The Mother Load

Save the date!

2012-02-14T06:41:00.000+02:00

The 3rd annual South African national Tweetup for good, #TBDZA (previously known as #TBD), will be held on Saturday, 26 May 2012 at venues around the country. Same time, same date. More details to follow. Details will be posted on the official website: www.twitterblanketdrive.co.za

The dishwasher has been demoted

2012-02-13T23:19:00.001+02:00

I've had a lot of enquiries about my new "toy" since I started Tweeting and blogged on The Mother Load about the HP Photosmart 7510.

It really is quite a phenomenal little powerhouse, feature-rich and the ink costs aren't as high as you would expect either. There are too many specifications to mention here, so click here to visit the HP site for all the technical details for what this printer has on offer.

Some great features online that support the printer are the HP Application Centre which allows you to update your printer apps online - add or delete apps as you require. Quick and easy to do. There is also an app review function so that you can read up on the app before downloading. The 2nd function is the online print manager which allows you to manage your print queue - very handy if you've provided your printer email address to your extended family so that they can send their best photos direct to your printer for printing. This is also a necessity if, like us, your 6 year old has learnt how to navigate his way around the printer and has developed a habit of printing out every available DreamWorks craft project on a daily basis.

App centre on the website

Print manager on the website

I can't blame him really, the range of built-in crafts are amazing - there's enough to go around for the next couple of years of show-and-tell's and birthday parties between my 2 boys. Here are some of the projects which we've worked on using the HP Photosmart 7510 with various HP printer paper and photo paper...

Yes, there is even a Barney suite of print apps built into the printer (HP Creative Suite). I tapped into this for my youngest's 2nd birthday to make all the party signage, sticker labels for the picnic boxes and tags for the party packs.

One of the most challenging projects was the DreamWorks Kung Fu Panda "Tigress" 3D model. In all honesty, we were forewarned by the level of difficulty that came printed on the "How To Make This Model" guide. The colors print out exceptionally well - "just like the movie mom!' and you need to use sturdier paper stock like we did if you want your model to last longer than a day (we used the HP Everyday Photo Paper for most of the 3D crafts). The full range of Kung Fu Panda characters is available on the printer - more than enough to keep the Littles occupied for indoor weather or downtime periods.

Admittedly, my favorite craft so far has been the 3D model cars. They look professional and far beyond my usual scope of craft-ability. Needless to say, my sons think I am a super-mom for being able to pull this one off. The cars have also gone the distance and are proudly displayed on my oldest sons' bookshelf where they have been carefully looked after for over a month now.

A project that I managed to do for myself was to create a family name board which I am in the process of converting into a hat and coat rack for our entrance hall. I printed all the copy and background effects on the printer then used decoupage and antiquing techniques to age the board. The HP Photosmart did most of the work for me; print, scan, enlarged to correct size to cover the board, etc. I am very happy with the results.

[Before I forget... I've made up with Google as is evident in this blog post. The error it seems was 'user error' - duh! Now that I am getting to grip with the new look Blogger format, it actually seems to be quite easy and user-friendly. I am eating my words as I type...]

Here's a quick overview (grabbed from the HP international site) on the key features of this device which now carries more clout in my household than the dishwasher :-)

Domestic Tech-Bliss & Google divorce

2011-11-23T17:01:00.001+02:00

I love what social media has achieved and can accomplish, even more so when goodie bags are concerned. I present case-in-point my delivery of an HP Photosmart 7510 to test drive for a couple of weeks in the comfort of my own home.

It turns out that a fellow tweeter referred the good folk from HP to me as a potential candidate to pre-test their product before it hits the South African store shelves later in December this year. Thanks to this tweet love I now have a couple more followers from HP on my Twitter base too. FTW all round methinks.

The snappy-looking device was delivered with a full complement of equally snappy-chaperones. Iwan braved 2 hours of traffic to deliver and install the device on time as promised, and Kevin the well-trained Sales rep arrived spot on time to give me the drained run down on the product specs and features.

