Music: Isochronous

It has been quite a while since I have seen live music that is not classical music. Seeing that there was a band "Isochronous" playing on Saturday in Johannesburg, in the afternoon (meaning that the cold evening was not a deterrent) at Melrose Arch.

The music itself is pop-rock though the vocal style is a bit harder to categorise. Locally, The Parlatones is similar while Oasis would be the international equivalent I suppose. The music is very easy to listen to and they do perform well - although the crowd was fairly small.

The most interesting thing about the gig was the small kids dancing about really - it was quite funny to watch; especially how they seemed to make friends between themselves so easily.

The band has a number of videos on YouTube - and it is a band well worth supporting.

South African National Youth Orchestra Concert

On a rather cold Wednesday evening, the South African National Youth Orchestra held its annual concert, conducted by Gerben Grooten. The main highlight of the concert was Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra", with narration provided by none other than Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The orchestra's website outlines a very interesting process in which the young musicians are taught and chosen to participate in the program, and there are some interesting collaboration projects.

You can see the trailer for the concert on YouTube:


The concert started with a short piece from South African composer John Simon, titled "Late Gothic Overture". The piece had its haunting edge; but was also quite lively with a lot of percussion and brass. It is apparently part of a larger symphony, but I haven't found a performance of it.

Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" is an apt piece for a youth orchestra, and an audience with a number of people, including a lot of children, who do not regularly attend orchestral performances. The Arch's commentary was well paced, though he did miss his narration point on the french horns, with his trademark laughter (on trumpets, directly after the french horns) or his joy at saying "things that go bang". The finale of the piece, where all the instruments play together had an encore before the interval, and also as the encore for the concert itself.

The last piece was Shostakovich's 9^th Symphony - which was rather dull to be honest. After the very energetic first half, it was a bit too mellow in my opinion. In the program, Shostakovich is quoted as saying "Musicians will love to play it and critics will delight in bashing it" - and perhaps that is the problem - it is a piece for those who play music more than for the listeners.

Movie: X-Men: First Class

The movie is effectively a prequel showing the origins of what would become Professor X, Magneto and the mutant movement. Using the Cuban missile crisis as the backdrop, the movie tries to show clearly why the two mutant leaders have such fundamentally different outlook towards the rest of mankind.

It's well written and well paced; but it does not feel like a reboot of the series in the vein of Superman or Batman reboots. I am not sure even if it was supposed to be.

Anonymous and Lulzsec Declare war on Corruption

After hacking the sites (and systems) of the CIA, the FBI, various US government departments, various corporations (most notably SONY), Lulzsec, and Anonymous have released a joint call to arms - a Jihad if you will - against corruption. And like many Jihadi movements, many commentators have already labeled it as "cyber-terrorism". Their "press release" is quite impressive, and full of good intentions but some points come to mind.

• While the announcement itself asks for support for Wikileaks, how the evidence for corruption will be documented is not detailed. One of the standout features for Wikileaks is its impressive documentation, anonymisation and verification process. Simply releasing information is not enough, which leads to ...
  


• How will the supposed corruption evidence be proven. It is one thing to break into a "secure" network, and even to retrieve data. But the legitimacy of the data needs to be proven - sufficiently that it will be difficult to label as a fake. Considering the skills of the attackers, there is actually a higher burden of proof to ensure legitimacy of the data.
  


• Proving corruption will require a lot of corroborating evidence; and rarely will corruption be highlighted by a single data source. Furthermore, corroboration will require a number of disparate sources - e.g. an instruction via email linked to a bank account statement linked to an email on the success of the scheme. How many sources require infiltration before evidence is sufficient?
  


• Inevitably there will be innocent bystanders hurt in the process - either because they are unknowing mules or wrongly targeted. Verification problems yet again?
  


• Hacking into networks is illegal - and will remain illegal for the foreseeable future. Good intentions or not, this badly written, but informative article gives a good overview of the moral dilemmas awaiting the prospective hacker.
  

Given the revelations over the weekend relating to South Africa's own arms deal corruption saga, I am quite keen to see the results of this mass action. And I don't think it is cyber terrorism, yet. And, I do have some grave doubts on whether any real prosecutions or changes to corporate and government activities will actually result from this.

New Layout

I decided to try a new layout on this blog, with a few subtle changes on the template. It works well with my desktop, iPad and my laptop - but there may be some machines with low resolution that it doesn't work on.

Movie: The Lincoln Lawyer

Most legal thrillers are based on "good" lawyers. Matthew McConaughey's character is initially difficult to like as a good lawyer - he is after all a lawyer that primarily defends petty criminals, often successfully. The story itself revolves around the lawyer coming to defend a rich man accused of rape, and the subplots start to unravel as he realises that there is a tricky catch-22 at play on maintaining his lawyer's pledge of client confidentiality and to uphold justice.

The movie is well acted, with some very impressive support actors, such as William Macy as the PI, it does tend to drag on a bit towards the end. It's a good story, well paced, and quite entertaining.

Movie: The Adjustment Bureau

Based on a Phillip K Dick novel, the story revolves around a politician (played by Matt Damon) who accidentally stumbles upon a shadow group of individuals who steer humanity's progress in life. What most humans consider to be accidents are in fact the effects of the meddling minders; geared to keep everyone to plan.

Effectively, in the debate around fate vs free will - the movie's premise is that free will does not exist - not because it cannot exist - but because humanity does not have the discipline to make effective use of it.

The movie is fairly divergent from the main plot of the original story; and does not really preach any particular morality or any particular religious doctrine (though the adjustment bureau being likened to angels or similar does exist). There is the fairly sinister view, that the higher power does not necessarily equate in terms of good and evil (for example, the politician's whole family was effectively terminated so that he can overcome adversity to become a new sort of politician); which does spin a new take on the fate vs choice debate.

Overall, it is a well scripted, entertaining movie.

Romeo & Juliet

I have never been to a ballet before, though not because of a lack of opportunity. S, bought tickets to "Sleeping Beauty" in 2008, but I was in Cape Town that week, and thus missed it. M was very keen to go to South African Ballet Theatre's production of Romeo and Juliet, and being the last weekend of the show, we went on Friday evening.

I love classical music, and Prokofiev's score for Romeo & Juliet is quite impressive - given the relatively small orchestra that accompanied the ballet. The music does provide a great backdrop to the story (quite truncated from Shakespeare's version). In addition to the music, the stage, props and costumes were spectacular - and are apparently based on the original South African production of the ballet in the 1960s!

As for the ballet itself - I wasn't too impressed. I am not a big fan of dance productions - I just don't understand it. Although some of the ballet scenes were easy to decipher - especially the fairly spectacular sword fights - in my opinion, the ballet alone will not be able to portray the story. Perhaps, it was just not a good production - but the same holds for other dance theatre I have been to.

June 16

June 16 is certainly on of the defining moments in South African history, and the Hector Petersen musuem in Soweto is a great memorial to the children that signaled the end of apartheid. In fact the whole Vilikazi Street precinct is a great memorial, and very much worth the visit.

Movie: Thor

I hate 3D movies, and Thor gave a perfect reason why 3D movies are mostly pointless. In the entire movie, apart from the credits, some trailers - the majority of the movie was in 2D. 3D was created mostly in the special effect scenes, but even then, it wasn't anything really immersive, or spectacular.

For a comic book inspired movie, it features surprisingly strong acting performances (it seems the general trend started by the revived Batman franchise is paying off), with a fairly strong storyline. Casting Anthony Hopkins as Thor's father, Odin, was a master stroke - and he does lend some credibility to the "wise old king" role. Likewise, Tom Hiddleston plays a superb Loki, recast from an evil half-brother, to more of a trickster and misguided/under-appreciated/depressed half-brother. I haven't read the comic book, but I enjoyed this particular portrayal of Loki.

Ignoring the 3D, it was a fun movie worth watching - if only there were more 2D screens!

