Where in the world is my family?

Wednesday 11 August was an auspicious day for my family. We finally fulfilled a long-cherished ambition of mine that each one of us would be in a different country at the same time.  (I’m not quite sure why I so like this idea concept, when I very much appreciate it when we ‘re all together in the same room, at least in theory –  also a rare occurance – but there you have it.)

If you care, here’s where we all were.
Pim – London for a couple of hours en route to California and taking over the world with solar power.
Mim – Alemaya, Ethiopia, giving a course on setting up online learning  platforms (in an environment with no internet access!)
Kim – Los Angeles, being famous.
Nate Dogg*- Grahamstown, in the Law Library (depending on your level of gullibility, but I’m his older sister so of course that’s where he was).
Trinny –  Olympos, Turkey, working on her suntan.

Which one of us would you rather be ? Comments in the box, please.

* Regular readers of this blog might remember I used to refer to Nate Dogg as ‘Nim’ for consistency’s sake, but he really wasn’t down with that, hence the hip-hop moniker.

Five little bits of superfabulousness, total

1. Freshlyground are singing the World Cup anthem (with that other girl).
2. We saw Abdullah Ibrahim when we were having drinks at my Cape Town local in Obs. Some clever person (not me) got his autograph as a pension plan.
3. My first article has been published by The Daily Maverick. And BizCommunity too!
4. Mick has been featured in a McCain* advertisement. So I guess you’ll be able to watch it soon, if you’re in Canada, that is.
5. I’ve taken the day/night off work, and will be attending Not the London Book Fair presently.

* That’s McCain the food group, not McCain the politician, in case you were wondering…

Last chance to vote

In case you haven’t realised yet, my sister Kim has made a supercool music video for Moby’s single Wait For Me, and it’s going to be on TV and all over the interweb and she’s going to be famous and stuff. Well, maybe. To convert that maybe into a definitely, we need your help.

Please check out her video by clicking on this link and do vote if you like it. No silly registration hassle – you just need to enter your email address, and then click on email validation delivered directly to your inbox. And if you really like it lots and lots, please tell all your friends about it too. Deadline for voting is on Monday April 12, so get clicking!

If you have any further questions, check out the FAQs below. And thanks for your support!

FAQs

Q: Is this spam, cunningly disguised as a blog post?
A: No, spam is a revolting mystery meat; Clea is not a piece of meat, she is my sister.

Q: If Clea’s video is allegedly so cool, why doesn’t she have the most votes yet?
A: The competition opened in late February, but Clea only posted her video at the end of March. We’re playing catch-up.

Q: Why should I vote for Clea? Can’t I decide for myself and vote for someone else?
A: I am Clea’s PR, not the Genero.tv website PR, which is why I’ve posted a link directly to her video. But you’re welcome to check out all the other entries and vote for your favourite. In fact, you’re allowed to vote for more than one video if you can’t decide between them.

Q: Why are you posting this on your blog that nobody ever reads? Have you never heard of social networking?
A: We’re just trying to cover all bases. If you’re interested, you can find us on Facebook or follow Kim on Twitter.

Q: Why are you posting this on your blog, again, when your previous two postings have been on the exact same topic.
A: Sorry, I wasn’t sure you were paying attention.

Q: Why is Kim not famous already?
A: We’re working on it; your vote will help.

Q: I clicked on the link, and voted for Kim’s video, and told all my friends, just like you said. I LOVE her video, and would like her to make a music video for my band. How do I get in touch?
A: Submit a comment and leave your details. Kim and her management will respond promptly.

Family conversation LXII

Pim: Is Moby from Pennsylvania?
T: Somewhere in the US; I’m not sure where exactly.
Pim: I thought I saw on the website that he was from Pennsylvania.
T: Oh, I didn’t notice.
Pim: But I had the feeling he was from Pennsylvania anyway…
T: …
Pim: Do you geddit, do you geddit?
T: Yeah, yeah, I geddit*.

* If you don’t geddit, click here.

The journey of a homeless pencil

The brilliant and whimsical Kim has submitted a music video for the Moby song Wait for Me. Not quite sure how to embed it on this post as, embarrassingly enough, I’m actually quite the blogging Luddite (if I’m permitted an oxymoron). But you can read Kim’s description below as an appetiser.

This is the story of a homeless pencil – who desires a diamond – and its journey through a “day” which is symbolic of its troubles. The pencil hopes the diamond will be patient and still be there after it cleans up its act. What sex or race is the pencil? Well I wanted it to be non-specific although it did end up leaning in a certain direction… you can decide for yourself. I’ve recently engaged with a couple of homeless people and that was partly an inspiration for this video – they seem to exist in a different time frame while the world goes by relentlessly. The song’s music and lyrics conjured up the story you see. It’s a dark tune but has moments of hope in it. I feel that we are somewhat – I say only somewhat – desensitised to images of people in the media, and in real life, who are in trouble, suffering or lost in some way. I wanted to explore a way that would encourage people to think and react to such people perhaps from a new perspective. Graphite and diamond are both made of the same thing – carbon – so at the end of the day the pencil is an equal to the diamond.

If your interest is piqued, click here to check out the video.  I mean, you don’t *have* to vote for Kim; I’m pretty certain Moby’s gonna pick her video. But I voted for her, just in case he has a stupid day.

If you are inspired to vote, it’s not difficult; once you’ve clicked on Kim’s video on the Genero.tv website  you don’t need to sign up or anything, just enter your email address. And if you’d like to spread the word, you can invite your friends to check out her video via the Facebook event page. Or follow Kim on Twitter on @homelesspencil.

Here’s what a couple of people who’ve already voted for her had to say:

“Really liked the vid and was thus able to vote with clear conscience. G’luck”

“Brillo. Poignant. Voted.”

Family conversation LXI

Mim: I really like how ABJ has opened up this space.
T: Ja, me too.
Mim: We’re going to put an occasional table over there.
T:  Is the table going to be there all the time?
Mim: What do you mean?
Pim: Will it be there only on occasion?
Mim: You two have been spending far too much time together!

Family conversation LX

Pim: You’d better be careful saying you’re happy to travel in Africa. Next thing they’ll send you to Macquarie University in Rwanda.
Mim: I think you mean Makerere University…
T: …in Uganda.