I'm looking for someone!

As you know, we in our neighbourhood, are concerned about the delightful Thai people that have moved in!! I've been looking for the Thai pimp as I need to discuss something with him!! I'm a bit concerned as H of Arabia is talking Glenda's python....Niels talking about sending me a gymnast (something to do with tricks) and I'm worried about Lobo spinning around ;-). This could mean a lot more nocturnal activities keeping me awake at night!!
In fact I want the little Asian man to get hold of Faisal Bassa for me, he's the owner of the house and a little bit scarce this month (religious reasons I'm told!!) I just don't know how I'll recognise him!!! That was untill Garith posted the answer on his face book page yesterday!!!!

You heard WHAT...on the radio!!

You read THAT…. in the news? Enjoy it while you can folks because very soon it will all become a distant memory if this new tribunal takes effect. I have visions of all us sitting in our cellars listening to a world war 2 crackling radio or people in the streets walking along in long trench coats and as they pass you they hand you a clandestine pamphlet on current local affairs. Highly unlikely! Just my imagination but scary thoughts in a post apartheid South Africa in 2010.

We all remember the poignant TV coverage of many tanks facing one man in Tiananmen Square. Not shown on local Chinese TV. Soweto riots that we now see that was viewed internationally and not by ourselves at the time. The Second World War exploits of Hitler that Americans and other allies knew about but only whispered about amongst the local population as the Jews were fed lies about these wonderful environments they were supposed to be going to! Is that what it will be like here? Are we as locals going to be the last to know?

I don’t believe this was Mandela’s ANC. Mandela’s ANC wanted freedom for all people Black and White and we know this because the 1994 ANC Manifesto states that the ANC wanted an open Society; The ANC will strive for an open society that encourages vigorous debate. People must be free to express their views without fear, including criticising the government of the day. Freedom of the media will be essential for a flourishing of democracy. The 2004 Manifesto states that; we must broaden access to the rights contained in our constitution, so that more and more South Africans - especially the poor, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities - can enjoy all the benefits of freedom.

The corner stone of this democratic freedom is the freedom to write what you like!! (Yes I did have to change the word WOT to be different!!) Does JZ have such a short memory on media freedom!! He, JZ is saying that the ANC would never do anything that would undermine the spirit of the Constitution and which would erode the dignity and rights of other people, regardless of their standing in society and because of this he has asked that media to allow the ANC and the public the right to freedom of expression. Whose freedom of expression is this? If the ANC doesn’t say it then we can’t write it – OMG this sounds pretty draconian to me. In the old days anti-apartheid writers such as Nadine Gordimer, André Brink, Mary Benson and many others works were banned in South Africa for writing against the apartheid government. And now…Watch out folks because if you are anti ANC your works will also be banned! JZ would have you believe that all smear campaigns against the ANC are totally unfounded and only there to cause sensationalism therefore rendering the ANC squeaky clean at all times.

Even Malema has a say here. He was hauled out of the woodwork and said that they the ANCYL were assaulted and vandalised by the media and that they couldn’t do anything because the media could destroy a person's future without fact. Because of this editors and media owners should not try to get the government to discuss whether a media tribunal should be established, but how the tribunal should be set up to prevent future dictators from abusing it to kill media freedom!! Have you ever on that logic!! Methinks he should go back to his woodwork class!!

Anyway who said apartheid was a white on black issue. In the passed yes but now it’s an elite ANC against the rest of us and they are still blaming transformation even though many reporters are black! In fact wa Afrika who was detained recently is a fellow black South African but the ANC says ‘We are the people who fought for the freedom you enjoy today (...) some of us died for it and we have put our view before you, and that is our right,” And this is the freedom they talked about in 1994!! Of course this proposed media tribunal and media ownership is supposedly because in their view - Print media does not have, nor is in a process of developing a transformational charter, despite the regrettable degree of transformation.” Why is it that a problem is always blamed on transformation! There are many fellow black reporters but are they being overlooked because they do not come out and support the ANC at all times so does transformation only now apply to how many ANC members have a job? That’s for you to decide but I am off to build my cellar and buy myself a trench coat!! It could be needed in the not too distant future!!

