Daddy Needs Massage Love Too
In a way, I suspect my daughter was gently pushing me to be decisive. With Father’s Day around the corner, Africology is running a special of both product as well as spa treatment, and I had been procrastinating around going through to one of their spas. Climbing into bed at 1am, knowing that I need to be up to get my children to school early, she woke me up at 05:30am because she was thirsty. I tried to get another 30 minutes of sleep in but still woke up groggy. After the school run, I decided this would be the best day to actually go through and experience Africology’s Magnesium Sports...
The Artist Known As Saul Williams
Saul Williams. His influence as a poet permeated the Joburg scene following the release of the film Slam. Many a young poet found voice out of his unwavering desire to share his voice. The power of his words force you to listen and his willingness to draw influence without boundary, speaking truth to power with a confidence that many of us wish we had. I listened to his first album Amethyst Rock Star repeatedly for a year and always found something new in the spaces between the words. And when I listen to it today, it still, at times violently, grabs at my beliefs and forces me to reflect on...
Return Of The King: Tumi Molekane
The Poet MC The first time I heard Tumi Molekane was probably at Jungle Connection in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, circa 1999/2000, doing poetry. As he explored the various aspects of his creativity both as part of Tumi And The Volume and then as a solo artist, I watched and listened from the sidelines, enjoying the various creations and, occasionally sharing my thoughts: Tumi Traverses Whole Worlds. I have always felt that Tumi occupies a particular space in the South African (and global) musical landscape that is beyond the hype, the ‘turn-up’, the trivial wordplay that says nothing...
Diary Of A Madman
Hip hop has been a part of my life since I was about 11 years old in 1983. I tried my hand at breakdancing when I was in high school, under the monikor Dr Kool MC (have no idea where that came from). I gave rapping a shot during my early days, doing “to the hip hop, the hippity hop and you don’t stop the rock’ with the best of them. I was never much of a visual artist and you couldn’t find spray paint cans in Maseru, Lesotho any way. We used to get our music from friends who were based in the US and, as a result, got to hear everything from The Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash & The...
Read For Ten Minutes a Day
The drive way is a 30 metre gentle incline that curves to the left. At the top, was the single-car garage, which, within a couple of months of moving into the house, he had converted into a study, with a carport just in front of it. On both sides of the length of the former garage, he put in shelves from ground to just below the ceiling with a couple of shelves on the wall office the entrance, beneath a small window that was put in to brighten the study. The shelves weren’t able to hold all the books he owned but it made a dent. This was the home we moved into when I was 11 years old. I grew...
Digital Crates: Brika
In an entertainment world where every detail of everyone’s life is put on display and everything is often over-marketed (seemingly at the expense of the actual music created) it was a bit alarming when I struggled to find background on Brika, and Art House Records, the record label that released her debut album, Voice Memos. What I could find is that Art House Records is a Miami-based independent label that spent three years on developing Briana Alexa Martinez, who was born and raised in Miami, and that 2014 was their first year of operation. There’s the standard Wikipedia page, which...
Art Of Life On Kurt Cobain Documentary
Second episode in the reincarnation of Art of Life, a web series that I do with Steve Slotow. This one is on the documentary about Kurt Cobain - Montage of Heck. Cobain is one of those artists who, even if you weren't into the music he created, you still kind of knew of him. He's also part of what some have labelled "The 27 Club" - musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and, more recently, Amy Winehouse, who all died at the age of 27. I have yet to see the documentary but it is high up on my list, especially after hearing Steve talk about it and watching the trailer. Somehow, Steve even...
This Is True Africa
I was recently approached to write an article on interesting trends in Africa for Africa Travel Market Magazine which is positioned as "a new glossy travel, trade and business publication that dares to reposition the African continent as a destination of choice. The trailblazing magazine features a strong lifestyle element and is available in both traditional (print) and digital (embracing new media and social media) platforms." While the world 'discovers' us all over again, I truly believe the future of this continent lies in the hands (and minds) of the many people who quietly go about...
