Bed Were Made To Be Slept On

There are people in my res that are constantly sleeping in the common room and I've never understood how they did it, so I thought I should give it a try.

Boy- oh boy was it an experience.... It was by far the most uncomfortable thing I've ever done. I jumped around from sofa to sofa trying to find one that would be comfortable for like 10minutes. Then I spent another 10minutes trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in which i never did quite find! By the time I found myself dozing off, someone would come in making a racket which just aggravated my discomfort. When I eventually did fall asleep, i wake up in a very bad mood which is not like me at all.

My neck hurt, my right arm had gone numb and my butt felt like I had been sleeping on a rock! Need I say anymore, I'm glad I tried it but I wont be doing it again anytime soon after all sleep is about comfort and waking up feeling better than you were! All in all i realised that beds were mad for a reason!!!

"Coconuts make a stylish doormat"

Before I left res, I thought to myself that it was going to be an interesting night, in an environment surrounded by white people but wasn't completely sure as to whether myself and my friends would fit in and not feel uncomfortable. The minute I arrived, all prejudice ideologies disappeared! Many of the white folks were welcoming and were actually excited to see us but then as the night went by I realised all my acts were classified as being a typical coconut. The African girls who would walk by would question me and tell me that I'm lost and that this is no longer High School where we are forced to interact with the white people. That little statement got to me but as I looked at the crowd I saw no colour but just varsity students having fun and enjoying themselves. From time to time I couldn't relate to the music but regardless of the beat or melody I Danced the night away.Frier's is simply the best!

Wired Jounalists

http://themissinggoatfiles.blogspot.com/
Goat files blog impressed me a lot, this group showed much participation in their writing of which helped build the audience they have. Each writer of the blog valued their editorial judgement that enhanced for them to eventually share their own individual pieces. The blog provides the audience with a sense of urgency. The blog consists of information that is useful to the reader. The content of the blog is new in the level of a playing field environment where everyone has the same constraints. One gets the impression that the blog has become second nature to the writers; there are posts that are constantly updated with new information. Like any other tool the writers have made their blog useful. The blog shares resources and one is able to keep up with what’s going on. But some posts are not very satisfying for anything other than the blog being a one way communication. The blog headlines attract people to their blog. The writing is direct and tells a potential reader about each post. Some journalists have killer headlines but the content of the story is not strong enough. There are few posts that could stir up some controversy; some writers are very moronic they have some sort of dare to incite a little annoyance. The blog is short of specifics, the blog seems to be stuck on several versions. Other than that goat files is a very catchy blog!
By Nicole Young

Yellow Brick Lost...

I was instantly drawn to Yellow Brick Rhodes and appreciated the play on the word road as well as the witty originality in the blogs name. With that impression in mind I high expectations of greater wit to come but unfortunately the wit started and ended in the blogs name. Even so I still enjoyed its content, although I felt it waved in relevance to the name because I expected a greater focus on Rhode and the road people take at Rhodes. They did however have blogs on things relevant to Rhodes like the ROAR article and picture. I like the fact that each upload had some sort of follow up- ROAR member picture was followed with an blog entry as well as the Malema blog entry which was followed by the blog entitled Mbeki a bad example: Melema/ Times live Multimedia hyperlink. The appearance of the blog didn’t relate with the title or the blog itself which was rather disappointing. The blog does appeal to the interest of journalism student- Rhodes journalism students more so but journalism student none the less which is what it was aimed to do in the first place. It was not the best blog out of the bunch but also far from being the worst blog!

http://yellowbrickrhode.blogspot.com/

Slamming on my guitar!

Fun, liberating, exciting and out of this world! I have always wanted to learn how to play the guitar and this past weekend my dreams were finally implemented! Let me break it down for you!

So I was walking past a friend's room on Saturday afternoon, when I heard a very rhythmic beat being played on the guitar. I told them that I would like to learn how to play the guitar and friend Duncan's exact words were "shweeet man!” So he first played a tune and I listened carefully to how the pros do their thing. Then I was taught the basics; I was taught how to hold the guitar. Everything has to be done in an intricate way from holding the guitar to pressure your fingers have to apply on the strings. I then advanced and learned how to play the “E” and the “E-minor” as well as the “A” and “A-minor”! Now for the icing on the cake, my friend and I created a song!

