Rockstar Games has officially announced Grand Theft Auto 5 as the next game in the award-winning video game series. The announcement came in suitably mysterious style. Logging on to the Rockstar’s websiteleads to the above image … and not much else. Eagle eyes will notice the game’s trailer is set to hit on Nov. 2. Rockstar is also promoting the hashtag #GTAV to build social buzz.

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) gained tremendous acclaim — and a fair bit of notoriety — for its violent, open-world gameplay. Players can steal cars, kill innocents and rise in the ranks of local mafias and gangs. Grand Theft Auto is largely credited with popularizing open-world gameplay where players can deviate from a central plot to take on side tasks like driving a taxi, mini-games or simply wandering a digital city. Grand Theft Auto 5 will be the first GTA game since 2008′s Grand Theft Auto 4, which followed an Eastern European immigrant’s rise to power in New York City Liberty City.

With the announcement of Grand Theft Auto 5, the “Internet” has gone into high gear trying to make predictions about the game. The “5″ is clearly designed to resemble a paper bill but cash has always played a huge role in the GTA games.

Some are guessing GTA5 might be based in Hollywood though that, along with similar speculation, is more of a wish than a fact.                       http://mashable.com/2011/10/25/grand-theft-auto-5/

Is it a rare occurence, or a sign of impending dooooom?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18YxQ4YYAkY&feature=aso&noredirect=1

A Travesty of musical justice has occurred

A word of warning to all musical artists out there, be very very careful who you give your music to!
You may find that submitting your music for one purpose could lead to it being used for something else entirely, Like a satanic ritual (just kidding), and without your permission, or without following the correct procedures. So guard your precious hard work with your life!

(the views expressed in this post do not represent those of IRP, Just kidding.......of coarse they do!)

Sons of Anarchy! so awesome

http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/

IRP at Mediatech

Save the Amazon!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_amazon_a/?copy

Sweet, sweet kitten...

News the US Federal Reserve is to keep interest rates frozen for two years saw the Dow Jones, and markets worldwide, surge. Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP

Stock markets around the world rallied after the US Federal Reserve said US interest rates would be frozen for the next two years, and hinted at more economic stimulus to stave off a global recession.

The FTSE 100 in London climbed 64 points to 5229 in early trading, up 1.25%, This added to Tuesday's gains, when the index rose 96 points or 1.9%, its first increase in eight days, in anticipation of Fed measures designed to prevent the US economy sliding back into recession. The Dow Jones industrial average surged nearly 430 points to 11239.77, a gain of almost 4%, on Tuesday, a day after suffering its worst point decline since 2008.

Asian markets also rose, with Japan's Nikkei climbing 94.26 points, or 1.05%, to 9038.74 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 495.16 points, or 2.56%, to 19,825.86.

The Fed lowered interest rates near zero in response to the financial crisis in 2008. Since then, it had been saying that rates would stay low for an "extended period". On Tuesday, it modified that statement to say that this would continue until at least mid-2013, as the economy was expected to stay weak for two more years.

America's central bank said it expected "a somewhat slower pace of recovery over coming quarters than it did at the time of the previous meeting". It added that it had discussed "the range of policy tools" it could use to boost the economy. There is speculation that this could include a fresh round of bond-buying, known as quantitative easing, or QE3.

"If there is such a thing as an aggressively dovish approach that's the route the Fed chose yesterday," said Gary Jenkins, head of fixed income research at Evolution Securities. Paul Dales, senior US economist at Capital Economics, said: "The US Fed's decision to pledge to keep interest rates exceptionally low for much longer than previously is largely a symbolic gesture designed to reassure the financial markets rather than boost the real economy. More interesting is that the Fed considered other forms of policy stimulus, perhaps even QE3. The chances of QE3 have increased a bit, but the rebound in core inflation and the growing division at the Fed mean it is more likely to come next year than this year."

For all the TWILIGHT groupies...

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/U4d_qIGAiCE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

40 DAYS: Hoe ek hieroor voel...

40 DAYS: Hoe ek hieroor voel...

Good job, Xannie ol' boy...

