Clean Eating #Day1

Like so many others out there, I find myself at the tender age of 30(cough,cough,grimace, grimace) wanting to get healthier and of course to get rid of those unwanted extra pounds. I have tried many diets from all different theorists and walks of life,  anything from High Protein to Low Carb, Weight Watchers, Body for Life, The Venus Method, Atkins, Banting, Herbal Life, GI Lean, Juicing, Soup Diets, Slender Wonder the importance of factors such as Type 2 Diabetes, Insulin Resistance, Leptin Resistance and Production,  the various new wonder cures like Garcinia Cambogia, Rasberry Ketones, not even to mention the various different sport supplements on the market and don't get me wrong for the most part they work but once they are over(Meaning you no longer stick to the regime 100%). You typically return to a more normal/modern way of eating and or drinking - viola before you know what's happened you pick everything back up again and sometimes even balloon up to heavier than before. 

So this time round, being a little older and I'd like to think wiser I have decided to make my own combination of some of the most promising new "weight loss" trends. I am combining good old fashioned exercise 40-60min a day 3-5 times a week with my own personal combination of "Clean Eating with a Banting Twist" I have looked at the different options out there and based on past experience decided that I would opt for a more sustainable option. My plan is going to take 3 months/12 weeks, the reasoning behind this time line is that fundamental body changes noted in both body building and in boxing hell even most diets like Venus Method/Body For Life guage that this is the time frame the body requires to go through substantial changes.

I am a foodie through and through, I enjoy rich, decadent, flavourful food with a sweet tooth to boot. To top this all off me likes me drinkies, I am an avid Tequila connoisseur, can appreciate a fine wine with some delicious cheese or chocolate or that sublime frozen cocktail as a sun-downer on a gorgeous summer's day. So yes for me complete starvation and saying bye-bye boozy just is not an option. Essentially I will be keeping my calories low whilst still consuming enough proteins and absorbing enough nutrients in order to prevent my body from believing it's starving. I plan to tackle this thing in 3 stages. For the first 21 Days I will not be allowed to drink at all! Yes yes super crazy but I'm sure I can do it, this is purely to help me detox my body. After the 21 days I will allow myself 3-5 units of alcohol a week under the presumption that the exercise regime continues, kinda my own reward system. No GYM No Drink! And at least that will only make me a Hermit for 3 weeks because if were all honest it's a lot harder to stick to a diet when out and about.

The general idea is the following, I will be drinking at least 2l of water a day, I will be monitoring my, heart rate, daily activity levels, burned calories, calories consumed and sleep using my UP3 wristband- these things are awesome! I am starting with a 6500 step goal daily and will eventually be moving up from that. I will be swimming 3-5 times a week and should I be unable to go to gym to swim or exercise I will log an additional 3,500 steps on those days. When it comes to the eating side of things, I will be using portion control when cooking, weighing my food. I will be eating 4-6 meals a day and I will be logging my tea, coffee, 100% pure fruit juice and vitamin water intake too,after 21 days will be logging my alcohol units too.

Yes blogging about my journey might sound trivial and stupid, but I like so many of you out there I really need to get this done, if not at 30 then when, and honestly having to report my daily trials and tribulations will not only serve to motivate me, it might just help some of you out there too. I will be uploading my evening meals daily and can guarantee that they will be a twist on your average "diet food', because we all have lives they will have short prep times and hopefully flavourable results. Now let's do this mother!

Here's a quick breakdown of Day 1. I woke up felt pumped and ready, I had my 1st 500ml water on the way to work, gym bag in tow. Had my 1st Java once I got to work, which for me is an achievement in itself as I am a complete Coffee Addict. Spent the day at the office by snacking sensibly and filling up on more Aqua, Rooibos and Java. After work I hit the gym for the first time in over a year, I figured I would get back into this fitness thing by swimming. In my "fitter" days I did 130 laps this is 3.25km or 2 miles, so for my first time back in the pool I thought I would push for at least 70 laps, this is just over a mile, to my absolute delight I managed to do 85 laps without going into "pass out exhaustion mode". During this session I drank another 750ml of water pushing me over my day's H2O quota so it was all happy days. Below is a brief food diary for the day and the vid for my dinner "Zucchini a la Michelle"

Day 1

Pre- Breakfast - 500ml Water with lemon
Breakfast - 1 Boiled Egg, 6 Cherry tomatoes, 4 Button Mushroom, Coffee, 1 Brown Sugar, Milk   
Mid -morning - Apple  + Rooibos Tea no Milk, 500ml Water
Lunch - Yoghurt + Coffee 1 Brown Sugar, Milk

Way Home -500ml Water

Dinner - Zucchini a la Michelle
100g Lean Beef Mince
40-50g Mozarella Cheese
40-50g 6-8 Cherry tomatoes
40g Onions
4 Medium Button Mushrooms
100g Zucchini

#Investing

As I'm sure you've all noticed I like my #TechStocks, #LifestyleStocks and #RenewableEnergyStocks. Today my top 5 must #BUY #TechStocks for 2016 - these are for the med-long term expect maximum returns - the rapid growth will be seen starting in about 2- 3 years (when the rest of the world catches on) but if you are willing for to wait a little longer the rewards you will reap for "getting in early" will be ASTRONOMICAL.

