Archive for February, 2012
Saturday, February 25th, 2012
Many news media outlets – including respected ones like the BBC and New York Times – are today reporting that Nelson Mandela was hospitalised for a stomach problem. Some reported about an operation even.
For some reason I’m feeling really annoyed with this kind of reporting. Irritated, really!
They are behaving like vultures circling, waiting for a dead body. Wanting to be the first to report when the man passes.
Can’t we just leave this very dignified man in peace now and hear about any news when his family wants to share private health matters with the whole world?
What has really driven me over the edge is the following tweet by @ewnreporter (567 Capetalk and 702 news):
“#Mandela Steve Biko Academic hospital is very quiet. Still unclear where Madiba has been admitted. GN”
WTF is wrong with these reporters? It’s not good enough to report on the former president’s health whenever he sneezes, but now we need to know where he is being treated.
If the family or the former president wanted the media to know, I’m sure they would have told them.
For heaven’s sake! Leave the man alone. It is beyond macabre not to mention disrespectful to stand outside his house and wait for the man to die.
I personally don’t care where he is being treated and for what, just that he is well taken care of, living on his own terms and enjoying doing whatever keeps him entertained these days.
The rest is none of my or anyone outside his inner circle’s business!
Posted in media | No Comments »
Sunday, February 19th, 2012
Like nearly 140000 other Twitter users, I have been following Julius Malema, soon to be former ANCYL leader on Twitter, @Julius_S_Malema.
I follow him mainly to see what he’s up to and maybe get some insight into who he is in his own words. Mostly he makes sexist jokes and says silly things like:
“Monogamy only works if you cheat. – Denny Crane”
Two days after Whitney Houston’s death he said this:
“Sure black people can’t swim but drowning in a bath tub?! Aowa batho, you must be *high* to do that”
And
“Apparently if u sniff Whitney Houston’s cremated remains u can still be high from all the drugs left in her sys”
You know, things that showcases his lack of self-restraint and sense of decency more than anything.
Anyway, about a week or so ago on 13 February 2012, Malema declared that he had to stop using Twitter because in his own words:
“This account is now working against me in my mitigation of sentence appeal. To prove to ANC NDC it’s NOT me tweeting Dali asked me to stop”
And
“I officially bow out of twitterverse. Šalang gabotse!”
And
“Why I’m leaving twitter: ever greeted a lady & she ran to the cops claiming you raped her? That’s what just happened. Credibility harmed”
So what was he Tweeting that could harm his case even more?
Well…decide for youself if this would endear him to his bosses or the SA public in general, regardless of any disciplinary hearing.
@Julius_S_Malema : #WaysToHonourMadiba create a religion rivaling Christianity that idolises Madiba as the modern day Messiah
#WaysToHonourMadiba if you already have a child; mandatory tatoo of his face on your right shoulder
#WaysToHonourMadiba it should be mandatory to name your first born Nelson or Rolihlahla
And
“It was agreed that Pres. Zuma’s head is too big to fit bank notes; unless it’s an A4 size paper.”
This after the announcement last week that the former president Mandela’s image would be portrayed on all new SA bank notes.
Malema did not Tweet a thing for the rest of last week. Until this morning we got this morsel of a Tweet. In actual fact a ReTweet:
@G_XCON (Gayton Mckenzie): We sometimes get killed by the ones we willing to die for.
I wonder if a ReTweet counts as being off Twitter 
Posted in politics | No Comments »
Saturday, February 11th, 2012
Pictures of Beyonce and Jay Z’s baby Blue Ivy has been released by the family.
The baby was born on 7 January 2012 in New York City.
This little girl is already a looker, like her mother!
See more pictures here.
Posted in celebrities | 1 Comment »
Sunday, February 5th, 2012
Telkom has not been on my radar for quite a while now. No adverts on tv or radio or the internet or billboards or anywhere else. 
I hardly even notice the Telkom branch in my local mall even though I pass it most week days and some weekends.
But last week all that changed…
I walked by Telkom’s little shop as I normally do in the evening after work and noticed a long line forming from within to right outside the shop. My first thought was that they were customers paying their monthly phone bills, seeing it was the end of the month.
Not that it made sense, because you can pay your phone account or any account anywhere these days.
The next day at around 5.45pm I passed it again and noticed that the store was once again packed. This happened every day for the entire week.
It made me realise that one of the most annoying parastatals had gone very quiet recently. No adverts to remind us how Telkom connects grandparents and grandchildren and university students and parents. And they used to serve us those adverts when they had no competition. Now that Neotel is around, Telkom has given us nothing. Not a cute advert in sight.
Neotel themselves are more like a state secret than anything else. I only know of one person, my sister, who uses Neotel.
The Telkom mystery bothered me. What were so many people doing in Telkom’s shop and how did they find out about whatever deal was on offer. I saw a few advertisements outside the shop door (had not noticed them before) and a few hanging from the room in the store.
But nothing that looked particularly appertising to me!
I still haven’t discovered what everyone wants from Telkom these days, because the last time I checked they were the scourge of society.
Mind you, I have not heard a complaint about Telkom on a long time…
Have they redeemed themselves in the eyes of telecommunication customers or are the cellphone operators and Neotel making Telkom look a lot better than we thought they were.
Better the devil you know and all that…
Posted in advertising, Consumer issues, technology | 1 Comment »
