Review: Christina Aguilera and others. Mhhhm
This kind of review makes everything worth it – three representers give you their take on the Unite of the Stars and Christina affairs: First off it’s LEV – he went to the media gathering and was not at all impressed by his colleagues who seemed a little starstruck: SHUT UP, STUPID. What’s it like being at a shit-hot press conference featuring Christina Aguile…ra, Westlife, Deborah Cox, Diana Ross and Lucia Micarelli? I’ll tellya. I’m going through the audio collected from the big Unite of the Stars press conference. I’m disgusted. Really, this was the hottest set of stars we’ve had in the country since the last 46664 and, as ever, the South African media blew it. Typically, at one of these press conferences, each journo has one question. One shot. That’s it. Unless you’re one of the “favoured” journalist, in which case you might get two or three per celebrity. That in itself sucks, since the favoured journalists are more often than not sycophantic thicko’s. And what do said thicko’s choose to ask? “What inspires you?” Or, in the case of Christina Aguilera, “how was the kiss with Madonna.” That was 3 years ago! She’s answered that question a billion times already! It may seem like I’m being petty, but I desperately think that we should demand more of ourselves. I really don’t mind if they’re wasting their own time, but when it comes to a press conference, where we share the audio, stupid questions waste everybody’s time. Screw’t, guys! Raise the bar. If you can find it out on the internet, if there’s only one possible answer (“What do you think about South Africa so far?” Who’s gonna say, “actually, it’s f*ing awful!”), if it’s just your attempt to suck up to a star (“How do you stay looking so young?”), or if we’ve heard it before, shut the **** up. The celebrities went into auto-pilot, reading off their internal autocue (and who can blame them) and the South African media (for the most part) stood there dazed and breathless and wasting not only my time, but the time of all newspaper and magazine readers, radio listeners and TV viewers. One way to minimise the chance of suckiness would be to invite more of the alternative media. Let the mainstream use the audio. I’m sure the altpuppies won’t mind. And everybody will have a better product. That said, well done to all the organisers and the publicists for setting up this opportunity. It was slick and tight and classy. Cheers. Hopefully next time, the media won’t blow it. — Lev David is an independent writer and media...
LEXMARK RESPONDS – Consumers know your rights!!!
UPDATE: Well – they tried their ‘best’ – but there doesn’t seem to be a solution. So we’ll be packing the old boy up this afternoon and taking him back to the SHOPS – Say GOODBYE!!! I think it’s important for consumers to be aware of their rights and to do whatever it takes to get some decent service – so many people, particularly those that are not in a position or too scared to speak up, ofte…n don’t. We spoke up and we were heard. Our posting of the bad service we received from LEXMARK was finally replied to today, only after it being viewed by people from LEXMARK throughout the world. Funny enough the guys at the top of the corporate ladder in Europe responded first, asking the guys in South Africa to please take care of the matter. It’s a pity South Africa didn’t respond first. But anyway – we will now see if they will help us or if we must simply ‘take the item back’. Here’s a quote from the redress email: “We at Lexmark have very high service standard and if this is the way you have been treated then I would like to know who is giving this misinformation to you. I have advised our entire department of this issue.” Here’s the scoop: Someone warned me about LEXMARK printers and Faxes but I did not heed their warning. We were desperate for a Fax machine and GAME were having a great sale and we were suckered in to buying a LEXMARK. No wonder they are on sale. The machine did not work as it was supposed to, and we spent hours and hours on the phone trying to get some customer support and client service from LEXMARK SOUTH AFRICA – no luck – they just brushed us off and told us to return it to the shop. We will be returning it to the shop – thanks for that great Customer Service tip – must do wonders for your brand – but we will never buy LEXMARK again and advise you to stay away too… pay a little more for another brand – You cannot get worse service. It’s not...
An invitation to join the PETROL resistance
We often receive weird and wonderful email initiatives, circulated on the net to try and make a difference to people’s everyday lives. This one is all about the petrol price… Check it out! DISCLAIMER: Represent does not support nor negate the initiatives of this posting – we simply publish it. This is about petrol prices and an invitation to join the resistance. GBy the end of this month petrol prices are set to soar even higher. If we want the petrol price to come down, we all need to take some intelligent, united action. Last year there was a “don’t buy petrol day”-but the oil companies just laughed at that because they knew that we would “hurt” ourselves by refusing to buy petrol. It was more of an inconvenience to us than a problem to them. But, whoever thought of the ideas, has come up with a plan that can really work. READ ON AND JOIN THE ACTION!! By now you probably thinking petrol priced at about R4.50 is cheap. It is currently at +- R4.60 for regular and unleaded. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations (the bullies like US and Britain) have conditioned us to think that the cost of a litre is cheap at R5.00, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that buyers control the marketplace……… not the sellers. With the price of petrol going up each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of petrol come down is if we hit someone in the pocket by not purchasing their petrol. And we can do that without hurting ourselves. How? Since we rely on our cars, we just cannot stop buying petrol. But we can have an impact on petrol prices if we all act together to force a price war. Here’s the idea: For the rest of the year, don’t purchase any petrol from the two biggest overseas oil companies (which are now one), SHELL and BP… (Local is Lekka – So buy Sasol / Engen / Excel) If the overseas companies are not selling any petrol, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact we need to reach literally millions of petrol buyers. It is really simple to do! Now, don’t wimp out at this point…keep reading, and all will be revealed as to how simple it is to reach millions of people. COMMENCING 14th June 2005 DON’T BUY BP/SHELL, go and support SA Brands SASOL, EXCEL – our currency and...
