posted July 10, 2007 09:32 AM         

I am new around here and I thought it good manners to announce myself.

I am just a person looking for people of like minds, but most importantly, greater minds to learn from.

I have recently changed careers from being a broker to being a musician. I was born on 13/09/1982 around 8am in South Africa, and my lexigram alphabets are:

A C D EE I L NNN OO P R V W Z, if that helps any... in order to better understand who I am.

I wish I can ask you to assist me with certain things that have been plaguing my mind but I am afraid, there's probably nothing you can tell me about myself that I can not search for within, so I won't ask anything of you yet.

Whatever I am searching for has lead me here. I hope that we find our time together to be mutually benefiting.

To be honest, I am scared, excited and apprehensive, right now, and I hope to find some comfort, or at least some distraction, from this forum.

Thank you

posted July 10, 2007 01:20 PM         

Nice meeting you and welcome. Perhaps you'll share some of your music with us. I love music as a healing venue.

posted July 10, 2007 02:21 PM         

I am happy to give anyone a listen. Just tell me how I can upload it. I am not yet on MySpace or You Tube, so there's not yet a website that I can direct you to. But just let me know where and how I could share the music and I will do so. It would be interesting to get feedback.

They are currently playing my songs on www.famemusic.co.za but I have no idea when they do so. I just know that I am on the daily playlist on the internet radio station.

posted July 10, 2007 02:24 PM         

I am happy to give anyone a listen. Just tell me how I can upload it. I am not yet on MySpace or You Tube, so there's not yet a website that I can direct you to. But just let me know where and how I could share the music and I will do so. It would be interesting to get feedback.

They are currently playing my songs on www.famemusic.co.za but I have no idea when they do so. I just know that I am on the daily playlist on the internet radio station.

posted July 11, 2007 07:21 PM         

I have been thinking a fair bit about SA recently, mostly due to reading Whitethorn by Bryce Courtney. Could you please tell me, what's it like over there at the moment? Is it a very interesting place with lots of issues, or are they steadily sorting them out and spreading their focus to other areas of Africa? This book is quite sad in a lot of parts. I am currently reading about the attrocities created by the Brittish in Kenay - against tha Mau Mau. Talk about holocaust! It's disgusting how people did things and justified it! I always have hope for the future, but I think I am very naive! I just want people to wake up hey? Why do we do things like this? (totally rhetorical question, there are an infinite number of reasons, mostly I think due to the unevolved state of some of the monkeys who have power)

Heaps of Love,
Dean.

------------------
I realized it for the first time in my life:
there is nothing but mystery in the world,
how it hides behind the fabric of our poor,
browbeat days, shining brightly, and we don't even know it.

Sue Monk Kidd, "The Secret Life of Bees", p79

posted July 11, 2007 09:36 PM         

South Africa... Sometimes I love it, sometimes I totally hate it. It is a dichotomous place, very similar to the Yin-Yang, night and day, light and darkness.

Well, to begin with, I am very lucky to be part of the generation that did not experience the ugliest times here, but with that said, things are... challenging.

Firstly, there is an enormous amount of corruption, from the very same government that saved us. There is a lot of dishonesty.

Secondly, there is a lot of crime, a revolt from the people who were promised freedom, but who still have to be limited by their backgrounds of poverty and strife.

Thirdly, there is an enormous amount of spiritually unevolved people who still believe that controlling others is real power, who fail to see that true power is gained by empowering people in order to make them independant.

I am closely affiliated with some government people who proudly speak of how they are "living it up" spending people's taxes, and who do not care about the hunger, rapes, crime, violence and desperation around them, who justify their lifestyles by saying that, "I deserve it".

It is disgusting.

The racism is hilarious. People are still failing to see the God within their brothers and sisters and judge others by the colour of their skins, but with the affirmative action that is infuriating the minority, there are still double standards.

I have not been affected by most of these things but I see it all around me and my heart bleeds eevrytime.

Now, for the good things...

Our infrastructure is improving, beginning to be world standard, especially with the Soccer World Cup being hosted here in 2010. The scenes are different too, where the youth is inspiring the old to be more tolerant, by being South Africans, not, "black", "white", Indian and so on...

We have 11 official languages which makes being South African so much fun because an average person knows about 4 languages.

There is still that lack in pride of who we are, where we seek to be like the 1st World countries, but self-love is evidently growing as more people invest in us, as more people visit our land and see it's breath-taking beauty (it is stunning here) and as more people from other places begin to validate our worth.

It is a dynamic place. Full of life, and for me, full of laughter.

In the cities, everything is the same as it would be in L.A or New York, but we have real rural places, where people still fetch water at the river, and light fires for light.

