Showing posts with label speaker evening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label speaker evening. Show all posts

"Gandalf, my old friend, this is going to be a night to remember!" - Bilbo Baggins
The clash of metal on metal! It's a fight to the death! Who hasn't dreamed of owning their own hand-crafted, rune-inscribed sword? If it's your dream to be a sword-wielding badass warrior princess (okay....or prince!) warrior, then this speaker evening is just up your alley. Acclaimed  Bladesmith, Knifemaker, designer and owner of Black Dragon Forge, Neels van den Berg will be educating us in the art of all things smithy! So gather up your armour and book your seat at the Pretoria Boys High School Old Boys Club at 7pm on the 11th of July!


You won't want to miss this one!
Speaker evenings remain the backbone of 
Mensa Pretoria's 
social interaction and as such are as diverse as our member's interests.
As always we value feedback and suggestions on topics and in general
 - we are a social club at the end of the day !

 Please google our speakers should these snippets entice you, 
alternatively be in contact and we'll furnish you with more info  

 ENQUIRIES

 20171004 - Mensa Pta Games Evening

 Since we absolutely love playing games on (with) each other we jumped at the opportunity to squeeeeze one more Games Night in before the AGM. 
We only had time for one photo but evidence ..is evidence...no-one actually looked at the camera.....not even Bev...mmm conspiracy!!
20170906 - Falconry and Bird Abatement

Well I sure did not know that pigeons were evil!!!
But sure as chips they carry disease and with it a big risk to all. 
To reduce the number of pigeons and associated risk a natural predator is flown by super skilled humans like Nadine Van Der Merwe. 
I was very impressed by what I learned and urge you to investigate this artform! 

Nadine with the Hawk she flies, and flew in the hall.

Pretoria being Pretoria!

Bev expressing her gratitude as is our tradition

20170802 - They're Your Rules, Break Them!

Now THAT is something I can through my weight behind! 
How fitting that we were breaking rules of our own by moving the speak...ing over to the more intimate dining area of PHSOB. 
We can now make use of their generous dinner-specials 
whilst listening to the wisdom of our speakers. 

 Speaking of..
Douglas Kruger showed us exactly why he was inducted into the 
'Speakers Hall of Fame' 
in 2016
Surf over to http://www.douglaskruger.co.za/ you will not be sorry.
Douglas Kruger

Classic Venue Classic Filter

Stop!..Pano-time

again with the loaded questions!

Thanks Super-Speaker!

20170705 - Open Mic - Conspiracy Theories


 Lots of great discussion took place during the annual open-mic evening
 - fueled by paranoia, suspicion, curiosity or just plain alcohol...
the truth might never be known yet it is out there and we will keep searching...
Mandela effect, Flat Earth, Titanic.... 
we are coming for you! 

Kolver explaining the Mandela Effect

20170607 - More Secrets From Below: Rising Star Cave


 Sworn to secrecy for nigh on 2 years the world's favourite caver and 
our friend Rick Hunter 
was finally released to give us the scoop on what was 
also found when 
Homo Naledi famously captured our imagination in September 2015
Great souvenirs!
Bev in Science-mode!


ooohhh secrets!!
Rick scaring us with claustrophobia ^^


Homo Naledi welcomed to Maropeng


20170510 - Games Evening 


 Being jock's of note we normally 
play ice-hockey and dead-lift family cars when not cracking walnuts on our foreheads...
yet once a year we take time to dominate in 
boardgames!
Most lost, only some won but in the end 
Mensa Pretoria will never get bored of games!!


20170405 - The Colour Code

Why do you tend to dominate a conversation, 
why can crowds scare you, why do you always choose the wrong friends - 
well the last one not even our speaker can help you with 
but some very insightful conversation and even a short self assessment was enjoyed when we learned about our colour code!
Eager to learn about ourselves!!

Alan Harvey with Bev

20170301 - Self Defence !!

Now more than ever we need to listen to our six-sense, 
intuition or that chill down your back, 
lest we experience something unspeakable at the hand of a perpetrator. 
These words define the training program
 WIP and GRIP by Mark Grobbelaar 
a gentleman so proficient in self defense that it has become his primary nature - 
yet his advise remains to always try to walk away and 
swallow your pride.
Bev presenting with Mark with a small gift 

    
Eager to learn

Kallie, Ilze and Jaco enjoying the speaker evening.

