I'm frequently told I must have one of the best jobs in journalism. When I first heard this I naturally assumed people were referring to my licence to upset politicians every Sunday morning and get paid for the privilege. Then I realised that it was motoring journalism they were talking about. I suppose on the surface it does look like fun.
Empire, Run out of gas - by David Bullard. First published 4 February 2008
NVDL: There is speculation that this article is the real thorn in the Sunday Times' side. If you notice the libterties taken about boardroom comments made, it is the Llewellyn Kriel thing all over again. Never write about what happens inside the walls of work, unless you're pretty happy to start working somewhere else. Bullard will be writing for The Star from now on - that's the rumour doing the rounds anyway.
Will racist tag stick to Bullard?
Showing posts with label David Bullard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Bullard. Show all posts
Monday, April 14, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
David Bullard has been Fired
I heard this on 94.7, and I heard John Robbie speaking to the ST editor, and the gist is that David is a racist and that his latest column Uncolonised Africa wouldn’t know what it was missing is to blame.
I have interviewed David Bullard at length. The cigar and whiskey props are contrivances to support a snooty, highbrow image, but some of it is tongue in cheek (and there is a lot of cheek as we all know and expect).
I'm not going to comment on the article. It speaks for itself, and many will agree it is not one of David's best. I think Llewellyn Kriel's blog stepped over a line in terms of the things one would say if you were talking directly to a person your writing addresses (say, in their lounge). My question would just be, if David was in the lounge of his bosses, would he have been happy to read out his column and have a happy debate afterwards?
The other thing to point out is the 'racism' label. Most of us know for certain who racists are. Racists tend to be pretty obvious in their racism. They are bitter, spiteful, nasty and obviously biased. They have big chips on their shoulders, sometimes for good reasons. They use demeaning terms on a regular basis, they keep reinforcing their opinion with supporting evidence, there is a pattern. They tell a lot of a certain kind of joke and anecdotes are all a certain kind of biased, stereotypical story. I did have a sense that David's column has become darker and more brooding (more negative of late), but so has sentiment in this country, especially with what has happened in Zimbabwe.
There is a saying - one swallow doesn't make a summer, and I think the 'racism' label is applied sometimes to indict a person for a single or a few (possibly significant) offence/s. But that doesn't make someone a racist. There's a difference between a racist remark and someone who is a self-confessed racist (or even a racist in hiding). A lot of South Africans, I believe, despite plenty of supporting evidence on both sides, are very careful not to be racist, they endeavour to ignore a lot of negative signals (on both sides of the dotted line).
If I make a racist remark, does that mean I am a racist? If a mini bus taxi turns in front of me and a swear at them, and the next thing a Mercedes with some white idiot does the same thing, and I use equally shitty language on both, is one any different from the other?
As I say, racism is part of a pattern, and people can often see from a mile away what one's philosophy is. Is David Bullard a racist? If he is, it has taken 14 years to make this discovery, and it is happening around the time Presidents are a-changing.
I have interviewed David Bullard at length. The cigar and whiskey props are contrivances to support a snooty, highbrow image, but some of it is tongue in cheek (and there is a lot of cheek as we all know and expect).
I'm not going to comment on the article. It speaks for itself, and many will agree it is not one of David's best. I think Llewellyn Kriel's blog stepped over a line in terms of the things one would say if you were talking directly to a person your writing addresses (say, in their lounge). My question would just be, if David was in the lounge of his bosses, would he have been happy to read out his column and have a happy debate afterwards?
The other thing to point out is the 'racism' label. Most of us know for certain who racists are. Racists tend to be pretty obvious in their racism. They are bitter, spiteful, nasty and obviously biased. They have big chips on their shoulders, sometimes for good reasons. They use demeaning terms on a regular basis, they keep reinforcing their opinion with supporting evidence, there is a pattern. They tell a lot of a certain kind of joke and anecdotes are all a certain kind of biased, stereotypical story. I did have a sense that David's column has become darker and more brooding (more negative of late), but so has sentiment in this country, especially with what has happened in Zimbabwe.
There is a saying - one swallow doesn't make a summer, and I think the 'racism' label is applied sometimes to indict a person for a single or a few (possibly significant) offence/s. But that doesn't make someone a racist. There's a difference between a racist remark and someone who is a self-confessed racist (or even a racist in hiding). A lot of South Africans, I believe, despite plenty of supporting evidence on both sides, are very careful not to be racist, they endeavour to ignore a lot of negative signals (on both sides of the dotted line).
If I make a racist remark, does that mean I am a racist? If a mini bus taxi turns in front of me and a swear at them, and the next thing a Mercedes with some white idiot does the same thing, and I use equally shitty language on both, is one any different from the other?
As I say, racism is part of a pattern, and people can often see from a mile away what one's philosophy is. Is David Bullard a racist? If he is, it has taken 14 years to make this discovery, and it is happening around the time Presidents are a-changing.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
5 isms
Bullardism: to be accused of making racially motivated remarks when criticising someone (when this is not the case, or one believes or understands that despite appearances, it is not the case).
Example: The essential difference between my culture and the culture of those who criticise me for not respecting Africans is this. My culture doesn’t automatically respect people simply because they have a flashy job title, lots of bodyguards and a shiny car.
A: Is that statement racist?
B: Seems like it; no I think it's a Bullardism. He's just saying what he thinks.
Ivoism: to say something that assumes there are no limits.
Example: Never before have so many people lived so long or been so healthy or had so much stuff. We now have the technology to live forever, having as many children as we like - global warming is a myth, and technology and human ingenuity will save us from any resource shortfalls.
Stofilism (interchangeable with 'jingoism'): n. Extreme nationalism characterized especially by belligerent tribal policies, nepotism and being generally unreasonable; chauvinistic self-interested patriotism, having a 'club'/'us versus them' mentality.
I believe we should change the name of the Springboks, to the All Black Boks. The New Zealanders will have to find something else. In fact I believe they have already stated that they wish to play Fiji instead of the AA BEE ABB squad in the upcoming TriNations. They can go to hell. We're starting up a new Tour, the All Africa Tour. First game is against Egypt (the soccer team will attempt to play rugby). The other games will take a single player from various African countries as long as they are black.
Bekism: To grossly understate a problem, or misrepresent it, apparently by accident or oversight
"We cannot pretend that there is nothing wrong with the electricity in this country, and there are a few other issues too."
Erwinism: to make outlandish claims that defie belief.
Power crisis over in six months — Erwin
Example: The essential difference between my culture and the culture of those who criticise me for not respecting Africans is this. My culture doesn’t automatically respect people simply because they have a flashy job title, lots of bodyguards and a shiny car.
A: Is that statement racist?
B: Seems like it; no I think it's a Bullardism. He's just saying what he thinks.
Ivoism: to say something that assumes there are no limits.
Example: Never before have so many people lived so long or been so healthy or had so much stuff. We now have the technology to live forever, having as many children as we like - global warming is a myth, and technology and human ingenuity will save us from any resource shortfalls.
Stofilism (interchangeable with 'jingoism'): n. Extreme nationalism characterized especially by belligerent tribal policies, nepotism and being generally unreasonable; chauvinistic self-interested patriotism, having a 'club'/'us versus them' mentality.
I believe we should change the name of the Springboks, to the All Black Boks. The New Zealanders will have to find something else. In fact I believe they have already stated that they wish to play Fiji instead of the AA BEE ABB squad in the upcoming TriNations. They can go to hell. We're starting up a new Tour, the All Africa Tour. First game is against Egypt (the soccer team will attempt to play rugby). The other games will take a single player from various African countries as long as they are black.
Bekism: To grossly understate a problem, or misrepresent it, apparently by accident or oversight
"We cannot pretend that there is nothing wrong with the electricity in this country, and there are a few other issues too."
Erwinism: to make outlandish claims that defie belief.
Power crisis over in six months — Erwin
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Looking For An Argument?
No, I'm not going to send you to a SkyNews website. There are crackers being lit in response to David Bullard's column: Knuckleheads at the ANC ought to take some responsibility
You will need to be registered to throw your toys. To start, go here.
You will need to be registered to throw your toys. To start, go here.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
What's The Point Of A Blog?
A blog is a chance to get a detailed behind the scenes picture of your favorite writer, celebrity or normal person. It's more detailed orientated than Facebook, it's more personal than email. In my case, when I have stuff appearing in publications, it can be viewed first here, with bonus footage/content. Also, while we may be used to a one-way flow of data (from a page through our eyes into our brains), a blog allows the opportunity for the reader to respond. Increasingly, you might find a curious detail and want the writer to expand on it. Or, as is often the case, you want to show/tell the writer that you are more intelligent than he/she is.
I started to appreciate the power and usefulness and thrill of blogging while living in Broadband Heaven - South Korea. I had read what I thought was a rare and astutely insightful book (The Long Emergency - by Jim Kunstler)and then was referred in the epilogue to his blog (www.kunstler.com). It's not the best design, but he writes well, has in the millions of visitors and it was fascinating following his commentary on events (updated daily and a column weekly), and seeing how predictions and reality became increasingly congruent. I have also emailed the author a few times and received several interesting responses, which is something you could never do until modern times. The same thing occurred with Weston DeWalt, author of The Climb, who actually contacted me via reading my blog.
