Interview with Champers

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Champers in the Raw

I recently carried out an email interview with Champers who runs a blogsite called ChampagneHeathen. She is renowned as a ‘funloving dronk n dance on tables’ person and graciously found time to respond to my questions.

Question #1
During your last two senior years at high/grammar school, were you already aspiring to go into the career you have now carved out for yourself? If yes – why? If no – why not?

I guess this assumes I have carved a career out for myself!

I knew I wanted a career out of the norm. So in that sense, yes I did aspire to where I am now. I think I was aspiring towards photo journalism for National Geographic. At this stage I was tearing into books by the top SA & National Geographic photo journalists. I also wanted to be involved in what I would later learn is termed “Humanitarian” work. I called it “saving the world, and changing the wrongs”.

Soon however, I realised how much photography equipment costs, and that my brother kept sneaking my mom’s old camera gear out from under me. So I decided to look to print journalism & the benefits of a Bic pen & ‘borrowed’ computer room paper. Then I matriculated. And the idea of being a rich slacker trophy wife suddenly appealed to me and took on a whole new meaning of “glam”. I am still looking for that perfect sugar daddy.

Question #2
What did you begin to study at college and end up receiving a degree in? Explain why if it differed. Explain the rationale behind your final selection.

I started varsity studying BA Information Science, simply because I wanted any old undergrad course to begin with, and to then go onto post-grad journalism. But taking Political Science as my optional subject changed everything.

I also realised quickly that my course was not teaching me hacking skills, but rather how to catalogue a library. So I ditched it at the end of my 1st year to do BA International Relations, with politics as a major, and picked up English and then International Law LLB (Ooooooo!) as random extra subjects. In effect it meant I had ended up adding an extra year onto my undergrad course so I had plenty of spare ‘study’ time available for other pursuits, and one can only drink so much screw-top Tassies.

Question #3
What music genre do you like listening to most? Who or which band influenced your early musical preferences?

Music has never been of much concern to me. I try to listen to as many genres as possible. Each one suits different times and moods. Louis Armstrong can irritate me to an extreme while I am in the office, but it works in the background in the evening with wine. Or some teenage punk band can be fun to bounce to in the car.

My eldest brother’s music (U2, Beatles, Depeche Mode, The Doors) was probably my early preference as I had no clue. So I trusted his taste.

Question #4
Given a choice of vacation, where would you go to experience an ideal holiday? And what is the best bit about a vacation for you, the travel to or the arrival? Why?

Paris. I love the city and France and their culture beyond repair. Until I can work out a way to live there, I will have to stick to holidays. I miss their baguettes, and croissants, and the gorgeous coffees, and walking down their streets even in mid winter, and just feeling like I fit in.

I have visited Paris four times now. My best times have been when I stayed in my friend’s apartment where you could see three quarters of the city, and staying in a cheap hotel in the Latin Quarter, I recommend that hotel only if you can speak French, and can handle one communal shower & one toilet per floor!

It is one of the great dilemmas in my life – loving a decadent city like Paris, where you are able to forget the rest of the world and indulge in all that is good in life, versus the African reality I know and also love. I have yet to work out whether these two worlds can realistically and healthily merge.

Jaaa, the seven hour flight to Paris is nothing to write home about. Neither is the arrival at Charles De Gaulle aeroport, or figuring out how to catch the train into the city with no euro currency.

Question #5
What legacy would you like to be remembered for?

Helping Africa to become a world power.

Question #6
If you were not doing what you do now as a job, what might you have done?

I’d be in the wine industry. I love wine, and even though I have no sense of smell, and my taste sucks wine fascinates me. In my opinion, wine is an artform. Plus the farms rock, and sitting for hours drinking away lazy lunch/ evening hours in those settings would not be a bad way to spend one’s days.

Question #7
Has blogging had a big impact on your personal life and career? ie Has blogging placed extra demands on your time? When are you most creative? Morning or evening? Do you only blog at certain times of the day or night?