1. APPL - Apple Inc - Apple will remain sought after and cool as long as we have creative people roaming the earth - nuff said. Once you go Mac you NEVER EVER go back! (Let's face it people it's not early to get in with Apple but had you gotten in earlier you'd be smiling all the way to the bank now - these guys ain't going anywhere but onwards and upwards)

2.CSCO - Cisco Systems - Absolute Pioneers in the networking/communications/telecoms industry - I remember taking a networking course through Cisco a good 14 Yrs ago and even then the absolute genius of their networking designs were obvious. Fast forward to the early 2000's with the world switching to VOIP, most people using VOIP systems have Cisco PBX's, whether they know it or not - look down at your phone, do you see the Cisco logo?  Not only that but most soft switches, routers, fiber -optics and networking patches also stemmed from their original design and genius. This company is by far not done with evolving and will continue to innovate and bring new exciting technologies to both private and corporate consumers (on a Global scale)

3.MU Micron Technology Inc. -They manufacture semiconductors for the electronics industry. Specifically, the company produces DRAM (dynamic random access memory) and NAND/NOR flash memory.

4. GLW - Corning Inc. - They manufacture high-quality ceramic and glass material for consumer and industrial applications. They are predominantly known for their incredibly durable Gorilla Glass product line, commonly found on the face of consumer devices such as navigation systems,smartphones,tablets, e-readers apart from this stronghold on consumer devices, they're very well diversified and produce various environmental materials, fiber-optic products and other specialty materials.

5. TSM Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing - The name says it all.

With the IoT growing rapidly and the world evolving into a "connected" and "smart" environment at the speed of light, these bad boys are all good to have in your deck - As Kenny Rogers would say "you gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, know when to run..." 

The world of VR is also fast approaching, I am currently exploring what the various tech companies have to offer and will be back with my pick for leader of the pack!

The Dreamer

As children we learn the world is a beautiful wonderful place and that anything's possible - Fairytales and lies get propped up on pedastals and we fall for it hook line and sinker. Fairplay to parents the intent is not in any way malicious, quite to the contrary - these tales are told to inspire and instill a sense of wanting more out of life. We created our own realities, anything was possible. 

Sadly what they neglected to mention was.....Success requires sacrifice, being the best is hard, your dream is attainable but my dear child, the road there will not be easy and only the few that push through will eventually achieve what they set out to achieve. As an adult I have found that most people give up far too quickly on their childhood ambitions, hell even on their teenage ambitions. I completely get it that being Fire Fighter at 18 is no longer as appealing as it was when you were 8 but surely the dreams you have in your late teens and through your twenties are what you truly want? If that is indeed accurate it is damn depressing to see how few people actually pursue these ambitions in real life. Hell even if not possible as a main income stream why not try get things going on the side???? I just don't get how people are able to completely shut off their "inner voice" so easily, so many of us fall into the mundaine, the mediocre, the not quite happy but it's ok, the upper-middle class ceilling of it all and are perfectliy fine with malingering there till their last breath - the same can not be said for myself. I remain the "dreamer" a title I am happy to own in my close group of friends, in fact I normally tell them if I ever stop  chasing what I want, take me out back and pull the trigger. It's turning out to sound really naive but, growing up I actually thought that everyone grows up wanting to live a life worth living, leave a legacy, you know....Whoops guess not! 

I often wonder where it all went wrong, I didn't grow up wealthy and there were a few stage where my mother would sacrifice having meat so that me and my brothers could have meat so it wasn't always sunshine and roses, but I honestly can't complain, I feel like I had a great childhood, outdoor adventures, rocks were my toys, oh my hat and trees my fortresses - yes when they were finally released we were a family of gamers, I remember the first PC we ever got, with it's green and black screen and 1 game- for the life of me I can't remember the name but you know it well. You are a little guy and every stage you find to find keys, and no kids this is pre-lemmings so there was no colour or graphics to speak of. Then came the 8 bit games, good ol Islander, Tetris, Mario Bro's, Circus, Duck Hunt and Olympic, we eventually upgraded to SAGA and the age of Mortal Combat began, I remember waking up once to go to the loo must've been about 8 and there was my dad at 2:00AM jamming Mortal Combat - His favourite charachter was always Sub Zero - madness. In a way I'm thankful tech wasn't as big a part of daily life as it is now. Friednships were organic and real, you met the neighbourhood kids for game of Cricket or Tennis, or tok-tokkie! We went biking up the mountains and exploring, played Kleilat and got up to no good. 

I guess I was fortunate to grow up in a household where we didn't really experience any outward racism, not that some of my extended family don't tow the line, but we were fortunate that colour was not made an issue ever. So that I guess was a positive, my parents made us ensure that we got good grades and kept our options open but never pushed us like some crazy parents do, our choices were pretty much ours. Not that I ever chose the highway - off the beaten path for me all the way, I've been bumped, bruised and broken. I've worked in various industries and have met loads of amazing people, but the sad common denominator has always been that only the precious few were and are actually doing what they love, don't get me wrong we can't all come from wealth and have our dreams handed to us on a silver platter and sometimes you have to do the day job to get to the dream but dammit people life's just too damn short to be unhappy! And not to at the very least attempt to reach your dream.

I always say as long as you know where you want to go, how you get there doesn't matter, just work hard, get back up for the thousandth time and get there! 