Service Credit

In the IT outsourcing industry, service credits are used when the service provider does not meet the service level agreement targets. Late last month (around Freedom day), roadworks near my house led to a cut in the Telkom cables, resulting in an interruption in service (for about a week). I was glad to see on my latest Telkom bill that the full month's subscription fee (line rental etc) was reversed; which is very much unlike other service providers in South Africa (I am thinking of my cellphone contracts in particular). So, well done to Telkom - a rare, but deserved compliment.

Movie: Let Me In

It is supposedly based on the Swedish novel, Låt den rätte komma in (Wikipedia), but looking through the various synopsis, it is more akin to the Swedish film adaptation from two years ago, than the book. The source of inspiration doesn't really matter - it is a great story, backed up by some really impressive acting.

The story centres on Owen, a lonely, often bullied, 12 year old boy, living with his soon to be divorced mother; who develops a friendship with Abby, also a young girl, who has recently moved in (with what seems to be her father). Very early on, it is clear that Abby is not simply a girl, but some sort of a vampire; although Owen is to discover this fact a lot later.

The plot centres on two different lines - which eventually merge - the developing friendship between Owen and Abby, and how it is impacted by deaths related to Abby's need for blood; and the continuing bullying and Owen's attempts at fighting back.

In reality, this is not a horror movie - it is a romance; with some excellent acting by the young actors playing Owen and Abby coupled with some great directing and script writing. It is certainly worth watching, and it has made me keen to find the Swedish version someday.

Gilberto Gil

Legendary Brazilian musician (and politician), Gilberto Gil, played two shows at the Market Theatre on Thursday and Friday evening this week. I first learnt about Gilberto Gil through Wired Magazine's feature on Creative Commons, which also featured new tracks from leading artists across the world (including Gilberto Gil). Later, I saw him perform in Salvador during the Carnaval (see my post here).

Gilberto Gil is filming a documentary called "Connecting the South", where he makes musical connections with various performers across the Southern Hemisphere. The concert was mostly for the purposes of the documentary, but it did help that there was a full house to see him perform.

As can be expected from such initiatives, there was a number of different genres on show - from Brazilian Bosa Nova, to traditional African, to afro-pop/contemporary pop and things in between. The show started with traditional Xhosa music - which I have seen on TV, and is very much an endangered musical form - played by Xhosa Muse Madosini. The drummer in Gilberto Gil's band would return later, to perform a more modern piece with the same traditional Xhosa instruments. In the varied South African music scene, I think there will be consensus with my view that traditional music forms are fast disappearing, and most South Africans have never heard traditional musical instruments. Events such as this, not only expose the traditional form of the music, but also the potential use of such instruments in new musical forms.

Vusi Mahlasela also joined Gilberto Gil a few times, playing both his own songs or joining in with the Bosa Nova. Other collaborations included the The Fatima Choral Community Choir, The WITS Choir and the The MIAGI Youth Orchestra.

It was an odd mix of languages (I recognised at least 5 - English, Sotho, Xhosa, Zulu and off course Brazilian Portuguese), and while some collaboration pieces worked, others were less than ideal. Given the documentary will probably only be 90 minutes or so, I am not sure how much footage of this concert will be used. Documentary aside, it was an enjoyable show of varied musical performance.

Rhythmic Affairs

The wonderfully named MIAGI(music is a great investment) is a non-profit organisation that is now operating in its 10th year. The primary aim of MIAGI is to fund the development of young musicians (although, they have supported some very interesting projects beyond the youth projects in the past). The MIAGI Youth Orchestra and Youth Big Band is one of the premier projects supported by the initiative, supporting 103 youths (between 11 and 25 years old) from across South Africa in full.

The Youth Orchestra presented their concert "Rhythmic Affairs" at the Linder Auditorium yesterday, with Christian Muthspiel conducting. One thing that definitely set the group apart from the "adult" orchestras is that they genuinely seem to be enjoying the performance. Many seemed to be sharing jokes while the bassists even "high fived" each other after the individual pieces (with their bows though). The musicians also had great rapport with the conductor, and there was a highly amusing encore, which seemed to be unrehearsed.

The first piece of the evening was a new piece composed by Paul Hammer, who also played the piano, named "Halo-gram". It was, in my opinion, rather crap - the music did not have any semblance of atmosphere or any story to tell; and the various instruments just didn't seem to fit together. Perhaps it will sound better if I hear it again, but I am not exactly wanting to ...

The second piece was adapted from the original film score for "On the Waterfront" by Leonard Bernstein. Unlike the previous piece, this piece definitely provided the atmosphere of the movie - the grit and the struggle in a gang dominated harbour of New York.

The third piece, after the interval was Maurice Ravel's Boléro, and definitely my favourite one of the evening. I have heard snippets of the piece before, but never in full - and the enthusiastic kids definitely made it a great performance.

The last piece of the evening was Gershwin's "An American in Paris", featuring some vuvuzelas - proving that, in the right hands, the vuvuzela can be a musical instrument. The combination of the jazz and the more traditional orchestra was impressive.

The orchestra has some great prospects - it is apparently due to open the Young Euro Classic Festival in 2012. Miagi is certainly not yet at the level of the El Sistema, but it is going in the right direction; and should be supported by all. Perhaps, in 10 more years, it can become something like the El Sistema.

Winnie the Opera

A brand new opera, based on one of the most colourful (and controversial) politicians in South Africa; had its premiere at the South African State Theatre, last night. The venue was symbolic, as Winnie herself commented "was one of the institutions we tried hard to bomb", after the show in a vote of thanks to the cast and crew.

Any biographical art piece on a living subject, particularly a polarising subject, is difficult - and in my opinion, the opera failed. The opera focused quite a bit on the TRC proceedings and the Stompie Seipei incident, which the TRC itself judged "Ms Winnie Madikizela Mandela politically and morally accountable for the gross violations of human rights committed by the MUFC" (see the Wikipedia article). However, there was little focus on what made Winnie out to be the "Mother of the Nation", and what makes her a strong politician. In fact, Winnie Mandela's vote of thanks to the cast and crew after the show, provided far more insights to her ability as a politician than the opera itself.

My other criticism of the opera revolves around the lyrics - perhaps it is because of the language (most of it was in English), but the lyrics just didn't sound musical - and did not give any one character, particularly Winnie, any real solo parts to really show of their skills.

That said, the opera did have a number of high points. The production was spectacular in terms of costumes, set design, excellent score and the various use of video projections were stunning. The individual performances were also impressive - and the three main characters, Tsakane Maswangayi (as Winnie Mandela), Otto Maidi (as Columbus) and Pierre du Toit (as Major Swanepoel), coupled with some impressive backing performances.

There is a very limited run right now (5 shows), and the opera is comparatively short (only 90 minutes), and the performances well worth supporting. Perhaps, the opera was designed with popular audience in mind; hence the shorter duration with less focus on the broader story. While I wouldn't watch it again, it was certainly an enjoyable performance.

Pikitup Strikers - Shouldn't they really be heroes?

The Pikitup (the municipal agency in Johannesburg, which is responsible for garbage removal) ended on Thursday, after approximately 3 weeks. The non removal of garbage from across the city has had its impact, and there are off course a number of calls in the media to be not charged for services not delivered. On top of this, the ANC has accused the union SAMWU, its ally, of sabotaging the ANC election campaign in the upcoming local government elections.

Amongst all this, the subject of why Pikitup workers were striking seem to be conveniently forgotten. The workers had three agenda points - investigation of corruption and nepotism in senior management, the treatment of temporary workers and wage disparities. The fact that they settled the strike without any agreement on wage disparities - the subject of almost all industrial action in South Africa in the recent past, shows that this strike was nothing to do with money.

What I find worrying, is not that there was a strike which affected all residents of Johannesburg, but that the workers were striking to get action to investigate allegations of corruption and nepotism. Has our municipal system become so corrupt, that the only way to draw attention of corruption and nepotism in the senior management of municipalities is through striking? Has the political leadership of the municipality completely lost it?