20170201 - Online Marketing  

Zero Moment of Truth, Keith Kirsten, limits exist only in the mind - 
these are some of the points raised by an intrepid entrepreneur in his quest to leverage technology to bring info to the people and naturally profit to his company. 
Head over to plantinfo.co.za and see what it is all about!  

Shaun with Kyle of plantinfo.co.za
Attendees

Jaco and Bev - because picture
That moment! - not of zero truth, no.!











Puzzles and puzzle-solving techniques.


Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Clouseau, the rubix cube, poker tricks mysterious disappearances. Some puzzles are for amusement, some are for entertainment. A puzzle could be solved to dazzle friends or even an audience. What can not be seen is infused by the assumed and you might be bamboozled. Other times a puzzle occurs in the legal field and could be the difference between life or death. Yet further the puzzle could be determining the real cause of a death. Whatever the case, all puzzles hinges on the declared challenge: "Solve me, if you can !" 

Dr. Ryan Blumenthal



Dr Ryan Blumenthal is a Senior Specialist Forensic Pathologist at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Forensic Medicine. His chief field of interest is the pathology of trauma of lightning (keraunopathology). He has been involved in the publication of numerous articles and textbooks on lightning and electrothermal injuries and has helped generate international standard operating procedures and guidelines for lightning strike fatality and electrocution victims. He has published widely in the fields of suicide and other areas involving the pathology of trauma.





The author pushing a needle through a copper block in a matchbox





Today however Ryan wore another hat - most literally - and showed us the magic of puzzles.







Beverley and Kolver with Ryan's signature illusion.
Pretoria Chapter - ready for magic !!




Solid Waste in South Africa – what is your role?


South Africa generated an estimated 108 million tonnes of solid waste in 2011, of which
only 10% was recycled.Every year, we throw away an estimated R17 billion worth of
resources as waste, which could have been fed back into the South African
manufacturing economy.
How are we, as consumers, part of this problem? 
How do we maximise the opportunities that waste presents as a secondary resource as we move towards the vision of a Circular Economy?
 And what are some of the key challenges facing the growth of a local secondary resources economy?

Prof Linda Godfrey

Prof Linda Godfrey is a Principal Scientist with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and an Associate Professor at Northwest University, and holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of KwaZulu­Natal. She currently heads up the Waste Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap Implementation Unit on behalf of the Department of Science and Technology.The Unit is tasked with implementing South Africa’s 10­year Waste RDI Roadmap.Her research interests include the role of the waste sector in transitioning South Africa to a green economy; waste innovation;waste economics; the governance, social and behavioural aspects of integrated waste management; and the role of waste information as policy and behaviour ­change instrument.

Prof Godfrey has provided strategic input to a number of waste and green economy initiatives for the European Union, Departments of Science and Technology and Environmental Affairs; Development Bank of South Africa; Academy of Sciences of South Africa; Institute of Waste Management and several universities. She has been invited to speak at numerous local and international scientific conferences, technical expert panels and meetings.She has published extensively in the field of solid waste management and provides review to both local and international peer reviewed scientific publications.

Beverley thanking Prof.Linda

Pretoria Mensans - eager to learn!





Tequila - it is a well known saying that when life hands you lemons, make lemonade...well some of us at Mensa Pretoria carry tequila and salt around - just in case life gets liberal with the lemons !! 

The speaker scheduled to talk about the paradoxes of time travel ran into unexpected difficulty and could not make it to the venue on time (pun intended - hiehie) but on a serious note he had no lasting side effects from the event.

With Mensans from far and wide expecting a talk on time travel and no-one to present yours truly suggested an open mic on the topic.
It was a roaring success to the extent that it was decided to have at least on open mic evening per year. So send us your topics of choice lest we use a voting poll on social media!!


