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”...
THE SA BLOG AWARDS – a lot of a let down…
SHARPILE for your support of ‘the SA Blog Awards’ – sadly Represent did not win a single award depite being finalists in 6 categories including music, entertainment, design and photography. Congrats to all the winners. Please guys check out the winners of the SOUTH AFRICAN blog awards here, let us know your thoughts. Suffice to say we didn’t really fit ‘the profile’, at all, so we weren’t suprised that we didn’t feature. But we had been warned. Our bad. In terms of the ‘much hyped’ event – which represents the awards in the flesh – it wasn’t our vibe at all so we didn’t have much fun. Was a very tightknit, amateur, bland affair with winners being announced on first name basis (this one goes to Sues….!) on a shocking PA system in a faux-Cool Runnings in Fourways (don’t EVER go there) featuring embarassing ‘challenges’ for spot prizes we won’t even go into…leaving us feeling pretty left out and disillusioned. It was so far from our world and kind of like going back in time to a place we thought we’d moved on from – we’ve been traumatised all weekend. We’re putting it down to different strokes for different folks which is all good. But before we’re accused of being bitter or sour graped, we’ll put it behind us and move swiftly on and up. But thanks to you all again! We know just how many times you clicked through to vote for us and are way impressed. Sharpile! —————————————————- Thanks to everyone that showed us some love and nominated us for the SA Blog Awards 2007. SHARPILE! We have been lucky enough to make it through as finalists in SIX categories – we’re delighted, overwhelmed and excited. Now we need your help to help us win a big one! VOTING ENDS ON FRIDAY so please vote for us now!: – South African Weblog of the Year – Best SA Entertainment Blog – Best SA Photographic Blog – see our photoblog here – Best SA Blog about Technology / Computers / Web Development – Best SA Music Blog – Best Designed SA Blog This is really what makes this fairly thankless and pennyless work (you know we love it) worthwhile and we’d like to THANK YOU all right now for the props. It would be awesome to win at least one category but just getting this far has made our day. So now we need to ask you, our dear readers, yet again to help us out with your treasured mouse. If you REALLY love what we do and would like us to win an SA Blog Award, please VOTE FOR US BY CLICKING HERE...
Turn the lights off on Sat 31/03 at 7:30pm
This one goes out to the eco-warrior in you. Have you heard about Earthhour? We have received endless mails about it (Sharpile!) and despite it being an Australian based project, judging from all the mails it seems South African’s are joining in… All you have to do is turn off all your lights for one hour on Saturday night from 7:30 to 8:30pm and make a huge difference to the planet! So run a bath, get the candles out and listen to the nightlife while taking it dark and slow…The Ozzies will be snoring away by the time our hour hits but hey, let’s do whatever it takes to make a difference to our environment. Good on ya mate! Earth Hour is a fabulous opportunity for you and your family to do something about climate change. On one night, in one hour, more will be done, more will be demonstrated, and more will be learned than through a hundred ‘talk-fests’. And you can help make it happen. What is Earth Hour? It sounds simple, but it is very, very dramatic. At 7.30pm on March 31st 2007, we will be encouraging companies, government departments, individuals and families to turn off their lights for just one hour. If we meet our objectives during the first Earth Hour, the savings in green house gas emissions will be the equivalent of taking 75,000 medium sized cars off the road for one whole year! Now that’s something worth doing. Why? The facts are alarmingly clear: * The climate is changing! The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since 1990. In fact 2005 was the hottest year since record keeping began. * More than 95% of the Great Barrier Reef will have been destroyed by 2050 if carbon dioxide emissions aren’t reduced. (WWF-International) * One million species worldwide are facing extinction due to climate change. But not everybody listens to the facts. Earth Hour is your opportunity to demonstrate how a simple change in our way of life could change, and help save, our planet. The goals of Earth Hour: Households : Most of us use unnecessary electricity. Appliances on standby, old style light bulbs, lights left on when we’re not using them. Earth Hour will help us all to realise just how simply we can make a dramatic impact upon global warming (and our own power bills). We will see it in action. Companies : We want companies to be involved. If every company turned off its lights when the buildings weren’t in use, and combined it with energy saving technology, we would save between 2 and 4 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses...
So you wanna travel? UK Working Holiday visa!
