Thursday 24 December 2015

That time 2015 kicked my ass....


It’s crazy when you think about how much you’re life can change in the span of a year.

Facebook memories popped up with the picture of me at my graduation last year, and I remember the uncertainty of life. I was graduating with a degree but had no prospects of a job and the fear of being a huge failure was practically choking me.

The freedom I felt however was exhilarating, but the reality of a life that loomed before me - one which might not allow me to follow my basic life plan - was scary.


The young man who stood there was fearful but he also knew deep down that he was smart enough to do whatever was necessary to make something of his life. He would find a way to make it work. Of course oftentimes he forgot that, but occasionally he would be reminded of the fact that he had endured so much to get to where he was, and the fact that he graduated was an achievement in itself.

Fast forward a year and a few days, and I look at that picture of myself, finding it hard to believe how much has changed in a year. How much I have changed in a year.

The first three months of the year were the worst because I sat at home looking for my first job, and it felt like an uphill battle. Everyone told me to not put so much pressure on myself, but that is the type of person I am.

I over-think, I internalise, and I worry that made no one wants to hire me because I am not worth hiring. There are so many more qualified people out there and maybe they would do a better job than I would? What if I am not good enough?

Luckily, someone did want to employ me, and boy did it change my life.

2015 has been a life changing year for me because I learned so much about myself.

I discovered what it is like to make mistakes and learn from them, I found out what it is like to work hard, I learned how much fun it can be to work on story that you have spent months preparing. I realised how fortunate I was to be doing something that challenged me and I realised what it meant for people to not always understand where you are coming from because they have their own notions and agendas that they attach to you.

What I loved about this year is that it was not easy, but it was exciting, frustrating, exhausting and rewarding.

I discovered what it meant to have my heart broken, because I fell too fast, and too hard for someone who didn't feel the same and then when it all came crumbling down I had to figure out how to cope with feelings I have never felt before. Only in the aftermath did I realise that my heart had been broken because taking as long as I did to get over some guy who I had spent two months with affected me too deeply.

Heather and I singing our hearts out
I recall having a lovely conversation with my friend Heather in a kitchen at 12 o’clock at night, where we were talking about how I was coping after the break-up.  I had mentioned that I was letting it affect me too much because we were only together for two months, like lame right? She then told me it’s not lame because of the type of person I am. When I had asked her what she had meant, she explained that ever since she knew me, I was never one to do something without letting myself fully experience it; it had made sense to her that when I would give into the feeling and just experience it without abandon.

I was fortunate enough to learn a lesson from the experience, which was that to be more cautious and just let the chips fall where they may. I struggle to do that in other areas of my life, but I know it will be a lesson, I will be hard-pressed to forget.



The break-up proved to be for the better because work suddenly became very demanding and I was overwhelmed. How in the hell I would have managed if I still had to be worry about a relationship too would have been anyone’s guess...

2015 was an eye opening year, it had ups, and it had downs and it was enlightening.
The #FeesMustFallProtests, the unique experiences I have had, getting to have my work printed in the newspaper and published online, and with my love of music to constantly help carry me through.



It was a year I will forever be grateful for.



The young man in that graduation picture in 2014 would have no idea just how much 2015 would change him. I would not have believed it myself if I had not experienced it.

As we inch closer to closing the chapter on 2015, and begin the new chapter of 2016, I have no clue what lies ahead, but only that I will try my best no matter what the challenge.

There will be splendid days, there will be dark ones and there will be ones that I will feel like I have reached the end of my rope, but it will be a year that will only help me become a better person and learn more about myself.

2016, may you be good to me.




Theo. Over and Out.

Wednesday 25 November 2015

Things said in Anger...


Time

You’re seething with anger, and you aren’t thinking clearly, so there you go and say something so cruel you don’t even recognise yourself...

It happens, and it is something that you have to learn to deal with – no matter what side of the argument you find yourself on.

I became very interested in this “Things said in Anger” topic following a big argument that I had with my mother.

