I am very excited to let you know that Desmond and I got the opportunity to contribute images to my dear friend Elena’s book ‘Südafrika 151: Portrait einer sich wandelnden Nation in 151 Momentaufnahmen’ (a German book about South Africa :). You can buy it here.
I just started reading “50 People Who Stuffed Up South Africa” and recommend it. It’s education and entertainment in one.
‘Part history, part social commentary,50 People Who Stuffed Up South Africa is an engrossing and edifying read that delves into South African politics, war, sport and culture, and answers the question, who are the greatest villains, the direst leaders, the foulest corrupters and the most offensive personalities to have spread their regrettable influence through our fine and glorious land?
From Jan van Riebeeck in 1652 to Sepp Blatter in 2010 – via Basson, Botha, Shaka and Shaik – it is filled with the nastiest names to have besmirched our past. These are men of infamy (and three women) who have steered the good ship South Africa firmly in the wrong direction by virtue of their ruinous megalomania (Mbeki, Rhodes), foul convictions (Verwoerd, Terre’Blanche) or general idiocy (Malema, Erwin). But the obvious political gangsters and historical heavy-hitters are just the half of it: there’s also the colonial warmonger (Lord Milner), the national embarrassment (Rudolf Straeuli), the societal delinquent (The minibus taxi driver), the unexpected sports villain (Richie Benaud!), the Euro-chancer (Mark Thatcher), the traitor (Kevin Pietersen) and the twat (Kevin Pietersen).’
Information via TwoDogs
‘Do you read me?‘ was on my have-to-do-list when we explored Berlin. And it was so worth it, check it out when you’re there.
‘do you read me?! offers a selected assortment of magazines and readings from around the world.
The spectrum ranges from fashion, photography and art, through architecture, interior and design to cultural matters and society. We provide advice, research and compile your personal assortment.’
do you read me?!
Magazine und Lektüre der Gegenwart
Auguststrasse 28
10117 Berlin-Mitte
Öffnungszeiten / Opening Times
Montag bis Samstag: 10.00 – 19.30 Uhr / Monday to Saturday: 10am – 7.30pm
Tel. +49-30-695 49 695
Fax +49-30-695 49 696
info@doyoureadme.de
www.doyoureadme.de
‘The Underground New York Public Library is a photo series featuring the Reading-Riders of the NYC subways. The photos come together as a visual library. This library freely lends out a reminder that we’re capable of traveling to great depths within ourselves and as a whole.’ This is awesome.
I heard this book is a must-buy.
‘In the summer of 2009, Miranda July was struggling to finish writing the screenplay for her much-anticipated second film. During her increasingly long lunch breaks, she began to obsessively read the PennySaver, the iconic classifieds booklet that reached everywhere and seemed to come from nowhere. Who was the person selling the “Large leather Jacket, $10”? It seemed important to find out—or at least it was a great distraction from the screenplay.
Accompanied by photographer Brigitte Sire, July crisscrossed Los Angeles to meet a random selection of PennySaver sellers, glimpsing thirteen surprisingly moving and profoundly specific realities, along the way shaping her film, and herself, in unexpected ways.
Elegantly blending narrative, interviews, and photographs with July’s off-kilter honesty and deadpan humor, this is a story of procrastination and inspiration, isolation and connection, and grabbing hold of the invisible world.’
You can purchase the book here.
The other day I went to a reading and interview with Obama’s sister Auma Obama. It was a fun and moving evening. Of course, after this, I plan on reading Auma Obama’s book!
‘A moving account by Auma Obama about her life in Africa and Europe, and her relationship with her brother, Barack Obama.
Auma spent sixteen years studying and living in Germany, moved to England for love, and gave birth to a daughter there. The tension between her original and chosen worlds and cultures was a constant challenge, and eventually Auma returned to Africa and worked to support young men and women in shaping their futures.
In And Then Life Happens, her candid and emotional memoir, Auma shares her own story as well as recollections of and experiences with her famous brother, who says about their first encounter: “I hugged her, we looked at each other, and laughed. I knew right then that I loved her.”
I plan on buying this book asap. Just had a look at the CreativeMornings talk from Mike Monteiro “Fuck you. Pay me.” Hilarious.
‘Co-founder of Mule Design and raconteur Mike Monteiro wants to help you do your job better. From contracts to selling design, from working with clients to working with each other, this brief book is packed with knowledge you can’t afford not to know.’ Get it here.
I’m busy reading Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman and I love it. No, I’m not broody but yes, interested in the French parenting style and I must say, as far as I’m in the book, it’s pretty similar to my mom’s style. I will give it all my friends to read that have babies.
Book description:
The secret behind France’s astonishingly well-behaved children.
When American journalist Pamela Druckerman has a baby in Paris, she doesn’t aspire to become a “French parent.” French parenting isn’t a known thing, like French fashion or French cheese. Even French parents themselves insist they aren’t doing anything special.
Yet, the French children Druckerman knows sleep through the night at two or three months old while those of her American friends take a year or more. French kids eat well-rounded meals that are more likely to include braised leeks than chicken nuggets. And while her American friends spend their visits resolving spats between their kids, her French friends sip coffee while the kids play.
Motherhood itself is a whole different experience in France. There’s no role model, as there is in America, for the harried new mom with no life of her own. French mothers assume that even good parents aren’t at the constant service of their children and that there’s no need to feel guilty about this. They have an easy, calm authority with their kids that Druckerman can only envy.
Of course, French parenting wouldn’t be worth talking about if it produced robotic, joyless children. In fact, French kids are just as boisterous, curious, and creative as Americans. They’re just far better behaved and more in command of themselves. While some American toddlers are getting Mandarin tutors and preliteracy training, French kids are- by design-toddling around and discovering the world at their own pace.
With a notebook stashed in her diaper bag, Druckerman-a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal-sets out to learn the secrets to raising a society of good little sleepers, gourmet eaters, and reasonably relaxed parents. She discovers that French parents are extremely strict about some things and strikingly permissive about others. And she realizes that to be a different kind of parent, you don’t just need a different parenting philosophy. You need a very different view of what a child actually is.
While finding her own firm non, Druckerman discovers that children-including her own-are capable of feats she’d never imagined.
Yesterday I went to the Toffie Pop Festival and bought a copy of the magazine ‘Paris – Fading like a childhood memory’, I’m almost done reading it. Grab your own copy at Church (12 Spin Street Cape Town), it’s good entertainment and inspiration.
Something I will remember is a powerful sentence from page 8.
Tom London from Soweto’s Finest says that when we dance we find purpose in our bodies.