It is amazing that we have the capacity now to read one another's minds, and for one person to infiltrate millions of minds, and for those millions (I almost said 'minions') to respond en masse. Kunstler says he wades through masses of emails each day.
The point of a blog, for me, in the beginning, was to provide a place for those people who wanted to get in touch with me, to visit (instead of sending group mails and getting 5 irritated responses each time). I am still shocked, surprised, awed, weary of the fact that what is published on the web can be read by a little girl on a computer in Australia, or a hairy nosed scientist at the North Pole, and everywhere in between.
I only worry that few of us take this technology seriously. So much - the majority by far - of what enters the public consciousness is drivel. And drivel begets drivel. Drivel and our fascination with drivel (rather than what is necessary) is what has driven us to where we are as a civilisation, and we know it is not a safe, happy, sustainable or even sane place. Blogs - if enough people experience a koo koo moment - may be able to reverse this effect, this mental malaise. Change begins with a change in mindset, and blogs can do, I believe, plenty to shift the zeitgeist to a more meaningful level of functionality.
I started to appreciate the power and usefulness and thrill of blogging while living in Broadband Heaven - South Korea. I had read what I thought was a rare and astutely insightful book (The Long Emergency - by Jim Kunstler)and then was referred in the epilogue to his blog (www.kunstler.com). It's not the best design, but he writes well, has in the millions of visitors and it was fascinating following his commentary on events (updated daily and a column weekly), and seeing how predictions and reality became increasingly congruent. I have also emailed the author a few times and received several interesting responses, which is something you could never do until modern times. The same thing occurred with Weston DeWalt, author of The Climb, who actually contacted me via reading my blog.
It is amazing that we have the capacity now to read one another's minds, and for one person to infiltrate millions of minds, and for those millions (I almost said 'minions') to respond en masse. Kunstler says he wades through masses of emails each day.
The point of a blog, for me, in the beginning, was to provide a place for those people who wanted to get in touch with me, to visit (instead of sending group mails and getting 5 irritated responses each time). I am still shocked, surprised, awed, weary of the fact that what is published on the web can be read by a little girl on a computer in Australia, or a hairy nosed scientist at the North Pole, and everywhere in between.
I only worry that few of us take this technology seriously. So much - the majority by far - of what enters the public consciousness is drivel. And drivel begets drivel. Drivel and our fascination with drivel (rather than what is necessary) is what has driven us to where we are as a civilisation, and we know it is not a safe, happy, sustainable or even sane place. Blogs - if enough people experience a koo koo moment - may be able to reverse this effect, this mental malaise. Change begins with a change in mindset, and blogs can do, I believe, plenty to shift the zeitgeist to a more meaningful level of functionality.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Bullard on Jackdaws, Helen Mirren, Google and Getting Shot (INTERVIEW 7)
NVDL: Did anything happen [between yourself and Helen Mirren]?
Bullard: Not between me…I think quite a lot happened between MacBeth and Lady MacBeth. And some of the older members of the cast.
RP: So you had no interest?
Bullard: No I used to nod at her, and she used to ignore me. Because apparitions are there to be not seen and not heard.
[Laughter]
RP: So we know you write for the Sunday Times, but what do you like to read?
Bullard: I read the Sunday Times obviously. I read Weekender. I read the Mail & Guardian – not every week. Business Day every day, Star, The Times obviously…
NVDL: What is your favorite column?
Bullard: Tom Eton. I enjoy Tom very much at the Mail & Guardian. I enjoyed Robert Kirby – the late Robert Kirby – when he was around. I enjoy Justice, Svela Manku, I always reckon the Financial Times weekend edition is a damn good read…
I do enjoy the ‘How To Spend Its’, things like that, on impossibly expensive trousers and jackets and holidays and things like that.
NVDL: What do you think of the British papers?
Bullard: I think the quality British papers still have an awful lot to read. I mean, if you go to London you buy Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times, there’s a lot of analysis, a lot of stuff to wade through. Probably too much. Even the Saturday papers are coming out with magazines now. I think the problem is time allocation and information overload. You now have to have the skills to flick through, look at the headlines, and say: “Of no interest.”
RP: Mmmm.
Bullard: But you know I don’t read the Economist cover to cover but I always like to see the Economist. I like to read the Financial Mail, there’s some good articles there, I like Barney’s editorials. And I like Justice’s Restaurant reviews and I like to bring myself up to speed on some of the business stories. Some I don’t feel are hugely fascinating but that’s the thing: pick and choose.
NVDL: That’s why I think you’re a good commentator: because you’ve got to know at least a little about a lot; you’ve got to know about a whole broad range of things.
Bullard: You’ve got to be a bit of a jackdaw I think. You’ve got to be able to settle down and pick something out there and pick something out there.
RP:Mmm.
Bullard: And believe it or not, even though I did enjoy him a lot, I exposed Darl Bristow Baubage writings (for plagiarism). I think he was very talented; I just think he was unfortunately…arrogant. I think when you’ve been caught plagiarizing three or was it maybe four major author’s writings, I think you should concede defeat. But he was a very good writer. I like Oliver Roberts on the Sunday Times; I think Oliver writes very well. I think he’s got a very good talent there. And I enjoy Andrew Donaldson.
NVDL: He reminds me a bit of the way you write. It’s different but there’s something similar.
Bullard: He’s got a nice sort of stumbling edge there.
RP: What’s your favorite website?
Bullard: My favorite website is Google. Which leads me on to wherever I want to go. But I’m sure I’ve been on Google more than anything else. Yeah. Otherwise my most expensive website is Amazon.uk. They tend to come quicker from the UK. Once you’ve got your shopping trolley out and you’re drifting through DVDs and books and CDs; it’s quite easy to find the prices tempting.
RP: But can’t you find things here cheaply?
Bullard: No I want CD versions of records I was collecting long before you were even born.
RP: Oh.
Bullard: When we still had vinyl.
RP: Okay.
Bullard: Do you know what vinyl is? No don’t answer that.
[Laughter]
Bullard: Vinyl’s making a big comeback I’m pleased to say.
RP: What do you like best about SA?
Bullard: South Africa? People. The scenery is damn good but the people are great. The people are the best reason to stay. I mean after I got shot I had so many fantastic emails from everyone, right across. I mean it wasn’t whites, blacks, coloreds,indians, it was a whole lot of really generous spirited people…who really wrote messages that literally brought me to tears. You know I’m quite emotional even talking about it. I’ve got it all in a folder; I’ve kept them all and they were probably a major cause of me being back at work 3 days after I was shot. Shot on the Wednesday and I was back in on the Monday. Not for long but I thought I would just show my face. And in fact I remember my colleagues were on the balcony and they couldn’t believe I was getting out of the car and hobbling up the steps, and there was like a spontaneous applause.
RP: Where did you get shot?
Bullard: In there, in there and out of my arm and into my leg. One bullet.
RP: Do you know who did it?
Bullard: No. But they were in the house so…I’m not a strong supporter of lie down and let them take everything.
NVDL: That seems to me to be a great approach to being South Africans in 2008. I hope all the good people will take hands this year and not lie down. Let us take back this land that belongs not to the criminals or the crooked politicians, but to the beautiful people of this country. Stand up and raise your voice. Have a wonderful year; you will if you make the right choices not only for yourself, but also for those around you.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Win Bullard's Book: Screw it. Let’s do lunch!
Find out why David Bullard’s Out to Lunch column has earned him a bullet and a lawsuit!
Bullard is unashamedly elitist, arrogant and offensive, but remains fair in his distribution of scorn.In this new collection of columns, he tackles South Africa’s biggest issues head on, with a strong sense of honesty and independence. He offends as frequently as he delights, and refuses to allow readers to sit on the fence. Love him or hate him, Bullard will rouse you from your stupor and give you something to talk about at dinner parties.
10 Screw it! Let's do Lunch books are up for grabs.
To enter, go here.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Bullard: Shame on White
Shame on White for snubbing the vast pool of black rugby talent
Some things never change. Way back in 1998 I wrote about the government’s paranoia about transformation in sport and commented that perhaps other countries would eventually follow our shining example.
Some things never change. Way back in 1998 I wrote about the government’s paranoia about transformation in sport and commented that perhaps other countries would eventually follow our shining example.
Maybe the Harlem Globetrotters would start hiring short, fat white men to better reflect the demographics and preferred body shape of the average American. It hasn’t happened yet and for good reason.
Watching a wheezing Danny de Vito lookalike running around a basketball court doesn’t make for good TV and, besides, small, fat white men can’t shoot baskets nearly as well as tall, athletic black men. As far as I am aware nobody in the US complains about this. Down here on the southern tip we like to do things differently, though.
