Movie: Fierce People

Diane Lane plays a single mother, massage therapist, with a drug and alcohol problem. The young son, is just about to be reunited with his father (a world renowned anthropologist, studying the Yanomani tribe in the amazon rain forest), when he is busted in a drug raid, destroying his summer holiday. So the two of them, pack up and end up living in the estate of a billionaire (who needs a massage therapist). The movie, is effective a study of the rich people tribe ... surely just as different to the common people.

Brilliant acting, great story and Donald Sutherland makes a great patriarch. There is a bit of a murder mystery, not that difficult to spot really - but over all, a great movie to watch.

Theatre: The Lesson

Another PlayGround reading performance - and a lot more entertaining performance. The Lesson is a play by Eugene Ionesco, about a young lady who goes for a lesson at the house of a renowned professor. The play is brilliant in its absurdity ... trying to enunciate the difference in languages, but using one language as the medium or the absurdities of simple arithmetic. And the performances were great to boot - even if it was just a reading and not a full blown performance.

My Coke Fest 2007

Last year's concert was going to be hard to live up to, and not surprisingly, Metallica's performance still remains the best live performance I have seen. That said, this year's festival, was not bad at all - and the South African bands were particularly impressive. And so was the event organisation - plenty of space, plenty of facilities, plenty of food and drink, and hardly any queues. That said, things seemed to be more expensive (R150 for T-Shirts!) and the set up times seemed quite long. Also, with the absence of Guns N' Roses, it was expected that some of the bigger SA bands, especially the Nudies to play longer sets. Sadly, they were all limited to 20 minutes, with the Nudies playing for 30 minutes. So, a festival billed as 12-12, ended up being 12:30-11! Also, the advertised last band, "Lonehill Estate" did not even play.

But the best part: after 4 days of rain, there was no rain, little wind and quite a warm night, under a full moon. What else do you need for a rock concert?

Bed on Bricks

I have always enjoyed the Bed on Bricks, and have seen them live a number of times. Their live act is superb, and have some interesting songs, especially Humanarium. A great performance, to start the show.

Taxi Violence

I have always wanted to see them ... but manage to have conflicting commitments every time. So, Taxi Violence was always going to be a highlight for me; and they did not disappoint. They seemed to have a lot of fans in the crowd, and they played well. Although, to be honest, I can't remember too many specifics of their performance ...

Love Jones

Love Jones is a very quirky band - weird style, some weird lyrics ... what Sam described as very kitsch. I don't know if kitsch is the right word, but they are a crossover between 70/80s style with a very indie feel. A very energetic performance, and really cool songs; plus a nice bonus story about a band being sponsored by a green airline to fly to Cape Town :P I would love to see a hour gig from them!

The Dirty Skirts

I had previously seen them perform live, for one song at Obz Fest (they were about to finish), nothing to form an opinion (and it was over a year ago). The Dirty Skirts were really impressive , and I think they have a very similar sound to Kaiser Chiefs. Very good performance, and very good music; and I think they were the best South African band on show.

The Parlotones

After a hard rock band, the Parlotones' soft/pop rock was a bit of a downer ... but the thing about pop rock - almost every one knows the songs, and everyone can sing along. In that sense, the Parlotones were brilliant, and really started to get the crowd going.

The Springbok Nude Girls

This was meant to be the last stop in their relaunch tour. With that in mind, I was really expecting the new music. But understandably, with their time constraints, they could only play 3 old songs, before they launched into their old, crowd favourites. I think a lot of people were disappointed with the short time given to the Nude Girls, and on a performance level, they were miles ahead of the other SA bands. They could however take a leaf out of Evanescence on how to interweave old and new songs together in a show.

Hoobastank

Definitely the best band when it came to interacting with the crowd! Really great stage show, and great performance. Played a number of their big hits, together with some less well known (as in frequent radio play) music. And, they asked everyone to get their music, even if it is downloaded from the Internet. It seems, like many others, they have chosen to follow the path of getting money through shows rather than album sales. Maybe, it's time I expanded my Hoobastank collection.

Staind

IMO, Staind was the second best band on show. Like Seether last year, their on stage performance was rather static - not too much jumping up and down etc. But that was all made up, with the quality of their music. Their songs are really good, and musically one of the best bands on show yesterday. I have heard a few Staind songs on the radio, but never a complete album. I think it is high time I acquired a their albums ...

