Since the war started, over 2 months ago, it has been a struggle to sleep at night. And this is coming from an insomniac who is hyperactive. So take it with a pinch of salt. But I am sure you understand what I am trying to say. The nights are not easy. Too much time online reading news, and just staring at stories and images on the Net, trying to comprehend how this can be happening. Aren’t we meant to living in civilized times where things like invading other countries doesn’t happen any more? Who sends in tanks to terrorize innocent people and destroy their homes? Who does this, in this day and age? Russians do this. And their leader is an evil, small, coward of a man.

I love writing, and have been involved in many story telling projects in the indie film world over the past two decades. And some book adventures, newspaper columns, blogs, public speaking, and more. I started writing a lot at the start of the war, and I keep making notes all the times of everything that we are experiencing. I don’t consider myself a good writer but I am confident and I love new ideas. I enjoy writing.

I have many friends in Ukraine and we all text/chat often. Sometimes I am inspired, frequently amazed, and constantly sad. The more I write the less time I have and I am starting to think I need to spend less hours in front of my laptop, and put more emphasis into living life. Not that life is so much fun right now, but there is a ton to be thankful for and a lot to embrace. The Bunster and Marta need more of my time. And I need to take way better care of my physical health.

I have a long list of ideas to explore and write about. But none of this is urgent. I thought it was, for some reason, but it is not that important to me now. I will write up some of the ideas as the weeks go by, but I better start getting my shit together.

There is a lot of media attention of late around Elon Musk buying Twitter. And of course, crypto stuff is in the headlines a lot as always, with the ups and downs. I see the value of Twitter was not as high as I would have thought, considering all the hype. And then, out of curiosity I looked on Google a bit more and the value of all the Bitcoins out there was also not as high as I had imagined. Considering the move Elon just made, a few eccentric billionaires could pool together and buy all the Bitcoins. Makes no sense to do that though, but it is possible, in theory.

The thing about buying up all the shares in a company is that there is an underlying value in a profitable business. But Bitcoin is not a business. It is a virtual currency. So buying it all up makes no sense. But I just had this mad thought that it could be possible. Does make for an interesting debate. The reason I compare Bitcoin to shares in a company is that people talk about Bitcoin like it is equity in the stock market. It is traded like a public company share. And yet, there is no company. There is no governance. There is no rule of law. There is just this faith, and of course hype, and a massive bunch of electricity consuming computers.

Money is a religion to so many people and the goal of the greedy is to hoard as much of it as possible. So in US Dollar terms the aim is to get all the dollars, or as much as they can. Shouldn’t this be the same then with a virtual currency. People who have a lot of Bitcoins seem to enjoy having others know this, like they are in some very proud club. So then surely, with the same logic, the aim is to have as many Bitcoins as possible. But not all the Bitcoins, right? Because if you managed to buy up all the Bitcoins then would they have any value at all. I mean, if you were the only person that had them then doesn’t it mean that they become useless. This is confusing me. But there is something to this.

I am just having some fun here, thinking out loud. Yes, I know that no one would buy up all the Bitcoins, even though again it is theoretically possible. But if there are no Bitcoins being utilized, because only one person has them all, then don’t they becoming meaningless? So this is a very strange scenario. Get as many as you can, but not all of them.

Here is something else to think about: Let’s say you buy a home, say, 20 years ago, for a million dollars. And today the house is valued at 2 million dollars. So you get a mortgage on the house for a million dollars and you spend it on cars, travel, etc. You don’t pay tax on the million the bank gives you, at almost no interest, because, well you are privileged or rich or whatever the word is.

So the rich lending money, at almost no interest, rarely sell assets or equities, and keep on living large, and pay the minimum of tax. This is all legal and the way the system works. But the poor have no assets, no collateral and so pay a risk premium every time. And they often borrow from micro lenders and pay HUGE interest, simply to get groceries each month.

Something has to give.

We are in Fancourt and it is raining and raining. The busy Bunster wants to run outside on the never-ending manicured golf lawns but everything is wet and we got our hands full for sure. Jane had to leave us yesterday late afternoon to return to Johannesburg. We met Jane about 6 weeks ago through our friend David. Jane had worked with David’s family for 4 years as a night nurse and came highly recommended. When it was suggested that we try find a night nurse, when we arrived in Johannesburg, we weren’t sure how long it would take us to find someone we liked. But we got lucky – Jane was available pretty much right away, as she had just finished with David’s family, and we met her and voila.

Jane is very good at what she does and the Bunster took a big liking to her. We had a nanny in Kyiv called Tanya, and when the war started Tanya went to Western Ukraine, and we came to SA. Bunster liked Tanya too. She is also a very cool person, like Jane. Bunster has had quite a few people come and go in a short space of time and he does act a bit confused, but he is good. So when Jane left us yesterday we were all pretty sad.

