by Tanisha Heiberg | Aug 11, 2015 | Lifestyle, News, Opinion
Tanisha Heiberg
Stock Images
Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Peña
Directed By: Peyton Reed
Vuvu Rating: 8/10
When you think of a Marvel superhero movie, a suit that shrinks a man to ant size isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But then you would be wrong. This “ant sized” film with its understated style packs a superhero sized punch to follow in the footsteps, and sometimes surpass its big budget high action predecessors.
The film follows recently released ex con Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) who committed a Robin-hood like heist. Lang has lost touch with his daughter and cannot see her because of his inability to financially support her. After failed job attempts Lang is pushed to return to a life of crime where he meets the innovative and solitary scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who has one last job for him. Pym wants him to steal his old prodigy and villain, Darren Cross’s (Corey Stoll), size-changing prototype dubbed the Yellowjacket in order to save the world. Using the newly acquired Ant-Man suite that allows him to shrink and to hone his ant-like senses, Lang sets out to win back not only the Yellowjacket suit but the respect of his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson).
The film is humorous and understated. This creates a fresh spin on the traditional spectacle based superhero adventures that we are accustomed to like Avengers: Age of Ultron. Ant-Man manages to change every day spaces into hyperreal action scenes that give the audience a jolt from the expected superhero genre.
The film doesn’t take itself too seriously and pokes fun at the unconventional concept with the hero not training in a hi-tech lab or fighting his nemesis in a spectacular fight scene with collapsing buildings and burning cars like we would expect. Instead he trains in his mentors back garden and his great battle with the villain takes place in his seven-year old daughter’s bedroom with Thomas the Tank Engine making a special appearance.
The storyline does however often struggle to justify each and every action scene. Even stranger is the inconsistent relationship that the movie makers have created between Lang and his estranged wife. His ex-wife is cast to have an amicable and even friendly relationship with Lang yet is stone hearted when it comes to granting Lang any access to their daughter, Cassie. The choice of Lang as the perfect person for the heist also seems unlikely as he had only performed one previous crime in his life and doesn’t embody the characteristic of the traditional hero. The heists are nevertheless still slick and expertly planned.
Despite its differences from the Marvel traditional movies it still has references to Shield and the Avengers sprinkled throughout the plot to tie it into the comic book film franchise.
Paul Rudd plays a charming human super hero and brings his easy going wit effortlessly into the character. To add to the comedy of Rudd’s natural style, is Lang’s criminal gang with Luis (Michael Peña ) bringing a goofy spin that shows another side to his comic abilities. Michael Douglas’ performance is good and along with his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lily). Rounding up a cohesive group of characters that interact well. Corey Stoll however lacks the necessary presence to make a convincing portrayal of a villain. An endearing and unexpected character is also created in an ant affectionately known as Anthony.
If its big budget action packed with a large cast that you’re looking for then this isn’t necessarily for you. That said, Ant-Man still took 130 Million Dollars to produce (less than half of what the cost for Avengers). The film surprisingly stands up to its bigger counterparts in its unique smaller scale. All in all the plot theme of the smaller the better echoes the sentiment of the film as a whole.
by Valerie Robinson | Aug 7, 2015 | News, Opinion
August is women’s month, but for some reason women can’t help but tear each other down.
Sreaming in silence: Women tear each other down behind closed doors for their own benefit. Photo Reuven Blignault.
Women have often been referred to as ‘cows’. This is not because of our lovely curves but mainly for our behaviour towards others.
Most woman in today’s society are very quick to stand up for women’s rights in the face of chauvinism, but those on social media and the world around us still think its ok for women to drag each other down.
History is riddled with women being demeaned in many ways, and slowly we fought back to receive the respect we deserve. Why is it then that women criticize other women or even participate in the phenomenon of slut shaming?
Maybe degrading women has become a disease in our society. On more than one occasion I have heard of two women fighting and degrading each other, because they are involved with the same man. Yet the man who is in the middle of this, and is the one who two-timed both women, sneaks by and looks ‘innocent’.
