Green Month x2

So COP17 inspired me to do something.  I mentioned it in my Captain Planet article. I've always been aware that I should make changes to my lifestyle to make my difference and was active a few years ago but I've become lazy. I throw away large volumes of paper without recycling, I've been doing bad things with batteries and even picking up trash that has missed the bin has become a mission. In between thinking of big ways to innovate things and save the world, you know brainstorming, I've come up with Green Month x2.

There are specific things that I'm going to try for two months. I could end up extending Green Month x2 to Green Month x12 and maybe even Green Month x∞. I'm on a mission to pick up good green habits. They say if you can do something for more than two weeks then it becomes a habit. I'm trying to quadrupley reinforce green habits.  I was going to do Green Month for just one month but then I realised that I wasn't going to be at varsity for the first month. That could spell disaster for all the hard work I did in picking up my new skills once the semester started. So it's Green Month x2. A lot of the things that I will do seem insignificant but if I can motivate you to do them too, and you can motivate your friends to join you then we're doing something right. A lot of the time we forget just how powerful collective action is.

The main aspects of Green Month are:

1. Vegetarian

Did you know that a domestic cow will emit 280 liters of methane gas each day? Methane is even worse than carbon dioxide for the atmosphere and short of setting all the cows a light we have to do something else. The idea behind going vegetarian means there is less of a demand for meat in my family. We buy less meat, you buy less meat, less cows are needed and therefore less methane is hosed into the atmosphere. 

The cows are the enemy!
Courtesy of Aerosvit

Farmers would also have to plant more vegetables to deal with the increased demand for vegetables. More plants are good for the atmosphere! We'll worry about decreasing bio-diversity due to farming some other time. My challenge for you is to also consider a vegetarian lifestyle of sorts. Cutting down on meat, more veggies and maybe even having a "Veg-out Day" every week when you don't eat meat at all that day.

2. Public Transport

We are always encouraged to use public transport to cut down on our carbon footprint. Truth is public transport is a hassle. However, I will use public transport at least once a week. This means I will walk or get onto a bus. You could do the same or try car-pooling?

3. Plant

I'm going to try my hand at gardening. The goal is not to start something I can't maintain but rather to plant two trees during Green Month x2, so a tree every month effectively. You could start a herb garden or actually tend to your dying garden.

You can help these guys if you want to.
Picture available here

4. Recycle

I don't have to explain this one. I just need to say that I'm going to get bins so I can separate things so they can be effectively recycled. Then I'll work on ways to make compost without making everywhere stink. 

5. Terrarium 

I mentioned innovative ideas about how to solve our global warming problem. Playing with a terrarium is one of the ideas I have. I just have to make one during Green Month x2. So just ignore this one, unless you feel like playing with terrariums too.

The world is really a beautiful place, we need to work together to prevent the climate change horrors that await us. 

In the meanwhile, I will save up for my bunker, build it and lie in wait for when the world's weather flips out and there is no water for you.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - The Dad Episode

I love The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I've been watching a lot of it since it's been aired on Sony Entertainment. Will is hilarious and the show has a feel good vibe. However, some episodes do leave me feeling sad because the show deals with unpleasant issues. Like the one episode when Carlton accidentally takes stimulants from Will's locker and almost dies. That was not nice. Now I should give you context about the video you're about to watch. It's one of those sad episodes. Will's dad turns up in this episode after abandoning him when he was young. They bond and are supposed to be going on a camping trip. In the start of this video, the dad is in the process of leaving Will without telling him. Will Smith helped co-write the script for this scene. He was drawing from personal experience because his dad had left when he was a baby and when he became famous because of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air he turned up like nothing had happened. At 2:04 Will goes off script, so everything that happens after that is real. He was supposed to play it off and walk off but then he carried on. This performance perhaps formed the fundamental core of Will Smith's acting career because he realised that not everything has to be scripted and he could draw on emotions to make things more real.

Will's Father Leaves Again... by K1NG-M

Where am I from? I am from...

Some say where you're from is determined by your place of birth

Available here

Some say where you're from is where you've lived longest.

"Tell me I'm not the greatest North Korean ever lived. Go ahead. I dare you." - Photo available here

Some say where you're from is where your father is from.

