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As the countdown begins to one of this country’s most iconic events, the organisers have announced the introduction of an immersive ‘Gaming Entertainment Pavilion’ at the 2019 Rand Show.  The Gaming Entertainment Pavilion  hosted alongside numerous new lifestyle, retail and entertainment offerings, promises a massively fun family day – or days – out.   Photo: The Lime Envelope  The additions to this year’s 125 th  Anniversary event have been designed to appeal to a generation of visitors that may never have experienced the show in all its glory. “The Rand Show is the oldest Heritage event in this country, but many young South Africans  may not have experienced it. We have purposely re-injected on trend content into the experience, to appeal to a wider range of visitors. Gaming is an extremely important part of youth and even family culture now, it is a growing sector and we wanted to make sure that everyone attending would enjoy Joburg’s...

Initially this post was supposed to be released in January, but life happened, I was swamped, I took a step back but I felt that it was still important to address this topic. There is a growing discontent worldwide, a growing number of women are speaking out about men in powerful positions who abuse it, whether in the workplace or out of it. Despite movements such as TimesUp, MeToo, women's voices have continued to be ignored, however there is growing evidence that those times are slowing changing. Recently in the western world, we have seen major male figures in Hollywood and other industries,  such as Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K and recently musician Robert Kelly, known as R Kelly, taking the latest hit. Surviving R Kelly. Just last week, a lawyer for the accusers obtained a recent video of him with an underaged girl. The docu-series was the biggest topic of conversation on social media for weeks. The doc-series focused on sexual predatory behavior...

Van Wyk the Storyteller of Riverlea , created and performed by well-known South African actor, Zane Meas and directed by Christo Davids will premier at the Market Theatre for a limited season in 2019. The Storyteller of Riverlea explores renowned South African author Chris Van Wyk's influences as a poet, as political activist and writer, his family life and his battle with cancer.   The production is an homage to his humor, political values and storytelling abilities, all of which has touched the lives of everyone who has read his works. Zane Meas starring as Chris van Wyk photographer Brett Rubin   Van Wyk grew up in the coloured suburb of Riverlea , south of Johannesburg, a community he was later to bring lovingly to life in Shirley, Goodness and Mercy (2004) and Eggs to Lay, Chickens to Hatch (2010). He adapted Nelson Mandela ’s Long Walk to Freedom into a book for young readers and wrote a series of short biographies of liberation struggle figures for sch...

The Market Theatre in association with US Mission in SA presents NINA SIMONE FOUR WOMEN  By Christina Ham  Directed by  James Ngcobo  The Market Theatre and US Mission in SA will commemorate Black History Month with the South African premiere of “NINA SIMONE FOUR WOMEN”  “music can’t just be about the art, but it has to be an expression of the good, bad and ugly in life.”  - Nina Simone from Nina Simone Four Women  Legendary performer Nina Simone sang a mix of jazz, blue and folk music in the 19650’s and 60’s, later enjoying a career resurgence in the ‘80s. A staunch activist in the Civil Rights Movement, she was known for tunes like ‘Mississippi Goddam”, “Young, Gifted and Black” and ‘Four Women”. While she may be gone, Simone left a lasting impression on the world of music, art and activism. She sang to share her truth and her work still resonates with great emotion and power. Simone inspired an array of award-winning performers,...

My previous blog post about,  A Natural Being   received so much love I decided to do a follow up. It become quite observe over the past two years when I opted to go natural, many people have followed the wave, but in the process adding their own routines, tricks and trades that work for their fro's. Here is the endless supply of products I use. Conditioner, hairline serum, castor oil, Shea butter, avocado oil, shampoo, detangle mists and my water based sprays. There has been spike in the commercialization of and boom in the black hair market. Natural hair products have become more freely available and affordable. More and more black women are deciding to transition into their natural curls and go strictly natural. About 2 months natural I was asked in comment section about what works on me and what does it. Trial and error is the best teacher. I once made my own moisturizer and conditioner in the early stages of my natural hair journey. I mixed raw coco...

So we are officially in 2019, and the constant talk of  new me, new year sheninghans has begun. You may be thinking I am quite pessimistic by my view of this, but we have been here before, every year. And I think many of us have realised that there needs to be some changes when we make it into the new year. It is not the same old, oh I need to lose weight, by this end of which ever month I must of done this. Some of the goals we want to achieve can be unrealistic especially if we put a tight deadlines on them, failure can be expected but it is not the end of the world. Askideas.com The past few years I have given myself plans or goals to achieve by the end of the year, it might defeat the purpose because it gives one excuse to delay achieving a certain goal. I am not a vision board type of person, but I do a list, that I revisit every couple of months to reminder myself what I wanted to work on. Doing the work, such as saving up overtime for equipement, down paymen...

The past week has been a whirlwind, it was Christmas, having family time, impromptu photo-shoot and thinking about New Year's resolutions. I am not going to lie, family Christmases and holidays can be awkward, teffric and dramatic all at once. Many people have said 2018 's Christmas holidays were definitely not like before. Maybe it is because we are adulting and realising that we do not need to spend a ridiculous amount of money for one day or spend beyond our means during this time of the year. Photographer- Siphesihle Mbhele. T Shirt- @_zeroapparael_ Photographer- Siphesihle Mbhele The last week of the year I spent it with family and friends, it included a photo shoot in the heart of Africa's richest square mile, Sandton. It was a learning experience, especially with a photographer who knows how to give direction and makes you feel comfortable. Photographer- Siphesihle Mbhele Photographer and film student Siphesihle Mbhele made it easy for m...