I walked around campus this week and asked 20 female Wits students questions about the subject. All the girls I spoke to admitted to having previously mocked and judged other women. The most popular responses when I asked what they mock them about were their style, how they behave, or even being ‘too confident’.
Too confident? When did it become ok for us to want women to take a back seat? Confidence is usually a trait that is celebrated but for some reason we don’t want our fellow women to own the pride that the many women before us fought for. But we should ask ourselves if the same confidence in a man would be reacted to in the same way.
By criticizing each other we are giving men permission to do the same. Why should they respect us when we cannot even respect each other?
I know I am very guilty of this crime, and it is my belief that everyone is. But why do we do it? Is our self-images so fragile that we have to drag others down to make us feel better about ourselves?
This month is Women’s Month. Perhaps instead of dragging other women down we should try and use our energy to celebrate and uplift each other.
What does it matter if we don’t like to buy the same clothes or that some women have the confidence to go out and get what they want? History has proven time and time again, we are a stronger force united rather than divided.
by Masego Panyane | Jul 30, 2015 | Opinion
This serves as a response to the privileged white girl Anlerie de Wet on her piece that appeared in the Wits Vuvuzela, on August 24, 2015. De Wet states that she was, “only bouncing around her father’s testicles” when the racist lunatics orchestrated the venomous system of colonialism in all its manifestations – internal, external, apartheid and structural mechanisms that served and continues to serve as restrictions for the black man to gain economic emancipation in his own land.
It is important to initially clarify the historic events because they shape the current material conditions that many black people are subjected to survive under.
De Wet might have ‘been bouncing in her father’s testicles’ when the separate developments were implemented by her forefathers, but she does not have to ignore the fact that her parents received quality education while many of our parents, as black people, were the initial recipients of inferior education that systematically shaped them to be slaves. It is therefore easy for De Wet’s parents to be promoted at work as she clearly stated in her piece.
While on the other hand, our black parents are coerced to be in the primary sector of economic activities, they work hard in the field, and in the assembly line to increase productivity. Our parents are exploited and alienated from the benefits of their hard labour, they earn peanuts, while white monopoly capital advocates enjoy the surplus through profit obtained from the sweat of our parents.
Our parents are not slaves because they want to be. The workers that De Wet always sees on campus are not cleaning toilets because they want to but they sell their labour all the time, to put food in the table for their children. They are not stupid, most of them would have been doctors, lawyers, successful entrepreneurs and good educators today, but they cannot be that, because De Wet’s parents and many others who share the same pigmentation with her are pure beneficiaries of institutionalised racism.
I keep wondering if she ever noticed that there are no white cleaners on campus? Well, she seems to have the same mentality as the apartheid engineers for they believed that white people are blessed and black people are cursed. Maybe that is why she keeps emphasising that she is “blessed”; does it then mean that the black workers on campus are not blessed?
We are not jealous of white privilege. In fact, for many black poor students who have no place to sleep and often feed on food from dustbins at night, they do not care about white people who “reside in Sandton” and own “Iphones” per de Wet’s example of the wealth of white people.
But black students do care about academic excellence, striving to be employed and then to transform the material conditions at home.
De Wet is thinking about creating an environment that will make her white kids privileged like her, but we not even thinking about our future kids, because we have our families to care about and also our communities.
Her utterances are a pure indication that most of the white people are in tertiary institutions to create a better future for their kids, while the black poor majority have a bigger task to firstly combat poverty at home, in our societies and also create better conditions for our kids.
De Wet is not alone, there are many like her who are prepared to protect and enhance white monopoly capital using the phrases, “blessed” and “equal”. It cannot be that the All Mighty God blesses thieves.
I mean De Wet was too quick to say that she is blessed, and it is not a sin to be privileged, well the Ten Commandments put it clear that; “Thou shalt not steal” De Wet’s forefathers stole our land! Let them bring back our land then we can talk about blessings.