Unfortunately, those clever chaps at Google have so cleverly changed the Blogger settings so now I am positively clueless as to how to update my blog so am using the old Blogger app on my iPad to write this post, which while very overdue does not allow me to upload pics!

Well back to the good news shall we... There are some striking features about the Photosmart 7510; my favorites from the start have been the built in Dreamworks suite which has 100's of crafts and activities for the kids to do based on the studios hit animated movies, the ePrint capability which means you can print from ANYWHERE (who needs wi-fi?) and the brilliant HP photo quality prints in the comfort of your own home.

My 6-year old was so taken by the Dreamworks touchscreen app that the second day after we received the test printer I came home to a house full of printouts ready for me to cut and fold for him. So clearly very user friendly and easy to navigate through the options.

The weekend after we went to visit my parents at the coast and when we got home I picked up my weekend photos from the printer and popped them into frames and albums - so simple. All I needed to do was provide my dad with my printers email address to where he should email the pics I had selected.
This feature also comes in really handy now that I'm back at work and need to provide a to-do list to the nanny at home from time to time; I just email the list to the printer and she picks up the list at home - how fabulous is that?

In the 3 weeks that followed we seriously abused the gorgeous little printer and it kept surprising us by not running out of ink. What a bonus. So good looking, smart and cost-effective too. When it did run out of ink (mainly due to the ridiculously high volumes of full colour crafts and photos that we were churning out) it was very easy to to replace the cartridges. There is an onscreen display that tells you which colour is running out and to what extent.

Good thing we refilled because shortly after that time we discovered the HP creative suite which is another HP app built into the printer. This one has a plethora of practical templates for daily use as well as the likes of Barney (the purple dinosaur) which came in very handy for my youngest child's Barney themed birthday party.

Then, I bet your printer can't do this... The HP Photosmart 7510 has FaceBook built in too so you can access your FaceBook pics onscreen and print them out on the printer. Very nifty!

I am really hoping to sort out this Blogger/Google mess so that I can show off the printer and the crafts we made on it to you. In the meantime you can check out the hash tag #HPmum on Twitter to see some of the pics.

I was asked on Twitter if it would be suitable for home schooling environments; Yes! Small businesses would also get a lot of added value from this device.

The printer is in stores now.

Time to reflect

2011-06-06T08:02:00.000+02:00

With #TBD events all wrapped for the weekend, it's time to reflect before I report back. Need to remember to celebrate all the good that happened these past months - total strangers coming together to make a difference. There is so much good to reflect on.

I'll post an official #TBD report on my blog as well as on www.twitterblanketdrive.co.za by the end of this week.

All the #TBD info here (official website is down!)

2011-06-04T08:11:00.001+02:00

Thank you to a very over zealous South African Twitter community, the official #TBD website has borked! Here's all the info you need to know about events taking place around the country today.

There are 14 events taking place in 4 provinces:

Province	Area	Venue	Time	Twitter host
Gauteng	Sandton	Crowne Plaza Hotel, Rosebank	6pm – 10pm	@MelanieMinnaar
	Benoni	The Coffee Shop, Rynfield	6pm	@jackiejvr
	West Rand	SilverStar Casino	6pm	@ReneeEverett
	Pretoria	The Blades	6pm	@sdiedericks
Western Cape	Cape Town	StageCafe at Artscape	4.30pm	@alambchop
	Hermanus	OCF offices, Gateway Centre	6pm	@talitharabie
	Plettenberg Bay	Fynbos Ridge Country House	6pm	@fynbosridge
	Somerset West	Manuka at Southeys	6pm	@Helderberginfo
	Knysna	Mitchell’s Brewery beer garden	2pm – 4pm	@marleneboyce
KwaZulu Natal	Durban	Luna Rossa, Gateway S/C	11am - 4pm	@waewest
	Durban north	Livingstone Gastro Pub, Glenore Centre	6pm - 8pm	@askashe
	South coast	The Bistro, Ramsgate	6pm - 8pm	@SouthCoastLive
Eastern Cape	East London	TBC	TBC	@slummiesgirl
Eastern Cape	Port Elizabeth	Vovo Telo Pizzeria	6pm	@mon_tays

RSVP’s are encouraged and can be done online via www.twtvite.com - search Twitter Blanket Drive and a full list of #TBD events will come up. Select the event you want to attend and RSVP.