I won’t get into the details but following the argument, my mother then not only launched the dustpan, but she also aimed and threw her ceramic bowl, which had been half-filled with cereal, at me.

It didn't hit me, but the point was to intimidate me.

I left shortly thereafter to go to work, but needless to say that it was a day that I don’t want to experience again.

The whole day I felt this knot in my stomach, and I had also gotten stuck on this notion of things said in anger.

Some people get aggressive when angry, not just physically but verbally too.

Swear words are quickly thrown at you, and things are said with the intent to hurt you.

What I found interesting about it, well interesting is bad word but it was something that caught my attention, was how issues from years ago suddenly reared its head.

Things that you thought had been dealt with were once again laid bare, all with the intent to cause guilt and hurt.

It just goes show that sometimes we say we’re past an issue, but sometimes that is a lie.

I never get angry, and a large part is that I am scared of what I might do or say...

I have this huge fear of getting violent, but more so of hurting someone with words – of saying something so full of vitriol and malice that you just want hurt this other person's feelings as much as you can.

It is frightening, and people sometimes underestimate just how much damaged can be done with words.

Sure, you can argue that things said in anger are not thoughts of a sober mind, but they are things that you feel without any filtering or editing because they are purely instinctive.

Some can forgive, but if you are someone like me, you will always be aware of those things somewhere in your mind. Even if things were said in anger, they came from a place within the person where they thought or felt like that at a particular point.

However not all things said in anger can be a bad thing...

Sometimes things said in anger reveal a hidden part of ourselves that we didn’t want to deal with. By revealing that hidden part, it may lead us to processing things that we weren’t aware of.

Not all anger is a bad thing, because sometimes anger gives us courage to say the things we may be afraid to say.

Things said in anger sometimes reveal more than what we would like to. It puts us at our most vulnerable but also at our most volatile.

It reveals all the baggage that we carry with us, moments and experiences we've collected - all of which have left an indelible mark on us - and then depending on which person we are angry at, these moments and experiences come bubbling up. Sometimes when they do come up, we may choose to use it as a weapon.

Weaponised aggression.

Anger is a valid emotion, but it a dangerous one. People have committed murders in anger because they were consumed by the emotion.

You have every right to feel angry, because it is a natural human emotion that you will feel at some point, but you have to be careful of what you do with that anger. The words you say when angry may cause irreparable harm, and the physical manifestations of that anger present a greater hazard.

There is no tried and tested method to deal with anger but we all have to find our own quirks because if we don’t that very anger may just consume you from the inside out.


Schindlers List

Theo. Over and Out.


PS - What the whole experience with my mother had also revealed to me about myself was that all I wanted to do was speak to one specific person, but it was someone who I couldn’t speak to. It proved to be an informative experience of how to do deal with a matter when you can’t speak to the person you would like to.

Thursday 12 November 2015

The Lion's Tunes #9



Welcome to another edition of The Lion’s Tunes.

At the suggestion of a close friend, I decided to put my love of music to good use.

She pointed out to me that since I love music and listen to so much of it, I should share what songs I’m currently jamming to at the moment.

I was expecting this to be up sooner, especially given how very active I was over the October month. I had no idea where all of those emotions and opinions came from but hey, clearly I felt inspired and writing was the best way to get it out.

Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand. I have come across a lot of music while I will share below so I hope you enjoy.

I’m by no means a music expert and I won’t pretend to be. Most of what will be written here is information I’ve learned on the net and just my personal opinions on the songs.

I have been listening to a lot of local radio so today's is a mix of radio songs and tunes that I have discovered across the interweb.

So have at it...

·         Song: Soap
Artist: Melanie Martinez

This song is just fucking awesome. I love how fun, badass and so full of eccentric attitude that it is. I heard this first on local radio before I searched for it on youtube. It is just super cool. I groove for days on this song...and my grooving gets very grimey and nasty ;)



In all seriousness though, what I love about this is just how it also speaks back to parent's washing out your mouth with soap when you said something wrong (not that that happened to me because the weapon of choice when I misbehaved happen to be a belt). This song is just so cool.

