I live in a relatively safe neighbourhood, I use the word relative because let’s face it, nowhere is entirely safe. I have been mugged twice, the latest happening just last week on my way back from the gym. I live about 15 minutes from the gym so I prefer to walk there and gym at […]
Michelle Atagana
Michelle Atagana is a PhD student attempting a social experiment on better yet economical filmmaking using the Nigerian filmmaking industry as the subject. She hopes to document her findings in a documentary, she is at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, editor of Nux student newspaper for two-and-a-half years and news editor for Nux for a year-and-a-half. She has a keen interest in new media and wishes to pursue a career in online journalism or documentary filmmaking which ever comes first. She has a tendency to get over obsessive about the media and is unforgiving toward bad filmmaking. She has a fair amount of opinions though none of them really mean much because she's just spewing words that unfortunately find their way into her mind. She's currently writing what she hopes will be a bestseller so she can buy an Island and hide from all the people that found the other end of her investigative pen. She tweets like her life depended on it and blogs with moderate regularity and is excited for the day she is legally allowed to stalk Channing Tatum.
Posted inGeneral
Judgement Day: Nine-and-half months away
While shopping at Sandton City a few days ago a rather forceful young lady came up to me and handed me a pamphlet. The pamphlet had big bold letters saying: “The End of the World Is Almost Here! Holy God Will Bring Judgment Day On May 21, 2011.” The first thing that came to my […]
Posted inGeneral
HIV: A Moot Point
Before all of you start jumping to conclusions about my ignorance and what not; how about you actually read what I have to say… HIV/AIDs has become a moot point of some sort in our society, like everything else in life we go through them in phases. When it was the beginning stages of the […]
Posted inLifestyle
Why the hell are you single?
If you’re young, independent, bright and single you’ve probably been asked the question: “why the hell are you single?” For the unattached average 20-something this is a question that plagues your existence. For some it is a constant reminder that you are indeed without a significant other, for others who consciously chose the single life […]
Posted inLifestyle, Sport
Getting over the ‘gees’
“Football teams are extraordinarily inventive in the ways they find to cause their supporters sorrow.” — Fever Pitch (Nick Hornby). This post is perhaps a month late but the truth is, this is not about the World Cup but what it has done to us as a society, a nation and individuals. I love football, […]
Posted inGeneral
‘Poison Fire’
I recently watched a documentary called Poison Fire produced by Lars Johansson in conjunction with Friends of the Earth International and communities affected by gas flaring in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. Poison Fire documents Ifie’s (a local artist, feminist and environmental activist who works to promote dialogue between the communities, the oil industry and the federal […]
Posted inLifestyle
The recession blues
I had a meeting with the head of school a couple of weeks ago to discuss a possible topic for my PhD thesis; it was quick. It went something like this: “So professor, I am keen to explore the Nigerian film industry. I have some great ideas.” He responds: “That’s wonderful Michelle; it will involve […]
Posted inGeneral
Don’t shoot the messenger
The media is an integral part of our lives and helps shape who we are and who we may become. In first year sociology you get taught the agents of socialisation for an infant/child, and one of them is the media. In our society there has been constant debate about the role of the media […]
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Are you a good citizen?
I once watched a movie where a computer programme controlled a small town called Black River. Its trademark line was: “You will be a good citizen.” It didn’t ask; it simply told you. What makes a good citizen? Paying your taxes on time? Giving to charity? Keeping the environment clean? Better yet, being a good […]
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Satirically speaking …
Since the publishing of David Bullard’s “controversial” column: Uncolonised Africa wouldn’t know what it was missing, much has surfaced in terms of debate concerning the message the piece sends. Many have called the piece racist and offensive, and others have found it to be satiric. After lengthy discussions with media students at the University of […]