For anyone wishing to donate but who cannot attend any of the events, Williams Hunt dealerships nationwide are once again drop off points for blankets and clothing (no cash donations). Follow them on Twitter - @Williams_Hunt

There is a national competiton sponsored by @DionWired - you can win a Nintendo Wii just be uploading your most creative pic with your blanket at any #TBD event today. If you Tweet your pic, make sure to include the TBD hashtag in your post. Alternatively you can also email your pics to photos@twitterblanketdrive.co.za. REMEMBER TO PUT CAPTIONS TO YOUR PHOTOS!

@Makro_SA are selling Sesli brand 3/4 blankets at a disounted priced of R99 (normal selling price R129) in support of #TBD

Follow @CarsSouthAfrica on Twitter. They will donate 1 blanket for every 20 followers they get during the #TBD campaign period. Do it now. Spread the word.

What to bring with you:

Blankets to donate (old or new, the bigger the better). Clothing also accepted.
Cash for your own food and drinks.
Cameras or camera phones or smart phones (need to Tweet the event live)

Follow any of the #TBD event hosts listed above and contact them for any info you need throughout the course of today.

I'll post an update here on my blog when www.twitterblanketdrive.co.za is up and running again.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

(Follow me on Twitter @MelanieMinnaar)

Tweeting a vision

2011-05-18T21:50:00.000+02:00

In 2009 I signed up for Twitter. Hardly an early-adopter. I lost interest very quickly as no one was apparently interested in what I had to say, and ‘they’ were downright rude as they didn’t even acknowledge my presence on the social media platform. It took 6 more months before someone explained to me how Twitter worked.

It was only in January 2010 that I really started exploring the bustling social media platform. I was on maternity leave, it was a cold autumn day. And as I was lying warm in my bed a thought crossed my mind that it may be a very uncomfortable winter for many less fortunate people. By this stage of my maternity leave I was already firmly glued to my BlackBerry and more importantly to the Twitter community (albeit only about 200 followers at the time).

So, I did the natural thing and tweeted a call to action... In May I posted this Tweet:

... And an amazing thing happened;

In just 1 week the thought grew into a full blown national initiative by the South African Twitter community. 7 regions from Pretoria to the Overberg all confirmed their participation through 9 events all to be held on the same day and time across the country.

Nothing in it for any of the participants and organisers except to be a part of the 1st national social media fundraising initiative in South Africa. Venue sponsors came out of the Twitterverse, as did volunteers to assist with things like website design (who knew we needed a website?), drop-off points and PR. We even received support through ReTweets and messages of support from various NGO’s in the USA and UK who have a focus on Africa.

My Twitter vocabulary was growing by the day – as was my fascination with what was unfolding.

Then, just as things seemed to be under control; a Tweep had an idea to take #TBD to the rugby at Orlando stadium/Soccer City for the game between the Blue Bulls and the Stormers. Suddenly, #TBD went mainstream.

We ended up being talked about on various blogs, sports columns, news articles and podcasts. We knew we were a part of something awesome.

In the end we collected over 500 blankets and loads of bags of old clothing. Cash donations were also made directly to the beneficiaries selected. More than 200 Tweeps attended the TBD TweetUps and many more Tweeps made contributions at the various additional dropoff points.

(My father-in-law still jokes about me being interviewed on a rugby show – me, of all people who couldn’t tell you the difference between Butch James and Butch Cassidy. It is Butch James right?)

Here we are in 2011 and the blanket drive is back on the road and in full swing.