The best thing about S.A is the cultural richness of the place. It is a sweet shop, full of colours and variety.

Most of us are liberal. We acho Europe in our religions for instance, with no fanaticism about religion because we have so many cultures that it is disrespectful to dismiss anyone.

As far as spirituality, we have our Shamans, who we visit as regularly as our doctors, for advice, for Universal Truths, and for guidance.

We are highly spiritual beings here, with a love for nature, animals and the Creator. We deem ourselves created creators.

Some kill animals for their rituals, which is a tradition, but most are finding those practices primitive, and a bit lower occultism. These practices seem to work, but most think it is unnecessary, because when you have unleashed your inner creator, when you have been initiated into that sect of creating and healing without using props, there's no need to kill a creature for it's life force, since there is obviously a bigger, unlimited source for such energy.

There's so much, so ask me more specific questions, because I can go all day.

posted July 11, 2007 10:08 PM         

Well, these are my questions for now Thanks in advance and presently for your answers You are very well spoken. What, if you don't mind my asking are your sun, asc, and moon? Mine is gem, sag, and virgo.

posted July 11, 2007 10:49 PM         

My Sun is Virgo, Moon Cancer, ASC... now that's where I can't tell because I've never managed to find out, with but I suspect it's Scorpio...???

Born 13th Sept 1982, S. Africa at around 8 am.

(The problem comes when I have to make sense of the American data, times, S.A times and US times... I get confused.)

So... no one calls the Cape the Cape of good Hope anymore, pity... And the weather is still as tumultuous as ever, but that's just where the cold current meets the warm current. Where I was born, on the other hand, at the east coast of South Africa, it is always warm, always.

In land, the weather has extremes, from extreme cold weather at nights and winters, to extremely hot weathers during the day and summers, but even that is an over-statement because there is no real extreme weather in S.A.

The weather is just perfectly moist to make it perfect for hair and skin without making you sticky, and in the "dry" areas, it's still good weather.

I wouldn't call S.A crowded. The cities are but even so, we're not talking India crowded or anything.

Cape Town is beautiful, the most beautiful place in S.A. Here you find your "aspiring whatevers", usually models, media and television folks, designers, and the artsy types.

Durban, another big city, is known for having the greatest beaches in Africa. They just held some big international surfing competition here, and it happens every year. Durban is where the beach lives.

Cape Town waters are cold, but Durban... you can swim any time of the day, any time of the year, it is always warm and welcoming.

Then there's Johannesburg, the city of Gold, where you find the ambitious scary people... the brokers, the big dogs, the high flyers and the big honchos. Here, things are at a faster pace, it is in-land, so, I guess there's nothing to do there other than make money because if there was an ocean, I am certain that Johannesburgers would be more relaxed.

I haven't been to Vic Falls, but I have just arranged to go there this year. Things in Zimbabwe are not too good, to say the least, and that's where Vic Falls is, therefore it poses a problem for some because one could get arrested or taken hostage by Robert Mugabe's men (but maybe I'm not that important to be held hostage)... These are some of the fears that cloud Zimbabwe...

And Victoria Fallls is such a highly charged place (energy)that if you are sensitive enough, the spiritual experience there could be intense, and it saddens me that it is tainted now by such madness...

Travelling here is cheap. So cheap. I go on Safari every year now, and I stay there for weeks in the bush and write songs acting like the hippie I am.

As far as being the first people on earth, that I am not so sure about. But we know that we have been in Africa for eons, and hence the rich culture.

Our pride stems from something that we are losing, our humanity. We have a policy here, a child is everyone's child, and your family is your community. We call that "UBUNTU". It has been tainted but it is still there.

I remember as a child, I used to get so frustrated because nothing was "sacred" as in, if you mess up, Aunty so-and-so will reprimand you, and whether you were her biological child, or not, was of no consequence to her. So, our families are big.

If you are out of sugar, you ask your neighbour. If you're sick, be sure of masses of people coming over to meditate upon you and fill you up with energy. If you have done something wrong, be sure that everyone will know, which will inspire you to never do it again.

posted July 12, 2007 11:41 AM         

Yes, South Africa has been more fortunate than most African countries and so our government does feel responsible for Africa, to assist where possible etc. But the ordinary South African does not possess that much foresight.

Ordinary South Africans forget that in the days of the struggle, when we were in trouble, lots of African countries lent a helping hand by harbouring our "rebels" the likes of Nelson Mandela, and our current president Thabo Mbeki, having gone in hiding in lots of these countries before they got arrested or exhiled.

Now, South Africans are xenophobic, self-righteous about their fortune and treating foreign Africans very badly, especially the industrious Somalians who get killed here because of their business savvy.