3 Doors Down

After the heavier Staind, 3 Doors Down was a bit more pop, and they also interacted well with the crowd, and generally had a good show. They also played two songs live for the second time (first being the Coke Fest in Jo'burg) and had a good mix of old and new songs. There was also a swipe at Axl Rose and Guns N' Roses for not making the trip, with some verses of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". Personally, I think a cover of "Sweet Child O' Mine" would have been better. They ended of with "Looser" and were joined by Aaron Lewis (of Staind), something I think more bands should have been doing (collaborating with others).

Evanescence

Evanescence was the band I wanted to see from the beginning, and I was not disappointed. Amy Lee is a fantastic singer, and the blend of her voice with heavy rock music is simply brilliant. Amy Lee did not interact as much as Hoobastank with the crowd, but their set was brilliant, and the inclusion of a grand piano with heavy rock was just impressive. Their playlist was brilliantly set up with a good combination of their older songs from "Fallen" and their new songs from "The Open Door". A brilliant performance, and well deserving of the headline act status.

Theatre: A Lie of the Mind

So it was a bit of a cultured weekend - I read "A life of Pi" and watched a theatre performance ... effects of the rain I suppose. The Baxter Theatre hosts a "Play Ground reading" - basically, actors get together (for a week) to read a play - not a fully polished performance: actors still carry their lines, the sets are crude and costumes are hardly perfect; and given a week, accents and other details are not perfect. But it allows the actors to stage plays that are interesting, and may not become commercial success.

I have been to two of these before, and thoroughly enjoyed them. A friend of my house-mate Donal was performing, so it was a good way to spend a cold wet evening. And the performances were brilliant - and yes unpolished. But for the play itself - written by Sam Shepard, it is a convoluted story of miscommunication in Middle America. Funny dialogue, brilliant banter; but I left wondering what it was all about - there were story plot lines that just did not seem complete; and the story itself did not make much sense. Entertaining yes - but what was the story? Not sure ... maybe it was at a higher intellectual plane ...

The Cricket World Cup Farce

Australlia, deservedly, won the World Cup. Regardless of our number one ranking, we never really deserved it, neither did we ever feel comfortable saying that we were the number one team in the world. And, with respect to the world cup, we can't say that we are the number two team in the world - Sri Lank, were deserving runners up, and gave Australlia their closest match.

The fact is, the organising and the format of the World Cup has been a farce. A 7 week tournament? Cricket tours are sometimes shorter than that! How many people have the time to watch all the matches? And then there was the number of mismatches. In fact, it would be fair to say, that there were only a few really close or exciting matches - a small percentage. In hindsight, it all started with the "super" stage nonsense ... bring back the format of 1996! And if you want less of a knockout, then use the 2003 format without the super stage.

It is sad that some of the best players had to end their careers in this farce. Excet for Glen McGrath off course. He took the most wickets, didn't have to bat, and walked off with the player of the tournament. He went off with a high, and deservedly so. But, to see Brian Lara's last game ended with a run out, or Flemming's last match in a thrashing by Sri Lanka? They deserved better; and the cricketing supporters deserved better.

Movie: Venus

The movie is a simple concept really - an old man, a somewhat celebrated actor, at the end of his life; charming a young girl, who is the grand niece of his best friend. It can be seen as a somewhat creepy, love across the ages (Anna Nicole Smith?) but without the gold digging. But is somewhat more ... yes there is love, but it is more about the interaction between the old and the young - going to a theatre and then going out clubbing ... quoting Shakespeare and quoting Spice Girls. And even though the movie is ultimately sad, it is funny - the interactions between the old men just absolutely brilliant.

And, ultimately it is a movie about acting, by some of the most celebrated actors ever. Peter O'Toole, playing the lead old man, was nominated for his 8th Oscar (incidentally he has never won one); and it has references to other movies and plays everywhere. It is worth watching for his acting alone.