So unlike many of my fellow residents, I will not criticise SAMWU or the workers of Pikitup. In fact, I think they need to be commended for taking a stance. And perhaps the rest of the residents of Johannesburg should actually complain, not about the strike, but the leadership higher up that should have resolved the issue of corruption and nepotism long before it got here.

God's Window - Aptly Named

Skyway Trails

Just outside Hazyview, Skyway trails offer about 2 hours worth of fun, zipping down the hillside towards the Sabie river. It is not as unique a setting as Tsitsikama, and I think it misses an ideal opportunity to one-up Tsitsikama - starting higher up the hill and then going across the Sabie river. Nevertheless, there is some beautiful scenery coupled with some really nice long ziplines.




Skyway trails is also a perfect example of how eco-tourism ventures can work successfully. The trails are located on a wide piece of land owned by the local community, and all the guides are from the community. During busy days (such as weekends) there are upto 10 trips a day, but on slower days such as the day we went, there are only two trips (morning and after lunch), thus a bit of planning may be needed to make the most use of the day.

Dreamgirls

The Teatro in MonteCasino is showing an all-South African cast, version of the Broadway musical, Dreamgirls. It is a fun show for the whole family (although the ticket prices may make it a bit difficult to take the whole family), and the production is simply amazing.

The highlight of any musical is the singing, and cast do not disappoint. Lindiwe Bungane as Effie White was amazing, and filled the role very well. She also came across as the most capable singer, which is exactly what is to be expected from the role.

The costumes were spectacular, and embodied the different eras represented by the musical. But more amazing were the costume changes, some taking literally seconds. In addition to the costumes, the stage props and the graphical support were equally impressive.

Dreamgirls is an exceptionally well made production, and highly enjoyable. It is definitely worth watching.

Governor Tito Mboweni

"The title of Governor is for life", even after one retires as the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Governor Tito Mboweni hinted in jest, after politely reflecting on yet another change between the private and public sectors. UCT's Black Alumni forum hosted a talk by the ex-governor which in itself was part of a wider UCT Alumni programme for this year. This is the first one I have been to; and it was a very enjoyable evening - particularly because of the Mr Mboweni's honesty and openness in his talk.

The focus was on transformation - but not on the overused word in the South African lexicon. Instead, his talk was about his own life - from a young political activist, to exile, to a minister in the new government, to the central bank governor and finally to life in the private sector. It was given in good humour, with plenty of anecdotes and stories - but at the same time it was inspiring and in some cases brutally honest and very politically incorrect. He did touch on racial transformation - but it was an attack against token appointments, and that true transformation is when there is a positive transformation in quality; not just a new face.

He gave a frank assessment of the problems with South African politicians, and their lack of ethical behaviour; not only in terms of corruption and nepotism but also in terms of service delivery. He had two very distinct, but equally memorable points on politicians - the first, is that politicians should be serving in spite of having other potential jobs; and not because it is the only job available. His rationale there is, that in that case, the chances are that you are doing public service because you want to serve, not because you want to get more money. His second point, was that there is a very distinct change in lifestyle that comes with power, and very few people are equipped to actually deal with that change. The second point is qually relevant outside politics - the fact that people, who have found sudden riches do not always have the capacity to actually manage their new wealth. So, the fact that the politician now has a car or a house, they seem to forget that it is temporary.

Another assessment was that there seems to be a decline in the intellectual capital in the political movements, specifically referring to the ANC. From a time, where the freedom movement was filled with intellectual heavy weights who could argue with reason, his assessment of the current crop of leaders was that they were no longer intellectually arguing their case, but rather stooping to dirty tactics and political games.

In the Q&A session, he answered some very difficult questions, but his assessment of the nationalisation debate was particularly illuminating - especially given his dual role as the Chairman of AngloGold Ashanti and a member of the ANC's national leadership. The nationalisation debate was answered in the early 1990's, and the ANC formally made a decision that it was not in the party's agenda. He takes blame as part of the "older" generation that this was not communicated and disseminated well into the younger members. But he highlighted a number of problems and concerns that have repeatedly hammered South Africa's reputation in the mining sector - from the issue of the mining charter being leaked, to the debacle of the mining license maladministration to the issues with Kumba-Mittal etc. This has not helped the South African brand, and it has not helped the debate. But most tellingly, was his assessment that, despite President Zuma and Matthews Phosa repeatedly stating it was not the government's policy to nationalise, the investors were not buying it. His assessment - in this regard, they are just not trusted, and Malema is; and for a very simple reason. Malema stated that Mbeki would be ousted, and they ANC higher brass denied it. Malema stated that the Scorpions would be disbanded, and it was. So, given that - Malema's word carries a lot more clout than that of the President.

Given his earlier comments on intellectual capital within the ANC, the proliferation of politicians who have lost their ethical compass - it is a stark reminder of what can go wrong. Governor Mboweni was frank in his assessment that the ANC needs to rebuild; but the question I suppose is - how much help does he have?

The Tragedy of Richard III

I have seen two types of Shakespeare productions - lavish productions with huge casts and complicated sets; and the minimalist, working with the bare minimum. In the case of the latter, these productions are usually abridged to highlight the critical scenes or perhaps just to highlight a single particular character or scene.

Until the 24th of April, the Market Theatre, in conjunction with the National Arts Festival is showing a minimalist production of Richard III. While I am no Shakespeare expert, a quick glance at the Wikipedia page shows that, while the production is abridged; the core play is unaffected, and in fact the story itself did not feel abridged.

It is a 3 man play, featuring David Dennis, Marcel Meyer (as Richard III) and Anelisa Phewa. Each man plays a number of characters, and the use of costumes (with some highly stylised masks) and puppets for the young princes are brilliant touches. The set, while minimal, has an amazing centrepiece - a cupboard where Richard's various victims' busts are stowed, which then return in the final act to haunt Richard before his final battle.

The acting is superb, especially that of Marcel Meyer, who plays the twisted character of Richard III exceptionally well, and has the stage presence fit for the role. The sound effects, mood music as well as the lighting also complements the play very well, and makes it a really well polished production.

It is argued that Richard III has been mistreated by Shakespeare, and he was not an evil tyrant as portrayed in the play. Regardless, the play is a topical reminder of the power and abuses of tyrannical dictators; including some of the motivations behind the supporters of such dictators.

The fascinating history of CricInfo

I have been using CricInfo (now known as ESPNCricInfo) since the late 1990's. I remember using it at school to follow the world cup in 1999 and other matches before that. It has become a publishing phenomenon as well as a treasure trove of cricket data. During the recently concluded world cup, the site has been running a video series "Running Between the Cricket", and the last video (episode 30) spurned me to look deeper on the history of the website.

CricInfo's own about page is pretty barren, and its Wikipedia page is not as informative as it should be, but there is a link to an alternative Wiki page here, and it is a fascinating story of an Internet phenomenon - a group of people, who contributed their time and energy (and in some cases hard money) to fuel their passion. There are interesting tidbits on the history of the Internet itself, and some naivety in this regard - such as the expectation of a single Unix server to last for 10 years!

The Big Swing

"Step back, half a step"
I shuffle backwards, a bit anxious, but I can still feel the floor

"Bend your knees slightly"
What's this, bend your knees, stand up, routine?

"Look straight at me ... are you looking forward to this?"
"Off course", I reply - I haven't done something with as much of an adrenalin rush since going hang gliding over Rio - and that was rather tame, in comparison.

"Enjoy!"
That's it - he just lets go, and I go falling into the gorge. It is a rush, as I hit full speed, until the cable pulls tight, and then I am swinging in the gorge. It is similar to a bungee jump; in the free fall, but unlike a bungee jump, you swing across the gorge in a rather sedate speed after the free fall (the bungee has a number of smaller free falls).



The Big Swing is located across the gorge just outside Graskop, starting next to the Graskop waterfalls. There are two activities - the slide and the swing (and if you take the swing, you get the slide for free). The slide is actually pretty disappointing in terms of an adrenalin rush - the gradient is pretty small, and thus it is really quite a gentle ride. While it is not an adrenalin rush, it is a great view of the canyon.