Jane has been living in SA for over 23 years. She is from Malawi. She is married and she lives in Bryanston with her husband. When I met Jane I asked her for her bank details so I could pay her each month and she told me she did not have a bank account. She asked me if I can pay her part in cash and the rest to pay into her husband’s account. I was curious as to why she did not have a bank account and she told me it is impossible to open an account as a non-South African.

One day in JHB, Jane asked if I could get her an Uber early the next morning after a night with the Bunster, so she could go to Kempton Park to get her visa sorted out. Again, I was curious. I guessed Jane did this every 5 or 10 years or something like that. I was wrong. She has to go there every 30 days. WTF ?!

I have a very close friend Akin, a humble, high energy artist, who has been in SA for 30 years, and he sometimes shares his frustration about the nonsense that is taking place in SA. Akin pays taxes and is a wholesome member of the land, so what is the problem. Xenophobia is a real issue and listening to Jane’s stories since we met her has been very disturbing.

I paid Jane well, and we are kind and warm people. I could see Jane was very happy helping us with Bunster and we were all getting to know each other. She met a few of my friends when they came to visit us in JHB, at Alon’s house, when we first got settled in after arriving from Kyiv. And now she is gone. We are not sure what the challenge is exactly that she had to go back to JHB to deal with. We are concerned now and hope that she is going to be ok, and we wonder if she will be able to fly back to George soon to come be with the Bunster again. He already looked a bit confused this morning.

I love South Africa, and it has been good to me, and my family. But I am embarrassed about many things that go on. What is with the xenophobia. Why did Jane have such a struggle on her hands. She looked so stressed this week. While Bunster napped in the afternoons, she was on the phone, and she seemed so anxious all the time. She is smart, she has money, she had good people around her to to try and help. So what then is the problem. Why can’t she even open a bank account in SA, for example? And that is just the start of the rant …

A must see documentary film – masterful storytelling !!!

This film was brilliant – I was blown away. It also illustrates the mafia state that is Russia. Ukraine is under threat because it has grown up and wants out, and the mafia boss Godfather says “no”.

The entire business and political system in Russia is criminal. And the greedy West just saw the money and ignored that they where dealing with criminals from politics to business. Now we face the consequences. It will take Russia decades to untangle a criminal system this is present at every level of society.

Mornings that start off with the Bunster are better than mornings that don’t.

There are are so many expressions and playful phrases using the word “stuff”. Get stuffed. Stuff it. I am stuffed. Stuffing. There is even a magazine with this word in the title. Jerry Seinfeld did a comedy bit once about collecting stuff. This is what many of us do with our lives. We are always looking for stuff, buying stuff, storing stuff.

I am sentimental person. I have been collecting stuff ever since I was a kid. I think I am a still a kid. An overgrown kid. And now I have a kid. I have been called a hoarder. I think that is fair. Most of the stuff I have has no material value, but to me, it makes sense. There is paraphernalia from IS, movie things (from our indie film projects), Canary swag, magic stuff, quirky gadgets, high tech toys, stand-up comedy DVDs, rare funny books, gizmos, pranks, Atari t-shirts (a small but cool collection), and the list goes on. A lot of it is geeky stuff. Yes, I am a bit of a nerd. My home office in the The Nest is overflowing with stuff, and now, I am not sure when will ever see this stuff again. The vast majority of my favourite stuff is in The Nest.

The pandemic showed the world that you don’t need a lot to live. Yes, to live, and to live well, does not require a dozen holiday homes and a fleet of luxury cars. We can only sleep in one bed, and as long as that bed is comfortable, and the house is clean and warm, and the fridge full of food, you are living pretty well. And we certainly don’t need all that stuff to live comfortable lives. I may never be able to see this stuff again and I will survive. But it does upset me. For some reason that stuff was dear to me. That stuff made me feel peaceful. I know it may sound a bit odd, as it is to most people, just worthless stuff, but to me it meant something.

The rockets striking Kyiv on Thursday made everyone more anxious. We have friends in Kyiv. The Nest is in Kyiv. All that stuff is in Kyiv. And this morning, the Bunster made a mess with a yogurt drink and got us both covered in stuff. Yes, stuff is everywhere. And from my perspective, the world is looking pretty stuffed. Ok ok, I was trying to play with words there. But you know what I mean.

The other thing about stuff is that we not only collect it, but then sometimes we put stuff in storage. I have never done that, but I know that self-storage facilities are a big industry. When we die what happens to all this stuff? And if you go away for the weekend and come back to discover your house burned down, then all your stuff is gone. Talk about a stuffing reset.