It was fantastic experience because it allowed me to escape from the mundane. I felt free and at that moment I realised that we are in charge of our own happiness. This experience has opened a new chapter in my life; I have new dreams and a vision on how to attain those dreams. I have decided to take guitar lessons from my friend Duncan at least once a week, hopefully by the end of next year I will be a true rock star!

#rublogs So you want to know if i can play guitar? Check out http://www.battleofthesexez...

Revolutionary Review

For the first time in my life I read a blog that evoked so much emotion in me that I almost cried in the Jac Labs. I could identify with the bloggers, and there was one particular blogger who made me realise that there is a bigger picture in all the journalism assignments we have been doing. For the first time I saw how our work as journalism 1 students can aid us to communicate thoughts and ideas that may be life changing to others. This journalism student spoke bravely about her highs and lows in her life. She disclosed personal issues such as drug abuse and suicidal thoughts that have a lot of relevance to many individuals at Rhodes University.

Revolution readers is a blog about young individuals who are unafraid to go where others have gone. They write about issues of African hair to personal issues which they undergo on a day to day basis. The background on their blog is appealing in terms of colour and patterns. Their pictures definitely match their name, because they have pictures of revolutionary writers such as Steven Bantu Biko, who inspired revolutionary readers. Most of all they manage to write intellectually and critically on issues which we are afraid to tackle even in our daily conversations with friends.

It was absolutely refreshing for me to read a blog that was sophisticated in writing, opened up the bloggers deepest and most challenging experiences while still appealing to a mass audience. I think it is a wonderful motivational blog to read, especially during exam time when most students are going through depression and suicidal thoughts, this blog can save a person’s life. An amazing blog with a lot of potential to expand even further, because I find that only one person engages the reader with their personal experiences. The bloggers can afford to have an identifiable identity. Overall, awesome stuff!


#rublogs Do you consider yourself part of the revolutionary age? Check out a review on http://www.battleofthesexez...

No Such Thing As Normal

Society has this need or want to control everything and place everything into categorises or boxes and as soon as you don’t fit into the prescribed categorises or boxes that’s not “normal” and there is something wrong with you.
But how do we know if something is normal or not, who dictates this- society? We make up society surely because we are all differ; we will have different views as to what is normal which makes normal something subjective so in fact there is nothing that is “normal” pre-say if normal is different for everyone. Yet people base a number of their agreements on issues like that of homosexuality on the fact that it is not “normal”.
If society could accept and recognise the fact that nothing is really normal there would be fewer bases for discrimination or judgement. There would be greater bases for unity and harmony in society.

Trying to make a revolutionary change

http://http://www.timeslive.co.za/business/article166125.ece
Zuma has just shocked the whole nation with his latest statement about “The ANC vowing no protection for comrades implicated for corruption”. It’s amazing how our president is trying to fight something that he alone was once almost convicted for. It makes me wonder how the decision will be capable of making a difference to the current situation our country is facing. These corrupt politicians have made the poor people poorer and have stripped them of their rights. Our nation’s peoples have been blindly at loggerheads over the officials self-pleasing and sly enrichment escapades which have been kept in the shadows and now the immoral self-serving laws are being exposed? For the past fifteen years our country had carried a roman attitude enforced by the corrupt government and the refusal to admit to corruption makes it hard to believe that comrades will no longer protect one another. Meaning there will be no politicians left in parliament... Another point is that politicians tend to forget that, our democracy is based on people’s interests and not the party’s interests. If this principal of morality is not applied without any form of unfair compromises, then all roads lead towards observers who will take amusement in the coming to look upon the ruins of a potentially wonderful country that had been given an opportunity to be a shining example to be the civilized world.

Do we report news to aid those in need or to further patronise them in their times of need?

