Growing up in South Africa

Salamu

So I turned 32 on Saturday. And while I am  by no means over the hill, or overly experienced at this whole

thing called life, I can say that I have lived a bit and have experienced things that some of my 30 year old friends haven’t.

One of the things I have to deal with on a fairly regular basis is stupid questions about South Africa. I meet people pretty often and some of them are introduced to me through friends I have in other countries. I was speaking to a friend in Northern Ireland one the weekend and one of the people he introduced me to asked me if we have lions as pets and what do we feed them. Another person, this time from Canada, asked me if Black People still walk around with chains around their necks as if they are slaves.

I thought that they were joking and I told them that I find their attempt at humor a bit dry for my liking…but humorous none the less. I was then devastated to find out that they were in fact being dead serious.

This prompted me to write this post: Growing up in South Africa.

I was born in 1982, so I only really grew up in the 90s. And the 90s in South Africa was an exciting time, Apartheid was coming to an end and a bunch of old farts who previously had a stranglehold on privileges in the country were coming to terms with the fact that these had to now in fact be shared out. A frightening thought indeed for these people. These people were easily identifiable, they always wore smart pants and button down shirts…even to the local super markets. At these supermarkets, they could be found in the aisle’s where the canned beef and baked beans were stocked. They would be buying R1 000 (which was quite alot in those days) worth of the stuff  to go with their R5 000 (a lifetimes supply) stock of candles. If they were not at the supermarket, they were in church praying that they be forgiven for their sins, or on their front yard porches cleaning out their shotguns and rifles.

I know that the majority of my posts are humorous…but this is not an attempt at that humor. I am in fact being quite serious.

The reason for this is that the National Party (the ruling political party at the time), had made the firm decision to release the late Nelson Mandela from prison. This would mean that democratic elections were inevitable and that the ANC would take over control. This was a frightening thought for the older white population as they feared an ANC apocalypse on white people similar to that of the zombie apocalypse seen on The Walking Dead. And this all had to do with the release of one man.

There was a lot of hype about the release of Nelson Mandela, and by the stories I was told of the man as a youngster….I was expecting a psycho crazed mad man with 35 bombs strapped to his chest and an AK47 in each hand to appear on the TV. I was quite surprised, and surprisingly disappointed, when a normal looking….older black man appeared on the TV. I walked up to my mom and grandfather and told them that they were full of shit for lying to me. Fast forward four years to the first elections and we saw lines at voting stations where people waited up to 5 hours to cast their vote. As with all countries, old people, disabled people and people with babies get put to the front of the cue. My cousin was three at the time, so we recycled her among all the family members at one voting station and then took her to another and passed her between 15 friends at other stations. That child had 19 mothers that day!

So while the 90s was a frightening time for the older white South Africans, it was a great time for younger white South Africans because we didn’t actually give a crap about blacks vs whites and racism and all of that bullshit. We just spent the time laughing at the old people telling them how full of shit they are…no matter what types of beatings we got as a result. Every bruise was worth it.

Then came the lifting of sanctions, and OH MY WORD it was like we were in heaven. We finally got to own a pair of Nike’s and Addidas! We also had access to television shows and movies which were banned under the old regime. MTV, VH1…..Rap Music….Motown. Lionel Richie could finally sing on the TV without someone passing a derogatory comment. James Brown could finally sing on the TV without someone throwing something at it. Stevie Wonder was still subjected to racist jokes about why he smiles all of the time.

Things got back to normal for us…but not for the rest of the world’s perception about South Africa. After university, I moved to Dubai for two years. If I had a dirham for every time an Englishman or Yank asked me a ridiculous question about South Africa, I would not be working in the corporate environment. I’d be sipping Pina Colada’s on a beach in the Maldives with not a care in the world. One guy even had the cheek to bring up apartheid and the fact that I ‘oppressed’ people in a job interview. Um….I was born at the end of apartheid and never oppressed anyone. Take your head out of your pompous English arse and live in the real world you prick.

And because of our political stability, which was due largely to the wise leadership of Mandela, the country opened its borders to tourists who had a blast because of the strength of their currencies vs ours. And it’s always amusing to see people walking around Johannesburg city on edge because they weren’t quite sure if there was still a chance of an ANC apocalypse on white people similar to that of the zombie apocalypse seen on The Walking Dead. Others, like the Americans, were arrogant enough to walk up to black people, hug them, and then proclaim: You’re free my brother! To which the black person would push him away and say: Voetsak Mlungu!