OMG - A brothel in the neighbourhood!!

We used to live in a nice neighbourhood until that couple sold their house!! The new neighbours were considered dodgy for us locals because they were never at home at night. When asked if they were running a business from a residential house (sacrilege) and not living there at night we complained. The girls arrived at eight and left at five in super secretarial outfits and insisted they did the night shift at the casino. They were arriving home at eight and leaving for work at five!! A steady stream of cars visited during the day. All male drivers!! Exhausting actually working night shift and having friends visit all day!!

Well us busy body neighbours got together saying we didn’t like the constant supply of male visitors. The owner insisted he had no idea what the tenants were doing and the tenants were asked to leave. And then the new neighbours moved in. Reminds me of that delightful book my son had called “New neighbours – pass it on”. Quiet shy Thai neighbours. No one noticed the daily visitors and even less so the constant comings and goings at all hours late at night and early mornings until someone said something and then we all looked again!!

The ADT guards reported a constant citing of cars during the day that drive up and down so they know where to come late at night or they simple duck in there and then. We do not live in a through road area so it’s very easy to spot the visitors! At night plenty cars drive in and out, they hang around the pavements outside and the local pimp is forever running down to the traffic lights to wave the cars on up the road. You cannot miss the house actually. It’s like the red light district hiding behind one lone thick red drape. At night with the light shining inside an eerie red shadow shines out showing every one that this is the house!! Like a light house actually! The difference being the one is warning you of the dangers on the rocks below and this one, if you’re into that sort of thing is beckoning you in!!! Night and day the curtains are drawn shut – looking after those lily white skins by day I suppose and creating the red glow by night.

Dead give away is the washing line – yes you guessed it; its 80% red. Red bras, red panties, red blankets and red sheets and who told you ladies out there it was black we we’re supposed to wear!!

We can’t profess to be the Heidi Fleiss of America as she knew her customers personally. All we have are faceless, nameless, pleasure seeker’s number plates from the cars. ZN, NC, NKR, NJ and even GP. 2 digit, 3 digit, 4 digit and 6 digit number plates on Mercedes, BMW’s and old VW’s. The personalised ones are a dead giveaway but hey not much we can do with that ever growing list. We’ve given that to the police, the lawyers and even carte blanche.

Tow trucks, taxies, tiling companies and even a tour company have visited our area - There is a down side to advertising your business on your cars! Maybe they were being rewarded for hard work during business hours or just using company time and petrol for their own pleasures. The funniest are those studs late at night turned on by exploits that I can only imagine who rev their cars up on departure and you can hear that sound forever until it fades into the dead of night!

Thursday nights is different to the rest. Lots more laughter and lots more noise. We wonder if in that world that we only understand by the documentaries or movies we might have watched whether they have a happy hour at midnight or a buy one, get one free special. Maybe its night off and the girls and pimps share drinks and stories…..

Hey guys, what you do and when you do it is your prerogative. It’s where you do it that we, on our road, have a problem with. Would you like your woman and children to be living right there? Probably not which is why you visit our neighbourhood. So if you’re visiting other areas for your ‘pleasures by the body’ please move it from that neighbourhood into yours and remember we are all watching you, your number plates are traceable and you're not welcome anymore!!!.

Sunday nights Soccer world cup Final - A different view

I have a different view to Sunday nights final. Not that I know much about soccer. I was wearing the soccer Friday shirts for 10 weeks before the SWC began. I ran out onto the streets at midday on that Wednesday to show my support. I went to 2 matches in Durban supporting the team outwardly from the colour schemes I could find in my cupboard and spent much time in Florida Road and the beachfront enjoying the fans and taking pictures that captured the fun before the matches. But let’s get back to soccer and the game.