The thing about collecting is that a lot of people, I think the vast majority, collect things that have a perceived value, like art. Some just collect rent. A lot try and hoard cash. Money collecting is a popular past time. Everyone is collecting something. Most collect something that has a monetary value. Asset management could be referred to as asset collecting. And then you get those people who collect stories. The bible is the ultimate collection of stories. I love a good story. I am always writing down and capturing stories.

I should start thinking about collecting things that have value. Perhaps the war has made me aware of financial vulnerability. The stuff I collect is mostly stuff that makes people smile. Seeing people smile makes me happy.

This spider in a box prank is one of my favourites. The Bunster likes it too. I can’t wait to show it to him one day when we are back in The Nest. By then he will be a bit older and will find it even funnier.

Absolutely nothing.

We got a new Apple laptop, and my old faithful machine got fixed. Jackpot! The technician thinks the motherboard may have got fried by power surges from load shedding. Never a dull moment.

We are staying at a golfing estate called Fancourt, close to the small and charming city of George. It is very pretty here and quiet. We are staying at my brother Alon’s holiday home. Golf is the name of game here, but I have never played golf before and probably never will. I have always admired this game, and thought of it as graceful. A sport where you can compete against yourself. When I look out the bedroom window now I can some folk playing a round. It all looks very peaceful.

The house comes with a golf cart which is very cool. This has got me thinking. Isn’t this what a Tesla car is. Just with more flair and vooma. Perhaps Elon Musk is a golfer and got inspired by golfing estates. These golf carts are everywhere here, and they seem pretty nippy. Silent machines that the Bunster loves. I am convinced that golf carts are like simple Teslas. Interesting that they never evolved into family cars. Seems like this was staring everyone in the face for a long time, especially golfers. Ok, ok. I am being a bit silly.

I love photography and have a keen eye. I have tried to take some pics that can capture the beauty and scale of this place, but the camera does not do it justice. This needs to be seen in person. From what I understand this is a world-class resort and is up there with the best of the best. I hear a lot of people that retire come and live here permanently. I can definitely see the lifestyle that this provides and it is appealing, and again, I am not a golfer. The setting is magnificent, and the air fresh and crisp. You have the ocean about 10 minutes away by car, and there is lot of cool eating places all over the place.

The Cape Dutch looking houses here, in one part of the estate, are appealing to me, aesthetically. And in terms of what you get for your money it is not expensive in world pricing. Because of SA’s weak currency and the low confidence in the economy, the housing prices at Fancourt in US Dollars, for example, are not going to scare anyone away.

SA has a brain drain problem with so many skilled and good people leaving the country. Two of the newest and most popular countries where people are going to include Portugal and Holland. America is not on most people’s top 5 places any more, for quite a while now. And Australia, while it remains popular, has no appeal to me – you could not pay me to live there. So when we came to Fancourt 6 days ago, we started to think about this as a possibility. Since the war started in Ukraine and we had to leave our stunning home in magical Kyiv, we have spent a lot of time thinking about where we could live. Our plan is to return to Kyiv and help with the rebuilding. But, if God forbid, this war takes a turn for the worse, and we cannot return, then we need to think about where we are going to stay in more longer terms. I have to say that Fancourt has captured our imaginations for sure.

We are in Fancourt, staying at my brother Alon’s place here. He is here with us too. And Lisa and Aras are also here. They all came down with us from Johannesburg to settle us in. I was once here in Fancourt a long time ago, for a weekend. I think that was about 20 years ago. It is raining now, and we just finished some load shedding.

Last night my old faithful Dell laptop died on me. I was on the phone with Dell support this morning early and they said it sounds like the motherboard is poked. It is still raining … pouring.

One way I am dealing with the nightmare of this insane war is to write. I make so many notes all the time. There are so many observations, and a tidal wave of emotions, all bundled with exhaustion and confusion. So to have my laptop go kaput now is just the pits. I am now using Alon’s laptop and they are all in the lounge listening to ABBA music and playing Jenga. It is still raining. But the electricity is back on so everything is ok.

After I chatted with the Dell support man in India, who was very friendly and on-the-ball, we drove to the mall, about 15 minutes away, and we went to the Incredible Connection and looked at the laptops there. I have always worked on an IBM compatible PC, but never on a Mac. I know, I know. And then, with a burst of inspiration that came from Luke, our brother in Cape Town, who was on a Garden Route solo bike trip, the decision was made: we purchased a MacBook Air. They didn’t have stock in the shop – it should arrive Monday or Tuesday. Bye bye PC … hello Apple laptop.

After what we have been through recently I didn’t things could get any more stressful, but when your work is mainly involving a keyboard, having your laptop konk out is just not cool. But not the end of the world. Just a proper pain in the ass, and a waste of time and some money. Soon I will be a Mac person. I am told by all Apple fans that I am going to love it after a few days of getting familiar with the MacOS.