40 DAYS: 1000 Visitors...!!!

40 DAYS: 1000 Visitors...!!!

Sucker Punch -- This is going to be awesome!!!

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/02/kings-of-leon-u-s-tour-canceled-amid-breakup-rumors.html

Are the "Kings of Leon" breaking up? http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/02/kings-of-leon-u-s-tour-canceled-amid-breakup-rumors.html

Awesome awesome!!

Great research if you hate your boss!

A visual masterpiece of Shakespeare's imagination.

You will wanna see this Movie!!!!

AMY Winehouse may have been dead for up to six hours before her body was discovered lying in bed.

The star last spoke to her security team six hours before she was found at home in Camden, North London, and medics said she'd been dead for several hours, The Sun reports.

And police sources told the paper there was no evidence of drugs in her apartment.

The paper also reported Winehouse was given the all-clear when her doctor examined her the night before her death.

Another source told The Sun: "The doctor was happy with her condition. When he left on Friday night he had no concerns."

Security guard Andrew Morris found Winehouse's body about 4pm local time, the report said.

Earlier, Sunday tabloids in the UK claimed Winehouse was seen buying drugs from a dealer in Camden just after 10.30pm. It was claimed she bought narcotics including cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine.

But the singer's family labelled the claims "nonsense", The Sun reported.

A post-mortem is being carried out today to reveal the exact cause of death.

Winehouse's heartbroken mother thought her daughter's death was "only a matter of time" when they met just 24 hours before she died.

"She seemed out of it," her mother, Janis, said. "But her passing so suddenly still hasn't hit me."

Winehouse's mother said she instead preferred to cling for comfort to her daughter's own parting words at the end of an enjoyable day they had spent together on Friday.

As the pair kissed on the doorstep, Amy told her, "I love you, Mum".

"They are the words I will always treasure and always remember Amy by," she said.

Last night, Amy's father Mitch, who famously predicted she would die if she failed to quit drink and drugs, said he was devastated by her death but has vowed not to crack up for Amy's sake.

On a jazz tour in New York, Mr Winehouse said: "I'm coming home. I have to be with Amy. I can't crack up for her sake. My family need me."

Winehouse won international acclaim with her albums Frank and Back to Black.

She won a clutch of prizes, including five Grammys in 2008, and was best known for the single Rehab.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - IMDb

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - IMDb

Will Captain America Take Down Harry?

Will Captain America Take Down Harry?

Upcoming movies we rate...

Review: Super 8 a fun-filled, reverential nod to summer blockbusters of the past

They don’t make films like they used to — except when they make films like they used to. From the title on down, the new Steven Spielberg-produced, J.J. Abrams-written/directed sci-fi smash Super 8 is a fun-filled, reverential nod to the outlandish summer films of yore.

Released 29 years, almost to the day, after Spielberg’s boy-meets-alien classic E.T., this action-packed update revisits familiar themes — namely childhood as something parents just don’t understand, and the U.S. government as the bad guys.

It revisits the entire era. Set in Ohio in 1979, the film has a blast delving into the music and styles of the time. And Abrams (Lost, Alias, Star Trek) is in familiar territory positing a group of individuals (in this case, kids) against a world they don’t understand.

It begins with bad news. Young Joe Lamb’s mother has died in an accident at the factory where she worked, leaving his deputy sheriff dad Jackson (Kyle Chandler) to care for him.

Super 8, you may recall (or have to ask your parents), is the name of the video-predating film stock used by families to record their most cherished moments through the ’60s and ’70s. Joe goes through the film trying to reconcile his grief at the loss of his mom.

His escape is the movies. He and his group of awesomely nerdy pals— led by pudgy, loud-mouthed director Cary (Ryan Lee) are making a super 8 zombie flick. Their hilarious, talk-over-each-other dialogue provides many of the film’s highlights, and incentive to see it twice.

The boys score big time by convincing cute classmate Alice Dainard (the eerie and incandescent Elle Fanning) to play a role in their film. On a midnight shoot at the town train station, they witness a terrible train wreck (cue wildly over-the-top crash scene, complete with flying cars, explosions and ear-splitting sound effects).

