17.Flowers Series

This Series is not about great photography. It is, as  mentioned, firstly, about finding pretty things in ugly places. Then just a record of what flora I found in my travels.

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF

Photography 101 is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.

Interesting:

Get quality back links. The Gravy Train  

Niume seems to be the best microblogging platform available at present, why not give them a try?

Pictures of the Moon

27.Sunrise Sunset Series

You may have noticed that not many of the photos in the series are “award winning” shots; that is because I am posting the good and the bad. The “bad” ones are lessons to be learned, that we discuss in Photography 101, the “good” ones come as a result of said discussions.

Please view and like my page to read about the adventures of
THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF 
who is not a Mexican at all and feel free to join us at  Photography 101; which is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.

Of Interest:

Get quality back links. The Gravy Train  

Niume seems to be the best microblogging platform available at present, why not give them a try?

Pictures of the Moon

26. Sunrise Sunset Series

You may have noticed that not many of the photos in the series are “award winning” shots; that is because I am posting the good and the bad. The “bad” ones are lessons to be learned, that we discuss in Photography 101, the “good” ones come as a result of said discussions.

Please view and like my page to read about the adventures of

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF  

who is not a Mexican at all and feel free to join us at  Photography 101; which is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.


Of Interest:
Buy quality back links. The Gravy Train 
Niume seems to be the best microblogging platform available at present, why not give them a try?

Magical Pink Moments of Ouija

16. Flowers Series

This Series is not about great photography. It is, as  mentioned, firstly, about finding pretty things in ugly places. Then just a record of what flora I found in my travels.

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF

Photography 101 is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.
Interesting:
Get quality back links. The Gravy Train 
Niume seems to be the best microblogging platform available at present, why not give them a try?

The Secret to Happiness – A Simple One-Word Answer

25.Sunrise Sunset Series

You may have noticed that not many of the photos in the series are “award winning” shots; that is because I am posting the good and the bad. The “bad” ones are lessons to be learned, that we discuss in Photography 101, the “good” ones come as a result of said discussions.

Please view and like my page to read about the adventures of
THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF 
who is not a Mexican at all and feel free to join us at  Photography 101 SA; which is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.

Of Interest:

Buy quality back links. The Gravy Train  

Niume seems to be the best microblogging platform available at present, why not give them a try?

The Secret to Happiness – A Simple One-Word Answer

Cheetahs and the Movies

One day I got the opportunity  to work on a movie set through a friend of mine: a mad inventor and adventurer of note, Peter Dickens. He knew a stunt man, Peter Spiro, and between the two of them they signed me onto a set as a diver.
The part of the script to be shot was of a young boy on a raft with a cheetah. The raft capsizes and both are in the river. Our job was to make sure the beast and the boy got back on terra firma safely. One of us had to be in the water to pull out the child actor (that was Spiro), the others (Peter and I) had to get the cat out. Okay, a cheetah is not the most dangerous member of the cat family, but is certainly not your household domestic one. We came up with a plan to build a small pontoon, put a battery-powered outboard on the back and nail a piece of carpet on the front. The idea was, one of us would steer and the other would do whatever else needed doing.
We built the pontoon. It was about a metre wide and two metres long. The film was being shot outside Parys on the Vaal river. The plan worked very well. We would motor up to the animal and it would claw its way onto the pontoon via the carpet. Peter was in charge of the steering and I had to help the cheetah up, some close calls with him snapping at my hands, but fear makes one quick! Then we, who were now stuck on a floating piece of wood with one very pissed-off and sopping wet cheetah, Peter would steer towards the bank where the animal’s trainer was waiting. We were doing this for 4 days; in the movie, Duma, the whole shot is about 2 minutes long.

More Short Stories links on my page:

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF


Of interest
Get quality back links. The Gravy Train 
Niume seems to be the best microblogging platform available at present, why not give them a try?
Evening Sky by Estelle Haward

15. Flowers Series

This Series is not about great photography. It is, as  mentioned, firstly, about finding pretty things in ugly places. Then just a record of what flora I found in my travels.

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF

Photography 101 is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.

Get quality back links. The Gravy Train  

Of Interest.
 
Niume seems to be the best microblogging platform available at present, why not give them a try?