BIG CHANGES

This week was challenging to say the least, I started the Herbal Life supplement plan, 12 weeks to a new me! I am drinking 2 shakes a day, I have 2 snack allowances along with these shakes, and am then allowed to have a normal meal at night, bar the carbs of course. But if you feel you need carbs you can have 250g of them with your meal.  I also have to exercise 30min a day. I have been mixing it up with various workouts from Cosmo and Women's Health magazine and let me tell you ladies, I have got pains in places I didn't know I had. Monday is the official weigh and measure days, I will be tracking this progress weekly. On another note I have decided to start a Herbal Life weight loss challenge, I think this will not only help motivate me but also provide others in my situation with some moral support.

On the business end of things MediaTech took place at the Dome in Jozi, this year was absolutely amaze balls, all the High-tech gadgets and forward thinking innovation on display, has fully recharged my batteries and fueled the fire for me to continue the pursuit of starting an NGO, I am going to head into the rural community on Tuesday morning to do preliminary interviews and do a basic needs analysis of the area. This project is going to change so many lives, not to mention mindsets. I think it's about time I did my part to contribute to change.

  

I am passionate about People, Music & Video and have always been, music is my first love, I write and produce my own music and appreciate all genre's of music - it has always played a huge part in my life. I decided young that I would one day have my own Production Company with an Independent Record Label not only to release my own material, but to enable other talented individuals to live their dreams and release their material too. Music Connects people in a very special way it unites even the most unlikely people and always will. I view music as an international language,  an expression of the soul. 

On the other side of my brain I was enthralled by stories, reading them, imagining the characters and setting the scene in my mind, I always loved putting on plays and telling stories to others. As a teenager I realised that I not only enjoyed fiction, but reality too, I would people watch all the time! I still do, holy hell Camden Town in England is a fantastic place to people watch! Within my own social circle I was and am the person that friends and family would open up to, I revelled in it. I am fascinated by the human mind, our ideals, emotions, desires, what drives us, it's all soooo deeply intriguing to me.

I graduated in 2011 and got my Sound Engineer Diploma(Live Sound & Post Production), started doing some freelance work and then decided that a Degree in Psychology and Languages would be an essential next step. This would enable me to bring international music in, and represent international artists without a middleman as I would speak the language, I would be able to negotiate my own deals etc. Whilst obtaining this Degree I am systematically building my business whilst still Au-Paring. It's been a tough road and if I've learned one thing in life, it's to keep trying. If your approach no longer works then change it. I wanted to find a way to work, within my industry, whilst doing good. What I realized was that all these passions of mine share one commonality, the inter-connectivity it provides between us as humanity.  Life is a continuous cycle of experiences, and stories, these experiences and stories are the very fibre that connects the world and helps us live and understand life a better. The result I am now utilizing my Community Psychology knowledge, to assess what this Community's needs are, then I will create awareness of these issues and raise funds to combat them by utilizing my Post Production skills i.e shooting a doccie, editing it, releasing it. Scoring the documentary, with proudly South-African music, by unsigned artists! It's perfect, I cannot wait to start this journey - the hope is to create real change and instill a sense of empowerment in this community, to create jobs, focus on skills development and education as well as tackling some social and economical inequalities these people face daily.

I am sooo looking forward to bringing this project to fruition, and finding suitable partners to undertake this journey with me.

Lonmin Mine Tragedy Marikana - My view

The Lonmin Mine Tragedy - Marikana

The most recent story that has claimed the headlines on most of our news channels/ radio and in the press is the tragedy we recently had at Lonmin Mine. Police opened fire on a group of striking workers on Thursday, killing 34 of them and wounding 78. Another 260 were arrested and charged with public violence. The total death toll was 44  -  2 Police Officers and 2 Security Officers also lost their lives.

This is truly a disturbing turn of events and has our nation in mourning. With this sadness comes a great deal of anger too.  We are a “Nation Torn”. As usual there are those among us who don’t really give a damn about what happened, as they don’t believe it affects them directly - so why even bother formulating a thought or opinion about it. Some people, especially the families of the striking workers, blame the Police, because of them using extraordinary measures including the use of live ammunition. Finally of course the other side of the fence, the one’s blaming the protestors, who like me are asking the question: “Why the hell are we going to protests with guns, machete’s, spears and panga’s???” 

Parliament is up and arms over this event and they want answers, they want accountability – is it fair though to blame the ANC and Jacob Zuma for giving the maximum force order – I don’t necessarily know about that one.

Let’s review the events that led up to this tragedy:

There was a wage dispute between the striking mine workers and the Lonmin Mining Board – this obviously led to the mass strike action as Trade Unions failed to make ground not only with Lonmin but also amongst themselves. Looking at the demands, I find them slightly unrealistic – most of the workers want a R12 500 salary – this not financially feasible. But instead of calmly and logically mediating this situation, the trade unions involved urged their members to strike.

So what exactly prompted these workers to show up to this mass action with deadly weapons?  Were they instructed to do so, and if so by whom???? – NONE OF THE TRADE UNIONS INVOLVED are claiming any kind of responsibility.

There were over 28 000 striking workers! This is clearly a vast amount of people.

Sufficed to say the mass action was anything but peaceful, and soon reinforcements were called in.

In fairness most of the Squad on the day were not prepared for the events that transpired. A lot of them, young and inexperienced, the training available to our Police force year’s ago sadly no longer in operation.– further more they were being attacked with deadly weapons. Putting yourself in any one of those Officer’s shoes what would you have done? Yes of course I want to know where the Army Tanks were with the teargas and the water hoses, why the next logical move for them was live ammo???? Who doesn't.