#rublogs Are you tired of Africa being the victim when Western countries are playing the heroes? check out http://tinyu...less than 5 seconds ago#rublogs Are you tired of Africa being the victim when Western countries are playing the heroes? check out http://tinyurl.com/ygr6t7e


Journalists are writers who aim at a mass audience and they advocate a point or express a viewpoint. What happens when journalists exploit their creative power of writing to elevate other people at the expense of others? Many articles and news clips have been produced about African countries being in a state of need and the Western countries being the heroes of the atrocities that occur. The ironic matter is that, Africa is not the only continent in the world that has social issues. However the media always seems to highlight the disasters that happen in African countries rather than in other countries. Journalists do report on cases of disaster in Western countries, such as hurricane Katrina in the U.S.A. The point is not what journalists report; it is how they report it. When hurricane Katrina struck the U.S.A there was immense media coverage, however the Americans were portrayed as survivors not as victims of the disaster. An article was posted on the 15th of October 2009 about LRA (Lord Resistance Army) attacks in the Congo. The headline was: Northern Congo 'needs urgent aid'. The article stated that 400000 thousand people have fled their homes but not one of those people were interviewed and asked about their experience or survival , instead a woman named Katharine Derderian from a Western organization which offered help was interviewed. Our task as upcoming journalists is to report news that doesn’t place power on others while patronizing others; the question is we willing to?

The Presidents Hotline goes Coldhttp://www.timeslive.co.za/news/article156076.ece

The Presidents new hotline has received nothing but bad press and continues to prove ineffective. The DA’s recent 13 hour attempt to get through to the hotline and had only six of their 51 calls answered. The average South African would have give up after the first attempt and those who do get through still have cross fingers in hope that there complaints do in fact get followed up and receive a reference number. The DA only received two reference numbers out their numerous complaints. However the is no sort of response or attempt of getting the side of the Hotline or the President regarding the 45 unanswered call. There is money and time being pumped into this hotline that has proven not very helpful in its attempt to hear and solve the complaints of its South Africans. With time and money that could be directed in a more productive avenue. Perhaps we need to be a little more patient since there has been said to be progress, “the improvements were slight” even if it’s minimal.

http://http//www.timeslive.co.za/news/article156076.ece

BODY OF MISSING BOY FOUND.

BY: Melissa Gidish
“Body of missing boy found.” 2010-10-19 –News 24.com
This article is about a 9 year old young boy that was found dead in a stream in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg on Monday morning. The boy went missing while playing with a friend near the Klipspruit river crossing in Eldorado Park's Extension 9 at about 18:00 on Sunday. Police spokesperson Nana Radebe says: "We want to send out a strong message that streams are not designated areas for swimming. There is a swimming pool nearby." http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/53cb66e08c5043f89965e4784242ca3a/19-10-2009-10-43/Body_of_missing_boy_found
There is a swimming pool nearby." I found this to be a pointless and insensitive article. The fact that a young boy’s body was found after a drowning incident should not be seen so lightly and should not be blamed on the fact that he was swimming in a river. The fact that Nana Radebe exclaimed that there was a swimming pool nearby is insensitive and besides the point of what actually happened to the boy.
What about the family of the young boy? Nowhere in the article do they mention why the boy was there alone with a friend, they could have perhaps expanded on the fact that the young boy was alone at the stream with another young friend. Perhaps a case of neglect could be looked into.
I find this article to be somewhat pointless and not exactly news worthy however harsh that may sound. There are so many other cases in which children have drowned in a swimming pool at home yet Nana Radebe suggests that if the child was in the swimming pool nearby that he would have been safe and that nothing would have happened to him.

NASA sent the LCROSS spacecraft to the moon on the 9th of October to hit a crater, in hope to find frozen water. To much of their disappointment they hit a dead end with no water. NASA’s principal investigator, Anthony Colaprete says that they saw an impact when the LCROSS spacecraft hit the moon, but he does not mention the fact that their scientists mistook craters as water droplets on the moon. http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/oct/12/nasa-moon-bomb-hit-dry-hole.htm.

NASA stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, this organisation is an American government agency. The main aim of NASA is to give people more information about the solar system and any given changes in it, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-nasa.htm. It baffles me why this organisation would go out of their way to go and bomb the moon, spending so much money on the project and fail to obtain their objective, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8245409.stm .

Is this really the time for exploration in space when there is a global recession? What does the American president, Mr. Barack Obama have to say about this? President Obama has given NASA the go ahead to bomb the moon and he has promised the American people that there will be no harm on the forms of life on the moon. I think it is absolutely ridiculous to be spending money on unsuccessful space ventures when people are suffering because of recession; it raises the question why would President Obama win the Noble Peace Prize.