For those who don’t speak South African…please allow me to translate that statement. Voetsak is Afrikaans and is equivalent to telling someone to f##k off in English. Mlungu is Zulu which is a derogatory term used towards white people. It quite literally means sea scum and is used to describe both actual sea scum and white people because our forefathers came to South Africa by sea.

What is it like living in South Africa today? The ANC has been in charge for 20 years this year and black people are still calling white people baas (boss) or master not because they are forced to…but because it is so ingrained into them. And when you say to them: you are free…I am not your boss or master, they say: Sorry baas. But we can also have a laugh about racism as well. I regularly refer to any black male I come across as brother and I get a huge smile and warm service. When a black cop stops me, I roll down my window and ask: is it because I am black? My success rate of getting out of fines by using this statement currently stands at 56. The cops just laugh at me and let me go because I made them smile.

Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!

I am Ragnar Lothbrok...and you will bow before me!

Salamu

SOME PEOPLE YOU KNOW THEY DON’T BELIEVE…..JAMAICA – WE HAVE A BOBSLED TEAM!

While this post is found under the series critique label and will mostly deal with the discovery of an awesome

new series, as well as an existing one that I don’t know why I hadn’t watched until now, I need to make mention of the fact that one of my favourite nationals is going to be attempting to fly their nations flag high at the upcoming Sochi Winter Olympics.

As you can gather by my intro, Jamaica has qualified yet again for the bobsled event at this year’s games. But unlike in 1988 where the Rasta Island competed in the four man event, this year the island nation qualified for the two man event.

What I find awesome about this story, besides the fact that they have qualified for the games, is that they crowd sourced all of the money that they needed to go to the games. If this does not highlight the potential of the internet as a reliable funding method which can seriously rival that of dabbling in the stock market, then I don’t know what my name is or my gender for that matter.

And now, onto the main purpose of my post. Since the last episodes of Homeland and Sons of Anarchy, I have been desperate for a new series to keep me intrigued until Dallas and Game Thrones starts again. So I was looking around and came across The Musketeers which is a British produced series loosely based on the works of that insanely talented (although quite eccentric) Frenchman, Alexandre Dumas. The first episode sees Cardinal Richelieu hatching a diabolical plot to discredit the Musketeers with King Louis XIII and to plunge France into civil war. This is done by framing one of the most prominent Musketeers, Athos. Athos, Pathos and Aramis must not only prove Athos’ innocence, but they have to fight off the vengeful thoughts of D'Artagnan who thought that Athos killed his father.

I have always had MAD LOVE for the Musketeers so perhaps I am a bit biased when I say that a series such as this is long overdue. The action is good, the women are beautiful and the plots are easy to follow. And the fact that D'Artagnan is having an affair with the woman Athos is going depro over sets the series up for an ironic twist. D'Artagnan wanted to kill Athos in the first episode over an imagined crime, later in the series Athos will no doubt want to kill D'Artagnan over a proven offense. Fascinating Stuff Indeed!

However if one had to be critical, there are some flaws. The fact that it is an all English cast is slightly off-putting when one considers that the majority of the story will be based in either France or Spain. So if you can look past a bunch of poms posing as Frenchmen, the biggest hurdle of the series is already overcome. While the plot is easy to follow, this could be a double edged sword. There are times when one wants to watch a show with a complicated plot, like CSI, and there are times when you want to just zone out with a series where you won’t have to think too much. But the hallmark of a good series is to make each episode end in a cliff hanger so that you would get a consistently good viewership every week. Perhaps I will be surprised, but I don’t see that from The Musketeers.

There are some critics who are overly critical though. Jim Shelley, who writes for the Daily Mail, heavily criticised the programme, saying: "The Musketeers didn't take itself too seriously but was still so bad it bordered on self-parody" and that "the quality of the sub-plots hardly merited its 9pm slot in the schedule rather than (like Merlin or Robin Hood) much earlier.

Please do me a favor you pompous twat. Please take your head out your ass and just appreciate the fact that the Brits have finally unearthed a series which is worthwhile watching. Just think…no more will I have to be subjected to bullshit about Monty Python or The Black Adder. And don’t get me started on what I think of that utter rubbish you call Doctor Who.