Evening Sky by Estelle Haward

24. Sunrise Sunset Series

You may have noticed that not many of the photos in the series are “award winning” shots; that is because I am posting the good and the bad. The “bad” ones are lessons to be learned, that we discuss in Photography 101, the “good” ones come as a result of said discussions.

Please view and like my page to read about the adventures of

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF  

who is not a Mexican at all and feel free to join us at  Photography 101 SA; which is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:

The Mexican and Bierpens.

Buy quality back links. The Gravy Train  

Niume seems to be the best microblogging platform available at present, why not give them a try?

Evening Sky by Estelle Haward

Eeben Barlow's Military and Security Blog: THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

Eeben Barlow's Military and Security Blog: THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...: This past weekend witnessed the solemn commemorations of Remembrance Day around the world. It was indeed a fitting time to remember...

BierPens: 1. Rhino Wars - A 6 year Review Series.

BierPens: 1. Rhino Wars - A 6 year Review Series.: With, what some people,  regard as the shocking news that the ANC is involved at very high levels, in the Rhino poaching business I decided ...

14. Flowers Series

This Series is not about great photography. It is, as  mentioned, firstly, about finding pretty things in ugly places. Then just a record of what flora I found in my travels.

You can read about some of my “travels” here in a series of short stories on my Facebook Page.
Please “like” the page.
THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF


Photography 101 is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.

Buy quality back links. The Gravy Train 

23. Sunrise Sunset Series

You may have noticed that not many of the photos in the series are “award winning” shots; that is because I am posting the good and the bad. The “bad” ones are lessons to be learned, that we discuss in Photography 101, the “good” ones come as a result of said discussions.

Please view and like my page to read about the adventures of

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF  

who is not a Mexican at all, and feel free to join us at  Photography 101 SA; which is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.


Buy quality back links. The Gravy Train 

Rhino Wars – On Causes

The original post was written by myself in 2014, One Man's Opinion blog but people said tha the ANC would not be involved in the Rhino killings..... I rest my case.

Firstly, no matter what cause you choose to fight, until the ludicrously high rate of corruption in South Africa is addressed and put right, we stand no chance of success. If by some miracle all the hundreds of causes one sees on facebook could join and fight this common enemy we have a small chance, not of ending the corruption; that is unrealistic even within the realms of miracles, but of bringing it down to “acceptable” norms of this modern society we have created.

The second problem of causes is the amount of armchair warriors we find, they latch on to a cause and sail forth, mainly with a vague half assed theory and fuck all experience. Sitting in a plush chair on an expensive laptop they blow smoke with cyber generated word. My personal pet hate is all the people that post the comments about killing the poachers. It shows not only ignorance but total lack of understanding in general.
Highly emotive, and useless. I too doubt if 99% of the people that cyber scream, that given the chance they would not only kill the poachers but mutilate them as well, could. Killing a man, any man is a ….. difficult thing and changes you for life. They should pray that they never have to.

 Instead of sitting doing a whole bunch of ranting and raving about the rhino, if a percentage got off their backsides and in their posh 4×4 and went into the hot zones, volunteering to help patrol or take out the guys in an APU, which has a broken down vehicle it would do more good for the rhino that the hundreds of hours they waste typing all sorts of shit on their favourite facebook group.
As usual this is… just one man’s opinion.

The Mexican Horse Thief Stories

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13. Flowers and Plants Series

This Series is not about great photography. It is, as  mentioned, firstly, about finding pretty things in ugly places. Then just a record of what flora I found in my travels.

You can read about some of my “travels” here in a series of short stories.

Please “like” the page.
THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF


Photography 101 SA is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.



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22. Sunrise Sunset Series

You may have noticed that not many of the photos in the series are “award winning” shots; that is because I am posting the good and the bad. The “bad” ones are lessons to be learned, that we discuss in Photography 101, the “good” ones come as a result of said discussions.

Please view and like my page to read about the adventures of

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF  

who is not a Mexican at all and feel free to join us at  Photography 101 SA; which is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.
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Rhino Wars – Leopards and Spiders

Rhino Anti Poaching Stories.

