Durban to Jo'burg

i had friends in jo'burg but have lost contact over the years and now have no clue what life is like for them there. what is the level of security you refer to? this means personal/home security?

yep, personal security services.
"This property is protected by Chubb Armed Services"
or some other service. It has been strange to be told 'you can walk here' as i'm used to wandering around a city but you cannot do that without taking risk unless you are in very very specific ar4eas of town

not what i'm used to

yeah we totally live in fear. security guard + boom at the top of the road, big gates with pointy ends, electric fence in the back garden, alarm system, panic button, driving after sunset and looking nervously in the rear-view mirror every time i get to a stop, etc etc etc

I am overwhelmed by Jo’burg.

The city feels like it is moving so fast (and this is coming from a former NewYorker) maybe I’m used to what is going in NYC but when I see the pace at which people work here, the various projects under development, the different approaches…..it is fascinating.

Most, if not all, of the pople I knew here and have met on this trip are /were involved in the ANC/the struggle and as I mentioned before there is a sense of loss and betrayal. At the same time, when I compare it to other places on the continenet and to Europe/US there is no comparison to what is goping on here. Part of what is so fascinating about what is happening here is the tension between extereme wealth and poverty, development and stagnation, radical leanings and business which is true for the rest of the continent but here you have an infrastructure in place that is working, you have also (unlike the US – can’t speak for Europe) a true realization of the importance of arts/culture as a part of development and heritage.

I’ve spent a big chunk of time down in this area called Newtown, one of the older parts of the city which is undergoing a process (or attempt at) of revitalization through the use of culture – making it the cultural hub of the city. So I’m looking at galleries, live musicspaces, theatres, complexes which try and nurture young musicians through workshops, performance spaces etc.

When I wqas living in Philly there was a similar initiative called the Avenue of the Arts which tried to revitalize Broad St. through bringing in cultural orgs and spaces. This is so different in the approach tho, while it is conceptualized as bringing in business, creating jobs and has a def. economic approach, there is also a serious involvement in the process by the artists, promotors, cultural activists etc. as opposed to the Philly model which was very business driven.

I am also amazed at how cheap it here!!! My friends all OWN not rent, the ones who rent are paying anywhere from 700-1500 USD a month. 1500 gets you a house atop a hill with swimming pool, tennis courts, glassed in house with views of the city from every angle.. In Addis, rent ranges from 500-12,000 USD a month without getting any of those perks, without getting movies, great cheap wine, a riuch cultural life.

I am just blown away. Will def. be coming back to explore this place (and haven’t even discussed the physical beauty of the place……

Off tonight to explore part of S. African DJ culture

ooh whats happening with dj culture tonight? where ya going?

and yeah, you're totally right about s. africa's arts/culture as 'community service' focus. if you visited the jhb art gallery, you woulda noticed that the recently opened exhibitions completely reflect this. the end of august seemed to be the official starting point for the new 'social art' agenda, the guy that spoke at the openings made some obvious "sustainable development" parallels in his speech, his central point being that art (if it's to recieve govt funding) is going to have to be seen to be directly helping people.
i think it's basically a good thing, if it means the precious art types'll have to forgo a little interiority, then so be it.

also, property prices in other countries astound me.

so DJ culture, went to a place in parktown North on the corner of Keyes and Tyrwhitt (sp?) called Capitol Music Cafe. Is a record (vinyl) store that upstairs focusses on house (deep, progressive, dutch, uplifting etc etc) and downstairs is funk/hiphop. It is very trndy looking, stramlined, have listening stands all over the place and serve drinks,snacks etc.

The idea is to have DJs come in there and hear new stuff, check out each other and so forth. Last night they had about 30 Djs for about a hlaf hour each mostly deep house and hiphop scratching downstairs. Tonight is supposed to be funk downstairs and more dance house upstairs. They're also building a recording studio downstairs to allow peple to create on premise. V. nice place, great staff. If you go tell them that H. from Addis sent ya.

So I have officially decided that jo'burg is current one of the most exciting places on the planet

damn, why the hell have I never heard of this place? and i missed going there cos of a lame *test*? geez.