26 Apr 2010 Leave a comment
in Myself Tags: music, shower songs
A while ago, I started creating a “dog proof garden”. I thought it was time to share some more “before” and “after” pictures. My problem was turning the “Wynberg Dog Habitat” from a desolate waste of mud and dog bones into a garden. Things were going well a couple of months ago, when I took these pictures – plants were growing behind their fences, but most of the garden was series of muddy ditches, as the grass refused to grow under the constant doggy traffic:
14 Apr 2010 Leave a comment
in All my drawings Tags: drawing
I’ve been trying to draw moments from memory. The drawings below were inspired by two little girls who live in my neighbourhood. I saw them the other day standing in front of their home.
Both of them have very long hair, and they had a long ribbon sort of wrapped around themselves. More
12 Apr 2010 10 Comments
in Inspiration, Myself Tags: wind harp
Yesterday morning Brendon and some friends set up a wind harp on Rondebosch common:
A wind harp is a long, long wire, stretched taut in the wind, and attached to some kind of resonating surface. The wind blows across the length of the wire and sets up a pattern of vibrations. These are amplified by the resonator so that a human ear can hear them more easily.
It’s quite magical. The harp itself is so simple and yet when it sings it connects you to a world of vibration and energy that is usually imperceptible. It’s like a small hole in reality with sounds leaking through from the other side 🙂 More
03 Apr 2010 2 Comments
Sharing a small townhouse with two large, exuberant, hairy and above all – shedding – dogs can get annoying. Yesterday I finally had enough. I rushed out and bought a baby gate for the bottom of our stairs. Pippin watched me install it with an air of great gloom. He understood. The good times were over:
It’s a huge relief to have a “dog free” zone upstairs. They are only allowed up when we feel like it. Meantime, a great deal of canine hurt feelings:
But I don’t care! Up to now, if I did not vacuum the stairs at least every second day, we would have our own, rather hairy ski slope. Now (I hope) the dogs, and their hair, will be confined to the downstairs section.
Although I must admit that Pippin is allowed upstairs to perform his duty as “bath dog”. This involves keeping a close eye on me while I’m in the bath, in case I slip down the plug hole. He usually does this while he is fast asleep on his back, and snoring because he has his nose jammed up against the toilet.
02 Apr 2010 2 Comments
in Inspiration, Myself Tags: kloof nek, landscape, photo
I’ve been hitting deadlines, and neglecting my blog. Just a quick post to share this morning’s walk: the sun burning away the mist over Constantia Neck.
24 Mar 2010 Leave a comment
in Inspiration Tags: desktop activist, speakza
This article is by Sipho Hlongwane. It is a call for bloggers to raise their voices against the ANC Youth League’s attempts to erode freedom of the press in South Africa.
Last week, shocking revelations concerning the activities of the ANC Youth League spokesperson Nyiko Floyd Shivambu came to the fore. According to a letter published in various news outlets, a complaint was laid by 19 political journalists with the Secretary General of the ANC, against Shivambu. This complaint letter detailed attempts by Shivambu to leak a dossier to certain journalists, purporting to expose the money laundering practices of Dumisani Lubisi, a journalist at the City Press. The letter also detailed the intimidation that followed when these journalists refused to publish these revelations.
We condemn in the strongest possible terms the reprisals against journalists by Shivambu. His actions constitute a blatant attack on media freedom and a grave infringement on Constitutional rights. It is a disturbing step towards dictatorial rule in South Africa. We call on the ANC and the ANC Youth League to distance themselves from the actions of Shivambu. The media have, time and again, been a vital democratic
safeguard by exposing the actions of individuals who have abused their positions of power for personal and political gain.
The press have played a vital role in the liberation struggle, operating under difficult and often dangerous conditions to document some of the most crucial moments in the struggle against apartheid. It is therefore distressing to note that certain people within the ruling party are willing to maliciously target journalists by invading their privacy and threatening their colleagues in a bid to silence them in their legitimate work.
We also note the breathtaking hubris displayed by Shivambu and the ANC Youth League President Julius Malema in their response to the letter of complaint. Shivambu and Malema clearly have no respect for the media and the rights afforded to the media by the Constitution of South Africa. Such a response serves only to reinforce the position that the motive for leaking the so-called dossier was not a legitimate concern, but a insolent effort to intimidate and bully a journalist who had exposed embarrassing information about the Youth League President.
We urge the ANC as a whole to reaffirm its commitment to media freedom and other Constitutional rights we enjoy as a country.