Events take place on Saturday, 4 June 2011 in the following centres:

Province	Area	Venue	Time	Twitter host
Gauteng	Sandton	Crowne Plaza Hotel, Rosebank	6pm – 10pm	@MelanieMinnaar
	Benoni	The Coffee Shop, Rynfield	6pm	@jackiejvr
	West Rand	SilverStar Casino	6pm	@ReneeEverett
	Pretoria	The Blades	6pm	@sdiedericks
Western Cape	Cape Town	NewsCafe at Artscape	4.30pm	@alambchop
	Hermanus	OCF offices, Gateway Centre	6pm	@talitharabie
	Plettenberg Bay	Fynbos Ridge Country House	6pm	@fynbosridge
	Somerset West	TBC	6pm	@Helderberginfo
	Knysna	Mitchell’s Brewery beer garden	2pm – 4pm	@marleneboyce
KwaZulu Natal	Durban	Luna Rossa, Gateway S/C	11am - 4pm	@waewest
	Durban north	Livingstone Gastro Pub, Glenore Centre	6pm - 8pm	@askashe
	South coast	The Bistro, Ramsgate	6pm - 8pm	@SouthCoastLive
Eastern Cape	East London	TBC	TBC	@slummiesgirl
Eastern Cape	Port Elizabeth	Vovo Telo Pizzeria	6pm	@mon_tays

RSVP’s are encouraged and can be done online via the official #TBD website; www.twitterblanketdrive.co.za

As much as I resist formalising the initiative I am asked more and more to talk about #TBD, something which I find soul fulfilling. The bottom line is: “want to collect blankets – I don’t care how we do these and what ideas individuals/corporates come up with to collect a many blankets as possible (legally).

What is most probably important to note is the vision that I carry in my heart for this project which is centred around the following pillars:

Community for community. In this instance – Twitter community for local communities where events will be held.
Friends with benefits – we will always endeavour to give back to charities represented on Twitter first, likewise – we will always look to support establishments with Twitter presence by selecting them as venues for our #TBD tweetups
Uphold integrity of social media environment – #TBD will never belong to any one sole sponsor, the Twitterverse is diverse in its constituents and we will always be true to all our followers’ preferences. My preference will always be to drive promotion in the virtual space first.
Anyone with shared goals can participate – this is not an exclusive project, the goal is to collect blankets for charity in the cold South African winter. If you can assist – we appreciate and welcome your efforts and will recognise these efforts – there will be no financial reward.

Most importantly, the spirit of #TBD is a bunch of people coming together around a common cause. That’s it. #TBD is not a registered NGO or charity – it is a facilitator of helping real people to do the good deeds that they wanted to do in the first place. (Earl would be proud: “Do good things and good things happen” – NBC sitcom)

Hope to see you on the 4th of June – or in real life somewhere where another vision is being fulfilled.

(Follow me on Twitter @MelanieMinnaar)

RSVP here & now for #TBD #Sandton

2011-04-23T08:53:00.002+02:00

Sandton #TBD tweetup is confirmed!

2011-04-22T21:06:00.004+02:00

The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Rosebank has been confirmed as the venue for the 4 June Tweetup for the blanket drive in Sandton.

The hotel has generously provided a conference room, complete with AV support necessary to make the tweetup a techie success. The tweetup venue is conveniently located in a private area with close access to rest rooms, deck (for smokers) and the hotel bar (in case there is a sporting event on the telly which we've overlooked in selecting the date).

The hotel is also currently investigating a free wi-fi option for Tweeps on the night.

There will be a live feed of the TBD hashtag tweets from around the country - displayed on a large screen.

On arrival, please make sure you write your Twitter handle on a name tag so that other Tweeps can identify you.

But, before you arrive - please do RSVP via www.twtvite.com

The Crowne Plaza Hotel is also providing the following prize which will be awarded to one lucky Tweep who attends the Sandton Tweetup on 4 June 2011:

1 x 2-night stay on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis in a luxury room at The Crowne Plaza Hotel for 2 adults.

I'm looking forward to hosting you at this #TBD event!

#TBD 2011 is here!

2011-04-13T21:00:00.001+02:00

The temperature has dropped. The trees are shedding green for gold. And, #TBD is back on...

Last year the South African Twitter community raised over 500 blankets in addition to bags full of clothing for less fortunate communities. Over R20,000.00 was also donated directly to selected charities for the drive.

Tweeps from all over the country came together on the same day at the same time for a national Tweetup for good.