In a stark contrast, the swing has a high adrenalin rush, and to add further fun, getting back from the bottom of the falls is via a fairly rickety and slippery staircase.



It is actually a pretty cheap thrill ride, when compared to a bungee jump, and it is a nice way to enjoy the views of the gorge.

Cricket, and India's obsession from a foreign view

Wright Thompson has a long, but brilliant article on his introduction to cricket at the recently concluded World Cup. It focuses a lot on the celebrity focus of Indian cricket, particularly on Sachin Tendulkar, and the links between the cricket celebrity obsession and India's economical growth.

I have watched cricket in India (see here), and the celebrity focus is easy to spot, especially with Sachin Tendulkar. But at the same time, the crowds around me were genuinely knowledgable on cricket, and cheered South Africa's heroics as much as celebrated India's. But then, it was a test match and not a one day match. One day matches and 20Twenty matches in particular are the simpler, dumber formats, that feature more entertainment than artistry or skill. In many respects, Wright Thompson, a novice at the game, manages to capture much of this "decline", and it is a truly fascinating article on his experiences.

I think some of the implied conclusions are correct for India, cricket is not a religion, certain players however are god.

Carmen

Bizet's Carmen is reputedly the world's most popular opera, and it is easy to see why - catchy tunes, great orchestral score, great characters and the combination of sex, crime, violence, sacrifice, betrayal combine to form a great story. Opera Africa, in conjuction with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra have been performing Carmen for the past month, first at the State Theatre in Pretoria, and until the 10th of April, in the Joburg Theatre.

The first comment to make on the show, is that the casting is brilliant. All the main characters fit the singers - with each singer perfectly portraying in acting and physically what is expected from the characters - from a shy village girl (Micaela) to the sexy gypsy (Carmen) or the showman bull fighter (Escamillo). The production is further enhanced by some simple, but very stylish sets, great costumes and the acting/stage direction.

Carmen is brilliantly played by American Cristina Nassif, and truly embodies the role - she is sexy, somewhat mysterious, a tease and generally strong willed. Another American, Noah Stewart plays Don Jose, and the chemistry between the two was amazing - from courtship, to dissolution, is amazingly portrayed. Ntsikelelo Mali's portrayal as Escamillo is equally well portrayed, as is the chemistry between Carmen and Escamillo. Kelebogile Boikanyo's solo in Act 4 drew the greatest applause from the near full house, just compliments how well the cast was put together.

Last year, I saw the Met's production of Carmen at Ster-Kinekor, and while that production certainly had more lavish sets, the South African production was just as good in my opinion - but then I am no connoisseur. I do think however, opera live is a lot better than opera on the screen.

Hiding in the tress (2)

The Tree Top Hide in Mapungubwe is fairly unique in its construction, and given the considerably lower visitor numbers, very peaceful. It is a twitcher's paradise (not that I am one) - but on the second day, I just took my iPad and read some ebooks in the peaceful hide, overlooking the elephants grazing on the lush banks of the swollen Limpopo river and the many colourful birds.

Hiding inside a tree

Tree-Top hide, Mapungubwe

It's a bird, It's plane, It's ... an Impala

The Maloutswa Pan Bird Hide, at the western part of Mapungubwe, overlooks a small waterhole (which seems to be part of a non-perennial river). On my first morning in Mapungubwe, I followed two huge herds of impala and wildebeest to the waterhole - and discovered that it was teeming with animals and birds. It was a great place to watch animals and take photos, especially of the impala prancing around.

Mapungubwe Landscape

View of Mapungubwe Valley, with the Limpopo river in the far background. The combination of rocks, riverside forrest and the savanah makes it quite unique in some respects.

Owl on the hunt

Owl, taken on a night drive at the Punda Maria Rest Camp, Northern Kruger National Park

Classic FM Presents - Composers H - M

Last year, Richard Cock, presented a weekly series called "Composers A - Z" on Classic FM, where he played music from composers whose name started with a particular letter of the alphabet. Later, this was converted to a live concert, where selected works are played with the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra. Sunday afternoon, was the second of such concerts.

The selection of works veried from the very well known to the obscure, from very serious to the fun and frivolous; and apart from the absence of Karl Jenkins, most of the well known composers were represented.

The highlight of the concert was the arrangement of a few pieces (mostly Mozart) to use a concert marimba, played expertly by Magda de Vries. In between the pieces, Richard Cock (as the conductor) gave a few words overview on the selected piece, and in certain pieces (such as the theme to the Pink Panther, composed by Henry Mancini) he also got the full house audience to participate (and in this case, click along).

It was a great Sunday concert, and the orchestra got a deserved standing ovation at the end of the performance. While the JPO is fairly serious music, I think that this is the type of concerts that can truly get more people interested and supporting music.

Graskop - A Culinary Delight

Graskop, a tiny town in the rolling hills of Mpumalanga is well known as the gateway to the Blyde River Canyon. But for me, the highlight of Graskop is the food. Even Mpumalanga Tourism's map giveaway for the "Panorama Route" lists "Eating at one of the restaurants on Graskop's Main Road" as one of the main things to do!

There is an obvious affliction for pancakes in this region - and Graskop spots no less than 3 pancake shops within 100 metres, and the other restaurants seem to have pancakes in their menus too! According to the locals though, Harrie's is the place to be - and their pancakes are amazing.

But Harrie's is not a Graskop phenomenon; the main highlight for me, is The Glass House. A small restaurant, with walls of glass, the Glass House is a "South African" restaurant, with a small menu composed of mostly South African delights - lamb chops, malay curries, bobotie and malva pudding. The food is simply amazing - the flavour, the taste is way better than anything I have had in Jo'burg - and I include some very expensive and well rated restaurants I have been to in that comparison. Perhaps it is to do with the freshness of the ingredients, perhaps it is to do with the freshness of the preparation; I do not know - but it was simply amazing.

But more than the great food, it was the great atmosphere and the friendly people. The decor is fairly simple in most parts, with a number of very impressive traditional African wooden carvings. We went there twice in our stay at Graskop last week, and both times, the restaurant was mostly full. The two persons serving the patrons were obviously the owners - and there was constant banter between them and the guests. The service was amazing, and all guests were given a handshake or even a hug before leaving.

It is one of the cases, where you trully leave the restaurant as if you were friends and not just another business transaction.

R523 to Thohoyandou

I initially took this road as a shortcut to get to Thohoyandou, and am glad I did- it is a spectacular road through the mountains, and villages and small towns that do not seem to appear in the map book. Recent rains have destroyed at least two parts of the road, and I hope it is rebuilt soon. It is a road that drivers would enjoy ...

Mapungubwe

About three years ago, I saw a series of large posters highlighting South Africa's world heritage sites at the International Arrivals terminal at Johannesburg International (now off course known as OR Tambo International, and formerly known as Jan Smuts International). All but one of the posters were easy to recognize, and a golden rhino with the words Mapungubwe was the exception. Subsequently, I read up on Mapungubwe, and I have been trying to make plan to come here ever since.

Location, and how to get here
Mapungubwe National Park is located at the North Western corner of the Limpopo province, in the corner where Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe meet. It's about 80 KM from Musina, although the recommended route in both guide books and the SANParks website is through the back roads (R521) from Polokwane via Dendron and Alldays. I drove through the latter route from Midrand (about 500KM in total), and it is a fairly good road with little traffic. I have since driven to Musina, and given the amount of trucks going to and from Zimbabwe, it is a good enough reason to avoid the N1.

The park is broken up into two main areas, the large, and main part being the Western Half, while the Eastern Half has still got a large private ownership, and is not easily accessible.

While the main attractions are easily reached with a standard car, it certainly helps to have high ground clearance to travel around in the wider park. This is especially true in the case of the eastern part of the park. 

Landscape
Large parts of the park is composed of high rocky hills, rolling into valleys, oars cliffs over the Limpopo. The rocky features, eroded by water and wind themselves make interesting features, especially when there are trees perched on top of them! There is also quite a bit of forest, especially along the banks of the river.