Blogging has definitely affected my life. It has made me write regularly again, and so I am proudly watching as I hone my skill. Writing was something I had been trying to do for years, but previously never had the motivation to pursue.

It also has given the ranting, fighting idealist in me the perfect “soap box” from which to voice my thoughts and opinions. I think many a friend I regularly dine with is very happy, because now they don’t have to endure these rants over their fillet or chicken medallions.

In general I will write a post up in the morning before 10am. I usually have an idea bouncing about my head the night before or on the way to work. I can be very creative at night, before passing out in my bed! It’s just that the keys can be difficult to focus on through “2-bottles-of-wine” eyes.

I have a job that allows me to get distracted relatively easily, so I enjoy keeping up with the comment banter, and this has placed demands on my time. Also, having established myself in the blogosphere, it becomes necessary to regularly read and comment on the growing number of friends’ blogs .– It is not easy & can be very time consuming ESPECIALLY with slow internet connectivity, which is a regular feature in my life.

Question #8
What are your 3 all-time favourite PC or electronic games and why?

If those free internet & PC games are allowed under this title. I used to also LOVE Teken III, and KO’ing guys with that chick’s high heels, but I believe that is a PSI game, not a PC game. Is there a difference??? Am I even using the right acronyms??

Question #9
Given that blogging has entered our personal lives and mainstream business, do you find that blogosphere’s ‘elite’ or Blogebrities is dominated by the tekkie/ marketing/advertising/branding clique despite being the minority user group? If yes, is it healthy for blogging’s future? Also, do you subscribe to Web 2.0 or is it a myth?

There are so many marketing blogs trying to figure out all the inner workings of our minds. I think more marketers should rather have gone into psychology. There will soon be more of a demand for people to fix you after all of this media brainwashing, rather than more people doing the brainwashing.

I steer clear of those blogs now. But when I first started, they definitely seemed like the place to be. I guess they just “market” themselves better. Ultimately though, this medium allows you to seek out and gather together the blogs of interest to yourself.

I do not have the first clue what Web 2.0 is. Well, no, that’s a lie, I have seen the word used a few times in the blog context. THAT is all I know.

Question #10
What would you describe as being your ideal night out?

One that is unexpected. That ends at sunrise and involved a thousand contexts of diverse type, a thousand people plus, a thousand laughs, smiles, flirts, crazy dance moves and where I am still sober enough to remember it all & able to recall it the next day with mates over a very hungover late late breakfast somewhere.

Question #11
What was your most interesting encounter in your life to date ?

The children I interacted with regularly in Orange Farm (a township south of Johannesburg). They are bundles of happy, polite, darling, motivational joy. I miss them.

Question #12
What something are you very good at?

I can down a beer faster than most people, male or female. This is my friends’ party trick. I think it is unclassy and I hate to publicise it (Rob, you bring out the truth in me!), but I still impress myself at this most random talent.

My friends, however, often set me up against their mates without me realising it. Hmmm. Actually. I think we should start hustling this skill.

Question #13
What age do you think is best to be?

As a 19 year old blonde chick. THAT was fun. I was in 1st/ 2nd year varsity so I did not have a care in the world. I thought I looked hot. Women wanted to be me, men definitely tried to be with me. And I happily took complete advantage of the situation!!

Honestly – I think you have to find pleasure in every age and stage. Not that you have to have a laugh and thrill a minute,but simply to just roll with the challenges and the opportunities that each stage brings.

Question #14
Are you a political animal? Do you participate? If not - why? If yes – why?

Yes, but more in the sense of international & global politics. I keep losing interest in local politics that is rampant with in-fighting. I vote. I try to keep as up-to-date on the issues I find relevant. I use my blog to test my theories, ideas & responses to the political scene. If my government does not start taking more responsibility, then I will start becoming more active. I think. I hope.

Why? Because I love a good fight of minds and wit. Because I am fascinated by power plays at all levels. And if I want broader change, I have to know full well what and with whom I am fighting. And also to know what tools are at my disposal as well as which are available to my political opponent(s)’.

