Fairy tale time

Once upon a Saturday night, these three ladies (plus one who hates being photographed) went to Arcade Empire.

They were entertained by this man, Farryl Purkiss, and his mean guitar skills.

They also jammed to this insanely talented band, Isochronous, while getting showered with confetti canons.

They had fun. Lots of it.

-THE END-

BOO!

It's no secret that BOO! has a global cult-like following. On Thursday night, a rather large number of us adoring P-Town fans crammed into Tings 'n Times to be part of what has become a typically mind-blowing experience.

What lures the devoted towards the music is the theatrical quality to BOO!'s performance. The glitz and glamour of show business are blended with bad-ass punk to produce something incomparable. Describing their music as 'monkipunk', BOO! chooses to defy the boundaries that are created when putting music into neat little boxes based on their genre.

As the stage area starts bulging with people, the audience is told that they are not allowed to smoke because of the effect that it will have on front man Chris Chameleon's delicate vocals. Had it been anyone else, I would have brushed this request off as unreasonable. But Chris Chameleon is a non-apologetic, demanding diva. When he walks onto stage there is no questioning why. His crazed eyes are painted with perfectly applied eyeliner and his arms twinkle with glitter. He is clad in a black and red outfit that resembles something an instrument- bearing Ninja Turtle would wear. Ladies and gentlemen, I can honestly say that there is no performer that comes close to the cross-dressing talent that is Chris Chameleon. And I think I've seen my fair share of live music. His face contorts into a myriad of different expressions as he sings. One minute he is delicate and doll-like, the next he is dark and sinister. He is a character like no other.

The rest of the band are wearing equally entertaining outfits. Ampie Omo, with his long, wild blond locks, is sporting black bell bottom pants with red flames at the bottom and a matching shirt. In the back, Riaan van Rensburg is pounding the drums in what looks to me like shiny white harem pants and a pink shirt. Am I starting to resemble the fashion police? Maybe just a little.

BOO!'s catchy, high-energy tunes provided for a lot of jumping around and going crazy. Hell, I think I may have even jammed the curls right out of my hair. As the music ended and the crowd roared "Booooooooo!" one last time, I walked away with sore dance-feet feeling wholly satisfied with my music fix.

Plus One

As of today, this is the newest addition to our family. Say hello to Simone de Beauvoir, aptly named after the French philosopher (The Meletakos Family has a tendency to name our animals after people we admire- my Yorkie's name is Sophie, after Sophia Loren). Christi is a big Simone de Beauvoir fan, hence the name. This pretty little thing reminds me of an aristocrat with her pearly white and grey fur and bright blue eyes. Too cute!

-Mamelodi-

For those of you who don't know, I'm studying journalism. As part of an assignment last semester, we we went to Mamelodi once a week for roughly a month and wrote articles about things happening in the community.The second part of the assignment was an introduction to photography. We are now in the process of producing a newspaper for the Mamelodi community which we hope to distribute sometime in October. I spent my time at a primary school called Meetse a Bophelo. It was previously a very dilapidated school but after a recent renovation by steel giant, ArcelorMittal South Africa, the infrastructure has been transformed into something quite awe-inspiring. I worked mainly with the Grade Rs and the focus of my article was Early Childhood Development and how the South African government spends a pittance on this sector of education (perhaps one day I will post my article as well, who knows). I really loved working with the kids. They taught me a lot about myself and about a world that exists literally down the road from me but that I had no clue about. I also got the chance to practice my Zulu with them which was pretty rad. They were only too obliging when it came to me taking photos of them. So, here are some of the pictures I took of the special little individuals that I had the privilege of meeting.Enjoy!

Van Coke Kartel, your new track is pretty awesome!

The boys from Van Coke Kartel recently made their new single, Vir Almal, available for download. Has anyone heard it yet? What do you guys think? My word, but Jed Kossew plays some mean guitar! Their fourth album, Wie's Bang? is set to be released in November. Can't wait!

If you haven't downloaded Vir Almal yet, here's the link. Do it. Now.

Do you like Mew?

I do, I do, I do! Although this video isn't the greatest, it is one heck of a song!

Mew- Sometimes life isn't easy

 

"Today I do not love my country"

So, my weekend consisted of studying, studying and more studying. Somewhere in between, I managed to squeeze in the Mail & Guardian Literary Festival. I first went to a poetry reading session where Denis Hirson and Ingrid de Kok recited some of their awe-inspiring poetry. Antjie Krog said about the session, "We have been truly alive for only 40 minutes today." I think that pretty much sums up the sheer brilliance of the experience that I had the privilege of being apart of. The second session that I went to was a panel discussion on the relationship between the ANC and COSATU and whether or not this relationship is still relevant. The panelists included Moeletsi Mbeki, Susan Booysen and Kally Forrest. It was quite a riveting discussion. Take these stats for example: 24% of people who vote for the ANC are employed full time. 9% are employed part-time. 66% of the ANC's electorate is unemployed, while only 8% have a tertiary education. Makes you think, doesn't it?

I'll leave you with a poem by Ingrid de Kok. She wrote it at the time of the xenophobic attacks in 2008. I think it really echoes my sentiments towards my country given the events that have occurred over the last few days. It's really something special- enjoy!

Today I do not love my country

South Africa, May 2008

Today I do not love my country.
It is venal, it is cruel.
Lies are open sewers in the street.
Threats scarify the walls.

Tomorrow I may defend my land
when others X-ray the evidence:
feral shadows, short sharp knives.
I may argue our grievous inheritance.

On Wednesday I may let the winded stars
fall into my lap, breathe air's golden ghee,
smell the sea's salt cellar, run my fingers
along the downy arm of the morning.

I may on Thursday read of a hurt child
given refuge and tended by neighbours,
sing with others the famous forgiving man
who has forgotten who were enemies, who friends.
But today, today, I cannot love my country.

It staggers in the dark, lurches in a ditch.
A curdled mob drives people into pens,
brands them like cattle,
only holds a stranger's hand
to press it into fire,
strings firecrackers through a child,
burns stores and shacks, burns.