Just being sentimental

I know its just sentimentality, but I'm sad to see Nosimo Balindlela go. I thought it was pretty poor form of the government to order her resignation while she was out of the country. May she do well in whatever comes next for her.

I love the Eastern Cape. I love driving our pot holed verge-less roads, dodging the goats, through the hills, past the rod hot pokers, past the little communities dotted on the hills or next to the road. I love driving through King William's Town with it's miriad of banners advertising political events, musical events, community events. I love watching construction go on as I drive through Peddie. I love navigating the back roads around King, dropping people off at their houses.

I love Grahamstown. I love that you can sit at the Monument and see the whole city. I love that you could walk from one end to the other. The donkeys warm my heart. And East London, I love East London too. I love out local papers. When I go home I sit down and read back issues of the Daily Dispatch. And the new paper, EC Today I think it's called. I love it.

Okay okay I don't really love the pot holes. But I love the Eastern Cape :)

The Foundation of Kindness.

Did anyone else pick up Kgalema Motlanthe's (ANC deputy president) gentle rebuke to Julius Malema and the "Kill for Zuma" team in the last edition of ANC Today? It was in a piece on Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday, entitled "He who has laid the foundation of kindness" (If you want to read it for yourself).

In a section entitled "Our historical obligation":

In his poem, To Posterity, the world-renowned German poet Bertolt Brecht says, "To those who shall emerge from this flood into which we are sinking" remember that those who took up arms did so in order "to lay down the foundation of kindness". But they themselves could not be kind because they had to confront a brutal regime. Therefore, to the younger generations, to posterity, to those of us who have benefited from the efforts of the generation of Nelson Mandela, we have to choose very carefully our historical obligation, because we cannot take up arms when we have a democratic constitution and country.


Beautiful. Thanks Mr Motlanthe.

Perhaps if I had lots of money I would buy myself a new car. Then I would need proper insurance so my beautiful new car, if stolen, could be replaced. And I would need to worry about it being stolen when I parked in certain places.
Also if I had a beautiful car I would want a sound system for it. Then I would worry about someone stealing my sound system. So I would have to carry the CD player face around in my bag.
And of course, you can't have people eating in your new new car. Ice-cream splats on my new interior? Are you kidding! I'd also have to up my game in terms of cleaning my car. No, with a new new shiney car I have to worry about cleaning cloths scratching the paintwork. And waxing. And cleaning the interior properly. I'd probably have to take it in to get a proper valet service regularly.
And of course new cars don't stay sparkling for long. I would have to worry about scratching it while parking. The thought gives me chills. I hope the insurance will cover all of it. Probably not, if the scratch is bad. And if the surface is faux metallic its a real mission to cover scratches. And I don't want to lose my no-claim status with my insurance, so maybe I will just have to have the scratches fixed myself. I'll have to go to the authorised dealer for my fancy new car, not the family mechanic in the back alley. And the authorised dealer charges like... an authorised dealer. Oh dear.
And I would have to worry about who could and couldn't drive my car in terms of my insurance because if a friend has an accident in my car, insurance might be unwilling to pay out. And I would have to worry about my mileage because I would want to have a good resale value. Because of course a new new car only stays new new for a couple of years. So in a couple of years I will be looking for something shinier and sleeker, advertised in a moving TV advert telling my how this car will change my life. And how I will be the envy of all of my friends.

Oh dear it all sounds exhausting.


I'm being facetious really, I would actually love to get a new car. My present car is lovely, but old, and seems to continually have something wrong with it. So yes, I would love a new car.

But its amazing how more money and more stuff just makes you more worried about keeping your more money and more stuff and protecting your more money and more stuff, and increasing your more money and more stuff.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven..." Matthew 6:19-20

Happy Birthday Madiba

It's Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday today.
Happy Birthday Madiba!
Thank you for the legacy you left us with.

UL changed my life

As my flatmates can probably tell you that there is little that puts me in a bad mood like a cold shower. I can be irritated about a cold shower for days.

Yet tonight, washing my hair, the hot water ran out. And I ended up finishing my shower in the cold.
But lo and behold, it didn't bother me that much.

