excess Website

As editor of the free student magazine, excess,I am happy to report that we now have a funky website where you can check out some of the stories that have appeared in the last couple of editions, give us your opinion, or get in touch with us if you have any fabulous story ideas for our up-and-coming editions, www.excessmagazine.co.za .Unfortunately we are not releasing our thrid term edition because our designer has had some back problems due to a drunken run in during Tri-varsity, but dont panic, the purple edition will be out early next term!

Snow falls in Middleburg

Our return to Middleburg held some interesting surprises for us and the kids of the Dianne Lang Foundation. It started to snow! For the first time in about three years snow fell in the town of Middleburg, starting as gentle snow flakes that accompanied the rain and building up to leave a white sheet over the dusty town. This was my first experience of snow in South Africa, but the next day the sun was out and by midday not a trace of white was left. Our timing was brilliant and it made for some great footage for our documentary!
Streets that hours before had looked dull with bare trees ravaged by frosty winter mornings soon looked fitted for a winter snow globe.

Of course Paula's car had to be christened!

One of the first snow flakes to fall, much to our excitement and all of the kids in the carehouse, some of which were seeing snow for the very first time.

Back to the burg

Our TV crew leave again for Middleburg tomorrow morning at 6:30am. We have two jam-packed days of filming ahead of us. We have a whole list of interviews to conduct as well as a long list of shots that we have to get in order to piece our documentary together. It is crazy how mnay things you dont take into account the first time around, like lighting, time of day, holding your shots for longer. Documentary making really is an art. Along with getting together all the information you need to keep the viewer interested and intruiged, you really have to concentrate on capturing an element of beauty in your subject matter, the 'realness' of people and in our case, the essence of a small Karoo town on the truck route. Lets hope that when we pull all the strings together it will make a sturdy knot of facts, creativity and relevance.

Crazy times ahead!!!

The time has come, the craziest time of the year for Rhodes students...TRI VARSITY! This year it is on our own turf which always guarantees some extra craziness. Rhodents have been in the process of growing and pruning their mullets for months now, those of us who have been here for four years now (no names mentioned) are pulling out the paint to update our crusty vintage gear. However, along with the festive spirit that fills the air in the pre-party excitement, comes certain worries. An event that has over 7000 people, a good deal of them consuming litres of alcohol, one always has to worry about the consequences. In the past there have been some dreadful ones, lets hope that this year security is javked up and everybody has fun without losing their heads, their dignity or their sense of responsibility!

Off to Middleburg

So tomorrow morning our television crew of four leave for another three hour journey to Middleburg in the Great Karoo (I affectionately refer to it as 'Middle-of-nowhere-burg' ) to continue filming our 24 minute documentary. Focusing on the social problems that have surfaced in a town on the truck route, we are slowly building up all the footage and interviews we need to produce a piece that will make an impact. I cant disclose too much information on our work just yet, but the next three days will be crucial to the development of our doc. So we leave the student world of lecturers and documentary write ups and enter the world of real journalsim and of harsh realities, it will hopefully be a rejuvinating experience.

Mother Nature shows us who's boss

pics: News 24
Often we only think of the crazy weather that has hit our country in terms of our own discomforts. Yes, it has disrupted our routines and flooded the streets of Grahamstown, but there are far more serious things to consider. Port Elizabeth has been hit hard by flash floods that have wrecked houses, cars and caused hundreds of people to evacuate their houses and take shelter in community halls and police stations. A number of people are missing, some feared dead and at least two people have died from flood related incidents. It is during natural disasters like this that we are shown exactly who is in control, and how little power we have against the natural elements. I am sure that there will be thousands of stories that surface over the next couple of days, of casualties, houses being washed away, people suffering. If you have a warm bed to climb into at night and can listen to the howling wind from behind the safety of four walls, then consider yourself lucky, and spare a thought for those who aren’t.

The Travel Bug

So third term has arrived and now we have to seriously start thinking about what we are going to be doing next year and formulating some kind of plan. I am hoping to go to London on a two year working/holiday visa and the reality of it all is sinking in fast! First of all the process is a lengthy one, not to mention very expensive...how easy would it be if we could just go wherever we wanted to go? Instead we are still controlled by little documents, our passports, and limited as to how long we can stay in a country and what we can do there. South Africa, New Zealand and Australia are three of the only countries that have a working visa agreement with the UK, it is a strange and suffocating thought that your country of birth can limit where you want to go, travel or live. The tables have turned for South Africans because back in the day, we weren't wanted anywhere because of the racist reputation that preceeded us. However, now foreign countries are quite willing to accept us and we have built up a reputation as hard workers. Yet this is only allowed for a restricted amount of time. Americans on the other hand are now facing discrimination and rejection when they travel and can only enter some countries on a holiday visa, and other countries dont want them at all. So at the end of the day the freedom we have to move around and travel is constantly shifting, best take advantage of the opportunities that are available to us at present, while we are still young, eager and willing to work as hard.

Wednesday weather

For those of you that are wondering how long this cold and rainy weather will be hanging around for, I have provided a minnie weather forecast for your benefit!

We have another cold day ahead of us!