 Orania's Yellow Brick Road: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Orania is an intentional Afrikaner community on the banks of the Orange River in the Bo-
Karoo (Northern Cape). The community was founded in 1991 when Prof. Carel Boshoff and a number of supporters bought the dilapidated town from the Department of Water Affairs for approximately R1.5m. Today the investment has grown to an estimated R400m. The town currently has a population of 1,100. 

From inception Orania positioned itself as a community serious about sustainability in 
respect of environment, resources and culture. The presentation provided a bird’s eye view of the town’s history, the political questions the Orania ­idea had and still has to deal with, the revised strategy of becoming a “rural city” and why Orania is more relevant today than in 1990.

The Orania approach of creating a de facto reality before expecting de jure recognition was also be explained with a brief reference to the philiosophy of an active citizenry engaged in the community via various voluntary associations and institutions, as
opposed to one centralised authority.

Parallels with Israel and the Zionist movement could also be drawn when it is explained 

how interested parties can get involved.

About Gawie Snyman:

 He grew up in the Northern Cape, being well aware of Orania, but never really interested in the Volkstaat concept. He obtained his LLB and LLM degrees from the University of Pretoria and practiced law in Nylstroom before leaving for the United Kingdom on a 2 year working holiday. The 2 years ended up being 10 years of mostly work and not enough holiday. It is during his time in the UK that Gawie became convinced of the sustainability and justness of the Orania model ­ he subsequently helped to facilitate several networking events for the Orania Movement in the United Kingdom. 

 Gawie returned to South Africa in February 2015 and is currently the Manager of the Orania Movement’s Pretoria branch, primarily tasked with organising events and networking with other Afrikaner cultural organisations, role players and opinionators.

View the Invitation


Cockpit Psychology


Advances in technology requires society to adapt to changes beyond the increased pace and efficiency, to increased safety and social accountability. 
To that end the pilot takes responsibility for human life both on board and on terra firma, while trying to protect his/her own livelihood by not being unnecessarily grounded. 

To assist in managing this process the aviation bodies of the world rely ever heavier on the psychologist. Johan Erasmus is such a psychologist, and commercial pilot advancing the quest in South Africa.
Johan Erasmus of Erasmustherapy.com

About Johan Erasmus

Johan is a registered Clinical Psychologist in private practice. He has a keen interest in Medical psychology and consults in various hospitals apart from his practice in Lynnwood Manor. He also has a keen interest in Aviation Psychology and sits on a National Advisory Panel on complex medical matters for the Director of Civil Aviation. He holds a Commercial Pilots Licence and Flight Instructors rating. During the time in private practice, he participated in various national, international workshops and conferences. He also co-­published various articles in popular magazines and also appear as a regular guest in a medical journal program on a community radio station, covering topics relating to psychology. 

Johan has a specific interest in the field of Aviation Psychology and Medical Psychology and apart from sessions done at the rooms in Lynnwood Manor, conduct hospital visits on request from medical specialists and personnel, or patients themselves. His keen interest in Aviation Psychology also stems from the fact that he is the holder of a Commercial Pilots Licence and Flight Instructors Rating. He is a member of the Civil Aviation Authority`s (CAA) Aviation Medical Committee where the purpose is to advise the Director of the CAA regarding complex medical problems that may place limitations on licence holders. 

He is part of the Pretoria Head and Neck Forum specialist group, associate member of the European Association for Aviation Psychology and a lifelong Honorary Rotary Foundation member.
    

The Largest Fossil Homonin find in Africa

Rick Hunter



Stargazing at a campfire, admiring sweeping vistas from a mountaintop or simply catching the first glimpse of the ocean enroute to you favorite vacation, we have all pondered the origins and vast greatness of creation and us the created.

Little wonder then we had a full-house as we readied ourselves to learn of the adventures of Rick Hunter a caver cum budding anthropologist who helped uncover historic clues to these age old questions.







The historical and scientific value of the treasure chest Rick Hunter stumbled upon is literally priceless and will remain long after the considerable media awareness and trending have subsided.










We were entertained not only by a jam packed array of photo's and diagrams but also actual video footage of Rick squeezing his frame through a space normally reserved for std soccer ball - it left us gasping for breath, much like our contortionist host !



More info on Rick and Homo Naledi?  National Geographic  Wikipedia



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