My best years were 17-24

The years between 17 and 24 were my best. Here is a list that proves just that:

1. I owned my first pair of roller blades...black and red
2. I was elected student president at Suncrest High.
3. I grew dreadlocks
4. I flew for the first time on a Qantas flight to Australia
5. I lived with Aboriginal community while researching their modern take on land and culture
6. I learnt how to drive and my first car was a Honda Ballade 1.6 16V Auto

To be continued

production assistant hungry for more

It was sometime in 2004 a group of us enrolled in Film & TV studies at a top university in Johannesburg's west. We were immersed in the great teachings of the film industry, the equipment, lighting, sound and the language of movies.

Towards the end, the task that lay ahead of us was writing and producing our very own documentary. I don't recall much of the documentary, except how frustrating it was to work with a production team - because everyone wants to do everything.

So last week, I took up the challenge of being a Production Assistant. It has been a long time since 2004, but I was ready for the challenge. This role is for someone who sorts out everything from shifting things on the set and taking special orders for gluten-free lunches (for those picky crew members).

The most interesting was providing drinking water that is not hotter or colder than room temperature. I did all this and more, including driving a left-hand vehicle on a 6 lane highway to fetch the world and bring it back to the set.

$US 5 million mansion

I brought it to this...a 5 million dollar mansion. At the end the task of cleaning up was also assigned to me. It was tough, and I may have lost 2 kg. I was a super Production Assistant.

This is who we needed back in 2004, and I'm glad I was able bring my A-game, many many years later. As we wrapped up, I left wiser, weighing less, with my first IMDB credit and hungry for more action.

I have returned from nowhere

Its been a three and half year hiatus. Much has happened yet I still feel closely attached to this blog. Have missed you much. I intend to come back soon to document the contents of my head when time allows. For now, life has been fun. I can't wait for tomorrow.

thought of this?

How about you get confident stupid, it might change your life! Also, know that the internet does very little to validate who you are! Go out and try new things!

africa

Those Africans who seem to know Africa's problems best, seem to be the least confident. Why? Can outsiders solve corruption? NO, I don't think so. Africa needs a future. It can't be based on the same old leaders. New blood is needed.

long days

Its been a long year. I can't believe I made it to August! I have had many sleepless nights. There are many things to recall about this year, including moments alone in a corner office with 4 files and very little else.

familiar solutions

I have a project. It started with a certain telephone technician. Lets say, he was digging a hole for a new telephone pole. When he had finished his hole, he discovered some kind of petrol/diesel smelling product on the surface of the water in the hole. This discovery meant that he could not install his telephone pole, and possibly someone would not be able to make phone calls or log onto the internet. This immediately alerted him to a potential pollution problem (I just invented a tripple p reference there ... haha). Anyways, I was handed the project. I started with the usual investigation, including asking questions and trying to reconstruct what could have led to this tripple p. As I write this, I'm at the end of my investigation. The lab results are in and the drawings have been prepared. The conclusion is that there is no potential pollution problem. The results are all zero. No source of fuel has been found in the vicinity of the telephone pole that can be correlated or associated with what he claimed to have seen. Here are some questions and scenarios I've been thinking on:

1. The telephone technician didn't really see any kind or petrol/diesel

2. The petrol/diesel that he claimed to have seen is now gone

3. The petrol/diesel is probably still there, I perhaps just missed it

See, I like option 2 because it makes this a straight forward project. Consequently I'm tempted to say there is no tripple p. But a fundamental problem arises here. That is; when we are faced with life problems which have the potential to go either way, we seem happy to settle for familiar solutions. I worry that if this principle persists, we'll end up with solutions that are familiar but not necessary correct or accurate.