KAIF AHMED
Kaif Ahmed is a production engineer currently based in London.
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- Production Engineer | Seeking Infrastructure Planning, Deployment and Support Roles in the Media IndustryMedia Production | London, United Kingdom, GBSummary
Production Engineer currently based in London. With over 8 years experience in the post production industry covering various positions and disciplines. Possesses a broad range of skills including camera work, post-production, motion graphics design, project management and production engineering.
Specialties: A strong motivation to absorb and incorporate new skills. Extensive operational post-production experience in Premiere, After Effects and Final Cut Pro 7. Camera and sound recording experience with broadcast grade equipment. An understanding of many aspects of computer science with experience in managing Windows and UNIX based operating systems.
Experience- Feb 2014 - Nov 2014Production Engineer / Hogarth Worldwide
- Working closely with the engineering team in London to plan and co-ordinate the technical rollouts of facilities in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
- Planning and executing the transition of existing workflows to be in line with Hogarth practices.
- Installation and cabling of edit and audio suites.
- Technical support for video and print operators across the Adobe CC suite.
- 1st line desktop support (both MacOS and Windows systems).
- Management of machine room and networking infrastructure.
- Management of security systems in Cape Town facility. - Sept 2012 - Feb 2014Editor & Assistant Cameraman / Ogilvy & Mather South Africa
- Editing of footage using Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro 7.
- Filming using a variety of broadcast grade cameras.
- Motion graphics work with Adobe After Effects.
- Graphics creation and preparation in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator.
- Compression, encoding and conversion of material using Adobe Media Converter and other tools.
- Ingesting, archiving, logging and transcription of captured footage.
- Delivery and management of media through DVD, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and other mediums.
- Maintenance of workstations and optimisation of post workflow.
- Auditing, maintenance and logging of video equipment.
- Video optimisation. - Sept 2009 - Jul 2012Video Production and Social Media Executive / Brandnation
- Editing of footage using Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro 7 and Lightworks.
- Filming using a variety of cameras (mainly the Sony PMW-EX1R, the Canon 5D mk2 and the JVC GY-HM100U).
- Graphics creation and preparation in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Gimp and Inkscape.
- Motion graphics work with Adobe After Effects.
- Compression, encoding and conversion of material using Adobe Media Converter and other tools.
- Ingesting, archiving, logging and transcription of captured footage.
- Directing and interviewing of subjects on location.
- Auditing, maintenance and logging of video equipment.
- Delivery and management of media through DVD, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and other mediums.
- Setup and management of social media accounts. - Aug 2008 - Jun 2009Media Transfer Assistant / Rushes
- Quality Checking and logging of masters.
- Accurate completion of all required paperwork including record reports and tape reports.
- Data transfer and management using a variety of tools.
- HD and SD tape dubbing.
- Encoding and transcoding to / from a wide range of formats.
- Bespoke encoding to client supplied specs.
- Generation of broadcast quality files.
- Preparation of artwork and graphics for suites using Photoshop and Illustrator.
- DVD authoring. - Jun 2007 - Aug 2008Digital Services Group Operator / Ascent 142
- Liaising directly with clients to determine the best approach to meet specifications.
- Encoding and transcoding to / from a wide range of formats.
- Data transfer and management using a variety of tools.
- Working with 5.1 Dolby-E audio using Dolby-E Decoders and Evertz Embedder.
- Watermarking of files using Nextamp.
- Creation of compilation tapes in DigiBeta format.
- Use of various VT equipment including standards converters. - Apr 2007 - Jun 2007Video Tape (VT) Assistant / Ascent 142
- Labelling jobs according to client specifications.
- Reading the record reports of jobs to determine the technical specifications to be put on the labels.
- Duplication of CDs and DVDs for clients.
- Quality checking of DVDs and VHS tapes.
- Assisting VT Operators when needed.
- Logging jobs out of the machine room and onto dispatch. - Aug 2006 - Apr 2007Dispatch Runner / Ascent 142
- Safe transit of sensitive material between companies via deliveries and pickups.
- Trust, due to the value of items being transported.
- Prioritising runs and jobs to ensure efficient delivery.
- Organising and filing of delivery notes.
- Logging and recording of delivered items.
- General client service duties, including arranging lunches and other requests. - Jul 2006 - Aug 2006Sales Assistant / Monsoon Accessorize
- Assisting customers to find the goods and products they are looking for.
- Answering queries from customers.
- Stocking rails with merchandise.
- Attaching price tags to merchandise on the shop floor.
- Keeping up to date with special promotions and putting up displays.
- Stock room work.
- Cleaning duties. - Jul 2005 - Jul 2006Bar and Hotel staff / Great Expectations Hotel and Bar
- Customer liaison and dealing with general enquiries.