What I love even more is that she sounds nearly identical to the record when performed live. Yassss.



I have no clue why I said "Yassss" I actually hate the word, but that is another blogpost for another day.

·         Song: WTF (Where They From)
Artist: Missy Elliot ft Pharrell Williams

She is back, and showing why we fell in love with her all those year ago. It is so nice to finally have another black female MC back on the scene. Nicki Minaj has been killing it but Missy is just that awesome and it feels awesome to have her back. Also this music video is fire! Excuse me while I'll try learning the words to this jam.



·      
   Song: Till I Found
Artist: Josef Salvat

I  came across Josef Salvat after hearing his vocals on the Tourist "Holding On" song. His voice captured me and I wanted to discover if his other music was just as good. I went throguh some of his songs on youtube but couldn't help but become obsessed with "Till I Found You". Given that I am a romantic at heart, I love romance songs but there is something haunting about this song that just gives me chills. Also, it hurt that he is gorgeous to look at. Yummy.




·      
   Song: Talk Me Down
Artist: Troye Sivan
Album: Blue Neighbourhood

It was to be expected that I would include the final song in the "Blue Neighbourhood" music video trilogy from Troye Sivan given that I have covered it before. What should be noted is that while the first two songs in the trilogy are from his "Wild" EP, the final song in the music video trilogy, "Talk Me Down" is actually the first single of his forthcoming album in December.




I have Youtube'd some of his live performance of songs from the forthcoming album, and boy does his album sound like it is goes to be a banger.

·      
   Song: Never Forget You
Artist: Zara Larrson ft MNEK

This is the song that has my mother annoyed. It has her annoyed because it is the only damn song that whenever it plays, I sing it as loud as possible. I am just so  OBSESSED. I dance and dance and dance and just let the sick beat crash over me.

Firstly, the vocals of this song are on point.
Secondly, the beat is a monster.
Thirdly, If you aren't dancing to this then you must be dead.
Fourthly, the message is something I connected with deeply. We all have that one person we will never forget.



Also, another pair that when performed lived, just absolutely destroy it. #ThankTheMusicGods. Though I was bit worried when she first started, the worry turned out to be for nought.



·      
   Song: Novocaine (Remix / Audio)
Artist: Fall Out Boy ft Uzi

I like Fall Out Boy, they are not on the list of groups that I obsess about, but they are just so awesome. They also are willing to mess around with their sound and let it be changed to make it work for other genres. No better example can be given than this version of their song Novocaine.



·      
   Song: Dance Again
Artist: Black Coffee ft Nakhane Toure
Album: Pieces of Me

DJ Black Coffee recent won the ‘Breakthrough In Association with Mixcloud Award at the 2015 Ibiza DJ Awards which is a pretty big, but cooler than that, he also released one fucking amazing song from his new album "Pieces of Me". It is currently the biggest song in South Africa at the moment and once you hear it, you will understand why. It is just a really really great song.



·      
   Song: In My Head
Artist: Galantis

I have been a fan of Galantis following the release of their song Runaway (You & I). While their song "Peanut Jelly" is currently soaring up the charts, I don't like it as much. However, regardless of that I still like their originality and how peculiar they are. Their latest offering "In my Head" is definitely proof of their craziness but also how they just love making music.



·      
   Song: When We Were Young
Artist: Break D Law ft Matthew Gold  

Love love love this tune. Matthew Gold has always had a very unique voice and one distinct enough that you can pick it out when it plays on the radio. He just supplied his vocals to Break D Law for this track and I'm glad because it delivered quite the banger. This is a local track and it is doing very well on the 5FM charts. While initially I wasn't captured by the song, the more I heard it, the more I liked it.



·      
   Song: Tripswitch
Artist: Nothing But Thieves

I love this song. I love the rocker vibe to it, it has a bit of that Muse thing going on which is hardly a bad thing. That aside, I just love the whole video of the song...also who doesn't love a guy pole dancing naked?? (it must have hurt quite a bit though). That aside, it is groovy and makes me want to air guitar which is a horrific sight to say the least.



