Wallpaper* City Guide to Cape Town out!
On our recent trip to Tokyo I was delighted to pick up a copy of the Wallpaper* guide to Tokyo “the fast-track guide for the smart traveller” (published by Phaidon). I don’t know how smart we were but we only had 5 days to check out this supacity so we needed a lot of help. It worked. We managed to see some mind-blowing spots which we would never have found without it… the Wallpaper* City Guide suggestions are so well selected that walking into one of the recommendations is like walking through the pages of the magazine, they just ooze Wallpaper* finesse and style. While we’re delighted for Cape Town to have been included in the second bunch of cities (after the first 30 cities published) to be graced with the guide, our noses are a little out of joint as to why Jozi hasn’t got one yet. Africa’s megacity! We love Slaapstad’s tasteful essence and incredible pizazz but we certainly have a number of hidden gems that would make the cut. Apparently Johannesburg’s version will be out in the next batch of books published, we wait with bated breathe and hope like hell it’s not the same writers who put together the Timeout guide – it smacked of outsider writers who clearly knew very little about Jozi. We’ve contacted the publishers and will let you know if there’s any more info. Cape Townians – any comments on the content?? For now, you can buy your CT guide from Exclusives at R97. Hang out in the Wallpaper* high...
Representah! A Day in the Life… Jozi 2010
We’re really excited about our new crew of citizen journalists writing for Represent and giving us even more juicy content for you darling readers – here’s our debut submission from a very loyal Representah Linda Soga who took time out to attend the Inner City Summit last weekend – for anyone that’s interested in the plans for the city from now to the big bang in 2010, read all about it! Some very exciting moves – by the way, anyone know what’s happening with ConHill – seems to be moving a little slower than planned? i.e. Where is that Hyatt hotel? Sharpile Linda – uyarocka. A Day in the Life… Jozi 2010 I roll out of bed…growling at my alarm clock as I rub the sleep out of my eyes… I look at the time; “Yikes! Late again”. I take a quick shower, dress, grab my bag and set off at a trot down to the bus stop at the corner, pausing only to say hello to the doorman at the front of my apartment building. I’m just in time to catch the bus; one minute later and I would have had to walk the five blocks to the train station (in these heels, girlfriend? I don’t think so!) I get on the bus, sit down and start to breathe normally. In fifteen minutes, I’m at the office, and as the day goes by, I start planning what to do later on… it’s Friday. A few phone calls tell me that it’s all happening in Newtown tonight… Oh yes, I live in downtown Jozi, and the year is 2010, although you’d be forgiven for associating the scene I’ve just described with Manhattan, London or some other metropolis. Or picture this… I haven’t driven my car in over two weeks. Oh, there’s nothing wrong with it; I just have not needed to. I live downtown, a walking distance to work. There’s a shopping arcade across the road from me, for those quick after-work purchases. And for entertainment, I’m spoilt for choice – there’s the gallery around the corner, the movie house two blocks away and Joburg City Hall, always good for live music. This is the Joburg of the (not too distant) future. This urban landscape was painted by the City of Johannesburg at the Inner City Summit which I attended last weekend – of a city in which one will be able to live, work, and play. The Summit was held at the Braamfontein Recreation Centre, next door to the recently refurbished Parktonian Hotel. There was a large turnout, of people from all walks of life – property developers, business people, investors, and...
Vottle hell is it?
They’re certainly putting streetpole advertising to good use, we couldn’t help but notice the name VOTTLE shouting out at us again and again… so we checked it out. At first glance it seems to be an SA version of CraigsList or Gumtree, which we believe there is definitely a need for. According to Ronnie Apteker in the Business Report (read here), “Vottle is a free online classifieds service with a strong community orientation….The Vottle project is about our community. It is about bringing people together. And it is about empowering the consumer at large – that’s you and me! The Vottle project allows you to network online, to buy and sell goods, and it enables you seek out other like-minded people. The Vottle project is also about taking responsibility for our community – the CRIME WATCH component has a lot of potential and could be a valuable tool that may allow us all to gain valuable insight as to our community’s well being.” We put it to test by looking for our dream car – a sexy black Jeep, a flat to rent and a job in advertising! We found all three with ease and through this test found one little weakness – regions. Items are not categorised in regions, so you sign up for the cute garden cottage in Observatory, pay your deposit ‘cos it’s so cheap and you’re desperate (ok I’m pushing this example if you really rent a place without visiting it you’re an idiot) then find out that it’s actually on the Yeoville side of Obs in Jozi way way away from the hippy restaurant vibes of Obs in CT. For example. Otherwise it seemed quick to use and nice and simple. Good luck to the Vottle Project...
Sit on the Represent couch @ Sundowners
This sounds like the perfect way to finish off the week for any hard working, hard playing Jozi peeps: cruising to the Primi Forum in Melrose Arch, having a comfy couch reserved just for you and your chommies, sipping on one of those crazy cocktails at sunset while you sink into the weekend seduced by the sweet sounds of some of Jozi’s best DJ’s. Nca hey! We have a couch to give away to this Friday’s Primi Forum with the fabulara DJ’s Kid Fonque and Terrance from SoulCandi – well not give away exactly, but we have been given a special front row Represent couch for a Representer and two friends to sashay into from 16h00 on Friday and make their own for the evening. We love halfdays. The place gets packed out, so you really want this couch with your name all over it. To win the couch for this Friday, simply email editor@represent.co.za and tell me in a few words why you deserve the couch...
Represent Review: 3 fresh Series – watch ’em!
It seems that the rush of being able to rent out series on dvd’s has subsided and that we’re all a bit “over” the housewives, prison break, lost et al. Well my friends are anyway. But now that winter is on it’s way back, it’s time to get back into long dvd marathons – it’s a great excuse to cuddle your way through the cold. We found out about three series which we hadn’t heard of and gave them the once over for you – in order of preference – Entourage, NightyNight and IDeal. Let us know if you know of any more new series to lap up.: Entourage We heard about Entourage from a fellow creative friendster who recommended it highly. The first two episodes had me a little doubtful as flashbacks to the shallowness of Beverly Hills 90210 wafted about. Tainted from the gripping viewing of the above-mentioned series like Prison Break, I guess we were looking for the wrong thing in the wrong place. We let go of our expectations and the comedic characters began to grow on us – by episode three we were hooked. Entourage is the story of four friends from Queens, New York, one of whom is the dishy “Vince Chase” (Adrien Grenier) who is cited as the next “it” boy in Hollywood. The other three hangers on are his brother Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon), a struggling actor with some success, “E”, Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly) the responsible friend and wannabe manager and “Turtle” (Jerry Ferara), a lovable and bumbling chubby dude and hustler. The guys are living it up in the ‘Wood and trying to make some moolah, all mooching off Vince’s talent and potential career take-off. Our two favourite roles are definitely played by the smooth agent Ari (Jeremy Piven) – I’ve met a few dodgy Ari’s in my time but this one takes the cake – and my personal favourite, Shauna (Debi Mazar), Vince’s PR star – icy, cutting, witty and no-nonsense – I love her goedspa. The story shows us the ‘backstage’ life of an up-and-coming star in Hollywood, which one never really gets to see and though it’s a comedy, its clear that director Mark Wahlberg has drawn from real life experience as the tale draws you in and makes you smile. Check it out here on HBO. Nighty Night We had to take a serious “cringe-break” half-way through this British ‘comedy’ series and are still not brave enough to hire out the second series as we gather our courage for the unbelievably dark and hingeing on sick storyline of this excellent show. Words cannot describe the evil intentions (and unstoppable success) of the clearly disturbed beauty-salon owner Jill Tyrell...
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