SA Rocks

Being proudly South African and using local manufacturers is becoming quite an important part of the local fashion scene.

With this in mind it’s my pleasure to write about a new mens fashion brand that has launched called NicSocks.

NicSocks.com is a subscription sock service for men. All the socks are locally produced and made from 100% bamboo grown right here in South Africa. The manufacturers make the socks in Cape Town and the socks are shipped all over the country and world.

The designs are local too and are soon to be featuring some of SA’s hottest artistic talent.

The brand believes in dressing men in the right way, with subtle style, from the ground up. The most interesting feature of this new, local fashion startup is that the socks are for sale online and through a subscription model. Basically, you can pay them upfront (and soon on a monthly basis) to send you new socks and designs every two or three months depending the package you buy. Your options are The Big Nic (2 pairs every two months) or the Little Nicky (1 pair every three months).

NicSocks is a fantastic and local brand that promotes sustainable fashion and local job creation. Go forth and purchase socks!

You can also sign up to their newsletter to receive the latest specials and discounts!

Popularity: 9% [?]

We all knew that.

What most of us don’t realise is that he’s not stupid.

I quite enjoy listening to him go on about touchy topics, call a spade a shovel and create conversation.

I’d love to say that I have read Gareth’s book yet. I haven’t. I’m looking forward to reading it once I’ve downloaded it to my Kindle. Can’t figure out why the PR company didn’t send through the Kindle version of the books to those of us with Kindle’s.

Here’s the product description on the Kindle Store:

Some people think it a very bad thing to have an opinion about anything. Blend in, don’t make too much noise, just be happy with what you know and do. I can’t do that.’

South African DJ personality and Idols judge Gareth Cliff likes to shoot from the hip. Whether on air or judging a trembling Idols contestant, he’s always quick with a point of view. In Gareth Cliff on Everything, Gareth throws caution to the wind and writes about all those subjects that make him glad, sad or simply mad.

And here’s what a friend of mine, Robyn, wrote:

Almost everyone who has seen me with this book has passed a sarky remark and then expressed shock at the absolute cheek of a man filling a book with his own opinons… and then publishing it. I mean how dare he! The irony is that most of them have never heard Gareth on air [I asked them] but along with the Parlotones and Bryce Lawrence, it seems Cliff has been added to the SA Haters list of things to Hate on.

I’m about halfway through, I’m enjoying it and I actually agree with several of his points… some of them have had me in stitches. The chapters are short, it’s a light read and he doesn’t sugar-coat anything. But be warned, if you’re easily offended, highly sensitive or incredibly pretentious, then this book is definitely not for you.

You can buy the Kindle version of the book in the Kindle Store now.

Popularity: 29% [?]

I have a friend, he can rap. He has a friend, he can play guitar and loves to loop. This is them:

Popularity: 28% [?]

The comedic genius that is Brendan Jack has come together in a new book: EMPIRE: How to Succeed with Nothing but Passion, Great Ideas and a Wealthy Family

Straight from the website’s pages:

Do you enjoy laughing and being successful? Then get
EMPIRE: How to Succeed with Nothing but Passion, Great Ideas and a Wealthy Family

A comedy memoir about strange family history, business sense and becoming a marketing guru and triumphant human being.

If you want to increase productivity, ban something.
It’s impossible to maintain business dignity with sweet gravy smeared across your cheeks.
They don’t handcuff you in first class.
As Samson demonstrated, going bald ruins lives.

Unpaid Readers Say:
‘Very, very funny’ ~ Diane
‘Your book totally rocks’ ~ Dean
‘Funny stuff, great writing’ ~ Cheryl
‘I learnt a lot’ ~ Jayn
‘Pretty hilarious’ ~ Andrew
‘Very entertaining’ ~ Maya
‘Very funny. So many ideas on each page’ ~ John

You can buy the book straight from Amazon for the price of a cappuccino.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Here it is ladies and gentlemen:

And here is the behind the scenes look:

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I have a friend, his name is TRAK. He raps and it’s wicked. He plays with a guy called Jeremy who does some insane stuff with guitars and loop effects and such. Together they make up Jeremy Loops and TRAK and they gig in Cape Town, often. They also, very often, pack out the venues that host them.

