A wedding turns into a wake

I was planning to spend most of the day working, while Baby went to a wedding with some friends. But the bridal entourage had a car accident, and among other casualties, the bride’s sister and niece died on the spot.

As you can imagine, the family is shell-shocked; the situation made even more difficult by the fact that they have to repeatedly explain to arriving wedding guests.

My friend dropped off Baby, her two kids and a mutual acquaintance’s kid at my house around mid-morning, so she could help the family deal with the new situation. They are watching Toy Story 2 as I write this post.

I wanted to go on an elephant ride

This is going to be a very short post.

Our stay at Sun City was great; pity about the lousy weather. "This is not Sun City, it's Rainy City," Baby complained.

But she didn't let cloudy weather stop her from learning how to surf, then chasing the waves.

I mostly baked in the weak sun, took a ride on the "lazy river" running around the Valley of the Waves and read a novel.

I'll write a post or two about the Sun City trip in the coming days. Our adventures included meeting a number of monkeys which were rummaging through the garbage can, learning how to hula and to a vertical climb rock, chasing man-made waves and watching live surfer demonstrations.

I wanted to go on an elephant ride, and failing that, learn to do some horse-back riding. But I had trouble dragging Baby out of the water long enough for her to even eat. Maybe next time I will go on the elephant ride.

Fluffy Entertainment: Bratz–The Movie, Going to A Man-Made Beach

Baby and I went to see Bratz – The Movie. Many of the reviews I read before we went to see the movie completely trashed it, but we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Yes, it is as fluffy as I expected, but is it what it is – movie candy and nothing else. Baby had fun, and if she's pleased and laughing at the right moments, I’m pleased.

Critically speaking though, I wish South African content producers could learn to package content as slickly as Bratz- The Movie was packaged. We don't want to ape Hollywood, but we can learn a lot from that industry so our stories have as much youth appeal as possible.

If we don't make an effort to appeal to the masses, we lose the kids anyway, whether we tell meaningful stories or not. And then we complain that they read too many international books, watch too many movies out of Hollywood and lack an appreciation of the home-brewed content.

The Valley of the Waves

Baby and I spent most of the evening packing for Spring Break. The event is taking place at the Valley of the Waves at Sun City, in the North West Province of South Africa.

The resort is in the Pilanesberg region and only a short distance from the Pilanesberg Game Reserve, one of the largest parks in southern Africa, and about 150 kilometres from Johannesburg. We're going to drive through Phokeng to get there, and I'm planning a quick stop at home to say hi to my mother before we drive the final 35 kilometres of the trip.

I did some research to find out if there are some interesting legends and folktales associated with the Pilanesberg area. But the only tale I could find is the ridiculous legend of the lost city, which I think is a marketing ploy to explain the naming of The Palace of the Lost City, the resort. But I’ll keep digging.

I also read up on the Valley of the Waves. Check out some of the online pics of the place online. Isn’t it weird that we're getting ready to go to the beach even though the ocean is nowhere near that region?

The SABC 3 Interview Went Well

The challenge with doing a live TV interview is that if you miss the ball, you can’t rewind and redo. That is unlike print or even online media, which allow you to polish your words until you're pleased with them.

In line with that thought, yes, there are some things I wish I could say better than I did on “In the public interest” on SABC 3 this morning. But overall, the interview went very well. I managed to speak intelligently and didn’t get flustered at all.

My thanks to a colleague of mine, Kimberley Guest, who came to the studios on a Sunday morning to hold my hand. As I said previously, it’s easy enough for me to interview people, but I find being on the other side is quite nerve-wrecking. I’d also like to thank the people who SMSed me afterwards, just to say how much they liked it.

Lastly, a quick hello to Osborne, a gentleman I met 15 years ago, while I was on a trip to Nelspruit on a freelance writing assignment. Thanks for remembering me after all these years, and writing a quick email to say hello. Much appreciated.

Twisted Compliments

I was sitting on a sofa in the living-room, working on a story when Baby walked up to me and hugged me.

“I love you so much. I love you because you’re you, and because you take such good care of me, and you raised me so well,” she said.