The second series that I have watched is Vikings and I could absolutely kick myself for not watching it sooner. The reason I didn’t was that I thought there were more than nine episodes in the season. But apparently, there was only nine. And the second season is coming up, so I had to watch it.

I am Ragnar Lothbrok...and you will bow before me!

OH MY LEATHERY SACK…WHAT A SERIES not only is it a historical series (which is right up my ally), but it is about a warrior race who were thought to be savage barbarians who never had a brain cell between them. However, Ragnar Lothbrok is proving to be a strong character who is very calculating. He does have his flaws, sleeping with beautiful women while being married to a lady most men would give their left ball sack to be with, but then so do all protagonists: Jax Teller, Tyrion Lannister, Carrie Mathison. What is a series without an imperfect protagonist?

What I am looking forward to in the new series is how Ragnar, who is aligned with King Horik, will respond to the rebellion of Earl Borg which now includes Rollo who is Ragnar’s brother. Perhaps now Ragnar will be kicking himself over the fact that he trusted his brother enough to not make him swear on his arm ring.

The only critique I have of the series is its paganism. Yes I understand that the Vikings were pagans, but I did struggle watching the episode which included the rituals at the temple of Uppsala. In fact, I didn’t finish watching that episode.

Some steamy Khaleesi action wont hurt

And then there is that disgusting Viking ritual of passing around a bowl of water. The warriors wash their hands, and then they take a sip of water to wash their mouths out…which they spit back into the bowl, they then blow their noses into the bowl before it is passed onto the next warrior who follows the same process. I first came across this in The 13^th Warrior, and the look on Antonio Banderas’ face was priceless and basically said what we all felt at that moment without saying one word.

Dallas will need to be interesting if they are looking to extend the series beyond this third season and Game of Thrones probably won’t have to do much to prove its utter awesomeness. However, a few steamy scenes with Khaleesi or one of my all-time favourites – Natalie Dormer – won’t hurt.

Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!

Starting the year with a bang

Salamu

Things are heating up in the UFC ahead of UFC 169, which is set to start of the year with a bang. There is also significant movement in the middleweight division with call outs and challenges. And we have Benson Henderson making his first step back towards the summit of the lightweight division after his loss to Anthony Pettis at UFC 164 in August last year.

Weidman may be set for a long title reign

As I stated in the last edition of The Rear Naked Choke, the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions are

currently the drawcard divisions for the UFC. While the Welterweight division takes a break from the spotlight until UFC 171, where Johnny ‘Big Rig’ Hendricks takes on ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler, the Middleweight division is making all of the news. Since the epic conclusion to the rivalry between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman, there have been a number of fighters jockeying for position.

Currently, Vitor Belfor is the Number 1 contender to challenge Weidman.  But there is a lot of movement below Belfor. After Luke Rockhold’s win over the hard hitting Costas Philippou, Rockhold called out Michael Bisping to settle two ‘small’ matters. The matters in question is of course getting closer to challenging Belfor’s top contender status, but the other matter is settling the debate over Bisping calling himself the unofficial Strikeforce Champion. The comment in question was made by Bisping during a 2012 appearance on Spike TV’s short-lived MMA Uncensored program after recently sparring with Rockhold, the then Strikeforce king. Though the remark appeared to have been made in jest, Rockhold would nevertheless like a chance to settle the score.

From my experience of Bisping (which was gained while watching The Ultimate Fighter 3), Bisping is a light hearted Brit who likes to ‘take the piss’ out of his opponents and just have fun with them. But it is one thing ‘taking the piss’ with a regular person on the street or one of your mates, it is a different thing altogether to ‘take the piss’ with a fellow cage fighter who has a trigger temper and cant wait to beat your ass like you stole something. Now Rockhold has called Bisping out and it will be interesting to see Bisping’s response. To me the fight may well prove to be a great fight as both men have shown their abilities in the ring, but it may also turn out to be a major disappointment as Bisping is currently on the comeback trail after suffering a detached retina last year. Like Anderson Silva, I think Bisping should shelve his pride and just call it a day before a more serious injury is done.

But there are two other fighters we simply cannot ignore. Mark ‘The Filipino Wrecking Machine’ Munoz and Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida. Munoz has just come back to his best after a long layoff and it has been proven that if you give a fighter a reason to fight (in Munoz’s case overcoming depression) they may be as dangerous as ever. And Munoz is no regular bum off the street corner, this boy can bang with the best. Machida is also trying to resurrect his career by making the drop from Light Heavy Weight to Middleweight where he may prove to be a problem. His fighting style suits the division and his experience may give the younger guys sleepless nights. Again, Machida is no regular bum off the street corner, and Rashad Evens and Quinton Jackson will confirm this.