There was a huge old leopard at Palala Rhino Sanctuary; one of the younger rhino bore the scars from an attack when he was a baby. His one ear was torn in two, long ways and drooped, I had never heard of a leopard going for a rhino snack before! I found the leopard’s prints, all around my hut quite often so my drill for going to the toilet at night was as follows:
Open door, check the step for snakes, as there were many night adders about. Use torch to look for shinning green eyes, recheck the ground and then proceed to the open air bathroom. Check for any signs of life, when finish, repeat the process and try get back to my hut undamaged.
My little bird must be after that proverbial worm, he starts pecking at my window just before 5am.. While having my coffee I hear, on the slopes of the mountain to my right, the warning cry of the Baboons. “Borghom, Borghom”. I immediately think, “Leopard!” I rush to get my binocs and before I even lift then see something greyish moving along the slopes. Using the binocs I find a family of Bush Pigs running along, not Warthog, Bush Pig.
They look like the cartoon Boar in Asterix and Oblix. I am not too disappointed, having often heard them in the night I have never spotted one in the bush before. I make my morning notes and then pack my Battle Jacket, where a magazine of bullets is suppose to go now holds a Cannon Powershot camera, the rest of the magazine pockets are largely empty. (A very sore point I will not dwell on here). I have modified the Jacket so my binocs are easily accessible but do not bang around; other pockets hold water bottles and Super C sweets. And of course, my pen and paper.
That night, there I was, minding my own business; reading a book by torchlight while lying on my bed. As it was hot I was shirtless, next thing I get this tickling feeling on my chest, which is hidden from view by the book. Now, I am not paranoid about spiders, not even really afraid of them, that said, I have also seen the damage some of them can inflict.
The problem is, unlike with snakes, I have no idea which spider is harmless and which is not. The one on my bare chest looked similar to the ones I have seen in gardens in Gauteng. Brushing him off and making sure in the dim light that he had really skedaddled I continued reading. Then! Another spider landed on my neck. It ran down my neck and on to my chest in seconds. This kind of spider I have never seen before, shape of a Daddy Longlegs but lime green and pale yellow. I have since learned that it is called a Lynx Spider.

After that I pulled the bed cover right up to my chin, never mind how hot it was.
There was a huge old leopard at Palala; one of the younger rhino bore the scars from an attack when he was a baby. His one ear was torn in two, long ways and drooped, I had never heard of a leopard going for a rhino snack before! I found the leopard’s prints, all around my hut quite often so my drill for going to the toilet at night was as follows:
Open door, check the step for snakes, as there were many night adders about. Use torch to look for shinning green eyes, recheck the ground and then proceed to the open air bathroom. Check for any signs of life, when finish, repeat the process and try get back to my hut undamaged.
My little bird must be after that proverbial worm, he starts pecking at my window just before 5am.. While having my coffee I hear, on the slopes of the mountain to my right, the warning cry of the Baboons. “Borghom, Borghom”. I immediately think, “Leopard!” I rush to get my binocs and before I even lift then see something greyish moving along the slopes. Using the binocs I find a family of Bush Pigs running along, not Warthog, Bush Pig.
They look like the cartoon Boar in Asterix and Oblix. I am not too disappointed, having often heard them in the night I have never spotted one in the bush before. I make my morning notes and then pack my Battle Jacket, where a magazine of bullets is suppose to go now holds a Cannon Powershot camera, the rest of the magazine pockets are largely empty. (A very sore point I will not dwell on here). I have modified the Jacket so my binocs are easily accessible but do not bang around; other pockets hold water bottles and Super C sweets. And of course, my pen and paper.
That night, there I was, minding my own business; reading a book by torchlight while lying on my bed. As it was hot I was shirtless, next thing I get this tickling feeling on my chest, which is hidden from view by the book. Now, I am not paranoid about spiders, not even really afraid of them, that said, I have also seen the damage some of them can inflict.
The problem is, unlike with snakes, I have no idea which spider is harmless and which is not. The one on my bare chest looked similar to the ones I have seen in gardens in Gauteng. Brushing him off and making sure in the dim light that he had really skedaddled I continued reading. Then! Another spider landed on my neck. It ran down my neck and on to my chest in seconds. This kind of spider I have never seen before, shape of a Daddy Longlegs but lime green and pale yellow. I have since learned that it is called a Lynx Spider.
After that I pulled the bed cover right up to my chin, never mind how hot it was.


