Bacontrack

So here is the idea.
Every traffic department in SA nominates a tech savvy person in their department. This person will then be responsible for updating twitter (and communicating with Cliff), managing a facebook page and responding to the masses. This surely would be a daunting task but Cliff has proven these tools to be powerful and effective. Imagine a person who can report on and follow up corruption charges on twitter. If the traffic police had reported exactly what cliff did they could have been heroes and they could have gone further by reporting slow traffic etc.
The biggest enemy one can make is the public and the public has never had such powerful means of communication before. 21000 followers are dangerous. Why not harness that power for the purpose of justice?
Tweet. Post. Blog.
One person can reach thousands of people without even leaving his office. All you need to do is reach their hearts. Kudos to Cliff for taking the risk. It shouldn’t be a risk. It should be a service delivered to the people.

Here comes “the what if” part:
What if you use the social websites and reach out to the users to perhaps:
Tweet descriptions of stolen cars. Discouraging vigilantism. Recruitment. Public awareness with regards to drugs and human trafficking. Answering queries that the laymen might have. There are a lot of possibilities.
The police and metro (any government association) are servants to the public. They are supposed to be our heroes and friends. We are supposed to treat them with the respect and dignity that this position deserves. But they have a bad reputation thanks to both sides. The person giving the bribe is as guilty to this as the cop taking the bribe.
What do you think ?

Life Draft

Draft
Any of the various versions in the development of a written work.
A dose of liquid medicine.

I find myself perplexed at how everything happens around me. The universe provides a never ceasing flow of events which are versatile and spontaneousand yet as easy to manipulate as the ocean tide. We as men dream of changing such things and dam and wall these tides and think ourselves as victors of nature while at the same time fail to see that we have barely grazed the flow. Poetic dont you think. Nah! me neither.

Repeating an experience allows me to predict the outcome. Like driving. And relationships. I am on autopilot when I drive and when I relate. The only problem is that in relationships my autopilot sucks. I shoot my mouth off, make bad decisions and in the end a total ass of myself. This is achieved with total independence from me. I rely on the other person to interrupt this path and perhaps I would achieve a different outcome. Unfortunately this rarely happens. I am saddened by this. I so deeply desire a different outcome. Yet "Nay" says the people " We are masters of our own destiny. It is up to you to change the result."(In a loud chorus with communist music roaring in the background) I will burst the stereotypical self loathing bubble by saying I think that I am atleast a decent, intelectual (Whoops! Thats with two ll's) well mannered bloke. I think I deserve to get what I want sometimes. Problem being that I am beginning to suspect that I am not the only factor in this equation. What do you think ?

Possessed possession. A post with to much S,,,,

I don’t usually rant and rave. Or do it purposefully. That I know of. . .

Today I would just like to rant and rave.
Last night I was woken up by the two great whites. Beautiful and friendly dogs. Normally when woken at that hour someone has to be dead or dying. But I make an exception for “the great whites”. The whole situation was handled very diplomatically. I only get late night visits when they run out of water. First they would break down the defensive barriers I erected to keep any unwanted animals out of my domain. Secondly one would try and poke its nose under my door and let me know she is there by sniffing. Man! Can that dog sniff?! I had to movie the furniture back an inch the next morning. If I don’t get up they have the right to start prying open my bathroom door drink out of my toilet and eat anything that isn’t bolted down. Luckily I got up in time to go outside and fill up the water bowl. Seeing them so excited and happy gave me an enormous sense of well being even if it was bloody dark and bloody cold.
Then morning came. Like the tax collector in days of yore. Wearing a long black coat, tiny spectacles and a smirk. Along with this bugger comes his little pet daemon called an alarm clock. Except mine isn’t really an alarm clock. No! This little bugger is truly possessed. I don’t mind its annoying ring when I want to sleep. I believe it is my duty to heed its wail and leave the sanctum that is my bed sheets. So I get up and I “turn of my alarm clock”. Like any normal person would do. Now I admit that I am blessed with a tub in my room. It may sound ridiculous but it is actually quite practical. I get to turn some music an soak in the bath to relaxing sounds of Chopin in the morning. Bliss. As soon as I am in the bath my bastard alarm would go off. Again. Believing myself to be a person of great will and resistant to small annoyances I ignore it. And it goes quite. For a minute. Then it goes again. But this time even louder. Rinse and repeat. Until the music is drowned by an excessive waling. Not only will it disrupt your dreams but you should forget about relaxing.
I suppose there are a hundred other things I can go on about. Like the 900 speed humps on my way to work( There are a total of 9 in one street just before my office. In less than 600m. What is that about? ) but the truth is I’m actually in quite a good mood. To good to spoil on mundane things like complaints. Almost good enough to share its source. But you’ll have to wait for that one.