I should have thought that our recent rugby World Cup victory would have sent a clear message to the political meddlers; if you select the best men for the job, irrespective of colour, then you will have a winning team.
Apparently this is not enough. While our fickle politicians were quite happy to slip on green Springbok jerseys and bask in the reflected glory of the winning national side, they were secretly seething that Jake White had deliberately ignored the enormous pool of black rugby talent in favour of men with Dutch-and English-sounding names.
So now we need to get more blacks into rugby, irrespective of whether they deserve a place in the team.
Our future squad must apparently reflect the demographics of the country come hell or high water.
That’s all very well if black people want to play rugby, but suppose the supply of good black players doesn’t meet the demand.
What does the government propose to do? Send press gangs into the informal settlements and persuade skinny black youths to climb down from the top of moving trains and take up the relatively safe game of rugby?
Let’s suppose for a moment that the government is right and that there are tens of thousands of frustrated aspirant black rugby players who simply haven’t been given a chance to showcase their talents because of the game’s alleged racial bias.
Let’s further suppose that the time comes to select a national team and the selectors still opt for large white men because they think they might be better in the scrum and the line-out.
Will some nosy politician interfere and give them the Henry Ford response: you can have any colour you like so long as it’s black? What then will be the point of whites playing rugby? Why even have selectors if the ultimate decision comes down to some government lackey?
Will some nosy politician interfere and give them the Henry Ford response: you can have any colour you like so long as it’s black? What then will be the point of whites playing rugby? Why even have selectors if the ultimate decision comes down to some government lackey?
A solution has already been offered and that is to develop black and white rugby separately. Since the argument is all about race anyway I can’t see how anyone could object to this. Then the all-whites could play the all-blacks and the best players could make up the national side. Unless, of course, the all-whites proved the stronger side in which case we would have to select from the surviving members of the all-black team.
The common-sense solution is to select the best but you can’t expect our politicians to understand the concept of excellence. They are hardly the crème de la crème, are they?
NVDL: It does make sense to select the best, but when was our government (or any other for that matter) ever accused of using common sense?
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Bullard on growing up, his earliest memory, his next book, and ‘God is not Great’ (INTERVIEW 6)
RP:Where did you grow up?
Bullard: London. Yeah I was born in Londin, I grew up basically in London…
NVDL: What part of London?
Bullard: [Speaking in a cockney Michael Caine accent] South London, just south of the Thames; place called Sutton. Sutton Surrey.
[Laughter]
Bullard: What was then known as the commuter/stockbroker belt. Because a lot of stockbrokers [and] commuters lived there. It was about 12 miles away from central London. So I was born there, grew up there, went to school in Sussex, and then moved up to London and sort’ve started working there. You know, flats around some of the swankier areas when it was affordable.
NVDL: Did you ever see Diana?
Bullard: I didn’t. I didn’t. I did keep inviting her to parties but she NEVER turned up.
[Laughter]
Bullard: But I did play cricket with [garbled] her brother.
RP: What’s your earliest memory?
Bullard: Earliest memory?
RP: I hope not fighting with any kids at school!
Bullard: I think, I think oddly enough my earliest memory is probably riding in a car, a model car, in a roundabout, on a family holiday. I’ve even got a photograph of it.
Sort’ve, you know, getting into this car… …and going round and round on this carousel. So that was early stages of motoring enthusiasm there.
RP: Yeah [Laughs]
Bullard: Fortunately I couldn’t drive the car off the carousel, it just went round and round and round. So it was a family holiday; so I think I was about 6 or 7.
NVDL: Tell us about your book.
Bullard: Richard Branson appears on the cover of my book, in cartoon form, but so does Jacob Zuma; but I appear bigger than both of them, because it’d my book. [In an American accent]: Why the hell not.
[Laughter]
Bullard: It had advanced sales of four and a half thousand.
NVDL: How many books have you written so far?
Bullard: [Garbled] three. This one is the third. The first one was a compilation of the Out to Lunch column, Jonathan Ball; the second was Out To Lunch Again which wasn’t very well marketed, and this one is with Pan MacMillan and they’ve done it with [garbled] more excitement. And they’ve got a bit more [vim] going. But you know it’s one of those books you want to sell by Christmas, because people want to buy it for their Christmas stocking. But they do sell it at the airport after that; you get little royalty cheques dribbling in. But it’s really got to hit the Christmas stocking market.
RP: So it’s not launched yet?
Bullard: No, it is. Actually it came out – it is printed now – and is being launched next week [currently last week], and I’m going to the launch on Wednesday in Cape Town; staying at the Mount Nelson. Then doing something at Kalk Bay Books. There about ten launches. Jenny Cryws Williams – for her book club – we’ll do something on November 18th. It should be good. It’s on ‘Publisher’s Choice’ which is a good thing, with Exclusive Books, so it’ll be prominent. And then it will fade away.
NVDL: Is it divided into politics…?
Bullard: Nah it’s just literally, chronologically [the column] over the last two years.
NVDL: All the articles.
Bullard: Yeah. It’s the weekly column. But the nice thing is when you follow it through, because you don’t need any sort of explanation as to what’s happening, it’s quite clear in the articles. But if you follow through from number one, I think written in 1994, and I think the first article in the book is 1995 or 1996, you actually follow through what was happening in the country. You know, your emotional high points and low points, and the gossip, and it’s very interesting going back. You see so and so was arrested for that. That was 1998. God Lord he still hasn’t gone to jail. And the articles – and obviously I would say that this – but they do bear reading again. You can sit down and read a few articles, have a chuckle and it’s quite a good read. And if I add my signature to the book [he adds with a wry smile] it adds about another hundred rand to the value, even more.
RP: Well when I buy the book I’m going to ask you to sign it. When is the official launch.
Bullard: On the 10th (of October), two days ago. But it’ll be in the bookshops probably from the middle of next week.
RP: What would the retail price be?
Bullard: About 120.
RP: What book are you reading right now?
Bullard: I’m reading ‘God is not Great’, by Christopher Hitchens.
RP: is that your favorite author or-
Bullard: [Exclaiming] No, Hitchens writes for Vanity Fair; writes very very well. I tend to read a lot of magazines. I read books at Christmas time because I have more time to do it. And it takes me about two weeks to read a book during the year.
NVDL: Didn’t he also write something about religion being poisonous? I remember reading-
Bullard: Yes, yes. I think he’s written another book as well. Richard Dawkins wrote the book uh-
NVDL: The God Delusion.
Bullard: The God Delusion.
NVDL: Did you read that?
Bullard: I did. Yeah. And then Hitchens wrote ‘God is not Great’ and he’s been promoting that recently, and it’s a very interesting book. It’s obviously going to upset a lot of people-
NVDL and RP: [Chuckling]
Bullard: But I actually quite like that style of writing. And it makes you think. And it’d quite good to have your views or…beliefs…challenged. And he’s intellectual. It’s well written. But otherwise: novels. Trashy novels when they come out, and classics. I reread people like PG Woodhouse, who I still think is the best, one of the best comedy writers…
NVDL: Have you heard about Doris Lessing?
Bullard: Yeah. And Evelyn Waugh, and…
NVDL: Virginia Woolf?
Bullard: [Absent mindedly repeating…] Virgina Woolf…[Pauses]. Not really.
NVDL: It’s more feminist.
Bullard: Not really; it didn’t really work for me.
NVDL: I’ve also struggled to read…because she’s so important I’ve tried to read her.
Bullard: I know this sounds terrible but I actually do really enjoy reading Shakespeare’s plays. Every so often. Because I think there’s tremendous wisdom in those…
RP: Although I wouldn’t read it now, I really enjoyed it at school.
Bullard: I’ve got a nice leather bound volume now, which I found at a second hand bookstore. You sit down and read Hamlet or…
NVDL: What’s your favorite Shakespeare play?
Bullard: I like the tragedies. I’ve been in quite a few Shakespeare plays; in fact I was in Hamlet at the Civic theatre before-
NVDL: Were you Hamlet?
Bullard: I was Laertes. I was banished on page 19-
[Laughter]
Bullard: I came back on page 70 for a swordfight. But I was a very convincing Laertes. And it was in 1987 at the Civic Theatre. Freezing cold; during June. Two week run. And I’ve got photographs of me in tights, um, on the battlements…having a swordfight with a guy called Cole Cameron.
RP: I think we need those photos.
NVDL: Ja I think we need the car photo and this one.
Bullard: Frightening. Frightening.
RP: Maybe [people will] see the other side of you.
NVDL: [Holding up both hands] David Bullard: A Retrospective.
Bullard: What you didn’t know. Actually, what you didn’t know is-
This interview continues next week under the title:
Bullard: Behind the Scenes With Helen Mirren (And Other Stories)
For other interviews click on the following tag below: The Bullard Tapes
Friday, October 26, 2007
Bullard: Selling Cars, Load Shedding, Illegal Speeding and 4 km Rat Runs (INTERVIEW 4)
“In Africa you win votes by driving something big and shiny.”