Taken from the yet unpublished Chronicles. You can find links to the already published series of The Chronicles of the Mexican Horse Thief on my page

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF.
Please visit and like the page.

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12. Flowers and Plants Series

This Series is not about great photography. It is, as  mentioned, firstly, about finding pretty things in ugly places. Then just a record of what flora I found in my travels.

You can read about some of my “travels” here in a series of short stories.
Please “like” the page.
THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF


Photography 101 SA is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.


*

21. Sunrise Sunset Series

You may have noticed that not many of the photos in the series are “award winning” shots; that is because I am posting the good and the bad. The “bad” ones are lessons to be learned, that we discuss in Photography 101, the “good” ones come as a result of said discussions. Please join us.

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF

Photography 101 SA is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.

*

11. Flowers and Plants Series

This Series is not about great photography. It is, as  mentioned, firstly, about finding pretty things in ugly places. Then just a record of what flora I found in my travels.

You can read about some of my “travels” here in a series of short stories.
Please “like” the page.
THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF



Photography 101 SA is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.


*

20. Sunrise Sunset Series

You may have noticed that not many of the photos in the series are “award winning” shots; that is because I am posting the good and the bad. The “bad” ones are lessons to be learned, that we discuss in Photography 101, the “good” ones come as a result of said discussions. Please join us.

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF

Photography 101 SA is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.

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Did the Army make “Men” out of us?

I often see statements that the army is the sole reason my generation of South African men are so tough. I do not agree.
Taking an example from my group of friends as a child, city boys all, growing up near  Johannesburg.  After we had survived half the day confined in a classroom, we would rush home and my friends and I would collect my dog. Outside my house in Wychwood was the storm drain, we would pry that open, careful that no parents were watching and climb in. From there we would link up with the main drain and walk, underground, to what is now Geldenhuise Interchange, a good few km away. Here we would pop up into the light, oh, and if we were thirsty we just drank the drain water. From there we were in the veld, crossing that we came to the mine dumps and, most fun,the sludge dams. Supposedly we should all have died, either from drowning, the sludge dams  are very much like the quick sand I see in movies. Or at least cyanide poisoning, as those days cyanide  was used in the process of getting gold out.
While here, we shot each other with pellet guns, built underground forts and generally, like most boys of the time played Cowboys and Indians. Now and then we would get hurt pretty badly. The one time I smashed my knee open, could see the bone, my friends helped me home and then all ran away. When the mothers in Wychwood saw all the boys in their rooms, doing homework, they would panic. So, instead of a quick self patch up job, I got busted. The doctor’s office was just up the road. I did not scream when I got hurt, but boy did I scream all the way to the doc. Once he patched me up my mom gave me a good slug of neat Brandy, for the shock she said and sent me out to play, in the yard. My dad got home and I got a good strapping with a thick leather belt, we were not supposed to go in the drains, never mind to the dumps.
Obviously we did not listen.
This is just one of my adventures, and all the boys had plenty of their own.  The boys growing up on farms were an even tougher bunch, from the stories they told me when I was doing basic training in Phalaborwa.
My conclusion is:
We were very resilient by the time the army got us, and just grew stronger.
I believe that the previous generations were harder, and tougher than us.
I doubt if you take a bunch of cyberspace loving teenagers and throw them in the army, that they would come out anything like our bunch.


For more short stories, some military, some not; please check and like my page:


THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF



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10. Flowers and Plants Series

This Series is not about great photography. It is, as  mentioned, firstly, about finding pretty things in ugly places. Then just a record of what flora I found in my travels.

You can read about some of my “travels” here in a series of short stories.
Please “like” the page.

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF


Photography 101 SA is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.


^

19. Sunrise Sunset Series

You may have noticed that not many of the photos in the series are “award winning” shots; that is because I am posting the good and the bad. The “bad” ones are lessons to be learned, that we discuss in Photography 101, the “good” ones come as a result of said discussions. Please join us.

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF

Photography 101 SA is an educational club where amateurs and professionals can join and share Techniques and Photo’s join our competitions and market your product to Magazines and Websites Developers, Locally and International. It is an educational based club hosted run and managed by:
The Mexican and Bierpens.

*