Recently footage has been leaked that does in fact show that the striking workers fired first! There were men and woman young and old in that squad. Lives were lost – but the bottom line to me is this, they took it upon themselves to serve and protect not only themselves and their families but also the innocent members of society around them. What would our reaction have been if these armed striking workers began to shoot and kill innocent non-striking employees or passers by in the area.

Shouldn’t we accept the blame as society and realize that the far greater issue at hand is not whether our Police Force used excessive force/measures. It is the question of why we deem it necessary to intimidate, threaten and scare people into submission to get what we want???? How do we justify the fact that those striking workers showed up with deadly weapons….. How can we brag about  “social cohesion” when we can’t even agree on the fundamental problem with this picture?

The sad truth is that everyone involved had a hand in what led to this tragedy,  firstly Capital Greed, I am sure that there are ways of making the Salaries of these mine workers, work for them better, South-Africa is a country sadly plagued by unemployment and poverty. The manual labourers of our nation tend to be on the bread line and therefore lots of them fall into this group. (But this is not why mineworkers are underpaid –  I can’t fully go into the problem here as that’s a blog for another day : In short South-Africa should not be setting our precious metals and mineral prices based on financial indicators of first world countries, the truth is we can charge what we want for our precious metal and minerals as we still export most of it and there is still a huge demand internationally) 

The second guilty party is the Trade Unions – they are the representatives for the people and should be able to convey concerns in a civilized manner. Furthermore they should be involved in educating and motivating their members to be informed of their rights and yes this includes the right to strike. But it needs to be implemented in a safe organised manner. Mediation, talking through issues, having debates, signing petitions, being willing to look at feasible options. Compromise is key to resolving disputes especially where money is concerned.
Thirdly and probably most importantly, the striking workers are at fault, for coming armed with deadly weapons. Then of course the SAPS has a hand in it too, why were those extraordinary measures required? Where was the teargas and huge water hoses? After all of the above mentioned we can finally come down on the government, but in essence they were least directly involved.

The aftermath of the event has fuelled the fire of the ignorant, vengance is what they seek and it is madness:

JULIUS MALEMA has joined the residents and families of the victims in laying murder charges against the SAPS!!!!!!!

– This in itself scares the crap out of me, why are we giving this ignorant man a platform to speak to, and on behalf of the public, yet again! Get him the hell away from this issue before we hear the spewing of racism and him stirring up nonsense within parliament again. Please it’s been outplayed and we as a nation are over it!

Julius has actually called upon other mines in the North West to join in the pay revolt – WTF!!!!!!! And no people I am not being biased against Malema there are several articles relating to this currently available on News 24, Eye Witness News, BD Live, SABC’s news platforms. This is pure insanity.

“ROCK drill operators and other workers of at least two other North West platinum mining operations have made similar wage demands to those of strikers at Lonmin’s Marikana mine — raising fears that the instability could spread.

At Anglo American Platinum’s (Amplats) Thembelani mine near Rustenburg, workers have given management until Friday to respond to their demands. At Royal Bafokeng’s BRPM mine, drillers are demanding R12,500 a month — the same as Lonmin’s strikers.”

Insert taken from BDLIVE article: Mine pay revolt spreads in aftermath of Marikana

by Carol Paton and Allan Seccombe, August 22 2012, 06:11

I can only begin to imagine what this looks like to foreign investors and the general public in countries abroad. We look like a bunch of savages with no comprehension or respect for human life – and it goes both ways. Can we all just take a step back and realise that the end does not justify the means.

What are those workers teaching their children, that if we don’t get what we want  we can just stop working and go on a rampage. I can only imagine what the little girl/boy whose father left home that morning with a deadly weapon imprinted on their child – HORRIBLE to think that it’s ok to show our children that to intimidate or use violence to achieve our goals is the way to go!

If this was not those striking worker’s intention, then why come armed at all – if it was simply going to be a peaceful protest, there would’ve been no need for Police intervention.

Sadly a lot of the families who have lost a family member to this tragedy, can not  or will not comprehend that their loved one had any part in their own demise. They will then in turn listen to people like Julius Malema, who will try to blame whomever they can,  to make the issue something that it never was, this is called misdirection and sadly Malema is great at misdirecting the masses, he will use their grief and anger to fuel the fire in them and use it to for his personal advantage. The man loves nothing more than to cause chaos, because when everyone is doing damage control – no one is getting him quiet.

For crying in a bucket people, everyone wants answers and everyone deserves to know exactly where the paw-paw hit the fan, but in the meantime can we not add to the insanity.  I will be following events to come closely and keep you all updated.

Another hit HBO - Enter Boardwalk Empire

I consider myself to be quite the tv-series aficionado. I like to watch a bit of everything…. I decide rather swiftly whether a new show is worth my time or just another wash. Generally there is always an abundance of excellent Sitcom’s to choose from, Reality TV, Doccie’s, Wildlife, Human Interest, Sports, Leisure, Travel, Culinary and Music channels are evolving constantly to ensure that there is something for everyone, these channels tend to target a wider audience. Finding a decent Drama Series that caters to both men and woman between the ages of let’s say 18 and 50 though, can be a rare find. 