Lessig and Free Development

The SA chapter of the Internet Society hosted a talk by Lawrence Lessig (wikipedia link). As the person who invented Creative Commons, Lessig is definitely an interesting speaker, and an interesting mix to Stallman and Co. The talk was more evangelising than anything else - I have come across most of the ideas before, both for my PhD work and other areas. Looking at the network stack, Lessig wants to promote the freeing up of the other stacks (TCP/IP is already free) to cater for commons, non profit usage.

His proposals have merit - the market space of the operating system and network providers, is often dominated by monopolies; and the monopolies have a direct say in what is available and supported by the operating systems and networks.

It is evident in UCT itself for example - ICTS as the sole provider of network access at UCT has the authority to decide what type of traffic is acceptable and not acceptable. It can dictate that certain applications should not be used; and thus block it. It can decide to throttle speeds etc etc. The argument is, that this type of operation, while probably fine for a company or even a community is not suitable for a country and even the world at large.

The problem is changing the mindset - after all; most IT guys don't want to talk the law. And most lawyers and legislators don't talk code. Maybe if we all did, it would be much better?

Movie: 300

There are two ways to review this movie. It is visually stunning, over the top, a simple, straight forward plot line - all hallmarks of a great adaptation of a graphic novel. It is highly entertaining and enjoyable.

But it can also be seen as political and historical commentary - esp as it is a fictionalised account of a real event. The real event: a war between Sparta and Persia, where the Spartans were out numbered, but eventually won. But, it was nothing in the scale proposed by 300. In a a modern setting, it is like saying 300 men first went into D-Day, and paved the way for the latter onslaught. Most people, whether literate or not, get their history through visual means; ;not by reading. How many people learnt a bit of the history of Scotland through Braveheart for example? Surely, there should be a motivation to get the history fundamentally correct?

And lastly, it is a political comment - that a well trained army will always defeat a massive army of lesser talent; and we should never reference any help that is actually offered on the way. It is a war between the east and the west - it is a war about defending freedom (aparently). I am not sure, if the bloodshed potrayed is really good propaganda ...

Just Sarah and Fevertree

A bunch of us were thinking of going out to see live bands, and after much deliberation, we settled on going to Zula Sound Bar on Long Street. We didn't know too much about the bands, except that I had heard of Fevertree and the other bands on offer (at other venues) were either not liked or too expensive.

Just Sarah, fronted by Sarah I assume, describe themselves as a Indie/Pop rock band. And while there were one or two interested lyrics, on the whole they were not that great. Too much teen angst etc etc.

Fevertree on the other hand, are a great band to watch, great music, great stage acts, and just on a different level really, when compared to Just Sarah. It is no wonder - they are a SAMA nominated band! What was really disappointing was the crowd - they just did not seem to be interested; and there were just a few of us who seemed to really appreciate the music. And this is not a new thing; I have seen many bands suffer the same problem ... and they suffer despite their music being quite good ...

Phone Spoofing

Finally, the plebs have woken up! In this week's Mail and Guardian, there is a story about phone spoofing. It is about time really ...

How many times have you got a call, from some one telling you that they are from the bank or from a company XYZ ... how do you authenticate them? Phishing is too easy, as most people don't both ... just phone up some one and tell them that you are verifying their identity by checking their bank account number.

I remember, when I turned the tables and asked a bank clerk who phoned me to authenticate themselves. They seemed so surprised ... I take it most people don't do that from their response. But the biggest problem facing the consumer is, what do you use to authenticate a bank (or similar institution)? They do have public identifiers (company registration numbers etc) but those are public anyway. That, in the end is the biggest problem - how do you create mutual authentication without a predetermined code and without revealing any secrets? I sense a research topic ...

Movie: Ghostrider

A young man makes a pact with the devil to save his father; and when he grows up he becomes the ghost rider - the devil's bounty hunter. The idea of the movie is great; and it could have been a classic. But the execution was horrible: the script was bad; the action scenes were not that great, and apart from the CGI, there was nothing really brilliant about the whole movie. In fact, the list of plot holes on IMDB gives the idea I think ...

Movie: Happy Feet

I really wanted to watch this movie when it was on circuit, but I never got round to it. I quite like animated movies, their scorelines are usually simple, but I prefer the humour over slapstick comedy in most other types comedies.

The story is simple enough: in a colony of emperor penguins, who sing to find mates, there is a chick born who can't sing, but can tap dance instead. It's a story about having fun, fitting in when you are different and the effects of human over fishing. A bit simple, yes; but it is really an animated musical.