This years' #TBD kicked off about 2 days ago and so far KZN province is taking in the lead in flexing its muscles with talk of 3 events being in the pipeline. KZN has also started a challenge between its North and South coast Twitter communities. Quite the competitive bunch :-) (They've also challenged other provinces to beat their collection numbers!)

2010 was purely spontaneous. 2011 has a target - 8,000 blankets to be exact. I came across a statistic that said there are 80,000 Tweeters in South Africa; so, if 1% of these Tweeters participate and contribute then the target is realistic. Of course, we don't like to take chances so any corporates or schools out there wanting to start their own challenges and help us achieve this remarkable feat are very, very welcome to join us.

One condition though, this is a Twitter event. Made possible by Tweeters. So, it's only fair that we would want to support organisations, schools and charities who are active on Twitter and who will participate in our growing conversation about all things #TBD.

We have a growing number of loyal advocates for this project, one being Barrie Bramley from Tomorrow Today. Click here to read Barrie's blogpost on #TBD 2011

By the way, #TBD is the hashtag to reference if you want more info on the blanket drive. You should also visit our website for updated information: www.twitterblanketdrive.co.za

So, grab a blanket and join us on 4 June 2011 at a venue near you for SA's 2nd national Tweetup for good!

And so I glued my fingers to my steering wheel...

2011-03-28T17:40:00.000+02:00

I'll spare you the long version of how I found myself in this predicament today. The short version goes something like this...

I was late for work but vanity prevailed and I needed to fix 2 broken fingernails before I went into the building. So, as I parked the car in the the basement I quickly whipped off the lid of the nail glue and squeezed the contents directly onto my one nail bed. I had the nail tips carefully laid out on top of my lap as remained strapped into the drivers' seat.

The 1st nail tip went on relatively easily but instead of waiting, oh say a whole 4 seconds or so for the glue to dry I immediately started applying glue to the 2nd nail tip. It was a maneuver any contortionist would have been proud of. I struggled to squeeze the glue bottle so I did the logical thing and put the bottle in my mouth and bit down on it until the glue ran out, then I dropped the bottle onto my lap and quickly tried to pick it up which immediately bonded both thumb nails together. There was also so much glue oozing out of the bottle and down the side of my hand that my right hand became attached to my building access cards and lanyard that were lying on my lap - I immediately pulled my hand up only for it to get stuck to my steering wheel.

Let me confirm: skin feels pain as you tear it from limb to limb.

Now, if - just if - I was prepared for such an event I may have tried dissolving the glue with nail polish remover (acetone is glue's worst enemy!) as opposed to filing down my skin with a blunt nail file. Acetone is almost always guaranteed to undo the damage of stupidity.

However, there are some bodily places where acetone should never be used; and I thought I'd share these tips with you here (courtesy of www.supergluecorp.com):

Should Super Glue bond to any body part where acetone should not be applied, such as the lips or eyes, the following steps will help you get out of any sticky situation!

SkinImmerse bonded areas in warm, soapy water. Peel or roll skin apart; a spatula or teaspoon handle or even a pencil will help. Remove cured adhesive with warm, soapy water (may take several applications). Fingernail polish remover with an acetone base has also been successful for removal of cured adhesive from skin.
Lips
If lips are accidentally stuck together, apply a generous amount of warm water and encourage maximum wetting and pressure from saliva from inside the mouth. Peel or roll (do not pull) lips apart. It is almost impossible to swallow the adhesive as a liquid. The adhesive solidifies upon contact with saliva (moisture) and could adhere to the inside of the mouth. Saliva will lift the adhesive in 1-2 days, avoid swallowing the adhesive after detachment.
Eyelid
In the event that eyelids are stuck together or bonded to the eyeball, wash thoroughly with warm water and apply a gauze patch. The eye will open without further action within 1-4 days. To our knowledge there has never been a documented case of adhesive in the eye causing permanent damage. Do not try to force eyes open.
EyeballThe adhesive will attach itself to the eye protein and will disassociate from it over time, usually within several hours. Periods of weeping and double vision may be experienced until clearance is achieved. Use of a warmed 3% sodium bicarbonate solution to wash eyes repeatedly may assist in aiding more rapid removal of the adhesive.
WE SUGGEST THAT ALL INCIDENTS OF EYE EXPOSURE TO CYANOACRYLATE ADHESIVE (SUPER GLUE) BE DISCUSSED WITH A PHYSICIAN.

