Invitation to a book launch in Cape Town, music news, magic, tech news and more

You are invited to a book launch in Cape Town

Invitation to the launch of the book 'Influence - How to Start and Grow a Speaking Business'  by Richard Mulvey

The details are as follows:

• Venue: Cape Town Hotel School Granger Bay - 
• Address: Beach Road, Mouille Point, Cape Town - 021 - 9596767
• Date: 10 June 2013
• Time: 18h30 for 19h00 to 21h00
• Cost: PSASA Members - free. All other guests - R200  -  Snacks provided
• RSVP: Please email Simone on simone@psasouthernafrica.co.za for bookings, alternatively book online by clicking here. Bookings are essential

During the evening he will be going through what it takes to start a speaking business using examples, both good and bad, from his own career over the last 20 years. It will be a fun event and the book and DVD will be available for purchase.

(Source - Richard Mulvey) 

Music in Durban 

John Ellis and Nux live at St. Clements in Musgrave Road this Friday 31 May. Tickets R60 cash at the door.

Tel 031 2022511. Music starts 19h30 doors open 18h30.

(Source - St Clements)

(Source - Hirsch's)

Join the Ryans for an easy run and a caffe in Newlands on 14 July

Some time back, friends Ryan Scott and ultra-marathon champ Ryan Sandes agreed to meet at vida e caffe in Constantia for a pre-run caffe. The guys were a little over-eager and we'd not yet opened our doors. Instead of settling for anything but vida caffe, Scott challenged Sandes to run to the Camps Bay store instead. And so 'Ryans² Run' was born - and has since evolved into an ongoing social run ending with a free caffe at one of our stores. The last one was in picturesque Hout Bay (above). You can join them on 14 July at Newlands for a leisurely (really) run in leafy surrounds. And of course, join us for a caffe on the house afterwards.

(Source - Vida e caffe) 

Mo Magic Appears on Top Billing

(Source - Mo Magic) 

Shannon Hope will be performing here:

15 June Korongo Valley Festival 2013, Ixopo
27 June Rumours Lounge - Bar - Restaurant, JHB
28 June The Library at The Brazen Head Sandton, JHB
3-7 July National Arts Festival Grahamstown (5 shows)

Full booking details and info on shannonhope.co.za 

(Source - Shannon Hope) 

Nashua Mobile’s CEO Mark Taylor below, suggests these ways of beating bill shock.

Advice from Nashua Mobile on how to prevent Bill Shock

Golf is an expensive hobby, but it cost one man almost R1-million recently even though he was nowhere near a green. That was his cell phone bill after an app to analyse his golf swing kept running when he travelled abroad, scoring an exorbitant case of bill shock.

Smartphones are catching out consumers with massive bills caused by automatically downloading data. That’s expensive even on home turf, but if you’re abroad, it can turn an enjoyable trip into a nightmare. Nashua Mobile’s CEO Mark Taylor suggests these ways of beating bill shock:

Stamp out subscriptions

When you download a ringtone, you probably ignore the fine print warning that it’s a subscription service with a regular bill. Many only cost R5 a month, but some cost a scary R20 a day, and that’s a mighty expensive piece of music. “Before you use your handset to purchase anything read the fine print,” Taylor says. Check your bill, and if you’ve signed up for something by accident, unsubscribe immediately.

Overseas and overpriced

International roaming soon inflicts horrendous bills. “Data can cost up to R200 per Megabyte and when smartphone apps continue downloading content abroad it can give you a nasty shock,” says Taylor. Before you travel, ask your service provider to set an affordable limit. Better still, switch off data roaming via the settings menu in your phone. You can always switch it back on in an emergency. Then look for free wi-fi networks in coffee shops and upload your data for nothing. Your phone normally defaults to using a  wi-fi network even if your GSM option is still switched on, but you will need to log on to the wi-fi network first. If you need to make local calls at your destination, buy a local Sim card when you arrive.

Don’t bungle the Bundle

Smartphone users must buy a suitable data bundle, otherwise automatic downloads made by devices including the Samsung S3 and iPhone5 can easily cost R2 000 month. “A smartphone without apps is pretty boring, but the apps you download update automatically. If you’re on a budget set it to not update automatically, and only do it when you can get onto a Wi-Fi network,” Taylor says.

