FRIDAY //// LABIA NYTMKT, FAT BACK SOUL AND THAT OTHER CLUB

It's been quite a week skat, i've been out practically every night this week. Like i was 21 or something. And my almost middle aged body took quite a knock resulting in a very trashy episode on Saturday morning when i woke up in then gambling section of a questionable establishment. Not something i'm very proud of but hey. Anyway this post is about Friday, which was special for two reasons, it was the second installment of the night market at the Labia and it was also Adel Snyders's birthday. In case you don't know, Adel Snyders and Marcii Goose are the two skatties responsible for the 'You and Me and Everyone we know'  market. I was blown away by the first night market in December, but this time was even better. I've written about this market before so i'm not gonna say much, i'm so obviously totally in love with it. I was chatting to Deejay Invisible from the band Gazelle and he said it best and simply "This is one of the coolest things to happen to Cape Town" and that's that skat.

THURSDAY //// MTHWAKAZI LIVE @ OBZ CAFE

Hey Skat, so on Thursday night i braved a night in Obslavatory, it's no secret that i don't like Obz much, you might but i don't and that's that. Yes i lived and drank there a long time ago but we don't talk about that. However on this particular thursdee one of my favourite live bands was performing at Obz cafe. Mthwakazi is in my view one of the most exciting, original and groundbraeaking acts  out there, infact i originally wanted to title this post 'MTHWAKAZI: THE PAST, THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE', but then i sobered up. Tendencies towards hyperbole aside, this band rocks and you should probably check them out, last year i had their cd on repeat for days. I haven't done my research but i think she is operatically trained, at least her voice sounds operatic and she sings in Xhosa; Xhopera is what i like to call her music, slightly oversimplified description of this amazing talent but i'm typing this on a Sunday and it's been a long week so please if you'd be so kind as to lower your literary expectations. And she did not disappoint, well except for the costume changes. One costume for every song, which was a bit of overkill and i think we can safely say she won't be remembered for her style but with a voice like hers i have no doubt she will be able to afford a stylist very soon, and i hope the god of her understanding grants her the wisdom to choose to get one rather than attempting any more outfits on her own. Fair enough i did like the gold coat which is snapped above. Anyway, whilst waiting for Mthwakazi we were treated to three other acts, two of which i enjoyed but it's so much easier to criticize so i'm gonna tell you about the one i didn't enjoy, an unimaginative poet/rapper type who was introduced as 'Nahoum the prophet', i'm not even sure if that's the correct spelling but ag it doesn't really matter. He mostly spit out the usual anti-capitalist rhetoric of victimhood that's very big with the marijuana crowd, it's like his rhymes were frozen in 1996. All this whilst dressed in Guess jeans and Nike sneaks. Capitalism won, pick up the pieces and move the fuck on.

WEDNESDAY /// A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY CONVERSATION BY DOEPELGANGER

I am especially proud of this event for two reasons. Firstly because Yang Zhao and i go back a bit, i remember many years ago chilling at her old flat above the Garden Center when she started the DOE project, listening to her ideas and checking out her concepts. And now a few years later, she's got a label that with a strong cultural presence, this specific presentation displayed collaborative work she did with other creatives The second reason is that Athi-Patra Ruga was recently made vice-chairman of VANSA and this was the first event he organised. So yes, I am proud as fuck of these two. I don't what else to tell you skat, for some odd reason i struggle with words when events have a very personal significance, both Yang and Athi are very inspirational to me, mainly because they are not just about the airy-fairy pie-in-fucking-sky creative ideas, they are also about follow-thru and i love people who make it happen. You can familiarize yourself with all things DOE at this Blogspot and on this Wordpress blog. Also keep an eye on VANSA as this was the first of many conversations Athi-Patra and the team have planned.

TUESDAY @ WORD OF ART /// EXHIBITION OF CUSTOMIZED HANDS AND TATTOO INSPIRED ARTWORK

I remember i used to think i wanted a tattoo a long time ago. And to be perfectly honest, i wanted it because for me it symbolized some sort of non-conformist attittude and was therefore cool. Don't judge, I was a teenager, cool was really big with teenagers back then, possibly still is. And non-conformist? oh wow, you were practically a walking talking breathing subculture all on your own. Anyway i eventually opted for three facial piercings, tongue eye and nostril, it was the mid-nineties, they were cool, s'true. along with glow-in-the-dark lightstix, Peter White's Mother raves at Joburg's park station and my 5-inch Buffalo sneakers from Moolas (i think that's what it was called) on Smal street. Waar was jy skatebol? Fast-forward 15yrs and i've grown into a rather boring adult. Okay maybe not the most boring but i do suffer from the usual adult inhibitions and am unlikely to start getting tattoos. Another thing that's happened over the last 15yrs is that tats have moved further and further into the mainstream, these days nothing says i belong like a bit of ink, ask Rihanna or Beyonce or Gaga or Ke$ha or any popstar or any other manufactured starlet of your choosing. I remember tho' from back then my flatmate's tattoo artist French boyfriend proclaiming mid-joint (i was a teenager skat) "Tattoos are the last remaining authentic form of body art". Okay.

TWO IMAGES //// MONDAY EVENING @ THE AVA EXHIBITION OPENING

SATURDAY ///////////////

Along with a large number of Cape Town's trendy young things in those ubiquitous wayfarers(I really do hope that 2011 will sound the fucking death knell to this most tired of sunglass shapes), I hooked up with friend Ody, a self-described 'battling socialite' and we went to the Neighbourgoods market in Woodstock. I'm a bit of a market whore because markets are always such a nice and somewhat noncommittal way to catch up with friends & acquaintances you don't see a lot of, plus an opportunity to meet some new ones. Just by literally walking in and out you can have like 10 brief conversations at different parts of that short journey, some great, some superficial and some you could do without. Thankfully mine were the former.