Will be back soon Very soon.

Life in the Inner-city
- Lauren Beukes (South Africa)
- Aziz Hassim (South Africa)
- Facilitator: Achille Mbembe

Discussion on life in the inner city gives to rise many questions of culture and diversity regarding the evolution of the inner city.  When considering urban fiction one asks  “Is urban fiction showing a re-emergence of culture?” Stories have always been shared since the beginning of time, for their entertainment valued and in an emotional investment from the reader due to his/her imaginative participation.

How does the new body of fiction transcend the boundaries of old fiction, is there a literary evolution on some aspects. Does urban fiction go beyond the surface? Surface meaning the deeper aspects of society.  Its valid to reiterate that the past, present and future of literature do have a point of convergence.

Gems from Lauren Beaukes :
People also transform like a character does.

We’re burdened by animal instincts

Concepts like : Neo Apartheid systems

“people deal with things, makes choices and are often haunted by these choices – this is part of which gives a city its history and secrets”

Typography with different pathways

The suburbs are right in material and people hide behind their high walls.

Snippets from Aziz Hassim:
The inner city is colloquilized as a ghetto,  alot of description of durbans’ Cazbar.

Maybe there’s less anonymity  in the inner city. Observance and experience allows one to experience. Historical creativity allows one to write on ones experience.

Aziz uses terms like historical creativity and intellectual desert.

Wholistically we see 2 different writers creating from their experiential reality, but in in two very different eras. There seems to be a gap in between, perhaps it would have been a good idea to incorporate a writer who’s work focussed on the time frame between  the 1980s and the 2000s. The gap is glaring but this can be deduced to each book focussing on a different province. For anyone who’s been around South Africa , it is glaring that the provinces differ in terms of what they have to hold in experience. Aziz’s book  ‘Lotus people’ draws on the past reality of Durban. Yet Beaukes ‘Zoo City’ focuses on the the here and now, the roughness of  Hillbrow and the  current narcotics of this era.

From her brief reading, Beaukes style is catchy, teamed up with her intellectual yet vibrant personality  – the audience is drawn into wanting to read more of her book.  As a  reader who hasn’t encountered Lauren, her book doesn’t lean into my interest at shelf value.

Achille Mbembe questions if we are creating a generic racial identity? Where is urban fiction right now, and where is it heading?

Lauren Beaukes does alot of name dropping for BookSA. Needless to say the online generation has encountered booksa on the digital platform with events and reviews. Be sure to visit their site, and fanpage.  Beaukes says that post apartheid gave rise to empty writing. Retrospection on SA History, filled with pain and crimes.

Hassim and Beukes discuss the detonation of culture, identity and race, questioning where are societies breaking points. They are in the ghettos.  Hassim makes reference to the age of western movies being rife discussion in the Casbah  and it gives away a ‘time lapses memory’ of generation gone by.

Beukes concludes with a very apt one liner: ‘Once your book is published, it is no longer yours’

Credits: http://www.cca.ukzn.ac.za

The 14^th annual Time of the Writer festival held in Durban from 14-20 march 2011 was a wonderful meeting of talent, sharing of literary inspiration and peeks into the many avenues of the literary scene from an African perspective. Featuring writers :

The brilliance of this event draws on the talent of the invited writers as well and expands on a very niche audience.  Each panel discussion and previews of literary masterpieces encompass many points of view from the writers themselves as well as the audience. Each day marks the beginning of the event with a slice of ethnic African prelude, in the form of music, dancing and even mimes. The colors of south Africa bearing down on the audience, and evoking a mix of pride and African identity to set the tone for the evening.

There have been reviews online from BookSA so as not to repeat content,  my posts will focuss on titbits of inspiration from the various evenings. 2 weeks late with this due to connectivity issues, so stay tuned.

Facebook

What is Facebook?
Facebook is a social networking site that  allows you to create a user profile for yourself and then add your friends, colleagues, family etc.  It is the largest social network in the world with over 200 million active users worldwide, with more than 100 million logging on at least once a day! It is great for networking as well as interacting with users.

It has a host of great options like being able to share links you find online,  upload your own videos, share your pictures, as well as gaming. There is a huge list of activities one can engage in via facebook, including the facebook chat facility that enables you to chat to people on your contacts list. the facebook interface is always being tweaked which prevents you from being bored with the design. Facebook gaming has been a hit for social media gaming.  (See a gaming post coming soon) The facebook interface is fairly easy to get around, inspite of the frequent outlook changes implemented to the interface.

About Girls Guide to the Internet

It will be shore easy to read reviews of websites, blogs and applications, with each post covering simplistic ways to understand the WWWorld and technology.
Why does there need to be a Girls Guide?
Face it, women(generalising gender here) are busy with work, kids, maintaining homes as well as trying to squee ze in a social life. It’s an effort to wade through technological jargon in order to answer tech questions in the simplest manner possible. In this age of ‘Get Thing Done’ (GTD) mode we’re on a quest to get what we need and simplify everything.

This flowchart offers (humorous) advice

With the 2010 FIFA World Cup just 79 days away from kick off, i can’t help but ponder over the response from tourist despite the reasons behind changing the street names.

Just a few pictures from around Durban depicting the changes of street names.

Today i was amused by an overheard conversation was over “Problem Mkize road”

The lady asks ‘is there a problem with the road? Are there roadworks?”

Fair enough South Africa has undergone alot of change during the past few years, however changing everything in a city can lead to more confusion than emphasizing liberation of the country.

What is a Bucket List : A Bucket List is a list  of things to do before you die.
The term originates from the phrase ‘kicked the bucket’

I’ve recently discovered Dream up your bucket list which focusses on turning life long dreams into reality with a chance to win R100 000 (ZAR 100 000). Simply create your list by logging on to Dream up your bucket list and share it with your friends on facebook or via email.

To further help people attain the aspirations, Dream up your bucketlist is offering users a call back service to help them fulfil their dreams.

Click on the image below to view list examples clearly

Even if you do not win, it gives you the opportunity to textualise your thoughts for the ‘someday’ you may want to persue them.

Not sure what to put on your list? Find below afew links to get you dreaming.

What’s on your bucket list?

100 Things to do before you Die

Tips for Creating your Bucket List

50 things to do before you die

10 most incredible things to do before you die

28 places to see before you die

How to Create and manage your Bucket List

MWEB has announced their uncapped broadband starting at R219 per month, and has caused quite a stir among net users. According to MyDigitalLife it is roughly 40% cheaper than other offerings.  Featured by Imod as well, as being a month to month service which is favourable as users want the flexibility of not being bound to a 12 or 24 month contract.

MWEB’s rates:

384k line – R219/month for uncapped data
512k line – R299/month for uncapped data
4096k line – R539/month for uncapped data

To find out more about Uncapped ADSL from R219 or to apply, please visit the MWEB site: http://www.mweb.co.za/adsl/

Free the Web SA brought to you by Mweb  has offered 1000  free accounts of 1 month duration. Be sure to check out the Free the Web SA fanpage on Facebook for more information. Follow them on twitter: @FreeTheWebSA

It is a exciting new deal and prospects for South Africa’s digital advancements. No doubt stirring alot of interest in people and, bringing with it a hive of wallet friendly knowledge to their fingertips. It is met with some scepticism by users, most of whom would like to see how the deal fairs in a few months before signing up.

Keep up to date by following @MWEBConnect on twitter

Additional sources regarding SA Broadband Shapes up