F-ing Good FORMULA ONE in MALAYSIA
Dr Ncifi gets around… Eat yr hearts out F1 fans. He always makes us lag with his writing so even if you’re not into F1 – have a lag… Geez, what a hectic weekend in Kuala Lumpur. It was what I call an F-ing good weekend, firstly the Force of nature concert, then the F1. Malaysia’s Sepang International Raceway, about an hour out of the city famous for its Petronas Twin Towers (where I work by… the way). Petronas, or Petroleum Nasional, form the back bone of the Malaysian economy and are responsible for bringing this awesome Grand Prix here. They also happen to co-sponsor the Sauber team, so there is huge interest here in the race. Some 120 000 people made their way out to Sepang to witness what can only be described as sheer power. I am not the world’s biggest F1 fan, and bear no allegiance to any particular team, since my childhood hero Nikki Lauda crashed his Maclaren and burnt both his ears off in the mid eighties. However, I figure an F1 grand prix live is one of the mandatory tick boxes in life that you have to tick, like attending an Olympic Games or seeing a lion kill (ok I am a bit homesick). Some of my patients (I crack peoples backs) who are have attended all 7 of the Malaysian Grands Prix tried to warn me about the speed and noise that these racing cars generate, since television doesn’t come close to illustrating this. Its only when you are live at the track that you realise how unbelievably loud and fast these buggers are. Ear defenders are mandatory, and don’t try and be a cheap skate and use press stick, cos its not going to do the job. We went out and spent the GDP of Bhutan on a pair of ear defenders, to try and dampen the noise. And I don’t really think they worked, since when I saw my first patient on Monday morning, I started treating her for hand pain instead of a headache&. Anyway, the actual start of the race was obscured from view, since we were in the sardine seats on the hill overlooking the back straight, but the noise of the start was incredible. The race itself was honestly quite boring since you don’t get to see any leader board, but the beers and noise made up for the quite periods. I had a friend who tried to drink a beer for every lap, not realising there were 56 laps in the race. Needless to say, he didn’t see much. There was one accident quite near...
The White Kwaito “STABANI Show”: uThando!
I nearly choked when a friend on holiday in Cape Town sent me an sms that read “WHITE KWAITO STABANI” . “I beg your pardon” I replied, shocked at his use of this somewhat derogatory word “STABANI” that is used in Kasi’s and cities alike to describe a Gay person. Especially because he is STABANI. I wondered what on earth he was on about until we finally spoke and he explained th…at it’s a gay white kwaito musical in Cape Town and that when he saw the name he had to laugh. Gay white kwaito musical? What next? You just have to love our country that let’s us speak out about whatever we like and be whoever we want to be. No qualms in this town. Here’s the buzz: The STABANI Show: uThando ! Starring Bruce J. Little & Zayne Upton Directed by Fred Abrahamse ‘So, you want to know what love is? You want us to show you? Well then, expect a lot of local flavour with sufficient measure of laughs, music and maybe some magic from the sangoma’s bones…’ The Stabani Show: uThando! is not just a gay, white kwaito musical. It’s a two man performance project using storytelling, music, mixed media, stand-up comedy and theatre to explore love in all its different guises in a culturally diverse New South Africa. Using varying local vernaculars, The Stabani Project describes how love manifests itself across the cross-cultural landscape that is contemporary South Africa. Characters such as Thandawami the Love Tokoloshe, Mfundo the Tsotsi, Magda the Serial Infomercialist and Gyroneesa the Salt River Female Impersonator expose their views on love. Funky upbeat love songs are scattered throughout the performance. One of them, Love Tsotsi, describes unrequited love in a South African context, poking fun at our crime consciousness. Another, the hilarious narrative song Sangoma tells the story of the desperate measures one man will take to find himself a mate. Let this duo rekindle your belief that love is indeed everywhere. Every Sunday night from 05 June 2005 Dinner is served from 18h30 and the show begins at 20h30. The show tickets are R65 each. For bookings and inquiries please call 021 424 1194 or 021 424 1195 or visit our website at ON BROADWAY...