Hello there!

Forgive me readers for I have sinned. It's been 5 months since my last post. What? Really ? Oh dear...

Wait a minute. I can explain. You see there were these erm... zombies... and they erm ... ninjas...


So the truth is that nothing has happened. Or a lot has happened just not anything blog worthy. Nothing inspired me to write. I have been lazy. I have been forgetful and all the silliness associated with being a bad writer. It had realized that I have just been through the hardest year and a half of my life. Life has a tendency to give you exactly the one thing you want at that particular moment. Complaining about it leads to other people saying” stop your whining”. At the same time you have to listen to other people “complaining” about their situations. Infuriating. People are pretty selfish that way. I have been walked over, humiliated and ignored. Not allowed a single moment of sympathy because either no one cares or they are in even more terrible places. Probably the saddest part is me acquiring new skills in all of this. . . I have become a better listener. I do care about everyone’s problem. I do try to be generous. I do try to be kind to everyone. These skills I have acquired are both cause and effect. A scientific anomaly I might add. People ignore me because I am “too easy on them”. I am too easy on them because I am not recognized. This leaves me with the obvious two options.



I can become a badass by stepping on feelings, getting one night stands, not giving a damn and becoming greedy. This will get me recognition and the protagonist is more often the badass and not the nice nerd.

Or

I can be nice. Generous. A gentleman. Alone.

/Sigh . Now for the anticlimax. I can't be option A. I am after all a sucker for punishment. Can you even imagine me being a badass? You can’t can you? :-P



Fate. Thou art a cruel mistress.

Hello World.

Okay. So this is me . I have no talent to speak of. This can and undoubtly wil be argued but let me explain before you start showering me with your sentimental emails. This is who I am. I can spend days being lazy and do nothing at all. I sometimes need to be in bed by 10pm to "get enough" sleep for the next day. I can't sing , play instruments, write like a pro etc etc. And before you start raising eyebrows you have to know that I don't care. There are plenty of talented people to go around. It has always haunted me the way people excel while I stay behind. But now I think I finally understand.

It's like the first time I got a skateboard way back when. I never really became a good skateboarder. Even though i tried real hard. I would go skateboarding as often as I could. Even after all that I have to this date made only one ollie. That is where you jump with your skateboard and land on it. The best part of this story is that it was a perfect, nice height, audience muting ollie. Never did it again.

I ve spent the better part of my day trying to make a server work.I'm not going into details about the server but I will say that I'v been going for 16 hours. Its 4am. I have realised that is how I work. If you stick around you will sometimes love me, sometimes hate me and most of the time just find me boring but there are moments. Moments when music comes naturally. When words flow from my mind. Moments when I am the hero. Tiny moments when I shine. Am I the only one who works like this? Am I the only gambling jack of all trades ?  You can't argue with me when I say this makes me unreliable. But atleast it makes life interesting.

By the by. The title is reference to a famous programming line. ( I am still working on the server).

By the by by . I saw a few good movies in between server dancing.
Unbreakable. Good movie overall but a bit boring when you don't want to think about it.
Joshua. The first thriller where I actually wanted to stand up and leave.Thats a good thing.
The People vs. Larry Flynt. Also a very good movie when thinking is something you do and not a hobbie that other people (but you) do.
Wonder if I should blog my thoughts about these movies ??? Lets have a pole shall we  ?

How to blog.

I like reading blogs. I like knowing what and how people think. I find it very relaxing. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who don't. So I'm recruiting bloggers. Woot.

Here is a how to blog blog post.

Step one. Find a site. If you are reading this then you should know that this is the blog site I prefer. It was easy to find and set up with no hidden costs or limitations. All you need to register is an email adres. This you can get from registering ( for free) on gmail, hotmail, yahoo, etc. Now once you have registered an email adres you can register at http://www.blogger.com/ . Click on register and fill out the form . Use a fake name if you like. I prefer using my name for this blog since I can post links on faceplace. During this registration you get to pick your writing name, blog name etc. Spend some time with that since that is permanent. Once you are done with the whole registering process and you are logged in , guess what : Tada. Now. You can click on new post and start writing. And then publish post.