It turns out one of their teachers was involved. Near death, he warns them to run, and to never speak of what happened. As the U.S. army rolls in, they squeal away in Alice’s dad’s hotrod.

The next morning, the army has the site on lockdown, and isn’t revealing anything about the spilled (and escaped) contents of the train’s cargo, much to the suspicion of Joe’s father.

The rest of the movie is spent developing the parallel storylines of the ongoing film shoot; increasingly strange and scary occurrences in the town; the children’s and deputy sheriff Lamb’s separate quests to find out what’s really going on; and Joe’s flowering romance with Alice.

If E.T. had tender moments between boy and alien, Super 8 relies on plain old boy-girl dynamics as its emotional anchor. Both Joe and Alice come from broken homes, with absent mothers. Their connection is tangible, and touching.

“Bad things happen, but you can still live,” Joe says, in the movie’s climax, summing up the moral of the story.

But while the narrative arc is well drawn and neatly wrapped up, the film’s real thrust is in the interplay of the kids at its core. Everything else — alien, army, parents — is secondary. By staying focused, Abrams gives his highly entertaining blockbuster depth, and succeeds in recapturing the spirit of a time gone by even as he makes a hit for here and now.

Review

Super 8. Starring Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills and Gabriel Basso. Directed by J.J. Abrams. Rating: Four stars out of five
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Read more: www.calgaryherald.com

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Larry David is back in the premiere of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm

It’s been about two years since we’ve had the chaos of Larry David’s life on screen. The eighth season picks up exactly where the seventh left off: Larry is watching the Seinfeld reunion on TV and Cheryl has returned to him. However, she has also put her drink down on the table and created a ring stain. Their argument about respecting wood causes Cheryl to leave Larry again.

We then jump forward one year later: Larry is seeing a divorce lawyer, Berg. It looks like he and Cheryl are over for good. Larry is shocked that Cheryl’s lawyer is bald: “we can’t go up against each other. It’s the bald code.”

At lunch, Larry tells Jeff and Susie how good his Jewish lawyer is. Funkhouser tells everyone that he’s going to London for three weeks but his wife isn’t. Larry manages to talk her into it. Funkhouser is pissed. Larry meets Joe, the owner of the Dodgers (Gary Cole), who has the same divorce lawyer as him and is worried about losing the team as a result of the divorce. Joe asks Larry if he’s interested in going to a game and then tells him that his daughter will be coming to his house to sell Girl Scout cookies.

Anyway, while everyone else orders from the menu, Larry decides to get food from the buffet. Everyone is impressed with Larry’s finds and he shares some food with Jeff. This attracts an employee of the restaurant, who is going to charge them for an additional buffet. A lawyer randomly jumps in and states that Larry is free to do with whatever he wants with the food. Larry is impressed.

Disaster strikes when Joe’s daughter comes to Larry’s house to sell him cookies: she has her first period while inside his home. Larry springs into action and gives her one of Cheryl’s tampons. He then attempts to instruct her on how to use it through the toilet door. It seems to be a success.

While at Jeff’s house, Susie tells Larry that Joe is annoyed that Larry taught his daughter how to use a tampon and might not give him a ticket. Funkhouser also turns up and yells at Larry, who simply suggests that he too gets a divorce if he doesn’t like his wife anymore.

After seeing his lawyer Berg on a motorbike and learning that he attended a Catholic school, Larry confronts his lawyer about pretending to be Jewish. Berg tells him that he never said he was Jewish and that Larry just assumed it. Larry walks out, angry that his lawyer is actually Swedish.

Larry decides to get the lawyer who saved him at the restaurant as his new divorce lawyer and also recommends him to Joe. We then cut ahead one month later, with Larry and Funkhouser going to attend a game. They are not allowed in because it turns out that Joe lost everything in the divorce, including the Dodgers. Larry panics and rushes to his lawyer only to discover that he too has lost everything to Cheryl. Joe also punches him in the face, and he has to use a tampon to stop the bleeding.

