Category: this is south africa

Hell(o) on Earth

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It appears that ever-expanding and actually fairly decent local budget airline FlySafair have recently rebranded, with a pink heart in a pink circle.

Their website favicon has the new logo on it:

…even if you have to look very carefully to see it on the actual pages:

But ok, what do I know about branding and advertising and marketing and so on. I’m just the customer.

But even now knowing about the rebrand, I still don’t think this ad works:

OK, OK. I can see it as “HELLO” now, but the thinner line on (and the heart within) the “O” made my brain think that it wasn’t actually part of the word “HELLO” at all. I simply read “HELL”, which I’m pretty sure wasn’t what they were going for, and which I have heard on very good authority that Victoria Falls isn’t.

HELL ZIM & ZAMBIA!

Note also the price difference between Livingstone Airport (actually called the Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport) in Zambia and the Victoria Falls Airport in Zimbabwe. They’re only 35km apart, but Zim is clearly missing out on some handy extra tax revenue there: although there’s likely to be some sort of R600 passenger processing fee payable in dollars – cash only, thank you – when you get there).

But I digress – often. Branding and Marketing Wizards: please use fonts and logos more carefully in future. Or simply ask me if everything looks ok before you flight it (no pun intended) and I’ll give you a quick yes or no for a very reasonable fee (payable in dollars: cash only, thank you).

Doomed

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Following on from this post (which was copied by the Daily Maverick here – thanks TA), I have further bad news regarding the intelligence of the local social media populace.

Quite why user @loyalty_0111 chose to share this image, I don’t know. People like to share things,and that’s fine. But then to caption it “Gauteng oil field”?!?

wut?

Anyway, that’s not the real problem here. The real problem becomes evident when looking at the replies to the tweet.

Because half of them think that this is an image of a genuine Gauteng oil field.
This despite the fact that Gauteng is very, very landlocked.

This is not a new thing: it’s fairly well accepted that Gauteng has always been landlocked. .

The image is actually one of the Draugen Oil Field in the North Sea, just off Norway. By all accounts, this is an engineering marvel. And while I’m not saying that SA engineers are not also incredible, they have yet to bring the sea to Gauteng.

But – again – this is social media “informing” the younger (voting) population. And them lapping it up, despite the clear and obvious red flags.

We are doomed.

Lion around

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Absolutely no need for that pun. Gym and singing exam both went well, thanks for asking.
I’m watching a bit of Liverpool and Manchester City before we head out for a braai at a friends’ place.

So here’s a quota lion from last year on the Garden Route.

This one was so close to the safari vehicle that she didn’t even fit on the frame of the not ever so powerful lens that I was using. She could have just leapt in and eaten any one of us.

I – very sensibly – positioned myself just behind my daughter at this point. Just so I could get a better angle on the passing animals. No other reason.

It’s been a long one

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Exhausting day. And yet I seem to have achieved very little. Or at least nothing big. Does that make sense? Stage 6 loadshedding (despite him saying this). A bit of wasted afternoon. All rather frustrating.

On the plus side, it ended with some very decent Frankie Fenner (no relation (I don’t think, at least)) lamb burgers over the coals, partnered beautifully by some quickly homemade mint sauce.

Tomorrow: gym, singing exam (not me), football (watching), braai (not me again).

And hopefully still time for a better blog post, more jobs and less frustration.

Relatief swaar (sement)

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Small town Afrikaans social media never fails to deliver. This morning’s gem was this:

Yes, that’s a free cement baboon looking for a new home. But you’ve got to come and collect it yourself. It’s relatively heavy (cement). Contact me [not me] on Whatsapp if you are interested.

And who wouldn’t be interested in a (relatively heavy) free cement baboon?

What’s not to like?

Well, it’s this:

That does look relatively heavy. But I supposed that it is (cement).

But the existence of this relatively heavy (cement) baboon definitely suggests that there is at least one cement baboon mould somewhere out there. And that in turn suggests that there may be other cement baboons out there as well. Maybe even troops of them.

But… why?

Of course, the other why is why anyone would want this, but the group quickly became a thrashing feeding frenzy of locals desiring a free cement baboon. Despite the relatively heavy weight.

I’ve been here 20 years and I’m still regularly astounded by this place.