- General bar work including serving of drinks and food.
- Arranging hotel bookings, checking in guests and general room service.
- Handling cash and credit card payments.
- General cleaning duties.
- Till work and stock management. - Jul 2004 - Jul 2005Bar Staff / Reading University Student's Union
- Customer liaison and dealing with general enquiries.
- General bar work including serving of drinks and food.
- Handling cash and credit card payments.
- General cleaning duties.
- Till work and basic stock management.
Education-
2013 - 2013Ogilvy Digital Marketing AcedemyODMA #6 in Digital Marketing
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2007 - 2007Ascent 142Operational A-Course
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2003 - 2006The University of ReadingBSc (hons) in Computer Science and Cybernetics
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Interests:technology, media, politics, video production, music
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Projects
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Posts
- Jan 01, 15
Throughout 2014 I have been working on a personal video project. I decided to film one second of video every day starting from January 1st 2014 right through to December 31st 2014. The result is a the video below which is all of the seconds edited together in sequential order. Originally the video was going to be 100 seconds long, but as I got further into the project I felt like pushing through and doing the entire year. The video is a bit of a bizarre mash up of memories, in-jokes and random shots of my cat. The video served as reminder of the turbulent nature of 2014 for me. There where ups, there were downs, there were tears and there were definitely a lot of laughs. If you were part of my life during 2014, there is a chance that you will be in this.
To put this together I used an app called 1SE which helped construct the edit (doing this by hand in a standard non-linear editor would have been a horrifically difficult task). It’s definitely worth checking out if you want to do something similar. As to whether or not I will do one for 2015, the answer is, sadly, no. As fun as this was to put this together, it was also at times quite stressful. The further into the project I got the higher the pressure was to not miss a day. There would be times when I would realise at 11.58pm that I didn’t record anything for the day and quickly had to rush to the phone to capture anything I could. There were also times when I found myself regretting missing certain events because my phone’s battery died and instead had to shoot something generic for the day when I got back home. I may do something like this again in a couple of years but for 2015 I think I’m just going to take it easy.
Anyway, that was 2014. Thanks to everyone in my life who made it a year I’ll never forget. - Jan 01, 15My time in South Africa is up and I am on the flight back home to London. I suppose I should do a post reflecting on my time here, but to be honest, I could probably sum it up in one sentence... "South Africa was great".
Now that's out of the way, I wanted to do something a little different. During my time in South Africa I got introduced to a lot of music. Some of it South African, some of it not, some of it good, some of it dreadful. The main thing that links all of these is that they are all attached to a memorable moment or group of people. This is purely self reflection so it may not be particularly interesting to anyone other than myself. However if you fancy hearing some odd music, grab yourself a nice big cup of tea and read on.Die Antwoord - "Fatty Boom Boom"Probably the most famous South African act at the moment. This video came out shortly after I arrived in Cape Town.Spoek Mathambo - "Mshini Wam"This guy was introduced to me by one of my colleagues. I was fortunate enough to see him live. The night did leave me with a terrible hangover though.Brenda & The Big Dudes - "Weekend Special"A South African classic from Brenda Fassie. Actually found this one via the excellent blog Awesome Tapes From Africa. Unfortunately it looks like the silly music publisher won't allow this one to be played outside the UK. So if you're trying to play this in SA... Sorry guys!
AWOLNATION - "Sail"This song got made famous by a viral video that did the rounds in South Africa. The video below is of some mad man skateboarding really fast down a busy downhill road (have a look at what happens at about the 1 minute mark). If you must hear the full track, you can find it here (although the official video isn't as good in my opinion).Karen Zoid - "Afrikaners Is Plesierig"A bit of Afrikaans rock that the wife and I heard on the radio late at night on a really obscure station we were tuned into.Fela Kuti - "Gentleman"It's Fela Kuti. Enough said.Rodriguez - "Sugar Man"So this guy Rodriguez was huge in South Africa, but absolutely unknown to the rest of the world. He himself didn't even realise he had a huge fan base in the country. The story was covered in the documentary "Searching for Sugar Man" which actually went on to win an Academy Award. Definitely worth a watch.The Presets - "My People"My colleagues and I watched this video at work one day. Whilst watching it, I realised that I will never be able to make anything as technically polished ever in my life. I hate talented people.Mr. C The Slide Man - "Cha-Cha Slide"I was informed that this song will always get played at South African weddings. I cannot verify if this is true but I certainly heard it played a million bloody times on the radio.Miriam Makeba - "The Click Song"Probably the most famous South African musician. The wife introduced me to this one.iFani - "Shake"I heard this song whilst having a poo in a shopping mall toilet.Midi, Maxi & EFTI - "Bad Bad Boys"This song is another case of something being big in South Africa and nowhere else in the world. This is actually dreadful.