While Larry and Leon pack their things and get ready to leave the house, a gang of Girl Scouts arrive and demand that Larry pays them for the cookies. He refuses, as now that he can’t attend games with Joe, he has no reason to buy them. He tries to shut the door but they fight back. Larry is now trapped in a house that he has to leave in half an hour.

“The Divorce” was a hysterical premiere of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I’m really surprised that Larry David decided to go ahead with the divorce storyline considering most of the last season was all about Larry trying to win Cheryl back. I guess if someone doesn’t respect wood they’re just not worth it.

Fan dies after fall during Texas Rangers' win over Oakland A's

Storms threaten to delay final space shuttle launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Thunderstorms threatened to delay the last space shuttle launch, set for today, and a lightning strike near the pad briefly caused a flurry of concern at NASA before engineers concluded that the shuttle was OK.

The lightning hit a water tower about 500 feet from the launchpad at midday Thursday, the space agency said. Technicians checked for any signs of electrical problems, but a review board ruled out any damage.

The forecast for today, meanwhile, looked dismal, with only a 30% chance of acceptable weather at launch time, 11:26 a.m.

NASA test director Jeff Spaulding pointed out that space shuttles have managed to launch with worse forecasts.

"There's some opportunity there," he said Thursday as the rain set in. "It's a really tough day if you make a decision not to go and it turns out to be good weather."

NASA is closing out its 30-year space shuttle program to take aim at asteroids and Mars, destinations favored by the White House. Private companies will take over the job of hauling cargo and crews to the International Space Station.

NASA has until Sunday, possibly Monday, to get Atlantis and its four astronauts in orbit. Otherwise, the spacecraft will remain grounded until the following weekend because of an Air Force rocket launch that takes priority.

Rain or shine, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to jam the area for the launch. Some estimates put the crowd at close to 1 million. Dozens of astronauts already are in town, including the first shuttle pilot, Robert Crippen, who opened the era aboard Columbia in 1981.

"It's a sad time for me, obviously, but it's also a time when I feel pride," Crippen told the Associated Press.

Atlantis is bound for the space station with a year's worth of provisions. NASA wants the orbiting outpost well-stocked in case there are delays in getting commercial cargo hauls started.

The first privately operated supply run -- by Space Exploration Technologies -- is tentatively scheduled for late this year.

The 12-day voyage by Atlantis should culminate with a touchdown back at Kennedy Space Center on July 20, the 42nd anniversary of man's first steps on the moon.

"There's an old saying that says it's better to travel well than to arrive," Spaulding said. "And I'd have to say after the last 30 years, certainly our program and these shuttles, throughout all of their missions, have traveled very well. And after ... landing, I think we can say at that point that we've arrived."

'Big Brother 13' Twist: Dynamic Duos from the Past

Big Brother 13 Premiere Recap: Evel Dick and More Return>>

The cast of Big Brother 13 won't be announced until Thursday morning, one week before the premiere on July 7 at 9pm on CBS, but host Julie Chen has given us our first clue about the big twist for this season. During a tour of the house on ET Canada, the Chenbot temporarily malfunctioned and revealed that "Dynamic duos from the past will have a significant role this season."

Facebook's video chat: Awesome or not awesome?

Facebook's 'Awesome' Video Chat -- Yawn

By Paul Suarez, PCWorld Jul 6, 2011 6:08 PM

facebook video chat skypeFacebook unveiled a Skype-powered video calling service on Wednesday along with a few upgrades to the website's chat client. The feature is certainly a welcome update, but will it be enough to help the social network stay competitive with Google+?
Not That Awesome

Sure, video calling is nice, but when Facebook promised to launch "something awesome" I was thinking it had a pretty big trick up its sleeve. Don't get me wrong -- video calling may be the wave of the future, but it already was built into of Gmail since 2008. That puts Facebook three years behind the curve and makes this announcement a major yawn.

Facebook admits video calling has been around for a while, but it says that combining its user base with Skype makes it more convenient than ever.

