South African Nicky Hambleton-Jones rocks the UK
Although she’s been replaced by Mylene Klaas in the latest episodes, we L_U_R_V_E the Pretoria-born host of UK’s hit daytime series 10 Years Younger, Nicky Hambleton-Jones. While watching the show between babynaps (yes we watch daytime tele luv! who doesn’t?) we couldn’t help but pick up the flat South African tones under the presenter’s accent. In fact, Nicky doesn’t do much to mask her accent at all, and we think she’s fabulous. Represent! Nicky runs her own successful style consultancy NHJ in London – a great business concept: you can buy your friends a makeover or have one yourself… in addition she’s also launched her own eyewear range and … a style academy .. where you can learn to become a stylist. What an inspiration for spreading your wings and taking over the world. Nice one sista! Now how about opening one in Jozi? or...
Mweet Muzi Mohale & retweet to win fab travel prizes.
Represent gets in touch with another inspirational Southern African this week who has followed their dreams and made them a reality… Meet Muzi Mohale, the intrepid travel blogger and tweeter who spends his days sharing useful information on his growing SA travel and tourism blog TravelWires – Muzi is celebrating his blog’s 3rd birthday with a bunch of freaking awesome travel prizes – all you have to do is tweet away… read below and enter fast. Sharpile Muzi for your words and hey… hook us up with the Rastafarian community in Knysna1 Hi Muzi, thanks for meeting with us, tell us a little bit about yourself: My name is Muzi Mohale born 35 years ago in Swaziland where I attended both primary and secondary education. A year after my O’ levels in 1994 I relocated to Johannesburg to study Financial Management at Benoni Technical College. Between 2000 to 2002 I was employed by Classic FM and therefore by Moneyweb until I resigned in March this year to nurture my dreams of being a fulltime blogger. What attracted you to the tourism industry? My love for travelling and the internet attracted me to the tourism industry. Since discovering the internet in 2000 I’ve been hooked and have made it a point to learn more about running an online business. Through my work at Moneyweb, where I was involved with updating their in-house websites, I figured out that I could also earn an income from running a website as well. Then in 2003 I created www.accommodate.co.za which was basically a lodging booking portal focused on B&B’s in Soweto. Tell me about Travelwires.com – what is it and why/how did you start it? I started adding industry news on www.accommodate.co.za just to spice up the offering, as displaying only lodging facilities on a website was a stagnant exercise. Updating industry news daily was meant to generate interest with browsers so they could visit the website on a regular basis. Then in 2006, Christine Searle the owner of www.sa-venues.com sponsored the creation of www.travelwires.com a standalone website to exclusively cater for tourism news. I now blog fulltime, which allows me the opportunity to discover the various tourism routes the country has on offer and to earn a living doing what I love. Who is your ideal target audience? I’m more focused on helping small tourism operators on running profitable websites for their operations. A website if used properly can greatly improve the bottom line of your business. Besides helping small tourism operators I also blog about the latest trends within the industry in South Africa. May I also take this opportunity to invite...
Represent Snap Interview: Meat the Veggie’s
Represent’s trend-seeking journo Banele Rewo sniffed out some fresh talent on the move upwards and hustled a snap interview with Johannesburg’s latest next big experimental band… Meat the Veggies. Remember where you read it first. Pics by Scott Smith. Who is Meat The Veggies (who does what) Bongani – Flutist/Producer Carla – Lyrics/Vocals Tiko – Percussions/Producer Where is the group from and how did you all meat (Ed: lol)? Bongani and Tiko met in Kagiso and later met Carla through Draco at Wounded Buffalo Studio. The name? Initially we were four guys in the band, which two guys were vegetarians and the other two meat eaters. While chilling trying to decide what to eat, the conclusion was pizza. As we were ordering we realised we had enough money for one pizza. So the meat guys were tired of the veggie food and so one suggested why not half the pizza into two – meat side and veggie side. Hence we ordered, Meat the Veggies! What kind of music does Meat the veggies prepare? Nu Jazz, Drum and bass, Lounge, Deep house and experimental sounds. Describe a Meat the Veggies Individual? Um… be yourself. Are the any bands in these genres that you do what you do? We discovered that there are many, one being the Layders Inspiration and other interests? We interested in design and the arts. Our inspiration is simple really – African culture and the lifestyle. Title of the Album and the inspiration behind it Well the album is still in progress will let you know soon ok? What kind of gigs does Meat the Veggies perfom at? Mostly its were we are called eg. Social functions, Varsity functions and corporate gigs Where to catch Meat the Veggies next.. 24th October – Kagiso, Lewisham Park 31st October – Jozi, Drill Hall (see flyer...
