WildEarth TV

http://www.wildearth.tv/petes-pond-mashatu-botswana-africa-waterhole-wildlive-webcam-live
Go NOW! There's a heard of impala at the pond!

Totally wasted Saturday!

It's not bad enough that I slept for two hours after giving two classes this morning. I hate sleeping so long. It turns me into a zombie for a few hours after. I then chugged down some coffee and a few biscuits (necessary sustenance... believe me!).



Checking my mail showed me that I had some random guy following me on Twitter. Nosiness drove me over there. I'm always kind of shocked when someone adds me as a contact or follows me on a site like Twitter. It isn't as though I use the site. I mean... I go there once every blue moon when someone follows me. I did, however, spend an entertaining half hour browsing through motivational quotes and a hashtag: #beforetwitter (people put this hashtag into their tweets, much like we use tags here on Multiply). So.... for your education and edification...

#BeforeTwitter I read the drivel of friends on Facebook, now I get to read it from strangers.

   -  or in twit (aka idiot) talk:
#beforetwitter i wud neva tell any1 my thotz..now i tel a bunch of strangerz

#BeforeTwitter some spoke their minds; now they just tweet anothers'

#beforetwitter I knew what homework was.......

#Beforetwitter there were these crazy things called books. People read them for pleasure & to be educated so they didn't "tlk lik this."

#beforetwitter these random thoughts of nothingness had no outlet. Now everyone knows exactly how insane the world really is

#beforetwitter I didn't realize how much random nothingness I had to share w/ the world

#beforetwitter I actually had to spend time with you to Learn who u are as a person. These days. Not so much

#beforetwitter following a stranger would put you in jail

#beforetwitter following a stranger was called stalking

#BeforeTwitter I wrote sentences.

The sheer brilliance of the collective mind out there is staggering! *koff*


Supper was a boring affair of pasta with calabresa (Italian sausage), designed to send me up heartburn alley for the night. We watched an episode of Stargate (yes, we watch really old TV shows). After supper, I got sidetracked with music on Youtube. One thing led to another, as it's inclined to do, and I ended up on a witch-hunt for a song that just does not exist on the internet! I ended up writing to a guy who claims to have the 7" single - on vinyl. Yes, it's an old song.

I'm sitting here laughing so hard. Jurgis was helping me find the song I mentioned, when he got sidetracked too. No less than with David Kramer himself. There isn't a South African who doesn't know that name. David Kramer of the veldskoene, blikkitaar, bicycle and long, empty Karoo roads scattered with tiny Karoo towns. David Kramer has well and truly sung his way through South African culture. "Hier sit die manne in die Royal Hotel..."

A bit of random information from Wiki that started this off: The Kramer family name (originally Karabelnik) was adopted by his grandfather who arrived in South Africa from Lithuania in 1899, and made a living as a salesman (walking from farm to farm selling goods). The family's from Lithuania?? I see he also grew up with his grandfather then.

....

....

David Kramer's brother paints the most amazing oils of yesteryear, also of those tiny one-horse towns. PEP stores is iconic too...


Do visit his site for a glimpse into sleepy South African small towns.
His paintings are amazing!

Seffie goodies

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=sr_ex_n_0?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Asouth+african&keywords=south+african&ie=UTF8&qid=1296411510
NOW they tell me! I see Amazon.com has a South African section too.

Should be illegal, I tell ya!

I would do much to have a Hunters Gold in front of me now *sigh*

This made me laugh! I had the whole ".... but you're white!" comment earlier when I went shopping.

Countries South Africans can travel to without a visa

http://www.travelwithoutvisas.com/
So.... these are the places where I'll get a fuss-free welcome (kinda). Just figures. Now that I've been through the hullabaloo to get to Brazil, if I were coming here now, I wouldn't need a travel visa.

Argh!

An article in Wiki....