That is the short of it. There are some personal touches you can play around with like the background and pictures or notes. Adding extra menus on the side etc etc. Its like having your own little website. A handy tip to get your friends to read your blog is share the link to your posts. View your post. In the adress bar you'll see something like http://yourblognamehere.blogspot.com/2010/02/yourposttitlehere.html?zx=4cb18a4ac320e533 . Now drag and select the whole adres. Right click on it. Click on copy. Now go to your facebook profile. Right click on your status. Click paste. Tada. Now facebook will share your link with all your friends. People can also leave a comment at the bottom of your blog by clicking on the ... wait for it ... comment buttton.

Another thing I think is very important is to have a place for your readers to see who you follow. I have a tab called " Talented people blog here. " I found a few peoples who's blog I follow religously and clicked on follow. There names automatically appear in this tab. So all my readers can also go to there blogs and follow them.

It's actually very easy isn't it ? And don't worry about not knowing what to write. One day you'll just want to say something to world and this is where you can do just that. There is no time limit or obligations of any kind. You can even spell like an idiot if you like. Like me ! If you have any questions you can leave a comment and ask. Everyone was a noob once.

Natto. Itadakimasu.

Why we need natto.


My friends and I have made it a habit of frequenting a local Japanese restaurant at least once a month. This is the only Japanese restaurant in our city as far as we know. Usually if life is treating us well we start with some of the best sushi available in the city then move on to the traditional Japanese rice and noodle dishes. The last time we went however life was treating us well enough so we settled on only a main course.

Because we were set on only a main course my friend decided we try a traditional Japanese dish before. The dish is called natto. This is fermented soy beans. Usually I can eat anything. I love food and thus I love different tastes. I am pretty easy going when it comes to food. Natto on the other I was sceptical to begin with. Reluctantly we all agreed. When the natto arrived at the table it started attacking the senses. It’s the smell you spend time on searching to annihilate before your guests arrive for a fancy dinner party. My one friend bravely took at least a whole mouth full and swallowed. I managed a small bite and swallowed. The other managed a bite but couldn’t manage the swallowing part (he was the one who ordered by the way). It was an experience I can only describe as gagging. The smell, taste and texture were inhumane.

After the waiter removed the bowl of crap our food arrived. And suddenly I realised that I was craving the food. Everything. Even the tofu in my soup side. I hunted every last piece of bean curd in that soup and savoured the taste. It was glorious. That’s when I decided that natto should make a frequent appearance to our Japanese meals.



In the same way we receive natto everyday of our lives. Shit. It happens. The problem is that people love complaining. If something goes terribly wrong we always forget to be very thankful for the things that went perfect. We also fail to realise that things have to go wrong sometimes. It makes us appreciate the better things in life. It might not always be easy. But it might just be possible to survive and that is good enough reason to smile at the end of the day. Natto to go please.

Gochisosama deshita!

More

So I took a critical look at myself (see previous post). This is very un pro. But if you don’t like it , tough. This is my blog.


I once read that a person should do one thing everyday that scares him. It’s good for the heart. Being absurd is scary. I can explain the universe with a pencil, paper and good ol’ logic. (okay. Many pencils , a lot of paper and logic) There comes a time in life when each individual suddenly realises that ,logically, illogic exists. I blogged about love and how it is a logical emotion based on chemicals in the brain that exist for human survival. I also disproved true blue fairytale love at first sight in numerous conversations. Truth is: I don’t believe half the crap I write or even say. The previous sentence was preceded by a drum role and succeeded by fanfare and confetti. All the unknowns and known unknowns of the universe need to exist. We need it to exist. I human needs to justify emotions with some irrational, illogical explanation. And at the end of the day when all is said and done we are left with thoughts of our silly, illogical actions and we lie in bed and dream illogical dreams and make up stories that are beautiful and sad and absurd. This is part of human development. Evolution ( a logical concept) is based on survival. For humans that should be illogical. We fight to survive. A long hard journey filled with a whirlwind of emotions of which fear and anger are predominant in the fight for survival. This is a miserable situation. It would be easier not to do it at all. And still we fight and evolve because of the things in life that make us happy. We trade a lifetime of hard work for moments of bliss. And we evolve. Logically if a = b and b = c then a = c. Evolution is based on happiness. At least human evolution.

I argued that love is an animalistic instinct, chemical reactions in the brain, a product of evolution to insure human survival. This might be true. Then we also have to consider that humanity has evolved beyond the necessity to populate. Our tribe is strong and will survive without me having to make humanlings. And yet man has this burning desire to make its mark on the world, gain its fifteen minutes of fame and leave behind offspring that will remember it. This is illogical and thus not evolution. A=d , b=c then a does not equal c.