Some people have different answers for each one of those definitions of where you are from. 

I am one of those people. 

Growing up in a multi-cultural home is amazing because you get to have such a broad worldly view. You learn to have respect for different cultures and nationalities at a young age. However, we all know that everything has a trade-off. Where you gain in experiencing different cultures, you lose a sense of personal definition of where you are from. This is what I was struggling with. I recall when I was younger my mom used to warn me that one day I was going to struggle with finding my identity. I used to shrug this off as future me's problems. This year I realised that her warnings all those years ago were present day problems because I am future me. I was only really aware of this when I wrote the article about Cape Town and why I should have moved there, read point 1.1, and because I have visited both of my parents' homes in the space of a year.

I live in South Africa. I was born in Country A and my parents are from Country X and Country Y (side note: I'm paranoid about identity theft, so the countries will be labelled like that). I have a limited understanding of my mom's language, my dad's language and Afrikaans because it was drilled into me for 9 years but I will tell you that I only speak English. It was the language that my parents met each other with, are fluent in and what was convenient at home because neither had the time to teach me their languages. 

Now because of this upbringing and where my family is from I am expected to fit into four boxes of where I am from.

I'm supposed to be that South African black girl who speaks Zulu, Sepedi, Sotho or Xhosa. Most specifically Zulu because my nickname mean "ours" in Zulu. The fact that I only speak English and have an understanding of Afrikaans is not good enough and on more than one occasion I have been called a "Coconut". I subsequently hate that word because I am not.

I'm supposed to be that Country A girl with citizenship but I'm not. I was just born there so I cannot claim that either.

I'm supposed to be that Country X girl who is completely mindful of culture and is of course fluent in Language 1. 

I'm supposed to be that village girl who understands all Country Y culture and of course speaks Language 2. 

What I'm trying to highlight here is that people, most people, seem to determine where you're from based on languages you speak. That is a problem for me now, isn't it? It's why I've felt I've never fitted anywhere, especially when I go to my many homes. I do realise that I'm not the only one who feels like this. The beauty of this is that I met a whole group of people who were just like me in high school. I was only aware that I was different when I wasn't in school, when I went to university. When people ask me to define myself in a short paragraph, normally at interviews, I break out into a cold sweat and ramble on about my parents' jobs and my family.  

I made the decision that I'm either going to stay in South Africa when I graduate or go abroad with a friend. I'm most likely moving. When I go I don't want to be confused about where I'm from because that will eventually lead to an identity crises. With this in mind, I think my parents were wise in taking me to see Country X and Country Y these past two December holidays. It's good to know where I come from and being from both countries I can now complete my identity definition and not waffle as I used to. My mom says that knowing where you're from grounds you. She's right. With conviction I can say: I come from Town B, Country Y, Town A, Country X and I am South African. 

I hope all people who struggle with the "Where am I from"  bit of their Identity sort themselves out. Sometimes it's not about joining a side but forging a new one because you are not only defined by one side. 

How to Leave the Planet - Douglas Adams

1. Phone NASA. Their phone number is (713) 483-3111. Explain that it's very important that you get away as soon as possible.

2. If they do not cooperate, phone any friend you may have in the White House-(202) 456-1414-to have a word on your behalf with the guys at NASA.

3. If your don't have any friends at the White House, phone the Kremlin (ask the overseas operator for 0107-095-295-9051). They don't have any friends there either (at least, none to speak of), but they do seem to have a little influence, so you may as well try.

4. If that also fails, phone the Pope for guidance. His telephone number is 011-39-6-6982, and I gather that his switchboard is infallible.

5. If all these attempts fail, flag down a passing flying saucer and explain that it's vitally important you get away before your phone bill arrives.

Douglas Adams.
Los Angeles 1983 and London 1985/1986.

Cheaters are s**t faces (soot faces)

There are plenty of shits in society. Wait, excuse my language! I meant cheats! I guess the difference is so slight that I often confuse the two.

Original image, without the editing is courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Cheating.