I turned, pecked a kiss on the forehead. “Really? You feel all that about me?”
“No,” she said, straightfaced. “I was just practicing giving compliments. It’s a good one, don’t you think?”

Didn’t make the cut

I didn’t make the cut for Mantswe a Bonono, the documentary on South Africa writers for SABC 2. I thought it was a done deal, but I understand the director shooting in Johannesburg made her own selection and art of it. I suspect I didn’t work out because I don’t do a lot of Setswana writing, and most of my work is not creative.

I’m conscious of the missed opportunity, but don’t feel disappointed or anything. That is the nature of TV, and any form of media, for that matter.

This morning, someone fell through my own cracks. I had a story planned, interviews done and then something else that we felt took precedence in the story line up came along. I will get to the planned story eventually, when I get an hour or two to myself.

Meanwhile, here’s my latest post on Mobile Life http://www.mydigitallife.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5447&Itemid=43

A recent research says frequent cellphone use may slow brain function. The research was limited, so there’s no need to panic yet.

Invite to “In the Public Interest” on Sunday at 9.30, SABC

Today I'm digressing from my usual blah blah and talking a bit about work-related issues. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)has invited me to take part in “In the public interest,” a live, current affairs programme taking place on Sunday 23rd at 9.30 morning.

The programme aims to take the media to task over unfair and inaccurate reporting and to debate issues rigorously.

“In light of the recent announcement of the new pay TV channels, we would like to host a debate as to whether there is really a demand for such channels. Can Viewers afford four more Pay TV channels?” the insert producer notes in her brief.

I know I should be happy to be invited to a national, prime time TV programme. I will be..... Maybe....... Once the butterflies in my stomach settle......

Mostly I’m humbled they invited me, and scared I’ll go tongue-tied at the wrong moment. Or worse yet, someone will ask me a question and I’ll forget all the insight I’m supposed to have on SA’s new pay-TV environment.

I have been on TV before. Actually, in another life I was a presenter of a children's programme and later spokesman for a number of non-profit organisations. But that was different - then I was just disseminating information and knew the agenda from the outset.

Researching other people’s views of “In the Public Interest” on the Internet, I came across these articles:

http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=49&fArticleId=3322962
http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=559170
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=318553&area=/insight/insight__national/

I don’t know if the criticism of the SABC by these articles has merit or not, but it scares me silly.

But I do have to go. It’s a coup for my employer ITWeb Online, and for me personally.

Anyway, wish me luck. And please watch "In the public interest" on Sunday. I'm going to pretend I'm talking to you. I'm sure that'll be good for my nerves.

Cellphones blamed for school violence

Tonight I saw a news broadcast on etv which blames cellphones for violence in schools. The opinion, by parents and commentators, follows an incident where a number of girls [ I think it’s in the Western Cape] attacked another student at a school. One of the students captured the incident on video, using a cellphone.

I found the views of these parents and commentators very disturbing. Clearly, there is something wrong with our children, as they are increasingly turning more violent against each other.

To read the rest of this blog post, visit my Mobile Life blog at www.mydigitallife.co.za/mobilelife

Taking a short break next week

I’ve finally confirmed that I’ll attend Vodacom’s Spring Break (an annual event), which is taking place at Sun City from the 22 – 30 September.

Baby and I are only staying 3 days, 2 nights (after the Heritage Day holiday on Monday), but it promises to be a fun, even relaxing holiday. I’m pulling her out of school for two days so she can join me on the trip.

She has mixed feelings about it. She’s looking forward to playing in the sun, doing some water sports and watching live kid shows for two days, but she’d rather we used the time to go to Durban where we could do this AND visit with family.

I’m really tired, and fun in the sun with nothing to worry about for days will revive me so I can start writing more enthusiastically.

Our hotel stay and participation at the event is sponsored by mobile operator Vodacom (www.vodacom.co.za).

For more information about the event, check on the hyperlinked title of this post ( sorry, formatting on blogger seems to have has gone hinky today, so no hyperlinks on the body of the post to provide more info about the event.)

Hearings on Children's Bill set for tomorrow

This week, the National Assembly will discuss the merits of banning corporal punishment in homes, as included in the current draft of the Children’s Bill.