·      
   Song: Automatic
Artist: Zhu ft AlunaGeorge

I have been liking the stuff that Zhu has been putting out. He has a cool vibe about his stuff. I am not the biggest EDM fan but I really really love a good beat that I can dance to.



Additional Mention:

Song: To Ãœ 
Artist: Jack Ü ft AlunaGeorge

I seem to be on a AlunaGeorge vibe of sorts. Hahaha. Also I do love me some Jack Ü because I am all about that Skrillex and Diplo making love with their music :P



·      
   Song: BURNITUP!
Artist: Janet Jackson ft Missy Elliot

My reaction to Ms Jackson's comeback has been varied. What I love about this next song is that it also features an artist I love, Miss Elliot. She was just pure awesome-sauce and I am really glad that she is also returning to music. I am really excited.



· Song: Stressed Out
Artist: Twenty One Pilots

I am all about that Twenty One Pilots vibe. They are hip hop but doing it on their own terms. It really is just them doing what they want and I love the deeper meaning that can be found in their lyrics. It's all about substance and you can hear it in every song that has such a clear message.


Additional Mention: Lane Boy



BONUS:

Florence + The Machine covers Skrillex and Diplo's "Where Are Ü Now"

I am including this cover by Florence and the Machine because she is just damn amazing. Some people may not like her style of singing but regardless I love it.




Theo.  Over and Out.


PS - Hope you enjoyed it. I didn't include a radio section because this was such a mix for me so yeah...

Thursday 5 November 2015

Fuck your masculinity - I will cry when I want



I don't like crying....

But not for the usual reasons.

The reason I dislike crying is not because it makes me look weak, but because of the way I feel when I cry.
Everything seems to hit me from every direction and I feel overwhelmed, alone and like i'm in a dark pool which no one but me understands.

Recently however, I have been feeling particularly emotional given how life decided to just wallop me with situations that have struck a cord with me.

I am the type of person who speaks freely about emotions and crying because to me, it's natural.

I don't feel ashamed about my feelings because  feelings are what makes me human, and sometimes it's only natural to cry.

Recently however when I mentioned to someone that something was making me a bit emotional, and that I almost cried, they looked at me like I was stupid and like I was not a proper man because of it.

I  didn't care about it in the moment, but in retrospect it made me somewhat angry.

It made me angry because we live in a society where gender roles cause more harm than good, and the idiotic notion of a "real man" (which is the notion of what a man is supposed to be) creates unrealistic expectations and beliefs of what a man should be.

In reality, a man should be who the fuck he wants to be.

I am not here to fill someone's stereotype and role of what you believe a man should be. I am me, I will not be apologetic for admitting that things make me sad. I will not feel bad about crying over stuff when I feel like shit because sometimes crying is necessary and it actually makes you feel better afterwards.

Fuck your masculinity.

It's these societal ideals of "real men" or some crap about how guys are not meant to cry (because it is a sign of weakness) that ends up doing so much damage because people become scared to express how they really feel.

How narrow-minded is your notion of masculinity that crying is seen as weak??

Crying is natural. It's society that tells us it's not.

 It is done to express feelings of happiness, sadness. frustration and anger but men seem to be taught that crying makes you weak. It has become this sign of weakness that people will manipulate and try to use against you.

If the society we live in wants to continue to spread this notion of some fucked up rules of masculinity that stops people from truly expressing their feelings without being shamed for it, then it is a society that I want nothing to do with.

I will cry when I want. Your notion of masculinity and "real men" be damned.

I repeat - Fuck your masculinity.



Theolin. Over and Out


PS- Here is a really cool photo series that shows soldiers crying.

Neringa Rekasiute and Beata Tiskevic-Hasanova’s photo project They Won the Lottery is a reaction to the new law (in which Lithuanian government reintroduced military conscription) ; it depicts young men in military uniform, crying, alongside their comments about masculinity. (see more here)

We wanted to show how dangerous gender expectations are: A man is expected to be rational, emotionless and aggressive. It is very important that we, as a society, allow men to express their emotions and not force a stereotypical archaic role onto them.” 
– Neringa Rekasiute

So powerful


Wednesday 28 October 2015

Sense 8: The must see show...