I'm not referring to the cheating involved when fraud cheater people do what they're good at, cheetahs or even when you attempt copyright and copyleft in an exam or test. I'm writing about cheating done within a relationship. The one that involves you doing stuff that you wouldn't do if your girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, husband or fiance was there with you. If you knew your girlfriend could have access to your Facebook inbox would you write that dirty (not dirty in a Dubstep way) message or if your boyfriend could see you enjoying that drunken hook-up with a guy you just met would you do it? No, you wouldn't. If you still would carry on with your crap behaviour then ask yourself if you should be in a relationship. Also, maybe, Tybalt should have stabbed you instead of Mercutio (doucheface).

Society has made it okay to cheat. It has become something that you should expect. There's science to back up why men do it, musicians sing about and say "It wasn't me" and marriage has become an extended long relationship. I still don't think it's okay. I hope I'm not the only one who still thinks that. I believe in people from an age ago that would stick together forever. You know those cute but incredibly creepy photos of old people kissing? I believe in things like that. There's something righteous about resisting temptation if you know it's the correct thing to do. There's something amazing about choosing to stay faithful. Cheating is a choice you make.

What irks me is how far some people are willing to go to cheat. Did you know that, "I'm sorry, I have a boyfriend," has never worked for me (even when I was dating someone)? When I use it as an excuse to get away from guys I don't particularly want to be near, I say it convincingly. I don't know how many times I have heard this response: "It's okay, it's not cheating if he doesn't know." You would think that the  boundary of a relationship would keep someone away from you but it has never worked. People have no sense of what is right anymore. A joke I used to laugh at:

Reasonable guy: "Dude she has a boyfriend..."
Fool: "Yeah so? Soccer has a goalie, doesn't mean you can't score."

Guess you didn't manage to score this time (Edwin van der Sar)

On December 1st, World Aids Day, my mom mentioned that there was new data coming in about the groups of people with the highest rate of new infections. The one that bothered me was the category of married women. You wonder how they fall into the high-risk category? A majority of the women reported to have contracted HIV as married women had only slept with their husbands in the past year, not other men. That means that their husbands not only cheated on them but also contracted HIV from somewhere and passed it onto them. That's a double-whammy of horror! The ultimate betrayal.

Why shouldn't you cheat even though it's 'okay'? Firstly, you are aware that it destroys the other person and gives them a host of insecurities that they carry into their next relationship. That person becomes that naggy, insecure girlfriend who questions you when you want to go to the bathroom or that guy who will come with you to a girls' night out. By cheating you also tell that person that they weren't good enough and fell short in some area. However, as everyone falls short, I believe that you happened to fall shortest (if I can say that) because you're a cheating mess who was too cowardly to do anything about your current relationship. You're also limiting yourself. If you're not happy in that relationship and feel a need to cheat then why are you still there? You could meet so many more awesome people if you were single.

My honest feelings are:
- If you want to cheat. Don't date.
- Don't double-time someone, choose one and stick with them.
- If you do mess up (as in a once off stupid drunk mistake), be honest.
- If you loved them then you wouldn't do it.

So I hope you think twice about shitting (cheating) and that you join me in trying to fix the sordid mess our society has created. I do believe in values and morals and not all this darkness and lust that destroys everything we touch.  

Captain Planet, he's a hero! We gotta take pollution down to 0.

The world, specifically South Africa, has been focused on COP 17. Nations have been trying to come up with solutions to the combat climate change, enforce climate justice and find ways to prepare nations that will get most affected by climate change during this conference. I am aware that certain organisations, like the Global Humanitarian Forum, have been trying to enforce climate justice without much success for a while now. The Global Humanitarian Forum (link) was headed by Kofi Annan and the Swiss Government. GHF featured speakers such as: Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu, Wangari Maathai, Mary Robinson and Dr Samual Kobia. It was supposed to be officially launched in 2009 to demand decisive action at the post-Kyoto Protocol talks later on that year.

Nothing happened there, in fact the program was shut down in 2010. This further enforced my idea that we all need to make a difference. I'm not saying that we should become radical Greenpeace people but we have to try something. Every single small thing you do adds up if everyone does a *small thing. Friends of the Earth is one such organisation with this mind.
Friends of the Earth are an international organisation dedicated to educating people about Climate Change and things they can do to help slow it down. They also make use of petitions to make wins for planet earth. Here's a link to their UK website (http://www.foe.co.uk/) and also to their South African website (http://www.groundwork.org.za/). I have never heard of Ground Work before (the South African version of Friends of the Earth) but I'll be sure to get involved with them. They made this video with Catsnake, a film production company, that I'd like you to see. The video forms part of their campaign to halve rubbish in landfills by getting it recycled.