The Heritage Tour
The main attraction of the park is the Heritage tour. A forerunner to Great Zimbabwe, there was, for around 200 years, an earlier civilization south of the Limpopo. It was first based around a hill now called K2, before moving for a brief period, to Mapungubwe, about 1 KM away. Unlike Great Zimbabwe, very little structural remains of the civilization remains, but instead all that really remains are the remnants of the civilization. It is most famous for the gold artifacts found here, most notably the aforementioned gold rhino. 

Mapungubwe and K2 are themselves preceded by another iron age civilization, starting around 800AD, which is also in the park, but presently unaccessible. There are plans to open a museum focusing on the various archeological highlights, but the center was supposed to open in 2008, and the buildings are still empty. It's a pity, because the main highlights of Mapungubwe are to be seen at the University of Pretoria, and reduces the impact of the tour somewhat.

The site was rediscovered in the 1930s, but the apartheid government wanted to keep it very low key, due to the fact that the site directly contradicted one of its core tenets, that all the South African tribes came to the southern tip of Africa around the same time. It was opened as a national park around 7 years ago, and the guide for my trip, Cedric, was the first guide for Mapungubwe.

Tree Top Hide
There are not that many animals in the park. Cedric's opinion is that the animal density is too low, thus reducing the chances of seeing game. Given, the tuckshop guy at the confluence viewpoint, showed me tracks of hyenas from the night before outside the shop, but also commented that the few lions, rhinos and the elusive leopard are almost impossible to see.

That said, there is still some game to see; and he park has some amazing hides, of which the Tree Top hide is my favorite (and where most of this post was composed). 

As the name suggests, the hide is composed of a long walkway amongst the trees, culminating in a hide in the trees, along the banks of the Limpopo. It is a twitcher's paradise, though not much in the way of animals, beyond a couple of elephants who have been grazing on the lush banks for quite a while (according to a regular visitor). It is a very serene and peaceful area, making it perfect place to relax!

Facilities
A standout attraction, in my opinion, is the very limited cellphone reception. In fact in parts of the park, I get better reception from the otherside of the border!

I have been camping, in the forest area, in the Eastern half of the park, and the camping facilities are superb. There is however no restaurant in the park, while the tuckshops (one at the main reception, and one by the confluence viewpoints) stock cooldrinks at very reasonable prices (R8 for a can!) and not much else. The nearest petrol station and restaurant is 30 KM away (where I am now), or in Musina about 80 KM away. 

Feel it! It's still here!

The first thing you notice as you drive into Polokwane is a large yellow vuvuzela spanning the N1, with the soccer fan blowing madly into the one end, and the words "Ayoba" spurting out the other. This is not the only reminder of  the world cup from last year, virtually every street corner has some signage related to the event; and even the fan parks continue to be advertised. 9 months on, Polkwane is still celebrating he world cup - I wonder how many other smaller towns continue to do the same?

Greening the scenery ...

For the most part, the drive towards Polokwane is rather boring, a mostly strait road, punctuated with a few toll gates (the tolls are quite high too). As you get towards Polokwane though, the mountains do lend themselves to some nice views, though it is by no means a scenic drive. A big difference to the landscape in Gauteng though, is how much greener it is. Instead of just yellow grass, there is a lot more trees and as we get steadily northwards, more variety in plants, specifically more tropicall plants like bananas and papayas. It's a pleasant change ...

Contrasting Opinions

Taken next to the Yeoville Taxi Rank, Johannesburg (November 2010)

Movie: Winter's Bone

In a very close knit rural community in the USA, a teen is forced to ask difficult questions about the disappearance of her drug dealer/drug producing father; in order to save her house. For me, the movie is more interesting as a snapshot of a very particular American community - poor, rural, gun carrying and closed - where there is (in this case, very legitimate) mistrust of outsiders, even the police; and matters are settled within the community, by the community.

The standout feature of the movie is its acting, in particular, the acting of Jennifer Lawrence as Ree (the teen in question); and the movie has got a well deserved set of nominations for best actress.

Personally, I found the storyline to be rather predictable, and the movie to be rather slow paced. Also, I found that the story hints at a much bigger set of subplots, which are ultimately not explored. In short, it is not really a movie I would watch again, or recommend to others.

Movie: Jane's Journey

The movie, Gorillas in the Mist, is famous for retelling the story of Dian Fossey, for her study of Gorillas; and her subsequent activism to save Gorillas being poached to extinction. Jane Goodall is a fellow primatologist, famous for her work with Chimpanzees (who admits to being mistaken as the lady from Gorillas in the Mist, a mistake which I must admit I also made initially). But unlike Dian Fossey, her activism has extended beyond the primates, to general protection of the environment coupled with social activism; from refugees, to ecoturism activities and beyond.

The documentary, Jane' Journey, traces her life from a very young age, to her ground breaking study of chimpanzees to her current globe trotting, and activities with regards to her two foundations - The Jane Goodall Instituteand Roots and Shoots. her work with Roots and Shoots is particularly impressive, especially as the movement was co-founded with a number of teenagers in Tanzania who were inspired by her talks in their school.

For me, the highlights of the documentary is certainly the first part; where there is a lot of footage from her early time in the Gombe Reserve and the chimpanzees. The latter parts of the documentary are filled with the obligatory repetitive quotations from admirers "on being a beautiful soul" etc. most of which I do not think really need any enforcement.

Jane's journey is partly an autobiographical documentary, partly a documentary on the perils of climate change. However, unlike Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth, it does not focus on statistics, shock and awe - but rather engages directly with the different factors - people need land to survive, the needs of progress, the challenges of economics, aided by her own observations, footage and documentation. It comes across more grounded and realistic - that climate change will require not only a change in human behaviour of the developed world but also needs to address the economic needs of the developing world. That is perhaps the most important message in the movie.

Sunjata

Africa has a rich tradition of oral story telling, but somehow this tradition does not seem to have really translated to movies or other contemporary entertainment forms. Sunjata, is one such story that features the brilliant mix of magic, prophesy, feuding kings and off course, the customary good vs evil.

Sunjata, also spelt Sundiata, was the founding king of the great Mali Empire, probably most well known for Mansa Musa. Sunjata's story is the story of legends - born to the king of the Manding, who married a hunchback woman on the words of a prophesy. He was born, effectively crippled, who taught himself to walk, and then became a great warrior. He then united the various Mali kingdoms, starting by defeating the king of the northern kingdom of Sosso, who had invaded Manding after the death of Sunjata's father.

I learnt the tale of Sunjata, through a play at the Market Theatre. Directed by James Ngcobo, the play focuses more on the birth of Sunjata, instead of his life on the two contrasting kings - Maghan Kon Fatta or Maghan the Handsome (King of the Manding) and Soumaoro Kanté (King of the Sosso); who receive two contrasting parts of the same prophesy. Maghan receives the prophesy of how he can get a son to continue his reign, by marrying an ugly hunchbacked woman; while Kanté gets the prophesy of how his cruel reign will be ended by a young warrior, who is just a boy.

The play starts of in a rather annoying fashion, but as the main story starts, the acting and the story is simply superb. In a genius move of role reversal, all the main male parts are played by women while the main female parts are played by men (although each of the actors have a number of different roles).

The costumes and the sets are minimal; but they are not needed - this is the telling of a legend, in an oral tradition brought to modernity - the acting is stunning, the story crafting is superb - all that was missing, was sitting around a log fire under the African sky ...

Movie: Black Swan

Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake is one of the most famous and popular ballets; and certainly has some of the most memorable (classical) musical pieces that I have heard. The story centres around a princess who is turned into a (white) swan by an evil princess and then needs to find true love to be restored. It is a tragic story; as the princess is robbed of her true love by the evil sorcerer's daughter (the black swan) - and unlike most fairy tales, there is no happily ever after.

The movie focuses on Nina, played brilliantly by Natalie Portman, who is a technically brilliant dancer (and thus can play the White Swan with perfection). However, she lives a sheltered life with a very protective mother (who is a former ballet dancer, who had to give up her dreams when she fell pregnant with Nina, seemingly unplanned); and as such does not, initially have what it takes to become the sensuous, care free, black swan.