Children and youth who presented during the provincial consultations gave unanimous support for the ban of corporal punishment in homes and recommended the promotion of positive and guiding relationships between parents and children.

To find out more about these hearings, click through the link to read Bua News’s 17 September edition.

Finding relatives in unexpected places

Today I found out Baby’s two closest friends, who regularly spend a night/ weekend with us, are actually relatives of sorts.

The girls’ mother mentioned in passing she had a tenuous link with my village. Her uncle (father’s brother) was adopted by a family in Phokeng, she said.

When she mentioned him by name, I realized she was talking about one of my father’s cousins.

My father was very fond of his cousin, and would have gotten a big charge out my connecting with his biological family in this way. Both of them have since passed away, so they'll never know.

Cartoon Network is back on Multichoice/MTN Mobile TV trial

Multichoice has brought back Cartoon Network as part of its Mobile TV line up. Baby is very happy about that, and this weekend she made sure we took my cellphone wherever we went.

There was also less conflict in the house about TV programming; I could watch my choice of TV programming while she watched cartoons.

By the way, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa ( the regulator) recently licensed four more pay-V broadcasters, with Multichoice as the fifth. The broadcasters can deliver transmissions through satellite or the Internet.

This development opens up the South African TV industry and should make for new opportunities for writers providing both children’s programming and other types of content.

Most players in the ICT industry say there’s a strong need for local content in South Africa for both broadcasting and the Internet. I wonder if local writers and producers are aware of this, and what they plan to do to take advantage of these opportunities.

A quiet spring Saturday

After the past couple of weeks of hectic travelling, it's a relief to spent a quiet Saturday at home, with nothing planned.

I spent most of the day catching up with errands including emails. Baby made potato chips and warmed up chicken for lunch.

She insists it’s time she learnt to go beyond making a green salad or sandwich for a meal. I had to promise not to interfere, especially when she carved out large chunks out of potatoes and called it peeling:-).

Baby also decided to clean the house, moving beds and side tables and sweeping underneath. She also changed the table cloths, rearranged my shoes and books etc. I have a daily helper and the house looked fine, but Baby insisted she had to do it.

She also practiced her reading of The Band, a poem by C.J. Dennis. She's part of a group performing the poem at a cultural event this coming Tuesday.

I also did some writing, mostly for the Lieurance-King Article Challenge. I now have 18 articles live, and submitted 5 more at Ezine Articles. The aim of the challenge is to publish 30 articles in article directories by the end of September, so you can drive traffic to your web site or blog.

I’m driving most of the traffic to ITWeb, but traffic is also picking up on this blog. I recently learnt that the benefits of article marketing are mostly realised once you have over 200 articles out in directories, available to publishers to use at will. In total I have 38 articles at Ezine Articles, so I still have a long way to go.

Shopping in Flic en Flac

My last shopping expedition into Flic en Flac, in Mauritius, was very disappointing. It was mostly my fault. A cab driver told me he knew of nice shops where I could buy some souvenirs and gullible soul that I am, I got into the car and drove off with him.

I only realized I was not getting what I asked for when he stopped outside a boutique, where some really nice sales assistants tried to sell me designer clothes including DKNY and Guess labels. “I’m very sorry to waste your time, but I’m looking for locally made clothing,” I said.

The salesperson explained the clothes were made in Mauritius. So I had to launch into a detailed explanation that I wanted local crafts, not fancy designer stuff. "Your clothes are beautiful, but they're not what I'm looking for," I said.

Back in the car I explained to the cab driver ( again) that I was looking for a local craft market, not a boutique. Two stops later, I realized he was not listening to me. It also occurred to me that he would likely earn commission from my purchases in the stores he was taking me to, and was unlikely to take me to shops he had no links with.
“We go to Billabong now?’ he asked.
“No, I get out of the car now,” I said firmly.

To be fair, the man is probably used to wealthy tourists who do buy designer clothing when visiting his country. I can’t afford them, and when I do travel, I prefer to buy local crafts that have a real link to the people of that country.