Legend of Osama bin Laden

http://http://www.timeslive.co.za/news/world/article155321.ece
By Nicole Young

It’s hard to believe that a man who had violent beliefs could have ‘room to love’ his many wives and children. Osama bin Laden who is well known for his talent of paraphrasing Western self-critism and of course the 9/11 attack. His first wife Najwa in the article describes the side of the terrorist that is not known by the world, there are a number of interesting “facts” mentioned but one that seems to strike a readers eye is “his love for nature” yet ever since he has been involved in acts of defending his own country all he has been doing is destroying nature with the bombings. The article also goes on about his ‘mixed attitude’ of using technology and being for earthmoving machinery, seems to be a hypocrite because he went to study in university having to use technology yet for his own children he enforced a simple life. Interesting how a ‘man of fear’ worldwide is portrayed the same at home in a suttle way. His immoral act in the eyes of family appears to be legendary.

Hello sunshine, goodbye black!Yep we're the fashionista's, not because we own labels but talk about 'style' and thats our language. This is the fashion class you would'nt want to miss.Let me freshen up your wardrope ..

When the Tough Gets Going the Going Gets tough

A splash of happiness

Born to be free

Nicole Young

I’ve always wanted to become a Journalist and it all started with me being an enthusiastic reader to numerous magazines such as the “TRUE LOVE, ELLE, DESTINY and GLAMOUR” magazines. I constantly look forward to every new issue and especially the column which targets the inner self and offers a reflective and inspiring drive for me to be a writer. I feel I have so much to offer in the Journalistic world, there are so many issues that us journalists can discover and help recognize stories through analytically or critically discussing the topics to come and sharing it with the viewers. With my groups “Battle of the Sexez” blog we concentrate on how society has become so obsessed with looks. This really affects millions of people around the world and there are many studies about this topic. I mean there are even examples like pop icon “Michael Jackson”, bless his soul but he suffered from the disorder of being dissatisfied with his “flaws” and went to undergo painful surgery to sanction the mistake, even though he wanted the world to believe that he was suffering from a rare skin disease.
I know the topic may seem morbid but its the tragic truth, we’re all critical of our own bodies and if society is only becoming more infatuated with what is an acceptable appearance and what isn’t it will lead people in believing that they are unattractive and classify themselves as being “ugly” and the truth of the matter is that nobody’s perfect-even though we’d like to be. Another fine example featured in our blog is Caster Simenya who is not classified as a male or female and has been judged on her ‘exceptional running performance’. It’s amazing how the media has forced her to conform. The ‘YOU Magazine’ turned Caster into a “girl” to fit in the category because people are threatened by her being different. Journalism has made me experience and realise that as people we all carry inside ourselves a deep sense of recognition, an inheritance that extends beyond the material; finely tuned radar for what we are essentially about. I believe in the blogging world journalists can help shape peoples lives and together constitute unforgettable stories. I look forward to write for a livelihood and because I see myself as a modern day “treasure hunter”. Give me a plot and a promise of gold and I’m good to go! I hope my groups blog will keep people around that are like-minded and supportive.

Zizipho Beshe

My craving to become a journalist was something that happened by chance. I had my mind set on studying drama for as long as I can remember and nothing else. The idea of journalism slowly crept up on me during my search for avenues to broaden my horizon but still within the entertainment industry and that would compliment my studies in drama. So naturally the radio and photography fields caught my interest as something worth investing my time and studies in.
Rhodes University was an absolute must because of amazing talent that its drama department had and has- dramatically it’s considered one of the best. I then soon found out that it was also considered to best university to study journalism at. I began communication with my cousin who has been a journalist for a number of years and he had nothing be great things to say about being a journalist, he even recommended Rhodes without knowing that I had already had my eye set on studying there. I took that as a sign that I was indeed going the right way. I then went on to converse about the idea of taking journalism with a family friend who had been in the field for over ten years. She absolutely loathed being a journalist; she said it was the most depressing field to go into because of the nature of journalism reflecting life. That once you are journalist you see life for what it really is, that statement still has me confused until now. She did how ever make an illustration about journalism that I will never forget she had said that journalism is like a tree rooted in life with many branches through which life is expressed. I think it was that illustration though I doubt it was her intended intention that influenced my decision to become a journalist the most. I wanted to express and reflect life- that is what made me fall in love with drama.
Having the power to reflect the very thing we as people strive to hold on to and find purpose in- LIFE! As this my fist year in journalism has progressed there have been days, weeks where I am just confused as to why I took it in the first place but I keep going back to that illustration to gain clarity on why I want to become a journalist.