*For instance I will try: recycling at home, brainstorm ideas for products that could assist with the climate change crises and start saving for my bunker in Mount Kilimanjaro for when the effects of climate change are severe.

A Love Story… In Milk from Catsnake on Vimeo.

Made by Catsnake (www.twitter.com/CatsnakeFilm) on commission from Friends of the Earth (www.foe.co.uk).

www.foe.co.uk/lovestory

Written and produced by Stephen Follows (www.stephenfollows.com)
Directed and edited by Danann Breathnach (http://vimeo.com/danannbreathnach)
Music composed by Michael Csanyi Wills

New Blog - Drop Your Drink

So I finally managed to split my blog in two. It will make far more sense now. I came up with a new name and chose Blogger over Wordpress. Go check it out at drop-your-drink.blogspot.com. I already imported some of the relevant articles from Erase Nothing to it and I'm working on two articles that are going to be awesome to read.

[Insert words about being indecisive about Erase Nothing]

I want to split my blog in two. 
I think it's too haphazard as it is. 
My personal stuff is getting in the way of the entertainment and because of that I've been thinking of what to do. I have three brain trending topics:


a) I don't know what to call the new one 
b) Should I change my blogging platform 
c) Should I bother creating the new blog or should I decide to write for another blog like We-Are-Awesome, Dont Party or I Love P Town.

a) Naming blues
The problem I have with naming the new one is that it has to cover a range of things. Below is the structure of the "new" Erase Nothing vs. the structure of the new blog. You'll see it still covers a wide range of things. Erase Nothing will finally simplified and not as random.

b) Blogging Platforms
The two options are Blogger and Wordpress. I never really considered Tumblr because I write too much and I'm not too keen on the reposting. I really like Blogger because it's convenient. It links to my gmail account and Google+. There is a lot of support for it, it is extremely easy to support multiple Blogspot blogs and all the awesome people seem to have it too, like Vinny from Jersey Shore. Yes, I think he's awesome (shut up). He's the smart one in that bunch.
However, I was checking out Blogger's tab functionality and what irks me is that any tabs you add onto your blog cannot be separate pages. They are static and don't update unless you work on them yourself. I don't think I'm making any sense but someone will understand what I mean. 


Then I checked out Wordpress after discovering this flaw with Blogger and even went as far as to create sleepwhenyouaredead.wordpress.com (this link will probably not work after I deactivate it). I liked that the tabs could update themselves and that there appears to be far more support for Wordpress blogs. However, Erase Nothing has to stay and I don't know if it's worth switching between blogging platforms.


c) Scrap the new blog
This one is hard to do because I don't think I'll like being told what to write about and when. I know that between the three major blogs I mentioned I would get to meet a lot of people and (this is going to sound corny) I wouldn't mind being part of something that reaches thousands of people everyday and in the case of We-Are-Awesome inspires others (me). 


So I don't know. I guess I'll pretend to think about it so I can do nothing. That works for me. 

Dress up like Deadmau5!

Deadmau5 is pronounced "Dead-mouse" not "Dead-maw-5" or "Dead-mauf". He's finally in South Africa and it looks like he's enjoying Cape Town right now, where he is performing tomorrow. I go to Deadmau5 this Saturday! 

I've been so excited for the longest time that he's coming and hearing him on 5FM yesterday was so cool. I've never heard Fresh gush so much on the radio. As the concert draws nearer I've started to consider what I could wear. I should have actually used my engineering skills to build a mask but now it's too late. I do know for a fact that I will wear wedges because they are in fashion and also because they give me a height advantage. I don't care that it's H2O I'm going to. I want to be tall, or taller. I was so angry, incredibly angry, at the Coldplay concert because I couldn't see properly as I had these three extremely tall boys in front of me. At least I have the shoes aspect of my outfit sorted.

This article is actually dedicated to Deadmau5 costumes. Some are fails, as in, “Really?! Bet your face looks more like Deadmau5 then that costume does.” Others are alright but note, there is only one Deadmau5.