After paying him for the ride, I explored parts of the village. I bought lunch from what in SA we’d call a tuck shop (small shop on someone’s residence). I also bought a large piece of cloth, a necklace and bracelet set made from shells, and a number of T-shirts from souvenir shops. But the first part of the shopping expedition left something sour in my mouth.

I “heart” Jo’burg!

We arrived back in psychotic Jo’burg late last night, and many of the people in my party said how happy they were to be coming home. Yes, they loved the island paradise, and the resorts where we stayed do brisk business as honeymoon/family destinations for a good reason.

But as fellow-journalist Xolile Bhengu from The Times put it: “I miss psychotic Jo’burg, with its fast pace and crazy drivers and endless talk about crime.”

I also missed Baby, my friends and colleagues and the feeling of being part of a busy world that I get from living here. I definitely missed being able to connect to the Internet whenever I wanted to chat to friends and family living across the globe.

Yes, we had access to a wireless network at La Pirogue and Sugar Beach resorts, but at €8.50 per hour or €36.50 for continuous 24-hour access, the cost was too exhorbitant for my blood.

So I connected when I had to, and ignored the withdrawal symptoms when I could. Being unable to stay in constant contact with the world sort of left me feeling isolated.

A second letter from Flic en Flac, Mauritius

I'm still in Flic en Flac in Mauritius and enjoying my visit immensely. As I mentioned previously, I'm attending a conference there till Thursday.

One of the things that struck me though is how similar Mauritians and South Africans are in some ways. For example, on the chalets we're staying in are thatched (see pic), just like African huts.

Different kind of shape of hut, different kind of grass, modern and sophisticated structure rather than the primitive, traditional African hut, but the basics are still there.

This afternoon I walked past a group of workmen, rethatching some of the huts. It brought back childhood memories of watching my grandfather do the same thing.

Dancers performing at the welcome function(on Sunday night) also brought back memories of childhood. They moved to the sound of drums, and I could have sworn I grew up to the same rhythm. And tonight, I heard a few waiters ululating during a dance show, just as my grandmother used to.

I expected this similarity, as we're part of the same continent. But it also reminded me that sometimes people from different countries place too much emphasis on how different they are ( and there we are in a lot of ways) rather than focussing on similarities. And yes, I am aware that I'm not being original in my thinking - many people have come to this same realisation at different times in their lives. I hope more people do so.

If you're interested in the conference proceedings, read my articles here and here. More articles about the events will be published on ITWeb tomorrow and Thursday.

Teach your children about their heritage

There’s no doubt that today and the future is what matters, not the old moldy past that we can't even change. But it's also important to know where you and your family come from, so you can learn from previous accomplishments and avoid repeating the mistakes of your ancestors. As George Santayana said, those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Circumstances, such as your child's school project, may force your child to research his / her how culture and heritage. Here are a few tips to help your child research his culture and heritage:

A. Use the Internet to research your cultural practices and the accomplishments of your people:

1. Find interesting cultural about your people. These little nuggets are what will make the subject interesting enough for your kids to keep up the research.

2. Look up burial practices, wedding ceremony, births and deaths, food, art, dance, music within that culture.

3. Find online images that depict the different aspects of life of your people.

4. Identify a few unsung heroes, and research their biographies.

B. Use personal/family history

5. Chat to the older generation in your family about your most memorable ancestors-Focus particularly on those who achieved something remarkable/ were notorious, conducted feuds or formed strange alliances.

6. Tell your child stories of your town/city/country - not the popular stories that are already in the public space, but the little known facts that make a place and people even more fascinating.

7. Tell your child stories of your own childhood- The people you met, the places you went to, the things you did that show her a different aspect of you.

8. Read family journals.

C. Prepare traditional meals

9. For many young people the world over, food=burger with fries and a fizzy or juice, or pizza. But that particular diet, or even the healthy one recommended by the surgeon general, is not necessarily the traditional meal of old.

Why not spend a day researching traditional meals and cook something unique. It doesn't matter if your kids decide they don’t like it. They will at least know what the food is and how it’s cooked.

D. Take an interest in the arts

10. Take lessons - Learn how to play a traditional instrument or to do a traditional dance.

11. Visit an art gallery or museum and look at some of the artwork related to your culture. Take some lessons to try it out.