Some tips from the mouths of babes :)
So we’re already in February, which generally means that the fallible amongst us have to face the facts about our New Year’s resolutions – yet again. Did you also let them fade into the blurry holiday memories? Do you also have another set of broken promises to try and forget about? How depressing. The sad thing about making promises to oneself is that when we don’t fulfil them it is o…nly ourselves that get let down. Again and again.. which makes us feel a little useless. Our guess is that losing weight and getting healthy was yet again at the top of many a South African’s New Year top 10 and we understand how challenging this one is. BUT WE WANT TO HELP YOU! (Besides wanting to help ourselves to shift the excess December blubber that wobbles around our tyre area.) But this year we have decided – NO MORE DIETING – no more following of wafty and impossible-to-achieve regimes where we set ourselves up for failure and are surprised to find ourselves giving up yet again on day six… (Saturday). We actually love our bodies – but we do need to get healthier.. so that’s what this posting is all about. We have tried to take a refreshing, new approach to promoting healthy eating… Represent contacted a whole bunch of our favourite women and asked them for their tips on how to stay healthy and feel good. Thanks ladies for your wonderful words… You will pleased to know that all the ladies that have sent in their tips have NORMAL BEAUTIFUL bodies – there are no extra skinny women in this list. Our only criteria were that the tips are simple and easy to achieve without too much hassle… We hope you enjoy our tips to a healthy new you! We know we love them! TO PUT YOU IN THE MOOD – START OFF WITH MISS NEW YORK AND HER PLAN BEFORE YOU SEE THE OTHERS.. MISS NEW YORK SAYS STUFF ALL THE RULES: Well mine is really quite simple. I eat what ever I want, because otherwise I go crazy. Deprivation of any kind freaks me out. Just the thought of not being allowed to eat something will send me diving right into the nearest garage store to pig out on disgusting oily sugary calorie bombs. I chow regularly and whatever I like, but only a small meal at a time. Snacking is the deal. A chocolate will replace a meal every so often. This keeps your metabolism going. I’ve lost about 8kg this way. OK a few yoga dog-stretches with you bum in the air helps...
Call for Writers – CONGRATS to those that made it!
Here’s an update on the Call for Writers for the Crossing Borders project advertised on this site in May – the winners have been announced – CONGRATS! and we await your published writing with glee… To those who didnt make it or who would like to give it a bash next time – keep on writing, believe in yourselves and watch this space! The British Council and Lancaster University …are ready to embark on their cross-cultural distance-learning project for South African and Botswana writers – “Crossing Borders”. Fifteen writers have been selected to participate after a gruelling selection process. The panel of experts – Prof David Medalie, Tembeka Mbobo and Dr Karen Lazar – worked their way through a hundred and twenty submissions to make their final decision. The writers are: Maren Bodenstein (Mpumalanga); Phillippa Yaa de Villiers-Venter (Gauteng); Tjawangwa Dema (Botswana); Angifi Proctor Dladla (Gauteng); Vuyolwethu Fatman (Gauteng); Greg Fried (Western Cape); Megan Hall (Western Cape); Colleen Higgs (Western Cape); Nosipho Kota (Eastern Cape); Maserame Madingwane (Gauteng); Gina Maynard (Gauteng); Sonwabile Mfecane (Eastern Cape); Wame Molefhe (Botswana); Zachariah Rapola (Gauteng) and Renos Spanoudes (Gauteng). ************************************************************************************************ MAY 2005 Have you got some prose, poetry, fiction or a children’s story tucked away waiting to be told…HAve you already told them and received great responses? Do you want to take your craft to a new level? Well best you get typing – the British Council and Lancaster are calling for applications from writers throughout Africa to enter their CROSSING BORDERS project. Entries close on the 16 May – The successful writers will be selected by a panel of experts who will screen the submissions. Those chosen to participate will receive a 1-day induction and thereafter will complete a series of assignments over a 9-month period. “Crossing Borders” promotes cross-cultural dialogue between writers working in English and experienced UK-based mentors. This is facilitated through dedicated on-line information technology facilities, which assists in opening up a shared creative and cultural space. Each writer on the programme is linked to a professional UK writer and they communicate through e-mail exchange. The participants receive personal and specific attention from their mentors. Their mentors will analyse, discuss and suggest strategies for revision with them. Participants will explore a range of new reading, engage critically with aspects of the writing process and develop a portfolio of new writing. The programme ends with a series of “live” writing workshops and public readings attended by participants and a visiting UK writer. A website also supports the programme: CROSSING BORDERS In order to apply, writers must: be over 18 years of age be experienced and have a portfolio of original...
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