I hope to be up and running again soon with a new laptop, and then I can try and write some more. Meanwhile, in Ukraine there are much bigger problems than my stupid laptop. Please God this nightmare war ends soon.

I have been writing down and collecting funny, quirky stories from my adventures in Kyiv for over 14 years. Here is one of them.

So, we are all on the phone one morning, and in the apartment building there is quite a bit of renovation/construction work going on, because it is still a “new” building and not all the residents are living there yet. Between, Monday and Friday you often hear hammers and drills and it generally is ok, as it may be a few floors down, or, above. But that day it was very very loud – it has happened a few times, and when they drill into the concrete the whole building can hear it. When it goes quiet you can think again. Not the biggest problem in the world, and they always stop promptly at 7 pm each day, during the week.

So, where were we … we are all on the phone, and the drilling is loud and I can’t hear shit, and they can hear over the phone the loud noise. Craig, who is on the call, says “When will they stop all the construction work ?”

The noise is most of the times in the distance and not very loud. About once a week it is loud, and only for a few hours at a time. Like that morning. The first time we hear this extra loud concrete drilling we all got a fright – it felt like the building was about to fall down. Once it was so loud and I scurried downstairs to the admin office and in broken Russian I asked about the construction.

Zhanna, the cool lady who looks after the building, speaks English. She is a very kind person with a great sense of humour. I chat with her and her colleagues, Sergey, Sergey and Sergey (it gets confusing sometimes). Between my scatty Russian, they understand that I am stressed and worried. They tell me all is normal and that I must not worry.

What I really want to find out is “When will this current drilling be complete so that we have an idea as to what date the noise will ease off ?” And that is when things get colourful.

Eastern European culture is very very defensive. No one is ever wrong and no one ever makes a mistake. Did you watch that brilliant TV show Chernobyl? That is an example of this culture.

So, when I ask when the drilling may end they straight away get defensive and start telling me that they are doing nothing wrong and that the builders are following the rules and that they are allowed to drill from 9 am to 7 pm from Monday to Friday.

I say that all is cool and yes, I tell them that I know all of this. I just want to try find out when their construction project will end so we can try plan ahead. For example, I tell them, that if they are only going to drill for one more week then we will be ok, but if it is for 3 months then maybe we will go walk in the park during the day … trying to explain to them why we want to know. And, it is a simple question : we just want to know. Call me curious.

Again, they start with : But what is the problem ?

I again say that there is no problem and that I am just curious. I just want to try find out when the drilling will stop.

They are not hearing me, and their view is that I am complaining and causing trouble.

I pick up on this and say that I am not complaining – I just want to try and find out when they may be ending their construction.

And again it goes on with the defensive push back. No one understands what I am on about, and because I am soft spoken and not aggressive, they are very confused. To them I look like a doose – a guy that is complaining and he looks not happy.

I am not complaining and I am not happy or unhappy – I am just polite and am trying, for the love of God, to get an answer. They pull out some paperwork and point out that we also made construction in our apartment and no one complained when we were making noise. I can see that I am now being labelled a trouble maker, and if this were Soviet times I would be sent to Siberia for my bad attitude.

Craig says to me, “This shit there never changes.” Craig has been to Kyiv many times and has experienced this when we shot that Ukraine concept video back in 2018.

The thing is, they have been suffering in Ukraine for over 1000 years. And we had been suffering, because of the drilling noise, for a few hours. Well, not exactly suffering but it was very loud, and you can’t work when the drilling is happening. They can’t understand what I am complaining about. But I am not complaining. If there was drilling for a 1000 years, then go ahead and complain, but their view is go back, and enjoy the noise, because for a long time we didn’t have any drilling. So, they seem to like drilling and can’t understand why we would complain about it. But I was not complaining. I was simply trying to find out when they estimate the construction will finally be over.

In the end we all laughed, nervously, and I left clueless, and with them all being suspicious of me. The next time I went to ask them something they all disappeared when they saw me coming. Like it was “Look, there’s the complainer again, coming to make trouble.”

I did not complain. I was simply trying to find out when …

They have been suffering here since +- 400 AD, when Kyiv was formed. They reckon a bit of suffering builds character. I guess the drilling noise is seen, er, heard, as a positive thing. And they don’t like trouble makers, who complain, and then start revolutions.

I am not starting a revolution. I was just trying to find out when the construction guys may end be coming to the end of their building project.

I am laughing now, as I write up this story. I miss Zhanna and Sergey and Sergey and Sergey. I miss everyone in Kyiv. They are soulful people with big hearts. I hope we can return to Kyiv soon. And I miss the drilling. Those were good times.