Before we get to UFC 169, we see the return of Benson Henderson who is hoping to get another shot at Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis. Many thought that the loss to Pettis was a shock, but again, Pettis had the real motivation to win that fight. And he will now want to keep the belt for as long as possible. Henderson will want to prove that he is worthy of the top contender ranking when he takes on Josh Thompson at a UFC Fight Night event just before UFC 169. But while Henderson should make light work of Thompson (who is ranked number 7 in the division), there is a lot of talent stacked between the two fighters. Gilbert ‘El Nino’ Melendez is simply a machine and proved in his fight with Diego ‘The Nightmare’ Sanchez that he is one bad ass mudda. Granted, while there is nothing like seeing two Mexicans unleash all hell on each other, if Melendez can come anywhere close to finding some of that form in a possible fight against Henderson…Henderson better have his last will and testament in order.

And then, finally, it is time to see Bruce Buffer completely lose his shit at UFC 169. And it is a highly anticipated event. Renan Barao is set to take on Urijah Faber for the Bantam Weight crown. This is a great fight because both fighters are exciting to watch. While I am not the biggest fan of Brazilian fighters in the UFC, Barao is one Brazilian I do enjoy watching. He proved his worth against Eddie Wineland (who himself is a former WEC champion Boxer) when he was not intimidated by Wineland and knocked him out with a cracker of a roundhouse kick to the head. Faber is no slouch himself. He has fought a number of top fighters in the division and prevailed over most of them. The only two that he lost against was Barao and Dominick Cruz. My prediction for the fight, a Barao victory within the first two rounds.

The undercard for UFC 169 is stacked with talent as well. The co main event of the evening sees another Brazilian champion Jose Aldo taking on Ricardo Lamas, while the fight before that is Frank Mir against Alastair Overeem. That is a great fight as both fighters got the better of Brock Lesner.

It will be an interesting event and a great way to kick off 2014, although there was disappointment when Dana White revealed that the card would not feature the upcoming matchup between Jon ‘Bones’ Jones and Glover Teixeira,  the fight between Barao and Faber is a great filler.

Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!

I am stumped

Salamu

Have you ever sat and wondered whether there is an unwritten language that men and women have? A language which is audible…yet indistinguishable by the other party.

  I dont want you to do that.
That was a soft no BTW

I am faced with this question today after spending the greater part of the evening with a girl I am really fond

of. Things got a bit tender and we ended up kissing. I tried to steer the evening into other activities, but she was not keen. And no, the activities were not sex related. After trying my luck a couple of times, I relented.

Predictably I got the firm talking to I deserved by the girl who spelled out what exactly it was she was not impressed with. I can see her point as immediately after she went home last night I was feeling guilty. Yet, just after the firm talking to, she told me that she was not fighting with me…we were merely discussing an area of concern.

When I explained this to a female friend of mine who is always available to lend an ear to my concerns, she said that while I was wrong - I was not completely wrong. She then explained the concept of the ‘soft no’. This is a no that women give their men when they want them to stop something, but not really.

She then asked me a few simple questions. The first question she asked was whether the girl was fighting with me, or if we were talking about the situation in a relatively calm manner. Well, the girl that I like already pointed out that we were merely talking and not fighting. The next question my friend asked was whether we were talking. Because if the girl I liked was really pissed off with me, she would not be talking to me at all.

If there is the concept of the ‘soft no’ to me it is bladdy ridiculous. I mean, as I found out last night, when you are caught up in the heat of the moment…there is little time to sit and think: is this a ‘soft no’ or a ‘serious no’. 

This is an area of concern in that unnecessary accusations, which are based on partial truths, can very easily be thrown around in these instances. It is then very easy to paint the person in a specific light. If a guy is getting passionate with a girl and a ‘soft no’ is given, and the guy stops…then he is not that into her. Or if the situation is discussed the next day, the guy could be accused of having no respect. From the girl’s perspective, the main thing is that the guy would be entirely justified of accusing the girl of being a manipulator. Why establish lines and boundaries which you don’t want to be broken, but don’t want them to exist either?

