for  support. All of this happened with in the course of this  week. The journey has just begun… anything is possible.

The sharing and exchanging of ideas, being open and available as all of the volunteers have been so far, and mostly strangers too, is what is the meaning of Ubuntu. Its a bond between people that makes us feel part of a whole. Its what will empower and what will ultimately be the difference.

Ubuntu ~ I am I because of who we all are

Tim Massey, Director Internacional de 46664 (izq.) y Pablo Rodríguez Sardinero, Alcalde de Arganda del Rey

El Día de Mandela El alcalde de Arganda del Rey Pablo Martínez Sardinero y el director de 46664 International Tim Massey firmaron recientemente un acuerdo para la celebración de los actos del Día de Mandela en España durante el próximo año.

Durante su discurso en el Instituto Cervantes de Nueva York, Pablo Rodríguez Sardinero aseguró estar orgulloso de que Madrid y Arganda del Duero alberguen una acontecimiento que honre a Nelson Mandela, alguien con tan grandísimo impacto en todo el mundo.

El representante de 46664, Alex Martínez de Velasco, aseguraba que “todo el pueblo de Arganda del Rey se siente privilegiado por albergar el evento” y que el mismo “estaba encantado con el respaldo de de toda la Comunidad con la iniciativa del Día de Mandela”.  Martínez de Velasco cree que Madrid es el sitio ideal para dar a conocer el mensaje de 46664 en España y a toda la comunidad latina e hispano hablante del mundo.

 “Para 46664 España, es un enorme placer ayudar a llevar el mensaje de Mandela a todo el mundo. Madrid es el sitio ideal para acercar el mensaje a los españoles” Antes de la firma del acuerdo, Massey comentaba que el Día de Mandela celebrado con el concierto del Radio City Music Hall de Nueva York el 18 de Julio de 2009, fue solo el comienzo de un compromiso duradero por transmitir el legado y los valores de Nelson Mandela.

Naciones Unidas apoya esta campaña, que tiene la intención de recorrer el mundo con la organización de diferentes conciertos y eventos, y el mismo Secretario General de Naciones Unidadas Ban-Kimoon ha hecho un llamamiento para que todos los países miembros apoyen se unan a la causa.

Madrid se convertirá en la primera ciudad Europea que albergará un concierto del Día de Mandela, algo que no es nuevo, ya que la ciudad albergó en 2005 el primer concierto europeo de 46664. El evento se celebrará en la Ciudad del Rock, con capacidad para 100 000 personas y que según Cristina Sitz-Gento, una de las organizadoras del Día de Mandela en Madrid, es el mayor espacio del mundo para la organización de este tipo de eventos.

Rugby.  It’s like religion, but a lot more serious.

It’s very difficult to explain to a non-South African exactly how much rugby is woven into the world I grew up in.  Tenuous comparisons with Argentinean or Brazilian football have been made, but I’m not sure that captures it.  Of all the world’s rugby nations, only New Zealand has a passion approaching the one I’m talking about.  This is the sort of passion that borders on the unhealthy.  The sort that has people defining themselves by their team and its fortunes.  Take a minute and have a look at this article in the Wall Street Journal, entitled The Toughest Team in Sports.  You’ll get a sense of what I mean.

On the 25 of May 1995 the Springboks played Australia in the opening match of the rugby world cup at Newlands in Cape Town.  It was a weekday in South Africa, but that made no difference.  I left work in Johannesburg early to drive to Pretoria, where I was going to watch the game with my man “Cheese” Mitchell.  I felt a rising panic as I realised there might be traffic on South Africa’s busiest stretch of road, and that I had a chance of being late for the match.  My panic turned to fascination as I headed northwards on the Ben Schoeman highway.  The road was as empty as if it was a Sunday morning.  Figurative tumbleweed rolled across the lanes as the theme from High Noon played through my mind.  All around the country the time-honoured ritual that accompanies Springbok rugby was underway.  Braai fires were being lit, double brandy & Cokes were being dispensed, and an air of intense excitement took over.  The game was good, and few South Africans will ever forget Pieter Hendriks rounding the posts with his fist raised triumphantly.  The 51 000 people in the stadium were beside themselves, as were the rest of us.

The next month was an electrifying time to be alive in South Africa.  The first democratically-elected government had been in power for a year, and most people had no idea what to expect.  But rugby united them in a way I’ve not seen before or since.  The chap filling up your car at the petrol station would want to know about James Small, rather than his far more familiar “Shoes” Mosheu.  People everywhere were united in praise for a young, magnificent Chester Williams.  The Springboks even had a Zulu name for the first time – amaBokoboko.  Commonality causes community, and the fever pitch that was building just fostered this.  The Boks advanced through the pool matches against Romania and Canada, through the quarters (Western Samoa) and semis (France).  And still the excitement kept building.

The mid-winter morning of the 24th of June 1995 dawned, and I remember clearly how you could cut the atmosphere with a knife.  Complete strangers were chatting with each other about the game wherever you went, and the Joburg air was pregnant with promise.  In the same way as Americans can tell you where they were when JFK was shot, I have never met a South African that doesn’t remember where they were that day, or what they were doing for the final against New Zealand.  It’s tattooed on the individual and national psyches.  And each proud South African has some stories of that day.

One friend remembers seeing a Boeing 747, the “Lebombo”, flying really low over eastern Joburg, not realising that it had the words Good Luck Bokke written on the underside, and that Captain Laurie Kay was about to fly it just over the roof of a packed Ellis Park stadium.