Chainmale - "Schizophrenic Breakdown"
It was hard to pick one song from one of the greatest musicians to have ever walked the earth, but seeing as this one features Cape Town it felt appropriate.
Frikkie Botes - "Oseaan"There are only 5 people on this planet that will know why this song is on this list. You know who you are! Unfortunately this video can't be embedded. You can find it here (it's totally worth it). - Dec 28, 14
The wife and I have started a travel blog for our epic road trip across South Africa. Check it out if you like!
Skint Adventure
- Sep 23, 14
Last week Apple announced their entry into the much hyped "wearables" market with their Apple Watch. Aside from the usual praise from the Apple Zealots, much of the reaction can be summed up as "meh". Unfortunately, if you are an iOS user and feel a bit "meh" about the Apple Watch and fancy trying an alternative third party watch, you're out of luck. Due to Apple's closed eco-system, third party devices will never be as tightly integrated. The same is true of Android. Yeah sure, the Android operating system allows for a bit more freedom for third parties (the Kickstarter darling that is the Pebble integrates quite nicely for example), but those too will never have the same access to Google's enormous data set as Android Wear devices. This also highlights another issue, both Apple Watch and Android Wear simply won't work when taken out of their respective eco-systems. If you want either of them, you have to go all-in.
It's the "all-in" part that's the issue. These companies already harvest a huge amount of data about you (which has been the subject of, in my opinion, unnecessary techno-panic; But that's a topic to visit in a different post) and what is becoming apparent is that they are making it very difficult to break free. Both Apple and Google allow you to buy apps, games, movies, TV shows, music and books on their stores. They all offer the convenience being a one stop shop for all your digital media purchases. But once you buy on those platforms, you're content is stuck there. It can't be transferred or taken with you to a different service if you decide to switch platforms. It's a problem that only gets worse. The longer you use a platform, the more digital "stuff" you accumulate, the harder and more expensive it is to move.A sad tiger that can't move to Android because all his music is on iTunes.
Not that I plan on moving though, I'm fairly happy with Google's platform. I personally don't mind having their soulless algorithms work out how often I go to the loo by tracking my phone via GPS so they can send that data onto an advertiser to flog me some bog roll.
It is, however, an unfortunate trend in technology that as content moves more into the digital realm, we will become more locked into these platforms. Spotify won't let you export your playlists to another streaming service (months wasted putting together that Northern Soul playlist), you definitely won't be moving those books off your Kindle to a different e-reader any time soon and you certainly won't be able to move those games on your Steam account to anywhere else.
It's not all doom and gloom though. Humble Bundle has proven that it is able to sell DRM free content and offer the convenience of an account where everything is stored online. Good Old Games proves that you can have a game store that lets you keep copies to use how you see fit. Music stores like Bleep understand that customers are not all potential criminals that will file share everything.
I would welcome a way for both Apple and Google to allow its users to move over to different platforms with ease and take their stuff with them. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it's going to be happening any time soon. - Sep 24, 14As mentioned in my last post, this week I decided to dip my toes into game design while I recovered from surgery. Amazingly, I managed to put together a basic game (I may post up builds of it if I can figure out a good hosting solution). I had a lot of fun and I definitely learnt a lot. It's definitely got the ball rolling for me and I am going to continue pursuing game development as a hobby. Here's what I learnt:
What I came up with by the end of the week.
It's really basic, but I learnt a hell of a lot.Starting off with Game Maker was a good idea.
Originally I had planned to learn Unity this week. However, the learning curve is a little steep and my aim for the week was to get a basic game together during the week. Also, I haven't programmed for nearly a decade so GML (Game Maker's scripting language) was actually a nice way to get back into the programmer mindset. I do plan in moving over to Unity when I am a bit more comfortable with the development process and when I've brushed up on my programming skills. For now though, Game Maker is good enough.F1 is your friend.
I've always felt that programming is something that can't really be taught properly in an academic setting. Game development is no different. At first I tried following a few lecture style tutorials on YouTube. These were great in terms of orientation, but eventually it became easier to just hit F1 and look up stuff in the index. It is impossible to learn every aspect of the environment. The best thing to do is to have a clear idea of what you want to do and then learn how to do that specific thing. You will inevitably come across larger topics that require a deeper understanding of a concept, but when those moments come, devote sufficient time to learning it.It will never be how you imagined it to be. But that's okay.