Soul block,assess, amend.

So I found myself standing in front of this huge wall and shouting “ Hey ! What the hell ? “ and it said “…” .




“Being ignored is your own fault. You can never blame the ignoree obviously because you are being ignored and that for a reason. Mostly because you lack the sufficient score on an awesome scale. Personal best is a 10 on an awesome scale of 50k. This may sound like self pity but it is actually self defence. Self defence I have been working on all my life. Simple really. In conversation my goal is to sound like I have a low self esteem and barely if any talent. The effect is when I accomplish something I am praised and shine like a star that I have always dreamt of becoming. If not. A pat on the back and a hearty “ Never give up” . This had some unforeseen consequences. I played my part to well. I used to be daring. Powerful. Provocative. Now being cautious is a second nature. Even when I know there is nothing that can possibly be a threat. Now for instance I am typing using MS Word instead of using the very capable built in word editor of the site. Not that its unsafe but because I’m not sure if I’m going to post. Even after assurance from fellow bloggers. “Just post. Even if you think it sucks.” This only proves that blogging is therapeutic in two ways. Sharing thoughts and ideas normally held inside and overcoming that fear of doing something. Taking that first step. The leap of faith. I am sure that readers have enough common sense to ignore the bs and that somewhere in the heap of crap I write there might be a gem or two worth reading. The only thing this doubt and cautious nature has gained me is a stable boring life. An unintended gift for being ignored. “

That was what I was going to write this morning but I started annoying myself. So I am rethinking my entire post. This requires quite a lot of personality change. I talent I am proud to possess.

Stay tuned.

Love (optional)

The popular topic for the weekend. There is nothing that quite says love than a reception on a lawn the size a rugby field , being served oysters , martinis, champagne and other poor stomache* teasing delicacies. When someone in your family gets married a person is most likely to think of his/her future and/or possible love interests and will soon enough be disappointed by the lack therof. There are, afterall, a lot of family at family weddings. Then there is the fact that love is deniable. Little evidence shows it really exist. Even if it does exist then it is very hard to distinguish between love and lust. If one person loves a person and that person loves another then there is a significant problem. Lust is easy. You don't need anyone specific for lust. But when are you in love? There is a remote possibility that I haven't ever experienced love. I am usually very reluctant to tell someone I love them and use the term lightly. Perhaps I pronounced it love but really said lurv**. Perhaps love is a word created to calm the mass? Perhaps it is a chemical reaction in our brains in a desperate act for survival. Perhaps the world needs to stop looking at it in black and white. Maybe its not that easily definable. Somewhere some person decided that a man must love a woman. Any exception to the rule is frowned upon. It is also possible to be in a relationship without love.

If love exists and has the characteristcs describe through the ages then I love everyone. I am very excited when I talk to anyone. My heart starts racing at every compliment. I have trouble keeping eye contact with anyone. A lot of people fill my mind day and night. Effectively I am cheating on all of you with everyone else. I suppose that this is frowned upon. But am I wrong? Mathematical logic. If I start dating someone I can't love them more than I have before I started dating them and there are a lot of people I haven't dated yet. This means that I love everyone in advance. This also means that a relationship can only start if the other person is interested in me. That explains a lot. ***

There is also a possibility that I am completely wrong. Perhaps "love" is a sequence of rituals. The act of meeting followed by meeting regularly then admittance then ceremony and finally promise. Acquaintance, conference, correspond, betrove. If any of the rituals are performed incorrectly they are either restarted or forsaken. Perhaps the reason some relationship work is because that participants are unenthusiastic about restarting the relationship either for fear or laziness. In short. Love is nothing more than a player playing by the rules governed by society. It happens because that is whats supposed to happen.

I am even willing to entertain the theory that love is some magical universal power to which we are susceptible. Then it is just as easy to imagine that it can wither and disappear in time. Or not appear often at all. If this faerie tale approuch is taken then be warned. You are also admitting that it might never happen to you. You may be destined to die alone. That is magic's flaw. If it does exist , it doesn't exist for everyone.
And who are we to deny destiny  ?

*Finance induced appetite.
** A combinantion of lust and love. Usually more lusty.
***I have a habit of kissing the first person that shows interest and also of being single for a long time.

Tequila Samba

Just something ...