I recently completed watching a show called “Sense 8” which is from the Wachowski siblings who brought us “Matrix”, “Jupiter Ascending”, and “Cloud Atlas” to name a few.  They are type of directors who don’t just want to reproduce the same old thing for people to consume and come up with an inventive and imaginative way to tell a story.
Their work doesn’t always connect with some people though, which is why the siblings have recently taken the route that many blockbuster directors who have had recent bombs do –go to TV.
It worked very well for M. Night Shyamalan who after bombing with After Earth turned to TV and struck gold with his TV show “Wayward Pines” (which I strongly recommend you binge watch because the story is just so compelling).
Getting back on track, basically the Wachowskis realised that the movie format wasn’t working for them and so they went to Netflix to try telling their imaginative stories.
In my opinion, this was a damn brilliant decision.

Sense 8, which the Wachowski siblings executive produce alongside J.Michael Straczynski, telling the stories of 8 strangers from across the globe who become connected to each other.
As viewer, you embark on a 12 episode journey with these characters and each of their narratives as they help, console and teach each other.  They have to learn how to cope with being able to have access to the knowledge, emotions, feelings and senses of 7 other people.



I have compiled a list of reasons why more people should be watching Sense 8. I am not going to lie that if you want something that will give you all the answers from episode one then you might struggle watching the show. The show takes the first half of the season building the relationships with each of the characters and establishing their own lives (which is no small feat). By the time the action gets rolling, you really feel connected to their story and your investment is rewarded.


  1. Stereotypical Race Representation
The show delivers characters who you have seen across a few TV shows but never in one show, never mind them even interacting with each other. The show includes characters from America, Korea, Iceland, India, Mexico, Kenya and Germany.  The cast varies in nationality, skin colour and language. The show tries, and succeeds to break down the stereotypes of characters that we usually see. You have a representation of Nairobi (Kenya) that depicts not only how gang dominated the country is, but also how complicated the characters that live there are.
They aren’t just stereotypes that we see on screen but rather people living complicated lives. The same goes for the Korean character, Sun. 

Sun is working in a pharmaceutical firm run by her father and brother. You see that she smokes and she is not scared to beat someone’s ass, but yet, she sacrifices her freedom to protect her brother. Their narratives are something we would never typically see in an American produced TV show, never mind the fact that these characters even interact with each other.


http://thelionmutters.tumblr.com/post/132082213124/netflixsense8-kala-can-i-ask-you-a-question
  1. Unlikely Character Interactions
Sun (from Korea) interacts not only with Capheus (from Kenya) but also Kala (India), Lito (Mexico) and Riley (Iceland). This is just how one character interacts with characters from across the globe within the show. Each character gets to “visit” (as the show calls it) the others sometime throughout the span of the 12 episodes, and as a viewer it is a joy to witness. Interactions between characters of colour or interactions with characters of different nationalities (that you would never typically see happen) occur frequently on Sense 8.  This show doesn’t just do it to be a gimmick, but does it to tell a story, with exciting outcomes. As a viewer of colour from South Africa, I appreciate seeing someone like Capheus and his best friend interacting on screen because while I might not be from Kenya, there are some bits of their story that I as an African can relate to.


http://thelionmutters.tumblr.com/post/132077948359/netflixsense8gifs-you-are-the-spirit-of
  1. Interconnectedness
Sense 8 succeeds for me because it deals with how interconnected we are.  We all want to believe that there is someone out there in the world that can relate to us, be it romantically or just another person.
Sense 8 takes that ideal and transcends it.  Two of the characters sometimes are dealing with the same emotion in a different way but the show puts them together and when you witness how they learn from each other and are talking about their various challenges it is becomes captivating.
Sometimes someone close to you could be going through something that you went through already, and since you might know exactly how they feel, you can still relate to them. Sense 8 excels in this regard.
One of my favourite sequence’s comes from episode 4 where the Sense 8’s are singing What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes. They all share the experiences but in a very different way. Some happy, some sad, and one being drunk, but it just works in depicting how interconnected they are to each other.