The game I wanted to make was very basic because I wanted to be able to have something to play by the end of the week. In my mind though, I had an idea of how I wanted the movement to feel like. I ended up spending hours tweaking the controls to try and get it as close to how I imagined it to be. Eventually I settled on them being close enough which disappointed me at first. I then realised that I was tweaking other aspects of the gameplay to take into consideration how the controls work (like the speed of certain objects). In the end, whilst the controls weren't exactly as I wanted them to be like, they worked okay in the game because the other elements of the game were built around it.There's an amazing community out there.
The indie game dev community is one of the friendliest and helpful I've ever seen. There are loads of forums, meet ups and game jams where you can meet and chat to other developers. I am really looking forward to going to one of these events at some point in the near future.The hardest bit is starting.
I had been putting off learning game development for years. The problem is that there is genuinely a steep learning curve to begin with. It can seem so daunting at first, but once you get the hang of the basics it all starts to make sense and you begin to look forward to getting new ideas put together and not wrestling with the coding.Overall, its been a great week. I feel really inspired to carry on with game development and I'm looking forward to putting some stuff out there for people to play. - Nov 04, 13
On Friday I had my wisdom teeth surgically removed which has resulted in me taking a week of sick leave from work whilst I recover. However, being the restless type, I've decided to spend the week teaching myself something new.
I've decided to start learning Game Maker, a popular game development environment. It's something I've been meaning to do for a while but haven't had the time to focus on it making this week the perfect opportunity to dive in.
I'm following the excellent YouTube tutorials by Shaun Spalding to get me started. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have a basic game put together and enough knowledge to get the game development ball rolling on further projects. - Apr 24, 13ODMA saved my marriage... well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it certainly made the wife very happy. I recently won a prize of a shiny new iPad Mini for the project that I created for the Ogilvy Digital Marketing Academy (which is now an early birthday present for the wife, lucky her!). The project I created was the Johannesburg Spelling Correction Task Force, an automated Twitter bot that searches for all incorrect spellings of the word Johannesburg and rudely corrects the author by retweeting the correct spelling back to them. There's a detailed explanation of the development and technology behind the project on the dev blog for the project. I'm truly humbled that my project won a prize, especially after seeing the quality of all of the other projects that were presented.
But that's enough about me, what I'm really here to talk about is some of the other fantastic projects from my fellow classmates. The projects were all amazing especially considering that for a lot of them the creators were working well outside of their comfort zones. So, without further ado, here are my personal favourites:Nash Mariah - How To Survive The Ad Industry
This was another project that won a prize, and rightly so. Nash's video actually cut through a lot of the bullshit and hype that flies around in ad business and actually got a human insight into some of the people that are at the top of the industry here in South Africa. An insightful video that I think will actually be a helpful resource for those trying to learn the ropes.Alex Grieves - The Savvy Nomad
As an expat I found Alex's multi platform project The Savvy Nomad struck a bit of a chord with me. Existing as a blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook page and even a Vine profile (although I can't find a link to that), Alex's creation offers a bit of advice for expats with big wardrobes. A great project that I hope she keeps up!Kyle Wilson - How To Make Bird Sounds with Your Hands
http://youtu.be/C62kmCtCrz8Kyle Wilson's video does exactly what it says on the tin. I found this hilarious and just goes to show that the YouTube Video Editor is perfectly suitable for a quick project like this. I still can't whistle like a bird by the way but I blame my own shitness on that.
Fellow REC colleague Vuyi created a site detailing how to make and play the Zulu board game Umlabalaba. A great resource for something that hasn't been extensively documented online.David Jackson - How to Behave in Civil Society
Fellow winner, REC colleague and all round gangster David Jackson created an interactive video describing how to behave in an elevator. A great use of YouTube annotations (which are largely considered the second worst thing to come out of YouTube after Justin Beiber ). There's potential for a whole series of this so hopefully he'll carry on making them.
So those were my picks of ODMA 6. I'd like to thank the lecturers Maximillian Kaizen and David Duarte for a fantastic and inspiring week. They have really helped me get motivated to do more stuff online again. Keep up the good work! - Feb 17, 13
It has been seven months since I left London and landed in Cape Town. Before I moved I had mentally prepared myself for adjustment. I braced myself for the inevitable culture shock that I was headed straight for. Seven months in however, the adjustments were not quite what I was expecting them to be.A piece from the +Future Cape Town pop up exhibition.
I was preparing myself to encounter cuisine that was vastly different from the UK, a work ethic that was a lot more relaxed and also expecting to come across a language barrier. It turns out that these things were not as different as I was expecting them to be at all.
Food is the same to what I was used to with some slight regional differences (South Africans will attempt to put Avocado into anything). Work has been more intense than it was in the UK (although that is what I get for working in the advertising industry). The language barrier has not been a problem at all with most people knowing English and at least one of the other languages (and are happy to engage with you in English).