It wasn’t me...

If a thief grabs your Sim card, he can run up massive voice and data bills within hours. Report and block a stolen phone immediately. But Sim cards can be stolen from cell phones or least cost routers without anyone realising – until the bill arrives. Make sure those devices are secure and have a call limit set on the Sim card to prevent fraudulent use.

Switch the apps off

Ensure that you close apps properly when you are not using them. These include apps such as Facebook, Twitter, weather updates apps, live sports apps, GPS/location-aware apps. If not logged out completely, the apps continue to run in the background and can use up a lot of your data. For certain GPS apps, download the country specific maps while in South Africa to assist with costs. Ask your Service Provider for a spend limit to be placed before travelling to ensure there are no nasty surprises when you return.

“Incidents of bill shock are increasing at a great rate but there are things you can do to alleviate it,” Taylor says.

More information on Nashua Mobile is available at www.nashuamobile.com.

Related articles

• 100in1day Cape Town - A template for all cities!
• Caffe Java ~ Durban North

Update on the African Renaissance Africa Day Concert for 2013, A Poem and Art News

             Lira

Durban ICC Arena - May 25, 2013

DURBAN: The African Renaissance Festival and Conference have had to make an urgent change to their line up for the Africa Day concert on Saturday, with Zonke withdrawing from the concert following the unexpected passing of her sister, to be replaced by Lira who joins  Mafikozolo and Professor on Saturday, May 25 at 6.30pm at the ICC Arena in Durban.

Zonke – who had been booked to perform – is disappointed to have to withdraw, but has to put her family ahead of her professional commitments at this difficult time. She is shattered at unexpectedly losing her sister, Busisiwe (Busi) Dikana, on Saturday evening, 18 May.

Zonke and her family are devastated at this sudden loss, but she wishes to extend her greatest apologies to the media and fans out there and thanks them for the continuous support.

Lira, known for her emotional ballads and uplifting songs about journeying and self fulfilment, didn’t hesitate to step in to support a fellow musician in her hour of need. Lira  performed at the African Renaissance concert last year and is delighted to be back at this significant annual event. “The quest for unity in Africa is an important one. That music has been identified as one of the ways we can continue to engage with this concept, is hugely significant and an immense honour for us musicians,” said Lira.

Africa Day (May 25), marks the founding day of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963 and for many years has been a celebration of African unity. This was the first time that African Heads of State and Government got together in an effort to define Africa on its own terms and to be responsible for the continent’s shared destiny.

The African Day Concert takes place during the African Renaissance Festival, which began 15 years ago in an endeavour to reignite Africa’s own belief in itself and in its potential to develop its own resources. Joining Lira, the concert will feature some of the biggest names on the SA music scene: award-winning vintage-inspired Afro-Pop outfit Mafikizolo and Professor with Ukhozi Fm’s Mr Magic Linda Sibiya as the host and MC.

The concert will start at 6.30pm until late at the Durban ICC Arena and tickets are R100 and are available from Computicket. For more information and the full African Renaissance programme, contact reception@wozani.co.za or telephone 031-266 9792

(Source - African Renaissance) 

Poetry

Two Phrases, Afternoon and Night

I

The garden seems to dream

As silent as the dawn air;

And while the soul flies dreaming

It seems the quiet composes you, there

In the moment still becomes silver.

The moonlight lies close to the sun,

Both filters of an everlasting sigh,

Leaves turn like the last day of the world,

Waters under the bridge of our understanding

Carries the glimpse, a moment, solitude…

Close to the songs

On this silver path,

Across the mouth of entrance,

That as stars in the morning

Bring us sentences of the lovely garden;

Happy exiles of joy, at home in laughter.

II

What wields the years, the distance

Between us, London or Dresden?

The years take us askance

A sun-dial reposes, refugees of when,

Surely as the bright moon goes

We are orphans no longer.

Forests of trees as stars bind; flows

Of circling ice, break  till stronger,

The burgeoning: flowering of the will.