Or the traffic policeman outside the stadium stopping each car and making the driver have glug of wine from his papsak before allowing them to proceed.  Or the lake at the Randburg Waterfront full of delirious revellers after the final whistle.  Or the minibus taxis on Hans Strydom Avenue, blocking the road to have a celebratory party, and people parking their cars and joining in.

I was in The Waterfront Arms with my sister Debs and some mates, and the moment I knew we would win was when I heard 65 000 people chanting “Nelson Nelson!” as President Nelson Mandela entered the stadium.  It sounds corny, but when you have so much self-belief, you simply cannot fail.  History is littered with examples of this.

Joel Theodore Stransky slotted the most beautiful drop goal ever in extra time, sealing a 15-12 victory for South Africa, and I have never seen a better example of the whole being far greater than the sum of its parts.  That kick achieved so much more than 3 points.

The image of of Nelson Mandela handing the William Webb Ellis trophy to Francois Pienaar, the pair of them wearing number 6 Springbok jerseys remains an iconic one.  It gave momentum to a decade of goodwill.

And now the story is finally going to be in a Hollywood movie with Morgan Freeman & Matt Damon, to be released on 11 December this year.

If you remember the 24th of June 1995 like I do, and you get the same chill down your spine thinking about it, have a squizz at the video below.  Turn the volume right up.  I know what I’m doing on the 11th…

Doing some homework this week as part of  a sort of inner inventory. Specifically I’m looking at some of the classic myths, stories and symbols that I have taken up or been given as my own personal “sacred stories” (to use Soulcraft author Bill Plotkin’s term).

The main type of myth I realize I’ve been engaged with is the “wilderness journey” tale, with a strong dose of  rejection or “exile” thrown in as well. As opposed to a battle, a love affair, or some other self-defining archetypal model/structure, the metaphor of a journey has always had the most resonance for me. Furthermore, the isolation or estrangement (i.e. “exile”) that often accompanies such a journey has been the primary metaphor that I have defined myself against, or worked to avoid. In other words, my journey and focus is not away from “home” as a selfish explorer or conqueror, but towards it — as a friend, a family member, and a fulfiller of promises.

It is also an essential journey toward integration, since like many people I am estranged even from certain parts of myself (usually the best and worst). So I’ve spent a lifetime digging deeper, processing my experiences, trying to understand myself and my role in creation. Maybe then I’d better understood others as well, and be understood by them… or so the plan is supposed to go. Thus, this repeated “journeying” pattern has impacted my choices and relationships, my career and home life, my joys and struggles, year after year. It’s the reason to blog, and on many days, for me, the journey is the reason to live. Simply stated, I don’t easily “stay put” from a social, intellectual or spiritual perspective, even though physically I’ve always lived within a thirty mile radius of Chicago.

Below are some mythical or historical examples of  personally influential journeys and exiles (pulled off the top of my head today, …tomorrow I may cite others): 

• the original expulsion of Adam and Eve from The Garden;
• traveling and exile (in wilderness, or in another culture) in the tales of  Abraham, Jacob and his son Joseph, the y0ung King David, and Moses;
• the 40-day desert journey of Jesus and his encounter with Satan (or darkness, sin, shadow, pick your own variation…);
• my favored gospel writer St. John’s imprisonment, his travels in Asia Minor, and his purported  island exile on Patmos at the end of his life;
• St. Francis’ many wanderings through the wilds of Italy, and his concurrent journey from wealth and war to poverty and peace;
• political exile/public rejection/imprisonment of many of my modern heroes of faith and social justice, plus similar revolutionary writers, musicians, or visual artists –people like Thoreau, Van Gogh, Magritte (and fellow Surrealist Salvador Dali, who painted the above image), James Joyce, Paul Robeson, Gandhi, Bonhoeffer, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Mandela, etc… though some of their rejection was temporary, I will admit ;

• MOST ESPECIALLY the fictional journey of Odysseus/Ulysses, and various later work that mirrors his complex inner/outer journey of transformation and struggle, especially to overcome basic fear, in characters like Hamlet (plus King Lear and The Tempest’s Prospero), Huck Finn, the Apocalypse Now gang, Frodo,  …heck, even little Harold with his Purple Crayon and Max from Where the Wild Things Are (BTW, the current film version is excellent, but dark). 

I’m gonna have to follow up this “journey” idea, mine it for the gold I know is still there. But that’s enough to chew on for today.

However, I’ve also discovered a secondary myth/archetype which I have also been defined by, though unfortunately I only discovered this connection quite recently. That would be the myth of Narcissus, of course. And –trust me on this one– it takes a true narcissist to go forty three years before realizing what a narcissist he is, as I did during my initiation experiences last year (ripples of which continue to this day). The Narcissus myth captures the essence of what I’ve come to call my deepest “sacred wound” (to use Richard Rohr’s term), and it probably dates all the way back to my toddler years.

Again, I won’t get too in-depth about my own personal growth and challeges. Enough for now to recommend the book Deliver Us from Me-Ville by David Zimmerman, which put me back onto the basic Narcissus principle and its connection to my own psychic journey, to U.S. culture overall, and to issues of faith. I read the book along with most of our church last year, and its wise but simple ideas about human nature and God continue to shed much light upon my own personal tendencies.

And speaking of personal tendencies… I’ve been at this particular post far too long. Time to go brave the wilds of suburban Chicago on a few errands.