Question #15
Do you think Africa can be saved by pop and rock concert takings?

No. Instead I think that these publicity stunts wear away at a very serious and complex issue. People soon will become tired of hearing “Help Africa! Help Africa!”. They will stop listening. Or they might fool /quell themselves into thinking, “Well I bought an expensive concert ticket, and I spent a whole afternoon listening to great rock music while thinking about the issues, so I must, therefore have made a difference.”

It is so much more complex than throwing money at Africa.

Plus, there is already a great deal of money in the Aid and Humanitarian world. It is arguably being misused on the salaries of people like me!.

The infrastructures and aid systems needs to be adapted to become more responsive, effective, and cost-efficient. We must ‘Make the Money Work’! When it is proving to do so, then raise more funding. Except this means human power, dedicated hours, creative thinking, power relenting, utilising skills – not just buying a ticket or a pair of jeans.

And people don’t like that.

Question #16
What is your philosophy of life?

“Cause every little things gonna be alright. So don’t you worry about a thing….”
Whenever life is kak, I put that Bob Marley song on, and things might not be better, but that song makes me smile & bounce & remember that I’ll head up soon enough, and be flying high

Question #17
What something can’t you do well at all?

Play sports that involve ball skills. Only my puppies will still play soccer with me, and that’s just because they don’t know what they’re missing out on.

I also find it damn near impossible to write in small writing. Which is maybe why I love the computer so much. Finally more than 20 words can fit onto a page AND be legible!

Question #18
Do you have a gadget that can’t ever do without or be parted from?

Is a coffee machine considered a gadget?!
All my gadgets that I think I rely on (like my phone, my computer, my car, my camera) have taken a break from me for a few days or months, and I actually realised I enjoy the freedom of not relying on them. Although, as soon as I am back in my normal world, I am back to having them all very close at hand. And while I am gradually becoming attached to my iPod, I have yet to struggle to be parted with it.

ChampagneHeathen. She is renowned as a ‘funloving dronk n dance on tables’ person and graciously found time to respond to my questions.

Question #1
During your last two senior years at high/grammar school, were you already aspiring to go into the career you have now carved out for yourself? If yes – why? If no – why not?

I guess this assumes I have carved a career out for myself!

I knew I wanted a career out of the norm. So in that sense, yes I did aspire to where I am now. I think I was aspiring towards photo journalism for National Geographic. At this stage I was tearing into books by the top SA & National Geographic photo journalists. I also wanted to be involved in what I would later learn is termed “Humanitarian” work. I called it “saving the world, and changing the wrongs”.

Soon however, I realised how much photography equipment costs, and that my brother kept sneaking my mom’s old camera gear out from under me. So I decided to look to print journalism & the benefits of a Bic pen & ‘borrowed’ computer room paper. Then I matriculated. And the idea of being a rich slacker trophy wife suddenly appealed to me and took on a whole new meaning of “glam”. I am still looking for that perfect sugar daddy.

Question #2
What did you begin to study at college and end up receiving a degree in? Explain why if it differed. Explain the rationale behind your final selection.

I started varsity studying BA Information Science, simply because I wanted any old undergrad course to begin with, and to then go onto post-grad journalism. But taking Political Science as my optional subject changed everything.

I also realised quickly that my course was not teaching me hacking skills, but rather how to catalogue a library. So I ditched it at the end of my 1st year to do BA International Relations, with politics as a major, and picked up English and then International Law LLB (Ooooooo!) as random extra subjects. In effect it meant I had ended up adding an extra year onto my undergrad course so I had plenty of spare ‘study’ time available for other pursuits, and one can only drink so much screw-top Tassies.

Question #3
What music genre do you like listening to most? Who or which band influenced your early musical preferences?

Music has never been of much concern to me. I try to listen to as many genres as possible. Each one suits different times and moods. Louis Armstrong can irritate me to an extreme while I am in the office, but it works in the background in the evening with wine. Or some teenage punk band can be fun to bounce to in the car.