"Video chat has been around for years now, but it's still not an everyday activity for most people. Sometimes it's too difficult to set up, or the friends you want to talk to are on different services," Philip Su writes on the Facebook blog.
The Numbers Game

Facebook certainly has numbers on its side. CEO Mark Zuckerberg made sure to mention that the site now has 750 million active users during his "awesome announcement" on Wednesday. Mike Barnes, Skype product manager for Facebook video-chat, told my PC World colleague Mark Sullivan that the service will be available to all of the social network's users within a week or so.

google plus google+Google, on the other hand, has been somewhat silent on how many users it is allowing in the Google+ test. Our best estimate came when more than 64,000 Google+ accounts signed up to use a vanity URL shortening service called gplus.to. Granted, there are probably tens -- if not hundreds -- of thousands more trial users than that (we know that there were about 140 million Gmail users as of February 2010) but it's safe to assume that Facebook has the upper hand when it comes to numbers.
Features War

The elephant in the room Wednesday was the Google+ video chat service called Hangouts. The service could pose a serious threat to Skype and Facebook because it's free, browser-based, allows up to ten people in the same video chat room, and lets the group watch videos together. The Facebook/Skype solution is also free and browser-based but it doesn't let the group watch videos together and only allows a one-on-one video chat -- for now.

Skype's Barnes says the service might change to include group video chats (which are already available as a premium service via Skype's desktop client). He said making the existing feature work with the Facebook product wouldn't be too hard.

If they roll out an update that includes group chat before Google+ goes public, it could be enough to derail some of the new site's momentum.

Both sides are playing the game with a different playbook. Facebook is confident in the user base it has built and is working to add features to stay on top. Google's new project lacks users but in many ways makes up for it with a fresh take on social networking, additional features and the buzz of exclusivity.

NEW YORK (AP) — YouTube is partnering with universities to launch a new media program series for aspiring digital filmmakers.

The video-sharing website announced Thursday it would launch the YouTube Creator Institute with the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and Columbia College Chicago. It says the schools will offer on-campus and online educational courses to its users so they can “hone their digital media skills and accelerate their YouTube careers.”

Course work will range from cinematography to social media strategy.

Classes begin in May. Inaugural classes at USC and CCC will have 10 students each. Applicants must be U.S. citizens at least 18 years old.

YouTube is owned by Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet search leader Google Inc.

Mediatech 2011

Welcome to Mediatech Africa 2011.

In these ultra-technological times, change is constant and rapid. New innovations, products and technologies are the order of the day. It is therefore essential for players in the media and entertainment industry to be up to date with the latest trends, developments, products and equipment. Mediatech Africa, the continent’s largest media and entertainment technology trade exhibition, will provide an opportunity to view, experience and engage with the very latest in technology.

Following the success of the previous years, the biennial trade exhibition, will again showcase cutting edge technologies and services from industry leaders in:

Broadcast, Film, Production & Post Production
Pro AV, Sound, Lighting, Staging and Rigging
AV & Broadcast System Integration
Animation, New Media, Mobile & On-line
Satellite and Signal
Musical Instruments & DJ Equipment
Computer Music and Production Tools

Mediatech Africa 2011 has a diverse programme that complements business with pleasure through live demonstrations, exceptional presentations and trendy workshops.

New to the exhibition is the Business Matchmaking Programme. This valuable service provides a pre-show platform that enables exhibitors, pre-registered visitors and sponsors to view profiles of all expo participants and select whom they want to meet at the event.

Wikipedia History of John Adams

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the politician and second president of the United States. For his son, the 6th president of the United States, see John Quincy Adams. For other uses, see John Adams (disambiguation).

John Adams

*Adams' term as Vice President is sometimes listed as starting on either March 4 or April 6. March 4 is the official start of the first vice presidential term. April 6 is the date on which Congress counted the electoral votes and certified a Vice President. April 21 is the date on which Adams began presiding over the U.S. Senate.

John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States (1797–1801). Hailing from New England, Adams, a prominent lawyer and public figure in Boston, was highly educated and represented Enlightenment values promoting republicanism. A Federalist, he was highly influential and one of the key Founding Fathers of the United States.

