SA Rocks

The video below was originally distributed via email in powerpoint format (or at least that’s how I received it first).

I received this email about 10 times in the space of 3 days. Impressive by any viral email standards I think. If you haven’t seen the video yet, watch it. It’s not half bad and definitely sums up the way forward fairly well for this world cup.

Now, here’s the story behind the email as told by HomeComingRevolution:

After Bafana Bafana’s exit at the first round of the 2010 Soccer World Cup and the support that they had received from South African citizens, Rebecca Sehloho wrote a poem. The poem captured the importance of being fantastic hosts which goes beyond the soccer and
deeper into what the tournament is about.

Rebecca and her colleague Anthony Prangley harmonised their proudly South African voices with memorable images to inspire the nation to look at all the positive that has resulted from the World Cup. They saw the need to remind South Africans that it does not matter if Bafana Bafana didn’t win. It’s much bigger than that – South Africa has won!

Martine Schaffer, Managing Director of Homecoming Revolution said: “Anthony sent it to us on the morning after Bafana Bafana were eliminated. We realised the potential of this viral message and the stronger uniting message that it had for South Africans. A few emails were sent out and within the space of an hour, we were receiving it back into our inbox. The creators had no idea of how quickly this message would spread and we are thrilled that they chose to associate it with the Homecoming Revolution. As a nation we are seeing a growth in our identity with our soccer team, our country and our amazing achievements in hosting this World Cup. This is also stirring up heart-sore emotions amongst our South African Diaspora. We have so much to celebrate and this succinct, emotional, visual message sums
up how we are feeling. Proud.”

Let’s keep it going. The World Cup is about being friendly hosts and fantastic fans of all the teams. Each of us can do something. This is our chance.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Mr Jason Bagley is doing good things over at Free Kick TV along with Mike Perk. In their latest episode they go through the ways and means to buy 2010 World Cup tickets. The episode is ten minutes long so be sure to load, buffer, pause, touch play!

Popularity: 7% [?]

I just saw on Twitter that wezzo posted the following tweet: “UK TV star Victoria Smurfit shot at on ‘Kill a Tourist Day’ in South Africa” Seriosuly DailyMail?

I am as appalled and shocked by this article as he is. In fact I’ll go so far as to say that I am about to go UK Postal on this useless, lazy, sensationalist journalist.

The story reads as follows:

The glamorous actress, who has starred in ITV police drama Trial & Retribution and the BBC’s Ballykissangel, was injured by flying glass when the vehicle’s windows were shattered.
She felt a bullet whizz past her as it tore through the cab – ‘tangibly blowing the air’. It hit the passenger window ‘barely half an inch’ from the head of her sister-in-law, Charlie.
Writing in today’s Irish Mail on Sunday, the 35-year-old actress says she was told by South African police the attack was likely to have been a gang initiation ceremony dubbed ‘Kill a Tourist Day’.

“The glamorous actress”, hmmm, I wonder whose side the author wants the reader to be on? Did the C-grade actress really feel the bullet “tangibly blowing the air”? What a load of rubbish and paparazzi style journalism.

I wonder if Mr James Tapper trekked down to our gorgeous shores where the wind blows gently on your cheeks and the waves break just perfectly allowing for a cool spray to dust your hair (see anyone can do this shit)? I doubt that Tapper even bothered to call the police officer who was involved. And let’s be honest here, we have a C-grade actress who was in a violent incident of sorts and being a premadona probably expected the Chief of Police to drop everything and come to her rescue. Please, you come from a country where children run riot with knives, drugs, guns and more; where elderly, no, everybody is scared to use public transport in case there is a chav, hoodie or other sort of gang that will rob, rape or murder them. Why doesn’t Mr Tapper take a look at his own country before casting sensational headlines on ours?

And finally, why on Earth does everything that happens in SA have to have a massive influence on the outcome of the World Cup? Don’t be absurd.

That’s it, make your own mind up. Yes there is violence in SA and yes, it happened to involve a British actress who needed some press to bump up her career as it’s on the down and low, but why write a story filled with such an overblown agenda?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1241996/Ballykissangel-star-Victoria-Smurfit-shot-Kill-Tourist-Day-South-Africa.html#ixzz0cNzktqXN

UPDATE:

This from The Times:

But Cape Town central police station Superintendent Randall Stoffels said: “The shot fired was not specifically for the occupants of that vehicle and it was definitely not gang-related.”

When detectives interviewed her last Monday, there were no visible injuries, Stoffels added.