Blog Roll
thoughtleader.co.za/siphohlongwane
rwrant.co.za
vocfm.co.za/blogs/munadia/
vocfm.co.za/blogs/shafiqmorton/
blogs.news24.com/needpoint
capetowngirl.co.za
thoughtleader.co.za/sentletsediakanyo
thoughtleader.co.za/davidjsmith
letterdash.com/one-eye-only
boyuninterrupted.blogspot.com
amandasevasti.com
blog.empyrean.co.za/
letterdash.com/brencro
6000.co.za
chrisroper.co.za
pieftw.com
hamishpillay.wordpress.com
memoirs4kimya.blogspot.com
thoughtleader.co.za/azadessa
watkykjy.co.za
fredhatman.co.za
thelifeanddeathchronicles.blogspot.com/
blogs.timeslive.co.za/common-dialogue/
www.clivesimpkins.blogs.com/
mashadutoit.wordpress.com
nicharalambous.com
sarocks.co.za
blogs.timeslive.co.za/stompies/
helenmoffett.book.co.za/blog/
01universe.blogspot.com
groundwork.worpress.com
iwrotethisforyou.me
fionasnyckers.book.co.za
attentiontodetail.wordpress.com
blogs.women24.com/editor
www.missmillib.blogspot.com
snowgoose.co.za
dreamfoundry.co.za
www.vanoodle.blogspot.com
www.exmi.co.za
cat-dubai.blogspot.com
alistairfairweather.com
www.zanedickens.com
www.nickhuntdavis.com
guysa.blogspot.com
book.co.za
baldy.co.za
skinnylaminx.com
blogs.african-writing.com/zukiswa
www.mielie.wordpress.com
blogs.timeslive.co.za/gatherer/
thoughtleader.co.za/sarahbritten
stii.co.za
blogs.news24.com/FSB_AP
twistedkoeksuster.blogspot.com
whensmokegetsinyoureyes.blogspot.com/
trinklebean.wordpress.com
commentry.wordpress.com/
matthewbuckland.com
blogs.news24.com/colour-me-fran
gormendizer.co.za
www.exmi.co.za/
moralfibre.co.za/
gnatj.com/
synapses.co.za
fsi.org.za/
simon.co.za/speakza
khadijapatel.co.za/
ravingfans.co.za/
harassedmom.co.za/
14 Mar 2010 1 Comment
in Colour, Myself Tags: pattern
I’m always finding ways to waste time online, especially when I have a lot of “real” work I’m supposed to be doing. Creating Firefox personas fits the bill perfectly. It involves a little bit of creativity and results in eye-candy. Plus, I get to apply some of my patterns!
Forest Mirror
In case you dont know, a Firefox persona is a sort of “theme” you can apply to your browser. It appears in the background to your toolbars.
Mermaid Hair More
07 Mar 2010 Leave a comment
in Inspiration Tags: drawing, pattern
I’ve nearly finished writing another short story so I’m allowed to play with patterns in Photoshop again. I used this scan I made of a little dead Kingfisher:
I found him lying on the side-walk, poor little thing. Being a heartless artist, I plopped him on my scanner and made use of his lovely feathers: More
07 Mar 2010 4 Comments
in All my drawings Tags: drawing
So now that I’m self-employed, I should have more time for my own creative work, right? Ha ha ha ha. Um. Actually, I’ve been racing deadlines for the last month or more and not done ANY drawing. So to make myself feel a little better, I’ve been scanning some drawings that I did a while ago.
A pensive lady with a scarf:
This one has something to do with the idea of a phoenix being reborn: More
28 Feb 2010 Leave a comment
in Design Indaba Tags: design indaba 2010
So – it’s over. Flipping through my notebook after two days at the Design Indaba, these quotes stood out:
“You get power by giving away power.”
“The audience is more wonderful than you think.”
28 Feb 2010 6 Comments
in Design Indaba, Inspiration Tags: alejandro aravena, housing, social housing
One of the most thought-provoking speakers at Design Indaba 2010: Alejandro Aravena.
Alejandro is a Chilean architect who focuses on that most challenging of problems – social housing for the poor. His talk was rather like the projects he showed us: stark, harsh, and with no attempt to soften unpleasant realities.
The audience did not like everything he said. More
27 Feb 2010 Leave a comment
in Inspiration Tags: rondebosch common
The common is hot and dry now. Its difficult to remember what it was like only a couple of months ago. This is what it looks like now, in summer:
In winter its all mud and water:
In spring it’s covered in flowers:
And now, in summer –
27 Feb 2010 Leave a comment
in Design Indaba, Inspiration Tags: christien meindertsma, design indaba 2010
Christien Meindertsma spoke on the last day of the Design Indaba 2010. She has a quietly confident style and a subtle sense of humour. Her talk was thought provoking and intriguing.
Christien is fascinated by the link between products and the materials they are made out of. Even when we have some understanding of what something is made of – the emotional and physical link is lacking. Christien attempts to remind us of this link.
For example, the “One Sheep Cardigan” project, in which she knitted a cardigan made out of all the wool of one specific sheep.
The cardigan is accompanied by the sheep’s identity ear-tag (the small yellow object) a “passport” of the sheep in question, and a trophy ribbon: More
27 Feb 2010 Leave a comment
Another memorable Design Indaba presentation was by Troika, a design team made up of designer and illustrator Conny Freyer:
Designer Eva Rucki: More
27 Feb 2010 Leave a comment
At the last day of the Design Indaba 2010, Martha Stewart showed how not to do it:
She misjudged her audience and delivered a talk that came across like a sales pitch. Surely Martha Stewart had something more to share than how to do “paint by numbers” glitter paintings? I wonder if she had attended any of the other speakers, and had no idea what the event was about?
The audience was soon muttering and giggling and tweeting: More
Masha du Toit 
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