Adams came to prominence in the early stages of the American Revolution. As a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress, he played a leading role in persuading Congress to declare independence, and assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. As a representative of Congress in Europe, he was a major negotiator of the eventual peace treaty with Great Britain, and chiefly responsible for obtaining important loans from Amsterdam bankers. A political theorist and historian, Adams largely wrote the Massachusetts state constitution in 1780, but was in Europe when the federal Constitution was drafted on similar principles later in the decade. One of his greatest roles was as a judge of character: in 1775, he nominated George Washington to be commander-in-chief, and 25 years later nominated John Marshall to be Chief Justice of the United States.

Adams' revolutionary credentials secured him two terms as George Washington's vice president and his own election in 1796 as the second president. During his one term, he encountered ferocious attacks by the Jeffersonian Republicans, as well as the dominant faction in his own Federalist Party led by his bitter enemy Alexander Hamilton. Adams signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and built up the army and navy especially in the face of an undeclared naval war (called the "Quasi War") with France, 1798–1800. The major accomplishment of his presidency was his peaceful resolution of the conflict in the face of Hamilton's opposition.

In 1800 Adams was defeated for reelection by Thomas Jefferson and retired to Massachusetts. He later resumed his friendship with Jefferson. He and his wife, Abigail Adams, founded an accomplished family line of politicians, diplomats, and historians now referred to as the Adams political family. Adams was the father of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. His achievements have received greater recognition in modern times, though his contributions were not initially as celebrated as those of other Founders.

Follow the lead...

Today's topic I would like to explain first by means of a parable...

Say, for instance you and I are standing up, facing eachother, and without warning, I slap you in the face for no reason...You were completely unprepared for the slap and it stings because you were not able to react quickly enough to get your face out of the way... (Of course I won't slap a woman, I will get a big Russian female masseuse to do it...)

Reaction-time is the crux...

Then I ask you:

"Why didn't you get your face out of the way? You think mos that you are Superman or something, don't you? The way you drive on other car's bumpers on the highway and in town...?"

I cringe all the time when I see the following distance that most drivers maintain. Its apalling. Do you realize the danger that you are in? And the danger that you are putting your fellow drivers in? And don't give me that crap of 'everyone does it'... Its stupid and careless and you know it...

What I want people to realize is that when you are less than ten metres away from the car in front of you, and driving at speeds of sixty kilometres and up, you have much less reaction time than it would take you to get your face out of the path of my big, heavy, slapping right hand when something happens...much less. And believe me, eventually, something WILL happen...

So... Please... If you are reading this, send it, re-share it, mail it, I don't care... Just let people know of this site in some or other fashion so that they can read what is writen here... Get the word out.

To stop or to go...that is the question...

From a cold and a bit windy Johannesburg in Gauteng I greet you with chattering teeth...

Today I would like to address a very serious issue... To stop, or to go and take that chance... At a stop-sign or a traffic light that is...

With this issue I am afraid that I can't point the finger at anyone in particular. In fact there are very, very few drivers in South Africa who are not guilty of this awesomely stupid crime, me included.

What I am referring to is when the traffic light goes orange and your car is still two hundred metres away and you speed up so you can still make it over before the red light strikes...

Meantime, when you reach the crossing you are doing ninety kilometres per hour but the light has already turned red. In my opinion you have absolutely no excuse for crossing the red light. You saw the orange way ahead of time. You should have stopped...

The funny thing is, while you are speeding over the red light at ninety, a taxi driver starts to cross in front of you because, in stead of waiting for his green, he was looking at the opposite traffic-lights turning orange and started to cross without paying any attention to any other cars doing stupid things.

Now you plough into him from the right...

Of course, you die instantly, because it doesn't matter what safety features your car has, at those speeds they don't count anymore... Of course, all of the people in the taxi, on the side that you hit at ninety, die instantly from the sheer force of the impact shattering their bodies like a contained explosion...