Apparently guys are not easy to work out either. There are a lot of non-relationship matters that we can discuss here, but because this post is specifically regarding relationships, we shall not deviate from the topic. One of the aspects of men which women cat figure out is why men have specific girl types. The common question here is: why do you always want to categorise a person? But it is genetics. One guy will be attracted to tall blonde women with a body fit as a butchers dog while another guy will be attracted to medium height brunette girls who have bubble buts and a good asset portfolio. And to us, interests and likes can be developed during the relationship. It doesn’t matter if there is an initial connection in that sense or not. And guys will overlook failings in certain aspects if they make up for it in other aspects.

Guys also overthink certain things, an aspect which I am very guilty of. Everything might be alright between a guy and a girl after a disagreement, but if the communication is not the same as it always is the day after the disagreement – in the guy’s mind there is automatically something wrong.  Guys also always want to be fixers. For me, there is nothing more frustrating than being cross with someone and not trying to come to a resolution to the matter. That person you are fighting with must either be your friend (as they were before the fight) or your enemy, in which case they must completely cut you out of their life.

It’s funny how this post evolved from finding out if a certain concept exists to trying to discuss some of the issues every guy and girl has with relationships. I suppose this just reaffirms the fact that there is no such thing as a perfect relationship just as there is no relationship where both parties don’t work extremely hard at it.

Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!

Did Anderson Silva Lose his Mind?

Salamu

Over the past few months I have become very interested in Mixed Martial Arts and in particular the Ultimate Fighting Championship. And while I am by no means an expert on the subject. I will voice my opinions on the events as they unfold.

A definite end to a long standing rivalry

The latest event was UFC 168. This was a highly anticipated event as it was the continuation of the rivalry
between newly crowned UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman and possibly one of the greatest MMA fighters in the sports history, Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva.

There was much anticipation leading into UFC 168 with many saying that at 38, Silva is quite simply a spent force. He faced alot of criticism when he lost the title to Weidman where even veteran commentator Joe Rogan - who has always been a outspoken supporter of Silva - said that Silva’s fighting style of taunting opponents in the ring finally caught up with him.

At the end of UFC 162, Silva said that Weidman is a great champion and that he would not be fighting for the belt anymore. The whole world was surprised then when UFC President Dana White announced that the main event of UFC 168 would be Weidman vs Silva II.

It turns out that the viewpoint of Silva being a spent force was pretty accurate. Silva came in with a characteristic Silva leg kick, which was blocked by Weidman and led to one of the most gruesome sporting injuries I have ever seen when Silva’s leg broke. It is safe to say that we have seen the last of Silva. When former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir broke his leg in a similar fashion in a biking accident, it took him a year and a half to return to full fitness. If Silva followed the same path, he would be pushing 40 and would hardly be a threat in the division.

Is this the best MMA fighter of all time?

Whether Silva remains the best MMA fighter of all time remains to be seen. Sure he was great, and those affiliated with the UFC (Dana White and Joe Rogan) will obviously say that he is the best there ever was. But there is a small matter of Fedor Emelianenko who many other people within MMA circles consider considerably better than Silva. 

Now that Silva is out of the way, Weidman can turn his attention to Vitor Belfort. Belfort is a veteran of the octagon and made his debut as a heavyweight. He is in fact a former light heavyweight champion, so many would think that Wiedman will have his hands full.

The division that originally attracted me to the sport was the light heavyweight division. This was in the glory days of the division where ‘Sugar’ Rashad Evans, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Forest Griffon and Maurício ‘Shogun’ Rua where dukeing it out for top honors. But since the rise of Jon Jones, no one has looked to threaten him for dominance.

To me, the division which is the most open in the UFC at the moment is the welterweight division, but this was also due to the retirement of Georges Saint Pierre.  I am eagerly anticipating the fight between Jonny ‘Big Rig’ Hendriks and ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler at UFC 171.

Another division which is more open than it seems is the Heavyweight division. Although Cain Velazques has solidified his reputation as possibly the division’s longest serving champion, there are alot of fighters challenging this dominance. Travis Brown showed he can bang with the best when he knocked out the sports youngest heavyweight champion, Josh Barnett, at UFC 168. His vicious elbows and height will mean that he will be a problem for many fighters and the sooner he gets in the ring with Junior Dos Santos to become the number one contender, the better.  

MMA is one of the fastest growing sports worldwide and I wait for eager anticipation for the next big UFC event.

Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!