Pap n' Vleis

Now just to get this bit out the way. .. . I know that I was wrong in doing so. My mother taught me years ago that theft, big or small, is bad. Thus dear reader it is not without some level of guilt that begin this post chronicling my rather shameful pillaging of that beloved student hangout, The Rat and Parrot.

That familiar smell of spilled beer and Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes wafts through the cold October evening and settles nicely at the table at which I find myself. I don’t frequent the Rat that often because the drinks are generally overpriced and you can usually not here a word your significant other has to say. We order a couple of drinks and get drinking.

And then I see it.

Its right there.

You know how supposedly when you see your true love time stops, and the world stops spinning but you still keep moving? Well, I don’t suppose you do, but anyway, that’s how it feels for me. I see the most beautiful Heineken drinks tray I have ever seen in all my born. It’s glowing and hallelujah choirs start singing and it’s almost as if moon shimmying off its beautiful metal. The waiter just leaves it there, all by its lonesome.

I know that I have to have it. My friends are still cracking away and I realise that this is going to have to be a one man job. I start in a crouching position stalking it as if it were some helpless buck and I am the lion who is about to get lunch. I swoop it up and start walking calmly towards the door.

Suddenly I feel a tap on my shoulder it’s the waiter.

“Sorry mate, I think you forgot your wallet” he smiles.

I turn around keeping the tray away from him and walk thank him for the wallet and made sure I get the hell out of Dodge. Condensation floats of my breath as I get outside. I see my friends leaving in a Toyota Yaris and break out into a run…..

I hope you have enjoyed Pap and Vleis.

Till next time.

Cheers.

One blistering hot Friday afternoon , a spontaneous decision was made to go to Port Alfred beach. Five friends set on an unforgettable journey for the day. We played assorted road trip theme songs, got into deep conversations about life and spilt chocolate ice cream all over.

2pm was the time of arrival and that is when the true fun began. Being the sporty group we are, rugby, soccer and tennis balls were of vital importance. we played a thrilling game of beach cricket, kicked the rugby ball at eachother and rode what we could of the blood curdling, icy waves.

Seeing as the Rhodes pool was closed for maintenance, our group was joined by many more and the day seemed like an endless re run of "SummerBreak", one stop at picknpay for pre-drinks and perhaps a jam doughnut or two, would make our day complete.

Just shows what R15,00 each for petrol, a mate with a car and a group of friends who have nothing better to do; can get upto when not confronted by the stress of academics.

By David Shields

By David Shields

Some of it is about as exciting as a 7de laan omnibus. wanna know what I'm talking about?Check out http://papnvleis.blogspot.com/

Although the name is somewhat stupid, as it doesn’t make any sense, this blog might still be worth your time. For my review I have chosen to review a particularly interesting little number called www.pleasenotethefollowing.com (PNTF for short).

This blog presumably engages in issues that concern 1^st year Rhodents and more specifically 1^st year Journalism students.

The blog is very easy to navigate and the writing is succinct and easy to understand without being unstimulating. The writing of one Zan is particularly entertaining as it makes even the somewhat unexciting subject of Converse takkies enjoyable. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for other contributors.

The quality of the blog can be a bit patchy in places. A post about something as exciting as Skins is one of my favourite TV shows is followed by a weak post discussing the merits of going to lectures.

Another problem is that the site lacks …. Oh I don’t know…. sparkle, je ne se quoi, pizzazz? The blog’s layout does feel as bland as a 7de Laan Omnibus. There isn’t a lot to occupy the reader other than the content of the various bloggers. Some more photos or graphic design or a link to some other websites would have been appreciated.

PNTF definitely has potential all they need is some help to sparkle up their appearance and to give Zan more of the stage and this could still be an interesting product.

Overall I give it 2 out of 5 Bowls of Pap.

by Tanya

TanyaHirst #RUBLOGS Savage Beauty...fun with fear. http://papnvleis.blogspot.com/

A random opportunity presented itself to me not too long ago...I was invited by one of my best friends to the quarry just beyond the campus fence. The idea sounded like a lot of fun and a new experience is always welcome.

With the wind blowing like I have never seen it do in Grahamstown, we missioned out of the electric gate behind Cullen Bowles House and out into the open veld. It was freezing, but the walk got some blood flowing and my toes slowly regained consciousness. Upon arriving at the huge gaping hole in the ground that is the quarry, I suddenly remembered why I am (selectively) afraid of heights...nothing to strap you in, nothing to prevent you from falling...splat. Not cool. Aside from the fear itself, the wind was vicious in its attempts to blow anything and everything off the top of the cliff, including me. Therefore, the climb down onto the ledge overhanging the gorge below proved to be a rather challenging feat, luckily, my friend had been to the quarry before and was there to help me out, or actually make sure my feet stayed on solid ground.

The experience is not one that I am likely to repeat anytime soon, the climb was both extremely frightening and brilliant all at the same time. Sitting out in the complete silence was something rarely found in Res or around campus, so it was pretty amazing to look out into the open pit while sheltered by the surrounding rocks as the wind attempted to rip the surroundings from the ground...savagely beautiful. There is nothing better than spending time with someone out in a completely neutral space, not having to say a word and still feeling like there is so much being said, especially since this friend and I had been fighting for a few weeks prior to the visit to the quarry. It was intense to see the damage done by whoever had mined the land to leave the quarry but at the same time, it was much appreciated as a place of total retreat for the random soul.

by Tanya

TanyaHirst #RUBLOGS Some Pretty awesome Bloggin' at http://rhodesfoureyes.blogs..., check it out.

The blog I chose to review was Four Eyes, (by Simone Redelinghuys, Graham Ziervogel, Ross Bosman and Bradley Southin) and it was one of the more fascinating, random blogs that I found in my search for the most appealing blog to review.

I found the blog to be appropriate to the theme of a student blog with its random assessments of various topics that would interest students. The idea of the group being composed of 3 males and one female made it come across as a struggle between ideas that actually came together in a complementary form in the end. I particularly enjoyed the post: “What an arb name, and what a weird read”, it was humorous while still remaining informative in its main agenda.

The group was particularly pedantic about tweeting. Their tweets remained to the point while still conveying the message in full. This was appealing in that it made the blog more available in terms of possible readers who might find them on Twitter. I personally hate the idea of Twitter, I believe it is a retarded version of the Facebook status, but since seeing twitter in action, it has proved somewhat less useless to me.

In conclusion, the blog remains to be one of the more interesting and vibrant reads of the semester and the group has compiled a decent selection of ideas in new and humorous ways.

#rublogs what i got up to before swot week. www.papnvleis.blogspot.com/

After weeks of non stop essays, assignments, tutorial readings and tests; the workload finally started to get less and less. This year seems to have been a short one, it feels like it was only yesterday when I was on Prince Alfred Street at the SRC/RMR Street Party shaking my tail feather waiting in anticipation for the year to start. I must admit, University is not what I expected at all. So when the opportunity came about for my two friends and I to join my brother on a one-night-only adventure to Port Alfred, I jumped at the chance of spending the day and evening with good people, eating good food and drinking good wine. So we abandoned all lectures, tutorials and delicious meals at the dinning hall and headed to Port Alfred. One of my friends that joined us in this adventure is from Cape Town and had not been to Port Alfred so in the car there were many stories of what to expect and past experiences of the beautiful town.

I had not been in Port Alfred in many years. Growing up, we would take family holidays at a resort called Fish River Sun. We went there just to see if the place looked the same but I could not remember anything from my childhood from there. We spent the whole day and evening on the deck and pool of a hotel eating, smoking and drinking listening to good music.

The break was exactly what I needed before swot week and exams.