There is some dialogue that Kala says in episode 7 that I just love because of how it describes their connection:
If I was trying to describe this feeling - the sensation of experiencing the  warmth of the sun, the smell of jasmine and marigold; while at the same time being soaked by a downpour at an outdoor cafe. Taste of strong coffee still in my mouth...I would say the word miracle sounds particularly appropriate. Wouldn’t you?”


http://thelionmutters.tumblr.com/post/132075070824
  1. Queerness
The show also impresses me for how it fearlessly tackles LGBT themes, which I adore. Lito is a closeted telenova star living with his boyfriend Hernando. Nomi is a transgendered woman who has been with her girlfriend for a long time. Sense 8 doesn’t just have one LGBT character to fill some type of quota, but rather it has two whose stories are depicted equally as those of the heterosexual characters on the show. Sense 8 shows that LGBT live lives full of love, struggle and heartache. It is a complex depiction of the lives of those with the LGBT community that don’t fit into any particular mould.


http://thelionmutters.tumblr.com/post/132078957159
  1. Sexuality
Sexuality is EXTREMELY apparent in this show. We see the transgendered woman making love to her girlfriend within the first episode of the show, but it is really in episode 6 where this particular aspect of the show takes off because it does this to show how connected the Sense 8’s are. When two of the Sense 8’s simultaneously happen to be having sex, and another is feeling horny, it ended up having a ripple effect which the show handles by showing some of the Sense8’s engaged in not an orgy. But an orgy that is simultaneously taking place in Germany, Mexico and USA, all while none of them are in the same place. It is less trippy than what it sounds. They feel each other’s pleasure to such an extent, one of the Sense 8’s who is in America orgasms while working out but another Sense 8 in Mexico exclaims that “I just had one the best orgasms of my life.” It is really just a spectacle to watch, and it is really enjoyable to watch because you understand their connection to each other in a way that you may not have before.


http://thelionmutters.tumblr.com/post/132078534909


  1. Religion/Science


The show does not shy away from show religion either. Kala in India is shown to be a scientist who is also a devout Hindu. We are often shown scenes in which Kala prays to the Ganesha (a Hindu god) to help her with a particular problem that she is seeking clarification on. It is refreshing and as someone who knows very little about the Hindu religion, it is extremely exciting and engaging to watch.


In episode 7 she says:


My love for science doesn’t preclude my faith. For me, science is another language we use to talk about the same miracle that faith talks about.”


Also with the whole idea of 8 people being connected, the show deals with how it has an impact on science. The Sense 8’s are suggested to be another form of homosapien, and it goes onto much further elaboration than I will here. The show isn’t pitting these two sectors against each other but rather, allowing them to work in cohesion with one another as it pushes the seasonal arc forward.


  1. Romances


The show has the longstanding relation between Nomi/Amanita at the start, and the reason why their relationship is engaging because you see a gay woman of colour in a long term relationship with a white transgendered woman; Lito and his boyfriend Hernando are the two Mexican gay men also committed to each other. The show then has the romance of Riley (the DJ from Iceland) and Will (the police officer from USA), in the fore front driving the story following their newfound connection. Their story has major consequences for the plot and is lovely to watch.


http://thelionmutters.tumblr.com/post/132078417269/martinlydias-every-pairing-i-love-15


Kala’s romance saga proved to be equally exciting for me as you have an Indian woman who is about to get married to a guy who is perfect for her, but can’t help falling in love with the German diamond thief (who enjoys being naked) but also has a heart of gold. I loved becoming engrossed in their love story because they represent two people who couldn’t be more different from each, yet can’t help taking a liking to each other.


  1. Flaws


Of course like any show, Sense 8 is not without its flaws. Sometimes throughout the show the 12 episodes does feels like a limit given that if the show had more time, they may have been able to flesh out the connections a bit more. There’s also one or two times when Sense 8’s who have never met, take to meeting each other without much fanfare, and like it’s no big deal.