Smurfit opened a case of attempted murder, but this was later changed to the illegal discharge of a firearm in a municipal area.

“The occupants in the taxi just heard a loud bang and the left side window shattered. We believe someone [fired] into the air but the bullet went through the window and lodged into a panel of the van. No one was injured,” said Stoffels.

He said the projectile and the panel were sent for ballistic testing and that no arrests had been made yet.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Here’s a great video I found about how to apply for tickets and the different types, chances and dates the application periods will be open.

Here’s an overview of the sales phases:

20 February 2009 – 31 March 2009 Valid applications received for any match, or particular ticket category, that is over-subscribed, will go into a global random draw (this will particularly apply to ‘hot’ matches like the Opening Match, the Semi-Finals and the Final). This ticket draw will take place on 15 April 2009. Confirmation of successful applications will be notified approximately 72 hours after this draw.

4 May 2009 – 16 November 2009 Valid applications will be accepted and fulfilled on a ‘first come, first served’ basis – subject to availability for the match/es and the ticket category/ies applied for. Confirmation of successful applications will be notified within approximately 10 working days.

5 December 2009 – 22 January 2010, immediately after the Final Draw for the 32 participating nations. It is at this stage that the world will know who is playing who, when and where and the pressure for tickets will really intensify. All valid ticket applications received during this time will again go into a global random draw which will take place on 1 February 2010. Confirmation of successful applications will be notified approximately 72 hours after this draw.

9 February 2010 – 1 April 2010 Again, valid applications will be accepted and fulfilled on a ‘first come, first served’ basis – subject to availability for the match/es and the ticket category/ies applied for. Confirmation of successful applications will be notified within approximately 10 working days.

The fifth and final ‘Last Minute’ tickets sales phase will open on 15 April 2010 and remain open until the Final is played on 11 July 2010. Tickets will be purchased ‘real-time’ on a first come first served basis via www.fifa.com and over the counter at to-be-announced locations across South Africa.

Info was found at the great Shine 2010 website.

Popularity: 9% [?]

I thought this was a no-no?

Thanks go out to the “Curiouser and curiouser” blog for blogging about this because I didn’t watch this one at The Times.

Who in their right mind uses the K-word anymore? I honestly can’t even bring myself to blog it out loud. It’s just not right, in any context at all. And as Curiouser has said, if a white old chum had said the very same sentenced he or she would probably have been lynched by now, literally. We’d have had a massive uprising and call to punishment for the poor sod.

But it’s OK for someone who is black to sit in front of the country’s media and thus public and use the word outright.

Dr Irvin Khoza should be held accountable for his actions. He thinks that it is OK to say “Excuse me for saying this…” Go to hell you narrow-minded nitwit. Using that word does not make you more cosmopolitan and hip with the lowdown times. It makes you a bigot whichever way you look at it. Correct me if I’m wrong, but saying “no offense intended” and then proceed to slam the person in to the ground. Guess what? They took offense.

So without wasting more time ranting, here it goes. Wait for about 1:20min…

Now doesn’t that look great. The LOC for the 2010 World Cup is not only allegedly in-fighting but now are using profanity and racial slurs to defend themselves. Great work.

I thought SA had moved on a wee bit further than this?

Popularity: 3% [?]

What is the story with SA soccer?

Our entire country is pumped with the 2010 drug of anticipation and our foreigner coach is taking our cash and losing to every possible opponent.

Firstly, why don’t we have a South African coaching the team? Secondly, let’s see some damn results before we pay the guy a gazillion rand a month. I think his salary is moronic when he keeps playing losing matches.

Then, what happened to all the local players playing Internationally? Are they back? Maybe we do need them, maybe it’s not such a great idea to tell the greats that our country has that we don’t need them to win and then lose to the USA? Just a thought.

Does anyone have more insight on this saddening topic?

I was out this weekend somewhere when I got chatting to a guy who was going to the game between the USA and SA. He was depresses and we hadn’t even lost yet. But he knew it was coming. The first words out of his mouth about the topic was regarding embarrassment in the 2010 World Cup when we go out in the first round.

This is not way to think about sport. What the hell has gone on in the culture of soccer in SA? Rugby we expect to win, cricket we are depressed when we lose but soccer the expected result is a loss.

How about the sporting powers that be in SA stop dwindling on the Springboks (who won a world cup) and start focussing their attention on the dreadful Bafana Bafana?

Popularity: 4% [?]