12. Read a book set in some historic time of that culture.

A letter from Flic en Flac, Mauritius

The short story is, I’m in Flac en Flac in Mauritius, attending SATNAC 2007, the annual telecommunications conference, to report on it for ITWeb.

The conference takes place over a four-day period. My participation is sponsored by Telkom.

I’m staying at La Pirogue, ( see above) and the actual conference is held next door at the Sugar Beach Resort.

Check out the two resorts online – very luxurious and it’s great to be able to talk walk on the long stretches of beachfront. The service is great; and yes, the views look just like what you see in the picture.

The work is also going well. I filed my first story this morning and the event end ends on Thursday. We arrived on Saturday, and spent yesterday just chilling and exploring the place.

Baby was not quite happy about my traveling soon after her arrival. But I don’t travel often during her school year, and I figured she can deal with this.

Distractions

A friend of hers spent Friday night at my house to keep her busy so she doesn’t think too much about my imminent trip. Then I took them to the park in the morning to walk and play, before dropping them off at school.It was open day.

She was very sad that I wouldn’t see her take part in the gymnastics demonstration. I’m a little unhappy about that too. But it’s rare that I take work trips during her school term, so I figured she should deal with this once in a while adventure.

My helper has moved in, and a couple of friends will pop in to make sure things are running smoothly. I also bought Baby airtime so she can call me on my cellphone anytime.

Damsel in distress

Sometime during the day, a lizard wandered into my house. My garden doesn’t look like a jungle anymore, but it is a natural garden, not one of those overly manicured numbers lizards wouldn’t dare invade.

Baby has a friend spending the night and the two of them went into hysterics when they saw the lizard. “Kill it!” they shouted as we watched it climb a bedroom wall towards the ceiling.

First I threw my canvas shoes at it, hoping to scare it off the wall. I’m not sure what I would have done if it did get off the wall. Stomp around it until it left the house?

When it continued its climb, I decided to do the sensible thing. I called my next door neigbour’s teenage son and asked him to take it out into the garden. Our hero!

I felt a little silly perpetuating the damsel in distress/manly hero mythology found in fairytales, especially as I encourage Baby to effect her own rescure when times are tough. But when it comes to crawling creatures, I’m definitely a girly girl in distress, in need of a hero.

One side of the story

Baby’s heritage project got me thinking about the traditional versus modern families and how we portray families in books.

Each week she’s to make a presentation about some aspect of her culture (maternal and paternal) to her class, and bring items (like food, clothing or piece of art).

It’s been easy for me to tell her stories, answer some questions and help her do additional research on the Internet about Setswana culture.

But my knowledge of her paternal culture is mostly intellectual, and we’re relying on the Internet to fill a lot of gaps. Somehow that part of the presentation doesn’t have the same richness because it lacks personal anecdotes and experience.

It got me thinking about the fact that:

- Kids from single parent families get a skewed sense of identity as they live and learn about the culture of the custodial parent and little about the other party.

- Single parents have to make an effort to teach their kids about the other half of their heritage. This is difficult if the separation was acrimonious/the child is adopted and you have no clue. School projects like this one go a long way to get the process started.

- Local books portray different permutations of what a family is, and that is a good thing. Sure there are still traditional families abound - I grew up in one, my older brother raised his kids in one and I hope my younger sister will too. But there are times when that is not possible, and our children's books should tell that story too.

Anyway, Baby and I discussed the menu for the presentation. She decided to take bogobe ba mabele (brown porridge) to school. This is a traditional Setswana staple.

You can eat mabele with savoury dishes like meats and vegetables or with milk and sugar.


To cook mabele, you boil water, mix it a fermented mixture of the porridge + water mixture to make porrdige the consistence of cooked cereal, let it simmer for 15 minutes, then add more dry porridge for stiffening (not too hard). Cook for thirty more minutes in low heat, and mix it together every ten minutes. Serve.

Baby says she wants to try this dish.


She's familiar with the white porridge, which we eat regularly, but she has never tried the traditional morogo ( wild leaves). Morogo looks like spinach, has a harder texture and slightly more bitter. Cooks very well with onions and tomatoes, a dash of salt and pepper, and a spoon of oil.