Fail Costumes

1.

Courtesy of Bethany (click here)

He has a nose? You blacked out everything except the nose? Why? Only in Vegas.

2. 

Courtesy of Gerry (click here)

Yeah... As for this guy? It's late for you! Don't why you bothered.

Okay Costumes

1.

Courtesy of Costume-Works.com (click here)

You can see that he tried. Proportions are a bit out. The lighting is amazing though.

Courtesy of Coolest-Handmade-Costumes.com (click here)

I can see the masking tape... But alright attempt.

Good

1.

Courtesy of Costume-Works.com (click here)

The fact that he sat in class with it makes him even more bau5!

Many imitations but there is only one Deadmau5

Courtesy of Drew Ressler (click here)

and the inside looks like

Courtesy of Joel Zimmerman a.k.a. Deadmau5 (Lol at the watermark)

This costume literally makes me want to get into his head. There's so much tech in there! 
If you're going to the concert too, then I hope you have a blast! I know it's going to be insane!

Reasons Why I Probably Should Have Moved To Cape Town

Cape Town, Photo courtesy of a_glitch

4. I probably wouldn't have failed
This was a big reason why I decided to stay here. I somehow got it into my head that if I moved to UCT (University of Cape Town) I would spend all my time at the beach and/or partying and would thus fail right out of varsity. In retrospect this was a stupid reason. Firstly, I hate the beach, so why would I go there? The partying thing is true. However, when I look back at how I behaved in first year, I've come to the realisation that I would have done alright. I have a lot of self-control (sometimes). I also realised that I have a friend down there who wouldn't have let me fail because he works so hard.

Perhaps the biggest fail of my life

3. The guys
Cape Town guys > Pretoria guys.


2. Music and Partying
With the exception of Griet, !Arcade Empire, Town Hall and Hotbox Studio events I often find myself bored. Pretoria sucks for partying. How many house parties do you have to have because there is nowhere to go? Don't let anyone fool you about the Square being awesome! It's good the first 10 times you're there then it's this horrible monotony. Same friends there, same music, same drink orders, same level of drunkness, same weirdos and watching the same characters puking their guts into the dustbins. Going to Joburg all the time isn't feasible either. According to my Cape Town friends I would have had a variety of places I could have partied at. 

The Square is Rubbish!

I also miss out on festivals like Synergy and Rocking the Daisies. We only have Oppikoppi and random, completely random, festivals here. Sure Oppi was good but I miss out on two because of my location? Cape Town has produced artists and DJs like Audiophile 021, Niskerone, HAEZER, Sibot, Sedge Warbler, Tommy Gun, Hyphen, P.H. Fat and Liver. Sure we have Double-Adapter, Crossman and Phizicist, Twelv & Thesis, Doctor Khumalo, Tumi and the Volume...
Yeah... We're lacking.

Tommy Gun at Oppikoppi 2011

1.2. I don't actually fit in here sometimes (I don't dress like I'm from here)
I've heard this phrase about 14 times from different friends, "Ah, I don't know what you're doing here. You have such a Cape Town dress sense." I haven't ever really thought of defining my style. I dress like how I want to, whether it's a floral print dress with heels and feather earrings or skinny jeans, doc martens and a cropped top. I take pride in my appearance and even at uni this misunderstood. I've been labelled "Barbie" because I don't like wearing clothes for the sake of. 


1.1. I don't actually fit in here sometimes (In terms of language and culture)
This one is hard. I've been called a "Coconut" countless times here. My parents are foreign, both of them from different countries, so I grew up in an English home to accomodate both of them. I even have a weird accent because that's how my parents talk and that's how I grew up. I went to private schools while growing up and because of my schools I was blinded against seeing race. In Crawford College, where I went to high school I saw so many inter-racial couples, even inter-cultural couples (like a Jewish guy and a Muslim girl dating). Getting to varsity here and being told things like "Jungle Fever" exist was quite a shock to me. 
I find myself sometimes stuck between an Afrikaans and black place. Sometimes I ask myself, "What am I doing here?" when I'm with my friends and they are talking Afrikaans or we're at an Afrikaans gig. 


