SA boy builds rockets to go to the moon
We’d heard rumours about a South African dude building spacecrafts to make flying to the moon as easy as booking an online flight – we finally tracked him down. His name is Elon Musk he’s about 35 years old and he is a serious INTERNET and MOON guru!! Similar to Roelof Botha, who we have recently profiled on the site, Elon is a young entrepreneur and now succesful self-made bi… llionaire with incredible vision and belief in big creative concepts and in Elon’s case, way-out visionary ideas and projects. Elon was one of the founders of PayPal – he sold it for 1.5billion bucks and now runs a company called SpaceX which is building rockets to get to the moon. The man is clearly very gifted and very ambitious – thanks for making us proud!!! Well if we made that kind of cash in a deal we’d also spend it on the craziest and most far out thing out there… gettting to the moon! See an extract of his biog from NotableBiographies – we in the meantime will try and secure our own interview with Elon. NotableBiographies: ELON MUSK 1971 ” South Africa Entrepreneur, philanthropist Elon Musk was a multi-millionaire by the time he reached the age of thirty-one thanks to his creation of the company that became PayPal, the popular money-transfer service for Web consumers. Musk has become one of a new breed of what the New York Times called “thrillionaires,” or a class of former high-tech entrepreneurs who are using their newfound wealth to help turn science-fiction dreams into reality. Musk is the founder of Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, a company based in El Segundo, California. In 2005 SpaceX was busy building the Falcon rocket, which he hoped could some day make both space tourism and a colony on the planet Mars realistic goals for humankind. Sells homemade video game Musk is a native of South Africa, born in 1971 to parents who later divorced. His father was an engineer and his motheroriginally from Canadawas a nutritionist. Musk was fascinated by science fiction and computers in his adolescent years. When he was twelve, he wrote the code for his own video game and actually sold it to a company. In his late teens, he immigrated to Canada in order to avoid the required military service for white males in South Africa. It was still the era of apartheid, the South African legal system that denied political and economic rights to the country’s majority-black native population. Musk was uninterested in serving in the army, which was engaged at the time in a battle to stamp out a...
PHOTOS: The Beach is back in SOWETO
We’re late – we know – but classic photo’s like these make up for the time! Thanks to Palesa for capturing the spirit and essence that makes us the crazy people we are. Click here for lots of pics of the Beach in Soweto. “Beach in Soweto? Please!” That was one of the comments posted on Represent last… week, and boy could that person not have been more wrong. There was the smell of boerewors gliding through the air, the sounds of giggling girls in cute bikini’s, the rather rough, but sea sand nonetheless right under our Jo’burg feet, the beat of all the newly released festive tracks in the background and the beautiful blue Soweto sky- all in all it was a Saturday afternoon at a real beach party! Old Potch Road (one of the main roads that lead to the heart of Soweto) has seen its fair share of traffic, and this Saturday was one of those days of congestion as everyone from the north to the south made their way to Orlando’s Power Park Dam for the annual Spiced Gold Beach Party. Fashion was at the top of the list in true Jo’burg style as some of the outfits went from funky to weird, camping chairs were occupied by Soweto’s finest sipping on cocktails under bright red umbrellas sprawled across the sand. With top class entertainment by Skwatta Kamp, Jub Jub, Spoko (remember him from Generations?), Malaika, KB, MXO, Sliq Angel, Chippa and Mzambiya, Baphixile, Hidden Force, Chomee, Donald Duck, Psyfo, DJ Fresh, DJ Monde, DJ Fistaz, DJ Mgedeza and sexy Spiced Gold dancers, no one could have asked for more! The Spiced Gold Beach Party has grown in popularity and with the construction of the R1-billion Orlando Ekhaya development, a housing, shopping and entertainment project is already underway at the Power Park Dam the question that is now on everyone’s lips is where will the beach be next year? ============ Oh yes, Summer is nearly here and it’s kicking off it’s season in Soweto. If you’re not taking leave this year and aren’t going to get near a bit of RnR at the ‘strand’, why not go to the Spice Gold Beach party right here in Jozi. We love this project. Captain Morgan Spiced Gold Beach Party 4th and 5th November X Marks the Spot There’s this spot in Orlando, Soweto that’s usually quite calm and tranquil. Called Power Park Dam, it’s a peaceful place, cool in the summer and pretty laidback. But come the weekend of the 4th and 5th of November 2006, X will mark this spot, turning it into a seaside celebration...
Designers – Win a Vespa!
