South Africa - Not only Soccer, beautiful sounds...
I was honoured, priviledged and blessed to able to be a part of the very first democratic election in South Africa in 1994. It was pretty clear that there would be an outright winner so I felt comfortable to vote not tactically, but for the party that I felt encompassed and celebrated what I truly believed in. The Soccer Party (Sport Organisation for Collective Contributions and Equal Rights) wanted to unite all South Africans under the auspices of sports and music. I cannot things of two things other than food that are tools more suitable for this purpose. The Soccer Party did not get much support and to be honest, I have not given them much thought really until recently when I realised how close the World Cup football tournament is. I remembered my passion for South African music. Here is an opportunity not only to unite all South Africans but to join together as the human nation and celebrate our diversity and remember our roots. To be true, I really do not like soccer. However, I believe that like many South African born somebodies living away from what was once home, I am torn between supporting England or lifting Bafana Bafana on our shoulders. And then I am reminded of my very staunch dislike of the game and of what I do love: music. In light of this, I have decided to dedicate this article to the idea that South Africa is not just about the beautiful game, it is about the incredible music. When one mentions South African music, one often is rewarded with kind remarks about Paul Simon. The delight is that there is a genre to suit everybody's taste. Music in South Africa is a rich tapestry of incredibly diverse sounds. Unfortunately, space only allows me to mention much fewer than I would like to.
If you are a Jazz lover, little will please your ears more than the sultry, beautiful voice of Estelle Kokot. I saw her first at a smokey, downtown Johannesburg nightclub. I barely breathed for her spell-bounding performance. Keep an eye out for her as she plays locally from time to time.
Gentle songwriter, activist and soulful, Lionel Bastos, is an astounding performer who not only has a passion for making a difference politically and socially, is a soccer fanatic. He comes from a family deeply connected soccer and was a heartbeat away from playing professionally. An ugly accident spoiled his chances but football runs deep in his soul along with the melodies and lyrics that have made him a name in the South African music scene. Recently he was instrumental in orchestrating a concert for Haiti to help her people recover from the recent earthquake.
Lionel Bastos’s new CD “hmmm…” is available via his facebook page, www.lionelbastos.com or www.myspace.com/lionelbastos
If hip-hop is your bag, why not check out Trenton and Free Radical. Trenton and Free Radical is a London based afro-beat/Reggae / hip hop group with three members originally from Africa. The group consists of Trenton (vocals / songwriter - South Africa), Kaz (bass - Uganda), Marco (guitar - Ibiza) and Sam (drums- Zimbabwe). Trenton and Free Radical are finishing work on their debut album. The group's debut single, "Sunless Sundays", was released on October 26, 2009. TFR has also collaborated with collaborated with Maxi Jaxx of Faithless and Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly on their forthcoming album. Their website is www.trentonandfreeradical.com
I could go on for ten years about how the beautiful music is. Its diversity is astounding and I am sure that given half a chance, the music will cut through all barriers and unite all humans. I urge all of you that may be travelling to South Africa to watch the soccer, to sample at least ten bands and musicians! If you want more information about the sounds that make up the South African psyche, please visit my facebook group, Not only Soccer, fantastic sounds where we constantly update information about the music that will bring the world together...
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
Monday 31 May 2010
Sunday 23 May 2010
Friends
Today, I have no idea what that word means. Or did I ever? I have spent most of my life searching for the family that I believed I deserved! Trying to find the mother I believed I needed, the father who I wanted to protect me. I guess once I accept that the mother and father that I have really are the ones I chose. I wish that I would stop searching under every stone and wisp of air for a brother and a sister, for an aunt and an uncle. I have a family and no matter how flawed I perceive them to be, they are my family! I say and write these words with my head. I look forward to a time when my heart believes me...
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
Friday 14 May 2010
Everybody picks their nose
Around, around.. No end!
Chew, chew, swallow, nothing, E M P T Y
I look for something else. More. When will I find 'enough'?
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
Chew, chew, swallow, nothing, E M P T Y
I look for something else. More. When will I find 'enough'?
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
Thursday 13 May 2010
Everybody picks their nose...
More than a mouseful...
No-one I know is more judgemental than me. Throughout my life, the Universe has zapped me with humbling lessons, but still, I hold onto the idea that I do things the right way, that things would never happen to me. Today I had a 'Everybody picks their nose' day. I have often sneered quietly at the mothers who share the dreaded nit visit. I smile vaguely while I laugh inside delighted that it will never happen to us...
My manchild had several, several visitors this morning. Everybody does indeed, pick their nose...
Grr!
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/lice.htm
A humbling experience for a silly somebody!
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
No-one I know is more judgemental than me. Throughout my life, the Universe has zapped me with humbling lessons, but still, I hold onto the idea that I do things the right way, that things would never happen to me. Today I had a 'Everybody picks their nose' day. I have often sneered quietly at the mothers who share the dreaded nit visit. I smile vaguely while I laugh inside delighted that it will never happen to us...
My manchild had several, several visitors this morning. Everybody does indeed, pick their nose...
Grr!
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/lice.htm
A humbling experience for a silly somebody!
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
Wednesday 12 May 2010
Everybody picks their nose - a blog about 'truth'...
On being in love...
I, like most of us, have spent most of my life pondering the question of LOVE. What is it? How many kinds are there? Is it a spiritual phenomenon and simply a chemical reaction?