Then on the other side, when I'm not being judged because of my choice of friends, all black people assume I speak Sotho, Zulu, Xhosa or Sepedi. 
I don't. 
I speak English. 
So when I go into shops and I say, "Hello, how are you today? Can you help me find taco shells?" Is it to much to hear what I sound like and reply in English? Instead of: "Akwi aisle numba7 jikela ngasesinxeleni/ngakwaLeft"? I either awkwardly nod or have to say that, "Sorry I don't speak zulu" to which they either help me in English or become offended that I don't understand the language. 

Sad coconuty person

Argh, tired of here! I just want to go somewhere where it isn't like here. I get judged while I'm here, I don't want that anymore. 
There are some awesome things that happened because I stayed but right now I couldn't be bothered to try and remember them. I'm having the Cape Town blues. So when I come that side next year I might just decide not to come back and it comes across as a joke now but... yeah... we'll see ;)

Review: Vovo Telo

Vovo Telo, Lynnwood

Where: Lynnwood Bridge Shopping Centre, Lynnwood Road, Pretoria


Contact: 012 348 0890


Opening times:
Monday - Friday: 07h00 - 19h00
Saturday & Sunday: 08h00 - 17h00


Price range: 
R30 - R80


Good for: Coffee dates

Vovo Telo is a special place. I was introduced to it by a friend who wanted to purchase the pencils that are sold at the cafe. Vovo Telo sell pencils and t-shirts branded with their logo and interesting one-liners. I recall one of the pencils had this: "I will have my cake and eat it". I thought that was clever and would have paid more attention to the rest of the pencils and the t-shirts on display but I was extremely distracted. I was distracted by the bakery. I just saw dozens of pastries and fresh breads then I completely zoned out. 


When you walk into Vovo Telo you will immediately notice how amazing the place smells. It's all the baked goods of course. When you eventually snap out of it and have a look around you will observe how Vovo Telo seamlessly creates a relaxed and artsy vibe. Vovo Telo has paint stripped tables and art pieces all over the place to assist in that sense. 


They kind of apply the same artisan appearance to the food as well, as you will see below. I ordered a Chicken Pecorino on Panini bread (R29) and a Bos Ice Tea (R16). I have also on different occasions ordered a Tiramisu slice of cake, a little Lemon Meringue Tart (R10) and some almond cake with a French name. I will continue to recommend this place because I actually dislike most meringues and tiramisu, however, when I tasted both of them I actually smiled because they are so good. If you go there are lunch time they also have their popular thin crust pizzas on offer, so I suggest you try that. 


Now have a look at the food: 

Chicken Pecorino on Panini Bread

Tiramisu

Lemon Meringue and [Insert French Name]

Overall service was okay, not great. I found the waiter took a bit long with things. Maybe that was because I sat outside, I don't know. 
I do find it a bit weird that a place like this is actually a set of different branches. I often find restaurants lose their ability to charm people with their food when they cater for many. It's that whole franchise-disgusting food thing (like Cappuccino's!) Vovo Telo has a branch in Johannesburg, two in Port Elizabeth and they are opening one in Parkhurst soon. So I do suggest you check them out if you cannot come to the Pretoria Branch. To find out the exact location of the other branches I suggest you check out their website (click here).


Do yourself a favour and visit Vovo Telo!

Happy Birthday Bitches (Griet's 3rd Birthday)!

I love to party. I love Griet, an event and artist management company that operates in South Africa. I also love Griet parties. My love for Griet parties stems from numerous events they have assisted in, Grietfest and the I <* Halloween Converse Block Party so when I heard that Griet was turning 3 I knew I was in for a treat because this party would either match or surpass it’s predecessors because they were hosting it with Dont Party. When Griet made their birthday announcement on twitter (follow griet_sa) I made sure that I was going to be available to head to !Arcade Empire on the 25^th of November. I subsequently missed out on two 21sts and a possible trip to Cape Town but I knew I had to be here for this party.

Birthdays are always something I’ve looked forward to celebrating. I enjoy getting presents I actually like and even when I was a kid I had an unusual fondness of birthday parties (something to do with deflating jumping castles and candles). For me birthday parties have evolved from celebrations that consisted of sugar drunkness, clowns, party tricks, and toys to drinking until you forget your age, loud music and partying until the early hours of the morning. If you’re unlucky and nobody loves you enough to party with you then you’ll get a birthday meal. Now because Griet ranks high up on the list of awesome things* they managed to combine the fun birthday things and even threw in a few meal stands to get your dinner if you really wanted one.