There you go. Three days of University of Limpopo ablutions changed my life. Who would have thought.

Fest

The National Arts Festival finished about a week ago, leaving me with a pile of used tickets and some memories. To us local or semi-local Grahamstonians, the National Arts Festival is just "fest." It comes around every June and artists and hawkers and musicians and theatre folk and petty criminals and art patrons and all manner of cultural folk flock to our little town. And the streets are busy and it takes 10 minutes to get to work (instead of the usual 5). And every available inch of wall space is covered with a poster for some show or exhibition or event. And we eat Kudu burgers for supper instead of cooking.

The really lovely thing about fest is that a whole world of culture and art and ideas come to our little town. Often I just let fest pass me by but this year my friend Bronwyn came to visit so I did more fest stuff than I usually do.

For people who have never been to fest, it's made up of:

1) Productions. The main aspect of fest is lots of theatre and performances of all kinds. Comedy. Satire. Drama. Tons of dancing - modern, Indian, pantsula, ballet, all sorts.

There are the big name productions who tour the country and the world, famous ballets and plays. Last year I went to an excellent play called "In the Continuum" which was over here from the US. It was played by two women, one Zimbabwean and the other African American. The story of two ladies, one in Zim and the other in the ghetto in the US, dealing with finding out they are HIV positive. I know it sounds quite morbid, but it was excellent. Funny in parts, painful in parts, but mostly just remarkable acting. Each of the ladies played all of the parts in their stories - so the Zimbabwean lady played her main character, her friend, her work collegue, her mother in law, a sangoma she goes to and so forth.

The programme is broken up into the main festival programme and the fringe programme. The main programme productions are usually the bigger name things that have been invited. On the other hand, anyone can put something on the fringe. There must be over a hundred performances on the fringe, probably more like a couple of hundred. And you're taking a chance often when you try things - they could be excellent, they could be completely awful. But thats part of the fun of it.

This year I took a chance on a fringe play called "Puck's story," a production of Midsummer Night's Dream. It was completely lovely, set in a beautiful school hostel garden. And instead of set changes the play just moved to different parts of the garden. So the audience would follow the characters around. So that was a chance taken that turned out well!

2) That brings me to the risk mitigation factor: Cue. Cue is the festival newspaper which you can buy each morning and read reviews for pretty much everything. To decide, for example, which of the 5 advertised pantsula shows looks the most promising. Cue also has a blog and a TV aspect too. At festival time the streets of Grahamstown ring out with Cue vendors: "Cue for you!"

3) Exhibitions. I only went to one exhibition this year, which was a bit of an oversight. There are lots and lots of exhibitions of all sorts of art. So if thats your sort of thing you will find a lot to amuse you!


4) Music. There is all sorts of music but mostly jazz. This year I heard the Glenn Robertson jazz band, playing at my church actually, which was a treat. Last year I went to Judith Sephuma, which was also fantastic. The year before I went to my favourite favourite Mafikizolo. This year I also went to Oliver Mtukudzi, with my Zim digsmate and friends - they were beside themselves with excitement to see him here! And I went to Karen Zoid too. She is such a great live performer. But that's really just a small sample, there is a huge range of live music to choose from.

5) Winter school and wordfest. As part of the fest there is a winter school, which brings public figures to speak about all sorts of topical issues. This year the theme was "China" but there were also many speakers who spoke on entirely different topics. Another fest side event is wordfest, which focusses on writers. So there are book launches and open mike poetry sessions and talks by authors and so forth. I really love the opportunity to attend these talks. This year I went to Clem Sunter speaking on China and to Xolela Mancau speaking around the topics in his book, To the Brink, and particularly discussion the Julius Malema et. al. "kill for" statements which was a great talk. I also went to an interesting talk by Sandile Mamela, about John Tengu Jabavu and (his words) coconut intellectuals. Both Xolela Mancau and Sandile Memela were very interesting people to see live. There were many many other very interesting talks and discussions I would have loved to attend if I had had time - a panel discussion on the right to education, for example. Last year I went to a screening of the infamous Thabo Mbeki documentary.