Nina's transition is the subject of the movie, and is part horror, part thriller - focusing on Nina's (and to a lesser extent, her mother's) rather unstable mental state. It is perhaps a dedication to what it takes to be single minded in the pursuit of an artistic ideal (which in some respects would also apply to other professions, where repeated practice is a requirement for any perfection); and the movie is part gore, part scary and at the same time, supported by some incredible acting. It is not a straight forward tale - and stylistically is more like a David Lynch movie - which in some respects suit it; and in others makes it even more convoluted.

SA Music Audience Demographics

Madam & Eve's cartoon on U2, in this specific instance is not as accurate - but the general demographics in most music events in South Africa are far from representative of the Rainbow Nation. U2, was proportionally the most representative of the shows I have been to in the recent past - and it is not a white thing, or a black thing or <insert a race here> thing.

I frequently attend the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra performances and other classical music concerts. There, the audience is predominantly old white men and women. In contrast, gigs for rock and metal music (including concerts for bands like Rammstein) is predominantly frequented by young white guys and gals. Jazz concerts on the other hand, are often more predominantly black audiences; though more mixed in terms of age groups.

I am not sure, what is the reason for such discrepancy - especially when it comes to age. I know a lot more young people who listen to Classic FM compared to those that actually attend the concerts. Likewise, I don't think race is a predominant factor when it comes to the enjoyment of music styles - the varied audience and music playlist of stations such as 5FM are a testament to this. But it does not seem to translate to actually attending events - is it money, is it location or is the existing audience itself a barrier?

U2

I have been a fan of U2 for a very long time - and probably more than any other band, U2 was the band that I really wanted to see live. Last year, I considered very seriously to go watch them live in Dublin (around June), but the costs were slightly more than my bank balance. Due to various reasons, I didn't manage to get the tickets I wanted (General Admission, though I would have paid for Red Zone) - and instead only managed to secure seats, fairly high up. While that was certainly a loss in the intimacy offered in the field; it also provided a spectacular view of the stage and lighting effects.

All in all however, the experience was, as I told my colleagues this morning - 3 and a half hours of pleasure followed by 3 hours of logistical nightmare ...

The Support Acts
I didn't know anything about the first support act, Amadou and Mariam, other than they were from Mali, so I wasn't too sure of what to expect. The music was a cross between rock, blues and jazz - but it was well blended, and some excellent solo pieces from the various band members. Language aside, it was a great performance, but perhaps the music was better suited to a more intimate venue.

I have been a fan of The Springbok Nude Girls for a long time, and their set did not disappoint. However, I am not sure if their punk-/rock music style was really suitable as a support act for U2. While Arno and the guys put on a great show, I think that a band such as The Parlatones would have been better suited. This comment is supported from my observation on the number of people around me who actually knew songs from the Nude Girls.

U2
The show from U2 was everything I expected - a mixture of the great hits (Where the Streets Have no Name, Pride (In the Name of Love), I Still Haven't Found What I'm, With or Without You and off course Sunday Bloody Sunday); with the newer hits, including Vertigo, Beautiful Day and some songs from the latest album (most of which I don't know, and to be honest, don't really like).

And as expected, there was an integration of politics that Bono is well known for, into the show - from the support of the recent Egyptian Revolution, Ang San Suu Kyi, Madiba and a message from Desmond Tutu.

The two hour set was well paced, covering the ballads and the more harder rock songs; with great interaction with the crowd (unlike Rammstein a few days previously), and the stage really allows for a better interaction with the crowd.

The Stage and The Show
U2's Claw like stage, deserves its own mention - a behemoth that was taller than the stadium - is an impressive sight. In fact, it looks like one of those Martians from Spielberg's version of War of the Worlds. The opening bands didn't get to use all the nifty features of the stage; but U2's entire show is really based around all the nifty things that are enabled by the stage.

There is the simple stuff - moving bridges that allow the band members to walk between the inner and the outer stage, interacting with the golden circle from above. Then there is the lighting - brilliantly constructed not only in the various spotlights (manned by people hanging from the "legs"), but also how it all combines to cover the entire stadium. The lighting is one of the effects that people in the ground level will not be able to fully appreciate. But the most amazing part for me, was the screen, that is actually built up of many smaller screens assembled in a weblike fashion - allowing it to be expanded and contracted according to requirements. Hydraulics further allow it to be lowered and raised, allowing the band to be almost totally enveloped by the screen if needed.

And like Rammstein's pyrotechnics, U2's stage show is worth seeing; even if you are not a fan of the music.

The Logistics
I have been to 3 matches in FNB Stadium (or Soccer City), during the World Cup. It was a slick operation, where getting to and from the stadium was a breeze (except the well known problems on the first day), and food and drinks at the stadium were plentiful and efficiently delivered. The concert was a mess - and it seems that all the learnings from the world cup were mostly ignored.

Starting with the food and drinks inside the stadium, the problems are many. There was the confused system of tokens, where it was unclear whether tokens were needed or not needed. The lines at all the outlets were long, and insufficiently staffed. In the one I stood in briefly (I left after 5 minutes when the line hadn't moved a bit, and the guy in front said he was waiting about 20 odd minutes), was staffed by 2 people who were serving 6 queues - this is two people doing the cash handling, the order taking and serving. The average fast food restaurant employs more staff during its off peak period. The only vendors that were efficient were the ice cream vendors, although they did seem to have a problem with change. Seeing the ridiculous prices, and the restrictions on what could be brought in to the stadium, one would expect much better service and organisation.

But the worst part was the transport logistics. I took the park and ride option, parking at Constitution Hill and then getting a bus. Instead of the highly efficient Reya Vaya buses, we were saddled with coaches that didn't utilise the efficient bus lanes. In addition, the parking lot was jam packed with the buses fully loaded but stranded in the parking lot for about an hour. There was no crowd control in the buses, so people had to hunt for the appropriate bus, further complicating the bus system. I heard from a colleague, who took the train, that the train was equally messed up, with it standing in the station for a good hour or so.

The transportation and the food and beverage service for the world cup was well organised. Perhaps, instead of throwing away those lessons, it would be best to improve upon that system for all future big events at the FNB Stadium? Otherwise, the logistical nightmare would be a strong detterent to any attendance ...

Rammstein

Beyond the "Thank You/Dankeschön" and the obligatory "We love you" after the encore, they didn't say a word to the crowd. It didn't matter - Rammstein put on a show, that will be hard to replicate - especially given the constraints of the enclosed Grandwest Arena.

The signature pyrotechnics were amazing - especially when synchronised to the music, as were the props (or props and pyrotechnics blended together). Starting with the iconic "Rammstein" through the classics such as "Du Hast" and "Büch Dich" to the latest hits from "Liebe is Für Alle Da", it was an amazing performance - possibly the best live music concert I have ever been to.

They played most of my favourites; even though they did leave a lot out (given their repertoire, that was always going to happen) - but I did miss Amerika, Engel and Rotter Sand in particular. But the ones they did play - it was well organised, really flowed from one song to another, with the energetic anthems (with the appropriate amount of pyrotechnics) leading to grand finish.

Rammstein has been one of the bands I have always wanted to see; and it was definitely worth the additional expenses of traveling to Cape Town. Congrats to Grandwest also - the venue was super organised, and leaving the parking was a breeze (Carnival City, please take some lessons).

Coincidences

Yesterday, while buying electricity at a petrol station (which I don't usually use), I ran into a friend from varsity, who is briefly visiting SA on holiday. Coincidences are wierd - the perfect blend of being at the right place, at the right time - no wonder it's considered to be some sort of a miracle.

Mozart's Requiem

Mozart's Requiem (Mass in D minor (K. 626)) is one of the most famous choral and orchestral pieces, even though it is not completely written by Mozart (he died, leaving the piece unfinished). That said, it is still a very strange piece to play on his birthday anniversary.