Wednesday 01 August 2006:
- Min 7% Max 15%
-Partly cloudy with 80% chance of moderate widespread showers
-Fresh South Westerly wind

This update was brought to you by me, compliments of the South African Weather service

Forgotten children

We are currently looking at African Documentaries in our Fourth year TV studies class. Today we watched one called “Soldier Child”, directed by Neil Abramson. Although perhaps not the most impressive documentary as far as filming and structure goes, it is the subject matter that really reaches your gut. In Northern Uganda thousands of innocent children are being abducted from their beds and forcibly recruited into the Lord’s Resistance Army, led by the merciless and heartless leader, Joseph Kony. Ripped from the safety of their family, these untainted youth are poured into a cauldron of blood, murder and brutality. These Brainwashed youngsters soon adopt the eyes of tormented War veterans. Abramson's piece shows us a glimpse of the trauma they experience by visiting one of the safe havens set up in an attempt to save these forgotten children. It is frightening to know that this is a continuing problem, governments are standing by while these children are raped, forced to kill, and robbed of their innocence. There are so many cases like this that seem to be swept under the carpet or pushed to the back of our minds, but these are kids, young children who deserve to be loved, hugged, cared for. Instead they are being marched until their soles are raw, stabbing their friends and relatives under gunpoint and losing their tears and emotions because in the Lord's resistant Army, the punnishment for weakness, is death.

Yes I know, I have been a TERRIBLE blogger! Working for Cue TV this festival has taken up a lot of my time and energy, aside form the fact that I needed a break from spending way too much time on my laptop! This is probably gonna be the last post until term starts because on Monday...that is 3 days time, Phil finally arrives! The snazzy place on the left is where we will be staying in Swaziland for the first two days!It is going to be a good break from Gtown, this town does things to your mind when you spend too much time here. To all, enjoy the last two weeks of the vac. Next term is goign to be a biggie, what with it being the last 'Third term' for most of us. Lots f work, lots of partying...and yes Carly, lots more bloggin ok!!! :-)

Winter has hit us with full force, even old Simon Gear cracked the nod to appear in a news insert tonight. This is my second winter in a row now, the pic is of a hotel I stayed in on top of a Swiss Alp in Lucerne. Although we dont have to deal with snow to that extent, South Africa is not equipped with central heating like the Europeans. For us hot water bottles and mini heaters will have to do, I find it hard to imagine how hard it must be living on the streets in this weather where the only source of warmth is a single blanket or jacket... if you are lucky. Makes you think twice before complaining!

OK, seriously, how could I not put this pic up??? Just shows, dynamite comes in small packages hey!

ok ok ok! are you happy Carly and Gregor? I know I have been slack about blogging! How cool is this pic though, i found it amidst some of my contiki photo's. We were staying in this amazing resort hotel in Vienna, sitting chilling in the lobby and looke dup to realsie that the entire ceiling was a mirror! Pretty cool if you ask me...wonder if this trend extended into the honeymoon suite? This was laso the night of my fist snow experience where we had a snow fight outside the hotel and woke up the next morning with snow covered window sills, amazing :-)

It is so strange how the world works...yesterday Robz, Jen and Phil spent the day together on the other side of the world. These are three of the most important people in my life, all of whom I met at different stages of my life, in different places...but somehow it has worked out that they ended up meeting up yesterday. Sometimes the invisible ties that seem to keep us all together, keep up the saying, "It's a small world", just become so visible. Makes me wonder...
It is so good to know that you three were all together because you are all such wonderful individuals! I cant wait to spend summer sundays and holidays having 'barbeques' at the coast!

Freedom Day

The 27 April is the commemoration of the first democratic elections held in South Africa. It is a day to celebrate how far we have come since the harrowing days of Apartheid's rule in our country. It is also a day rippled with an unfortunate oxymoron...it is bitter sweet. Although we have managed to move along in our 11th year of democracy, there are still so many elements of our society held captive by the long lasting sting of apartheid. Poverty is rife, crime is on the rise, and voters are apathetic despite our new found opportunity to voice our opinions in a 'free and fair' election. On the other hand, we have moved forward, and the progress that has been made in ten years far exceeds what probably should be expected from a country that underwent such drastic and rapid transformations. So although it is important on this day to herald our successes, it is also crucial to keep at the forefront of our minds, the changes that need to be made to ensure that democracy reigns.

Petty Theft

Theft in Grahamstown seems to have absolutely sky-rocketed this year...or perhaps it is just that it has started to affect my world that i have noticed it. In our street alone there have been at least 5 break-ins, or attempted break-ins in the past two months. It seems to be a hopeless situation, poverty is not going anywhere and neither is the huge divide between 'student' Grahamstown and the 'real' Grahamstown. The sad fact is, these 'thieves' are most likely mere kids roped in by older gang members to do their dirty work. Students are getting angry and frustrated at the situation, and many have sworn violence upon any intruders caught on their property. However it is not violence that will solve this problem. It will merely aggravate an already hopeless situation. Police could perhaps help by patrolling our suburbs instead of targeting student drinking holes...or is it that they realise that it is a situation beyond their control..

I have finally begun my blogging venture...but bare with me as I feel it will take some time to get on track! Considering that I have dedicated a fair amount of my Sunday afternoon to setting this up..I feel I am deserving of some applause!