Photo-Story: Soweto’s Holiday Inn
The bonus of hosting overseas visitors is that we get to do the tourist thing in our own country. And then we share it with you Representers! Editorista popped off to Walter Sisulu Square to show some foreign friends around and was delighted to visit the BRAND NEW four star Holiday Inn Soweto. It’s so new the only guests were workers and interior-design looking types doing final touches. Good job to them, the decor is fantastic – a wonderful blend of local flavour and contemporary chic. Click HERE to go to our PHOTO-Story. We were lucky enough to get a tour from the highly informative and very friendly Jeffreys who made us feel right at home. The hotel lines the “Russianesque” Walter Sisulu Freedom Square, with rooms facing into it featuring glorious sized balconies (we can just imagine New Year there!) or the other way out onto the bustling Union Street that captures the authentic Sowetan spirit. There is so much to see and do in and around the HUGE square including the superbly put together Kliptown Open Air Museum that takes us back to the 50s and the drawing up of the Freedom Charter – very emotional but very important. All that was missing were lots of open-air restaurants, pubs and meeting places although we are sure they are on the cards. Events organisers take note, for your next imbizo, exec gathering, premium brand launch or medium size dinner, BOOK it at the Holiday Inn Freedom Square for something different and memorable. The hotel boasts 46 luxury rooms, we got to see the twin, double and presidential suite, all gorgeously decked out and appealling … from R1500 up, they are well worth it. WE CANNOT RECOMMEND A VISIT TO WALTER SISULU SQUARE MORE HIGHLY – GO GO...
Live graf artists, dj’s and Mc’s @ Gem
It’s been a while since we heard about an underground Hip Hop event – maybe we’re out of touch or does anyone else find events a bit over-branded lately? Get down there HHHeads….Platform .1 presents the Platform show an exciting show paying tribute to the Jozi hip hop scene on Friday 30th November 2007. This exciting one night extravaganza will see all facets of the hip hop culture merging. · Bringing the evening together is a combination of live performances , like B-boys, Graff expo · a live graffiti expo outside the venue by Myza and Décor and Turntabelists drawn from all the corners of S.A · The show includes live performances by GIN I GRINDITH / “Curo” whose anticipated album is due for release. · Ben Sharpa / “Captain” who is undoubtedly S.A’s most hip-hop innovative and well known personality both from GROUNDWORKS. · An all star DJ line up will be spearheaded by “undoubtedly the most influential force in Jozi’s / S.A hip hop scene”, who will also be hosting the MC battle · DJ Hamma, a leading pioneer in the rotary / scratch of turntabelisim has been rocking the Cape Town scene with his vast selection of music and skills. · Kenzhero, continually upholds the bench mark for DJ’s in the hip hop and soul culture not forgetting · DJ Reiko (also GIN I GRINDITH’s DJ) needs no introduction when it comes to laying down the beats. Venue: GemBioscope, 1 Roberts Avenue/Commissioner Street Ext. Troyeville/Kensington Time: Graffiti Expo kicks off the gig @ 9pm Damage: R20-00 R.S.VP for M.C battle: 072 412 9144 / 072 379...
Facebook: “Venues that screw Entertainers”
This is where FACEBOOK and user-generated content gets interesting. People get together, form a group, express their collective feelings about an entity or behaviour and SHOUT OUT “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”. A powerful united voice is then created and there is a much better possibility that change will happen or that at least a few b*stards will sweat. We’ve previously mentioned the anti-Vodacom meerkat group (although we CANT BELIEVE it’s back – clearly the creators want to continue to mindnumb those poor fans who are ‘dumbed-down enough’ to enjoy it)…. anyway we digress, In this article we are referring to a brilliant Facebook group Editorista was recently invited to join called “Venues that screw Entertainers”. We all know that South African entertainers, whether they’re models, designers, musicians, choreographers, filmmakers, poets, dancers or comedians etcetera, all struggle and fight to be artists and that many barely manage to survive on the sometimes badly attended, marketed or meagre paid gigs, unscrupulous record deals and dodgy corporate contracts (where their fees are sometimes marked up by promoters!). This group serves as a platform for anyone that is done over by a venue or a promoter or even an events company, it’s purpose is to let everyone know about the misdeed. We only hope that if there is a valid “other side” of the story that the ‘accused’ will be big enough to stand up and state their case, but for now we will enjoy watching artists standing up for their rights. Hopefully this group will do something towards upping the state of artistic affairs in SA. Nice one. Now if only we could start a group for “events with shocking sound”, “boring, let down events” and “event food that made me physically ill.”...