Unfortunately, it is not as clever as Shrek or Shrek 2; nor is it as beautiful as Finding Nemo. It is just average really ...

Masala Dhosa

I am a big fan of Dhosa, a South Indian rice pancake, usually served with very hot, dry curry, coconut chutney and sambar (a lentil soup/dhal with lots of vegetables and usually sour). There is a store in Long Street that sells Masala Dhosa (called Masala Dhosa) and I tried it out.

Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed - the dhosa was good but the accompanying curries and sambar was not, and on the whole was largely unsatisfying. And it cost way too much ...

Old Town House and Slave Lodge

I had a meeting at the Department of Sports, whose offices are located at Greenmarket Square. From my past experiences with trying to get parking in that area (and with the free concert taking place tonight) I decided to rather use the Jammie shuttle. Public transport can be remarkably efficient, and I had about 15 minutes to kill before my appointment. Thus, I took the opportunity to have a look at the Old Town House, which is on Greenmarket Square, and referred to as the centre of Cape Town (unlike the City Hall, which is usually the centre of town). As one of the oldest buildings in Cape Town, it is interesting in itself, but the exhibitions were being changed, and thus there wasn't much to see really.

After my meeting, I did not feel like coming back to UCT, and thus decided to continue my cultural exploration of Cape Town and visit Slave Lodge on Adderley Street.

Slave Lodge is a remarkable social history museum, in three parts. The most interesting is definitely the history of Slavery in South Africa; an often overlooked part of our history. Slave Lodge was originally the "storage and processing" centre for slaves, and thus an appropriate location to explore this part of our history. Of the South African museums and galleries I have visited, this was by far the most interesting and well presented exhibition. There is also some history of Afrikaans, a language that was born out of the slave trade by the slaves (through the amalgamation of different languages). It is most ironic that the language of the slaves became the tool to oppress others, 100 plus years after the abolition of slavery.

The other parts of the museum - a cultural history, through music, weapons, silverware, pottery and a small section on Egypt, seem a bit disjointed really and seemed to be largely ignored by the other visitors. The third part looks even more out of space, with an exploration of segregation in the USA, but parallels are drawn with Apartheid, and in that context it sort of "makes sense".

Movie: The Good Shepherd

In The Talented Mr Ripley, Matt Damon played a heartless bastard, and celebrated the idea that a villain could be the hero of a movie (and not suffer death or prison). In The Good Shepherd, Matt Damon is back playing a cold hearted, calculating, bastard ... it's a role that suits him well I think.

The Good Shepherd examines the early life of the CIA, but primarily through its effect on one of its veterans; and the effect of his job in other aspects of his life. It is far too long, and while it is a very interesting story, it just does not feel like a feature movie; but rather a mini series or something along that line. And apart from Matt Damon as a cold calculating bastard, there are no stand out performances or anything really worthwhile watching .... best avoided really.

Movie: Babel

There are really four separate stories here - a story of a village herding family, a story of a married american couple on holiday in Morocco, a story of a deaf and mute girl trying to get to grips with society's apparent rejection and a mexican nanny trying to balance caring for other peoples kids with the need to participate in her own children's lives.

Off course there is a connecting thread through it all; and like Pulp Fiction and Crash, the movie follows each story at its own pace. And more like Crash, the movie is a social commentary - on socity's general treatment of people who are not like ourselves ... immigrants, foreigners and the disabled. But it is also a movie about celebration - of how strangers are willing to help strangers, of how technology could make the disabled be more normal (3G video calling is a godsend for the deaf) and how the nanny's family treats the kids, who are really intruding on a very special family occasion.

The acting is superb, the filming is brilliant - esp when parts of the movie is shown through the deaf girl; how do you go clubbing when you can't hear the DJ - and it is well worth watching.

Culture and Shit

I have never watched Shallow Hal, but the quote describes yesterday morning in a way. Hans-Peter and I went to watch the RAG Floats procession around 11am, and then proceeded to see the National Gallery and have a general walk about in the Cape Town CBD. I have done this in many other cities, but I suppose it was time to do the same in the city I now call home.

As for the RAG Floats, I think it is a good move to go back to Adderley Street. There seems to be a lot more people, and more enthusiasm for the event. The theme was great inventions, although I don't think two of the floats, the soccer ball and the vuvuzela, really qualified, but maybe it's a matter of interpretation. And another interesting point - so many of the inventions were entertainment related: the iPod, the Jukebox and the TV. And there were only two engineering inventions on parade: the steam engine (again Kopano led the way with innovation, with steam coming out of the engine) and the hot air balloon (although it was a bad float as such).

And off course, the floats wouldn't be the floats, without the Dummies and their nursemaids.

As for the national gallery, it's really small. But there are are a few pieces that make it absolutely worth it (and it's free anyway). A bust of Othello in a hood, made completely of stone (I think, very solid regardless), but really looks like cloth, even up close.

There is also an old painting of Cape Town, with the harbour (or was it just a canal) near the City Hall. So, after lunch at the German Deli (in Gardens Centre), Hans-Peter and I walked back to see how much (if anything) of the painting remains today. Unfortunately, apart from one sculpture, the castle and the City Hall, not much remains ... a great pity :(

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What a game!

No, I am not talking of the farce, that was the Netherlands-South Africa match, even with Gibbs' six sixes in an over. Instead, I am talking about the Pro20 semi final between the Warriors and the Cape Cobras.

Initially, the Warriors did not impress, with only 139 runs on the board at the end of their innings, and with minimal excitement in that innings, I was thinking I should have rather watched the SA-Netherlands game. With the Cobras in fine form this season, and having scored 221 (yes 11 runs an over!) recently, the match seemed decided, especially as Adam Bacher hit a six and a four in the first over.

But then the Warriors struck back, with regular wickets, and the run scoring from the Cobras was pedestrian at best. After 15 overs, they were scoring about 5.5 runs and over, with the asking rate reaching 13 runs per over, and with only 5 wickets in hand. But then the fight back began, and slowly the match was tussled out of the Warriors' hands with some massive sixes doing good damage. With 5 balls remaining, only 4 runs were required; and victory seemed assured. And then, the Warriors took two wickets in two balls, and the scenario changed drastically - the Warriors were almost back in command.

3 balls, 4 runs, and a hat trick ball to negotiate. Alan Dawson managed to get a single off, but then Kleinveld at the other end only managed a single instead of the two he needed to get to assure the tie. So with the entire crowd at its feet cheering him on, Dawson managed to somehow get the ball past mid wicket, and scramble for two ... it was close, but safe.

Certainly one of the best matches I have seen, and definitely the best live sports event I have attended ... now I wonder if the final is also at Newlands ...

Zimbabwe ...

So it has finally come to this - the opposition and the police state; the inevitable clash, and a farcical trial. It has happened countless times before, and I don't think this will be the last time. And, apparently it's all South Africa's fault.

The question that comes to my mind - what is South Africa or any other African state or any other world power to do? And this question applies, not only to Zimbabwe, but to Darfur, Somalia, Iraq etc etc. So as a neighbouring country (or a world power), what do we do?

Do we go guns blazing to depose the offending dictator? If so, what then? Do we get another Iraq, where the invading country (the liberators) gets saddled with the reconstruction bill, a population that doesn't want them and our own citizens that don't support our presence in a foreign country?

Or do we send in a team of special ops, that will assassinate the offending dictator? And then what? Are there people who will take charge, and lead the country? And who do you kill - just the dictator? What about his supporters? And how do you identify all of them, and what is the criteria we use to judge them?

Or do we go to the UN or a AU where, some members don't care; while other members have vested interests (because they own a mine or two) and thus don't want to interfere. And off course there is plain apathy, and some don't even bother voting, because, they frankly don't give a damn.

Or we could do nothing; and hope that some one else does something.

In the end, every one of these alternatives are problematic. Most of the successful, long term democracies, who have thrown off the yoke of dictators have done it themselves. Zimbabwe did it themselves 20 odd years ago. In the end, that is possibly the best solution .... but they do require support; and this is where South Africa has failed. In the end, the people of Zimbabwe who are tired of Bob Mugabe (remember, as in all dictatorships, not every one hates the dictator) need to stand up and be counted; and those who stand up must be helped. Doing nothing, achieves nothing.