       

Being a response to Patrick Cullinan’s poem ‘Exiles’ from his volume “Escarpments:  Poems  1973-2007”.

by Timothy Sparks (a freelance writer and teacher based in Durban)

email - tphwsparks@gmail.com

(Source - SA Print Gallery)

Artscape Youth Programme to boost Cape Learners

Artscape Youth Programme to boost Cape Learners

Cape Town learners are set to get an enormous boost from this year’s Artscape youth programme, following the return of the Grade 12 isiXhosa set-work play (Amaza), an Artscape youth development skills production to be held from 13 – 24 May 2013 at 10h30am at the Artscape Theatre.

Generously supported by the Western Cape Education Department, Amaza forms part of the Artscape educational youth development programme that aims to promote social cohesion, good citizenship and empowerment through the arts.

The high quality production, by ZS Qangule, is in its fourth consecutive season and it is aimed at Grade 12 isiXhosa learners from the greater Cape Town area, who will get the opportunity to experience the play in their own language and further equip them with essential skills to become performers. The two hour play will once again be presented as a full stage production. Over 4700 learners from 60 previously disadvantaged schools saw the production in 2012.

Directed by Peggy Zinziswa Mongoato, and assistant director, Phumeza Rashe Amaza is a 17 cast member thriller set in a rural village in the Transkei.  A police detective stationed in Port Elizabeth is investigating a private and personal matter.  This case takes him back to the village where he and the woman he married came from.  His visit there coincides with the double funeral of a couple that were mysteriously murdered in Johannesburg.  Adultery, deceit and lies are just some of the ingredients of this intriguing tale.  His investigation takes him to Johannesburg, then to Swaziland and back to Port Elizabeth.  As he is trying to solve the mystery, he stumbles across the evidence he was looking for in the first place.

The production will serve as a basis for the upcoming High School Mini Drama Festivals to be held at various schools on 27^th, 28^th, 29^th, 30^th, 31^st May 2013, 01^st and 03^rd  June 2013. It will give learners an opportunity to create and present an original drama on a professional stage while also learning the discipline to being a performer. This year’s theme is Against all odds/ Teen oorwig van waarskynlikheid/ Noba kumnyama entle.

‘’The aim of the High School Drama Festival is to give learners a platform to voice their own creativity, views and concerns to a captive audience and alongside that the opportunity to broaden their horizons by experiencing the magic of live theatre, professional lighting and sound and with an audience’’, says Marlene Le Roux, Director of Audience Development and Education for Artscape.

Schools entering the competition are required to prepare a 35 minute original production based on their own interpretation of the theme and 10 minutes of the play should be presented at the mini festival as an abridged version of the original production.  Out of approximately 60 entries, 16 are selected to participate in the main festival at the Artscape Arena from 12 to 15 August 2013 followed by the award ceremony which will take place the morning of the 17^th of August 2013 in the Artscape Arena.

High School Mini Festivals Schedule:

• Alexander Sinton, Athlone                          -              27 May 2013
• Mondale High School, Mitchell’s Plain     -              28 May 2013
• Schoonspruit High School, Malmesbury -              29 May 2013
• JG Meiring High School, Goodwood         -              30 May 2013
• Worcester High School, Worcester           -              31May 2013
• Luhlaza High School, Khayelitsha               -              01 June 2013
• Zwaanswyk Academy, Tokai                       -              03 June 2013

For more information on production and ticket bookings (at R40.00 per person), please contact Riaan Visman, Artscape School Liaison Unit Manager on 021 410 9927 or email slu@artscape.co.za.

(Source - Artscape) 

You Are Invited to Twitter Blanket Drive 2013 25 May South Africa #TBD2013

Your personal invitation to Twitter Blanket Drive 2013.

WHEN:  25^th MAY 2013 Events Countrywide

WHY: Donating Blankets for Charity using the power of Social Media

Durban – Wakaberry Durban North 12pm

Cape Town & Jozi – Fire & Ice Hotels 6pm

WHO: Everyone is invited.                                              

Twitter -  @TBDAfrica     

Facebook -  Twitter Blanket Drive

#TBD2013

How can you help:  Get involved, get your community involved, get your company involved and help keep people warm this winter.

For more details contact Fred on falconscove@gmail.com

 

Bring your blankets!