This sounds almost anti-climatic, I was expecting certain things to be different but they actually were almost the same as in the UK. However, there was a hell of a lot of adjustment that I had to go through, it was just in areas that I never anticipated would be an issue.
The first was crime. I do not wish to paint a negative picture of South Africa and feed into a lot of the myths surrounding the levels of crime in the country, but it would be wrong of me say that crime is not an issue. Whilst (thankfully) I have not been a victim of crime, I have encountered people who have been affected. Almost everybody has a story to tell about being a victim of crime and most South Africans (sadly) seem to accept it as a fact of life. It was also a huge adjustment to deal with the fact that there are certain no-go areas in Cape Town (like the notoriously gang infested areas of Lavender Hill and Bishop Lavis). Along with the no-go areas are general bits of advice like not taking a mini bus taxi late at night as criminals have been known to pose as taxi drivers collecting unsuspecting individuals and robbing them at gun point. It does take a bit of getting used to knowing that your movements and behaviours are regulated by the threat of crime especially since in London I felt quite comfortable going anywhere.
The second thing that takes some getting used to is how slow and inefficient the department of home affairs is. So far I have had my application for a work permit get "lost" three times and when the permit did finally get granted it was lost in the post. It is now 7 months in and I am still waiting for my paperwork. Luckily I have had a lot of support from my wife +Charné Tromp-Ahmed and my in laws financially during this time but I would definitely advise people considering moving to Cape Town to have a solid plan to support themselves while they wait for the permit to come through.
As bad as these things are, the positives of living in Cape Town far outweigh the negatives. The people here are upbeat and optimistic about the future and that energy is something that has certainly rubbed off on me.
My point is that no matter how much I prepared myself for change, it did not manifest itself in the way I thought it would. I suppose this is what every expat faces when they move to a new place. But that is what makes moving to a new country so interesting, you can never fully predict how it will be, you just have to dive in and experience it. - Nov 26, 12I've been in Cape Town for over 3 months now and thinking about it, not much is different from my life in London. I still have to do the long commute into work every morning, I still have make the weekly migration to buy groceries, I still have to keep an eye on the finances, I still feel exhausted after work and want to just chill out and do nothing. Although I wasn't expecting moving to Cape Town to be a completely different way of life. For me, it's just a change of scenery. My life is still the same, I just happen to be living it in a different continent. To me, that's enough.I had a person here tell me that they wanted to leave Cape Town and start a different life somewhere else. They complained about feeling like they were stuck in a rut, that they were not achieving anything that they felt was significant in their life. They were worried that they would grow old realising that they'd never experienced life outside their home town. They felt like they wanted to get away from the drudgery of their daily routine and wanted to experience a different way of living. The place they were looking to move to was London. It was like I was talking to a version of me 6 months ago in London.Having moved from London to Cape Town I was ready to list off all of the reasons I left the place, but I decided against it. All of the negative points about my home town from the increasing cost of living to the terrible weather were on the tip of my tongue, but, I felt that it wouldn't be appropriate for me to list them off to somebody who was clearly excited about the prospect of moving to London. My experience of London is different, I was born there, I'd lived there all my life, my relationship to it is different. In the same way this person's reasons for wanting to leave Cape Town are personal to them. No matter what we would have said to each other about the other's destination of choice, I very much doubt that it would have changed our minds.The grass is always greener on the other side. Sometimes people just want a little shake up in their lives. I certainly got the change that I wanted from Cape Town. I am sure that the person I spoke to will find the change they desire from London.