Define yourself

Journalists have been described as various things. Some believe that they are ethnographic researchers, meaning they observe everyday ordinary people and extract stories from just immersing themselves into the situations surrounding them. Others call them watchdogs, people who are always on the look out for wrong doing so that they can report fraudulent politicians, corporate world leaders and celebrities.

I believe journalists are intellectual researchers, informers, courageous communicators and participants in everyday life situations. They report news through different media: radio, newspapers, television, blogs, books and many more avenues to the masses. They keep us updated and informed which helps a lot of us to make well informed decisions. Journalists are creative in every sense of the word; they can tell timeless stories, like human interest stories on past heroes and make the stories applicable in our current lives. Journalists bring the stories they report on to life, one gets the feeling of the immediacy of a hard news story. They are entertaining and most of all they seek and bring about change.

However one cannot assume that all journalists are good Samaritans across the world. There are some journalists who just run with stories to make money. Others do not care how unethical it is to hurt people in order to get what they want, other journalists lie about stories or contacts and still get away with it. Some journalists lack passion and a drive for the good of the people. Others use their writing abilities and journalistic freedom to attack people on a personal level and the list goes on. The fact of the matter is journalism like any other career has its positive and negative connotations. The question is what do we do as journalists of tomorrow to avoid the clichés and inhumanity while striving for objectivity and all rounded reporting?

I aspire to be a tenacious reporter, who will go further than the average man. I want to write stories not for the sake of putting a good English breakfast on my table every morning, but to change people’s ways of thinking, to question conventions and to bring about a sense of humanity and goodness. Battle of the sexez is platform for ideas to be communicated, for opinions to form and debates to take place about the issue of gender. A lot of the time people believe that they can define who or what the next person is by just pure artificial judgement. This blog will give homosexuals, transgender, hermaphrodites, heterosexuals and many more people all across the world to discuss their experiences, hardships and how they have been categorised as something that they are not in society. This is a chance to do define yourself, go for it!

THE NEXT BIG THING

SA crash out of Champions Trophy, Zuma lashes Mbeki on Aids, Michael Jackson single to be released, OOPS Britney Spears Does it AGAIN!- this is the news that we feed off on a daily basis. We converse, discuss and debate matters such as this. We follow celebrities, disasters and many more aspects which are happening world wide all around us. Who can we thank for this? The answer my friends, is not blowing in the wind, it is the Journalists across the world that we have to thank.Journalists perform a very important task in providing a basis for us to make in formed decisions and opinions about what is going on in the news of the World we live in. By researching and writing about matters, we the readers are told a story of what is happening around the world, and from that we get to form our own ideas and opinions. In other words, what journalists write is not always what we have to think.

Working in an office, behind a desk everyday for the rest of my life seems like a nightmare to me, which is why journalism inspires me so much. Being able to have a career which encourages me to go out there, to be on the streets and work with people gets my blood pumping. I’m loud, I’m ‘out there’, I’m a sociable and confident person that find people fascinating, so why not make a career out of it? Being a journalist gives me the freedom of making something out of my extremely opinionated personality. I have a ‘no-holds-bar’ when it comes to my opinions and I strongly feel that people will enjoy reading what I have to say because of that.

Fashion- something that makes my toes curl and holds my attention. My passion for fashion along with Journalism is what I see myself doing for the rest of my life. Fashion Journalism- yes, I have heard it a million times before, “everyone wants to be in Fashion.” Being such a stubborn opinionated person, I refuse to believe that I will be just like everyone else. I am going to find a new, fresh take on the industry and I am going to be the next “big thing”
I see myself in all major ‘fashion cities’, looking out for new trends, taking photographs for magazines, interviewing Vera Wang, Ralph Lauren and many more world famous designers, I see my name written in magazines such as Elle, Cosmopolitan and Vogue. I see myself as the next big thing.