I don't know why The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was so difficult to get into. Perhaps I needed to get used to a story without good ol' Tom Sawyer (who does make an appearance later in the book). I did say that The Adventures of Tom Sawyer does have a lot of the n-word floating around. Well... This book does it even more. The story is about Tom helping a runaway slave Jim. He doesn't call Jim anything but the n-word (so disturbing).
Huck's father has heard of his son's good fortune. So he forcibly takes his son and locks him in a cabin. I'm not certain if Huck's Pap is a drunk, psychotic or both. Whichever one of them it is, he becomes violent and Huck starts to fear for his life. He fakes his own death, escapes and meets up with runaway slave Jim. Jim is trying to make his way to a free state where he will buy back his families freedom. That's when the adventure really begins.
Like I said before, it was difficult to get into. But once I got into, I really enjoyed it. Give it a try, let me know what you think :)
I guess I've been a D.I.Y artists for a long time. Instead of looking at it as a bad thing, I decided to just run with it. You saw the 'trailer' that I put up, now here's the music video.
I shot it on a Saturday afternoon a few months ago. There was drama (boo hoo). Now here it is. I really do like what Das Kapital did with this remix. And I'm proud of Ms Marcee for shooting this on a BlackaBerry (9900). Sometimes when you don't have a million Rand you have to improvise.
I've been quiet for a while because I've been writing (songs), reading this month's books (3 of them) and living. I've also been trying to figure out how to make this album release as painless as possible. 3 months ago I shot a music video for the Das Kapital remix of 'Today is the Day'. I kept making promises to upload it but... Nothing happened. Well here is a video explaining my woes.
What's the point of doing this is if I can't have fun? I honestly got so caught up in what wasn't being done, that I forgot that I can ALWAYS DO something about my situation.
Yes. I'm gonna need one of these in my house. I would put one of those glass door things in there though AND I would need that window not to be facing my neighbours.
This month's book was fun. Chris van Wyk is a brilliant and honest writer. He tells the story of his life; growing up in Riverlea during apartheid. There is so much history in this book and I am thankful for people like Chris van Wyk who share it. There are honestly so many awesome and tragic stories that are still untold in South Africa. I don't wanna give too much away. Just prepare yourself for laughs, even in tragic situations. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I hope you do too. He also includes some of his poetry in the book, which is a bonus.
Last weekend we shot the second and last part of the music video by the eager students :)
We shot it at the African Music Store on Long Street and it was all fun and games. I don't mind getting dressed up and pretending for a day. There is so much amazing music available at that store. It is a pity that the store was closed, so I couldn't buy anything. But I'm definitely going back to pick up a few Stimela albums and definitely some Femi as well.
I will post the music video as soon as the young minds are done with it... Which should be pretty soon. Yay!!
Yes. I used the word 'tings' in the post title. Moving right along.
Last weekend I shot the first part of the music video for a song I released almost a year ago (Butterflies DJ Zinhle remix). A friends little sister is a film school student in 3rd year and she approached me to shoot a music video. Marcee and I are already clear about what music videos we are shooting next, concepts, dates etc. So we thought it would be cool to give them Butterflies (DJ Zinhle remix) to work with. It was the first one of my songs to be playlisted A LOT overseas. It was only 8 countries, but the reception was very good.
Last Saturday was the 'green screen' shoot. I had never done a green screen shoot, so it was very interesting. I had to do a lot of pretending. The idea is that there are butterflies all around me and I'm interacting with them. It made me feel like I always do; crazy. So I suppose it was no different to every day of my life.
The dress is by Lazuli. We spent all morning trying things on and just before we left I tried this one on and Marcee and Bukiwe (stylist) both agreed that it was the ONE. This weekend we shoot the rest of the music video.
I performed Butterflies on Expresso in Feb of this year. Its a very naked, stripped down version of the song.
I realise that I said I wouldn't be reading another book this month because I had quite a bit of writing and album stuff to take care of. So I'm gonna sort of hang my head in shame for a few seconds. *pause*
The third book for this month is by Pamela Jooste (Dance With a Poor Man;s Daughter). This was another one of those books that my friend Amanda was kind enough to lend me. The book is set in Cape Town during the beginning of coloured people's forced removals (from 'The Valley' to the Cape Flats). It is told told from the perspective of eleven year old Lilly who lives with her grandmother and aunt Stella. The story itself is one that I enjoyed a lot, but there was something about the book that felt a little 'superficial'. I guess not every author is a Toni Morrison or a Zakes Mda and I certainly cannot hold that against Pamela Jooste. There was a moment when I did entertain that the book could feel a little 'superficial' because it is written by a white woman from the perspective of a young coloured girl. I wont spoil the book for you because those are all my own things.
I really did enjoy the story even if I did find it a little 'holey' sometimes. Like I always say; read the book and it might be something you enjoy.
This is not REALLLY something new, but I hadn't been to Table Thirteen since last year and they made some changes... So... Yeah something new. The genius behind Table Thirteen (in Green Point) is Lara O'Sullivan. Lara Truly is a genius because not only is the food AMAZING but the decor is also incredible. You can tell that a ;lot of though and love went into the place.
Marcee and I had to handle some car business on Saturday morning. We had to be there obnoxiously early. So after the car business was handled we made our way to Table Thirteen for breakfast.
tea for me
cap for Marcee
This is what Marcee had; poached eggs with some yummy stuff
I need something like this for my dinner parties
I LOVE taking pics of Marcee
Saturday breakfast at TableThirteen could become a regular thing. I didn't take any pics of the place because it was kinda full and I didn't want the other people there to feel uncomfortable.
Via food 24 but this pic doesn't do the place justice and this was before 'the change'
Female singers in the 90s dressed in a way I wished my mother would let me dress. But she wasn't having any of that. I love that Blue outfit with the Blue lipstick.
The plan was to finish off the latest draft of my manuscript... But you don't need me to tell you how tempting everything becomes when there is writing to be done. Today was one of those days where I literally had to sit around waiting for people to do things. So I took a book with me. I had started 'sort of' reading it yesterday; the intention was not to get into it.
The book is by Richard B. Pelzer and it is a story about his childhood and how he survived an abusive mother. When I read this book I had no idea that he had a brother who had also written a book about their abusive life (David, who is known as IT in the book). It is a true story and one that left me feeling so sad. I was saddened because Richard seems to think that everyone around them (family, neighbours and teachers) knew what their mother was doing but nobody did anything.
Richard is one of 5 boys who lived with an alcoholic and obviously mentally ill mother. At first her abuse and hate is directed at David, known as IT, but when the authorities take David away she picks Richard as his 'replacement'. I couldn't put the book down because I was hoping that someone would come and save him.
I now want to read his brother's book: A Boy Called It. No more books this month. I NEED to finish the latest draft.
