Let’s face it, South Africa has it’s fair share of shit. More than that even.
We have a ridiculous president who –if rumours are to be true– recently realised that showering does not (as he believed) prevent AIDS. One of our country’s more prominent cities has a councillor effectively inciting violence and racial divide, and nothing is done about it. I had to endure a party the other night where almost everyone (older white folk) claimed to be liberal and non-racist, yet the word kaffir flew around for every occasion where they thought it could be used (“I am kaffir-drunk” seemed to be one of their favourites).
Everything is not political though. Just this morning, I read about a man who got beaten to death by 4 guys ad 2 girls in Spur (in my home town nogal) for allegedly throwing a glass at them. This made me wonder about a few things. Firstly, did the guy not realise that spillage is downage, and boy, he got downed. After I stopped being unsuitably ridiculous, I thought about how bad is must be to beaten to death in a place you trust. You take your family to it. You eat ribs and get sparklers on your ice cream when you pretend it’s your birthday… and now you die there.
So yes, there’s a lot of fucked up things going on in our beloved country.
BUT…
Look on the bright side, EVERYTHING is not bad. We are still one of the prettiest and most diverse countries in the world. A LOT of people have moved past racial discrimination and now adhere to the more internationally acceptable discrimination based on wealth and power. If all else fails, at least we provide stunning material for comedians everywhere.
After thinking of all these depressing things, I thought of 3 things that I personally look forward to this year. There are many, many more, but these are the ones currently on my mind:
- Oppikoppi
Surely South Africa’s most well known music festival is celebrating their 20th birthday this year August.
The local line-up of bands is looking brilliant, and on the international front I almost wet myself when I heard that Wolfmother will be gracing us with their presence .
The theme for 2014 is Odyssey, and I cannot wait to see what they have in store for us on the Northam farm.
I look forward to a few days of dust, music, friends and the type of memories you only make at the best party any animal can hope for!
- Mieliepop
If you have not yet heard of Mieliepop, let me introduce you.
Mieliepop is one of South Africa’s most beautiful little music festivals, about 60km from Ermelo in Mpumalanga. At roughly 2000 people, it clocks in at a tenth the size of Oppikoppi, but make no mistake… This is an awesome event. Clean, green and with muso’s that will blow your mind. This year there will be not one, but two stages as well as the ever-exhilarating after-parties in the cave. Yes, there’s a cave, and we party in it.
Do yourself a favour, check this one out in October.
- Foo Fighters
Holy smokes, the internetworld has been going crazy after hearing yesterday that Foo Fighters will be visiting South Africa in December. I literally let out a tear and a tiny orgasm. Tickets go on sale 1 day 19 hours and 39 minutes from now (as I am sitting here typing this), but you may think of it as Thursday 26 June 9:00.
If I could get to party with Dave and the gang, I can just as well go to Spur and start flinging glasses around. I’ll go in peace.
There you have it.
Three of my reasons why 2014 is certainly NOT shit for South Africa.
What are your reasons to be happy and stay motivated amidst all the crap around us?
Let me know, and you might just help someone else realise that life is really not that bad…
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