Would I avidly watch all these players playing for the different leagues in Europe or elsewhere on Super Sport– highly unlikely? I mean most these soccer players spend there time falling to the ground with tears in their eyes holding their ankles and shins and surreptitiously glancing up to see whether the ref had noticed their amazing fall and pain (that never lasts too long – unbelievable how they jump up and limp for 2 steps and then its back to running round that field waiting for their next moment.) In the meantime they have caused a yellow card to the player from the opposing team and they are really proud of that. I mean let’s be honest here. 2 grown men running for a ball. One will reach that ball a split second before the other. The first man will connect with that ball and the 2nd man will connect with whatever is there now in place of that ball. 9 times out of ten it will be the ankle or some body part that’s still lingering after the action. Have any of you tried to stop an action already in motion when going hammer and thongs to get there first. It is difficult, I would think!

So Sunday nights final! The Netherlands team played hard soccer. They had to stop the Spanish possession play! We all knew, even if we did not follow much soccer before this SWC that the Spanish players were brilliant on possession and speed. The Netherlands team had to put a stop to Spanish possession. They had to go for the ball and yes they missed many times and their connection came late. Do you sit back and watch the other team play or do you try as hard as you can to get the ball. This is soccer after all and when 2 people run for a ball, one will invariably win the race. The Spanish were good at winning that race but that was not what they were only good at. They won first prize for their acting tactics and falling over onto the floor. As someone said; soccer ref should also hold a pink card, I don’t need to explain what that is for!

Heitinga got a red card for putting his hand on Iniesta’s shoulder. What did Puyol get for putting his arm round Robbin’s waste!! The difference here is Iniesta fell forward after 2 steps and Robbin did not play act the fall! As far as I’m concerned Iniesta deserved the pink card! It is not because the Netherlands played good hard football that will have me looking at Rugby and the Tour De France cycling and other sport on Super Sport but the likes of the Spanish team who should have all been dished out with Pink Cards!!! The fact that I had an Orange outfit in my cupboard and an Orange hat might mean that I am a little biaised!!
To see more fan pics from Durban go to http://welcomewozani.com/

Family connections

I have been away from genealogy for a while. Life took over and months passed by. I happened to be looking at Rootsweb genealogy name searches and I stumbled accross a family connection to a few generations back and have added names and photographs to my tree. Its amazing what networking can do. For those of you unfamiliar with rootsweb; its a wonderful place to find info from those searching for the same names and places that you are. It is free and just needs for you to create a logon and password but even without that you can find and access information. I always type the following in my search browser;
Rootsweb South Africa Scott
Rootsweb Barkly East Births
Rootsweb Stornoway Maclennan
Its amazing what this simple entry brings up!

Archive News

The National Archives news and events is not very active lately with no news been written in 2009. It does have a new article requesting articles for publication in its quarterly publication the “Archives News”

The “Archives News” is a quarterly internal publication of the Outreach and Publications Section with articles focusing on subjects about heritage, archival topics and different reports from various individuals and institutions about projects on heritage and archival matters. After publication it is distributed to all the Provincial Archives; Libraries, Schools, Genealogical Societies etc.

It is asking that articles of interest be forwarded to the editor by emailing thabang.khanye@dac.gov.za or lucas.thulare@dac.gov.za.

Hopefully this section will become more active in the future

Geni.com

I thought Geni was absolutely amazing untill I cancelled my geni account by mistake. I was in fact trying to cancel Geni Pro and cancelled the normal account while they still had me signed on to Geni pro which still meant being debited every month with no Geni Access!!!

I started my tree on Geni. I had loaded personally over 900 people and the extra 80 loaded by other members I had invited. I had done a few months of Geni Pro but could not see a real benefit as most the tree matches were way out so I decided to cancel Geni Pro. I did'nt follow the close geni Pro account details correctly and ended up cancelling my Geni Account. There was no note to say are you sure as you are a geni pro member etc...

What you should know:
When you cancel your Geni.com account you are only cancelling your right to sign on. You loose your login and password details. You are not deleting your tree, they give it to someone else. Geni does not ask who would you like to act as guardian for your tree. They just hand your tree to another family member and Geni automatically gives them the managerial rights of your tree. When You tell them you have made a mistake the do not just reverse the situation. You have to be invited back onto your own tree by someone else! They will also keep deducting Geni Pro monthly cost from your account and you would have no access to it.

I do still use Geni. I will cancel Geni Pro. I have in fact started my own dedicated web site that I can invite others to join and they can add family members. AT least that way I am in control!!