Now, no matter how you look at this, you are also to blame...

What I'm trying to get at here is that if we all just shed this attitude of trying to be first in line, this sickly attitude of entitlement that we all still have left over from "you-know-what" that ended in 1996... If we all just relax, give eachother a chance, and NOT TAKE ANY CHANCES!...we will all be so much safer on the roads of this amzing country of ours...

And then... That taxi driver that started to cross on the orange light, a lot of us do that too...

Now listen, if I happen to tread on anyone's toes with anything that I write on this site, I would like to say this: Get over it...

If you feel offended by anything on this site then you are one of the guilty ones...

A few weeks ago, on my scooter, I was driving past a school that is on my route home. Just as I was driving over a speed-hump, a blue BMW came flying past me over the hump. I say flying because he was in the air with speed. I know he was in the air because a BMW's side mirrors are not high enough for my elbow to touch when I'm on my scooter... But...this BMW hit my right elbow with it's left side mirror...

Lets just get the facts straight:

1. I was on a scooter
2. BMW was going fast enough to be airborne from the (very shallow) speed-hump
3. Close enough to me to hit my elbow as it passed me

As it happens, on my route, I saw the the BMW pulling into a driveway after it had disappeared for a while on a different route. I was not happy. So I pulled over and got onto the kerb and confronted the driver of the car as he waited for his automatic gate to open.

I asked him if he realised that he had almost just killed me...?

Take a guess at what the justification of his actions came down to...

He said: "I almost killed you... but I didn't kill you... so what?

Goodness gracious me!

I have made peace with that incident and just thank my Creator that He was looking out for me...

But...

From the overwhelming condemning evidence pertaining to driver-attentiveness, driver-consideration, respect for road-law, respect for other drivers and motorcyclists, I put it to you that most of us have the same attitude on the road as the guy in the BMW...

Think about it...

Traffic circles... What the hey?

Good day to you.

The issue that is on my heart today is the one concerning traffic circles.

The main aim of a traffic circle at a busy intersection is to let the traffic flow. The reason why it is so effective is because it doesn't require a driver to stop unless there is traffic coming from the right. Yes, a driver entering a traffic circle only has to give way to another driver entering the circle from his right.

Let me sum up the rule in understandable terms: Only stop at a traffic circle if someone approaches from your right.

Don't look around and try to see who stopped first or try not to annoy anyone. Thats not the point. The point is that if everyone follows this one premise upon which the effectivity of the traffic circle rests, the traffic will flow like a river, because that is what it was designed for.

I have to cross many traffic circles in Johannesburg every day and I am flabbergasted at the magnitude of congestion around these circles of ergonomica. Instead of letting the traffic flow, most of our brothers and sisters who don't know the traffic rules because they never actually went for a driving test, have mangled the rules and mechanisms that were designed to ease congestion through ignorance, selfishness and sheer aggression.

O.K. To recap:

At a traffic circle:

1. It is not a first-come-first-served setup like with a stop sign.
2. Entering a traffic circle you, as the driver of the car, only give way (i.o.w. stop for) to a driver who is entering the circle or coming round the circle from your right.

Just to be clear... Your right is the side on which the steering wheel sits in your car. Its the side where the sun comes up if you are facing north. Its the side opposite the hand that wears your wedding ring...

Please spread the word about this "supposed" common knowledge, send it on to everyone you know so that we can start to raise the awareness and bring down stress levels on the roads, especially in Johannesburg.

This has to stop!

For too long now the roads of South Africa has been such a hell-bound horror that I can not hold my tongue anymore. Something has to be said... Something has to be done...

Minibus-taxi's are the first on the list. The first and the last for that matter. They have taken over control of the roads from the government and do exactly what they want, when they want. And we let them do it.

I sit at traffic lights in Johannesburg every day, waiting for the light to turn green with all the other normal people, and we just watch the taxi drivers shoot past us on the left side of the yellow line at the intersection, before the light has even turned green, pushing in past everyone on the left side of the road... and we all do nothing. Why?