There are a zillion drama’s out there all aimed at very specific audiences and yes I know ladies a significant amount of these specifically targeted at us. Some are suited for the entire family but then you get all the good old corny-ness that comes with the territory, loads of them are aimed at the teenie boppers and normally gain an slightly older audience if the lead characters are played by adults  – So when you do find a series that intrigues the entire adult household it’s a mini celebration.

Being involved in production myself I generally assess a new series by focusing on a few areas in the pilot episode: The Production value (set design, wardrobe, make-up, special effects, editing styles, music) The Characters - their individual complexity, are they intriguing, believable, relatable. Obviously on-screen chemistry amongst the cast is essential to success. Whether I watch a new show is not necessarily down to whether the cast is made up of well known celebs or not. (I generally give unknown actors/actresses at least one episode to prove whether they can act). Lastly, quite possibly the most important aspect to me is tum tum tum drumroll: The plot ! –  I want the perfect blend of creativity, humour, realism, suspense, intrigue and a dash of unpredictability! I know my request seems like a tall order but I assure you it is possible. I am so tired of predictable story lines. (this naturally applies to all soapies!) I find myself two steps ahead of a show more often than not, what a buzzkill!  

Don’t get me started on this more recent tendency of Popular shows, having aired several successful seasons, gaining perhaps a global audience, just to have the network execs so driven by greed and money, that the once loved show rolls out a new season regardless of whether it’s on par with prior seasons.(Prison Break, Dirty Sexy Money,Heroes) Subsequently the show returns to our screens, somewhat lacking, it loses a huge part of it’s audience, any chance of future syndication and simply withers away. The writers who once captivated us, have now seemingly ran out of good ideas, they go so completely off the reservation, that all original conclusions are forgone, replaced by ludicrous end scenario’s.

The viewer is left with a complete anticlimax  - hmmm like I dunno LOST is an excellent example, brilliant concepts initially, a fantastic cast, amazing production value.  A plane crash coincidentally somewhere inside the Bermuda Triangle…. parallel universes, a mystical island, the idea of time travel, wormholes, random scientific experimentation, all plausible in this ever evolving world, a limitless scope of script opportunities (I have no idea what went wrong in the writers mind’s, maybe the success of the show was too much for them to handle. There could’ve been infighting over intellectual property, some of the writing staff may have left, or they wanted to be done with the project and needed to ensure that it never got revived, hell at one stage even cast members were wondering where the story was heading! After 4 Years of loyal viewing, practically a year of patiently waiting for answers the final season would bring. A global audience almost over zealous in anticipation and then BLEH -They are all dead!!! The ending so bloody ridiculous! It sucked ass – Contradicting so many of the initial storylines, the ones  that had captivated us in the first place -. EPIC FAIL ABC!

There is still hope though, some shows have got the winning recipe and should be able to achieve longevity. There are still writers with vision, who dare to push boundaries.  Not forgetting of course my generation(the now twenty something person starting out in their careers) The future will be determined by the youth of today. There’s always a fresh, unique new idea, a young aspiring new talent (artist/writer/producer/director/designer) or even an old one – just waiting to be discovered - waiting for the chance to entertain us. Fortunately we have amazing shows from the past (still available to us) a couple still running, in recent years a few new excellent ones that began. These shows bridge the target audience gap – appealing to a much wider audience male, female from a young adult to senior citizen.

I recently got introduced to a fabulous little gem, that I believe falls under this category. A drama brought to us by HBO:  Boardwalk Empire! – In my opinion a smash hit. (Available online if like me you don’t have DSTV/M-NET) This is definitely one to watch!

Terence Winter for those of you not familiar with him he was part of the brilliant team that brought us Mob Drama : The Soprano’s   Winter being a Brooklyn boy himself, read a book ironically called “Boardwalk Empire” by Nelson Johnson. Johnson was an unpublished author, an actual Court Judge, however earlier in his career he was a lawyer.He got a chance to get up close and personal with some of the old school gangsters of New Jersey, New York and surrounds. The one's who came from the 20's-50's  he wrote  the book based on the real life “Rise and Fall” of notorious New Jersey Politician and Racketeer  - Enoch “Nucky”  Johnson. (no relation to author) The man was an old school Gangster – he ran Atlantic City for 30 + years and had a hand in every pie in town.

Essentially he was part of the Original Gangsters, along with the likes of Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, Johnny Torrio(who mentored Al Capone – the world’s most well-known gangster) and several others, they paved way for bootlegging of alcohol and firearms, election rigging, fraud, smuggling, money laundering  i.e - organised crime during the Prohibition era.
The man’s legacy is so vast that it’s a mystery that he isn’t more well known.

There must’ve been no doubt that a show would be successful. I mean come on, I know all too well that the masses are generally fascinated by history -we love both the good and bad game changers of the past. As for the mob and organised crime it has become a huge part of our pop-culture today – I would say about a 60/40 split: Those who romanticize the idea of the Gangster and those who love to hate them. Winter took on the role of Creator and Head Writer for the project, he got Nelson Johnson to sign on as part of the team, they created a  small screen adaptation(utilizing both real-life history and  adding their own set of fictitious tales) then they pitched it, and got the legendary Director Martin Scorsese to sign on as Executive Producer. The show features an excellent ensemble cast, the production value is insane,(wardrobe, stage, lighting, musical score, make-up -truly authentic) the story line absolutely riveting.

