a man on a bike hops over a fountain

machine in full rev in mid-air

he lands at the feet of those watching, to their delight

doing the seemingly impossible in a courtyard outside a nightclub in the day time

a b-boy defies the pull of the planet’s natural forces and hovers

for a brief second

as if suspended by the thinnest of wires

before moulding himself into the ground’s crevices

a deejay dances with 2 turntables

he and the music are in intricate dialogue

as his fingers manipulate word, rhythm, sound

head half-cocked to the side

balancing the headphones between ear and shoulder

between music and dance

Image Courtesy of Liam Lynch

Red Bull recently launched the South African version of The Red Bulletin, its “almost independent monthly magazine” at an event at Moloko in Rosebank to an eclectic mix of young and not-so-young, who submerged themselves in the purity of emotion that comes with the type of sports and culture that was on show.

Primarily centred on sport – extreme and otherwise – the first issue is a decent read that hopefully lays the foundation for greater insight into the uniqueness of SA purveyors of culture, in its different forms. It does focus primarily on Red Bull sponsored and influenced content, which runs the risk of being seen as merely a marketing tool, but there are interesting stories, which should balance that out.

Red Bull, through its relationships with everything from BASE jumping, Formula 1, Mountain Biking, and Skateboarding to music and film, is able to generate enough content to sustain a publication of this nature. South Africa is the latest in line to have a local version, after Austria (Red Bull’s home), Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand.

The mag will be published on the first Tuesday of each month and will be distributed with Cape Argus, Daily News, The Star and Pretoria News.