HINT: YOU MAY WANT TO BOOKMARK THIS BLOG POST IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

6th Annual Women's Leadership Conference 2011

2010-12-14T22:34:00.000+02:00

The 6th Annual Women’s Leadership Conference: “We are the Leaders We’ve Been Waiting For” – described by many as the most dynamic conversation of women leaders in the country – is due to take place in March 2011 in Johannesburg (March 10 -11) and Cape Town (March 18). I am honored to be have invited to attend as a panelist alongside

Fiona Snyckers – Joburg-based novelist
Phillippa Yaa de Villiers – award-winning writer, performer poet and scriptwriter
Shafinaaz Hassim – author, sociologist and biographer
Kay Vittee – CEO of Quest
Maritza van den Heuvel – Product Owner at Kaplan IT Learning
Maximillian Kaizen co-founder and senior researcher for Huddlemind Labs
Monique Theron – ex drug addict now social media activist and award winning blogger

Keynotes so far include:

Ferial Haffajee – Editor in Chief of City Press (Jhb)
Dr Lulu Gwaga – CEO of Lerako Investments (Jhb)
Elaine Rumboll – Director of Executive Education, Graduate School of Business (CT)

For more information on the 6th Annual Women’s Leadership Conference: “We are the Leaders We’ve Been Waiting For” or to purchase your ticket contact QualityLife Company on 011 880 9749 or visit www.qualitylife.co.za.

TO BOOK: Call Lizzy Mafalo on (011) 880-9749 or email Lizzy with your contact details.

The Mother Load weekly newspaper is out!

2010-12-07T23:25:00.000+02:00

I've just created a newspaper at www.paper.li. The Mother Load is a weekly paper filled with all things that are of interest to me - and maybe you too. Check it out and let me know what you think of the content.

I just won a competition

2010-09-03T21:53:00.001+02:00

"I’m not sure who you are, or how I got here but tell me; does my hair look okay?"

I entered a 'timewaster' competition on Hurricane Vanessa's blog today and as luck would have it, turns out it wasn't a waste of time at all.

The competition was Tweeted by Vanessa Raphaely from her Twitter profile @hurricanevaness (Competition details) and I received an email this evening to say I'd won (Winners' announcement) :-)

Original thought

2010-08-07T19:20:00.001+02:00

Sometimes I wonder whether people who keep up with social media and blogging ever get to read a 'good-old-book' anymore. It would be a great pity if pop culture led to a generation of people who are led and informed only by other people's opinions, and not through their own analysis and conclusions which reflection and investigation provides.

Of course it is easier to read a couple of blogs in one day than time would permit to sink your teeth into a decent novel. And, our lives are already compacted by the many other trade-offs we make to keep up with a world and surrounds where technology, relationships and conversation are measured by the speed and accessibility at which they occur.

It used to be cliché to say we're at risk of being 'American-ised' by the compelling Western world influences and global effect. I think that the modern equivalent is that we all end up having the same conversations, same influences. I recently read that there is no such thing as an original idea anymore. It would be very unfortunate if this became truth. Fact.

And it will become a reality if we don't constantly remind ourselves of our individuality, our uniqueness - and in doing so, keep challenging accepted norms and conventions.

The first step... pick up a book. Take time to read it. Enjoy it. Have an opinion.

30 Books to read before you're 30

"Super Rabbit"

2010-06-23T06:58:00.000+02:00

I loved this video! There's a quote that says "she didn't know she couldn't do it, so she went ahead and did it"; this clip sums up this quote for me. The power of believing in yourself and never giving up...

