Agents Bloody Agents !!

Last week was just one of those weeks , so instead of whining about how bad the week was or this week might be. Lets remember last week ended on a massive high with  the second most popular theme on twitter world wide being JuJu .( as reported by our local media )Yes JUJU  Our fearless possibly brainless youth league leader , and his hilarious childish statements  rocked the social networking world .If you haven’t seen what some of the world posted then do  yourself a favour and get onto twitter and have a good chuckle . It’ll help to start the week on a high , so if we get it going right hope fully this week’s going to be a good week .

By now you should be able to clearly differentiate between the guys doing  movember and those who just forgot to shave that day. To my fellow dirty Sanchez’s of the world keep the mo’s going and as the looks you get, get worse just smile and remember you’re doing something for a good cause !

So thinking about ridiculous statements and good times my mind has drifted to fine print.

Yes you might think that to be a big stretch   but , a mates story came to mind .

While living in London the following happened to a Him and it served as a wakeup call to a lot of us .

He was one of the multitude of Ausies who go across to the Uk to do their “2 years  “. To my older readers not their 2 years military service but 2 years of partying it up and having fun in jolly old.

Now said mate who had been in country maybe 3 Months , struggling as you do to find work when you first get over .Was having the time of his life partying it up , He’d even undergone an epic  road trip across Europe. Once back from his travels he started getting supply work , now if you know anything about the education system in the Uk you’ll know that supply teachers are the back bone of their system as most of the full time teachers seem to always have sick days or leave . Being a good supply teacher  you can make real money without the worry of  contracts and giving you the room to travel when you want to .

Now said mates life was starting to look rosy . Till one night his passport was stolen , out of his room in the hostel ( theft in hostels is sometimes rife ,but that will be a topic for another day ). That began  the beginning of the end of the dream .

Now replacing passports is relatively easy these days, but replacing visa and especially work permits now that’s a whole different ball game. Did you know that even though you might have a photo copy of your visa/work permits , The country that issued it often doesn’t keep a record of the visa that they issued . and worst of all they often  can’t be replaced !  You have to reapply for them . Now as said friend used the collateral that was needed to procured said work permit , to fund the epic road trip and his air tickets to the Uk . He didn’t have enough funds to either stay in county and not work  or reapply for a new work permit .

So the end of a dream . He had to return home a broken sad bunny .

My mind also goes to the wonder of modern travel that of very low cost airlines and  travel agencies , lucky for many South Africans we haven’t been burnt by many air lines or travel agencies going under whilst we are traveling , but in Europe it’s happened rather more regularly  than you’d expect . leaving people stranded in the middle of nowhere with no protection.  Leaving you to buy another ticket home , often which costs more than your whole trip .

So getting to my point when we travel we sign so many forms each with their own fine print from  your visas  ,tickets , hotel rooms and travel insurance .When last did you read said  fine print? Especially those dreaded customs forms ,!

”those bloody agents” are always out there to spoil your travels , so remember read everything and make sure you understand what you read

Peace out people and have a great week 

TGIF

Wow what an over said but never old statement TGIF

Today's post is dedicated to all of you who are having a bad Friday ,
you know the one the day when nothing goes the way you planned .
To prevent sudden self inflicted hair loss or you  pulling a Clombine on your colleagues
here is a list of online comics that should help you get through the day ...
www.explosm.net/comics/


theoatmeal.com/
www.madamandeve.co.za
www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes


IF THAT DIDN'T WORK
Then here is the  perfect sights  for you
http://www.barrett.net/
http://www.heckler-koch.de/HKWeb/show/frameStart

and lastly
wishbear.net/








IT's Friday 
 relax and it'll be over soon !!

status quo

So as I've been sitting with the proverbial writers block over the last few day. I asked  my friends on  Facebook whether I should write on either Visas or travel contracts , that grew into a story that I was going to post today . Till I saw a mates status this morning !


"is anyone still producing good music these days? Tell me who."


As said mate is in the music industry this has lead to quite a discussion within his group of friends and got me thinking .


We live in a consumer driven  world where in nearly any city one might be in , one will see the same brand name products either genuine  or fake  and  the same quick service food stores . and often one has to go out of ones way to find the different and local flavour of a place . Yes it often great that one can get your  cheap cheese burger and toy where ever one is , or that morning pick me up of a large drip . But where is that  local  difference the reason why we travel ? Even in a city like London one has to go out of ones way to find a "traditional cafe "for your morning fry up.


So along that line of thought , where is the different music ? If one goes clubbing one will hear the same commercial shit , from London , to Rome to Joburg . Yes you might hear a slight local variation or one or two different songs  here and there but its often the same songs world wide , yes they are popular songs that we all know , but where is that local different  sound , that sound that will stick in our memories of that place ?