Bhekithemba Mbatha is a Postgraduate Law student who hails from Orlando, Soweto.
by Anlerie de Wet | Jul 24, 2015 | Opinion
Anlerie de Wet
Yes, I’m a ‘privileged white girl’.
But why are you angry with me for being blessed? Or are you just jealous? I am not to blame for your misfortunes. I had nothing to do with the struggles your family went through and are still experiencing. I was still bouncing around in my father’s testicles when Groot Krokodil and the other apartheid lunatics were in power.
My black peers have been spitting out the phrase ‘privileged white people’ with disgust at student political protests and even in classrooms, as if it is the biggest sin of the Ten Commandments. They link every issue from unpaid workers to the presence of a certain statue to the besotted phrase.
The phrase seems like a generalisation that ALL white people are undeservedly rich and because all black people aren’t (another generalisation) they are to blame for black people’s problems.
Regularly I am the focus point of nasty looks when engaging in certain conversations about the struggles in South African society and more often than not get excluded.
They say I am ignorant about the topic at hand. “You are a privileged white girl, you don’t know.”
If you think your information is more correct than mine then please educate me. SHARE the information. Let’s have a discussion and do something about the problem.
What you are doing now is called segregation.
I understand that most white people are better-off financially than other races because of the injustices of our past. There are several policies in place now to rectify the racial inequality caused by apartheid and it will take more than 20 years to achieve it.
People need to understand it is our generation that can set right the inequality problems but you first have to graduate and yes, start at the bottom of the food chain once you start working. Just like I have to.
So don’t be unfriendly and cut me out of conversations because I’m blessed, especially if you are privileged enough to be at university. You wouldn’t be so blatantly rude to a privileged black girl.
I am blessed, because my grease monkey mechanic father and safety conscious nurse of a mother thought ahead to save the little they had to be able to give me what they never had: a tertiary education and a debt free start to life. They worked their way up for more than a decade, both staying committed to the companies they started with until they were noticed and promoted.
I don’t have an iPhone or live in Sandton (like certain black people I know), but I have what I need and a little more to buy some chips now again to settle the munchies.
So I for one will not apologise for being able to practice my basic human rights of being housed, educated and fed. Why should I, when I am working just as hard alongside every student to one day give my kids the same privileges?
by Tanisha Heiberg | Jun 23, 2015 | Opinion
Photo: Universal Pictures
Directed By: Colin Trevorrow
Vuvu Rating: 8/10
If you’re a fan of the original Jurassic Park films or you just want to see some unsuspecting humans get eaten by ferocious and freakily intelligent dinosaurs, then you won’t be disappointed with this latest iteration of the franchise.
Jurassic World, directed by Colin Trevorrow, shows the new and improved park featured in the previous films that has now a major tourist attraction including petting zoo, dinosaur rides and luxury hotels. Having learnt absolutely nothing from the previous experiences or movies, the powers-that-be create a bigger and “better” hybrid test tube dinosaur to attract more visitors.
The plot is predictable and the new breed of dinosaur has a murderous appetite. Park operations manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) enlists the help of velociraptor trainer and ex-navy employee, Owen (Chris Pratt) to find her missing nephews Zach (Nick Robinson), and Gray (Ty Simpkins), who are lost in the park while the killer dinosaur is on the loose.
The scaly situation plays out in the typical style of its predecessors complete with similar shots, plot line, cliché romantic tension, and the iconic Spielbergesque sound track.
This new installment features numerous holes in the plot and little character development. Occassional humorous quips lighten the often stereotypical character portrayals but the human villains are unconvincing and flimsy with the plot failing to explore the world of the park before the chaos breaks out.
Nevertheless fans of the original movies will be thrilled to continue along this dino-journey with the velociraptor once again taking center stage and proving that size isn’t everything. What counts is the amount of teeth.