Try visualise with me, even though your imagination will not come close to what I saw. Griet turned !Arcade Empire’s huge tree-covered, gravel stoned parking lot into a carnival scene that had a wicked atmosphere. You were immediately aware that shit was going to go down when you saw the huge luminescent clown welcoming board.

Now Grietland itself was amazing but let me get started on the music. I arrived at 10pm, so at that point I had missed Oliver Twisted and Liver’s first set. I walked in on Yesterday’s Pupil while he was amping the crowds. He has a weird sound. I can’t really describe it, but he really is something to watch, especially when you realise that he sings all of the songs himself.  Then Liver came on and things started to get crazy. He is remarkable at what he does and the beats were insane. His set was really good and had a lot of stuff I didn’t recognise so it’s good that he’s producing new stuff. I just think he should come do more sets here in Gauteng and ditch Cape Town. When DirtyLoud took over from Liver I thought the crowd was maxing on the crazy levels. I was wrong, and I was also in the front. I believe I got punched in the kidney and the term “electro moshing" is appropriate to describe what was going on. I have never had to fight so hard to stay in the front, but I enjoyed every second of it. At that moment I understood why there was an ambulance outside the venue. 

F.O.O.L smashed it up straight afterward and at this point I was dancing a safer distance away. I stayed for a bit of RudeOne and then had to call it a night. I went home exhausted, exhilarated and sore. It was quite an evening, quite a wild, dream-like evening. If you're reading this article and smiling then I know that you know the madness I am writing about else you should be drowning in this deep pit of regret. The point of this story kids, "Don't fucking miss Griet parties."

*Other things on this list include passing a module you thought you were going to fail and hearing an intense break in an electro song (one that is so epic it makes you smile).

Dirtyloud (Brazil)

F.O.O.L (Sweden)

Black Tuesday

#Black Tuesday


Sad day for South African democracy. 

Stupid Things I Used To Believe When I Was A Kid (Part 1)

I was quite a crazy child back in the day. I don't know where I got off thinking most of the things I did. It must have been a combination of an over-active imagination and watching weird things on TV. I tried to illustrate three whack things I used to think.

1. The moon followed me and I was special enough for it to follow.

I used to think the moon followed me at night. This thought was normally triggered when I was in the car with my brother. We used to hide in the car, pretend the moon couldn't see us then pop up and say, "Look it found us again!". We were young, okay? I did think I was important enough for the moon to follow for some reason. I didn't ever consider that it followed anyone else. 

2. I was important enough to change the alphabet and its structure (and I believed that toys are the ultimate declaration of love).

I actually wrote this love letter when I was pre-school. I want you to observe how I wrote the first letter of my name, the "Y" at the bottom. It's not the heart you should be paying attention to, it's the orientation of the "Y". I really liked this boy so much after I got this letter. I think I got marked poorly in pre-school because I kept writing my "Y"s flipped horizontally. I did this because it almost looked like a "K", the first letter of the name of the guy I liked. I knew what I was doing when I wrote it like that. The power rangers toy is long gone. 

3. Whenever my mom switched off the lights then ghosts, demons, Chuckie and ninjas would pop out of the ceiling and ground.

I think this pretty much happens to everyone who is/was afraid of the dark. I mentioned that I used to fear Chuckie. This is only after I watched 10 minutes of it, up until he throws the girl's mom out of the window.How did I get over being so scared of the dark? I told my mom what I was afraid of. See before I did this I just used to chill in the darkness seeing all kinds of horrors until I was sure she was in her bedroom. Then I had to make the fastest dash known to mankind to the light switch (so that all the creepy things wouldn't get me). Often times I would run with my eyes closed which resulted in some nasty falls. One day I plucked up the courage and told her why I was afraid of the dark, she just understood I was afraid of the dark and I would eventually get over it (that's why she insisted that the lights be turned off). I even remember drawing a picture of one of the creatures* for her. She gave me stick, specifically a cooking stick, so that if I saw these things I could beat them away. It worked.