The South African Vespa site is well worth a visit – Vespa’s current campaign and website get a big thumbs up from Represent – and you know we fussy like that. Have you seen the billboards around town “Pay to use the road” and “4 wheels pay. 2 wheels don’t” “Road Tax coming” – well they’re all part of Vespa’s latest campaign – they’re asking peeps to sign a petition against the forthcoming roa… d tax bill to be put before parliament. Go online and download your form! But if you’d rather not focus on politics and get a little creative, enter the ArtVespa competition before the 31 November – it’s super simple, all you have to do make a Vespa look funky with your very own style. You can download a photo of a Vespa from the site and photoshop it and send it back for your chance to win – tres simple!! Check it out here. Good Luck!...
Soweto Kinch – London’s sweetest Jazz boy
Wow – talk about a cool name – meet London’s youngest and most popular Jazz saxophonist Soweto Kinch – he’s not from South Africa – but he sure seems to carry a little South Western Township spirit n the way he blows that horn. At 28 he is kicking some touche, playing alongside Abdullah Ibrahim, Herbie Hancock, Cassandra Wilson and other fabulous Jazz muso’s at the London Jazz Fe… stival on right now in London. Other locals at the festival besides Dollar Brand are Bheki Mseleku and the sweet voiced and soulful Zimbabwean Jazz vocalist Netsayi, who sings in Shona. Click here for more on the London Jazz festival and to buy tickets. Here’s more on Soweto Kinch below or read an interview with him at FLY here (thx for the pic – photographer Damian Rafferty) and click here to hear/see him on YouTube: Born in London, England in 1978 to a Barbadian father and British-Jamaican mother, Soweto Kinch is one of the most exciting and versatile young musicians to hit the British jazz scene in recent years. He first became interested in music at the tender age of eight, playing clarinet at primary school. He quickly developed a fondness for the alto saxophone and was given his first instrument when he was nine. After meeting Wynton Marsalis four years later he discovered and became passionate about jazz, first concentrating on piano and later, in his teens, focusing on alto saxophone. Soweto’s musical influences are as broad as they are diverse. He particularly admires Sonny Rollins for his innovative style and successful appropriation of West Indian music within the jazz canon. Most recently, Soweto has been influenced by baroque and early classical music due to an interest he has in the 17th and 18th century black population of Britain. He is keen to reconstruct the African and classical influences that this community would have had. As an alto player, Soweto is rapidly developing his own sound which is rich, energetic and dynamic and though he clearly has a strong respect for tradition, he is continually exploring his jazz inheritance. In 2001 he established the Soweto Kinch Trio – with bassist Michael Olatuja and drummer Troy Miller, both exceptional young players – which supported Courtney Pine at the former Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, Birmingham and performed at the Royal Festival Hall and Cheltenham International Jazz Festival. His aim with the Trio was to move audiences with the simplicity of his band and to discover the breadth of sounds and dynamics he could achieve with these basic elements. At the end of 2002, Soweto began work on his dýbut album, extending...
BAYETE NKOSI Jabu Khanyile
We don’t want Represent to become an obituary column but it is a sad day when we lose two of our musical greats within a few weeks and the death of Jabu Khanyile is one that cannot go unpublished. Jabu Khanyile has always been one of Editorista’s favourite African musicians – her good friend Pamela Nkosi worked closely with his band Bayete in the late 90’s and so Edi spent lots of time at concert… s and hanging with the band. He was also one of the first public figures we knew of with two wives which was interesting to observe. Sadly Jabu Khanyile passed away this weekend after suffering from cancer and diabetes at his home in Soweto. The saddest part about this is that we only find out about his illness once he is gone (unless we missed previous press on this). Jabu was a magnetic and powerful live performer and his music is enjoyed by people all over the world, with many world music lovers including him in their Top 10 list of world musicians. Jabu you will be missed but your music will keep your talent and messages alive. Our condolences to all the fans, friends and family during this difficult time. Click here for the full story from IOL: The death of Kora Award winning singer and songwriter Jabu Khanyile has shattered the local music industry. Khanyile, 49, died at his Dobsonville, Soweto, home on Saturday night after losing a battle to prostate cancer. It is only two weeks since singer Lebo Mathosa died. Lindelani Mkhize, of LME Entertainment, the record company that worked with Khanyile said he was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and had been undergoing radiation therapy for the past five months. He also suffered from diabetes. Mkhize said Khanyile’s last performance was in July in Germany during the World Cup handover. According to Mkhize the singer died peacefully at home surrounded by his family. Khanyile was married to Phindy Dlamini and Khululiwe Sithole and had seven children. At the time of his death, Khanyile was working on a new album through which, Mkhize said, he had hoped to educate men about cancer. Khanyile was born in Mofolo, Soweto. At the age of 14, he joined a group called The Daffodils as a guitarist. He shot to fame in the 80s as the leading vocalist of the Afro-fusion band, Bayete, whose hits include Mbube and Mbombela. After he went solo he released a total of eight albums, the first being Mmalo-We in 1993. “Why are we losing our musicians like this? It is terrible,” was Yvonne Chaka Chaka’s reaction. Singer...
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