Random Thoughts: Justin Bieber

May 14, 2013 | ,

A truly random post after an extended period of silence. This past weekend, I joined thousands of tiny and teenyboppers in the trek to FNB Stadium to watch Justin Bieber perform courtesy of 5FM on a night when many a father was a giant in their daughter's eyes, at least for the night. It was also Mother's Day and to see so many mothers and daughters bonding was also wonderful. My view of Bieber was altered by the documentary Never Say Never which gave a peek into his life before and after his discovery and the people around him, including his manager Scooter Braun who 'discovered' him....

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The Facts According To….

Mar 20, 2013 |

In my job, I'm sent a great many press releases and packages, all vying for my limited time and attention. Yesterday I had a beat boxer and rapper extolling the benefits of Russian Bear vodka. This morning, I received a folder with a Stylus USB pen attached to it and a two-pager with my "curriculum vitae", pulled from multiple online sources. Under Other Interests and Hobbies, my favourite and most random is "thinking of tackling yoga". Been thinking of that for a minute now. On the USB pen, is an animated video from Kelly Group unpacking the employment/unemployment situation in South...

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Random Thoughts: Writer’s Block

Oct 22, 2012 |

Sitting staring at a blank screen, trying to decide on what to blog about – that won’t take a couple of hours -, I expressed my frustration on twitter. Close to instantly, I received 3 responses that all said I should blog about writer’s block itself. Joburg Theatre: writers block and the concept of "inspiration" Spillly: blog about the pressure we put upon ourselves to blog & tweet even if we have nothing to share. Andre van Rooyen: Writers block? I mean, as a subject 🙂 Here’s my two cents. It is amusing how much people take certain things so personally. Since I started calling myself...

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Random Thoughts: Understand The Audience

Oct 15, 2012 | ,

Was chatting to someone on twitter about the frustrations of being constantly pitched for either writing work or to profile, cover, write about people, places and things. It is my job and I enjoy it but we need to meet each other half way. Below are my random ramblings on this. It's long. Hope it makes sense. Having worked in various media spaces – in particular television, print and digital - over the last 6/7 years, I have interacted with both platforms that I wanted – desperately – to contribute to and people who want to contribute to the platforms I work with. When I started producing...

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Performance Poetry vs Spoken Word

Jul 24, 2012 | ,

In response to my post inviting requests for blog posts on specific topics, I was asked to share my thoughts on ‘performance poetry vs spoken word’. It has been a while since I was involved in the poetry scene and, therefore, I’m out of touch with what the trends, thoughts, etc. that currently exist within the scene. Having gone from regularly writing, performing, promoting and hosting shows, and doing a lot of poetry in corporate spaces, I’ve been on an indefinite sabbatical/ retirement, so my views might be out-dated and/or out of sync with those who are driving the word forward. I...

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Ken Block’s Gymkhana Five

Jul 18, 2012 | ,

About two years ago, I came across a clip of Ken Block's "airfield rallying" video clip from BBC's Top Gear. I was so blown away by the American rally driver's skills, I did a blog post on it here. Block, who has been driving for the Monster World Rally Team since 2010, has also also created a series of Gymkhana videos which have gone unbelievably viral over the last couple of years.  Gymkhana is basically precision driving where, according to Wikipedia, "the driver must maneuver through a predetermined 'track' performing many different driving techniques." Ken Block recently...

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