*the creature I was afraid of was featured in Dexter's Laboratory. Not the scary episode where the fish died but in the G.I.R.L Squad episode when Dee Dee and her friends try to stop crime in their neighbourhood and created a mess. There was this shadowed guy that they followed for the whole episode. He was the creature.

Drop The Bass

I made this picture to represent how dubstep makes me feel. It's random, colourful and beautiful in it's own way. Some of it's conventionally beautiful like the aspect of remixing popular songs. Other sections are clean breaks from all that we know. Dubstep has texture, range, smooth vocals and hard beats. It's mind-blowing. 


The last thing you should note is that I used song lyrics to represent dropping the bass. 


My favourite electro (mostly dubstep) tracks at the moment are: 


Funky Chicken - Liver


Earthquake - Labrinth feat. Tinie Tempah (Noisia Remix)


I Can't Stop - Flux Pavilion


Whisper - Liver


It's Me - Aqaudrop


You Need Me, I Don't Need You (Gemini Remix) - Ed Sheeran


Got To Know (Squnto Remix) - Flux Pavilion 


Lights (Wired Dubstep Remix) - Ellie Goulding 


Eastern Jam - Chase & Status


Time - Chase & Status


Imperial March - Dirt Monkey


Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites - Skrillex 


It's Not Our Fault - HAEZER


James Bond - HAEZER


Go check them out on youtube, soundcloud or beatport. 

Griet and Dont Party Present Dirtyloud (Brazil) and F.O.O.L (Sweden)

Done by Doktrine

When: 

25th of November (It's a Friday and leaves you with Saturday to party elsewhere (perhaps here) or two days to recover from a hangover)

Where:

Arcade Empire, Corner Hans Strydom and the N4, Pretoria (I just know that if you're coming down Hans Strydom from the Menlyn side then you're going to go past a Cape Town Fish Market. That's not much help but I suck at directions).

- Griet map for the event (here)
- If you're coming from Joburg then your best mode of transport is the Hotbox Express. I've been on it once and it was so cool! It's very easy to make friends from the ride and you get even more amped for the party. Check it out here.

Cost: 

- R60 online (here) from Tuesday 15th of November until Sunday 20th of November

- R80 online (here) from Monday 21st of November and at the door

- R150 VIP (limited tickets)

More info:

- email: johan@griet.co.za
- Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117030628408523

- Info from Griet's website: 

http://www.griet.co.za/main/events/show/145

Who's playing: 

- Dirtyloud (From Brazil)

- F.O.O.L (From Sweden)

- Yesterday's Pupil

- RudeOne

- Liver

- Oliver Twisted

Griet have a reputation as being one of the most badass artist and event management companies in the Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town regions. With artists like Double-Adapter, HAEZER, Yesterday's Pupil and Kidofdoom under their belt it's difficult to expect anything other than epic parties from them and that's precisely my experience of Griet this year. I can tell you that I waited an entire year for Griet Halloween Party 2011 because I missed last year's one. You will experience massive amounts of regret and fomo if you miss this event. It's epic that they are celebrating their birthday in this fashion and the coupling with Dont Party is going to be insane. Dont Party push the boundaries in terms of getting international and local talent under one roof for us to enjoy. 

Reason why I want to go:

I really want to check out the internationals Dirtyloud and F.O.O.L! Their music sounds incredible! I also think Liver is amazing, no, he's actually incredible. 

Liver with Niskerone at the end of his set at Oppikoppi 2011

I heard Oliver Twisted at the DOGBOX Foam Party earlier on this year and from what I can remember from that night (which isn't much) he's good too. I've heard about the other artists from friends, they're all good. So the line-up is going to smash things up! That's reason enough to go but then Griet did something else...

Their 3rd birthday party is based around a carnival theme. It's called Grietland. We can expect carnival activities, tons of free stuff and the Dont Party Mega Treasure Hunt. 

I've already got a partner and we're going to try find that Golden Ticket before any of you do. The Golden Ticket will allow us free entrance at any Griet or Dont Party event during 2012. 

The number of parties in 2012 is directly proportional to the closeness of the world ending so that's going to be a ton of parties that we could go to.

Then the naked guy might be around. Look out for him on stage.