Much like the theme park itself the main focus of the film is the dinosaurs with the rest of the film acting as a platform to showcase them through impressive CGI and animatronics.
With action packed sequences, the heroes finding ways to avoid razor -sharp teeth and claws, and terrified bystanders being mauled, thrown and eaten by the gigantic dinosaurs, you are guaranteed to be nervously munching on your popcorn.
If judged as a visually-based adventure fantasy, the movie will ensure an earth -thumping and teeth-gnashing walk down memory lane that you would expect from a Jurassic sequel.
by Boipelo Boikhutso | May 22, 2015 | Opinion
A week ago I had a conversation with a colleague of mine about xenophobia. She told me about a story she was covering where foreign nationals were protesting against the arrest of their friends.
More than 400 foreign nationals, including women and children, were forcibly taken out of the buildings in Johannesburg CBD at 2am. I then recalled the same thing happened the week before in Sunnyside, Pretoria. The similarities sent chills down my spine.
Our government has started a procedure called Operation Fiela, which in Tswana usually means “Sweep the Dirt”. According to SABC, the government started this operation to “target areas, buildings and spaces which are known to be frequented by criminals”.
Now, the problem is not what they may be trying to achieve, but the manner in which they are going about it.
See, I happen to be in a serious relationship with a beautiful young woman from Zimbabwe and I became scared for the safety of my partner. She came to South Africa because the political situation in Zimbabwe is not favourable to those who are from an opposition party. She said she also came here because “unlike in South Africa, there are very scarce opportunities for young bright graduates due to the declining economy”. Now in South Africa, she has experienced mild xenophobic attacks in the past and is scared for her safety considering the recent attacks.
“Where exactly is this rainbow nation that we always speak highly of?”
I ask myself, where is our humanity? Where exactly is this rainbow nation that we always speak highly of?
We live in a country where, instead of being our protectors, the police are responsible for brutality towards innocent people. In 2012, there was a massacre in Marikana, North West. Police shot miners with live ammunition resulting in 34 deaths. The shooting has been compared to the Sharpeville massacre in 1960 when police opened fire on protestors and killed 69 people.
Where are our protectors?
We had the police inflicting brutality on our nation’s people during the apartheid regime and it is still happening in this so-called democracy. I am not saying there aren’t any good cops, but our government has not created a safer police force. Our government has failed us.
We recently celebrated Freedom Day and I am asking myself what we are freed from, when we are still shackled by anger and mental slavery. Nelson Mandela probably did not have this vision for South Africa, this was not his aim when he spent 27 years in prison.
Our government has become an enemy to our fellow African brothers and sisters. The recent violent attacks against foreign nationals have given rise to the question: Is South Africa really a united country or are we an angry, pained and divided nation.
Let us heal as a nation, find love in diversity. I, as a black bisexual woman in love with a foreign national woman, would like to take pride in South Africa’s healing as a nation. This goes beyond just having tolerance but means accepting our fellow Africans. Let us show the spirit of ubuntu and be a true rainbow nation that cultivates diversity. We all come in beautiful forms and, essentially, we are all human.
Perhaps one day as a country we will achieve a state of acceptance as described by writer Eckhart Tolle: “Acceptance looks like a passive state, but it brings something entirely new into this world. That peace, a subtle energy vibration, is consciousness.”
by Sinikiwe Mqadi | May 15, 2015 | Opinion
Sinikiwe Mqadi Photo: T.J Lemon
I moved slowly as a child; my grandmother would always say ‘time doesn’t wait for anyone’. Recently, I have been thinking about how we young South Africans are using our precious time. We are wasting it on anger and hate.
I, too, was angry once – with white people and with Nelson Mandela. Arriving at Rhodes in 2009, I was obliged, for the first time, to converse, absorb my lectures, and write my assignments in English. My frustration and humiliation were beyond words – generating pain and anger beyond anything I had known. Every day I cried to myself, “If only I were not black!”