NVDL: What do you drive?
Bullard: [Laughs] I’m driving whatever they give me. At the moment I’m driving an 18 year old Toyota Hilux bakkie, which I own, because I’m trying to sell a Mazda MX5.
NVDL: They have that beautiful bubble shape don’t they, hey?
Bullard: The Mazda? Yeah. I’ve got the new one with the flared arches; very nice. The problem is I live 1.5km from here; I don’t do school runs, and I’ve put 7000km on the clock in 22 months. It won’t have a service at this race for another 2 years.
NVDL: You don’t really need it.
Bullard: No.
RP: For how much are planning on selling it?
Bullard: For you, special price. R242 000 new. I’ll give it to you for about R190.
RP: That’s a very good price. And this weekend on Car Torque you’ll be driving the 350Z?
Bullard: Yes; very good car, very nice car. Good value.
NVDL: [Rudely interrupting] So what’s your dream car?
Bullard: Porsche [he enunciates the word lovingly: Por-sha] Look if money was no object and overall – I mean I do like many other cars – but I’ve found that consistently Porsche is a car you can drive every day. It’s a fabulous performer; it’s superbly engineered. I’ve been over to a lot of launches, I’ve seen the engineers, talked to the engineers: it delivers on every level.
NVDL: What about…
RP: Do you think it’s actually worth it; I mean on South African roads?
Bullard: No, [but] that’s a different question isn’t it? We were out yesterday; we were driving the Audi R8 down in Worcester, last week – on very clear, rural roads – at illegal speeds. The policemen were presumably told to take the day off. You can’t drive like that; you’re going to get nicked. You’re going to go to prison. I mean if you’re driving at 240, and this car is capable of 300km/h, - and my frustration is you’re sitting in a car like a Porsche thinking: “Well, you know, I’m actually using 40% of the capacity.” Like the big Merc. So, practically, I would rather have something that’s not a gas guzzler, that takes a lot of people… My wife drives a Renault Scenic which I think is great, apart from the second hand value, and I quite like boring MPVs. You for going into the bush…
NVDL: What’s an MPV?
Bullard: Multi-Purpose Vehicle, traditionally the ‘Mom’s Taxi’s, but they’ve got 7 seats and…
NVDL: I like that you said: -“not a gas guzzler”-
Bullard: Yeah.
NVDL: Because in the reality of what’s happening; I mean oil is now at $74 whatever-
Bullard: Heading towards 100.
NVDL: With the amount of cars that are just growing all of the world…
Bullard: Two nights ago I went to a dinner party in Sanddown, from Rosebank. Took me an hour and a half to get there. Because the robots were out. So because we’re having load shedding, it was gridlock cars, all the way through, all burning fuel…
NVDL: Mmm.
Bullard: Into the atmosphere, which must have been, which must be [in my estimation] worse than not having the robots working. Get the robots working, get the people home, then cut the electricity. Instead of which, there were hundreds of cars down every possible rat run. You do four kilometers in an hour and a half. And have all that frustration. And most of them were three litres. One guy was sitting in his car, on the cell phone..
NVDL: But do you see the cycle of what’s happening? We’re getting strange weather, which causes power outages, which causes traffic jams, and the traffic leads to weather…in a way…
Bullard: Sure. It’s a knock-on effect. Let’s manage it. Surely people can have flexi-hours at their offices. Surely more people can work from home. We’re talking executive’s cars moving in and out, at the same time every day, with one person in[side].
But we don’t have a good public transport system. When I lived in London I didn’t have a car; there was no point. I hired a car [for the] weekend.
NVDL: Yeah.
Bullard: I was on the bus, or a train or an Underground.
NVDL: I think part of the problem is suburbia.
Bullard: Yeah.
NVDL: We need a city and suburbia that’s one, which is basically what Europe is.
Bullard: Yes.
NVDL: We need that…How do you go into the future with suburbia still being developed, and now we’ve got this problem. Now you’ve got property markets the way they are, and so everything’s based on, you know, this project that doesn’t really have a future. So how do you un-engineer or re-engineer it?
Bullard: That’s right.
NVDL: There’s a movement call New Urbanism. They design walkable communities, and communities that are connected to organic systems. But I mean that’s still – that’s so on the fringe it’s not funny…
Bullard: Mmmm.
NVDL: But that basically needs to come in.
RP: On a lighter note…
Bullard: Indeed…I thought that was a light bit actually [Everyone laughs].
For the other interview click on the tag below: The Bullard Tapes.
The Next President
NVDL: Who would you suggest is a good leader [a possible presidential candidate]?
Bullard: Personally I don’t go for this Pro Poor argument. I think Tokyo Sexwale and Cyril Ramaphosa have been nurtured – admittedly by white business – but they are internationally acceptable. They’re also very acceptable for capitalists, but not very acceptable for people in rural areas who – if they’re fanned, if they’re paid enough to say it – oh no, they’ve made a fortune therefore they’re not suitable. I’m just doing an article on cars that everyone drives; they’re all driving big shiny cars. It doesn’t matter whether they’re Pro Poor, COSATU people, members of the Communist Party or not. They’re all driving cars that no one of around this table could afford. They’ve either been given them to drive – by BMW or Jeep – but they’re very happy and proud to drive around those cars. Because in Africa you win votes by driving something big and shiny.
You don’t go electioneering in a Fiat Uno. The guys say: “Right, that gives us hope for the future.”
Bullard: Personally I don’t go for this Pro Poor argument. I think Tokyo Sexwale and Cyril Ramaphosa have been nurtured – admittedly by white business – but they are internationally acceptable. They’re also very acceptable for capitalists, but not very acceptable for people in rural areas who – if they’re fanned, if they’re paid enough to say it – oh no, they’ve made a fortune therefore they’re not suitable. I’m just doing an article on cars that everyone drives; they’re all driving big shiny cars. It doesn’t matter whether they’re Pro Poor, COSATU people, members of the Communist Party or not. They’re all driving cars that no one of around this table could afford. They’ve either been given them to drive – by BMW or Jeep – but they’re very happy and proud to drive around those cars. Because in Africa you win votes by driving something big and shiny.
You don’t go electioneering in a Fiat Uno. The guys say: “Right, that gives us hope for the future.”
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Bullard: Out to Lunch TV Talk Show (INTERVIEW PART 3)
Bullard: Somebody wants to do that. I mean they want to do an Out to Lunch show. It’s like radio. I was asked to do a radio show as well. You’re tied down. I don’t want to be tied down. I don’t want to do [GARBLED] Jenny Crwys-Williams; being in the studio every lunch time to do a show between 1 and 4.
RP: Mmm.
Bullard: I mean I go away for four days on car launches because I can.
NVDL: Where do you go?
Bullard: Umm – where ever they go. Spain – a lot of overseas launches – Spain, America, UK…
NVDL: It’s a nice life hey?
Bullard: Well it sounds a nice life, but there are a lot of delays at airports and the security in Europe, and you go and drive a car on the wrong side of the road for a day or two. If Porsche is hosting it’s a fabulous life. You have a bloody good party that night, get very pissed, get up the next morning, drive a Porsche and then fly back, Business Class, in the afternoon.
RP: [Chuckles].
Bullard: But with three connections. So there’s an upside and a downside. You’ve still got to produce the words. But the problem is I couldn’t do that if I was doing a radio show or a television show. I couldn’t do any of this stuff; and I do a lot of MCing.
NVDL: But you could [do the stuff you do] after a few seasons.
Bullard: No. You could but… [Hesitates a moment] For example if I’ve got an evening show I can’t do any MCing. So somebody phones and says, ‘Will you MC an event,” I have to say I can’t, I have the evening show. So evening shows are way out. Can’t do that. Could record something. Possibly could record a few things and stack them up. And that might help. But on a regular live show it’s just…
NVDL: Then you don’t do it live you do it all prerecorded.
Bullard: Could do that.
RP: Yeah. And that way you’re not tied down.
Sponsor Wanted
Bullard: The thing with that – and it’s been as I say mooted a couple of times; and everyone says, the SABC says – ‘who is the sponsor Bring the sponsor?’ Because they’re not prepared to put up the money for it. So you go to them and say right: ‘It’s sponsored by Vodacom; here’s a large portion of money. Mr Bullard’s wardrobe by so and so; his hair by so and so. Dancing girls, full orchestra in the back and that’s great. And they then take all the advertising, because that’s the way they run the business. So if you’ve got a sponsor you can do it.
NVDL: Mmmm.
Bullard: We have one or two people looking… It’s a question of commitment, really. Unless someone’s got to, say, rack in a couple of million for production costs, then it’s not going to happen.
NVDL: We need – you know like you get Oprah in America – we need that sort of personality here.
RP: Yeah.
NVDL: And we’ve got Noleen [making a slight face].
RP: Exactly.
Bullard: Well it gets viewers. People like that sort of thing.
RP: But we need some talk show hosts that thinks in controversial aspects.
NVDL: I also think you express – like in your column – what you say is stuff that is quite urgent actually.