Nigerians get the biggest hate hear because... not all of them, but most are such con artists. I've been conned by them too (but that was my fault because I didn't listen to the voice within which warned me).

So, now we find that South Africans are walking around thinking they are better than everyone else, forgetting where they came from, a little over a decade ago.

We have an AU, similar to the EU but it is not functioning well due to budgets being insufficient etc.

We welcome refugees from other countries and personally, my closest of friends have their roots all over Africa, (Kenys, Ghana, Mozambique, DRC, and Zimbabwe), and I remember asking them why they came to this "hole" one day when I was not having a good day, and my friend from Kenya told me that, South Africa is like the US of Africa. It is the land of opportunity and a place where you can truly be free.

posted July 12, 2007 07:27 PM         

Egypt.

Before the English, the Portuguese and the Dutch landed, there was the Arabs, who raped and pillaged West, East and North Arican regions in a savage way (West, North and East Africa is where Southern African people came from, where they took over the lands that once belonged to the KhoiKhoi, the bushman (small men who still live in Namibia and the Namib desert today.))

I hope that made sense...

Anyway, so Arabs and the rest of Africa have never been friendly with each other. The Arabs were a very violent people, more violent than anything we have ever experienced. They were more advanced too, they had swords when we didn't, they also rode horses, something ancient Africans didn't do, therefore in a takeover situation, they always had the upper hand. And unlike my African people, where we took rulership over the people we won against, in a war for example, Arabs left no prisoners, they came for the riches they came for and killed everyone else or took some for slavery.

Read a book called, "Indaba, My Children" by Credo Mutwa. It sheds light on all. This is not known by the world because our people never kept written records, for safety reasons, but this is the unwritten history of Africa. It was not always peaceful.

As far as news coverage is concerned, I assume this is what you were asking about, South Africa has a CNN type channel called SABC Africa, which covers African news, based in SA. It is still young but it does a good job.

On SABC Africa we find out about everything that's happening in Africa, and they use a lot of REUTERS footage also.

Austalians

Personally, I love Australians. I really do. We actually have a lot of respect for one another, Australians and South Africans, at least that's what I think, but... When it comes to sport, we are mortal enemies.

It does not make sense but once the rugby and the cricket begins, all civilities are thrown out the window.

We are sport rivals. That's the thing, and sports can be a pulse of a nation, so it can get crazy.

I haven't seen people burning stuffed kangaroos, but I wouldn't put it past South Africans.

On a non-sporting level, South African girls love Australian guys (tanned, surfers the works) and visa versa. We are very similar actually.

I love watching sport, and a loss is bearable, but if we lose against Australia, I do mourn for a day or two.

posted July 12, 2007 08:13 PM         

I swore off marriage a year ago, but I think I'm warming up to the idea again. I'm in a relationship, since we're sharing. He cheated. I stayed to work on it, blah blah blah... anyways...

Music.

When Nelson Mandela was released, and we regained our freedom, a new genre of music was born in South Africa. Can you belive it? I have never thought much of it but, that is significant. It's a new genre... When was the last time a new genre was formed? When techno came in with the silicon boom?

I don't know...

Well, this genre is called Kwaito (just pronounce it the way you see it). It was created by the youth, and at first, it was very conscious until the sex came into it. A person can be perverse in the English language, but if you say the same thing in the African languages, it sounds extremely dirty.

(I have never said penis in my native tongue. And I don't even know what the real name for a vagina is, but I have never said the play words either, because... it just sounds almost blasphemous...)

So, now, in this genre, they sing about sex, money, sex, and sex. The entire "we are free" thing has been exhausted I guess because no one cares anymore.

The music industry here sucks. Hence, very soon, I am leaving for either Europe or the US to get a real record deal, not the exploitation that I would get here.

The rand (R),our currency, is trading at R7.06 to the dollar. The highest record deal ever offered in SA is R2mill, which is $283286.12. Would you, in your right mind accept a deal worth that?

No. It's rubbish.

Okay, I'm getting carried away. So, because record labels make more money distributing and marketing US arttist than SA musician, we have a lot of their music in our air.

Some of it is good, while some, like this new genre called "Crunk"... well, crunk rhymes with junk. It's no coincidence.

I play the guitar, and I am dabbling with the piano. I play the bongo drums too, but c'mon... I wouldn't call banging a bongo "playing an instrument".

As Africans, we have some instruments which I know nothing of (shameful). I know that... actually, I know nothing about traditional instruments here. We just bang a drum, dance around a fire, and sing. Well, back in the days, now, only Shamans do that, or it happens on special occasions.