Represent Review: Joy of Jazz 2009
Represent shimmied in amongst all the Friday night jazz cats last weekend down in Newtown, Johannesburg at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz 2009 festival – see our photostory here and read our take below from our team Nkateko Siweya and Hloni Ditse – Sharpile guys! : It’s a Friday just after rush hour traffic – it’s the last winter weekend and there’s no sign of a cold wind or rainy clouds, I wonder why… A long stream of cars flows past in an absolutely uniform precision, going in the opposite direction. Where are they going? People are supposed to be going home at this hour! Well not these music lovers… Mhhh, maybe all these people driving towards downtown Joburg might know that something interesting is about to go down. I’m also heading downtown, Newtown to be exact, past the dim highway lights, to arrive at a light and bubbly (no direct relation to Champagne) scene of blue and white lights: the 2009 Standard Bank Joy Of Jazz. I step into a mass of people of all ages, walking and mingling as if it were a holiday: we are in Jozi, the city that never sleeps. Such energy and excitement is derived from just being out and about in Newtown, Johannesburg city and it can be felt and witnessed by each face that makes up this buzzing crowd. One thing you are never short of in Joburg is a fashion parade, from the young funky attires to the mature elegantly dressed- that on its own is an art form unique to Africa’s greatest metropolitan. Our bright colours call out loud: “Welcome to the southern spring season!!” The stages are set, the guests are here, the weather is clear and warm we are out and about in an era brimming with talent and skill. The stages in Newtown boasted the most adept and diversified jazz and soul musicians from many a corner of the globe. This is one time I wish I could replicate myself just for the night so I could get to fully immerse myself in the simultaneous happenings on all four stages. I would soothe myself with the foreign and blissful featuring artists like Room 11, Somi, Brian Thusi, Level 99, MAG, Minor Band, CJC, Live Rhythm, J4Dot, Solace and Soul Tique and the many more who showcased their talent at great length. Even though my self- morphing into four of me didn’t go down, I did manage to catch a few of the legends in action, from the very appealing Judith Sephuma’s soulful choruses to Unathi Nkayi who was just having a wonderful jol with the...
Represent Review: Alter Route Soweto
Soweto’s left-of-centre youth culture is alive and gathering… Banele Rewo and photographer Tiko Ngobeni hung out this past weekend with Soweto’s brightest young exceptions to the rule. (See our Alter Route Soweto photostory here): We love you….We love you…We love you sang Mothusi Thusi the vocalist, guitarist, flautist …actually, everythingist for the The Layders. This was after the 10 hour concoction of music, visuals, food in a cultural blend that can only be prepared in Soweto. There’s a pile of information available on Soweto for those interested, however nothing can articulate the tingling of senses experienced when Soweto’s multiple subcultures collide in art and expression. On the surface Alter Route Soweto is a gig meant to foster artistic expression within the young urbanites in the city and the peripherals. However one could not avoid noticing the dominance of subtle nuances – such as the drive for success through art, the importance of independence of thought and the buzzing entrepreneurship that defines an “Alter Route individual”. This is a person who believes in creating magic through design and clothing such as Thesis Clothing situated in Dube, Soweto, Thesis is the first choice of wear for an “alter Route individual”. Thesis had a “pop up” shop in one of the rooms of the Burnt House where the event took place and I am eagerly anticipating the next “pop up” anywhere. OB the Vegetarian Chef chopped up ingredients that stuck true to the theme of alter routing from the normal diet of cardboard meat served up at you favourite fast food restaurant. Veggies were served in everything even in the garage turned stage where the“Meat the Veggies” band heated us up to boiling point with their locally produced lounge music served with simmering smooth vocals. Alter Route Soweto is not a gig…it’s more than what the organizers describe as a “ multi-genre, multi-cultural and mix-flavoured brew of celebration for all”. It is more than appreciating a young black operated skateboarding label and apparel design from Krooked. It’s a movement that in the literal sense alters perceptions of Soweto, The City and ultimately the individual. See our Alter Route Soweto photostory here. Words: Banele Rewo Images: Tiko...
Call for Entry: Short films – Design Indaba Expo
Here’s your chance to get your short film seen by a global audience at the fabulous Design Indaba Expo (considered one of the top Design gatherings in the world by those in the know) taking place in Feb next year. Get your entries in by the end of October. All South African filmmakers, students and hobbyists are invited to submit their short films, music videos and animations for screening at the 2010 Design Indaba Expo. The curated film festival is open for viewing by all Design Indaba Expo visitors, from 26 to 28 February 2010, and is screened between the fashion shows at the fashion arena. Submissions must be less than 12 minutes in length and need to be in mini dv or high resolution QuickTime (uncompressed or pal). There is no fee for participation. Submission deadline: 31 October 2009 For more information and submissions please contact Kim Terblanche at kim@interactiveafrica.com or on 021 465...
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