My eldest brother’s music (U2, Beatles, Depeche Mode, The Doors) was probably my early preference as I had no clue. So I trusted his taste.

Question #4
Given a choice of vacation, where would you go to experience an ideal holiday? And what is the best bit about a vacation for you, the travel to or the arrival? Why?

Paris. I love the city and France and their culture beyond repair. Until I can work out a way to live there, I will have to stick to holidays. I miss their baguettes, and croissants, and the gorgeous coffees, and walking down their streets even in mid winter, and just feeling like I fit in.

I have visited Paris four times now. My best times have been when I stayed in my friend’s apartment where you could see three quarters of the city, and staying in a cheap hotel in the Latin Quarter, I recommend that hotel only if you can speak French, and can handle one communal shower & one toilet per floor!

It is one of the great dilemmas in my life – loving a decadent city like Paris, where you are able to forget the rest of the world and indulge in all that is good in life, versus the African reality I know and also love. I have yet to work out whether these two worlds can realistically and healthily merge.

Jaaa, the seven hour flight to Paris is nothing to write home about. Neither is the arrival at Charles De Gaulle aeroport, or figuring out how to catch the train into the city with no euro currency.

Question #5
What legacy would you like to be remembered for?

Helping Africa to become a world power.

Question #6
If you were not doing what you do now as a job, what might you have done?

I’d be in the wine industry. I love wine, and even though I have no sense of smell, and my taste sucks wine fascinates me. In my opinion, wine is an artform. Plus the farms rock, and sitting for hours drinking away lazy lunch/ evening hours in those settings would not be a bad way to spend one’s days.

Question #7
Has blogging had a big impact on your personal life and career? ie Has blogging placed extra demands on your time? When are you most creative? Morning or evening? Do you only blog at certain times of the day or night?

Blogging has definitely affected my life. It has made me write regularly again, and so I am proudly watching as I hone my skill. Writing was something I had been trying to do for years, but previously never had the motivation to pursue.

It also has given the ranting, fighting idealist in me the perfect “soap box” from which to voice my thoughts and opinions. I think many a friend I regularly dine with is very happy, because now they don’t have to endure these rants over their fillet or chicken medallions.

In general I will write a post up in the morning before 10am. I usually have an idea bouncing about my head the night before or on the way to work. I can be very creative at night, before passing out in my bed! It’s just that the keys can be difficult to focus on through “2-bottles-of-wine” eyes.

I have a job that allows me to get distracted relatively easily, so I enjoy keeping up with the comment banter, and this has placed demands on my time. Also, having established myself in the blogosphere, it becomes necessary to regularly read and comment on the growing number of friends’ blogs .– It is not easy & can be very time consuming ESPECIALLY with slow internet connectivity, which is a regular feature in my life.

Question #8
What are your 3 all-time favourite PC or electronic games and why?

If those free internet & PC games are allowed under this title. I used to also LOVE Teken III, and KO’ing guys with that chick’s high heels, but I believe that is a PSI game, not a PC game. Is there a difference??? Am I even using the right acronyms??

Question #9
Given that blogging has entered our personal lives and mainstream business, do you find that blogosphere’s ‘elite’ or Blogebrities is dominated by the tekkie/ marketing/advertising/branding clique despite being the minority user group? If yes, is it healthy for blogging’s future? Also, do you subscribe to Web 2.0 or is it a myth?

There are so many marketing blogs trying to figure out all the inner workings of our minds. I think more marketers should rather have gone into psychology. There will soon be more of a demand for people to fix you after all of this media brainwashing, rather than more people doing the brainwashing.

I steer clear of those blogs now. But when I first started, they definitely seemed like the place to be. I guess they just “market” themselves better. Ultimately though, this medium allows you to seek out and gather together the blogs of interest to yourself.

I do not have the first clue what Web 2.0 is. Well, no, that’s a lie, I have seen the word used a few times in the blog context. THAT is all I know.