Bullard: Yes.
NVDL: And it’s almost like a form of leadership. And I think more people need to join that conversation. Because what’s happening is: a lot of what you’re saying is needed and people are thinking that, but they’re not expressing it.
Let's Talk About Leadership
Bullard: Couldn’t agree more. Because it is a sort’ve ‘zeitgeist’ – to use that overused word. Because a lot of people are saying: “Gee whiz, we read your column and it’s exactly what we discussed over dinner on Saturday night.” Well it’s very read what we’re going to be talking about this weekend. It’s going to be about Mbeki’s dishonesty. I mean my article this week is about Mbeki’s web of evil. And the editor is happy that it goes through, and I think it is a web of evil. But you know, your point is very well made.
It’s kind’ve like aging: I can go to the mirror in the morning and I can now see visible signs of aging. I can now see eyebrows have grown longer and a few more wrinkles. But I mean it’s happening gradually over time. If I look back at a photograph I can see what I was like. Now put that into the political perspective. We look back at a snapshot of South Africa five years ago and we’re very optimistic. Even two years ago. We’re now gradually losing our freedoms. And it’s not until we wake up with all those wrinkles…
NVDL: Yeah.
Bullard: …And we look in the mirror and say: we’re not allowed to say this. Some journalists – that newspaper disappeared, my mates are in prison.
RP: Yup.
Bullard: Or they’ve run out the country. The judges have all been bought off by the ruling party. They’ve gotten rid of anyone in the National Prosecuting Authority who doesn’t please Mbeki or his guys: bloody dangerous. And so you’re absolutely right-
NVDL: And it’s happening right now.
Wanted: Rallying Call
Bullard: You need a rallying call. Well absolutely right. And a lot of people are feeling helpless because business – apart from FNB, which I think was handled pretty badly-
NVDL: That was a shame.
Bullard: But you know Johan Rupert, in a conversation with me, I mean they were banned under the Nats, because they upset them and basically what the government did was hold back their import licenses for a year and starve the company of profits. And business is very aware of the strength of the politicians who can do whatever they like. Because there’s just no control. We actually need a new struggle. I’ve been reading the black columnists; and I hate to differentiate - they have to differentiate because they were part of the struggle, I wasn’t – reading their comments, and about their depression and Justice Malala particularly I think is very vocala and getting a lot of comment and I agree with pretty well everything he says. Um… You know you need some sort of reaction.
NVDL: Yeah. It’s actually an important thing we need. I’ve heard quite a few comments from black people saying – cautiously – that some things under the previous regime were actually better. There was less of this and less of that. Not to say we want to go back to that, but just to say how bad things are now. And to actually say that is like saying: Wow, things are shit. This can’t carry on. We’re actually going way beyond what’s unacceptable.
Bullard: Yeah that’s encouraging because people are recognizing that. On the other hand you go down to the rural areas where you have nothing, and I mean here the similarity is the tornado story last week.
Irrational Behaviour
People went home, and behaved irrationally, only because they didn’t have information to counter the irrational information they’d been given. The skies were dark; it was a tornado, get on the road, get in a traffic jam and behave stupidly. And then realize afterwards you’d been suckered. Now, put that into an election thing. Go to the rural areas and say:
“Jacob Zuma will save you. He will give you houses; he will give you cars," and you vote for him – because that’s what he said. Only afterwards you realize… I mean we all have this madness and delusion in crowds. And everyone is capable of being lead. And I think the government is working to do that very well. Where there is absolutely no counter-opinions. No opposition.
NVDL: Who would you suggest is a good leader [a possible presidential candidate]?
Watch this space to find out who David Bullard recommends to lead this country. To read the previous 2 or the following 2 transcripts, click on the label The Bullard Tapes below.
RP: Mmm.
Bullard: I mean I go away for four days on car launches because I can.
NVDL: Where do you go?
Bullard: Umm – where ever they go. Spain – a lot of overseas launches – Spain, America, UK…
NVDL: It’s a nice life hey?
Bullard: Well it sounds a nice life, but there are a lot of delays at airports and the security in Europe, and you go and drive a car on the wrong side of the road for a day or two. If Porsche is hosting it’s a fabulous life. You have a bloody good party that night, get very pissed, get up the next morning, drive a Porsche and then fly back, Business Class, in the afternoon.
RP: [Chuckles].
Bullard: But with three connections. So there’s an upside and a downside. You’ve still got to produce the words. But the problem is I couldn’t do that if I was doing a radio show or a television show. I couldn’t do any of this stuff; and I do a lot of MCing.
NVDL: But you could [do the stuff you do] after a few seasons.
Bullard: No. You could but… [Hesitates a moment] For example if I’ve got an evening show I can’t do any MCing. So somebody phones and says, ‘Will you MC an event,” I have to say I can’t, I have the evening show. So evening shows are way out. Can’t do that. Could record something. Possibly could record a few things and stack them up. And that might help. But on a regular live show it’s just…
NVDL: Then you don’t do it live you do it all prerecorded.
Bullard: Could do that.
RP: Yeah. And that way you’re not tied down.
Sponsor Wanted
Bullard: The thing with that – and it’s been as I say mooted a couple of times; and everyone says, the SABC says – ‘who is the sponsor Bring the sponsor?’ Because they’re not prepared to put up the money for it. So you go to them and say right: ‘It’s sponsored by Vodacom; here’s a large portion of money. Mr Bullard’s wardrobe by so and so; his hair by so and so. Dancing girls, full orchestra in the back and that’s great. And they then take all the advertising, because that’s the way they run the business. So if you’ve got a sponsor you can do it.
NVDL: Mmmm.
Bullard: We have one or two people looking… It’s a question of commitment, really. Unless someone’s got to, say, rack in a couple of million for production costs, then it’s not going to happen.
NVDL: We need – you know like you get Oprah in America – we need that sort of personality here.
RP: Yeah.
NVDL: And we’ve got Noleen [making a slight face].
RP: Exactly.
Bullard: Well it gets viewers. People like that sort of thing.
RP: But we need some talk show hosts that thinks in controversial aspects.
NVDL: I also think you express – like in your column – what you say is stuff that is quite urgent actually.
Bullard: Yes.
NVDL: And it’s almost like a form of leadership. And I think more people need to join that conversation. Because what’s happening is: a lot of what you’re saying is needed and people are thinking that, but they’re not expressing it.
Let's Talk About Leadership
Bullard: Couldn’t agree more. Because it is a sort’ve ‘zeitgeist’ – to use that overused word. Because a lot of people are saying: “Gee whiz, we read your column and it’s exactly what we discussed over dinner on Saturday night.” Well it’s very read what we’re going to be talking about this weekend. It’s going to be about Mbeki’s dishonesty. I mean my article this week is about Mbeki’s web of evil. And the editor is happy that it goes through, and I think it is a web of evil. But you know, your point is very well made.
It’s kind’ve like aging: I can go to the mirror in the morning and I can now see visible signs of aging. I can now see eyebrows have grown longer and a few more wrinkles. But I mean it’s happening gradually over time. If I look back at a photograph I can see what I was like. Now put that into the political perspective. We look back at a snapshot of South Africa five years ago and we’re very optimistic. Even two years ago. We’re now gradually losing our freedoms. And it’s not until we wake up with all those wrinkles…
NVDL: Yeah.
Bullard: …And we look in the mirror and say: we’re not allowed to say this. Some journalists – that newspaper disappeared, my mates are in prison.
RP: Yup.
Bullard: Or they’ve run out the country. The judges have all been bought off by the ruling party. They’ve gotten rid of anyone in the National Prosecuting Authority who doesn’t please Mbeki or his guys: bloody dangerous. And so you’re absolutely right-
NVDL: And it’s happening right now.
Wanted: Rallying Call
Bullard: You need a rallying call. Well absolutely right. And a lot of people are feeling helpless because business – apart from FNB, which I think was handled pretty badly-
NVDL: That was a shame.
Bullard: But you know Johan Rupert, in a conversation with me, I mean they were banned under the Nats, because they upset them and basically what the government did was hold back their import licenses for a year and starve the company of profits. And business is very aware of the strength of the politicians who can do whatever they like. Because there’s just no control. We actually need a new struggle. I’ve been reading the black columnists; and I hate to differentiate - they have to differentiate because they were part of the struggle, I wasn’t – reading their comments, and about their depression and Justice Malala particularly I think is very vocala and getting a lot of comment and I agree with pretty well everything he says. Um… You know you need some sort of reaction.
NVDL: Yeah. It’s actually an important thing we need. I’ve heard quite a few comments from black people saying – cautiously – that some things under the previous regime were actually better. There was less of this and less of that. Not to say we want to go back to that, but just to say how bad things are now. And to actually say that is like saying: Wow, things are shit. This can’t carry on. We’re actually going way beyond what’s unacceptable.
Bullard: Yeah that’s encouraging because people are recognizing that. On the other hand you go down to the rural areas where you have nothing, and I mean here the similarity is the tornado story last week.