Maybe the show could be saying that some of the Sense 8 took to their newfound connection to strangers with ease, but that seems like a stretch. Sure we do meet some people who feel like we have known them forever but sharing thoughts and feelings with them would at least be a “WTF” moment regardless of who you are.


The villain of show also needed to be more 3 dimensional and less like a guy who wants to just kill them. Hopefully the second season of the show will get into giving the villain a substantial expansion if we are to truly feel threatened for the Sense 8’s. What made him want to kill the Sense 8’s? Power? Control? Or Scientific reasons?


The show did a good job of interweaving of the stories of the Sense 8’s but they could be handled better. On occasion when watching it does feel like the show is struggling to find a way to connect the characters but for the most part, it does well.


Some people have complained about how the show excluded some of the non-white characters from the orgy scene. However this may have been a scheduling issue or logistics. The show films across the globe and as a result, they may not have had all the actors present and available at all times. Perhaps not everyone was available to shoot the orgy scene, or opted out of being the scene for personal reasons but this seems like a minor flaw given how the show is doing more for representation of non-white heterosexual characters than almost half the TV shows from America these days.



Despite its flaws, Sense 8 is a show the likes of which is hardly if ever seen. I finally get to see complex characters of colour and sexuality and not just the typical white characters that are so often fed to us from Hollywood.
I strongly encourage each and everyone to give the first 6 episodes a watch. If after that you aren’t feeling the show, then at least you tried.
As for me, I will impatiently wait for season 2 to find out more of the story about these interesting and never before seen 8 characters.
I hope that Season 2 stays focused on these 8 characters and not want to introduce too much too soon.


Theo Over and Out.


PS - Here is the trailer to Wayward Pines if you are interested. (BUT ONLY AFTER SENSE 8 !!!!!)

Saturday 24 October 2015

Thursday 22 October 2015

South African students protest for #FeesMustFall: Do I care?

Picture: Adrian de Kock

I didn’t care about the #FeesMustFall...
As bad as that sounds, I didn’t care because I just thought it was another step in the revitalised student protest movement which focused on something inconsequential.
My awareness of the whole student protests started with #RhodesMustFall...obviously I was aware of what happened in 1976 following my 5 years of History in high school, but I did not care about the movement in its current form.
When it started, students were focusing on the Cecil John Rhodes statue, and what it stood for, and throughout my whole four years at UCT, I went by without as much as a clue that this was such a sore point.
It was only following my graduation and subsequent employment did I come to learn that actually this is something monumental.
Many saw the statue as a symbol of oppression and also the fact that the institution that they were studying act created an environment where being white was an advantage. 
Being someone of colour at the university made you feel like you were walking on sacred white ground. It made you feel like you should be grateful to the white people for allowing you to be on it, instead of feeling like you had the right to be there.
This was the very feeling that I got from UCT during my time there, but I didn’t pay that feeling any attention because my main focus was that I going to the Number 1 University in Africa. How lucky was I?
So when the whole movement started to decolonise the University, I understood the student’s point but I couldn’t care about it because the entire conversation became about statues and the whole true message was lost on me.
I guess my upbringing as coconut (coloured/black on the outside, "white" on the inside) did its job. That being said, I don’t regret or have issues with my upbringing because it allowed me to do things that I may not have been able to.
That aside, the whole student movement was just another issue.  
However, the events of the past two days (I was off on Monday), have forced me to sit up and take note.



Since Monday students across the country have been protesting about the proposed raise in their tuition fees. At first thought, you go “Okay, given how expensive life is, it was to be expected that fees would go up to... No big deal.”
And for most of us there is pretty much where the train of thought stops.
However, I was educated and enlightened on Wednesday following an interview that a Cape Times reporter and I did.
They usually say that all it takes is for one person to raise their hand and affect change.
Sascha Egelhof, a student from Stellenbosch University, is that one person for me.
She might not realise it, but she had caused a change within me.
.
The reason why Sascha’s story connected with me is because it made me remember something about myself. I had lived a bit of her story.
When she spoke about:
"...I know that there are other students like me, that don't have the ability to voice their problems. that are almost ashamed of the fact that they are unable to afford their tuition.