6) Which brings me to film. There is always a film fest running within the festival programme. Usually the films are chosen around a theme or a couple of themes. Last year I went to "God is African," which I was glad to see. This year I went to the premier screening of "Triomf" which I thought was completely completely awful. Films are great if your budget is tight - usually its only about R16 or so to see a film at the film fest.

7) The most obvious face of fest is the markets. The main market is on what is called the villiage green and there is another one next to the cathedral on church square. You get the usual flea market stuff - you know what I mean - along with some really interesting stalls with crafts and jewellary and clothes and food and all manner of things. Its great to go wander around and I always find things to wish for and things to buy. This year was the year of ear rings!

Sadly the markets have become smaller over the years. I suppose because its an expensive endeavour to bring your business to fest, so its getting less lucrative for people. But the markets are still something I always look forward to. And the kudu burgers!!

8) The cathedral runs what they call Spirit fest which is another sub-programme like wordfest and the film fest. They often have films and lectures and bands and some productions and so forth. I went to a lecture on Christianity and culture this year, but there were many more talks that looked great and I just didn't manage to get to.


So yes, there is a lot going on at fest! Really to do fest properly you should get hold of the fest programmes a while before fest (there are two - one for main fest and one for the fringe). And go through them and roughly decide what you want to attend beforehand. Some things might be worth pre-booking too. The ballet, for example, is often sold out before fest even starts. And Andrew Feinstein's winter school lecture this year was sold out before I could get a ticket. More's the pity!

Of course, as I've said, many shows you just can't know about until you hear a friend recommending it or read about it in the Cue, and thats half the fun of it. But on the other hand, last year I missed a winter school talk by Barney Pityana because I didn't go through the programme till about halfway which I was deeply disappointed about!

I can't finish this blog without mentioning The Long Table - the festival resturant which runs from a church hall. It's really the place to see and be seen, and to shelter from the cold and have a meal with some friends. And see the actors you saw in shows that morning do the same.

As I said, my friend Bronwyn came to visit over fest time this year and left fully intending to become a regular fest goer. I was speaking to a family friend last week who has only missed one fest in about 15 years. There really is something for everyone - if you are into art or comedy or music or political discussion or dance, come along and make a week of it. And drop me a line and if I'm still in Grahamstown for fest next year I'll show you around!

Political Polokwane

Well, now I know what she meant :)

And those are just the North Residence names.

Things on my mind

1.) Yesterday I was chatting to a friend who is interning at an Eastern Cape hospital said they are having huge problems with medical staff leaving, mostly emigrating. Then today another friend who is working at Red Cross Children's Hospital in Cape Town said they are badly short staffed.
Oh dear oh dear.

2.) My car has millions of things wrong with it again. Ok ok just the wheel alignment and apparently there is something wrong with the timing (whatever that means) and my windscreen wipers are wiping off the side of my car which is unbelievably distracting while you're driving and I fear one day they are just going to fly off entirely.
All of which means $$$$$.
Oh dear oh dear.

3.) At some point in the forseeable future I am going to have to get a real job in the real world.
OH DEAR oh dear!

4.) I am sufferring from a severe reading backlog. I can't justify buying more books or even taking more books out of the library until I've finished some of my present reading.
At the moment I'm reading:
* How Can Man Die Better (The Life of Robert Sobukwe)
* To The Brink: The State of Democracy in South Africa
* Colour Bar: The Triumph of Seretse Khama and His Nation
* God on Monday
... I was reading A Short History of Nearly Everything but I gave that up a while Ago. And on my "I am going to read this imminently, I have it in my room waiting" list is Long Walk to Freedom (I know, I know, I still haven't read it) and Capitalist Nigger (which I have to return to someone so I must read in quickly). I need to diversify a bit in my reading I think!

5.) Most exciting: I'm going to a conference in Polokwane next week. Hurrah!! I've never been to that part of the country and I'm very excited!
My friend who is from there said I must be careful because it's "very political" around there. I'm not quite sure what that means but maybe it means I should carry Walter Sisulu's biography (its also on my "imminent reading" list) around in my backpack in case I'm accused of being part of a counter-revolutionary force and get myself into trouble. Like this poor guy, gosh. On that note - why was more not made of that story in the press? It was chilling.