"In July 2008, South African passport holders were amongst those singled out by the United Kingdom during a global review[17] as likely to require visas by the end of 2008 unless the countries in question take measures to reduce the perceived risk they pose to the UK. This finding came after the uncovering a major multi-national people smuggling operation involving the fraudulent issuing of genuine South African travel documents to foreign nationals. During two trials that concluded in July 2007 and January 2008 in the United Kingdom, it was revealed that at least 89 Indian citizens had been issued with South African passports by corrupt officials in South Africa's Department of Home Affairs, and that these passports were subsequently used by those Indian citizens to enter Britain illegally. During the trial, a witness testified that one of the scheme's ring leaders boasted of bringing 6000 illegal immigrants into the United Kingdom on fraudulently issued South African passports[18][19][20]. The United Kingdom introduced new visa requirements for South Africans on 3 March 2009. From 3 March 2009 to 1 July 2009, South African citizens who had previously entered the United Kingdom and had evidence of their visit in their current passport (i.e. a UK entry stamp) were exempted from the new visa requirements. As of 1 July 2009, all South African passport holders require a visa to enter or transit through the UK.[21]"

Let's just say that makes me a little more than mad... So that's why we no longer have free travel to the UK! I did wonder.

Sunday chuckles

First, I have to share this here. This, to me, is tear-streaming-laugh-out-loud FUNNY:



Then Jurgis sent this to me. I think at least a couple of my contacts here will appreciate it ; )

This morning I went to sign my four dogs up for welfare.

At first the lady said, "Dogs are not eligible to draw welfare".

So I explained to her that my dogs are mixed in color, unemployed, lazy, can't speak English and have no clue who their daddies are.

They expect me to feed them, provide them with housing and medical care, and feel guilty because they are dogs.

So she looked in her policy book to see what it takes to qualify.

My dogs get their first checks Friday.

Disclaimer: (why do I feel I need one anyway?) The joke above is not aimed at anyone on welfare. I have seen first-hand both ends of the welfare spectrum... the deserving and the most-definitely-not deserving. I thought it was funny. So there!

Besides, I needed the humour. I've been stressing and fussing all day about lesson plans for a very, very, very unpleasant class : (   This is one soul-destroying class. One of us has to give... and I suspect it will be me.

I'm off to do Katey and Riete's quiz and find more funny videos to watch... or perhaps I should give some attention to those lessons.

Procrastination won out!

Saterdag Sokkie jol

Long long ago, in another world and another time, Saturday nights were about Sokkie jol. 'Sokkie' meaning 'sock' and 'jol' meaning 'party'. It was a time when all the dining room tables would be cleared in the boarding school. We'd go downstairs in our frippery (frippery usually involving jeans, colourful bangles and big hair - it was the 80's after all!) and socks... I used to think the dance was planned for the sole purpose of polishing the floors, but oh, what fun! Gran used to tell us how they'd have floors of peach pits (no, I'm not going to tell you what the bonding agent was) which would get polished up to a high shine by dancers.

So don your socks and polish those floors. The music here is South African. Some new, that I've just discovered and some old.


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Erm... and a 'just because' song... because I couldn't resist ; )




Any requests for the DJ? The floor is open.

Kom huistoe - Kurt Darren

Ai ai.... *sigh*

Dear Reader - The Same

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Dear Reader - The Same
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ87RvDDISY

Lyrics:

land, land of my birth
are you my mother
or am i an orphan

where, where do i belong
will i find a place in this world
or forever just wander around

southern hemisphere
how did i end up here
i have nowhere to go
this is the only home that i know
such a great divide
between you and i
how i wish it would go
i live in a place in my mind

no i don't listen to kwaito, wasn't born in soweto
i don't understand you
but i want to you know

same, were both the same
we share the same heart
we're made of the same parts

please don't look at me that way
i already live with the guilt that i own
from my forefather's past
does this land belong to the tribes who engraved her stones with stories of old
they're long gone you know
now this is our home

i want to strip you down to the core
take off your shirt, hat, shoes and trousers
erase my head, all the books that i've read
the language i speak, the customs you keep
keep on going right down to the heart
to the pain that is yours - the pain that is ours
tell you it's all going to be alright
is it going to be alright

heal, can you heal
heal, oh can you heal
heal, oh mother, can you heal
or am i an orphan
forever a stranger here

same, we're both the same
we share the same heart
we're made of the same parts