Irrational Behaviour
People went home, and behaved irrationally, only because they didn’t have information to counter the irrational information they’d been given. The skies were dark; it was a tornado, get on the road, get in a traffic jam and behave stupidly. And then realize afterwards you’d been suckered. Now, put that into an election thing. Go to the rural areas and say:
“Jacob Zuma will save you. He will give you houses; he will give you cars," and you vote for him – because that’s what he said. Only afterwards you realize… I mean we all have this madness and delusion in crowds. And everyone is capable of being lead. And I think the government is working to do that very well. Where there is absolutely no counter-opinions. No opposition.
NVDL: Who would you suggest is a good leader [a possible presidential candidate]?
Watch this space to find out who David Bullard recommends to lead this country. To read the previous 2 or the following 2 transcripts, click on the label The Bullard Tapes below.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Bullard: “Bloggers must be creative” (INTERVIEW – PART 2)
RP: [If] you could earn money blogging, would you start again?
Bullard: I don’t know. Probably not. I think probably because it’s so time consuming and because the emotional and intellectual reward is quite low. It’s easier for me to go and shoot a couple of episodes of Car Torque…where…um, at least if the cameraman or director says I’m a shit that’s fine, because I know who they here. But [with this] you’ve got a whole load of people and you don’t know who they are. I think it’s quite emotionally draining. I think there’s a lot of pressure to be original because I think if you want to do it properly – it’s like a column – you’ve got to be creative. You can’t just put up: [BARITONE VOICE]: ‘I had some wheat bix for breakfast.’
[Laughter].
Ingredient X
You’ve got to come into today’s news and throw an angle on it. And it’s got to be – for me – as fresh as the column. It’s got to have ingredient X – a couple of gags maybe – that says, this defines it. This actually puts it head and shoulders above the others. Another point I’d like to make – which I've made in an article – is that I’ve yet to meet what I’d call someone of substance who blogs.
I mean, Johan Rupert didn’t rush up and say: ‘I always read your blog.’ I mean, you want to aim at that market. I mean it could get there…
NVDL: Yeah.
RP: I think you should read Nick’s blog.
NVDL: No but I totally agree with that because 99% - this seems to be changing though – but 99% of what’s out there is actually drivel. Which is actually quite scary.
Bullard: Are a lot of people sort’ve sitting in libraries pretending to study for exams and actually blogging? I mean how- when- I mean downstairs there are one or two people, you know their names, they’re on every blog. They were on Sarah Britten’s, they were on mine…
NVDL: Mmmm
Bullard: And these weren’t three hundred word responses. These were three thousand word responses.
NVDL: It seems to mean if you’re a blogger, by implication, you don’t have a life. You know what I mean?
Bullard: You get this image of someone who has a dogeared copy of Loslyf, a half eaten Debonnairs Pizza, a rather untidy room in a sort’ve run down area of Joburg where the guy hasn’t actually emerged into the light for at least five weeks.
NVDL: The other things is – I mean I also blog – and I think part of it is, because of cellphones and everything else, I have this perception that no one actually listens to you.
Bullard: Mmmm
NVDL: You know what I mean? I mean, we are listening right now but you do have this perception that in a lot of conversations you have with people, one person is speaking [while] the other one is somewhere else. There’s not actually a…[EMPHATIC GESTURE]: I’M HERE NOW AND SO ARE YOU HERE NOW. Know what I mean?
Why Do we Blog?
I think that’s part of the reason why people blog. It’s that desperate yearning to communicate something.
Bullard: Absolutely. Is there anybody in there?
NVDL: And it is desperate. But what I would like – as a member of the pubic – from your blog which doesn’t exist is an almost one way stream of information. Not really commenting or reacting to what people are saying, but basically, you’re a writer and you’ve got your opinions… I mean that’s how I started blogging regularly – I was writing anyway. I’m not in your league at all but what I’m saying is, what you’re writing anyway, why not – once it’s published – why not put that in the public domain so it’s accessible. You know there are people who want to know what you’re saying…
Bullard: They haven’t done that with the weekly column. I don’t know if it’s a policy decision.
NVDL: I think with this company they wanted to get some sort of…
Bullard: Interaction.
NVDL: I think they wanted to utilize that[The Hype Around David Bullard], but I would think, for you personally, if you’re writing anyway, all you do is you copy and paste it – it takes no time – and all it is is a resource of David Bullard’s writing. It’s a resource. If you like it read it; comment if you like it, but that’s not really what it’s there for. It’s a resource; use it if you like.
Bullard: How many people look at your blog? Do you know how many people pass through?
NVDL: My record hits was earlier this week. 871 on Monday [8th October 2007].
Bullard: And what’s the general percentage of comments? Is it difficult to say?
NVDL: It’s not very high.
Bullard: I don’t know how many people pass through my blog, but I know how many people comment, and how many reactions I’ve had.
When and Why Do We [Care] To Comment
NVDL: I think there are a few reasons why your blog elicits comments. One of them is you’re high profile. Another thing is what you’re saying is part of the public consciousness at the time.
Bullard: Yeah, you can’t go wrong putting up why I’m a white supremacist. I mean it’s bound to get a reaction.
RP: Yeah [Laughs]
NVDL: And - yeah, it’s controversial - and the other aspect is it’s intelligent. What I’ve found – I’ve read some of the comments on your blog – there seems to be this desire to out-think in quite a nasty way though. You sort’ve try to blast someone with an insult, which is better than another insult.
RP: Yeah.
Bullard: Yeah, I know what you mean.
NVDL: I think you called it ‘kindergarten bashing’.
Bullard: Someone comes in and says: ‘Oh you should be reduced to a cub reporter.’ Or, you know: ‘You’re a failed stockbroker.’ I was never even a stockbroker. But you get all of these strange perceptions…
NVDL: Yeah.
On Defending The Perceptions of Cybersquatters
Bullard: I think once you start defending those [perceptions] you’ve shown you’re even interested in the debate, and it’s just a waste of space. What I eventually did was just delete the one’s I didn’t like.
RP: [LAUGHS]
Bullard: And then I got accused of censorship; I was quite happy with that. It’s my blog. If you want to come to my party and you actually start throwing up over the furniture, and nicking my CD’s, I’m gonna chuck you out the house. Same on the blog.
NVDL: I’m sure you’ve experienced this: You tend to get a lot of response[s] when you’ve made an error. That’s how people are. If they agree they don’t say anything. It’s this crazy aspect of people [especially on blogs] that people are quick to criticize [and show you they're right and you're wrong] and slow to praise. People do praise, but they’re much quicker [snapping fingers] to criticize.
I think it’s an ego thing, like: Oh, I see you made a mistake. You’re this intelligent person, there’s your error and I’ve spotted it, so that elevates me.
Bullard: Yes. But you know what can do [WRY SMILE], at least in the print medium. Blame the subs. You say, well of course, the bloody subs should have picked that up. And no one actually excuses you, but at least you’ve got someone else to blame. Blogging, unfortunately, you can’t, can you, really? It’s your court.
Tune in here next Wednesday (or whenever), for Part 3: Bullard - An Out to Lunch TV Talk Show?
For more refer to search label: The Bullard Tapes
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Bullard on ‘Why to not Blog’ (INTERVIEW)
David Bullard, South Africa’s most famous blogger (now ex-blogger), is a 14 year veteran of the famous (some would say infamous) Sunday Times Out To Lunch column.
Nick van der Leek and Razia Pillay cornered him in his cubicle, and threatened him with a flashy silver microcassette recorder. He spilled the beans on everything from Blogging to MacBeth, from Surviving Gunshots Point Blank to a possible TV Talk Show.
Part 1: Everything you DIDN’T know about David Bullard
RP: Is it okay if this goes on Nick’s blog?
Bullard: Sure it is. Well, since I’m not blogging now Nick’s gonna take over for me. He’s going to be my vicarious blogger. [Laughter] Like Boswell to Dr. Johnson*.
NVDL: So you’re finished and klaar with blogging?
Bullard: Yeah.
NVDL: No second thoughts?
Bullard: No. You know, it’s a money issue. It takes up a lot of time.
[Pausing to reflect]
Primarily it’s a money issue; because I was spending…I worked about R25 000 worth of billable hours a month, and as a freelancer – I’m not even employed by the Sunday Times – that desk I pay a rent for…
NVDL: Are you freelance?
Bullard: Yup. I pay rent for that desk. Then there’s a retainer on Out to Lunch, because it’s been running for 14 years nearly, so that was the only way to do it. Now what was happening on the blog…we got in after the attack of the blogosphere [column], and it built up, and it built up very well. And, you know, thanks to the help of Gregor and Colin and the guys downstairs. It built up very well but then actually I sort’ve felt I had, I thought a natural talent for it. To annoy people.
[Laughter]
So we built it up, and I would have thought – and I know this is on record [gestures vaguely to cassette recorder] – I would have thought if you built it up to be a high traffic blog it would logically have to be in a commercial organization [with] some thought of remuneration. Because it was taking a lot of time. You know I read all the comments. I’ve responded to some of the comments; I’ve interacted with some of the people.