From time immemorial man has used music to pass on history ,help him through hardship , celebrations  , mourning  or just pass the time. These songs have often been passed on and become parts of our heritage , some as nursery rhythm others as work songs , the likes of  "ring a ring a rose's " and  "shoshaloza"" come to mind.
Yet out of the current music that is being played/sung by the populous what will be remembered ?
 Has capitalism corrupted that last bastion of freedom that we had, that of our expression ?
We will be the mindless generation who doesn't save  the old songs and local music ?


If  in Sa Maskanda tuning of guitars is dying are the other local sounds around the world also dying ?


Human beings often can use sound to bring back memories , do you want to remember a brilliant trip you took by the most popular over played Gueta song of that year, or the local sound that you might never hear again ?




On this Day of remembrance  the populous has already forgotten the sacrifice that men nearly 100 years ago made for us , with more people anti it than pro it I ask :


If we forget the greatest sacrifice men have made and are slowly forgetting our own rhythym, 
What are we becoming ?

Monday blues

Do you also find when you are traveling that you seem to forget what day of the week it is ?

When one is working the days of the week don't seem to be that important , one goes to work on a Monday , works the week and then stays  home the Saturday and Sunday ,and then on Monday we all get depressed about doing it all over again !

Mondays : The day one wishes didn't come but always does , the day we dread as we have to go back to work to earn money ,to do what ever we want to do on the weekend.

So to brighten the day I ask you this. as every city has its own  idiosyncrasies , what and where in the world is  your best  "Monday " thing to do , that  you'd recommend a person to do if they traveling to that place ? 

For me as I love to watch people  going about there lives . Its grabbing a fresh cup of coffee and hopping on the London tube in rush hour, Mondays is always a bad day on the tube as often there are repairs that ran late or someone has decided that life is just not worth it and  jumped in front of one of the trains causing delays . This all causes the tubes to be come packed  and delayed . Watching the people and their respective reactions is well, at times priceless , From the Collage students trying to study , to the City types to read the morning paper, to the women painting their faces on one will see the vast diversity that is London. So even though you might get pushed , bumped maybe even groped , its a thing to do and experience.

Where ever you go , see the world the locals live in, not just the tourist sights  , yet don't be a local and miss the beauty of the place you are traveling through .

Perceptions

After viewing  the photos a friend of mine took In Quito of the locals celebrating all souls and how they celebrate the dead . It got me thinking back to my post of the other day , and with that how people perceive the world they live in and the world around us . Especially how they perceive different nationalities and  cultures when one travels .

So if I perceive things differently when I travel how do people feel when they come to my country ?

Have you ever tried to look at the city you live in from the eyes of a tourist ?

Not the touristy things and the "pretty" stuff .

But the real city , the things our eyes don't notice but are there .

 

Jozie , might be 1st world in a lot of ways , with the luxury shopping malls , top end restaurants , five star hotels and big business .

Yet often not 100m from one of those establishments you'll find a roadside hawker selling pap and vleis or some cheap item which they hope to make a quick buck off ! Ignoring the crime, the dirt , and the all important beggars . Jozie has a culture and a vibe second to none and it must be celebrated .

Where in the world can one go from shopping at a Ferrari or Louis Viton store and 15 min later be haggling over the price of a monkeys head or a snake skin in a mutti market .

South Africa is not just sandy beaches , high mountains and the bushveld , it's also it's bustling cities and mixed cultures .African time and now now . 

Mamma Africa's putu pot mixed us into a thing of beauty , so lets show it off , and expose both ourselves and tourists to the real South Africa 

and especially the real Jozie !

When last were you a tourist in your own city  ?

Lets celebrate traditions , and not think that following the western mold is always better ?

The African culture shock is what makes and drives us , 

come be shocked 

Left Right 

Left Right 

I worked to its beat 

I slaved to it 

It didn't feel right 

left  right 

left right 

From my Chest 

I felt it 

I heard it

Dhum Dhum 

Dhum Dhum 

It moved me 

I started thinking about it 

Dhum Dhum 

Dhum Dhum 

I noticed it 

It was both mine and hers 

Dhum Dhum 

Dhum Dhum 

Mamma 

I now walk to the beat you gave me 

Dhum Dhum

Always walk to the beat of your own drum !!

 

1st Rule of Fight club .........

so you walk into a office, a shop, a bar , and you you notice the guy next to you also has one ,
you catch his eye and you both just know .

This might be the only time that most of us will ever get to feeling the way that the Tyler Durden did, 

that feeling of belonging to a greater cause , a greater group .

So by now most of us are getting a little itchy and the dirty looks have started !  The itching will  stop and the dirty looks will become a lot worse , but its for a great cause . 

MOVEMBER , So keep it up guys...

you wake up 

you look into the mirror 

your hand will reach for the razer 

you will be tempted 

don't do it

its only one month 

 

 

MOvember

Hehe he ,it's here the time of year where the men of this world all should grow their Mo's and look like dirty freaks ,

No seriously , guys it time of the year where we should grow our MO's for a good cause , support it on
http://za.movember.com/

So let the food traps grow and lets see if we all can raise awareness for the good cause .