No horn is heard, no obscene finger gestures made, no voices raised, nothing... We have become so complacent with this behaviour that we have come to accept it as the acceptable norm.

But it's not! These actions, these behaviours, are not right.

Another example: Why do we let them push into a packed double carriage way from outside the yellow line? This causes such a congested bottleneck on an already congested road... But we we let them in? I propose that we don't let them in. That we don't give them a chance.

Here is a thought for you...: If you see a taxi stopping in the yellow line at a robot, pull your car in front of it and stand there until all of the law-abiding traffic has passed by. He can't get mad at you because the emergency lane is to stop in, not to drive in. If no-one gives the taxi a chance to get into the stream, it will have to wait there until everyone has passed, before it can go.

I know this sounds radical but I have done this, with my little scooter. The driver lost about seven minutes in seriously heavy traffic and I know it affected his business in a big way. It felt great and I got a load of hoots and waves and smiles and thumbs up from the normal traffic crowd. I propose that we hit taxi drivers where it will hurt them the most. Their time.

The only way that we are going to start to have safer roads is if we make it safer in some passively-positive resistance manner.

ALTHOUGH, I am by no stretch of the imagination suggesting that anyone should put themselves in harm's way or do anyting rash. Never, ever, lose your temper when you are on the road. I repeat: NEVER LOSE YOUR TEMPER. If you do, you are irrational, and you are endangering not just yourself but all of the other innocent people who use the road with you.

I am starting this blog in order to get some or other momentum going toward research that I am conducting regarding a legislated system for the effective control of serial traffic violators. If we can get a large enough movement going through this blog, we might, at some stage, have enough momentum to influence someone, somewhere... Who knows? Lets try. Who is with me?

If you are, then sign up to this blog. I would like to build up a large database of like-minded people who can be contacted and who will be the backbone of this organization as it grows.

And so the days go...

Here at the office we are all working hard on different projects. This one has to do that and that one has to do this. Not one day is ever the same. But that's how it is when you are woking in a creative environment. We all have to make sure that everything is in place for the top brass to do a presentation. We all have to work together so that when the brass have to give a progress report, they have all the information to present a coherent picture to the client. In a working environment like this the most awesome relationships are formed and nurtured. IT IS AWESOME!

Exciting survey!!!

How would you like to choose what you want to see in an entertainment show on T.V.?
Tell us yes or no before midnight, 15th Of May 2011...

E-mail us at:
ockie@internationalradiopictures.com

...or post a comment right here...

We can make this happen!

Saturday Work

So, here we all are, working on the Saturday... I'll tell you its fine to work on Saturday if its raining. And when you really enjoy what you do like we do its even better...

We have such an awesome team here.

Mizrey is the fearless and sweet lady leader. She leads the pack and makes sure everyone knows what they need to do.

Davide is a director of note and knows everything there is to know about everything...

Belinda, a creative powerhouse with experience where it counts.

Jethroat, editor, musician, tall cool guy...

Xanto is editor/administrator of note; always smiling and ready to help out.

Then there is me, the Ock-ness-monst. Actor, writer, voice artist and all around gofer guy...

This is the team. Ready to serve you...

Day by day...

Today has been very frustrating for the boys here at I.R.P.

We have had trouble with the internet and so a lot of the communication is standing still.

We were having trouble with a contact of a potential client who needed to get research materials back to us which has been sorted out, thankfully... Yay!

But all in all everything is getting done and the creative juices are flowing.

For me personally it is a great big honor to be working in a creative environment like this again. And its exciting!

Your Digital Life...

International Radio Pictures is immeasurably pleased to announce that we are available to capture and lovingly immortalize your life as a digital representation.

Whether it be a wedding, a birth, a bar mitzvah, or the final laying to rest of a loved one, we will with great compassion or joy, but always sensitively, capture the moment for you to enjoy and relive as much as you please after the fact.

With more than twenty years experience in the field of television and film, our team is fully equipped to render your event into an exceptionally professional format of your choice.

From live video capture to state of the art audio, incorporating many elements, including animation, the film we create for you will be of such a high standard as to leave you breathless...