It’s that time of the year where weary office workers open their diaries to the front page to work out when the public holidays are -the good news is that we’re about to hit public holiday happiness as they fall one after another – make the most of it. The other good news is that Autumn is stretching and crackling it’s gnarled fingers – we’ll soon be pulling out the firewood and getting the Old Brown out for a cuddle. But the best news is that if you’re a summer bunny you don’t have to get the scarf out – if you time your global movements cleverly, you can live an ETERNAL SPRUMMER! All you have to do is make sure you go travelling to warmer climes as the cold fingers ring your buzzer. So how do you do that? There are options! Lots of em! We’ll start by talking about what we know and have experienced – the UK Working Holiday Visa. Feel free to share your ideas with us too! Did you know that if you’re aged between 17 and 30 you have a chance of acquiring a WORKING HOLIDAY VISA for the UK? It’s like a gift being handed to you on a golden platter oh ye young working South African’s and you really need to take it… With a little planning you can make it happen and transport yourself to the UK for two years – if you head of in the next few months you will catch their ‘warmer’ seasons! But don’t forget to always pack warmly. This visa can be tricky and people have been known to be refused one – it’s aimed at young people who are earning money and have some basic work skills for the UK – they don’t want anyone that is going to become a burden to them or try to stay indefinitely so you need to make it clear in your application that you’re going to work part-time and TRAVEL. There are a few other things you can do to up your chances. You need to save money – besides your ticket you need about R20 000 – R30 000 and you need to show that it’s been in your bank account for three months – they will ask for a statement. A letter from your employer promising you work when you get back is also a plus. The savings are really important because when you get to London it takes a few weeks to get your life together and you need to have money to help you settle in. Some people find a job in a week and get their first wages at the end of...
Rand Show 2007, Bring Everyone!
The Rand Show opens for the 112th time on from Friday 30 March to Sunday 15 April 2007 at 10:00am to 20:00pm every day. Even though we will be missing out on the tradition of the Metro and YFM concerts, which were always such a big draw card, there will be so much more entertainment for everyone such as the Bollywood Festival, Fat Foot Monster Truck show, Rodeo Clowns and the YFM Lifestyle Zone This year’s theme is Bring Everyone featuring two hilarious television commercials; remember that show Crossing Over with John Edward and the proverbial SA traffic cop trying to catch people with his camera but in the ads there is no one in John’s audience and no one to catch on the roads of Jozi- Where is everyone? At the Rand Show (look out for them, they are truly hilarious!) Something Representers might just be interested in is the YFM Lifestyle Zone. It’s a melting pot of extreme sports, music, art and fashion. There will be an action- packed line- up of events, activities and workshops. Also one of the more exciting events that will be taking place this year is the ‘Masters of the Beat’ concert taking place on Saturday, 31 March 2007 from 14h00- 20h00 (main arena – Johannesburg Expo Centre, Nasrec) it will feature a bumper-packed line-up of top performing artists such as: Tasha Baxter Obita Jozi Sliquor Skwatta Kamp Prokid Dirty Skirts Parlatones Springbok Nude Girls DJ Reddy D DJ Dino Moran DJ Ryan Dent Entrance will cost adults R45, children under 12, R25, children under age two free on all days, senior citizens over 60 with valid ID free on all days and secure parking is available for R15 per vehicle. Remember picnic baskets, cooler bags and alcohol will not be permitted through the gates. For more information visit the Rand Show website,...
Represent Interview: SPOEK MATHAMBO
Spoek Mathambo’s Spoek Mathambo’s name keeps on knocking on our radar so we thought we’d get straight to it, get in early before the rest & let you know all about this young rebel musician with his own flow. Expect the unexpected when it comes to our featured peeps! In the first of a whole lot of interviews with young people who stand out from the crowd and are defining their own future, here’s SPOEK – see how he rocks . You can check out his MySpace site here where you can hear his music and see his videos. It’s a long interview, but we think it’s worth it! Good luck to you Spoek and BIG UPS for the interview! Keep it up bro! : Represent: So Spoek, give us the short version of your back-story if you don’t mind… from birth to now, how did you find yourself where you are at? How old are you and where do you live? My real name’s Nthato Mokgata, I like to think of myself as the Ndebele prince (and I don’t mean prince like diamante studded one piece lycra suits and hi-heels, but I mean Maraba royal family of Polokwane). My connection to the crown is somewhat remote, but it makes me feel fun inside. I’m the singer, dancer, songwriter, fashion-face, doodle artist extraordinaire. I like watching old episodes of Seinfeld and drinking slush puppies until my face turns lime green. I have come to grips with the fact that I’m a bit of a nerd, because hey, what can I say, nerd is very much in vogue now. Everyday I wake up to my grandmother’s voice. She’s 94 and very strong, abnormally strong (and perty) for a lady of her age. She asks lots of questions, like what am I doing with my life, when I’m going to wash the dishes and when I’m, going to get my driver’s license. That’s my driving force. I live in Johannesburg in my mother and father’s house. I am 21. I have been writing songs since I was 10. I never, ever thought I could be a professional rapper. I wanted to become a ninja, a computer programmer and a doctor, then eventually went to med school (because I was a big hippy and wanted to save the world….long story) and ditched the whole ninja thing. I then ditched the whole med school thing and learned to make pictures on the computer…graphic design. I’ve now decided I will become a professional musician. I am in a group called SWEAT_X with the incredibly talented Afrikaaner, Markus Wormstorm. We...
Proudly brought to you by:
