Assyria (@Pergamon Museum)

Probably the worst documented and least imposing collection in the Pergamon museum relates to the Assyrians. The collection feels more like a normal museum, and doesn't have any pieces that are just jaw dropping - but it is also a civilization that is not well documented and discussed; so I suppose something is better than nothing.

Berlin's Erotik Museum

Be it sex shops, or prostitution, Germany, and especially Berlin, is quite open about sex. I have been to the Berlin Erotik Museum before (part of a walking tour if I recall); and it really hasn't changed much in between. Located above a Beate Uhse  sex shop near the Zoological Gardens station, it features a floor of various art work over the ages - a lot of Japanese and Chinese art across a number of centuries; and turn of 1900 art from Europe - sex toys and probably the most interesting; a collection of aphrodisiacs. It is quite amazing what humans consider to be aphrodisiacs. It seems anything phallic shaped goes - from the mundane to the disgusting (preserved snakes, snake blood etc). 

The museum is not as good as I remember it, nor is it as interesting as the ones in New York or Amsterdam - but it is still a more obscure cultural experience.

Pergamon Altar (@Pergamon Museum)

The Pergamon Altar was the reason to come to Berlin - later in this trip I plan to go to Pergamon itself, and that was motivated from my memories of the altar at the Pergamon Museum. It is really one of the most imposing sights in any museum. Excavated in modern day Turkey, assembled and restored in Germany; it is a Classical Greek temple with an amazing frieze telling an epic battle between gods and monsters. Unfortunately most of the frieze is missing/damaged but the scale and the detail of what is remaining is jaw-dropping none the less. It is definitely one of the must see museums in the world.

Miletus (@Pergamon Museum)

Last time I was at Pergamon Museum, this section was almost completely under refurbishment. Consequently, I did not appreciate the true scale of this section of the Pergamon Museum. Built of marble, the exhibition includes the market gate, sections from various temples and an impressive mosaic floor from a private house (which takes interior decorating to new heights). 

Gate of Ishtar (@Pergamon Museum)

Last time I went to Pergamon Museum, the Gate of Ishtar was under refurbishment; so it was great to see the full scale of the gate without scaffolding. Erected by King Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon, this is actually the smaller gate; but imposing none the less. The refurbishment gives a better idea of the animals adorning the walls, and the bright blue and gold really stands out.

There is an inscription on the side on the dedication of the gate by King Nebuchadnezzar, which talks of having a monument that is appreciated by all of mankind. Unfortunately, they would need to get to Berlin and wait in the log lines to get in; but at least it is still there to awe mankind.

Alte Nationalgalarie

Part of the Museuminsel complex in Berlin, the Alte Nationalgalarie hosts a large art collection, from mainly Germany and Austria. I hadn't been inside before, and the collection of marble sculptures is particularly impressive. 

Brandenburg Gate at Night

Almost in Istanbul

I had hoped that the 6 hour layover in Istanbul would allow us to take a short trip into the city, maybe have brunch and just get a feel of the city. Unfortunately, it was not to be. 

Due to how the tickets were bought, we needed to pick up and recheck in the bags. Turkish Airlines were happy to check us in, but bags were only accepted later on; which basically meant the quick trip to the city was out.

Flying in, pre dawn, there was an amazing array of lights over the water. Leaving, it was still fairly cloudy, but the minarets poking through various high rises near the airport made an interesting sight. The airport itself is not much to write of - nothing like Dubai or Singapore - hubs that Istanbul and particularly Turkish Airlines seems to be wanting to emulate. In fact, the airport is rather mundane, although M did seem to get lost in the duty free after we eventually deposited the bags :)

Movie: Nebraska

A story about an old man, struggling alcoholic, pursuing a purpose in life (in which it is clear he will fail); shot entirely in black and white sounds like a depressing film. Instead, Woody's quest to travel 1000 miles to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect his million dollars; is a witty film that uncovers layers of small town America impacted by an economic downturn. In his travels, Woody and his reluctant son stop over in Woody's hometown, and the vultures come out to first prey on Woody's millions and then to prey on his "stupidity". 

There are absolutely amazing performances by the lead characters. It is  a poignant story, and the amazingly witty conversations make this a great movie; worthy of the various nominations.

Thoughts on the JPO's Future

Despite the multi-million Rand Lotto grant, it is quite clear that the survival of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra is far from certain. Financially, an orchestra is an expensive company to run. Based on the information provided during the business rescue, a full time 70 odd person orchestra would require R1.7 million a month on salaries alone (1). In addition there are expenses such as hall hire, payment of conductor, soloists, performance rights, etc. which would mean that the cost that a season would need to recover before the JPO even makes a profit is approximately R6.2 million (since a season will on average cover 3 months).

To try to survive, the orchestra has certainly tried a few things - performers are no longer permanent, the seasons are shorter (too short in my opinion), and the music is mostly in the public domain. In my opinion however, these actions have just extended the lifetime by a few months; this is not a sustainable solution.

In my view the problem with finances boil down to the audience - or rather the lack thereof. Ultimately the JPO's performances are its product, and the fact that the Linder Auditorium does not have close to a full house in each performance is the underlying cause of financial problems. 

For a 12 performance season (2 concerts a week), at an average price R250 a ticket, the orchestra will need to sell 2066 seats per performance. I don't think the Linder Auditorium has that many seats! In fact, in my rough calculation there are about 1200 seats, which would put the average price of R430 - way too high for South African market in my opinion; and that is based on a full house each night!

So clearly sponsorship, whether it's from the the Lotto or from corporates is necessary in order to fill the shortgap. However, the current scenario of half full halls do not help with getting sponsorships; and ultimately makes the survival of the JPO difficult at best. 

This is not a new phenomenon - orchestras around the world are struggling; and the survival of the art itself is effectively under threat. But there are orchestra houses that have made it work. For example, I tried to look for tickets for the Berlin Philharmonic (for my forthcoming trip), and the tickets were sold out - in December, 3 months out. Likewise, when I went to the San Francisco Symphony or the Munich Opera in 2012 only the last few seats were left. Berlin makes a good case study in some respects; the city size and population is similar to Jo'burg, it is a city with a lot of young people, and economically more similar than other German cities. It however does have a rich tradition, and it is one of the top orchestras in the world - so it does help in filling up the seats I suppose!

So ultimately, the discussion does come to; how to fill the seats. Maybe some of these ideas have been tried;  and some do require investment. But here are my thoughts on how to increase audience numbers.

1. Choose another day, perhaps over the weekend

Weekday concerts are hard to attend if you are working in a corporate. It often translates to long days - starting office around 8:00 could mean waking up at 6 or even earlier; leaving JPO at 22:30 means getting to bed at almost midnight. Furthermore, from a few discussions a number of colleagues and friends also mentioned the late time makes it difficult if they have school going kids as it may mean not seeing them at all, or impact getting the kids to school the next day. 

So why not make one of the concerts on a Saturday or Friday. Even a Sunday afternoon may work better. And it would also allow younger children to attend concerts.

2. Have a second venue

Johannesburg is a massive city; and it is linked to two other metros; so audience numbers should really not be a problem. But one venue, in CBD area makes it unattractive for people who stays further north, east or west. 

One thought could be to make a second venue in a different area; perhaps even third and fourth nights if it works in the future. True, there is a lack of large venues, but some such as Montecasino, State Theatre or the Soweto Theatre could be particularly attractive in this case.

3. Make the music more accessible

Most of the write-ups give a short history of the composition followed by a shorter overview of the piece itself in fairly technical jargon. I often find that the Wikipedia overview is far more understandable and accessible; and this mix needs to be corrected in the program notes. It could also be more interesting if the conductor, or the concertmaster gave a short introduction at the beginning. Richard Cock's introductions during the various non JPO concerts in the year are a good example of making the pieces more accessible and keeping the audience engaged in the performance.

4. More contemporary classical music

The current repertoire of old pieces makes it cheaper to perform, but it's not necessarily accessible, especially to people who are unfamiliar with classical music. 

That does not mean people are not familiar with classical music. Music from the movies are the best examples, but there is also music from computer games, advertising, TV series and stage shows. 

This might also open up a new stream of sponsorships - partnership with media companies such as Multichoice and e-TV to perhaps synchronize the music with the movie or TV series; or partner with Sony or Microsoft to perform music related to new (or existing) games. 

That is not to say that classical pieces should not be played at all - just that there should be a balance. And these new pieces would be something new to the established audience.

5. Have a theme

To the non musically trained, such as myself, the programme often comes across as a set of random pieces. They are also often not linked to easy themes - be it a quasi celebration such as Valentine's Day or Halloween; or national holidays such as Freedom Day, Women's Day, etc. In my opinion, last year's Halloween concert was the step in the right direction, and from the audience reaction, it was very well received.

6. More South African music

There have been a few South African composers over the past few years I have attended the JPO; but there could have been much more. Some conductors such as Robert Maxym have quite a few compositions for orchestra in their CV, and perhaps they could conduct their own compositions. This may mean more choral pieces or be unfamiliar, but part of being a South African orchestra should be about playing South African music. 

This could also be extended to cover other heritages that influence South Africa; via the various immigration waves - be it initial European immigration, to Asian immigration to more modern African immigrations. 

7. Advertise more

The JPO hardly advertises, and I have only ever heard event announcements on Classic FM. Advertising is important - wen those who enjoy classical do not necessarily listen to Classic FM; and even if they do; many do not even know a JPO exists (based on a very unscientific poll amongst colleagues and friends). 

 The JPO should really advertise on all the major Gauteng radio stations an make itself known. Billboard adverts etc maybe a step too far (in terms of expenses), but radio ads across multiple stations should be standard.

8. Multimedia Immersion

There are classical pieces that specifically lend themselves to a wider immersive experience. For example, Musorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition or Holst's Planets could be accompanied by projections of the pictures or photos of planets respectively. This could extend to other pieces, especially those linked to operas, musicals or movies. This is not an easy idea to implement, and perhaps the costs do not warrant the implementation - but it could create more context for the audience and thus make the pieces more accessible.

9. Fusion with modern music

Finally, a radical idea. Quite a few years back, the number 1 song on South African radio was "The Goodbye Song" by DJ Cleo. The song featured the famous "Time to Say Goodbye" sung by two young opera singers, with DJ Cleo playing electronic music as the accompanying music. This is hardly a new phenomenon, Deep Purple has an album - Orchestra and Band; Metallica had Symphony&Metallica; Within Temptation had a concert with a full orchestra and choir and locally there was Symphony Rocks. 

Something like this would be more once off; but it potentially gets different audiences to attend, and that is a good thing.

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I am not saying that the ideas above are the only ways to increase audience numbers. They are purely my observations and thoughts in the course of last year, since the JPO's financial crisis was publicized. I hope these ideas give some ideas on resurrecting the finances of the orchestra. I do believe that a fully functional classical music orchestra is a good thing for a city; and it is an important art form to preserve. But time is running out for the JPO, and it needs to turn around soon. If there is another financial crunch - I don't think it will survive another business rescue operation.

(1) using an average of R25k a month, slightly higher than what was reflected in the business rescue documents. 

Movie: The Grandmaster

The cinematography is beautiful - especially the many, well crafted and choreographed fight scenes; accompanied by one of the best sound tracks in modern cinema. The movie traces roughly 20 years of the life of Yip Man - from aristocracy, through the Japanese occupation in World War 2 through to restarting his life (without his family) in Hong Kong after the war. It does not dwell on his famous students (Bruce Lee being the most famous in the Western world at least); and much of the story is difficult to gauge on whether it is biographical or whether it mythological. But perhaps that is the point - maybe the grandmaster is supposed to be such a pinnacle of skill, that (s)he is almost superhuman. 

While it is a visual treat; the story is disjointed and not completely clear. There is a "major" character - The Razor - that seemingly doesn't fit in anywhere in the story. There are plot points, that are never completely explained, and somehow it just doesn't seem to fit all together. But really, it is just worth watching for the music and the stunning fight scenes.

JPO's 1st 2014 Season, 5th Concert

The final concert of the 1^st Season started with Johan Strauss II's Overture to Die Fledermaus - a very popular piece, given the number of times I have heard it on radio. Like many of Straus' compositions (i.e. waltzes), the piece is fun and lively - a great way to start the concert.

For me, Bruch's Concerto for 2 Pianos was the most anticipated piece of the season - not because I had heard it before; just the spectacle. The soloists were Bulgarian duo Aglika Genova and Liuben Dimitrov rounded up the full Bulgarian quota of visitors with conductor Martin Panteleev returning to the podium for the concert. The concerto itself was strange - it starts of, with the pianos imposing themselves, but then retreats in support for much of the concert; before returning with much pomp in the final movement. The concerto was very well recieved, and the duo obliged with three encores - certainly a record for the JPO concerts I have attended. 

I did not particularly enjoy Rachmaninov's 2^nd Symphony - but I am not completely sure why. Perhaps it was because it is quite a long symphony (this was the full hour performance), that sometimes feels like it never ends - or perhaps it was because I was just tired after a long day. 

The 2^nd JPO season will start on 7 May, and start off with Rachmaninov's 2^nd Piano Concerto - that should get a good crowd in for the night!

Opposition Politics in South Africa

The Centre for Ethics at WITS hosted a debate on opposition politics in South Africa last night. The panel consisted of author and talk show host Eusebius McKaiser, UJ Professor Steven Friedman, Independent Newspaper's chief editor Karima Brown and WITS Professor Daryl Glaser. It was an enlightening discussion, although it wasn't really a debate, given that all the panelists more or less agreed on the major discussion points; but the discussion points were still intellectually stimulating and provided some very interesting insights.

The discussion was obviously dominated by a few key themes - DA and whether it got the fact that race is important to most South Africans; EFF and it's actual chances; whether NUMSA would be more effective and what it would take to overcome the ANC hegemony.

Probably the most interesting idea advanced by the panelists, was that opposition parties in South Africa largely do not have any real ideological differences to the ANC. The argument was that the major opposition parties are effectively stating that try are the ANC but would be able to deliver better, and thus they are not really painting a radically different vision for South Africa. And since the ANC currently owns that vision, together with a powerful history of great leaders like Mandela and Tambo together  with the success of liberation; they inherently start off better than the opposition parties. The panelists further agreed that EFF was not radically new vision - but rather a more fundamentalist version of the ANC vision, and thus can be classed in the same pot.

Quite some time was also spent on racial politics and the DA's general incompetence in this regard. Eusebius McKaiser elements put it that the DA's policies are clear as mud which in turn turns off both their existing and prospective supporters. 

Largely, the consensus seemed to be that ANC will win handsomely, and will only be affected by the supporters who agree that other parties would deliver the same vision better. Without a comprehensively new vision however, long term opposition politics will remain in the quagmire that they are not really that different. 

Gautrain vs. Metro Rail

Saturday evening's transit to FNB Stadium brought out the stark difference between them. It is not so much the difference in modernity - that is unavoidable between systems that were built decades apart. 

Rather it is the difference in maintenance and enforcement of rules. For example, Park Station's stairs down to the platform  has a distinct smell of urine; platforms are not really clean; and rules like no smoking in public spaces are not enforced. It also goes wider into signage, sub standard ticketing (no ticket machines?) and just a generally creaking system. 

The one thing that Gautrain can learn - cabin seating. Metro Rail's cabin design with two rows of seats with lots of standing room is far more efficient for commuter transport; and would be a better design for Gautrain too. And Metro Rail can learn from the better enforcement of rules.

An Evening with Santana

Although I heard of the Santana concerts when they were announced, I didn't get round to buying tickets till Friday (for the concert on Saturday) - and even then, only via OLX. Unlike other concerts I have been to, the audience was significantly older - and it did feel strange to go to a concert in a stadium that was seating only. With Gautrain's "Big Night Out" promotion, M and I took the Gautrain to Park Station, followed by the metro train to FNB stadium - an arrangement that worked relatively well - and certainly far better than the organisational chaos that was U2.

Embarrassingly, I didn't even know that Johnny Clegg was the opening act for the night, until I saw the T-Shirts for sale. His 1 hour performance was filled with most his well known hits from over the years, that brought the crowd to its feet; and kept them on their feet for most of the concert. It is strange for a performer to end a set with a slow tribute song, but Asimbonanga is not an ordinary slow song and was a perfect ending to a great set (including the projection of the video on the link as the backdrop).

There was a very efficient 25 minute set change-over to Santana, who would go on to play on for just over 2 hours - although his promise of playing until 6am if the audience was up for it did not materialise.The wet weather was not perfect, but as Johnny Clegg commented - the heavens is showing respect for Santana - the rain did stay away for the full duration of the set!

The band lineup, based on the Wikipedia article, is not the current line-up of the older Santana band members, but the earlier band that has seen most of the success in past 10 years or so. Most of the songs were from his recent albums (since I recognised them :), but given the audience reception from the other songs, it was fairly easy to identify some of the older songs! The set had the expected, amazing instrumental pieces - the fusion of rock, jazz, Latin and African rhythms; and much of the crowd was on its feet for most of the concert.

There were a few songs towards the end performed together with Johnny Clegg, both songs from Johnny Clegg with Santana adding guitar or Johnny Clegg contributing vocals to Santana pieces.

JPO's 1st 2014 Season, 4th Concert - Beethoven

The penultimate concert for the first season featured an all Beethoven line-up, with Bulgarian conductor Martin Panteleev on the podium. It started with one of the most well known (short) orchestral pieces - Egmont Overture; which combines all the best parts of Beethoven's symphonic creations in a single, short piece. It was well performed by the orchestra, and enthusiastically received by a rather sparse audience.

There was a slight change from the published programme, with Zanta Hofmeyr's concerto recital of the Violin Concerto taking place before the break (instead of after). I am not as familiar with the concerto - except for the very familiar 3^rd movement; but the length did warrant its performance after the break in my opinion. Concerto performances make it interesting to observe the soloist's reactions; especially in long pauses where it is only the orchestra performing - as in the first movement, where the soloist slowly, and quite tentatively joins in after what it seems like a couple of minutes. And the piece is quite interesting on how the soloist goes from a tentative participant to a commanding presence in the final parts of the concerto; slowly bringing out the virtuoso performance. It was an amazing performance, that fully deserved the standing ovation. 

The concert finished off the evening with the Second Symphony; which after the first half was a bit of a let down after the majestic performances of the first half; and another motivation for the concerto to have been the final piece!

Movie: 12 Years a Slave

The movie reviews and the general history of slavery do not really prepare you for the brutality of the story recounted in 12 Years a Slave. More than any other movie exploring the subject of slavery, the director and the actors manage to encompass both the physical and mental battles - and the absurd contradictions. On one hand slave owners treated slaves as animals; as property; yet they also lusted after the women for sex. 

The acting performances are amazing across the board and they definitely deliver one of the standout performances of the year. 

This is a difficult movie to watch, not an "entertaining" movie, but definitely one that needs to be watched - so that the atrocities and the thinking are never repeated.

JPO's 1st 2014 Season, 3rd Concert

Robert Maxym, with his translucent shirt, was back on the podium for the 3rd concert for the year for the JPO. The concert started off with Beethoven's Lenore Overture No 3 from his opera Fidelio; and was probably my favourite piece of the concerts so far - almost a mini symphony on its own.

Russian pianist, Konstantin Soukhovetski, is probably the most flashiest male solo performer I have seen at the JPO - complete with sparkling shoes and jacket. I am not a big fan of Mozart, but his performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No 24, was amazing. He was completely absorbed in the music - whether sitting while waiting for the orchestra; or in his own solo performance. Without much prompting, his encore was a piano rendition of song scored by Schumann set in September (at the beginning of Autumn), and the fading  sunlight that brings a slow death to the garden - which he gave a synopsis of, before performing. With the material in mind, it is quite amazing how well the music tracked the emotions described.

The last piece of the evening was Mendelssohn's Symphony No.5 (Reformation) - which I liked in parts - but was mostly bored through it. The Beethoven and the Mozart made up for it though.

Harties Cableway

I first heard of the Harties Cableway when I first moved to Johannesburg - but I was told it was derelict, and no longer operational. About a year ago, while driving through the area - I went past the site on a whim and saw that it was "under construction". Ever since, I have wanted to go up - but just never got round to it.

It's a fixed cable car system, providing a fairly comfortable ride up to the top - with absolutely amazing views of the area - with Johannesburg just visible on the horizon. The last bit to the top is particularly steep - but the cable car speed is fairly gentle with the whole ride taking about 2 minutes. There are a few food places with very reasonable prices - and is generally, a good place to spend an afternoon. 

  

It is hard to imagine riding up on the older cable car system, which are still on display at the bottom.

 

JPO's 1st 2014 Season, 2nd Concert

For a pair of concerts that precede Valentine's Day, most of the music was rather a reflection of broken hearts instead of love and happiness. And all the music was Russian - although there wasn't a link between the nationality and the somberness of the music! Daniel Boico was back (for this week only unfortunately) as the conductor, and, once again he brought great energy to the performance.

The concert did start off brightly - Borodin's Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor. It's a great piece - especially the solos featuring the oboe and the clarinet. It was a great start to the concert. The concerto, featured German cellist, Peter Bruns, playing Shostakovich's 2^nd Cello Concerto. The cello, by default is quite a somber instrument, and the piece itself, was quite somber - even when there was some fanfare or brightness - it seemed to be quickly extinguished.

The final piece, was Tchaikovsky's 6^th Symphony - Pathetique.If there is one piece of music that traces the journey from happiness to sadness and despair - this is probably the best candidate. It even has a great flourish that promises happily ever after, at the end of the 3rd movement; to be brought crushingly down to despair in the final movement.

It was not the best Valentine's Day concert (but then again, it wasn't advertised as such) - but it was still a great concert with superb performances all round.

Lang Lang and Metallica

It is not the first time that Metallica has merged metal with classical, but the collaboration with Lang Lang at the Grammy's is just mind blowing - not only how Lang Lang perfectly fits into the metal performance guise; but also how well the piano merges with a Metallica classic.

Rome2rio

I have been planning my next trip the last few weeks, and a new website - Rome2rio - has been an amazing help for working out travelling options. Combining the full set of bus, taxis, public transport, flights and ferries - it has been a great help in working out the best way to travel between two points - especially when my trip covers quite a wide set of cities in a constrained time period. I have been most impressed by some more off beat suggestions it has thrown up; things that even some tourism sites and travel companies don't mention. Definitely one of the best travel planing websites around!

Buskaid Chamber Concert

St Mary's - a private girls school in one of the richer suburbs in Johannesburg is quite an ironic location to host Buskaid - an ensemble from one of the poorer suburbs of Johannesburg. The Edge, a brilliant auditorium with amazing acoustics paints the gulf between the haves and the have-nots - Buskaid is after all still struggling to add on to their music school.

Buskaid returned for the third year running to the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival, playing yet another eclectic mix of composers, spanning a few centuries; ending off with the Buskaid tradition of kwela. For me, the highlight was Tiisetso Mashishi playing Max Bruch's Romance for Viola and Orchestra Op. 85; but all the pieces were well performed, and well received by an almost capacity audience. 

Buskaid performances are always a highlight and deliver some of the most joyous musical performances on stage. And they definitely deserve to play in the best venues available.

JPO's 1st 2014 Season, 1st Concert

The 2014 concerts for JPO started this week, and for the first time, I decided to get season tickets. For the last few seasons I have managed to go to almost every concert - and the discount makes sense. The seasons have been shortened to 5 concert weeks this year - perhaps it is a cost saving move. The first concert featured conductor Brandon Phillips from Cape Town, and acclaimed pianist Christopher Duigan from Durban - making it an all South African affair.

The concert started with Liszt's Les Préludes, S97 (Symphonic Poem No.3) - which was a bit longer than I expected, with a lot of different moods - which is explained by the origins of the piece. In fact, the entire piece is like a classic story arch - there is a mostly neutral set-up narrative, followed by arguments and strife concluding with celebration and everyone living happily ever after. It's a great piece to start off the year!

Liszt's Piano Concerto No 1 is one of famous piano concertos,easily recognisable, Christopher Duigan played it brilliantly. I think I enjoyed it more than Ben Schoeman's performance in 2011 - but that could be just due to the passage of time! Christopher Duigan's encore (given seemingly quite reluctantly, after the 3^rd round of applause), was a Liszt transcription of a Donizetti opera - was amazing; and got an equally appreciative applause.

Dvořák's 6^th Symphony rounded off the evening, and of the evening, my least favourite. To me, it just didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the concert line-up.

Movie: The Book Thief

Set during World War 2, the story revolves around an adopted girl, Liesel, (it is not completely clear why she is adopted) in a small German town, and the experience of war. Her adopted family hides a Jewish family friend for 2 years, she teaches herself to read - and then falls in love with literature. It is a chronicle of the times where nationalistic songs included hatred of the "non Germans''; where books are burnt and where jobs are dependent on Nazi party allegiances. 

The use of "Death" as the narrator was a stroke of genius in part; spoilt by an annoying voice and some cliched lines. The mangled use of German words in an otherwise English movie is also sometimes annoying; but the story and the acting performances are impressive, especially by Sophie Nélisse as Liesel.

It's a different take on the World War 2 movie - not focused on the politics or the fighting - but rather on the lives the women and children that aren't on the front; and not in the major cities. It's a touching tale of will, hope and bravery; and well worth watching.

Movie: The Wolf of Wall Street

Despite its many excesses, The Wolf of Wall Street doesn't feel like a long 3 hour movie. It is fast paced, with a dramatic tale of drugs, alcohol, money, sex and greed, based on the life of stockbroker (now turned motivational speaker and sales guru) Jordan Belfort.

The movie features some amazing acting performances - especially by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill; and while it does tell the tale from Jordan Belfort's perspective; the impact of the pump-and-dump stock trades is not really explored. Instead, the FBI investigation comes across more as inevitable the fall of the anti-hero rather than arising from actual complaints from harmed consumers. 

Nevertheless, it is a highly entertaining movie, that deserves the rich haul of award nominations (and wins).

Viennese New Year‘s Concert

The opening concert of the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival, was effectively a tribute concert to the Viennese New Year's concerts - a concert with a lot of light, happy music. There were a lot of polka and waltzes (many penned by a Strauss), a few operettas (one even penned by Mozart) and a few other well known highlights. 

One of the great things about Richard Cock as a conductor in these types of events, is how he gets the crowd involved and informed - be it little snippets on the pieces about to be played, or getting the crowd singing or clapping along. It certainly makes these concerts a lot more accessible; than the typical classical music concerts.

Talking and Feeling Plants

One of the main arguments made by vegans and vegetarians supporting their food choice relates to not causing animals pain. The argument is quite compelling, especially given many modern, high volume, farming methods - but it is usually hypocritical, in that the defence of animals rarely extends to insects and other less "cute" animals.

Some recent studies now seem to close down the argument on plants not feeling pain. The Economist has a very interesting article reviewing work showing, experimentally, that not only do plants feel pain, but they also have the capacity to remember the circumstances when they felt pain. Another article in Wired, had a discussion on plants communicating warning between each other - although this was restricted in terms of location and species of plants. 

This is quite interesting beyond just the concept of plants being sentient (although I think Ents are a bit far off). It extends our own understanding of what biological constructs may exist for nervous systems - and that the traditional known nervous systems are not the only ones. Perhaps, in one of the planets out there, there is a sentient species that are just like Ents :)

Why the e-tag?

I first heard about the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project in 2008 - and that included a fairly detailed discussion on how the project was going to be paid for - tolling. The discussion document, compiled by a senior manager at a large construction company, provided views of the work packages, proposed designs for new interchanges, the proposed timelines for the work and the proposed toll fee of 50c per KM.

I don't like the idea of tolling - but in my opinion OUTA's (and for that matter COSATU and the DA) actions were largely misdirected. Tolling came across, because of a single failure - politicians across the board (from every party) - be it local government, provincial government or national government - not doing their jobs. It is after all their responsibility to vet proposed actions, such as road improvements. And the tenders were all public documents; well advertised - the people who were elected to look after such things, didn't. And a few years after the projects were awarded, it became a hot button issue.

While a lot has been made of the tolling process - one of the questions I haven't seen being raised, is why the e-tag? Let's take the system without e-tags; which is fully functional whether you are registered or not. When a car goes under the gantries, the license plates are captured; and the number plate is deciphered. If the number plate is linked to a registered account, appropriate discounted charges are calculated and deducted from the account. If the number plate is not linked to a registered account, the charges are compiled; and after a certain period of time, an invoice is sent through based on the vehicle registrations details.

So what value does the e-tag add? Firstly, it is not necessary to get the discounted rates. Secondly, it is not transferable - it can only be used with one vehicle. It does not help with unlicensed vehicles - since those vehicles can't get e-tags anyway. In fact, the only benefits I can see are 1) the double-beep to tell you that the account is getting too low and 2) reuse in other toll roads that support e-tags (which don't have cameras). People who use the roads covered by earlier verision of e-tags regularly, already have e-tags - and the use case is easier to defend - pay on the spot, or use an e-tag. That doesn't extend to open-road tolling.

But the whole e-tag infrastructure adds additional cost; additional RFID readers, additional tags, the whole registration process etc. Instead, a more rational process with open road tolling would have been to simply issue accounts -  just like the municipalities do - and provide discounts for early payment, and penalties for late payment. And just like any credit process, provide for debt collection. Registration or pre-paid accounts can also be handled through the same process - but just adds extra administration overhead. 

Instead, with the added complication of registration and e-tags, SANRAL has gotten itself lots of headache and delays - with absolutely no additional benefits.

Movie: Carrie

I have not read Stephen King's book, nor have I watched the earlier versions of this movie. Carrie, a quiet and reclusive teen brought up by her very religious mother (brilliantly portrayed by Julianne Moore), gets bullied in school, discovers that she has telekinetic (and other) powers (naturally from the devil), and has a meltdown that takes out the whole school when the bullying goes overboard. It's better than most teen (or is it young adult?) movies and good entertainment; but nothing spectacular.

Movie: Jeune & Jolie (Young and Beautiful)

The plot is fairly simple - a young woman (girl?) looses her virginity, but doesn't enjoy the experience - during her summer holidays. Back home, she becomes a secret call girl - mainly catering to rich, old men; where she experiences a wide range of sexual activities - although; except for one "john", she doesn't ever seem to actually enjoy the experience.

The movie makes no moral judgement (though it does present various sides of the arguments around prostitution) - neither does it present any motivation on the choice of becoming a prostitute. It is like a study of a rebellious teenager - but one that doesn't draw any conclusions, nor offers any theories. 

And, in that respect, the movie was unrewarding.

Is it worth it?

In Bruce Shneier's TED talk from 2011, he comments that the critical question on security is "is the tradeoff worth it?". In the whole NSA debate, there has been much written and commented about the programmes, the programmes' impact on individuals' rights to privacy (both American and foreign citizens) and the ethics around such a programme.

However, the question on whether the NSA programme's trade-offs were actually worth it - as in a full cost benefit analysis, has only been tangentially discussed. In this regard, a paper by Mueller and Stewart, provides a good overview of the cost benefit analysis. Even, in the absense of numerical values, the benefits provided by the programme are actually quite low.

The paper is a vital discussion that has, so far been poorly addressed. More than anything else - surely a programme that costs billions, but has very little identifiable benefits, should be seen as fruitless expenditure. Given the US's current political stances on budget defecit - it almost seems like cutting the NSA programmes themselves will address the gap!

New Year's Eve at V&A Waterfront

It has been a number of years since I spent New Year's Eve at V&A Waterfront, and the even has certainly grown. From the  amphitheatre, the musical acts have now moved to a specially constructed stage on Jetty 1. It means more people can be accommodated, but it makes the music far less intimate - with a wide body of water separating the artists from the crowd.

The highlight event is the fireworks, and this year was spectacular. Some of the fireworks made shapes in the sky - an effect I hadn't seen before. There were some other performers around the V&A - the fire dancer was the most interesting.

Da Vinci - The Genius Exhibition

Located at the Chavonnes Battery Museum in the Clocktower Precinct, the exhibition does a great job tracing the many contributions of Leonardo Da Vinci. There are reproductions of his notebooks, with great details on his amazing anatomical drawings; there are miniature and a few full size models of his many machines - including the tank, his gliders and artillery weapons. There are reproductions of some of his most famous paintings - and a very detailed look at the Mona Lisa.

It's a great, and fairly thorough exhibition on Da Vinci's many accomplishments. It is a touring exhibition, and the scope in itself is unique. The only criticism I have, is that there not enough focus on the other art works and sculptures.

It runs until February 2014, and is highly recommended.

Sidewalk Cafe

It's a strange place to have a cafe - quiet, posh suburb - but the location on the slopes of Table Mountain leads to amazing views outside. It is a cross between hippy and yuppie - the healthy drinks, the quirky design - and the patrons mostly seem to be stylish yuppies. The food is great, and well priced - a great place for lunch really.

Franschoek

For some reason, I had never been to Franschoek before today. Famous for its food scene, boasting many of South Africa's top restaurant, it is actually not that far from Cape Town - most trips in Gauteng take longer. 

To be honest, there doesn't seem to be much else, other than food. There are some shops off course, but not I did not find it to be a place to go to do stuff. 

The location is very scenic, and Franschoek pass is a very scenic drive - both for the views of Franschoek on one side, and the rocky ravine on the other. The drive and food are rewards enough.

Kalk Bay Harbour

I love the energy at Kalk Bay harbour - it has a great fishing village vibe, and the wheeling and dealing by the fishing folk as they sell their freshly caught fish is great to watch.

DW-11-13

DW-11-13 was rated by Eat Out as the best restaurant in Gauteng; and P and I have been meaning to go there for quite a while. With P moving back to the Western Cape, we finally went round to going to DW-11-13 for lunch. While the food is expensive, it was not significantly more than some of the other good restaurants I have been to in Johannesburg; and food was substantially better and is well deserving of its accolades. In particular, the desserts are amazing - and in fact, it is worth going to DW-11-13 just for the desserts.

Movie: Ender's Game

Visually, Ender's Game is magnificent; from the zero gravity fights in the Battle Room to the final space battles; it is a visual feast. Unfortunately, the soul of the book is pretty much taken out - the main story arc is neutered with shortcuts, that doesn't even show the growth of Ender to become the commander - and the side story arcs (especially Peter and Valentine's transformation to Locke and Demosthenes) are almost completely absent. Ender's Game is the type of story that deserves to have the Hobbit treatment - the story needs to be told holistically using all the source material. As a 2 hour popcorn movie; it works - as a visual transcription of an amazing fictional universe; it doesn't.

Movie: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Peter Jackson's epic retelling of JRR Tolkien's children's story continue - with even more inspiration from other sources in the Middle-Earth universe, to tie the Hobbit closer to the Lord of the Rings. Now, Gandalf's frequent periods away from the troupe of dwarves and their hobbit burglar is explained by his side trips to investigate the rise of Sauron. 

IMO, most of the embellishments are welcome - the universe is rich and detailed, and the overall story itself is richer and more compelling through the embellishments (most of which are from actual source material). However, some are just overly distracting - Azog's continual chase of the dwarven party and the inter-species love-triangle - being the main ones for me. 

The other main  gripe for me - is the sudden, inexplicable changes in geography - almost like a Bollywood song & dance routine. One minute they are on a mountain top being chased by wargs, next minute they are running through a field of flowers; still chased by wargs. 

The approach taken in the Hobbit does raise an interesting question - should the entire Middle-Earth universe not be better served with a wider, chronologically perfect, movie/TV series. Tolkien's world is rich with tales, and an epic series would put Game of Thrones to shame. Yes, Smaug in the massive cave with golden treasure is amazing on the big screen - but even a small screen rendition of the entire universe would be worthwhile.

Ender Series

I first read about Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, when commentary about the movie started appearing on the web. Intrigued, I read the first chapter at Exclusives, and then got hooked - so got the full series. 

While it is sometimes a straight forward science-fiction novel, what I really like about the series, is the intersection of philosophical discussions on alien interactions - something that is not only applicable with regards to interactions with other sentient species (whose numbers are now far more probable) but also species that seem to be non-sentient. It effectively turns the idea of animal rights on its head - does the fact that humans don't understand communication of other animals on Earth imply that they are not sentient - but rather that we merely can't communicate with them. 

The other key idea is the concept of life itself - specifically, when should a computer program, without a physical presence be considered alive. I did not particularly like the eventual descent into metaphysics of what is the soul - but the very idea of an artificial program that could be alive and is alive in all senses but for the fact that there is no physical body; is a great construct.

It is a brilliant series, and the series had amazing foresight - given that many of the technologies such as the Internet, mobile devices, social media etc. did not exist (or existed only in a very early form) when the series was written. I especially enjoyed the second (Speaker for the Dead) and third (Xenocide) books - and the full series is well worth reading.

Movie: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

For many trilogies, the second book is often the bridge with a lot of plot development but little in terms of action. In the Hunger Games series, the second book, Catching Fire, IMO, is the most interesting. The first book introduces the reader to a very impressive dystopian world, and the third book's plot line is rather expected. The second book is a bridge - but the brutality of the Hunger Games world is amazing in its depiction. The movie is quite true to the book's depiction, although not as much time is spent on the game itself. It is a very worthy sequel, and a worthy film translation.

Goodbye Madiba ...

The first email notification I saw this morning around 5am, on my iPad was an email from J, titled "Nelson Mandela". I didn't read the email then - I was quite sure what it would be about - and it was confirmed when I opened Flipboard - and every other newsite/app. Even Fox News has an obituary - and the only one I saw that referenced the fact that he was listed as a terrorist by the US government.

It was not an unexpected event - he was 95 years old, he was critically ill for a year - but it was a somber day nonetheless. Colleagues even mentioned how quiet and somber it was - not only in the office we were in; but also in other offices.

I don't have a Madiba story - but modern South Africa, is in itself the Madiba story. The remarkable progress made by South Africa is almost unparalleled in other parts of the world that has seen opression - or still have opression in one form or another. That is his biggest gift - and if others can emulate, his biggest legacy. 

Thank you Madiba.

Movie: The Butler

Based on a true story, The Butler recounts the very inspiring tale of a black man who flees the opressive American South in the early 1900's to eventually become the most trusted Butler in the White House. Forest Whitaker delivers an amazing performance, and is ably supported by a superb cast including Oprah Winfrey (as the alcoholic wife) - superimposing the struggles against racial inequality, the American civil rights movement, and the Butler's front row seat in the heart of the political machinations.

The problem of the movie however, as extensively documented in Wikipedia and elsewhere, is that the story is quite far removed from the truth in many details. The movie is based on a Washington Post article, and the real story, by all acounts is very much worth telling - without embellishment. The fact that so many distorting story naratives are introduced; the actual power of the true story is somewhat lost. It does not take away from an excellent movie - but it does tarnish the real story's power.

Suitcase

Guitar duo CH2 and cellists from "The Paz Consort", combined to give a great concert melding classical and contemporary music together. It was really a dark, stormy night - maybe a factor in a half full venue at University of Johannesburg's Arts Centre; and it certainly deserved a full house. The guitar work of CH2 is amazing, especially in the virtuoso pieces - but the melding of genres was very impressive. It was certainly worth braving the downpour!

Parklife Festival - Nov 2013

Planned to celebrate summer, Parklife Festival is set to be a bi-annual concert series; the first one taking place in March this year. While there was a great lineup of bands; SA super band Seether was the real attraction. The organization at Marks Park was excellent, and although the rain threatened throughout (including a few drops), it stayed away.

I had originally thought to go fr Desmond and the Tutus, but M and I went to lunch at 44 Stanley instead; but did make it for Taxi Violence. It has been a long time since I last saw them, and didn't really enjoy them today; so we didn't stay too long. So instead we headed off to the main stage to start staking our places.

One man band, with a few mates, Jeremy Loops was the act before Seether on the main stage. He is certainly a great musician, combining loops of harmonica, vocals, guitar and beat-boxing (all recorded live) - it is quite impressive to see it all come together. The lyrics are fairly simple (and not much to speak of); but he is an interesting act to see live.

There was no point to go see The Dirty Skirts; and rather we decided to et a really good place to see Seether. The Seether set was largely acoustic, and devoid of the stand and deliver approach of the previous shows. It was rather sedate in their standards (after all, in Opikopi last year, Shaun Morgan finished by smashing his guitar) - but it was more interactive, more engaging - and overall a perfect performance for a Sunday afternoon.

 

Starting the show with the Saron Gas standard - Gasoline, it was really hit after hit. There was a strange lul when they played a cover of a Neil Young song, but every Seether song was sung with gusto by the crowd.

The encore was interesting, as one of the roadies, Brian, joined in for the performance Remedy. It was another great performance by Seether and hopefully the Parklife Festival brings in more great bands in the future.

ZaCon 5

If ZACon 5 was a true representation of the security practitioners in South Africa, it would seem that there are next to no women - after all, only 1 lady in the audience of 100 plus gives a pretty skewed demographic. Perhaps this is a phenomenon more in the hacker community itself? Perhaps it is due to the fact that the event is on a Saturday? I have commented on diversity of ZACon before, and in other respects the audience was far more diversified, be it race, organisations or age - so, it seems like gender is the final frontier :) 

Organisationally, this was the best ZACon yet - better signage, better communication, up to date scheduling (even if it did run late, and the scheduling did changed a lot), AV and sound set-up etc. As Dominic commented, ZACon is growing up, and it seems to be sustainable footing - and this is a local security conference that deserves to continue. The content was also impressive, covering a variety of interests, although there was a strong "electronics" theme. 

Dimitry started off proceedings on the use of Markov chains to create more efficient password attacks. In principle, it is a great idea, but his actual demonstration and training data was did not make sense. Password complexity rules have almost ruled out the use of plain dictionary words as passwords, and thus the solution did not have the gravitas that it could have.

Jason presented the most interesting talk, on Mains Signalling. Basically, Mains Signalling is the use of signalling on the electrical grid, allowing for controlling of electrical systems. The technology is old, undocumented, and very topical with regards to the move to Demand Side Management, across the world. Through literally years of effort, and off the shelf components, Jason managed to decode some of the signal codes - including that of traffic lights, street lights and geysers. Given that there is absolutely no authentication or authorisation built into the system, anyone with the capability to send modulated signals on the electrical grid can cause havoc - and this is something that, to my knowledge, is not addressed as part of next generation grids. Yes, it is a far more local attack - but also far more economically damaging.

Jeremy ("Panda") presented an interesting investigation on the command and control servers for the Poison Ivy botnet (and two others). Through interception of communication, NMAP and tracking IP addresses and domain registration records; and managed to identify a number of additional domains and command and control servers. And amazingly, many command anc control servers are themselves vulnerable to many attacks, due to bad configuration and vulnerabilities within the Poison Ivy system. The approach will not work for all botnets, but this is certainly a good step forward in combating botnets.

Brazilian Marcos (studying at UJ) presented the most complex talk on detecting obfuscated obfuscation routines.  The use case is better detection of malware, but could also be used to attack software that uses obfuscation as a protection mechanism. Detecting and reversing good obfuscation is difficult and although the presentation is very much in initial stages; it does have good promise.

Rhodes MSc student Adam talked about his research on active honeypots. Traditional security technologies, like firewalls and anti-virus systems have high cost in detection, but low cost in carrying out enforcement. Conversely, honeypots have low cost in detection, but high cost in actually carrying out meaningful actions. The presentation was therefore on building a converged system - low cost of detection, and low cost of enforcement. In some respects it is a better IPS - and the approach is interesting; though probably not completely scalable. 

Dave from MWR's UK office gave the scariest talk of the day - on how it is easy to hijack ad networks to infiltrate ad-supported apps on mobile devices; most notably on Androids and jail broken iPhones. Ads are effectively webkit implementation within apps; but through bad design, vulnerable implementations, intentional wish to hijack data, bad sandboxing, and ads inhering permissions of the underlying apps, ad networks are effectively able to pull various types of data, or take actions such as sending messages or making calls. This means that the attacker can effectively hijack legitimate ads for their own purposes (since ad network traffic is often unencrypted) or in an easier (but potentially tractable) attack, launch an ad campaign that sets out to attack their targets. It was  truly fascinating insight into the problems with the current mobile advertising landscape and the lack of real incentives to address the problems.

Mark, also from MWR, but the SA office, gave an insightful overview of Control Area Networks (CAN), specifically in the cars. While there was some exploration on possible vulnerabilities, it was more of a discussion on reverse engineering. There are interesting avenues to pursue - especially remotely via avenues such as keyless entry or telemetry broadcasts for race cars. 

In the past year, Robert, started a conversation on building a data diode - or a one way transmitter of data. Considering the massive cost (some over 100's of thousands of Rands) of commercial systems, Robert's solution, costing less than R5000, is therefore an amazing hack; and one that works as advertised. 

The last talk was by Shcalk, on designing a low-gain directional Wi-Fi antenna; but was really mostly about 3D printing and house-4-hack. The 3D printer itself has got awards, and this is a good showcase of entrepreneurship. It was a good follow up to Roelof's (from Paterva) talk on the basic building blocks for building a successful business. It was a good way to close off a fascinating day.