- Oct 06, 12
Waiting for the train... It's going to be a while. One of the problems I've been facing since moving here is transport. Whilst I have a UK drivers licence I don't currently posses an International Driving Permit. It turns out that this is one of those things that I should have sorted out back in London before I came as these things can only be applied for from the country which your original driving licence was issued. So while I go through the painful process of applying by post via my parents I have to rely on public transport.Unlike London, Cape Town lacks a fully developed and reliable public transport infrastructure. Here are my options:Trains
The train network in Cape Town is run by a company called Metro Rail, or as the locals like to refer to it, "Metro Fail". I was told that the train is pretty safe as long as I only travel between 8am-10am and 4pm-6pm. Outside of those times and it's quite likely that you'll get mugged, stabbed, or both. Also there are two types of ticket, 1st class and 3rd class. 1st being a nicer than 3rd class as they have the luxury of windows in those carriages, and even then they're made out of plastic. The reason for this is that the glass windows are regularly stolen by people who use them to construct the windows in their shanty town shacks that make up the townships here. On my first time using the train it managed to arrive 10 minutes late which, I was told, was pretty good. Due to my odd working hours, I didn't think trains were suitable for my commute.Taxis
Minibus Taxis are a bit of a mystery to begin with. Taxis will drive around town with a man (officially called a "sliding door operator") sticking his head out the window screaming the destination of the Taxi to pedestrians in the hope of touting some business. These Taxis will usually try and squeeze in as many people as they can whilst they drive to their destination. The good thing is that Taxis are everywhere, whilst they won't drop you off to your house they will take you to key locations around the city. There are two big problems with taxis though the first being that they are unreliable. Due to the fact that the Taxis aim to fill up with as many passengers as possible it is quite common for Taxi drivers to stop at a junction and not move until they have picked up some more people, which of course isn't helpful if you are trying to get anywhere in a hurry. The second major problem is that Taxis are driven by wreckless and terrible drivers. They will happily cut you up or run through a red light in a heartbeat. My brother-in-law was unfortunate enough to have a Taxi drive into the side of his car the other day (luckily he was not injured but his car was left pretty mangled) and accidents involving Taxi drivers and pedestrians are common. The city of Cape Town is trying to rid the road of Taxis so that it can encourage people to use the newly constructed mass transit buses. But this is a bit of a catch 22 as the bus service will not improve until there is more revenue generated by increasing passenger numbers. However, passenger numbers won't increase until people feel that the buses are good enough to dump Taxis usage. So I feel that I should do my bit for progress and find something other than taxis to use.MyCiti Buses
These brand spanking new buses were rolled out just in time for the World Cup in 2010. This is the future of public transport in Cape Town. This mass transit bus network has dedicated, walled-off lanes that allow for the reliability of a train network with the affordability of a bus network. However it is still in a very early stage with only a tiny fraction of Cape Town being serviced by these buses. As mentioned earlier, the city is attempting to shift people away from taxi usage and onto this, but such big shifts in society take time so it will be a while before this method becomes a viable option for many.Golden Arrow Buses
This bus network has been servicing Cape Town for 150 years, and it shows. The buses themselves are pretty old and falling apart (although there are a couple of new ones). The ride itself isn't too bad but the big problem with them is that they are not frequent at all. Also add to that the fact that finding route information is nigh on impossible to do online. The bus stops themselves offer no information either, it's literally just a pole with a picture of a bus on it. You have to just wait for a bus to come along to see where it's going or you are left having to seek out people "in the know" like it's some secret cult or something. Luckily, I managed to find one that gets me home. Although at a rate of one bus an hour, it certainly is not a convenient way to travel.Car Pool
Another way people get around is car pooling. Of course this relies on knowing people in the area that work near you, but once you're set up car pooling turns out to be a fairly good way to travel. Of course there's a lot that can go wrong with a car pool but if you find the right bunch of people then it is highly recommended. The only major issue I've encountered is having to leave at 6.30am to avoid rush hour traffic, and meaning I get to work 1 hour earlier than I need to be there. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers eh?So out of those options the one I'm using at the moment is a car pool into work and a Golden Arrow bus back home. It's working pretty well for the moment but here's hoping I can start driving myself around sooner rather than later. - Aug 21, 12One of the things that's really clear when in Cape Town is that Chinese investment in Africa can be seen everywhere. From obscure (at least from a UK perspective) Chinese car brands like Geely making an appearance on the roads, to hundreds of little communication devices developed by companies like ZTE and Huawei. But this post isn't about the political effects of China in Africa (sites like The China Africa Project are already doing a fantastic job covering this fascinating area), it's about my recent immature obsession with "China Towns".South Africa has a few of these massive malls called "China Towns" which house lots of small Chinese businesses selling pretty much everything. For those of you in the UK, imagine a Pound Store the size of a warehouse and you've got China Town. "These places opened up about two and a half years ago" my sister-in-law's partner informs me. "The weird thing is that there wasn't really much Chinese goods in the country before these places opened, but afterwards, it just started flooding in".China Towns have a pretty bad reputation here in South Africa for selling cheap and tacky goods. As one person described it to me, "it's a Cathedral of Crap". I, however, love the place. The totally random selection of stuff you can buy is something I genuinely marvel at. So I decided to visit two of the China Towns here and take a few pictures of the stuff I found.
5 years ago, this kind of stuff ticked all the boxes for me. A whole selection of self-defense goods are available. Here's a pretty mean looking stun gun, you know, just in case. Does what it says on the tin. A fake Xbox controller. How do you promote the water resistance of a watch? Easy! Stick it in a aquarium lamp thing complete with fake fish. The shops in China Town usually go for the no-frills look. Wide boys rejoice! A whole selection of garish lighting for your car is available. For the die hard Real Madrid fan, foot pedals for your pimp-mobile. Now that you've hooked your car up with some wicked lights and your custom pedals, it's time to finish it off with this proper gangster looking vinyl. Techno-Jesus (for the raving hard crew). Unfortunately this picture came out blurry as the owner of this store told me to stop taking photos. For you ladies with a loose labia this is "Vagina Shinking Tightening Gel". They're right, this store is amazing. - Aug 21, 12I've arrived in Cape Town. It's taken months of planning and a lot of hard decisions but it's finally happened.
Driving around at night and seeing the lights of Cape Town underneath Table Mountain it suddenly hit me; This is my new home.
There's still a lot for me to learn about this country, and it's going to be a bumpy ride at times, but I'm looking forward to the journey. - Aug 08, 12Having to say goodbye to my friends was never going to be easy, but I never expected it to be this bad.
Coming to join me for one final drink in Shoreditch was a whole spectrum of friends that I met through different phases in my life. There were childhood friends, fellow university students, the raver crew and reliable drinking partners. I also realised that a lot of them hadn't met each other before and we're quickly exchanging stories of some embarrassing performances from myself. I kept wishing I had more time to spend with each of them, but then, the realisation that I won't be seeing them again for a while started to sink in.
As mentioned in a previous post, my relationship with my immediate family is a complex one. As a result, my friends became my surrogate family (unbeknown to them). They would become the ones I would talk to when I needed advice, the ones who would help me out when I needed a hand and generally be a great bunch of people. So here I stood, in this bar in Shoreditch with all of them looking at me as if they would never see me again. I couldn't bear to look at them too long; It's hard enough having to see just one of my friends upset, but here I had all of them looking upset. Managed to get the words "I'll see you next year" out before my voice started to choke. I left with my wife and didn't say a word to her until we got on the bus.
Whilst I am sad to have to leave them behind, I know that I will see them all again. I look forward to catching up with them a year from now and seeing how their lives pan out from a different perspective. - Jul 17, 12
Deciding to emigrate has meant that I've had to quit my job here in the UK. One of the things I've observed is that since handing in my notice, I've been less and less bothered by stuff at work. That's not to say, "I can't be bothered to work", but rather, the things that used to drive me insane in the office, now don't seem to bother me any more.This used to be quite therapeutic. That guy, who keeps wasting my time with pointless requests, when he could have easily have dealt with them himself? Strangely, not as annoying. Those patronising emails I would get in the morning, from one particularbintwoman? No problem. That person, who always pisses on the toilet seat in the men's toilets? Still disgusting, but not the end of the world.The strange thing is, all of the things that used to stress me out at work, now no longer seem to be such a big deal. These things are still happening, but somehow, they no longer push my buttons. Which makes me wonder; why did I let that stuff bother me before?Did I just tap into some kind of recessive, meditative state that had been lurking around, in the corner of my brain, and in the process discover the secret to a stress free life? Probably not. The likely answer, that my mind is just pre-occupied, thinking about all of the factors of my move. All the i's I have to dot and the t's I have to cross to make sure that the move goes smoothly. So, those encounters with the printer that takes 4 minutes 34 seconds to warm up before it actually starts printing? Fairly trivial. - Jul 14, 12
Everybody has members of their family that they may not see eye to eye with and the same is certainly true of me. Without going into specifics there are two very close members of my family that I have, for many years, had issues with. A few close friends who know about some of the problems with my family have asked "are you leaving because of them?". While it definitely was not the main reason I chose to leave I cannot deny that it was one of the factors in my decision.
A typical argument with my family plays out as follows:- My family member accuses me of not caring about the family.
- I deny this and ask why they feel this way about me.
- The family member doesn't cite any examples and will instead hurl very hurtful insults towards me.
- I give up trying to convince them that I don't hate them and leave.
- A few days later the family member calls and talks to me as if nothing has happened.
However, now that I'm leaving the pattern is going to be broken, that weird and seemingly dysfunctional dynamic that I disliked but tolerated is going to be disrupted.I took this photo in my office after a massive argument with a family member on the phone. The only thing I felt like doing was to stare at the ceiling. So I did.
Of course we'll probably still have a few "argument cyles" over the phone but there will come a point where they realise that they haven't seen me for months. I honestly have no idea how things will pan out at that point. Will my absence may make them realise that I wasn't such a bad guy and bring us closer together? Or will they hate me even more because I have completely "abandoned the family"?
I sincerely hope that it is the former, but I'm pretty sure that won't be the case. Either way it will be a big change to the routine which, I'm my opinion, can only be a good thing. - Jul 06, 12
Music has played a big role in my life. I met a lot of friends through a similar taste in music and some of my fondest memories of London have been nights out at gigs and illegal raves. Of course I'll still listen to the music that I've always listened to when I get there, but I really want to get to know the music scene in South Africa. I have a fairly eclectic taste in music; From Jazz to Punk via a bit of Old School Hip-Hop, then a slight detour into Electro, a fair dose of Reggae and somehow bumping into a bit of Jungle and Classic Rave. I love finding new things to listen to and really want to find out what the local music in South Africa is like.
