witchcraft and juju

There have been many stories of witchcraft in the media and the grapevine of late. Men raped at gun and snake point, children kidnapped and killed for muti, people's intestines eaten whilst they are alive, runyoka and all sorts of weird stories that you hear around the proverbial water cooler. Is the witchcraft a symptom of something underlying in our society? Have people become so greedy and lazy that they have to resort to witchcraft to make a success of their lives? a

We are a brand conscious society driven more by greed and status than honest work. We have become lazy and do not want to work if we can help it. If we could be paid for not doing anything so much the better. Thank god we are not a welfare society, else the government would really be bankrupt.

Some have resorted to witchcraft and goblins to become wealthy. Did you know that someone who has got an income of at least $50 000 per year and one who has an income of $1 000 000 have got the same amount of happiness? Happiness is mostly about security and having no worries about where the food is coming from and if you are going to get your next meal. When it stops being about happiness and is about accumulating wealth, it is pure greed. That is when people resort to witchcraft and juju because honest work is just too hard.

It is my understanding that there are certain unsavoury details  that you have to live with for the juju to work. Things like feeding snakes human blood, watering flowers with milk (milking?), preparing mealie - meal porridge for phantoms. Why would you want to spent the rest of your natural or unnatural life playing court to some frightening little goblin or some snake that keeps growing? Or feeding some invisible apparition? What is to stop that 'thing' from turning on you? And there have been undocumented incidents of such. Would you want to live your life with such uncertainty?

What happened to honest hard work? Yes the stars have not been shining on us for the past few years; the con men and illegal miners are the ones who have been prospering. But do you remember the satisfaction you got for a good job well done? wouldn't you want to feel the same again? In this world gone mad, a dog eat dog (or human eat another humans intestines) world this might seem stupid, brain dead even, but consider your options. Do you want to die honest or dishonest? Do you not fear for your poor soul?

It does not help that the ordinary person who does not own a car, will rather 'die' than ride in a so so car. I have friends who will not get on a lift which is not a popular brand. Being brand conscious has even affected the hitchhiker! Word: if you want a nice ride buy your own!

So enough talk about witches and goblins. We are the goblins; with our greed and our laziness. Get off those behinds and do some honest work. You just might sleep soundly at night.

peace,


fadz

do not mollycodle your kids

Mollycoddle
Verb: Treat someone very indulgently or protectively.
Noun: An effeminate or ineffectual man or boy.

It seems the in thing to let children do what they want and shelter them from the harsh realities of life. New - money parents go out of their way to 'baby' their kids. Their reasoning is that if you listen to your children and you reason with them, they will turn into well rounded adults. As men, the boys will be more understanding and helpful to their partners.

I think not. 

If anything they will turn into very irritating touchy - feely people who annoy us no end. Irritating adults who have no back bone and are seriously annoying. That is not counting the fact that they want to reason everything out, cannot fight - and who does not want a really dirty fight every once in a while? - and they give therapists too much work.

I was raised the traditional way with no sparing of the rod and turned out just fine. My parents rarely listened to me and their word was law. I might not have appreciated it then and probably secretly thought they were not my parents, but I am the stronger for it. I am not saying that we should abuse our kids - quite the contrary really. We need to listen to the kids and get their point of view but there are times when the child needs to be given a thorough beating to set them straight. Too much time is spent thinking about our children's feelings that we forget that we matter too. It gets to the point where we are slaves to our ids' whims, we become run down and need therapy because we do not lay down the law!

So the child was denied permission to have a sleepover with friends just because - so what? I do not to give a reason why and I do not want to have a bunch of kids running around my house giving me grief because I am tired and need my me time. Should I sacrifice the little bit of myself that I have left just because I need to shelter my kids? I think not. My kids will get what I can give them because that is what I can! 