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika

2010-06-10T10:06:00.004+02:00

Ahead of the soccer world cup, if you are South African and STILL don't know the words to our national anthem - here is my contribution to this event in the interest of national pride. To kick-start your learning experience you can listen to a version being sung here.

(Xhosa) Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,
(Zulu) Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.
(Sesotho) Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso, Setjhaba sa, South Afrika - South Afrika.
(Afrikaans) Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,
(English) Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.

2010-06-10T08:31:00.004+02:00

Time to shine South Africa

Wednesday 09 June has been compared only to the day when Madiba was released and when the Boks won the Rugby World Cup. Jubilation lined every inch of the country but most wished they had journeyed to Johannesburg to join in the Sandton parade where Bafana Bafana came out to the delight of their fans. 185 000 of them as it turns out. They travelled just a block away from their Southern Sun Grayston hotel into a sea of yellow shirts, colourful wigs, makarabas and the now famous vuvuzela. Music blared from large speakers, singing came from every corner. Flags waved proudly and South Africa showed once again just what it means to be a rainbow nation.

I went into Sandton in the morning but then decided that Thing 2's nanny would love the opportunity to be a part of the festivities - and to see her beloved Bafana Bafana. So, I returned home - showered her with whistles, flags and vuvuzelas and sent her on her way. She LOVED the experience (so much so that she stopped by all the other nannies on the way home to tell them where she had been for the day!).

She took some pics for me so that I could see what she saw;

There were events held nationally at midday yesterday but I can't imagine a better place to be than Sandton. Even the sun shone brightly on our national team and you would be forgiven for thinking that summer had made an early return to South Africa.

I heard on a news report that because Mexico's colours are also yellow that Bafana Bafana supporters are asked not to wear the alternative green supporter kit on Friday but stick to the yellow. Judging by the crowd yesterday I'm sure that most supporters do have the yellow kit anyway.

South Africa. Ke Nako.

2010-05-26T22:51:00.004+02:00

For love of the game...

The picture to the left is of the new Orlando Stadium which will soon be on display to the world when the soccer world cup kicks off in a couple of weeks.

This weekend though it will be home to the Blue Bulls and the Stormers in the Super 14 final. To say that I am not a rugby fanatic would be an understatement but what has caught my attention is a post on sport24.co.za brought to my attention by active Tweeters, @talk2imagine and @antiekoekie:

What Clint expressed in words is surely the heartfelt sentiment of many South Africans in their willingness to make a meaningful contribution to impoverished communities and to build bridges between historical adversaries based on racial divides.

We've always known that sport is such a powerful connector of people, winning hearts and minds through simple passion for 'the game'. I was thinking that it would be wonderful to help Clints' request come to fruition, and I honestly believe that the Twitter Blanket Drive (#TBD) is just the vehicle to do that. #TBD has grown quite remarkably in just over 3 weeks now, and the national TweetUps take place on the same day as the Super 14 final.

The idea is quite simply; get every fan attending the game to donate a blanket or item of warm clothing. The stadium capacity is 40,000. All tickets were sold out within an hour of going on sale. If just 1 in 10 contributed, we would collect 4,000 items that could be provided to the surrounding community.

Regarding who would benefit from this collection; the answer came quite easily through another Tweeter, @jenty, who had already done work in the Doornkop area. We would donate all proceeds to the D Hani Creche in Doornkop, Soweto, or more specifically - leave them in the trusted and capable hands of Nthabiseng Dimpho who started the creche and is a wellknown and respected community leader. Here is her story as penned by Jeannette Verster on her blog:

Mme Dimpho (as she’s known in the area) was one of 3 children. Her parents died when they were young and they lived in aunts and uncles home cleaning and cooking for them until her brother was old enough to look after them. She never went to school. He made her marry someone when she was 15 and she had 3 kids. She eventually got a job as a cleaner in Rand Mutual hospital and then started training as a nurse, until the hospital closed down when the mine closed.

One day she was at home, when a man came to her house with a baby who was very hot. She tried to bring the fever down, but it didn’t work. Eventually she took the child to Baragwanath where the doctors examined the 9 month old and discovered that she had been sexually abused. The baby eventually died from her injuries and the father of the baby was never found.

