The Tipping Point

The following video was banned by YouTube, but not before some keen observers had first seen and recorded it.
Some arrogant little snot decides to pick on another schoolkid, who clearly doesn't want any part of it.
The bully taunts and punches the other kid, and you can hear his friends cheering him on.

Suddenly the other kid snaps.
It's like watching Gladiator in under 50 seconds.

Let this be a lesson to all bullies out there, be they kids, adults or even countries.

Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami Footage

One of the first natural disasters to have been filmed by the media from almost every angle across various locations as it happened.
The true power of natures immense destructive capabilities can be seen in this video.

Makes you sit up and wonder about the arrogance of some nations calling themselves Superpowers when nature can come along and wipe out entire cities in a matter of minutes.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Japanese people during these testing times.

So You Still Think iPhone Auto-correct Rules?

Phone typos that need no introduction.

This is especially for all you iPhone lovers.

                                

                               

                                


                                

                                

                                

                                

                             

                                

Daughters & Divas

When Princess Sabreen was born, I held her tiny body in my arms and knew that she would grow up to be a giant in personality. She had that look in her eye that told me she would have the attitude to get her through life. I couldn't have been prouder.

Almost five years later and she is every bit that strong and amazing personality I imagined she would become. So today I picked her up from school and as usual, we got to chatting about life in general and the state of the nation. Somewhere between discussing the national budget and the cricket world cup, I asked her where she would like to go for holiday over Easter. I expected the usual 'Grannys', 'the coast', 'Durban' (which are all the same really) or maybe even Cape Town (her good friend Milla lives in a beautiful castle-styled home in Noordhoek). Her answer was "Disneyland in Florida." It turns out her best friend at school is heading that way over Easter and asked Sabreen to join her.

I was 15 and couldn't get my mom to agree sending me to Knysna on holiday with friends. My daughters not yet 5 and thinks its perfectly normal to fly thousands of miles across the ocean to Disneyland with her friend for Easter!

I blame Hannah Montana and Disney Channel!

So after explaining to her where Florida is, and how far away from home she would be, and for how long she wouldn't see me if she went, she still figured it was all a small sacrifice to be on a girly holiday with her schoolfriend.
It was only when I mentioned that Florida doesn't have any ice-cream that she finally conceded.

Fatherhood 1 - Youth 0

Who Are The Real Terrorists In America?

I first got wind of this video a week ago when a friend sent me the link and asked what I thought about it. My immediate reaction was to say that Ashton Kutcher is now punking politicians and social groups. Of course by the end of the video you soon realize that this is no prank, and the protesters vile insults to those attending a meeting regarding the homeless and social programs was very real indeed.

So real were the insults and verbal attacks in fact, that the protesters even had the backing of their local councilwoman and a Republican Congressman. These two idiots used the opportunity to rile the protesters and make personal and public attacks on a religious group that was in fact having a meeting to discuss social upliftment programs.

Now I'll be the first to admit that more wars have been fought and more lives have been lost in the name of religion, but surely when you have a group of American protesters shouting "Go back home!" to fellow Americans who happen to be of a different faith, it indicates the level of fear , racism and intolerance so prevalent in America today.

If you're going to go around the world trying to beat democracy into every nation you stumble upon, and kick Western ideology into the skull of every Eastern and Middle-Eastern culture, maybe you should consider first educating your own people on whats right and whats not. If you're going to preach to the world, preach to your own flock about tolerance, racism, civil liberties, rights and morals first. Lead by example.
Until you do this, the world will continue to regard the American people as a bunch of hillbilly morons who know absolutely nothing about the people outside their borders. I for one will continue to regard the average American as a racist retard.

Here's the original article about this despicable protest, as published in the local Orange County newspaper:
Orange County Register

To understand whats wrong with America today, look no further than this.

Apple iPad 2

I'm so tempted to buy one, but I'm just afraid by the time they've processed my Credit Card, the iPad 3 will be launched.
Where does it all end?
Maybe I should just fire up the old Commodore 64, slot in my Rally-X cartridge and chill out.
(For those of you that didn't get that, I apologize in advance.)

On Friendship

"Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity." Kahlil Gibran

We got to discussing friendship over tea the other night, and it occurred to me that I have many, maybe too many. Some dearer to me than others. Some have fallen by the wayside over the years, and many have grown closer and more cherished with time. Through it all though, I'd still like to think that if I ever bumped into any of the people I refer to as my "friends", I could pick up conversation with them as though we had never been apart.

There are very few things which annoy me to the point of my having to write about it,but having my friendship used for selfish purposes and personal gain certainly ranks way up there on the list.

Tonight's rant is about a guy I honestly once thought highly of and respected. He met me late last year and mentioned that he was looking for a place to rent, and as fate would have it a dear friend of mine just so happened to have the perfect home for him and his family. Before you could say "I'll take it!" the ink on the lease agreement was dry and he was moving in.
A perfect example of how goodness begets goodness, and positive karma attracts positive karma.
Or so I thought.

Within a month the cracks in his character began appearing, and now we're in a situation where he has defaulted on his rental obligation to the point of receiving an eviction notice.

All relevant and irrelevant excuses aside, here's my problem with this situation:
If you know that your character is wishy-washy (I looked this up in my Thesaurus and this is the best I could come up with) and you suspect that you have more flaws than the Eiffel Tower (pun intended), why in heavens name would you bring that to the table amongst friends?
If your'e going to be an asshole about your dealings, be they business or personal, surely you can have the foresight to be said asshole in the company of strangers who you don't have to face every other day at the local Spar or Post-Office. I mean even as a teenager I knew better than to date girls from my own suburb! I knew I was going to be an ass and dump them or be dumped at some point, and since I never wanted to bump into either them, their bigger bulkier dumber brothers or their licensed-to-carry-a-firearm dad's, I knew better than to date girls within the neighbourhood.
Surely that's common sense.

Be a dickhead, but just not around me. Or anyone I care about.
Now you've come to the adults pool in your Snoopy boxers, jumped in, frolicked with us, then rudely pee'd in the pool and left. Dude, you've just screwed the fun up for everyone.
Retard!

That's why I think once every so often, we should do an inventory of all the people we call friends, put all the names in a bucket, throw in some HTH, and purge all the crap that floats to the top.

Here endeth the rant.

In other news, I am seriously considering buying an iPad2.
Not because I need it, but because Steve Jobs and the good people at Apple say it will vastly improve the quality of my life. Apparently all that I am and all that I have been doing over the last 30 odd years is in fact truly worthless, because I have been doing it without an iPad2.
Turns out the Sony Playstation people who used the same marketing tactic were just setting us up for the iPad people.

I don't want my life to be worthless.