A friend will not allow her kids to speak shona or any vernacular language because she thinks its a low class notion. According to her wealthy educated people speak English. She does not take her kids to the rural areas because it does their constitutions ill. I can not stand her kids Iam sorry to say. Their whining and constant demands. They irritate me and are socially inept; little Hitlers in the making. My friend looks at them indulgently and is proud that her kids are difficult.

When we raise our kids, think of how they are going to relate with the outside world . It's survival of the fittest and you might want your kids to survive. If you still think you want to mollycoddle your kids then read articles on these two sites and you might rethink: www.independent.co.uk, www.mirror.co.uk

food for the ears and the soul

I watched a rerun of South African Idols yesterday evening. I had missed the Sunday show because I had other more interesting shows to watch. DSTV regularly has periods where there is a dearth of shows to watch. The Idols show was the only one which showed promise. I was wowed. What with Craig David as a guest judge and listening to that honeyed voice, my night was set. The judges waxed lyrical about Crishanda's first performance and Ronald took pains to  criticise Freddie's monkeying around, I couldn't help but feel that Dave did not get the adulation that he should have. The raw emotion of his performance was palpable and during the duet with Freddie, I felt that he was on the verge of going up in flames. I almost went up in flames! The passion he showed in his rendition of a Bruce Springsteen classic brought tears to my eyes. He was in his element. The gravelly, raw, sexual, garage mechanic voice reminded me of things yearned for and never reached. The Parlotones had better look out.


I also stumbled upon another good musician who mostly sings in Afrikaans and is a relative unknown(by my peers). itunes has a good selection of Albert de Wet's music. Take a gander and have a listen. I especially liked Highway to your heart.

Another musician who really surprised me was Prayersoul. Most young musicians don't do it for me; especially urban groovers whose playground antics masquerade as good music. I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to Prayersoul's single 60 seconds. The musical arrangement, the balanced fusion of pop, Afro pop and just the right amount of soul gave me goose bumps (in a good way). My daughter Gamu has been to one of his shows and attests to an electric performance and she is a discerning listener and spectator. My brother does not like the music but then most men do not like music that touches the soul and Prayersoul does just that!

Why you should not go back to your ex

Very often we make decisions which we will later regret because we do not think first. Too little time is spend on weighing the pros and cons of the actions we take that we get surprised when things do not turn out the way we hoped. There are a few things you need to consider before you go back to your ex.

1. Why do you want to go back? you might feel that you can not get anyone else and will have to settle for second best but are you a dog which goes back for its own vomit? What is the real reason? Do you feel so lonely that you will take just about anything?

2. Why did you break up in the first place? If he/she cheated on you then you can be sure that the same thing will happen again eventually. If you were not moving on the same wavelength... What makes you think things have changed this time around? History has proven that no one changes at all, they just pretend to to get their own way.


3. Regression. As a person you should always strive to become better than you are, superman; the Nietzschean superman (not the Marvel Comics superman). Going back to your past to your ex is regression and will hinder any personal growth.


4. The ex will take you for granted. If they did something bad and you took them back, you will forever be the pushover who does not value themselves at all. They will take advantage of you without any due consideration.

But please do not let me stop you! S/he might be very hot, have oodles of money and they are just what you need. who am I to stand in the way of your own vanity? Remember you need an ex like you need a hole in the head!

peace,

fadz

big is good?

Many women want to be big to please their men. No reason why we should think of the implications to our health! I went shopping for new summer clothes a couple of weeks ago. I have been of late a size 38 which with my height is not really ideal but is something I could live with. My breathing has not been good of late but I could learn to live with it. I wanted to try on a purple (my favourite colour) flowery dress to see if the style suited me. I got a shocker! The dress would not fit! I was quite sure it was the style. I tried on another in a different style with the same result.I have never been a fan of full length mirrors and what I saw disheartened me - the hills and bumps where previously there had been none, the hideous cellulite! I finally admitted defeat and took different dresses in a size 42. The purple dress I took in size 38 though.

I hunted the web for a quick fix to my dilemma and finally settled for the exercises provided by this website www.shapemag.co.za. I liked the fact that some of the exercises are really doable especially by people as unfit as I am. Plus you really do not need to go to the gym. Saves you lots in gym fees. I am going to start a record of my exercise regime towards losing two dress sizes in 3 months. so lets keep fit and be happy.

why you should not be caught in the rain if you are not a soul sista

Its about that time again when the heavens open and pour their blessings on us. Now, most us are not soul sistas. It is very important that we don't get caught in the rain. Carry an umbrella always and never ever leave home without one. you know that mascara which has the waterproof label, the one you bought for $5 and makes you look pretty? Its going to run. Then you will end up looking like Samara from The Rings or something akin to a Stephen King horror movie. The Brazillian weave that makes you look like a million dollars (and will set you back $200 and up) will put the vagabond look to shame and the streaked foundation look is just not on. Not good for our hearts and will scare small children. There are some things you cannot unsee!

Whilst the light skinned, foundation plastered, weave adorned and appetito boosted bodies seem to be the in look these days, examine the reasons why you want to look this way. If you are doing it because everyone is doing it then you are doing it for the wrong reasons. Personally I think women fry their hair, wear cakes of make-up and wear porn star heels are petty, money stupid and suicidal (financially and health-wise). How about you try the natural look for a month and see if you do not like it. Then you won't be afraid of being caught in the rain.

Of reckless Harare drivers

car stops without warning

another car just rushes past from nowhere

I learnt to drive in Harare a few years ago and got my licence here. Then it was a joy and I looked forward to every new morning when I would drive the short distance to work. I had a route: down chinamano avenue, turn right into Blakiston, turn left into Herbert Chitepo and down until I got to work. I was scared of the kombi drivers but i soon got used to their antics and before long I was venturing further downtown.

But now its a different story. Driving in Harare, any part of Harare is a nightmare! From the north of the city once you cross Herbert Chitepo you are in a war zone. If you venture further downtown, be prepared. You need gum guards, shin pads, knee pads, breast plates, and nerves of steel. Oh and your brakes should be really good otherwise you will end up stopping the car with your feet. You also need  a comprehensive insurance cover otherwise you can forget about keeping that pride and joy in mint condition.

What with the bank loans available to everyone and the cheap Japanese imports, everyone has a car now. Used to be the car in front of you was a Toyota, now it could be a vw or a Mercedes Benz. There is a plethora car makes on the roads. Anyway that is beside the point. There is a crop of drivers that has never been seen before on the roads. Corrupt VID officers are unleashing vehicular murderers on to the roads. And the congestion! And the recklessness!

Don't get me started on the recklessness!  The other day I needed to get my sewing machine repaired and had to take it to the repair shop down Leopold Takawira. I crossed Jason Moyo  and the nightmare really began. The strip between Jason Moyo and Robert Mugabe has become a loading area for the city/Avondale unregistered operators and it took me 20 minutes to cross that stretch. The drivers are reckless and I counted at least 10 traffic violations by the drivers in the time it took me to cross to Robert Mugabe.

And where are the people who enforce the law? Busy extorting money from motorists at the corner of Herbert Chitepo and Second street!

peace,

fadz

why women lie

On average many women lie to their husbands or partners more than twice a day. it is distressing to note that most cannot tell the truth anymore. I remember once a cousin told me to inflate the price of medication so that i would have an extra bit of cash. i couldn't and she called me a fool. But am I a fool really for refusing to tell tales? It would appear that in the eyes of most women my age I am.

I asked a friend why she lies to her partner and the reasons she gave me which were the standard given by everyone else shocked me to say the least. Here are some of the reasons in no particular order:

1. Men are the biggest liars themselves.
2. It's the only way you can get money out of a guy
3. If you tell the truth you will get into trouble.
4. Women have to take care of the family and sometimes it is hard on your own.

The bottom line is women lie about money all the time. You cannot lie because someone else lies. Please remember a husband/partner is not an ATM machine