At last the time has come. He relaxed his shoulders and thought fully allowed the wind to caress his long unkempt hair. He was staring at the beauty of the night sky. A single cloud or two hiding some parts hinting to pleasures unknown to him. He picked up his guitar , his instrument that he would use to dance with the night sky. Unconsciously he let his fingers explore the varnished body and taught stings. Like silk on a beautiful body. His heart was pounding. This was his night. In that instant the whole universe belonged to him. He savored this time. His days labour was part of the setup for the night. He had a promised himself this little time of bliss as a reward for his hard work. He was yanked back into reality by a co musician. He nodded to indicate his readiness and started a playful light hearted tune on his guitar. The crowd fell slightly silent and showed there interest to this new development in the seemingly perfect atmosphere. He watched them carefully. He was no expert but at the least his guitar had a mind of its and it left him free to watch the crowd. As the rest of the band joined his joyful tune the crowd turned back to their previous conversations. The music was as soothing and intoxicating as always. As mellow as a good wine. He watched and listened as the crowd settled and unsettled with every new song. Applauding to each and forgetting to listen once it was in a full swing. He didn’t mind it at all. He knew that they would be there in the end of another day . Different faces or features but they always returned.


Then something happened. He suddenly felt his heart beat stronger in his chest. A definite pounding that raised his alarm. It felt as if it was crawling up his chest , made it harder to breath. Was it something he had heard or saw? In a panic he sought the object of his distress. There in the crowd he saw her eyes again. Staring straight through his. The power of her eyes stole his breath. He could not think. He couldn’t even blink. The ability to steal away the attention of his conscious and subconscious thought indicated the end of the song. A little startled but not at all surprised the rest of the band ended their piece. He had to act quickly. With all the will he had left in him he grasped at anything in his mind to break her power. He used his guitar and let his sole guide his hands once again but he did not stare at the crowd anymore. Feigning a complex piece he stared down at the strings. He used the rhythm of his heart guide the music. As if the rest of the band could hear his heart , they all joined in. If he had looked at the crowd he would have noticed that they fell silent once more and had turned their attention to the front. He didn’t need to concentrate on the piece but he was afraid to look up into those gorgeous eyes again. Bright blue lances driving your head back. He could not take that chance. He shuffled his feet uncomfortably like an idiot. He feigned a smile like an idiot. He bobbed his head slightly to his own music like an idiot. He was being an idiot. A sudden conviction returned his will. This was his night and his universe and he’d be damned if some she devil was going to deny him this. The he looked up. He was conscious once more of his heart pounding in his chest. The threat was now obvious. She had moved from the shadows of the forest of people into the clearing in front of the stage. Alone as if sharing his space in the private of his universe. She was no stranger to the music and had picked up the beat as soon as she had arrived. (presumingly from his beating heart). Her almost perfect body was covered by an almost pitch black dress allowing his imagination to discover its own path from her neck to her ankles. She moved as graceful as his soul could play. His mind automatically started to compare her with the night sky filled with stars. She was invading his universe at an alarming rate. He had no defense against her eyes and he could not break away his stare from her body. She was a goddess. A siren who had caught him in her spell. He could feel his humanity being sucked away and he could not stop it. He didn’t want to stop it. That thought was what caused him to panic. All his shortcomings jerked him down to earth with a violent jolt. How could a goddess even look at him? He met with her eyes again. It expected him to not stop. It wanted him to play. To play his guitar with more than he had ever played. He controlled her with this instrument. This was her body in his hands and he knew what to do. He started to play with his whole soul conducting his fingers running through her hair. His other hand firmly holding her in the small of her back. He stared into her eyes and with it whispered “ Are you ready?”. He would have thought it was a dream but she acknowledged with a small cheeky smile. He replied with his own. He started the tango. He body as graceful and beautiful as a goddess. He knew he was now dancing the tango with her soul. Controlling her body with his hands guided by his thoughts. He made her dance. If there were a crowed in their universe they would fell silent and focused all their attention on them. If there were a band they would have either fell silent or played their own supportive music. As it were they were alone and he used his hands to explore her body. The fear had turned to ecstasy. He could not imagine a universe without her. She had totally dominated his mind but in turn he was in total control of her body. Running his hand up her back supporting her as she bent over backwards. His other hand running down her front. At last going back to her neck and pulling her face close to his. So close to her eyes he could not control himself anymore. Neither could she. He breathed in her scent and it made her falter. She could not resist his touch just as he could not live without essence in his lungs. The universe exploded as they started kissing. The crowd’s applause had never had as much life as it had tonight. They never had a show as they had tonight. She turned on stage to bow and turned back to him. Her eyes beautiful still , gave him back his soul but kept a fine fragment. She gave him another cheeky smile and disappeared into the crowd.