Other people who can afford these things, and don't worry about any financial problems are like "oh let's go go, and have a glass of wine." I am like 'oh I can't because I don't have any food in my fridge..." 

It made me think back to my days of being the poor friend and how my friends would pay for me because I couldn’t afford it.
My single parent mother of three boys had to provide rent money, food, electricity, travelling expenses (for her and for me) and also my tuition fees for UCT. For the income of a Personal Assistant to stretch as far as it did was a miracle.
The only way I was able to get through university was because:
  1. I was on financial aid for my entire degree.
  2. I was able to get a boost from a my mother's work bursary in my first year
  3. My mother also had to take out a loan to help with funding and keeping me in university
I didn’t realise how much of a big thing it was because my mother doesn’t like talking about finances and also she wanted me to focus on getting an education. I was ready to get a job but my mother didn’t want that to let it distract from my education.
To this day, my mother us still paying off that loan...and the lack of fees was why I couldn't do my Honours degree actually.
I was able to make it through university and get my degree because my mother was committed to my education, and also because of financial help...but it did not come without financial hardships.
And yet, my story is one of the success stories. I am privileged.
There are many stories from those who have faced similar or greater difficulties than mine. There are hundreds of more stories from those who have been accepted into university but had to drop out because they couldn’t afford the university fees.
When my mother and I was talking about the fact that students across the country and are protesting for the right to education, she started crying because the students who WANT to educate themselves and create better lives for themselves, are unable to because they simply can’t afford it.
All that these kids want it to be able to attend an institution of higher learning and to build lives that their parents (and themselves) have been dreaming of for years. But they can’t.
Why?
Because tuition fees are already leaving the students with crippling debt by the time that they graduate, and now a proposed 11.5% increase in their fees would guarantee that they will never be able to have the education they deserve.

When you are living from hand to mouth like a few of these kids in the Fees Must Fall campaign, fees for tuition can easily become seen as a luxury, and not a need.
Education shouldn’t be a privilege, it should be a right.



But with this proposed raised, the message from those in higher education is that clearly education should be a right of those who can afford it and not those from the middle and lower classes who want to learn and succeed in life, but don't have the large sums of money to afford it.
The Fees Must Fall movement is the voices of those who come from poor or middle class backgrounds taking a stand saying that education should not be available to only those who can afford it but that it should be available to all regardless of race and class.
Another student from Stellenbosch Khadija Bawa, also made me see the bigger picture when she explained how difficult the situation really is:
We live in country where without a degree from a university or tertiary institution then your options of being able to create a better live for yourself and the future generations is near impossible. It is a common held belief that if you want to become a success then you need to have a university degree, but how are you supposed to do that when you can’t afford to pay for your education?
I saw a post on twitter this week:


The reason why people fought in 1976 was so that their kids could have an education that would allow them to better themselves but yet here we are with a generation of kids who are still fighting for the same battle to get an education.


I care about #FeesMustFall because if I was still at university, I would have been forced to drop out. There is no way my mother would have been able to pay that. I would not have been working in the environment that I am today, and not have had the experiences which have forever shaped my life.
I do have one issue with the movement which is that they want are disrupting other kids from continuing with their education. I understand their frustration because they want their voice to be heard but how many more people are they isolating from their movement because their actions??
It is difficult for me because I find myself split into two minds about this. I know that I would have been studying and preparing for exams because of how important my education was to my mother. Yet this is a necessary action.
That being said, there is this quote that keeps coming back to my mind, the source is believed to be Voltaire, but no one really knows...The quote stuck with me because it suggests that maybe a little disruption is necessary...


I don’t agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
No one can deny that this is huge (possibly revolutionary) movement taking place. The question you have to ask yourself is where you find yourself standing in this movement?
There is no right answer. Only the answer you feel is right for you...

Theo. Over and Out.