NVDL: A lot of it was vitriol…
Bullard: Well it always is, isn’t it? Sadly. Uhm…I’m going to come to that in a moment, but…yeah. In September I got to that stage where I was doing calculations; I worked out what I was doing – coming in every day, going on that blog; putting something new up, reading the comments – was taking 2/3 hours a day. You know in three hours you can write an article that’s gonna earn you five grand.
RP: Yeah.
Bullard: You know, and I was turning down work because I didn’t have time; because I was doing blogging for free. So it was very simple, the situation: I couldn’t afford to blog.
NVDL: [Nodding] Mmmm.
Bullard: Because it was eating into time. And if I was away, let’s say on a business trip, if I go on a column which is four days without blogging trip, I’d store stuff up. You know I was reasonably conscientious about it. That was one thing.
I think the second thing, also, is the…the hostility. I mean I get a lot of hate emails. I don’t mind that. I mean in 13 or 14 years you do upset a lot of people, and if you’re being sued for six million by Jacob Zuma then frankly, anything goes. But I think some of them were unnecessarily nasty. I mean, in the sense [it’ not] me reading them, it’s my wife. Now you know, back in March she spent a day mopping blood up in my house. Which was my blood; [she was] wondering whether I’d walk again. She doesn’t actually need to have somebody say that I staged my own shooting. ‘Cos to her, it’s very hurtful.
NVDL: Mmm
Bullard: I know people will say: ‘Oh but people will say that anyway’. Maybe they would, but I don’t need to interact with them. [I] don’t need to see it on a blog. And I didn’t really find that there wasn’t an awful lot of intelligent input.
NVDL: [Nodding] Mmm.
Bullard: There was *some* intelligent input, but it was greatly diluted by – if you’re hiding behind a mask and you don’t know-
NVDL: -An avatar, yes.
Bullard: Yeah, that’s right. You don’t know the sex, the race, or anything about any of the people, you can’t really have a meaningful conversation, can you? But it was an interesting experience.
NVDL: It’s unfair. Because the one person – you know who they are, while the other person is [anonymous]. It’s like this. If we’re in a conversation now, then we have to behave. We have to have manners. But if someone sits by their computer, then they can be cheeky and all that kind of thing.
Bullard: Yes. The classic was Justin. He put stuff up which was quite funny, but then he came to work here. We went to have lunch and we’ve now become good friends.
[Laughter]
Bullard: But he was putting all sorts of stuff up after the initial attack on the blogosphere. You don’t mind that, because part of the entertainment value is you’re dealing with something you don’t know. There’s a perception that various readers have of me out there. Very arrogant, cigar smoking, whiskies – But it’s all an image; it’s built up. It’s fine.
RP/NVDL: Mmmm
Bullard: The good side of that image is [GARBLED] a lifestyle function to do. Like this Sunday I’m MC-ing a Champagne do. I’m doing Whiskey do’s, fast cars and things. You build up that image, and you attract an awful lot of business to yourself which is quite pleasant, I have to say. Travelling down the sharp end of planes. It’s a persona; it doesn’t necessarily mean the person in the photograph with whiskey and cigars is you. People think I smoke three cigars a day. When I go to a function I try to smoke a cigar because people sort’ve expect it.
So there are people out there, people who read things who will say: “He’s an arrogant bastard. He’s this, he’s that you know. He’s a rascist.” All sorts of great stuff. And you can’t actually get upset. Because it’s the same people who phone [Radio] 702. You’re not actually going to turn a lot of people’s opinions around. You’re going to turn some around.
RP: Yeah.
NVDL: But it seems like the people who react are the uninformed few, not so?
Bullard: Many are actually very informed. Some of them miss irony. So, they’ve really read you literally. I mean that applies to English readers. I mean I’ve been absolutely attacked for using the word ‘Poms’. So I’ve been attacked by the English who don’t think I’m South African. The Afrikaans say I attack them. As Mondli [Makhanya, editor of the Sunday Times] says in the last book, I’m an equal opportunity offender. It’s very often by people who haven’t understood the irony.
RP: But you said that you don’t – one of the reasons you don’t blog is because of the money. Should you know that you could earn money blogging, would you start again?
Bullard: No.
Tune in here next Wednesday, for Part 2. Bullard in Tights
*A reference to early versions of Sherlock Holmes
From Car Torque website: David Bullard’s dry sense of humour, exceptional journalistic skills and “tell it like it is” attitude to life makes him an ideal presenter for Car Torque. His sometimes irreverent, blunt opinions are both rare and entertaining, yet he is fair, saying just as easily if he likes something as he would if he dislikes it. He offers his personal opinion – like it or lump it.
He is passionate about cars. He wont be able (or want to) tell you which engine oil to use or what an overhead camshaft does, but he is an excellent driver who sees motoring as an important part of his lifestyle.
David was born in London in 1952 and emigrated to South Africa in 1981. He spent twenty-four years working in financial markets before a career switch to journalism. His “Out To Lunch” column in the Sunday Times has been running since 1994 and is one of the country’s best-read columns. He has written on cars for the Sunday Times Lifestyle section since 2001, and is consulting editor on the newspapers Motoring and Sport subscriber magazine. He also writes for several other magazines including The Media, Food and Home Entertaining and Upfront. He is also a popular MC and after dinner speaker.
For more refer to search label: The Bullard Tapes
Nick van der Leek and Razia Pillay cornered him in his cubicle, and threatened him with a flashy silver microcassette recorder. He spilled the beans on everything from Blogging to MacBeth, from Surviving Gunshots Point Blank to a possible TV Talk Show.
Part 1: Everything you DIDN’T know about David Bullard
RP: Is it okay if this goes on Nick’s blog?
Bullard: Sure it is. Well, since I’m not blogging now Nick’s gonna take over for me. He’s going to be my vicarious blogger. [Laughter] Like Boswell to Dr. Johnson*.
NVDL: So you’re finished and klaar with blogging?
Bullard: Yeah.
NVDL: No second thoughts?
Bullard: No. You know, it’s a money issue. It takes up a lot of time.
[Pausing to reflect]
Primarily it’s a money issue; because I was spending…I worked about R25 000 worth of billable hours a month, and as a freelancer – I’m not even employed by the Sunday Times – that desk I pay a rent for…
NVDL: Are you freelance?
Bullard: Yup. I pay rent for that desk. Then there’s a retainer on Out to Lunch, because it’s been running for 14 years nearly, so that was the only way to do it. Now what was happening on the blog…we got in after the attack of the blogosphere [column], and it built up, and it built up very well. And, you know, thanks to the help of Gregor and Colin and the guys downstairs. It built up very well but then actually I sort’ve felt I had, I thought a natural talent for it. To annoy people.
[Laughter]
So we built it up, and I would have thought – and I know this is on record [gestures vaguely to cassette recorder] – I would have thought if you built it up to be a high traffic blog it would logically have to be in a commercial organization [with] some thought of remuneration. Because it was taking a lot of time. You know I read all the comments. I’ve responded to some of the comments; I’ve interacted with some of the people.
NVDL: A lot of it was vitriol…
Bullard: Well it always is, isn’t it? Sadly. Uhm…I’m going to come to that in a moment, but…yeah. In September I got to that stage where I was doing calculations; I worked out what I was doing – coming in every day, going on that blog; putting something new up, reading the comments – was taking 2/3 hours a day. You know in three hours you can write an article that’s gonna earn you five grand.
RP: Yeah.
Bullard: You know, and I was turning down work because I didn’t have time; because I was doing blogging for free. So it was very simple, the situation: I couldn’t afford to blog.
NVDL: [Nodding] Mmmm.
Bullard: Because it was eating into time. And if I was away, let’s say on a business trip, if I go on a column which is four days without blogging trip, I’d store stuff up. You know I was reasonably conscientious about it. That was one thing.
I think the second thing, also, is the…the hostility. I mean I get a lot of hate emails. I don’t mind that. I mean in 13 or 14 years you do upset a lot of people, and if you’re being sued for six million by Jacob Zuma then frankly, anything goes. But I think some of them were unnecessarily nasty. I mean, in the sense [it’ not] me reading them, it’s my wife. Now you know, back in March she spent a day mopping blood up in my house. Which was my blood; [she was] wondering whether I’d walk again. She doesn’t actually need to have somebody say that I staged my own shooting. ‘Cos to her, it’s very hurtful.
NVDL: Mmm
Bullard: I know people will say: ‘Oh but people will say that anyway’. Maybe they would, but I don’t need to interact with them. [I] don’t need to see it on a blog. And I didn’t really find that there wasn’t an awful lot of intelligent input.
NVDL: [Nodding] Mmm.
Bullard: There was *some* intelligent input, but it was greatly diluted by – if you’re hiding behind a mask and you don’t know-
NVDL: -An avatar, yes.