The Johannesburg International Mozart Festival is back, although, this year I have far fewer chances to go to concerts due to other commitments. The theme this year is "One Wings of Songs", and the majority of the concerts feature vocal pieces. What is also nice, is that a number of concerts feature music and songs from South Africa.

The opening concert featured 2 pieces by by the "resident composer" Mokale Koapeng, and Mozart's Requiem. The performance was given by three choral groups - Schleswig-Holstein Festival Choir from Germany, Chanticleer Singers and the Chamber Choir of South Africa; supported by the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra.

The opening concert featured a new piece specifically written by Mokale Koapeng for the festival. I was not too sure of what to expect, other than choral gospel piecese (it is based on biblical passages). It was stunning - with the music perfectly matching the vocals, and the use of plucking strings and percussion beats gave it a more "African" vibe, and a really nice pace.

Mozart's Requiem itself, while great, did not seem to have the oomph that Verdi's Requiem from last year. Perhaps it is due to the smaller choir, but it just didn't seem to have the awesome power that certain passages (such as Dias irae) has in other productions I have heard. That said, the soloists were great, and it was certainly an enjoyable performance.

Facebook Valuation

Facebook's recent valuation of 50 Billion USD, has created quite a lot of commentary - mostly centred around it being way too high (from most commentary I have read). The valuation is based on what Russian (and part South African) venture capitalist firm Digital Sky Technologies and Goldman Sachs were willing to pay for a share in Facebook. In essence, most commentators have argued, that they paid too much.

In terms of classical economics, that is true, or at least based on given information. Afterall, Facebook is a private company, and thus its financial results are not public information.

However, valuations can also be based on the net worth of Facebook's assets. And its biggest assets have currently no real means of being objectively evaluated - personal information. Facebook has over 500 million active members; which in turn translates to personal information including likes, dislikes, freinds, connections, activities, photos, and a whole lot more of 500 million people on the planet.

If one ignores Facebooks' traditional assets (servers, datacentres, offices etc) and liabilities, it means that the personal information of 500 million people is worth 50 billion dollars - or 100 dollars an individual.

The resultant question is simple - is the personal information of you, or any other person worth more or less than 100 dollars? In fact, if someone would offer you 101 dollars, would you give them more information than what you have willingly published in Facebook for free?

50 billion dollars? I think Facebook is undervalued ...

Taraf de Haïdouks

The lead 1st violinist of the orchestra in the movie, The Concert, (Gheorghe Anghel) is a member of a Romanian band, Taraf de Haïdouks. This is a bit of trivia I found on IMDB, but the Gypsy music of Taraf de Haïdouks is just brilliant, and well worth listening to. See some of their YouTube videos or their MySpace page for samples.

Movie: The Concert

Every now and then, a movie trailer actually makes you look forward to a movie. Even though the story itself is predictable (genius forced out, in this case because of political reasons, intercepts an invitation, reassembles his orchestra, overcomes numerous hurdles including temperamental soloist to perform hugely successful show), the acting, the humour and most of all, the music, makes this a highly enjoyable movie.

The story centres around a celebrated conductor, whose concert of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, is cut short dramatically mid-performance due to political reasons (in Soviet Russia). So when he intercepts an invitation to perform at Paris' Théâtre du Châtelet, he decides to re-assemble his old orchestra, and put his demons to bed. There is off course a complicated side story involving the soloist, oligarchs who "sponsor" the trip, Russian orchestra members who are thinking of using this as an opportunity to get out of their dreary life and ex-KGB communist party official who reminisces on the glory days of communism.

The opening concert of last year's fourth season of Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, featured Daniel Rowland playing Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. It is a stunning piece and unlike many movies of similar type (be it rousing speeches, novels or other works of art), the movie pays full homage to the music with a full performance. The emotion, the music and the story telling is worth the ticket.

German Inefficiency

Every now and then, you encounter German inefficiency, which sort of pulls them back to normalcy. But the strange thing about inefficiencies that I have come across - they know about it, they are very apologetic about it; and they don't seem to do anything about correcting it.

Two recent events give rise to this post, and both happened within hours of each other. The first, happened in Mainz, where I was meant to change trains (to the airport). Ariving at the platform, there was an electronic and verbal announcement (in German, but fairly easy to translate), that the train was cancelled. For me, that is a minor inconvenience - Mainz is very well connected to Frankfurt, and the airport, so an alternate is easily found. Not so fortunate for others, who were going to places beyond the airport - and there was no ready help at hand to assist in determining the best way forward. One passenger I met had particular trouble - this train was a connecting train to yet another train. This cancellation had a massive impact on his travel plans. The inefficiency comes in, not that the train was cancelled, but how it was handled afterwards. Furthermore, the cancelled train was an Intercity Express - which run from one end of Germany to another - surely, such information should have filtered through to the booking systems?

The second instance, relates to "Tax Free" services at Frankfurt Airport. In most European countries, you can claim back a certain percentage of the VAT, if your non-perishable purchases are made through "Tax Free" affiliated stores. The store provides you with a stamped form (with the amount) and then you need to first get a customs stamp, before you can claim back the money (either cash at the office in the airport, or by credit card or bank deposit through post). The process itself is well documented and easy. however, the customs office, once you are past passport control is in Departure B only, after security. The customs office in Departure C, which is where many of the large long haul planes leave, is closed (under further notice). So, to get the custom stamp, one has to go all the way to Departure B and clear security. Those of you who have made this trip, will know that this quite a long walk - about 15 - 20 minutes, depending on how many people you share this journey with! So taking account of clearing security, the round trip was almost an hour; and luckily I was able to leave my bags in the locker in the lounge ... otherwise, I don't think the effort would have been worth the refund!

Bi-lingual schools

I discovered on Saturday, a fairly recent innovation in Germany, bi-lingual schools. The intent, I am told, is to encourage mor fluency in English. Thus, a certain percentage of subjects (in the case of my friend's children, all the sciences) are taught in English, often with native English speakers. Other subjects, are taught in German.

The thinking is obvious, the learners get fluency in two languages as they are forced to use two, with a degree of regularity, but is not forced to learn everything in the foreign language, as would be the case with English medium schools. Given the number of official languages in South Africa, maybe this is also a viable way of encouraging bilingualism? Personally, while I was taught Afrikaans at school, there was no motivation for gaining any level of fluency, since it was only one subject, and a minor one at that. Being forced to learn Afrikaans, for another subject, would have certainly provided greater practice and motivation to learn.

German Expressionism Exhibition at Mathildenhöhe

The Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt sits above a hill, close to the city centre, and is the highest point in Darmstadt. It is a purpose built exhibition hall from late 1800s built by Darmstadt's Grand Duke, as part of a wider artist colony. It also features a Russian chapel built for the Tsar, and a wedding tower. Although, the artist colony is now gone, the beautiful houses remain, and many have been maintained by their current owners, either private citizens or various organizations.

I was not too aware of Expressionism, so I went in with an open mind. The exhibition had a wide range of exhibits, from all the various forms, painting, sculptures, movie clips, music clips, architecture models and drawings and stage costumes. The exhibits are largely chronological, tracing from the founding of the movement, through world war 1 to the end in the beginning of Nazi Germany. The exhibition itself ends with Mein Kampf, where the audio guide explains that Nazism's rigid control of everything was what brought the movement to the halt.

There was an array of interesting art works, where the whole motivation was "total art", which sounded very much like other similar labels, total football or total politics. Some of the ideas have persisted, such as glass architecture and weird and wonderful stage costumes. But there was also some very weird motivations for the artists, for example a number wanted world war 1 to happen, so that they could experience war first hand, and because they believed only a war would be able to reshape the worked to their point of view. After the horrors of war, which they often depicted in their works, they were left broken and it similarly impacted on their subsequent works.

It was an enlightening experience, and sheds some interesting perspective on at least a part of German life between the wars. That in itself makes it worthwhile.

It's Spring ...

