SA Rocks

Eita everybody!

A very big, a warm, South African handshake for everybody. For those of you who don’t know what a South African handshake is, check it out. For those of you who do know, check out the link too – quite cool, thanks so much ubuntu bridge for the video!

So, the last bit of silence (sorry about that) has seen me doing some pretty amazing travelling around South Africa. Not all of it has been for recreation, but the last bit I did was solely filled with fun, SA countryside viewing, people meeting, entertainment. I road tripped (on a budget) for about 5 days from the mother city to East London. Along the way, I stopped at a whole bunch of rad places.

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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!

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Eita,

Being an old Rhodes University student, the National Arts Festival is something which I used to take for granted. I attended it almost every year during my stay in, what was fondly referred to by many of us as, the ‘Gspot’. Since I finished up there in 2009, I have not been back since.

I decided enough was enough and this was the year I would go back for a visit. A visit which would include a bit more of the cultural side of things than it had in the past – which it did. Although my stay was  about 2 days in total, I managed to squeeze in quite a bit of exploring and show watching. The latter was limited by budget, time and also about half a day of feeling quite sorry for myself.

One thing that really struck me about the 6 shows I managed to make, was the complete and utter talent we have in South Africa. Not that I have ever doubted it, but I was completely blown away by the performances I watched. However, one’s viewing pleasure does not stop there, people are performing in the street, parking lots, the village green (where all the stalls are) and basically anywhere there is an open space. These performances range from: dancing, theatrical performances, comedians and musicians.

The shows I did make, consisted mainly of stand up comedy and illusionists/magicians. And by mainly, I mean only – I would have been keen on watching some theatrical pieces, I am going to blame me not going to any of those on the people I was with…yes, that is it. The buzz in and around the audience during the shows I watched was amazing; the pre-show excitement, the South African touches during and then the wonderful post show chatter and ‘highlights’. I found the overall admin side of the arts festival was handled really well, everything was well labeled, the program booklet was super helpful and all the shows were very fairly priced too – a winning combintation of you ask me. Grahamstown National Arts Festival organisers 1: people who say nothing is well organised in SA 0.

Overall, I would recommend the Grahamstown National Arts Festival for anyone, from SA (or abroad). There is something to do for anyone and at least one show is guaranteed to elicit an emotion of some sort. If this does not suit your fancy, go for the people. If you are a ‘people-watcher’ like me, then during this week and a half you will be in for a real treat.

Shap shap,

Dave

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Ladies and gents of sunny South Africa…Eita!

A truely South African greeting, which is almost guaranteed to earn you extra street cred if you drop it in casual situations. For those of us who have never heard it before, it is pronounced “eight-ah” – it is the modern day version of the very 1990′s: “Howzit”.

To take the education a little further, take your point scoring into another league include an additional word with Eita and you are winning. The sentence would now read ‘Eita bra/sissi’, depending on whether or not you are greeting a guy or girl. Bra being pronounced “br-ah”, but we all knew that, right? This again, can be compared to the fairly dated “Howzit boet” – this greeting had no gender, it was one size fits all.

Look at me rambling on before I have even begun, to all of those old faithful readers, welcome back. For all of those, who are reading this for the first time. Welcome. I am new here myself, I was presented with this platform to write positive things about South Africa, how could I not. For everyone, I would like to introduce myself. I am Dave, I currently live in (not so) sunny Cape Town. I am hugely passionate about this country and everything it has to offer.

Above all else, there is one thing this country can call its own which inspires me. The people. I am not a huge fan of politics, so I will not discuss that, unless it is funny – then I will, obviously. I am not a major sporting fanatic – although after Friday night (which was the inspiration for this post), the IRB Junior Rugby World Cup Finals. South Africa vs New Zealand. Newlands Park, Cape Town, Africa. 18:30.

I was invited to go and watch the game in a box, I must admit to opportunity of watching the game (any game) from a box was what initially made me want to go. It really is a pleasure, sitting in comfortable seats, not too crowded and nice and warm. Well, so I thought. After the following 80 minutes of jumping up and down when there was a chance at scoring, screaming out my priceless advice and opinions about the ref’s decisions, being struck in awe of 30 000 voices singing and jaunting. I wanted to be part of the mass of fans, I wanted to be wearing green and gold, sitting in the rain and having a castle. I wanted to be as South African as possible right then.

So, gone are the days of me saying I don’t like watching sport. I love it, but what I realise now it is more about your country’s sporting team, representing you and the people around you in a battle against the others. For that period of time, nothing matters – skin colour, culture, home language, nothing. Sport is something which unites us, and that is what I want to see…and be part of. I am definitely going to become a ‘yes’ man when it comes to South African sporting events.

I look forward to writing down the amazing experiences I go through and hear about along the way, in this wonderful country which I call home.

South Africa, jou lekker ding.

Shap shap!

Dave

P.S. How could I not rub in the view from the box. The first picture is our view, during the singing of the national anthems. The second, well that is me pointing to the scoreboard which read ‘SA: 22, NZ: 16′ at full time.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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After embarking on a 5 week tour of Canada, the Loneraynger found his way around the beautiful western coast with his tour manager Damon, and his trusty cameraman Fausto. Damon had found a beautiful form of transport in a 1990 GMC Safari, which came loaded with cotton seats, armrests and oil stains. It was easy to fall in love with the beast, and even more so when on the second day of the tour it was tagged by a professional graffitti artist. That day, the Silver Bullet was born, and every day after that that it served the Loneraynger crew unwaveringly, drawing the attention of young- females and old motorheads alike. That was until, one warm Canadian morning, the Van met it’s fate on the highway from Whistler back to Vancouver. Up a stretch of steep tarmac, the beast caught on fire, and in no time was wrapped in ball of flames. After a quick attempt to salvage some valuables, Damon had to abandon the Bullet.

The fire had done its evil deed, leaving nothing but a shredded and devoured carcass of what glory once was; only sparse chips of an artwork left on the side of the highways.

Ray muses, “We lost almost everything in that van; $5000 worth of music equipment for the tour, a camera, a tripod, cellphones, clothes, tent, and a pair of extremely fine boxers. Despite the material possessions, it was the spirit of the van and it’s endearing quirks which we had fallen in love with, it was the embodiment of youth taking to the road and moving music for ears to hear.”

Leaving not much hope for the Loneraynger and his crew, the tour came to a screeching halt. What’s a one-man band without his steed? But the spirit of the Silver Bullet held strong.

Ray also met some insane talent in Mike. Here’s a bit about their meeting and a video:

Before the incident, the crew had been driving around small town Osoyoos, trying to find the venue for his next gig, when they pulled over randomly to ask for directions. It turned out they had asked Mike, a local aspiring rapper who instantly made a comment about the ‘sick paintjob’ of the van. Ray told him he was a beatboxer from South Africa, and Mike made him get out the van. Right there and then not a minute after they had met, they performed on the street, making plans to perform impromptu later that night at the gig. The connection was made.

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Don is a very good mate of mine and I think he should win Mr South Africa. I hear you asking why. Let me show you:

That is why. Incase you missed it, this is the original that is being parodied.

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