Not to giving too much away I’ll set the scene: It’s 1920 Atlantic City the eve of PROHIBITION we are introduced to Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (Ed Buscemi) as he attends a meeting held by the Woman’s Temperance League. He has the room captivated as he tells the story of how alcohol nearly destroyed his life and that of his family. He was really piling it on thick – one woman(Margaret Shroeder -Kelly MacDonald) in particular seems to be spellbound, focused on his every move. A quick word is whispered to him by his younger blonde haired associate, James “Jimmy” Darmody (Micheal Pitt) a recently returned WWI vet, that has been appointed as "Man Friday" to the new Chief Clerk of the Fourth Ward and Nucky’s driver (There is clearly history between them). Thompson quickly he excuses himself telling the ladies that he had been called away to attend to “urgent” town affairs.

Flash forward to Babette’s Supper Club -  Nucky walks in with an air of authority, he asks to see his brother, Elias ‘Eli’ Thompson (Shea Whigham) who happens to be the town sheriff , he is directed to a  private room. Upon entering we are met by group men, all prominent members of the City, Council men, Ward Bosses the Mayor. As the men continue in their celebrations Nucky takes lead and reveals to them that Prohibition laws will not only make the need for consumption of alcohol greater but it ensures that they can charge what they want, making boatloads of cash both through importing liquor and the manufacturing and distribution of bootleg liquor.

The feds are watching Thompson - we come to know Special Agent Nelson Van Alden(Micheal Shannon) as a straight laced do-gooder his fellow agent Sebso(Erik Weiner) seems much more duplicitous.

Thompson meets with then Chicago Boss Big Jim Colosimo(Frank Crudele), Johnny Torrio(Greg Antonacci), Arnold Rothstein(Micheal Stuhlbarg) and Lucky Luciano(Vincent Piazza).  Colosimo, invites Nucky to dinner at his restaurant in Chicago. Torrio, Nucky, Rothstein and Luciano get to talking about how they planned to take over New York with cabarets. Lucky asks for all the liquor Nucky could get as much as 2,000 crates a month -- for starters. Rothstein asks for a special delivery for a Judge friend's wedding and Nucky offers him 500 crates of Canadian Whiskey currently on route.

We are introduced to a young Al Capone(Stephen Graham) in the first episode,  he still works as a barman  and acts as driver for Johnny Torrio he ends up making an alliance with Jimmy Darmody (ficticious character) they want to do a job together,  hijack the shipment of Liquor destined to go to Arnold Rothstein’s friend. This sets in motion a series of dire consequence.

I won’t be giving you any more spoilers this was just an amuse-bouche to entice you. The show is currently airing it’s first season on M-Net, I opted to download the entire 1^st  and 2^nd season(Riveting stuff!) From meeting Chalky White an introduction to the KKK, a war vet returned mercenary with half a face, double crosses, Jimmy's mom hooking up with Lucky Luciano...even some lesbian action - heroine trade, federal court cases, the first female attorney general, Van Alden becomes a daddy the storyline is fab and believe you me the show ends on a climatic note.

The 3^rd season returns to the screen in the US in the fall and will  be available on download bi-weekly. Do yourself a favour and give it a try.

Villians among us....

Recently I found myself watching an episode of Dr. Phil, normally I would just change the channel as I personally find the good doctor to be a complete douchebag. But on this occassion the interview he was having, simply drew me in. He was asking a middle aged man, whether he regretted the jury's decision - in this case "Not Guilty" with regards to his daughter's trial. Astonishingly the man broke into tears...Yes he said..... WHAT! I thought not really knowing who this guy was or what the case was that he was referring to. I had to watch and find out more - I mean come on what parent would rather see their child in jail than out???? Only a parent who's child has become a danger to either themselves or society - I needed to know...what could be so horrible as to drive a grown-ass man to tears.
What I found was something that shocked me, appalled me, offended me.... and hell even prompted me to blog about it.

I study Psychology so I realize that the human mind is fragile, some people are broken in ways that don't make sense to the rest of society - disturbing and depraved criminal behavior is an example of this. The truth is that a history of violence has brought mankind to where it is now. It's all there in the History books, I suppose we have become less savage as a whole - people in most countries are no longer sentenced to death and in the minority where they are still are, it has become more merciful. No more sentences of public decapitation, hangings, or people being stoned to death. Now we lethally inject - and that only happens years after sentencing has been passed down. Yes I know that hangings and people being stoned to death still occurs but this is mostly in developing countries and is generally frowned upon. Personally I am pro death penalty - unfortunately I have issues with the accuracy of convictions but that's a blog for another day :-) 


Today I want to talk about Caylee Marie Anthony's story - It's been a year since the verdict "NOT GUILTY"

Dr Phill continued and I learned that he was interviewing George Anthony and Cindy Anthony, parents of Casey Anthony. She had been on trial for the homicide of  her daughter, their 2 year-old granddaughter Caylee Marie Anthony. The charges brought against Casey Anthony were: "First Degree Murder, Aggravated Child abuse, Aggravated Manslaughter of a child and 4 counts of providing false evidence to the police." The Trial concluded on 5 July 2011 - The jury came back with a Not Guilty verdict on all 3 first counts i.e First Degree Murder, Aggravated Child abuse, Aggravated Manslaughter of a child. - She was however found guilty on 4 misdemeanour charges of providing false evidence to police.