Before continuing to Bonn, I went to visit a friend/collaborator/colleague in Darmstadt. We have been trying to meet every time I lass through Frankfurt, and this is the first time we actually made it happen! While looking at his garden, I commented on how green the grass was, and he said, "for the last two days, it has been spring. I did not expect such good weather for another few months after the snow".

The weather has been quite good, daily temperature of approximately 10 degrees, and even some rays of sunshine. But the heavy winter snow has taken it's toll. Many roads have potholes, has a result of the snow, while there is flooding in quite a few towns. In fact, the Rhine river in Bonn has broken its banks in a number of places, submerging paths, trees and in quite a funny way, completely isolated a Chinese restaurant (on a boat) because the path to the boarding point is completely submerged. But the remnants of the winter are still visible - uncleared snow still lies in it's dirty, brown mush in some corners, while many of the lakes are still iced. And despite the comfortable air temperature, the wind means that many layers of clothing is still warranted. And Frankfurt airport is still prepared for more snow, with cots for stranded passengers still stacked up in the hallways.

A380

Now that there are two daily fights out of Johannesburg on the A380, a lot more South Africans can fly on it. Has it brought back the romantiscm of flying? No. But that is probably because cattle class on Lufthansa's A380 is like cattle class on it's other planes, just a few more ameneties. But it does have a few nice touches. It is really quiet for example, although my noise canceling headphones were still useful in drowning out people's conversations and the aircon. The flight map uses Google Earth bringing a more lifelike perspective on the flight details. And you can now sit in the front row and still not fly business class :)

But the romantiscm is not all gone. I sat next two young guys, who were taking their second flights ever. The first was earlier in the day,when they flew from Maputo. They are 4th year computer science students, who are taking part in an exchange program with an University in Finland. It wasqute an interesting conversation, on their interests and their wish to pursue Masters and higher, with the constraints of funding and the lack of opportunities in Maputo. But they have already turned down part time job offers In order to pursue the exchange program, and I wish them all the best.

Movie: You'll meet a tall dark stranger

I don't think I have ever watched a Woody Allen movie end-to-end, and on this evidence I am not missing much. The movie follows a family, with each person having some kind of marital problem. Alfie (played by Anthony Hopkins) leaves his wife, and then subsequently marries a prostitute. The wife, Helena, takes up the advice of a fortune teller, but does not meet her tall dark stranger. The daughter, Sally (played by Naomi Watts), wants to divorce her struggling-author husband, for her boss (played by Antonio Banderas); while the husband falls for the neighbour (and decides that she is his muse).

At the end of it all, I am left asking - was that even a story worth telling, and why did I waste 2 hours on that. The latter, was more due to the fact that there was nothing else that seemed interesting on at the movies.

Movie: El secreto de sus ojos

El secreto de sus ojos (The secret in their eyes) is an Argentine movie which won best foreign movie at the 2010 Oscars. It is a fairly complex movie with a number of interweaving threads; centered around a retired legal counselor (Benjamin) attempting to write a book on a brutal rape and murder of a young woman (Liliana).

So in part this is a murder mystery, as we follow Benjamin and his sidekick Pablo in trying to solve the crime. In part it is a love story - Benjamin's infatuation with the judge he works for; and the love of Ricardo for his now dead wife (Liliana). It is a story of corruption in the justice system, as we find out how the perpetrator is released and then hired as an official hitman. But it is the ending, when all the various strands of the story are brought together; it becomes a story about crime and punishment; it is not what you expect; and I don't think any Hollywood movie could have dared to put that ending in - and you are left wondering - what does punishment entail?

It is a brilliant story, supported by exceptional acting, editing, costumes, scenery and make-up. The story span approximately 25 years, and the characters age with appropriate changes to scenery and props. It is a well made movie, and definitely worth watching.

Body Fluids Division

Driving back from Pretoria this morning, I drove past a police vehicle which had the words "Body Fluids" written on it (in the area where the divisioin is usually stated). It's a strange name for a division, although it does make sense. Online, the only reference I could find is a SAPS training course on Body Fluids.

Just wondering if there is better terminology out there ...

Closed for Christmas

Given the rampant consumerism around Christmas, and South Africa's general tradition of making public holidays into retail therapy sessions, the number of establishments that close down during Christmas is very surprising.

As I noted last year, while travelling down the northern towns of South Africa, all types of commercial establishments - from guest houses to restaurants to shops close down; and this is also the case in Johannesburg itself. Apart from petrol stations (and the associated shops), I do not recall seeing any shop that was open during Christmas (although I did not check every mall). What was equally surprising, is the number of establishments that were closed on boxing day ...

Biker Clans

At a luncheon with M's neighbours yesterday, I met two old bikers - E and W. Both are fanatical about superbikes, and both have owned a number of such bikes in their lives. Apart from stories about speed traps (and the related fines off course), the standout conversation was on Harley Davidsons, or as E called them, "Hardly bikes".

It seems that there are at least three types of biker clans - the super bikers, the harley riders and the off road riders. W belongs to two camps - the super bikers and the off road riders; but he can't stand the Harley Davidson either. Both E and W tried to define why Harleys make no sense - they are not fast, they vibrate a lot (and are therefore not comfortable) and they are not much fun. According to E & W, the only reason that Harley has such big fan clubs, is that they have no one else to mix with ...

Doubtless, there was a lot of banter about Harleys with E & W, and E often gave long passionate defence of the super bikes and ran down the Harleys as often as possible. As a non-biker, it is the first time I have really noticed the sub clans within the biker culture. An ex colleague of mine is a passionate member of the BMW bikers group, and another colleague rides a Harley - but as E & W demonstrated yesterday; I have never really seen the various sub cultures interact (besides the toy run etc).

Just interesting ...

Songs of Migration

I missed Songs of Migration in its original run earlier in the year, but managed to get to the second last performance for the year at the Market Theatre on Saturday night. The show itself is a bit difficult to categorise - it is not a theatre performance, and although it is billed as a musical; there is no overarching story or dramatic performance. It is really a collection of musical pieces, collated with a single theme (migration) - but at the same time is devoid of the audience interaction and banter that goes with musical performances.

Songs of Migration feature a huge number of songs (about 40 IIRC), mostly written or adapted by Hugh Masekela. The show is mostly focused on black South Africa - from the arrival of colonialism, through apartheid to the modern era; although there is one song on Jewish migration, a short snippet in Afrikaans and a few African American songs focused on cotton picking.

The range of languages is amazing - almost every South African language and then some more! And this leads to my only real gripe about the show - there should really be a longer translation of all the songs, because, due to the variety of languages, there is always someone in the crowd who is not going to understand the song - even though the overall meaning is pretty clear.

In terms of the performances themselves - for me Sibongile Khumalo and Hugh Masekela stole the show. Sibongile Khumalo has a wonderful stage presence, and takes an almost matriarchal command of the performance; gluing all the various performances into some sort of an overarching tale of migration. And Hugh Masekela, for a 70 year old, he outdanced, outsang all his younger colleagues and then some more. He is just an absolutely brilliant performer. The other members of the cast also bring various talents to the fore; especially in the choral pieces.

The show is very slick and highly entertaining. I think it is back sometime early next year - so if you haven't seen it; go see it.

Gautrain Maths

The Gautrain is a really awesome way to get to the airport. And parking at Sandton and then taking the train takes away the lottery of the roads, especially in the current mix of rain and construction.

But the parking rates are way too high; and in some respects just doesn't make sense. For the airport, the first 24 hours costs R29, the second 24 hours cost an additional R29.50 and then for the third day onwards costs R97.50 a day. While the parking charge is less than the parkade costs at OR Tambo (R130 a day), it becomes much higher when the train ticket is taken into account. Only for the 2 day trip, is the Gautrain a cheaper option than driving to OR Tambo and parking at the parkade.

With the bus routes being rather limited (which I suspect is one of the reasons they are often empty) - the prospect of just jumping on to the Gautrain system is still a long way off. And until then, the economics of using the train if you don't live in and around Sandton, for anyhting more than a 2 day trip is going to be hard to justify.