Represent Recommends: Sophiatown in Newtown
If you love Newtown like we do and want to know about what’s going down from entertainment to downtown rejuvenation, then visit the official Newtown website – subscribe to the newsletter which updates you on all the news. Click here to zoom there. Always loving Newtown! Check out the list of Newtown restaurants here. Visit the Sophiatown restaurant on the ground floor of the KAYA FM building on Mary Fitzgerald Square. Service is still getting there and the menu was still en route when we went but the decor is stunning and the vibe on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon is great. Chilling out in the city having a glass of great wine and watching people go by! Thanks to Lungi and Shereen for the intro and one of the best afternoons in Newtown. From the Newtown site: “Located at No. 1 central Place, Sophiatown is set to be another huge attraction in the Newtown Cultural Precinct. The atmosphere at Sophiatown is laid back and stylish, with Jazz and African marimba beats playing while people come together to enjoy a meal with great company or just have a few drinks in the cigar lounge. Sophiatown can seat up to 180 people and is available as a venue for functions.Sophiatown is open during the week from 10am-11.30pm, and on weekends until late. Contact (011) 836-5999 “PIC and words above: http://www.newtown.co.za/ PIC and words...
Zap ’em in the Zoopy!
Congrats to the team behind SA’s very own YouTube http://www.zoopy.co.za/. You know we love YouTube as it’s such an unbelievable global platform for story-telling and is frequented by web users the world over (besides all the other amazing things about it) but it’s fantastic to welcome our very own South African version which takes all the effort out of searching for SA visual content. Welcome ZOOPY! It’s superniche and filled with our own wicked sense of humour and weird nuances that make you feel right at home… It’s also encouraging people to share their stories and lives, something along the lines of what we try to do – bring people closer together and encourage communication and citizen journalism. A fantastic example of people power in action on Zoopy is the FNB anti-crime ad that was pulled before going live on tv – whether you like it or not, at least you can get to see it and make up your own mind. See it here. So – use it don’t use it, but we say: use your phone, use your video cam, get shooting and upload your stories...
Need to convert docs so you can open them? Easy!
Nowadays it’s not just graphic designers who use sexy sleek and much desired Apple Mac’s – now that you can buy a Mac with a version of Office built-in, it’s a must have for those with a taste for the finer things in life regardless of the strong graphics functionality associated with Mac’s. The problem is if you’re a PC freak and you need to open a Mac doccie that one of your aesthetically inclined buddies has sent you from their yummy G4 that you just can’t open… what do you do? Or, if you have another friend who’s open-source crazy and refuses to use any programs that you can vaguely recognize, what then?Well – you no longer need to worry about these little time-wasters and brow-wrinklers, some real geniuses have created Media Convert, a free online service that converts video, text, audio, you name it… from one format to another in a matter of seconds. “Media-Convert is 100% free. No software is needed, and you don’t have to register. You only need your favorite Internet browser. Your files are ready 7/7 days 24/24 hours.” Zoom to Media Convert...
CT International Jazz Festival – AWESOME!
Thanks to PANDA who outdid herself and attended nearly every live performance at the 2007 Cape Town International Jazz Festival on behalf of Represent. Gel you know you rock! See her stunning pics of the festival in our photoblog here. In a nutshell, she rated Leela James, Lira and HHP as her highlights… we LOVE them all and wish we could have been there! Read all about it here: Jazz is an almost useless term to describe the variety of music at this gathering of musicians, producers, media and enthusiasts from all over the world. If music was as popular as cricket, I can guarantee, South Africans would be sitting in bars all over South Africa celebrating the success of our local artists, dissecting each composition and the Cape Town International Jazz Festival would be one of the many music festival events populating everyone’s social calendars. We’d be spared Guns & Roses and the rest of the B-list international acts that come out here, in favour of only the best current and most inspirational music. They’d have to hold all events in stadiums and sell season tickets, and broadcast live for days on our national channels and our musicians will get the attention they deserve. African music has inspired jazz, rock and roll, hip hop and R&B across the world. We have every reason to be proud. I can’t think of anything better than sitting on a fold up chair in the autumnal Cape sun watching the artful string pickings and soulful trumpetings of our countrymen and other international stars sipping on a something something and watching the beautiful people stroll serenely by. The festival kicked off with Concord Nkabinde on the big stage, a difficult thing to do but with his beautiful strong voice and big stage presence, he did a great job. Last time I went to the jazz festival I nearly did myself in trying to see everything. Ladies, a tip, don’t wear heels if you can possibly help it, I saw many a footsore woman walking around later in the evening, stilettos in hand. I saw Ester Miller featuring Jeremy Pelt next, a beautiful voice from PE, now living in the UK. Alongside her was a very debonair Mr Pelt. The MC announced that all the beautiful ladies should check out his website and let him know if they’re available – and there were very many beautiful ladies, beautifully dressed. The CTIJF has become as much as a social and fashion event as a celebration of music. The Rosies stage kicked off with Vivid Africa, they’ve found a lot of success in the “world music”...
Represent Recommends: Happy holidays!
It’s Easter weekend and we’re going away! Oh yes, we’re on holiday! We’ve lined up some content every (working) day for you while we’re away but we thought we’d let you know about some solid entertainment coming up so you can make the most of these yummy warm evenings and delicious holiday sleep ins. Our last recommendation dealt with more rocky, electro, classical and hybrid styles (if we must put music in a box), this week we’re all over Afro-Funk, World, Dub and some sexy French Electro-House. Let’s start with DUB – remember our article on the underground venue Mind Yr Head “the cultural space/junction for independent thinking people”? Well it’s deep and dark down in the city but if you’re seeking out deep dark Dub, it’s your spot. Dub Vaults with Rui from 340ml on Friday 06/04 and live performance from M.O.B.I.U.S Net and DJs Hypejones on Saturday 07/04 both at Mind Yr Head. Click on the flyer above for more info. Then there’s one of our FAVOURITE bands ever – UJU, if you have not yet caught UJU live, do yourselves a favour and get to another one of the no doubt outstanding IFAS cultural events (this one is a joint initiative with ArtsAlive) it’s called AFROPHONIE – Peggy and the IFAS team work so hard at organising world class quality entertainment in SA, they deserve all the support they can get. The gigs are usually tres satisfying and well attended – MERCI! The legendary Mahotella Queens are also performing – nice one – allez-y! Uju and Mahotella are supporting BA CISSOKO the much-loved Kora player and his band from Guinea at the Bassline – BA CISSOKO is performing in SA as part of his “ELECTRIC GRIOT LAND” world tour – sounds interesting! BBC Radio describes Ba’s music as: “Their sound is a solid as the roots of one of west Africa’s huge baobab trees, and as fresh a sea breeze which wafts ashore from the Atlantic to clear out the polluted arteries of downtown Conakry.” 7 April @ 9PM Bassline Tickets R60 @ Computicket / Door Still on an IFAS tip, they’re bringing out one of the the most famous French House DJ’s Frederic Galliano so for all the dance floor bunnies in search of something fresh – Don’t miss out on great Funk, House and Garage. 13th April 2007 Moloko (Rosebank) Email peggy@ifas.org.za for more info. HAPPY...
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