Young, gifted and black

In the post -The Spear-racism-disrespectful out-cry of exposing the presidents genitals and the vandalism thereof, let us not forget that there is a dream that needs to be lived by everyone of us - a dream of being young and gifted.

http://vimeo.com/11074313

This video is a reminder of what we should all be living up to.

re-Writing Stone Town #2

Some of you might remember a similar (if not the same) titled blog post a few months back. Well this time, that little story has been published! Check it out on the link bellow.

http://blog.africabespoke.com/re-writing-stone-town-zanzibar/

#46

...of the top fifty dance spaces in Gauteng... And in this post we shall tackles the top places not to go and dance.

Tiger Tiger/Billy the Bum in Garsfontein area.

This was the type of dance place that I was first introduced to when I was a wee one and I now look back and realise just why I did not like to "go out" for the night.

Who ever, I wonder, thought that it would be a good idea to make people dance to the music that was playing? Throughout the whole night, three good songs were played: Nena 99 Red Balloons, MJ The Way You Make Me Feel, and then just as I was leaving, a god hip hop song thumped invitingly over the speakers.

The music is quite un-dance-able, so you end up swaying awkwardly in a corner. The other option is to get severely drunk and then stumble about everywhere, meaning you have eliminated the need to attempt to dance to the music or in some other way pass the time.

We all went to said establishment as part of a farewell to a dear capoeira crew member. So myself and some other good-music-lovers sacrificed our ears to spend time with him. And it was a good evening.

I will just not be going there again.

My final poke of fun at Tiger Tiger: I think this poster advertising a promotion speaks volumes as to the type of place it was... (http://www.billythebums.co.za/home.php)

Simply Bee Bakery in America

For the last month or so, I have been doing a writing internship - an electronic one, for a company based in the  States. I write about any number of topics. The organisation is a sustainable furniture company based in Alabama and so the topics range from sustainable building, slow food/local food, environmental issues etcetera. The internship was advertised on craigslist as a place to talk about life in the Southern Hemisphere. Here is my first (finally edited) published article:

http://jrobinw.squarespace.com/simply-bee-bakery-johannesburg/

Next assignment, walnut furniture in South Africa. This could be interesting!

#47

Rust

Apparently also sometimes called Crust...? An outdoor-vibe of a bar-cum-dance floor place. Rather difficult to classify this one. Unless you go with good friends, the place could be a bit boring.

But add in the right amount of silly and a drink or three and suddenly the music (drum and base, sometimes really good, sometimes no so much) has you jiving on the dance floor as if you were born on a dance floor.

A nice mix of a more quite outside and a dance floor, if you find yourself in Pretoria East side of the world (in other words, you have crossed the boerewors curtain) check out Rust.

#48

Capoeira Meia Lua

Milk Street, Scout Hall.

Capoeira angola, benguela and regional. The best 2-2, 5 hours of dancing and martial arts you can have. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening 6:30-8:30. Beginners class first Tuesday of every month and from there on, beginners join class as normal (slowly slowly at first).

Clothes needed - stretchy pants, semi-loose top (just not too loose so that you get stuck in it when you move).

Come enter the world of capoeira.

Click on this link to see a video of the crew http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl8saprbKKo