When I saw a white person, I thought, “If your forefathers had not come to my forefathers’ land, none of this would be happening”. When someone mentioned Nelson Mandela or other struggle activists, I thought, “You should have killed the settlers.”
Would you like to know what changed me? Getting to know the ‘other’, the people from every culture in South Africa and the world.
I survived at Rhodes thanks to people like my first year journalism tutor. Every Friday I went to her in tears, pleading for help. Patiently, she explained everything and helped me edit, always generous with her time. Kathryn McConnachie helped me discover that white people are human.
Though painful, my time at Rhodes was a gift. Is it wise to continue crying every day? Is wise to hate white people and Mandela? No!
Rather, I commit myself to applying my privileges to advancing democracy. It is my responsibility to make sure that this pain ends with me. Yes, it is my responsibility!
My transformation did not happen overnight. Nor did it obscure real, persistent injustice. May I put it to you, my dear white South Africans – you must acknowledge that you are still enjoying apartheid privileges. I cannot tell you what you must do to put things right – but I am sure we can figure it out together.
My dear black South Africans, I share your anger at poverty and inequality. Your pain is my pain. But, let’s be honest about who is in power. iANC yethu iyamosha! I know you don’t want to hear it, kodwa ke yona iyamosha bontanga.
Let us, my fellow fortunate university students, stop making noise driven by anger. Before we act, before we speak, let us ask ourselves, “Does this advance our just cause?”
No, Madiba was not able to bring us into the promised land. He brought us thus far, and left us to complete the task. He armed us with a great Constitution, and with the law on our side. We are strong. We are intelligent. We are many. We can do this.
What will we say when our children ask – that we were angry young people? And when they ask what we did to make things better? Liyashona ilanga bantu bakithi!
by Staff Reporter | May 9, 2015 | Opinion
By Sibulele Mgudlwa
Sibulela Mgudlwa was the 2012-2013 Wits SRC President. He shares his thoughts on the ‘I love Hitler’ comments made by Mcebo Dlamini.
OPINION: Former Wits SRC President Sibulele Mgudlwa gives his opinion on the case of Mcebo Dlamini. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa
Well, Hitler was an animal who had no limits to his brutality. But one thing about the recent comments of SRC President Mcebo Dlamini about Adolf Hitler is that they have created a lot of healthy debate around many issues. But they’ve also created their fair share of retrogressive opinions joining the discourse and these must be squashed immediately.
Perhaps to be more specific, there’s a laughable notion that suggests that a love for Hitler directly translates into a love for the colonialist Cecil Rhodes. Some people have cunningly, and perhaps insidiously, introduced the idea that those who love Hitler or his style of leadership automatically love Cecil Rhodes and other white supremacists. It’s a very lazy view that seeks to reverse the gains made by the #RhodesMustFall movement. Zapiro certainly takes this view further in his recent cartoon by depicting Wits as a Hitler-loving and transformation-hating university, in direct contrast to the more “forward-thinking”, Rhodes-hating University of Cape Town. Well this is plain silly.
Lessons can be learnt from Adolf Hitler
There’s a whole lot we can learn from the Hitler and the period of history he lived in. Appreciating some aspects of that portion of history and their relevance today does not necessarily mean you’re against transformation or that you’re a raging, rabid racist intent on killing white people. We can study the energy and passion of Germans living during the Nazi era, who wholeheartedly stood behind a common cause (albeit a terrible one) and use it in our own country in the fight for radical economic emancipation of the most needy in society.
In addition to that, we can also use the Hitler period to expose the glaring hypocrisy of the Israeli regime; a country which today happily and determinedly runs their very own concentration camp which would have made Hitler beam with pride in their very own backyard. We know only too well that in Gaza the life of a Palestinian is as disposable as a Jew in Nazi Germany . The sheer barbarism of the Holocaust is a critical lesson from the Hitler legacy that we can, and must, understand; an event that should never again happen in our society.