BREAKING NEWS: TED Africa in 2008
We hope as true TEDizens that we bring it to you first and that you remember how we brighten up your lives! We are delighted to share with you the wonderful news that there will be another TED Africa conference in Africa. It’s in Cape Town and it’s in September 2008. TED is currently one of THE most important, inspired and visionary movements/organisations/gatherings of our time. For those not familiar with the awards or the conference, in a nutshell, it’s an annual conference that brings INCREDIBLE people together from the worlds of Technology, Entertainment and Design… “the worlds most fascinating thinkers and doers who are challenged to give the talk of their lives.” The tickets are sold out within hours in the states as people hungry for growth flock to grow their minds and worlds. What’s great is there’s very little bullshit, wool-over-eyes-pulling, smarmy self-help rubbish or wealth promotion – it’s an intelligent, insightful conference, steeped in integrity with meaningful and authentic intentions and outcomes. Read more about the annual TED awards here. We have been TEDizens for a while, which is how we know about this first, we share the breaking news below… but for now Representer’s we cannot emphasize more how important it is for you to GO GO GO. We look forward to finding out who’ll be speaking. NICE ONE! Dear TEDizens, We’re delighted to tell you that there will be another TED conference in Africa next year and that we hope to make it an annual event on the continent! TEDAfrica will be held in Cape Town, South Africa on September 29-October 1, 2008 (save the date!), and will follow the format of this year’s event in Arusha, Tanzania. The conference will be organized by a wonderful local team with whom we have just signed a license agreement. The four-person team includes TED Fellow Kelo Kubu and the conference will be operated out of a new South Africa-based non-profit organization devoted to promoting a better future for the continent, the “TED Africa Foundation”. We will be supporting the foundation both financially and logistically to help ensure that the event maintains and builds on the quality and success of the Arusha event. Initially we had intended that conference to be a one-off, but we received such enthusiastic feedback that we had to find a way to bring it back and in the summer we invited groups to apply for a license to host the conference. Kelo’s team were one of several who submitted bid and we were stunned by the quality of the proposals. The winning bid included several brilliant ideas to make TED Africa even better, and also featured a strong plan to ensure the event’s financial success and long-term sustainability. We therefore have enormous confidence that the next TED...
What Would Jesus Buy?
“We’re a movement, we’re a movie, we’re a book, we’re common sense… We’re trying to get America to stop their shopping!…. Hallelujah. Amen.” Rev Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping. We’re not sure when it’s out in SA but you MUST catch director/producer team Rob van Alkamade and Morgan Spurlock’s “What would Jesus Buy?”. It’s a documentary (or mockumentary?) featuring “Reverend Billy” the flamboyant Elvis-meets-RayMcAuley style PREACHER who moves around with a colourful gospel choir trying to rid the US commercial world of SHOPPING DEMONS before it’s too late and we hit SHOPOCALYPSE. It’s a spoof and it looks like a good laugh but it definitely has some brilliant intentions, particularly when one considers the debt situation amongst SA consumers…. – let’s hope people pick up on the irony and see fluff for what it truly is. See what IMDB says here. Watch the trailer below: [youtube]sGi21YQFjMM[/youtube] Wikipedia tells us: The film focuses on the issues of the commercialization of Christmas, materialism, the over-consumption in American culture, globalization, and the business practices of large corporations, as well as their economic and cultural effects on American society, as seen through the prism of activist/performance artist Bill Talen, who goes by the alias of “Reverend Billy,” and his troupe of activists, whose street theater performances take the form of a church choir called “The Church of Stop Shopping,” that sings anti-shopping and anti-corporate songs. The film follows Billy and his choir as they take a cross-country trip in the month prior to Christmas 2005, and spread their message against what they perceive as the evils of patronizing the retail outlets of several different large corporate...
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