That incident made Nthabiseng decide to start a daycare instead of just sitting around the house waiting for a job.

The daycare centre is in the area where she lived. It’s in a low-cost housing and shack dwellers area called Doornkop which is on the West side of Soweto. The centre cares for 130 children between the ages of 6 months and 6 years.

The school is not the only thing that she does in the community. She runs a feeding scheme from the creche for 15 granny headed households where the parents have died and the grannies can’t get government grants because they can’t get ID documents (one of the households she feeds has a granny with 8 kids). She also fosters 8 children at her house and she can’t get grants for them either.

Since looking into this opportunity I have also learnt that June is Month of the Child and Nthabiseng's aim is to provide a blanket to every child in the broader Doornkop informal settlement. No mean feat. But, we can certainly help her achieve her goal.

So, what now?

We need Orlando Stadium to approve this initiative and give permission to set up collection points in and around the stadium at the time of the final game.
Both rugby teams have VERY active websites - we need them to actively publicise this charity drive and to encourage their fans to bring blankets to the game for donation thereafter.

Simple hey?

I'm sure we'll be able to sort out other logistics like transporting the goods from stadium to the creche for safekeeping, and arranging volunteers to man collection points. No problem too big if this is something we all WANT to do.

Logistically, I do think it would be best if the fans held onto their blankets during the game (it's cold for fans too!) and deposit their donations on their way out.

So, who's game?

Your support is great but your contacts would be better :-) to get this thing off the ground VERY quickly.

Please feel free to link to this article in your own blog or website. Thanks!

For more info and images about D Hani Creche visit Jeanette Versters’ blog

You can read up on #TBD on this blog or visit the official website.

2010-05-25T11:34:00.000+02:00

The digital agency, Creative Ink, mentioned me on their website - www.creativeink.co.za

2010-05-22T13:55:00.002+02:00

Komoshin mentioned me on their website - www.komoshin.com

2010-05-21T22:56:00.000+02:00

P.E.N. mentioned me on their website - www.pen.org.za

2010-05-20T15:25:00.003+02:00

Court finds gay couple guilty in landmark case

Blantyre, Malawi - 20 May 2010.

Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwausiwa delivered his judgment on the gay case involving Tiwonge Chibalanga and Steven Monjeza sentencing the youths to 14 years imprisonment.

“You are guilty of the two accounts of buggery and indecent practice between males, contrary to section 156 of penal code,” Usiwausiwa declared.

Chibalanga & Monjeza are the country's first ever gays to publicly engage.

Register your protest about this conviction with the

High Commissioner to South Africa, Ms Agrina Mussa

highcommalai@telkomsa.net or fax your protest to +27 12 342 0147

Click here to read more

2010-05-19T23:25:00.003+02:00

To blog or not to blog...

Okay, so I'm a late starter to this blogging business and to be absolutely honest, the need to create my own blog developed quite accidently as I realised I was writing more for other people's sites and benefit than for my own. So, not to be outdone, here is my blog!

I'm enjoying the way I can apply my personality to this online environment and you'll notice my A-type personality coming through in the way this blog is structured and organised I suppose. Oh well, you can't run from your own feet...

What I'm looking forward to is maximising on the unlimited bandwidth I get from being married to an IT consultant, coupled with my need to continuously document 'stuff' - whether it be for work or for my children's future reference.

I cannot help feeling guilty though; I think that if I pretend to blog A LOT that I may score a new netbook or even an iPad from hubby...

2010-05-19T14:05:00.004+02:00

Barrie Bramley mentioned me on his blog - www.barriebramley.com

2010-05-19T14:04:00.003+02:00

Antie Koekie mentioned me on her blog - www.antiekoekie.co.za

2010-05-17T15:13:00.015+02:00

Interview: represent.co.za

This is an interview I did for represent.co.za for their Represent ♥’s Everyday Tweeple feature. I was thrilled to be their 1st female interviewee. If you thought you knew me, you may want to read the interview and find out if that is indeed the case :-)

Click here to goto the interview Please leave a comment so I know you've been reading...