The episode featured, candid individual interviews with both George and Cindy and finished off with a joint interview. One thing was clear as day: The 2 parents had complete opposing views on the outcome of the trial, George was clearly distraught and felt that the verdict had been wrong. Cindy appeared to be a flake, she was not forthcoming in her interview with Phil and was delighted at the fact that the jury came back with the "Not Guilty" on the 3 major counts.

The interview highlighted the fact that Casey's "Defence Team" lead by Jose Baez, a Florida criminal defense attorney, had given the jury misinformation to create reasonable doubt! They had made statements that George Anthony had molested Casey as a child, they also fabricated a scenario where George(former Detective) had actually been there on the day of the death Caylee ( according to them an accidental drowning) and that he had helped to cover it up. When Phil asked Cindy directly whether she believed any of this she stated with certainty that it was a lie! There were also reports during the trial that Cindy Anthony(Mother of accused) had perjured herself regarding a computer search done from their home computer for chloroform. The search was done on the home computer, while Cindy who claims to be the one who did it was at her office..... Phil directly asked her if she perjured herself...her answer no. A blatant lie - it was on a technicality that the Attorney General could not pursue these Perjury charges. There were several fabricated stories from Casey Anthony on what exactly had happened to her daughter.

This was simply not going to do for me, I had to know more.  I started searching online for old news reports anything that would give me more facts. This is what I found:


In 2008 Casey Anthony (then 22) and her daughter Caylee(2 and a half) lived with her parents George and Cindy Anthony in their Florida home. On June 16th 2008 Casey Anthony left the family home with her daughter Caylee, she allegedly went to Tampa on a "work assignment". For weeks neither grandparent had seen Caylee, they had asked Casey about their granddaughter repeatedly and was either told that Casey was to busy with the work assignment to come over or that Caylee was with the Nanny who Casey identified by the name of Zenaida "Zanny" Fernandez-Gonzalez, or at theme parks or the beach. 
On July 13, 2008, while doing yard work, Cindy and George Anthony found a notice from the post office for a certified letter affixed on their front door. George Anthony picked up the certified letter from the post office on July 15, 2008, and found that his daughter's car was in a tow yard.When George picked up the car, both he and the tow yard attendant noted a strong smell coming from the trunk. Both later stated that they believed the odor to be that of a decomposing body.When the trunk was opened, it contained a bag of trash, but no human remains Cindy Anthony reported Caylee missing to the Orange County Sheriff's Office on the 15th of July 2008. A 911 call was made during which Casey also admitted that she had not seen her daughter in 31 days, she proceeded to fabricate stories about Caylee's whereabouts including that she had been kidnapped by "Zanny". It was eventually determined that a woman named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez did in fact exist, but that she had never met Casey Anthony, Caylee Anthony, any member of the Anthony family, or any of Casey's friends.With the child still missing in October, Casey was charged with first degree murder and pled not guilty. 

On  December 11, Caylee's skeletal remains were found with a blanket inside a trash bag in a wooded area near the family home.Investigative reports and trial testimony alternated between duct tape being found near the front of the skull and on the mouth of the skull.The medical examiner mentioned duct tape as one reason she ruled the death a homicide, but officially listed it as "death by undetermined means". 

The trial began on May 24, 2011,In the opening statements, lead prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick described the story of the disappearance of Caylee Anthony day-by-day.The prosecution alleged an intentional murder and sought the death penalty against Casey Anthony. They stated that Casey used chloroform to render her daughter unconscious before putting duct tape over her nose and mouth to suffocate her, and left Caylee's body in the trunk of her car for a few days before disposing of it. They painted Anthony as a party girl who killed her daughter to free herself from parental responsibility and enjoy her personal life - this could be seen as the prosecutor's had access to CCTV footage of Casey and her boyfriend shopping merrily on June 16th 2008, during July of 2008 with Caylee "allegedly being kidnapped by Zanny" Casey was entering Hot Body contests at Fusion nightclub and also went to have a new tattoo done: the words "Bella Vita" which means "Beautiful life" - Now I'm thinking what kind of sick bitch can go out partying and get tattoos whilst their child has been kidnapped(Casey's first story to police)or even for that matter recently lost a child to drowning?????

The defense, claimed in opening statements that Caylee drowned accidentally in the family's pool on June 16, 2008, and was found by George Anthony, who told Casey she would spend the rest of her life in jail for child neglect and then proceeded to cover up Caylee’s death.( Firstly a detective would know that DA's rarely prosecute parents in the event of an accidental drowning) Jose Baez argued this is why Casey Anthony went on with her life and failed to report the incident for 31 days.(Ja she was so happy and content she went partying). He alleged that it was the habit of a lifetime for Casey to hide her pain and pretend nothing was wrong because she had been sexually abused by George Anthony since she was eight years old and her brother Lee also had made advances toward her.(Utterly ridiculous as Casey often left Caylee unattended in George's care - No woman who has been a victim of sexual abuse, will EVER allow their child(daughter) to be close to that person.

Baez admitted that Casey had lied about there being a nanny named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzales and questioned whether Roy Kronk, the meter reader who found the bones, actually had removed them from another location.  He alleged the police department botched the investigation because of their desire to feed a media frenzy about a child’s murder rather than a more mundane drowning.