The purest form of LOVE that I have ever experienced is the love I felt for my stormcat who found her way into our lives on the 24th of July 2004. The only condition that can think of, was that she existed. She, for the most part, found the inclination to be near me, when the kitti-krunchi tin was open. Still, for 17 years, she was like a big sister for me. My heart ached when I thought of her. The kind of ache one may feel when one first falls in love with a somebody, I guess. My heart still aches when I think of her.
Her cousin, Tazcat, was diagnosed with an injection site carcoma last week which was doubling in size every 10ish days. His parents are completely beside themselves as they try to make the decisions which will best suit their beloved friend. He underwent a three and a half hour operation this morning and it may be that his being slightly overweight may have saved his life... I can completely understand how his people must feel. Stormcat left after a serious attack of the kanker rats.. But Tazcat's girlperson told me that he is not ready to leave them yet. Today is a good day. A boycat was saved and a pure love preserved... Life is good!
The opposite of LOVE...
M
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
I, like most of us, have spent most of my life pondering the question of LOVE. What is it? How many kinds are there? Is it a spiritual phenomenon and simply a chemical reaction?
The purest form of LOVE that I have ever experienced is the love I felt for my stormcat who found her way into our lives on the 24th of July 2004. The only condition that can think of, was that she existed. She, for the most part, found the inclination to be near me, when the kitti-krunchi tin was open. Still, for 17 years, she was like a big sister for me. My heart ached when I thought of her. The kind of ache one may feel when one first falls in love with a somebody, I guess. My heart still aches when I think of her.
Her cousin, Tazcat, was diagnosed with an injection site carcoma last week which was doubling in size every 10ish days. His parents are completely beside themselves as they try to make the decisions which will best suit their beloved friend. He underwent a three and a half hour operation this morning and it may be that his being slightly overweight may have saved his life... I can completely understand how his people must feel. Stormcat left after a serious attack of the kanker rats.. But Tazcat's girlperson told me that he is not ready to leave them yet. Today is a good day. A boycat was saved and a pure love preserved... Life is good!
The opposite of LOVE...
M
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
Tuesday 11 May 2010
Everybody picks their nose...
On the new prime minister...
I have chosen not to use capital letters when referring to david cameron. I believe that one can tell the soul of a person by looking at his or hands.... Look at cameron's hands.
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
I have chosen not to use capital letters when referring to david cameron. I believe that one can tell the soul of a person by looking at his or hands.... Look at cameron's hands.
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
Sunday 9 May 2010
Everybody picks their nose - a blog about 'truth'...
I am not even sure what a blog is to be honest. What I do know is that I have been meaning to write a book for my whole adult life. Many books in fact, but the words have evaded me... Or should I say, rather, "I have evaded them."?
I have told many people about my book. Even mentioned the title which I believe to be the most grabbing title I have ever heard of. Most people smile politely. The kind of smile that tells you that though they believe you have the best intentions, the book will never be. If I am true, whenever I tell anyone about my book, I say it with a slightly insincere heart. Like the people listening to me, I do not really believe that my book will ever find its way onto the trains and busses that glide in and out of the crevices of the space formerly known as the concrete jungle.
This reminds me of a speak that our beloved Nelson Mandela made at his Inauguration Speech in 1994.
" deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
These incredible words were originally married together by a somebody called Marianne Williamson, a very wise somebody indeed.
Why is it that we spend a lot of our lives hiding in the shadows? Scared that if we are nice to ourselves, that we would be perceived to be arrogant or conceited? I have played with this question throughout my life, but like the words of my book, the answers to this question avoid me also.
So, with hypothetical bungy rope, I spring back to the start of this blog - its title, "Everybody picks their nose. A blog about 'truth'." Oscar Wilde once wrote that it took an entire morning to put a comma into a sentence and the rest of the day to take it out again. (I do hope that these were Wilde's words. I cannot remember exactly, but right now i feel too lazy to Google it.) I am sure that the title of this blog will change slightly from time to time. Be that as it may, its essence will remain. To investigate the concept of 'truth' and to expose things that we all believe to be shameful, as completely normal. Every person does indeed, pick his or her nose. Isn't it interesting that there are very few people who do not react when they see someone else pick their nose.
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
I have told many people about my book. Even mentioned the title which I believe to be the most grabbing title I have ever heard of. Most people smile politely. The kind of smile that tells you that though they believe you have the best intentions, the book will never be. If I am true, whenever I tell anyone about my book, I say it with a slightly insincere heart. Like the people listening to me, I do not really believe that my book will ever find its way onto the trains and busses that glide in and out of the crevices of the space formerly known as the concrete jungle.
This reminds me of a speak that our beloved Nelson Mandela made at his Inauguration Speech in 1994.
" deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
These incredible words were originally married together by a somebody called Marianne Williamson, a very wise somebody indeed.
Why is it that we spend a lot of our lives hiding in the shadows? Scared that if we are nice to ourselves, that we would be perceived to be arrogant or conceited? I have played with this question throughout my life, but like the words of my book, the answers to this question avoid me also.
So, with hypothetical bungy rope, I spring back to the start of this blog - its title, "Everybody picks their nose. A blog about 'truth'." Oscar Wilde once wrote that it took an entire morning to put a comma into a sentence and the rest of the day to take it out again. (I do hope that these were Wilde's words. I cannot remember exactly, but right now i feel too lazy to Google it.) I am sure that the title of this blog will change slightly from time to time. Be that as it may, its essence will remain. To investigate the concept of 'truth' and to expose things that we all believe to be shameful, as completely normal. Every person does indeed, pick his or her nose. Isn't it interesting that there are very few people who do not react when they see someone else pick their nose.
o n s e k a y a
"Our home, our world, our universe..."
Location:Here, there and every where else...
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