Bullard: Yeah, that’s right. You don’t know the sex, the race, or anything about any of the people, you can’t really have a meaningful conversation, can you? But it was an interesting experience.
NVDL: It’s unfair. Because the one person – you know who they are, while the other person is [anonymous]. It’s like this. If we’re in a conversation now, then we have to behave. We have to have manners. But if someone sits by their computer, then they can be cheeky and all that kind of thing.
Bullard: Yes. The classic was Justin. He put stuff up which was quite funny, but then he came to work here. We went to have lunch and we’ve now become good friends.
[Laughter]
Bullard: But he was putting all sorts of stuff up after the initial attack on the blogosphere. You don’t mind that, because part of the entertainment value is you’re dealing with something you don’t know. There’s a perception that various readers have of me out there. Very arrogant, cigar smoking, whiskies – But it’s all an image; it’s built up. It’s fine.
RP/NVDL: Mmmm
Bullard: The good side of that image is [GARBLED] a lifestyle function to do. Like this Sunday I’m MC-ing a Champagne do. I’m doing Whiskey do’s, fast cars and things. You build up that image, and you attract an awful lot of business to yourself which is quite pleasant, I have to say. Travelling down the sharp end of planes. It’s a persona; it doesn’t necessarily mean the person in the photograph with whiskey and cigars is you. People think I smoke three cigars a day. When I go to a function I try to smoke a cigar because people sort’ve expect it.
So there are people out there, people who read things who will say: “He’s an arrogant bastard. He’s this, he’s that you know. He’s a rascist.” All sorts of great stuff. And you can’t actually get upset. Because it’s the same people who phone [Radio] 702. You’re not actually going to turn a lot of people’s opinions around. You’re going to turn some around.
RP: Yeah.
NVDL: But it seems like the people who react are the uninformed few, not so?
Bullard: Many are actually very informed. Some of them miss irony. So, they’ve really read you literally. I mean that applies to English readers. I mean I’ve been absolutely attacked for using the word ‘Poms’. So I’ve been attacked by the English who don’t think I’m South African. The Afrikaans say I attack them. As Mondli [Makhanya, editor of the Sunday Times] says in the last book, I’m an equal opportunity offender. It’s very often by people who haven’t understood the irony.
RP: But you said that you don’t – one of the reasons you don’t blog is because of the money. Should you know that you could earn money blogging, would you start again?
Bullard: No.
Tune in here next Wednesday, for Part 2. Bullard in Tights
*A reference to early versions of Sherlock Holmes
From Car Torque website: David Bullard’s dry sense of humour, exceptional journalistic skills and “tell it like it is” attitude to life makes him an ideal presenter for Car Torque. His sometimes irreverent, blunt opinions are both rare and entertaining, yet he is fair, saying just as easily if he likes something as he would if he dislikes it. He offers his personal opinion – like it or lump it.
He is passionate about cars. He wont be able (or want to) tell you which engine oil to use or what an overhead camshaft does, but he is an excellent driver who sees motoring as an important part of his lifestyle.
David was born in London in 1952 and emigrated to South Africa in 1981. He spent twenty-four years working in financial markets before a career switch to journalism. His “Out To Lunch” column in the Sunday Times has been running since 1994 and is one of the country’s best-read columns. He has written on cars for the Sunday Times Lifestyle section since 2001, and is consulting editor on the newspapers Motoring and Sport subscriber magazine. He also writes for several other magazines including The Media, Food and Home Entertaining and Upfront. He is also a popular MC and after dinner speaker.
For more refer to search label: The Bullard Tapes
NVDL: My own firsthand impression of Bullard confirmed that he is both fair and astute, and actually, through all the jokes and irony, he actually has very altruistic and positive motives for the good people of this country. I also found him perceptive and sensitive, and as entertaining a conversationalist as his column suggests. Click on the image below to [enlarge and] read the first column Bullard wrote after he was shot.
Monday, May 07, 2007
I agree!: Name and shame offensive bloggers
06 May 2007
By David Bullard
(from www.sundaytimes.com - click on this post's title to link to his article)
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then Fred Khumalo and I should feel very flattered indeed.
Every day there are 120000 new blog sites registered — a staggering 43 million a year. According to blog search engine Technorati, there are already 70 million blog sites registered worldwide. Admittedly the majority of the bloggers get bored rather quickly and don’t bother to update their sites, but that’s still 70 million people (higher than the population of the UK) who desperately want to be columnists.
It’s comforting to know that, should Fred or I decide to take a sabbatical, there’s no shortage of people available to hold the fort. The only snag is the quality, or lack of it.
Allow me to explain what I mean. I used to play air guitar with a band called Deep Purple. My playing was perfect, I had attitude and I even smashed my air guitar at the end of the number. The reason I played air guitar is that I couldn’t play real guitar very well so I was forced to dwell in this fantasy world where my guitar playing meant something only to me. I should point out that this was years ago when I was still young and foolish. These days I play air tenor saxophone, which is far more challenging.
Most blog sites are the air guitars of journalism. They’re cobbled together by people who wouldn’t stand a hope in hell of getting a job in journalism, mainly because they have very little to say. It’s rather sad how many people think the tedious minutiae of their lives will be of any interest to anyone else.
It’s even sadder when someone reads them.
Many bloggers prefer to remain anonymous and with good reason. The content of their sites is so moronic that even their best friends would disown them if they knew they were the authors. As with most things in life, something that costs nothing is usually worth nothing and that puzzles me. Are there really 70 million bloggers out there hoping that their writing talents will be recognised, or is this just another example of modern narcissism?
Unlike the world of newsprint, there are no rules out there in the blogosphere and that makes it a very confusing place for the consumer. I have no objection to reading my Sunday Times on the Internet because I know the content has been through the same process as the print edition. I do, however, object to some anonymous, scrofulous nerd pumping meaningless drivel into cyberspace at all hours of the day and night simply because he can’t find a girl to sleep with him. These are the sort of w ackos who gun down their fellow students at university. I visited a site the other day that was so hideously racist that it would have qualified its publisher for a long spell in prison if it had appeared in print. So what’s the difference? How come newspapers and magazines have to carry the names of their editors and publishers and watch their content and websites don’t? I’m told that it’s possible to track down the author of any offensive website and perhaps that’s what the government should be doing instead of looking at legislation to gag legitimate publications. Better still, maybe it’s time the print journalists named and shamed some of the more offensive anonymous bloggers and published their physical addresses. Then I can start a blog site called printrevenge.com and bore you all with the details.
By David Bullard
(from www.sundaytimes.com - click on this post's title to link to his article)
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then Fred Khumalo and I should feel very flattered indeed.
Every day there are 120000 new blog sites registered — a staggering 43 million a year. According to blog search engine Technorati, there are already 70 million blog sites registered worldwide. Admittedly the majority of the bloggers get bored rather quickly and don’t bother to update their sites, but that’s still 70 million people (higher than the population of the UK) who desperately want to be columnists.
It’s comforting to know that, should Fred or I decide to take a sabbatical, there’s no shortage of people available to hold the fort. The only snag is the quality, or lack of it.
Allow me to explain what I mean. I used to play air guitar with a band called Deep Purple. My playing was perfect, I had attitude and I even smashed my air guitar at the end of the number. The reason I played air guitar is that I couldn’t play real guitar very well so I was forced to dwell in this fantasy world where my guitar playing meant something only to me. I should point out that this was years ago when I was still young and foolish. These days I play air tenor saxophone, which is far more challenging.
Most blog sites are the air guitars of journalism. They’re cobbled together by people who wouldn’t stand a hope in hell of getting a job in journalism, mainly because they have very little to say. It’s rather sad how many people think the tedious minutiae of their lives will be of any interest to anyone else.
It’s even sadder when someone reads them.
Many bloggers prefer to remain anonymous and with good reason. The content of their sites is so moronic that even their best friends would disown them if they knew they were the authors. As with most things in life, something that costs nothing is usually worth nothing and that puzzles me. Are there really 70 million bloggers out there hoping that their writing talents will be recognised, or is this just another example of modern narcissism?
Unlike the world of newsprint, there are no rules out there in the blogosphere and that makes it a very confusing place for the consumer. I have no objection to reading my Sunday Times on the Internet because I know the content has been through the same process as the print edition. I do, however, object to some anonymous, scrofulous nerd pumping meaningless drivel into cyberspace at all hours of the day and night simply because he can’t find a girl to sleep with him. These are the sort of w ackos who gun down their fellow students at university. I visited a site the other day that was so hideously racist that it would have qualified its publisher for a long spell in prison if it had appeared in print. So what’s the difference? How come newspapers and magazines have to carry the names of their editors and publishers and watch their content and websites don’t? I’m told that it’s possible to track down the author of any offensive website and perhaps that’s what the government should be doing instead of looking at legislation to gag legitimate publications. Better still, maybe it’s time the print journalists named and shamed some of the more offensive anonymous bloggers and published their physical addresses. Then I can start a blog site called printrevenge.com and bore you all with the details.
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