Question #10
What would you describe as being your ideal night out?

One that is unexpected. That ends at sunrise and involved a thousand contexts of diverse type, a thousand people plus, a thousand laughs, smiles, flirts, crazy dance moves and where I am still sober enough to remember it all & able to recall it the next day with mates over a very hungover late late breakfast somewhere.

Question #11
What was your most interesting encounter in your life to date ?

The children I interacted with regularly in Orange Farm (a township south of Johannesburg). They are bundles of happy, polite, darling, motivational joy. I miss them.

Question #12
What something are you very good at?

I can down a beer faster than most people, male or female. This is my friends’ party trick. I think it is unclassy and I hate to publicise it (Rob, you bring out the truth in me!), but I still impress myself at this most random talent.

My friends, however, often set me up against their mates without me realising it. Hmmm. Actually. I think we should start hustling this skill.

Question #13
What age do you think is best to be?

As a 19 year old blonde chick. THAT was fun. I was in 1st/ 2nd year varsity so I did not have a care in the world. I thought I looked hot. Women wanted to be me, men definitely tried to be with me. And I happily took complete advantage of the situation!!

Honestly – I think you have to find pleasure in every age and stage. Not that you have to have a laugh and thrill a minute,but simply to just roll with the challenges and the opportunities that each stage brings.

Question #14
Are you a political animal? Do you participate? If not - why? If yes – why?

Yes, but more in the sense of international & global politics. I keep losing interest in local politics that is rampant with in-fighting. I vote. I try to keep as up-to-date on the issues I find relevant. I use my blog to test my theories, ideas & responses to the political scene. If my government does not start taking more responsibility, then I will start becoming more active. I think. I hope.

Why? Because I love a good fight of minds and wit. Because I am fascinated by power plays at all levels. And if I want broader change, I have to know full well what and with whom I am fighting. And also to know what tools are at my disposal as well as which are available to my political opponent(s)’.

Question #15
Do you think Africa can be saved by pop and rock concert takings?

No. Instead I think that these publicity stunts wear away at a very serious and complex issue. People soon will become tired of hearing “Help Africa! Help Africa!”. They will stop listening. Or they might fool /quell themselves into thinking, “Well I bought an expensive concert ticket, and I spent a whole afternoon listening to great rock music while thinking about the issues, so I must, therefore have made a difference.”

It is so much more complex than throwing money at Africa.

Plus, there is already a great deal of money in the Aid and Humanitarian world. It is arguably being misused on the salaries of people like me!.

The infrastructures and aid systems needs to be adapted to become more responsive, effective, and cost-efficient. We must ‘Make the Money Work’! When it is proving to do so, then raise more funding. Except this means human power, dedicated hours, creative thinking, power relenting, utilising skills – not just buying a ticket or a pair of jeans.

And people don’t like that.

Question #16
What is your philosophy of life?

“Cause every little things gonna be alright. So don’t you worry about a thing….”
Whenever life is kak, I put that Bob Marley song on, and things might not be better, but that song makes me smile & bounce & remember that I’ll head up soon enough, and be flying high

Question #17
What something can’t you do well at all?

Play sports that involve ball skills. Only my puppies will still play soccer with me, and that’s just because they don’t know what they’re missing out on.

I also find it damn near impossible to write in small writing. Which is maybe why I love the computer so much. Finally more than 20 words can fit onto a page AND be legible!

Question #18
Do you have a gadget that can’t ever do without or be parted from?

Is a coffee machine considered a gadget?!
All my gadgets that I think I rely on (like my phone, my computer, my car, my camera) have taken a break from me for a few days or months, and I actually realised I enjoy the freedom of not relying on them. Although, as soon as I am back in my normal world, I am back to having them all very close at hand. And while I am gradually becoming attached to my iPod, I have yet to struggle to be parted with it.

Interview: Champers in the raw

” rel=”bookmark”> Interview: Champers in the raw