Category Archives: Articles, Music, Opinions & Other Scissors

Sex, music, racism, inequality etc. – so beautiful, so absurd. Mike Hampton has something to say about it. Maybe the odd diary entry too…

Do-ism: My personal centrist ideology for a better South Africa

Mike Hampton Posted on by

There’s no perfect system or ism wherein human animals are involved. We deserve the right to enjoy the rewards of our hard work. We’re inhuman if we don’t help the poor. Politics is best when centrist and growing the middle class, thus lessening the poor and containing the callously rich. Fighting corruption is the truth of all ideology, its litmus test. Do-ism, the act of doing something ourselves to make our world a better place. I never knew the word “do-ism” existed until a few minutes after this post… but … Read the full article…

Free yourself from the slavery of Facebook bigotry

Mike Hampton Posted on by

If I’d continued living in that stifling box that most call life, I’d have killed myself. I don’t know how others tolerate it, wanting to be a product, never discovering themselves. I know that most will never change because going with the flow is an addictive stress. To those on the fence, where the hope for hope waits, I ask you this: Don’t let your flawed parents, teachers or religions confine you. Don’t confine yourself. Shed all that you’ve been taught and start again as a shitting baby in a … Read the full article…

The Democratic Alliance’s role in state capture

Mike Hampton Posted on by

State Capture involves the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance. The former is well known and I’m pleased that our country is finally making inroads towards justice. The latter’s corruption isn’t but Cape Town, Knysna, George and Oudtshoorn are standing up. A state is defined as “a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government.” The Western Cape mostly has its own culture and is controlled by the DA. There’s no separation of powers between party and state when, for example, Helen Zille is Premier, … Read the full article…

Hearts of Fire

Mike Hampton Posted on by

Knysna, the prettiest town in South Africa, will awake this morning to a different world, one of loss and ash on tongues. It is certain that this will be known as the Great Fire or something else of great importance. KNYSNA FIRE Last night, the old and young, wealthy retirees and the unemployed, found equality in survival and the sharing of stories. From Pezula to Karatara, from world renowned golf estates to farmlands, they gathered on Thesen Island. The shocked and brave became refugees in in the Turbine Boutique Hotel. … Read the full article…

Video: The Clock at the Back of the Cage

Mike Hampton Posted on by

Amanda Palmer & Edward Ka-Spel’s I Can Spin a Rainbow album is the opposite of taking LSD in outerspace. It’s dreamy but it isn’t dream pop. It’s magical but there’s no unicorns. It’s a ghost addressing hard reality. It’s eerie and full of loss looking at love. It’s indescribable by me but that’s ok ’cause the haunting stop motion video for the song ‘The Clock at the Back of the Cage’ will do it for me. It’ll speak to you in profound ways if you play it fullscreen and listen … Read the full article…

Counting Crows – Films About Ghosts (Review)

Mike Hampton Posted on by

“Little angels hang above my head and read me like an open book.” I can’t hear the Counting Crows without having my mind drift back to a period of young love. It was time of good waves and beaches, great but awkward sex, and, inevitably, dreams bursting from the weight of unrealistic hope. For an entire two years, my lover’s favourite song was ‘Mr. Jones’. She never got tired of it and I never tired of watching her dance to it. When she was gone, I would sometimes torture myself … Read the full article…