A little bit of my music collection. Along with news and blogs, I've always found Hip Hop to be a good barometer for the mood of the nation. So I figured that Hip Hop might be a good place to start my South African Music odyssey.
The site African Hip Hop seems to be quite a good resource. On it I found some interesting articles and radio broadcasts that gave a good introduction to the scene. I also found this documentary about Cape Town Hip Hop which gave a great insight into the confidence African Hip Hop artists are gaining when developing their own unique, non-western sound.But, if anybody out there knows of any good South African Hip Hop for me to check out please do get in touch. - Jul 03, 12
The hardest part of this move so far has been to say goodbye to old friends.As much as I hate it, I'm going to need it.
But the Internet has made the world a smaller place and there's plenty of ways to keep in touch. The question is, which way am I going to choose?
When my wife and I were in a long distance relationship for over a year Skype and SMS were our only forms of communication. Occasionally we would use Google+ if Skype was down and Twitter if SMS messages weren't coming through but ultimately, it was Skype that kept us together. Video chat just felt like a better choice. There was something about being able to see her that made our time apart a little bit more bearable.
The problem is though, I only really want to use Skype with close family, simply because it is such a time consuming way to keep in touch. As much as I would love to, there just isn't enough hours in a day to have an hour long Skype chat with all of my friends. What's needed is something a little more passive.
I'm big fans of Twitter, Google+ and good old fashioned email. But, unfortunately, not many of my close friends use it. The obvious answer here is of course Facebook, but this is where I have a dilemma. I very publicly left Facebook and swore to never return.
"I hate Facebook and I'm not joining again, if my mates want to keep in touch with me they can use email, Twitter or Google Plus" I told my wife.
"But they're not going to send you a message every time they do something. At least on Facebook you can see how their lives pan out" she replied.
I paused for thought and then realised that she was totally right, as much as I stubbornly refuse to get back on Facebook, I can't deny the fact that most of my friend's lives are posted on there at the moment. Facebook allows for a passive way to keep an eye on their lives, to see how their lives pan out after I leave. Even though I won't be with them, it's nice to know what they're up to.
So, I've bit the bullet and re-joined the necessary evil that is Facebook. My account is here, if you know me, add me. - Jun 30, 12
I'm tired of the rat race in London. I've grown weary of the daily scrum of commuting in rush hour to get to a job where I am both underpaid and overworked. I'm bored of trying to budget down to the last penny because the cost of living has gone through the roof. But most of all, I'm fed up with the weather.The start of my commute to work every morning in London.
I love London. I was born here, so it will always be my home. But there's a whole world out there, why not give it a go?
The combination of the lease on my flat ending, total job dissatisfaction and the worst weather I have ever seen in my entire life has left me with a small window of opportunity to make the move over to South Africa.
So I've decided to leave London. I've quit my job, told my friends, told my family and bought the tickets. It's happening and there's no turning back now.
The thought of completely moving to a new country is scary and exciting. I know there'll be challenges along the way, friends I will have to say bye to and stresses to deal with; But I'm looking forward to starting a new life.“Anything worth doing, is worth doing right.”
- Hunter S. Thompson
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Status
- Yup, we're leaving Cape Town and moving back to old London Town at the end of the year. But we need to find a new home for the cat! Now with extra QR code bait... I love that shit ;-) Get in touch if you are interested.
- Bit of mid-week hip-hop.
- It's time to update the site again! A pretty minimal look this time around, but a fair bit of content if you poke around :-) Typography geeks: Can you guess the font? (It's Stanley Kubrick's favourite)
- Bangladeshi Death Metal? Yes, it's a thing.
- Decided to redesign my homepage for the new year.
- Kaif Ahmed voted for Captain Harry designed by digitaldavejackson on Springleap
- I love my cat :-)
- The Nelson Mandela memorial service in Cape Town today.
- A warm welcome to our new flatmate. Katsu, the Maine Coon kitten.
- This must have taken ages. http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/3XNK
- Spent the morning chilling out in the beautiful Company Gardens in Cape Town. http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/3Uhm
- Goodbye wisdom teeth! http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/3NGb
- Now that's a proper spread.
- This is the best part of a chinese takeaway. http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/3aDg
- Amazing photos made even more amazing. (via +Joanna Morton) http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/2WAx
- Great music video featuring some members of the EDL on a trip to London. http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/2RAf
- Today I'm at the amazing University of Cape Town campus helping mentor students on video editing. http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/2NIx
- Enjoying the best ribs in Cape Town at Sticky Fingers in Observatory. http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/2IZf