Cindy Anthony testified that her comment to 911 that Casey’s car smelled "like someone died" was just a "figure of speech". K9 handler Jason Forgey testified that Gerus, a German shepherd cadaver dog, certified 2005, indicated a high alert of human decomposition in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car, saying the police dog has had real-world searches numbering "over three thousand by now". During cross-examination, Baez argued that the dog’s search records were "hearsay". Sgt. Kristin Brewer also testified that her K9 partner, Bones, signaled decomposition in the backyard during a search in July 2008. However, neither K9 partner was able to detect decomposition during a second visit to the Anthony home. Brewer explained that this was because whatever had been in the yard was either moved or the odor dissipated.

The prosecution called the chief medical examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia to the stand, who testified that she determined Caylee's manner of death to be homicide but listed it as "death by undetermined means". Garavaglia took into account the physical evidence present on the remains she examined, as well as all the available information on the way they were found and what she had been told by the authorities, before arriving at her determination. "We know by our observations that it's a red flag when a child has not been reported to authorities with injury, there's foul play," Garavaglia said. " ... There is no child that should have duct tape on [the lower part of] its face when it dies." Additionally, Garavaglia addressed the chloroform evidence found by investigators inside the trunk of Casey Anthony's car, testifying that even a small amount of chloroform would be sufficient to cause the death of a child.

University of Florida professor and human identification laboratory director Michael Warren was brought on by the prosecution to present a computer animation of the way duct tape could have been used in the death of the child, which the defense objected to hearing. Judge Perry, after a short recess to review, ruled that the video could be shown to the jury. The animation featured a picture of Caylee Anthony taken alongside Casey Anthony, superimposed with an image of Caylee's decomposed skull, and another with a strip of duct tape that was recovered with her remains. The images were slowly brought together showing that the duct tape could have covered her nose and mouth. Baez stated, "This disgusting superimposition is nothing more than a fantasy ...They're throwing things against the wall and seeing if it sticks." Jurors were seen taking notes of the imagery, and Warren testified that it was his opinion that the duct tape found with Caylee's skull was placed there before her body began decomposing.

The defense called two government witnesses who countered prosecution witness testimony about the duct tape. The chief investigator for the medical examiner stated that the original placement of the duct tape was unclear and it could have shifted positions as he collected the remains - Wowie it shifted, why the fuck was there duct tape on her mouth if she "drowned"

Cindy Anthony testified that their family buried their pets in blankets and plastic bags, using duct tape to seal the opening.(Yes Mother's should love their children unconditionally but HOLY HELL where do you draw the line)

Baez called Cindy Anthony to the stand, who told jurors she had been the one who performed the "chloroform" search on the family computer in March 2008. The prosecution alleged that only Casey Anthony could have conducted this search and the others because she was the only one home at the time. When asked by prosecutors how she could have made the Internet searches when employment records show she was at work, Cindy Anthony said despite what her work time sheet indicates, she was at home during these time periods because she left from work early during the days in question.

(WHAT THE FUCK - surely people she worked with could've been called to verify that either she wasn't there as she claimed, or that she was there and is perjuring herself to get her daughter off!!!)

The defense then called Roy Kronk, who recounted the same basic story he told police about his discovery of Caylee Anthony's remains in December 2008. He acknowledged receiving $5,000 after the remains were identified, but denied that he told his son that finding the body would make him rich and famous.The next day, his son testified he had made such statements

On June 30, the defense called Krytal Holloway, a volunteer in the search for Caylee, who said, she had an affair with George Anthony, had told her that Caylee's death was "an accident that snowballed out of control." Under cross-examination by prosecutors, they pointed to her sworn police statement in which she says George Anthony believes it was an accident, rather than knowing that it was. In her initial report, Holloway reported George Anthony saying, "I really believe that it was an accident that just went wrong and (Casey Anthony) tried to cover it up." She said he had not told her he was present when the alleged accident occurred.During redirect examination, Baez asked Holloway if Anthony told her Caylee was dead while stating publicly she was missing, and she said yes.

After Holloway's testimony, Judge Perry told jurors that it could be used to impeach George Anthony's credibility, but that it was not proof of how Caylee died and/or evidence of Casey Anthony's guilt or innocence.

On July 5th, 2011 the Jury found Casey Anthony : NOT GUILTY on First-Degree Murder, Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child, or Aggravated Child Abuse. She was found guilty on four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. There are a lot of things "Lacking" in South-Africa but this WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IN A SOUTH-AFRICAN COURT!!! Here we look at physical evidence, motive you know the basics.

It absolutely boggles my mind :The prosecution provided solid evidence backed by science, the defense provided at the very least hear say - they DID NOT offer any explanation as to how the drowning occured, nor a valid reason as to why Casey showed no signs of loss (footage of her partying mere days after supposed drowning). They created a malicious lie to create distraction.



This case was a huge media whore because of the controversy it created in the public, mainly because anyone with half a brain could see that the jury got this one wrong. Several rappers used this case as lyrics,

"The shit I’m doin’ this year? Insanity/ Made the beat then murdered it: Casey Anthony," said comedian Donald Glover, under his hip-hop moniker Childish Gambino.
Eminem has a profanity-laced smackdown about Anthony in a few lines of "Shady 2.0 Cypher."


"Is puke luke warm? Should Casey Anthony do porn?/ Can that chick fit a newborn dead baby inside a freakin' shoebox/ With a shoehorn, smothered in chloroform so she can go get her groove on?"

 The public was more than outraged. So much so that the juror's names were kept quiet for a while after the verdict for fear of public vigilantism against them.

Casey Anthony is currently fighting various charges, let's hope the bitch goes down for at least one of them!