A different view on current affairs & history
Prologue
For me, the recent debate within the DA about race-based BEE work practices brought this issue to the fore. Whilst acknowledging the iniquities of Apartheid, the methods employed by the current ANC government to ameliorate the situation stuck in the craw. Maybe my hopes for a colour blind future in South Africa were derailed along with the debate.
An advert that I received last week encapsulates the progress that has been made with TVs over the past ten years. But I expect even more dramatic advances in the following decade. Hold onto your seats as technology takes off and rockets into the sky of our imagination.
The TV industry is currently in the throes of a revolution which I provide the appellation the 5th iteration which comes hard on the heels of the 4th which was the discarding of the cumbersome CRT and its replacement with the flat screen high definition screens. My crystal ball only conjures up this imminent revolution and then one more. For reasons to be explained and which will become self-evident, nothing is possible subsequent to that. The TV set as we know it will no longer exist in its current form.
Quite frankly by rights Kurt Radzom should have accepted a formal leadership position in Quo Vadis on George Malan’s hasty departure from the Club after the 120km Amatola Hike in 1989. Instead I naively accepted the role. Not that it conferred a large stipend or prestige, but insofar as the duties were involved, it was more akin to that of an Executive Secretary’s role.
A not so benign start
This hike was always going to be one of those hikes during which frequent comparisons would be drawn with our previous attempt. That hike had been particularly memorable for a number of reasons but as hiking tends to spring surprises on one, nothing was a given. Nothing precluded this one from also being as dramatic as that one.
What a superb canoe trip! Personally I rate it as the best such excursion for a number of reasons especially for the personal gratification that the Cameron/McCleland team experienced in NEVER capsizing not even once during the five days much to certain attendees’ chagrin. As always, the main reason for such an agreeable trip was undoubtedly the camaraderie amongst all the guys. That factor alone is what indubitably makes Quo Vadis Hiking Club such an exceptional Club.
Notwithstanding that, it was not all beer and braais as we experienced two hard paddling days due to flat water and gusting head-winds but more on that later. At least we have a legitimate claim when we declare that it was not all plain sailing (sic) and that we had to do some exercise!
Amongst other things when one is paddling down the Orange, one has to learn a number of things apart from how to paddle – and rapidly. One also has to assimilate a new language, the unintelligible risible language of the Gariep River People. On previous excursions we had commenced learning the vocabulary. Everyday words such as sun and wind could not be uttered. There were Verboten! Banished from our lips. Instead they were replaced by the avant-garde words “spike” and “spoekasem”.
A Personal View – 9th May 2014
Barring a dramatic event, the final outcome of the 2014 Election is already known with the ANC retaining power but with a reduced majority. The Democratic Alliance made substantial gains by increasing their share of the vote by 29.8%. Many of the smaller parties were all but eliminated with the Cope’s tally being reduced by 90%, the once powerful IFP by 44.4% and the ACDP by 33.3%. Even the much favoured Agang did not make an impression as it only gathered one seat, that of Mamphela Ramphele.
Summation: Delightful saga of the four–legged equestrian type
Rating: 5 out of 5
The real name of the leading character of this enthralling saga will probably never be known despite appearing in an award winning movie. The reason is obvious: it is a head-strong stallion.
As a foal, a neighbourhood boy is entranced by this majestic creature. Fate intervenes. His father, an inebriated nere-do-well of a man, unbeknown to his son, is also enthralled with him. This occurs at an auction where the impecunious fellow is supposed to purchase a regular stout-hearted work horse. Instead reason vanishes as he bids way past his financial means, a veritable fortune much more than his modest income will allow for this veritable race horse, the very antithesis of what he requires.
A Personal View – May 2014
Today’s general election in South Africa [7th May 2014] has brought this issue to the forefront again. Essentially the whole process from casting one’s ballot to counting the votes is broadly similar to that done centuries ago. Clearly something is amiss as technology has improved vastly since then.
Summation: Revisionist history of Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare
Rating: 4 out of 5
If you are one that prefers one’s historical facts and characters to be a facsimile of reality, do not switch on your DVD player. How is this for some revisionist history: Shakespeare is a an illiterate inarticulate actor who battles to thank the actors and audience at the closure of a play and a young queen Elizabeth who has a number of sizzling affairs the product of which is an illegitimate son, Edward, who is adopted by a nobleman.
As a young pre-school child, my maternal grandmother taught me a handful of Xhosa words, many of which I remember to this day. Amongst them was the word thula meaning to be quiet.
Zuma must be rueing the day that he appointed Thuli as Public Protector. As a male chauvinist and conforming to all the outdated cultural beliefs of his ancestors, he would have expected her to keep quiet and to know her place in society.