Or you can salt it a little bit, add spoonfuls of peanut butter to flavour and serve. If you have ground nuts, throw in a handful or two. Goes well as a side dish.

Setswana culture is over 1000 years old

Baby and I are doing research on Setswana culture. It’s part of her school project for the month, as it’s Heritage Month.

She’s thrilled to discover some interesting bits of old culture about the Batswana people. “Our culture is over a 1000 years old!” she exclaimed, putting up a hand for a high-five.

I think it's going to be a very interesting journey for both of us, because there's so much for her to learn.

Today, she found out that Batswana folded the arms and legs of a dead person in a squatting position and are buried that way ( see pic on the side).

I also introduced her to Sol Plaatjie (1876-1932) - journalist, editor, linguist ( translated the Bible into Setswana), first general secretary of the ANC. He founded at least 3 African language newspapers. "

Meet an editor from Macmillan UK (Educational Department)

Helen King, an editor from Macmillan (Educational dept) UK, will meet with South African children's writers and illustrators in Cape Town next week Tuesday.

The meeting will be held at the A is for Apple children’s bookstore at 166 Kloofnek Road in Tamboerskloof.

For more details about the meeting, visit the web site of the Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators Cape Town.

SCWBI SA also offers a channell to pass your contact details and samples of your work to Helen if you can't attend the meeting. You’ll also find posts announcing other writing events on the blog.

Speaking of events, the Arts Alive festival has begun. The annual programme includes lots of music (jazz) theatre, dance ( incl. ballet), art and poetry.

The programme was somewhat difficult to read online, so print it and check it out. The events are either free or very low-cost, so I'll study it and see if there's events I can attend with Baby.

Getting ready for action

Baby and I went for an early morning walk in the park. I’d forgotten it was the annual Spring Fair in our suburb, so we had some tea while we watched the vendors set up for the day.

It was somewhat relaxing to sit on the bench around 7.30 while joggers and dog-walkers went past.



There were also a number of parents with kids and dogs, clamouring to go on the pony rides or paint their faces. I didn’t do a lot of writing – mostly caught up with Baby, prepared her for the new term and Spring ( yes we went shopping).


She read the some of the children's stories I wrote in her absence, and was not happy with the ending in "The Frog Princess" and "The Tortoise and the Baboon Plant Fruit Trees." She says The Frog Princess ends too abruptly. The Sipho character should release the frog princess, have her attempt to take over the throne and be exposed for what she is. Not a bad idea, but a longer story than I started with.



As for The Tortoise and the Baboon Plant Fruit Trees, she says there is no justice in the story. We decided the Baboon should climb the tree again to pick more of the tortoise fruit and fall, breaking a leg. Then he will need help from the Tortoise, and have to learn a lesson about sharing and helping others.

Spring Day; Baby's Arrival

Jo’burg started partying today. It’s was wonderful Spring Day – the sky was clear, the sun shining and there was a breeze providing some cool. Just the kind of weather begging you to have a braai (barbecue).

I was invited to one or two for this afternoon, but I couldn’t accept. Baby’s plane was to land at around 14h00 but they were very late.

That’s what I dislike about el cheapo airlines. As one acquaintance quipped, some airlines you travel with them just one time, and then you never do so again. (Hehe! I’m sure my South African readers know which airline I'm talking about.)

Baby is happy to be home. Patting the bed, she indicated I should sit next to her. "Let's do the bonding thing," she said.

I think she was a bit put out to realise I was fine in the month she was away, and did have some interesting stories to tell. Isn't it strange that sometimes kids think a parent's life stops in their absence? "How could you have fun without me?" she asked.

"Just because you enjoyed your Durban visit and love spending time with your bio mother doesn't mean you don't love me. It just means you enjoyed your visit. By the same token, my having fun doesn't mean I didn't miss you."

I don't know if that home truth sank in.

Resource for writers

Please check out the blog for Children’s Literature Network. It’s still at the beginning stages, but it promises resources including “calls for submissions” and “opportunities.”

Self-published authors can also have a page outlining the book synopsis, author biography and ordering information.