LADIES! Thinking of shacking up? mhhhmmm
A very dear friend of mine is on the brink of moving in with her man – she asked me for some advice (being a masterful living together old bag) and as I typed away, I decided to make it a post on REPRESENT as it’s my generic advice on living together and not directed at her specifically. There are two readers of REPRESENT that I would really like to comment on this post – VANDALISTANG and JEZEBEL… ladies – please wax lyrical and tell me if I am talking bull. There is clearly not an inch of objectivity in this and it’s totally generalised. I think that before one moves in together, particularly after a short period of dating, it’s really important to have an initial test period. Moving in together is kind of like getting married – you really do commit yourself to a long term arrangement and although the honeymoon days of living together may be fantastic – if it goes wrong, extricating yourself from it can be a nightmare and a real set back in your life. And we all want a fabulous life with as few setbacks as possible. We want to be in control. Don’t relinquish that control for the ‘romanticised’ dream of waking up together. It gets ugly. Sex gets less. Farting gets more. Dishes double. You will become the slave-girl. They are all the same. And that’s from someone that probably has one of the more enlightened new age okes around… Often when we are in the process of considering the ‘move’ we tend to have the rose-tinted lenses on and we ignore the little naggings and irritations that may be niggling… DON’T IGNORE THEM because they will raise their ugly heads pretty quickly. Think about it the way we should all think about marriage – if there is one little voice saying “Are you 100% sure about him” Don’t get married. If there is one little voice saying “Are you 100% sure about him” Don’t move in. In this day and age there is no reason why any woman should ‘settle’. There is no more ‘old maid’ status in this sex n the city life…we are all in a position to be independent, earn our own salaries and be OK without a man… don’t EVER SETTLE. And you know what I mean by SETTLE. Taking whoever comes along because they came along and noone else did. Rather be single and shining than ‘coupled’ and secretly unhappy. Don’t try fit in with the Joneses that just got married either. Marriage is becoming an outdated practice for many – its not the...
BUS FACTORY – ZASEKHAYA Market in Newtown
The Christmas lights are already up in Melville and the wrapping paper is now positioned next to the tills – if last Xmas was anything to go by we recommend that you start buying gifts now… There’s an economic boom and it’s not going anywhere. It doesn’t mean you’re a TOTAL control freak… maybe just a little – it means that you don’t feel lik…e rushing around at the last minute and getting the dregs of the present madness… Here’s a solution for some gorgeous gifts – the Zasekhaya Christmas Markets (starting now!) at the Bus Factory in Newtown. Avoid the Christmas crowds and same old same old in the shopping malls! Come and do your Christmas shopping early in a fabulous environment.. Live entertainment, innovative products, reasonable prices! Buy the most unusual, beautiful, South African made and designed hand-crafted gifts. Wow your friends, enjoy the environment and support new South African artists and crafters. Special Christmas markets: Saturday 29 October 10am to 4pm Saturday 26 November 10am to 4pm Saturday 3 December 10am to 4pm Performance by Blackdoor Productions – a group of 25 youngsters from Soweto Amazing tapdancing, gumboot and traditional dancing Art session for children from 11.30 to 12.30 (Booking from 10am). Coffee shop, food and jumping castle. Secure parking at the front and the back of the Bus Factory (3 President St and in Market St). For more information or to contact us: Call Kate or Macky 011-834-8760 or Frank Ledimo on 011-833-1838 ************************************* 28 August If you havent seen the craft council initiatives at the Bus Factory in Newtown yet, grab your wallet and get to the new Zasekhaya Market taking place on a monthly basis – there are some gorgeous things for sale – or should we say beautiful things???? UPDATE!!! MARKET ON THIS SATURDAY 27 AUGUST 2005 The Zasekhaya Market gets bigger and better and to celebrate spring the market at the Bus Factory in Newtown will be buzzing on Saturday 27th August. They will be announcing the winner of the Zasekhaya Market logo competition and there will be lots of activity on the day. Since the Zasekhaya Market started a few months ago it has been growing from strength to strength showing that there is a need for crafters and artists to have an outlet such as Zasekhaya to sell their products. The market has attracted a wide variety of artists and crafters who sell goods from handmade felt animal toys, funky leather bags, paper products, jewellery and visual arts. Refreshments are available at the coffee shop at the market, there will be boerewors roll, pies and samoosas available for the...
Mixed feelings around Car Free Day
Today is the first of many car-free days to come, we’re interested to know how many commuters take up the challenge… we don’t know many who will leave their cars at home purely based on the lack of time between appointments… We got no time to play in Joburg ! Let’s see how it goes… We wish the Department of Transport good luck on a great...
We will be back!