Win Tickets to ‘Inside Out’ Premiere
There’s nothing like having children to force you to tap into your inner child and stare her in the eye. And, finding the fortitude to watch the same programming or read the same book over and over again. There was a point in my life when I could recite the whole of Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham without having to look at the book. I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living; it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities. -Theodor Seuss Geisel With the...
There is a Place for Introverts
Susan Cain, although introverted, has placed herself at the helm of a revolution whose ‘stakeholders’ are often submerged in a solitude that is both comforting and energising – the Quiet Revolution. Our culture made a virtue of living only as extroverts. We discouraged the inner journey, the quest for a center. So we lost our center and have to find it again. —Anais Nin While she introduces a perfect synopsis of the thinking in her 2012 TED Talk, The Power of Introverts, it is in the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, that she truly contextualises the...
Don’t Leave Out The Dads
Becoming a father was life-changing for me. In a way, I finally understood what my legacy should be, is and will be - it is about creating a foundation for my children to be able to experience life to the fullest. It is about them being able to pursue their dreams. It is about them being able to grow up in a community, society, country and world that allows them to thrive. I may not be able to change the world but I will do everything in my power to ensure that I do my part in making my little patch of earth better for my having been in it. As a writer and speaker, who was raised by his...
How To Find News Amidst The Noise
Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, Medium and LinkedIn’s Pulse are probably the main blogging platforms that exist today. There are many other platforms and millions of people all over the world use these to share their thoughts, persepectives, etc every day. NextWeb published a post on The 18 best blogging and publishing platforms on the Internet today earlier this year and, if you do a search for blogging platforms, there are others that are not on that list. Sites as diverse as Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Vice, The New York Times, The Guardian, Mashable, Entrepreneur, The Verge and Wired also...
The Art of Life With Steve Slotow
About two and a half years ago, two guys, who often bumped into each other at tech and other press events, decided to create a web series/vlog, which they called The Art of Life. They called in two friends to shoot the web series (for free) and proceeded to slowly churn out episodes - every couple of weeks/months. One of the guys is Steve Slotow. The other is yours truly. Our trusted crew consists of Quinton and Heine. We eventually shot and posted about 14 episodes, the last of which went up over a year ago. We are back with an approach that will continue to ebb and flow in response to our...
Picup The Little Things
The ‘mobile social communication app’, WeChat, was launched in South Africa (and across the continent) towards the end of 2013 with much fanfair – who can forget the multiple flightings of the Lionel Messi – as would be expected from organisations the size of China’s Tencent and South Africa’s Naspers. I wrote something on this when I was still at Destiny Man magazine: WeChat Comes To Africa. Since then, they have modified their approach in entrenching themselves on our mobile screens through strategic initiatives, like partnering with SA radio jock Gareth Cliff and his CliffCentral as well...
The Power of Social
Social media makes us less social. This is a common argument against social media and the digital world. And there is some accuracy to this. Many of us access the following on our smartphones: Twitter, Facebook, Email (with multiple addresses, Whatsapp, LinkedIn, sms, WeChat, BBM, Instagram, Messenger, Skype, Snapchat, Hangouts, etc. If you have push notifications for each, your device probably buzzes, beeps and rings every couple of sections. At the same time, depending on what operating system you are on, these notifications probably pop up on your lock screen, drawing your attention away...
Q&A: Doing Good With forgood
I think I met Andy Hadfield at a tech launch somewhere. We’ve interacted digitally over the years and I gave his ‘social discovery wine app’ Real Time Wine a spin when he launched it. Truth be told, the disclaimer from my blog was inspired by his, drawn from Tim Ferriss’ blog. His latest venture forgood is an interesting approach to solving the challenges that face many smaller NGOs, namely the need for resources and skills, beyond money. Below is a short interview I did with him. What prompted you to explore this space? I’ve wanted to get involved in the social space, but had reservations...