For a few months now I’ve been asking TRAK to lay down something and put it out there. He’s eventually done just that and I love it.

I’ve heard TRAK rap this live and it’s sick:

My Shoes – Jeremy Loops by misha-teasdale

This year for my birthday not only did TRAK buy me a book, but he rapped about inanimate objects on our table at dinner. I got lucky!

Popularity: 16% [?]

There is an event and it is mental. It is called the Red Bull Xalps event. The premise is a simple one: Go from Salzburg to Monaco. The difficulty lies in the details; you have to race non-stop through the Alps to the Mediterranean Sea, with just a paraglider and a pair of hiking boots to help them, their every move tracked by advanced technology and broadcasted to an audience of millions.

Here’s an intro video to the Red Bull X-Alps event:

Sounds easy. It’s not and a South African is one of a very select few people to compete. Pierre Carter is a Johannesburg Father who is 45 and crazy… about extreme sports.

Pierre has his own website for the event too, http://blog.7summits7flights.co.za/. Head over there to get more information on our local extreme superhero.

Popularity: 20% [?]

This is quite interesting news and honestly was bound to happen at some point.

The largest winning purse in modern golf is going to be competed for right here in Sunny SA.

Here’s a bit of info:

The Sunshine Tour will make leading golfers choose between the world’s richest tournament in South Africa and Tiger Woods’ charity event in California from next year.

A new $10 million World Golf Championships event to be hosted by the tour was heralded by Sunshine commissioner Gareth Tindall on Tuesday as the launch of “a world tour” and “the most significant thing that has happened to South African golf in its history.”

Tindall, emboldened by Charl Schwartzel’s Masters victory on the 50th anniversary of Gary Player’s first green jacket, said the Tournament of Hope underlined the shift in player power away from the United States.

“The significance of what we’ve done is potential, and the U.S. tour might slag me for this, but essentially we are starting the world tour,” Tindall said. “It’s been a matter of time.

“I think what we’ve done could potentially create the impetus to start a world tour because Australia are certainly going to do what we’ve done, and Europe are going to have to do what we’ve done.”

The date and venue for the new WGC event — just the second outside the U.S. after Shanghai’s HSBC Champions — had not been finalized, Tindall said, but organizers were looking at the first week of December.

source

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I received an interesting email yesterday about a group in North America called Nikela who have started a movement to save South African Wildlife.

I’m not 100% sure I agree with every sentiment in the video below but it’s a great thing to see a foreign country start an organisation to help another nations resources out of the goodness of their heart.

Nice.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Charl Shwartzel moved a country and instantly became a household name by winning the 2011 Masters championship yesterday.

I was watching and unfortunately went to sleep about an hour before the final stroke. Shwartzel birdied the final four holes to crack in an amazing -14 to win the title.

Eight different players took the lead on Sunday at the Masters.

Here’s a quick little quote from a well written story over at ESPN:

Never before has the green jacket gone to a player who finished in such fashion, a stunning end to an incredible day at the 75th playing of the year’s first major championship.

The quiet, unassuming Schwartzel, 26, knocked in a chip shot for a birdie at the first, holed a wedge shot for an eagle at the third, then played steady golf through a pulsating day that then saw him roar to the end with birdies at the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th holes and a final-round 66.

In the process, the South African passed the likes of Tiger Woods and Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day on the leaderboard, and was the unlikely winner of a major championship he was playing for just the second time.

“As always, it happens on the back nine on Sunday, just like you dreamt it,” said Schwartzel’s caddie, Greg Hearmon.

There is a great video on the ESPN story if you missed the event.

Apparently Shwartzel is the second Els Foundation graduate to win a major tournament in the last 3 major tournaments played.

Very nice Ernie, very nice.

Congratulations goes to Charl, you make us proud.

Popularity: 18% [?]