“Perhaps the biggest lesson in all of this is that we, as varsity students, must learn to accept complex and multi-dimensional views that don’t just have one side to them.”
The Hitler legacy also teaches us how to deal with our scars from apartheid. The way Germans dealt with Hitler and Nazi symbols after his rule should serve as an educating process on how to deal with those who offend our values as South Africans.
Hendrik Verwoerd still celebrated in South Africa
How is it that the man who conceptualized and implemented one of the biggest crimes against humanity in history, the ‘architect of apartheid’ Hendrik Verwoerd is still celebrated by many South Africans who name streets after him and erect his statues? Verwoerd and Rhodes and what they stood for is as offensive to us as Hitler was to Germans. Surely we must be as impatient with our colonial symbols as post-Nazi Germany was with Nazi symbolism (which today is illegal in that country). We must learn a thing or four from the Germans who refused to be associated with leaders who violated their beliefs.
Perhaps the biggest lesson in all of this is that we, as varsity students, must learn to accept complex and multi-dimensional views that don’t just have one side to them. We must be able and willing to engage views that offend us with high levels of maturity and soberness. It really doesn’t help much when we retreat and hide in our stereotypical corners whenever our core beliefs are contested. Otherwise why are we in university? Lastly, we must refuse to be punished and persecuted by anyone (particularly vice chancellors) for airing views which don’t sit well with them or their friends. This is a learning space.
We are not, after all, in Nazi Germany.
by أنيليسا توسوا | May 8, 2015 | Opinion
A majority of us black students, including the so-called daughters and sons of the middle class know that as long as you are black, after you get your degree there’s a taxation system that doesn’t go to SARS.
To my privileged friends who have no idea of what I just said, I’m talking about ‘Black tax’.
Anelisa Tuswa Photo: TJ Lemon
Black tax is not just the money that you send home when you start making a living, it’s not just a set amount that gets debited to your family. It’s a contribution, possibly unlimited, to better your family until the day you die.
In fact even after death you still need help from your grave thus Clientele Life policy might be the best alternative life policy as they say “your family members can still be taken care of after you have passed away.”
Well I’m not sure about others, but when I did my first Degree the constant fear was acquiring a qualification that wasn’t going to enable me the capability to provide. I mean my nephews and niece can’t go to a township school when their aunt is a Wits graduate, that RDP house won’t extend itself and I’m definitely sure my ancestors would be furious if my late grandmother doesn’t get a tombstone soon (yes the one who passed away before I was even born).
A friend of mine, who she and the rest of her family are still reaping the gains of the past that were created by societal structures, once asked me “why do you feel obliged to pay back your parents money?” she asked. “you don’t owe them anything.” It was quite funny. But the funny part rested on the snobbish tone that was driven by an element of reducing black-tax into an obligation, some stupid law where I looked like a victim that is forced to “pay back the money” that contributed to my education.
“Truth is, majority of us black students study because it is exhausting to be poor”
Well let me educate you my uninformed, privileged friends by correcting the basic perception that black tax is an obligation, it’s not an obligation! It is a responsibility that is put upon us Black children who are lucky enough to get better education than other members of our families.
In fact, I am sure many young Black people would agree with me when I say I did not come to university because I liked it on American Pie, nor did I enjoy studying Marx and Weber when I got here. Truth is, majority of us black students study because it is exhausting to be poor, it is an emotional strain that you cannot bear to watch it spread further and paying black tax is a minimum cost that takes half of your salary.
So, when I say ‘I cannot wait to finish my honours and start working’ please do not ask me ‘why a smart woman like me is not studying further. Every second I spend at Wits my siblings are starving and the RDP house that the ANC built for my mother might fall on my mother’s head, thus in a hurry to finish up and start paying
by Dana Da Silva | May 8, 2015 | Opinion
LETTER TO ZUMA: Mia Couto, a revered Mozambican writer, wrote an open letter to Zuma concerning the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
What motivated you to write an open letter to Jacob Zuma?
It was the news that arrived from our Mozambican compatriots who were subjected to the persecutions in Durban and in other cities. I, my brothers and my family had, in that week, created a cultural foundation. And we thought that we couldn’t stay indifferent to what was happening.
As a Mozambican and a writer, what do you think should/can be done in order to remedy the situation?
I think that it does not only depend on the actions of government. That action is decisive and above all, governments can’t find scapegoats as an excuse for not taking on their responsibilities towards those who are the poorest, from one side or the other side of the border. But other things also need to be done.
South Africans have a stereotypical image of Mozambicans. They are simply “work force”. They aren’t people who produce thought, sentiments and art. That would be the responsibility of Mozambique: to make known the richness of culture and diversity of Mozambicans. So that the South Africans can know them better. We can only like what we know. And even while we are neighbours, we still don’t know a lot about each other.
In your letter you mention that feelings of solidarity and the remembrance of a shared history should be recreated. Why and how do you think this should be done?
After my letter had been published I found out that among the youth that commented with me about this issue, many were completely unaware of how much Mozambique supported, with much sacrifice, the fight against apartheid. It’s sad how history is lost so quickly. The past to stay alive needs to be recreated.
What do you think of Zuma’s response to your open letter?
It was a surprise. I never imagined that a president would respond to a simple writer be him foreigner or national. I am sure that he wasn’t exactly talking to me. But he wanted to speak to others and explain the internal reasons that create xenophobic feelings. Over this part of the letter I would prefer not to comment.
Do you think enough has been done by the South African government to prevent the persecutions of Mozambicans?
Like I said in the letter, our view in Mozambique is that what was done was little and late. Also, I think that those who encourage these phenomenons of violence can’t be left unpunished.
Do you think that the long term and short term measures that Zuma mentioned on implementing in his letter will help to resolve the issues that triggered the attacks?
There is no country in the world where the large social crisis don’t search for a culprit that is always the “other”, being that other from another religion, race or nationality.
What governments should do is to work so as to protect all citizens that live legally in their country, so that they live without fear and with the right to have hope and belief in their future.
by Dana Da Silva | May 8, 2015 | News, Opinion
LIVE ACTION: Kara Úlfhéõnar, played by the author, and Drogar Thromek Úlfhéõnar, played by Ryan Young, take over a village with their adventuring group at a LARPING event.
“Prepare to die!” I shout at the wife of the freshly slain barbarian chief of village that I and my fellow adventurers have taken over.
I’m waving my polearm—a long staff with a sharp blade at the top, at the wife. The “wife” is actually a man in drag who is wearing a black wig, a fur belt and trying to speak in a womanly voice as he attacks me.
I’m dressed to match with a skirt of riveted leather, long black boots and a fake-metal corset made of foam. I’m splattered in fake blood.
Sounds strange? Welcome to the world of ‘LARPING’, Live Action Roleplaying. In this fantasy world you create your own character, costumes and weapons. It may seem a bit childish, but they are attended by adults who travel hours to get to each event.
I have been LARPING for a few years and as a result have accumulated a wardrobe filled with weapons and costumes for different characters. A top hat with peacock feathers when I was a voodoo priestess, fake wolf skin hat from my time as a barbarian and pointy ears for my archer elf character…I have so much stuff.
I’m playing a barbarian called ‘Kara Úlfhéõnar’. Kara’s family decided that it was time to find a new home, for us this meant conquering and attacking someone else’s village.
Before we get to kill anyone on the day we get an introduction to our adventure. We’re told that along the way to finding a village we have to dissuade our barbarian ‘family’s’ head Hammerin from attacking Minotaur villages. This is not too difficult as Hammerin, when in character, has a normal intelligence of a barbarian. On weekdays, when Hammerin is not trying to burn down villages, he’s a 27-year-old software tester.
We convince him the place he wants to attack is “a village of cows” with no people to fight. Hammerin, who has a shave head and is bare-chested wearing only a kilt, agrees reluctantly. He likes bashing things.
Along the way we encounter a small barbarian child (not really a ‘child’ but just a really short woman who can pull off a very squeaky voice) who complains and asks for our weapons.
“You want weapon?!” I shout “We fight then!” At which point she looks at me strangely and starts talking to someone else.
But while the ‘child’ is being annoyingly squeaky (making all of us want to kill her both in character and in real life) she indirectly tells us that there is a barbarian village nearby, which sounds like the place for us.
Our approach to attacking the village is very much hit and miss, we hit them and they hit us back harder. We attack with our weapons—made of foam—to no avail leading to the ‘death’ of our entire party.
After a few minutes of pretending to die under some shade we ‘resurrect’, and prepare to attack again.
This time we try a different tactic where we each fight the chief individually. Hammerin was up first, shouting “four normal!” (the type and amount of damage) and attacking with his sword while blocking with shield. Our healer, dressed in a white fur robe with a wolf-head hat and is holding a skull he calls ‘Mother’, soon enters the fray. He kills the chief but is called a cheater by the villagers because he used a healing potion on Hammerin.
So instead the village elder decides that the chief’s wife is now the chief. The wife grabs a dual wielding sword and is ready for battle. “Ragnar”, a 26-year-old blast door technician, attacks with his polearm but it is not enough.
Since the men aren’t getting anywhere, I am approached by the chief’s wife, the man dressed in drag, who asks that we decide this between the women. I respond with a grunt of approval and we fight, dealing a 100 points.
The villagers all bow down to me as I let out a victory cry.
by Masego Panyane | Apr 29, 2015 | Lifestyle, Opinion
Siyabulela Xuza was at the Chamber of Mines yesterday afternoon sharing his life experiences in order to inspire others
There aren’t many South Africans who have the honor of having a planet named after them.
At the age of 26, Harvard graduate Siyabulela Xuza had this honor bestowed upon him after he took first place at an international science fair, the Global Science and Engineering fair for an alternative rocket fuel.
He gave a motivational talk to Engineering students at the Chamber of Mines yesterday afternoon. Xuza had the audience eating out of his hands after sharing with them that he had been, even if it was for just four months, a Witsie who stayed at Knockando Halls of Residence before he found out that he had been awarded a scholarship to Harvard.
His story is one about perseverance and optimism that knows no bounds. He believes in hard work and to “Remain Ruthlessly Curious” which is his personal motto.
Believer: Siya Xuza sharing stories of his childhood in order to inspire Witsies. Photo: Michelle Gumede
Xuza recounts how as a little boy growing up in Northcrest Township in Umthatha, he was fascinated by watching an airplane in the sky. He did not know what it was, but he wanted to find out.
At some point in his young life he decided he wanted to go to Jupiter, so he’d build a rocket. This decision led to him blowing up parts of his mother’s kitchen in an attempt to create fuel for his rocket.
Xuza’s story is appealing to so many young people because it is authentic. During the question and answer session, he explained how he prefers to tell his own story to inspire young people, in whose position he once was. He believes that because it’s genuine and it’s from him about him, then people are likely to get the message far easier.
“It is estimated that 850 million people in Africa do not have access to energy. As an innovator, it is our [sic] job to try to solve the problems of tomorrow by improving on yesterday’s solutions…” said Xuza. This is the reason he was inspired to create a micro fuel cell that will last longer after it has been charged. He does however admit that even though this cell will revolutionize the availability of power, it is still financially impractical to mass produce.
Xuza says this is why his partnership with TOTAL is so important because then he will be equipped with the necessary financial skills in order to solve this problem.
The humble and quietly confident young man is proof, as clichéd as this sounds, that if you work hard, have a clear vision and persevere, anything is possible.
