STR.CRD EVENT @ JOZI'S MABONENG PRECINCT

In between all the bubbly sipping (read guzzling) at SA Fashion Week  I got to spend a little bit of time at the  STR.CRD event that was happening in Jozi's Maboneng Precinct. Too much fun, follow the link to check out the website. Then hit google to find more blogs with images from the event. There were so many cameras going off i suspect it will be well-blogged about, it really was such a cool event. The experience reminded me of how much i enjoyed living in inner-city Jozi and how much I love the company of people who embrace it flaws and all, and how amazingly easy it is to get a 750ml bottle of beer at the oddest hours. Halfway through my stay in Jozi back in 08 I moved out of the city centre to Troyeville, which is just outside the city centre. Ja, we had some fucked up romantic notions, not to mention seriously naive about the residential mixing of LSM groups. At any given hour morning or night we could knock on the neighbour's window to buy those 750ml bottles. It was fun for a while until some randoms broke into our house on the eve of heritage day, then again a month later, then again two months later. I must confess though, we were a bit light and boho on security. Doors were often left unlocked, and there was not one burglar bar in the house. By the time we moved, our remaining belongings could fit easily into my small car. Shit, I sound like those people who can't speak of Jozi without speaking of crime, my gawd I've really become the worst kind of Capetonian.  Anyway, for a split second this weekend i considered moving back, then i remembered the main reason i left. I'm a sucka for a beautiful landscape and for the beach. Ja sure i hardly ever go but i love knowing it's less than a 5 minute walk away from my bed. Besides, Cape Town really can't do with one less black person.

IN JOZI AT SA FASHION WEEK

I went to Jozi this past weekend to attend SA Fashion Week. I was also invited to post about the shows on the SA Fashion Week blog. I was of course very excited about that, it certainly is not as easy a task as i thought. It was a quite the learning curve. I've said in past blog posts that i don't see myself as a fashion commentator type, and i have quite a lot of respect for the fashion writers, bloggers and editors who do it on the regular. Whilst this blog features pics of people in clothes, it's way more about the party and the lighter side of life than about the very important business of fashion. I guess it's easier to just type a whole lot of irresponsible bullshit on this blog after a drunken night without worry of consequence, thinking whoever doesn't like it can just fuckoff to the next site or express their distaste on the comments section, which is also cool. However when one is dealing with people's blood sweat and tears the irreverence and that "need for critical engagement" i like to self-righteously flaunt doesn't come so easy. Don't get me wrong skattie i wouldn't express an opinion that wasn't truly mine, my vanity always gets the better of me. I'm just being mildly introspective and private person that i am i just have to share that experience on this blog. One of my favourite things about life is all the learning that helps you grow, gently altering  the way you view things, and i am grateful to SAFW for the invitation, the fashion and the many lessons learnt. Okay, i won't bore you with anymore introspection (blame it on sleep-deprivation). To be honest it is one of my least favourite qualities in blogs. I'd much rather read drunken ramblings. I stopped watching arthouse movies for similar reasons, and i used to love that shit, but lately all i want from my movies is a little bit of escapism and a familiar storyline. I could be dumbing down proper, but let's save that bit of introspection another day when humour fails me.

A PERFECT SATURDAY BENDER /// EXHIBITIONS, BOOZY LUNCHES AND LOERIES AFTERPARTIES

ME, HEADLESS:

I mentioned in my previous post that i've had a rather quiet week at home watching pirate dvds. It was all getting rather boring, so boring i actually contemplated watching tv, and i don't have dstv skat so i'm talking about that basic shit. You can imagine then how fucking ecstatic i was when Saturday came and brought with it exhibitions, parties and boozy lunches. So please excuse me while i brag about my weekend. I went on a bit of an alcoholic binge but i fucking deserved it skat. It's been a hard week, i shit you not. I woke up super early on Saturday and fear of blogdeath drove me to the market at the biscuit mill in search of pics, needless to say i didn't win. It all looked rather suburban, so i drank. Then i went off to check out an exhibition opening at the Goodman Gallery, i ran into friends, i drank. Then off to El Burro for lunch and interview with Ndu from Live Mag which will be launching in SA in November. I got there and found a margarita with my name on it, so i drank. Went home got my bicycle (coz it's better to drink and ride than to drink and drive), then rode the Cape Quarter to join friends for uhmm...drinks. Then i rode back home to get ready for the evening. My friend Zo arrived with a coupla drinks to get us into the mood whilst choosing our outfits. Then we went to my friend Storm's dinner party, we got there and there was lotsa bubbly so we drank. Then it was time to go to the main party of the evening which was the Marie Claire Loeries Winners afterparty at The Reserve. I've never been there before, it's actually a shit hot venue. I'm normally not into fancy venues that require a dresscode and a fat wallet (a friend told me you need to put down a R4000 deposit to book a table at the Reserve, haven't confirmed it yet tho), but i think i might go back and check this one out. The only bad thing about the party was the Patron ice bar. Seriously skat, me and tequila are not a good mix, yes we mix often but no good ever comes of it. There was just so much of it, so i drank. After a couple of hours we went off to Neighbourhood to gatecrash the Ogilvy Loeries afterparty. A much less imaginative choice of venue but a fucking brilliant vibe. I drank i danced i chatted i made new friends and eventually found myself drinking bubbly on the balcony of a Tamboerskloof home in the early hours of the morning, with three people i met earlier in the evening. Ja i'm content, just the kind of bender i needed, from time to time we all need one of those skat, unless you're in AA, in that case i don't recommend it. I think i'm gonna watch tv now and nurse this bitch of a hangover.

RANDOM RAMBLINGS FOR MY INNER NERD ACCOMPANIED BY RANDOM PICS

Ola skattie, it's been a while. My usual excuse; it's been a kak-busy week at the day job, plus my car is still giving me shit, just a couple more weeks and I'm selling the piece of rubbish. Between work and car troubles, i haven't been going out much and the one time i went out to a nice people event i forgot my damn camera at home. So i had to try and snap a coupla pics with my phone. The experience reminded me of early last year when i first started this blog, when i used to take pics on my Nokia n97. How things have changed. It's just a little more than a year later and Nokia shops are the Jurassic parks of cellphone shops. In fact, come to think of it i haven't seen a Nokia in a long time and the last time i saw one it was in the hands of a near retirement corporate type with attachment issues to Symbian. Wow, to think not so long ago the Symbian OS was the shit in cellphone technology. Indulge me skattie, I'm kinda fascinated by gadgets, the rise of new technologies and their fall when they refuse to change with the times. We saw it happen to MySpace, then we saw it happen to Nokia and now we are watching it happen to Blackberry. Anyway whateva.  Thanks to a friend of mine with a healthy disregard for piracy laws, i've also been catching up on one of the latest tv series, it's called 'Game of Thrones'. Get your hands on that shit, it is fucking amazing. Okay, if you hate 'period' drama with a dash of fantasy it might not be your thing. But i think it is so good it's practically satanic. At least Google it or IMDB or something, it got a 9.4 on IMBD, i'm just saying. Mind you I'm one of those people that really really really love the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies, so fantasy and period are right up my alley. I even forgave JRR Tolkien for imagining all the races of middle earth as white, with the evil bloodthirsty orcs as the only dark skinned creatures...mhmm. The shit we take in the name of entertainment. If i'm to be really honest with myself, Game of Thrones has a bit of that too. But hey, like J-Lo said "Is that a political question? Sorry i don't do political questions". Can't wait for season 2, no really.