WORLD CHAMPIONS
South Africa
Movie love affair (Kings Cinema)
Movie love affair (King’s Cinema)
I have loved movies my whole life. I remember when I was a kid aged about 8, I used to go to Kings Cinema located on 2nd Avenue, in Alexandra Township every week! Kings was the greatest place in the world and I am not even exaggerating, it was better than heaven, it was bliss! I don’t think I’d like heaven all that much, the thought of church all day, singing and worshipping for all eternity doesn’t appeal to me. Look thank you for saving me God, I appreciate it but could I checkout the service once in a while? I mean it’s heaven, give me a break. While heaven doesn’t appeal to me all that much, I wouldn’t mind being locked in King’s Cinema for all eternity! They played great stuff! For just R5 for kids and R7, later R10 for adults you got to watch TWO movies! One Kung Fu and the other one a Hollywood movie. The Kung Fu movies were the best! We were always so entertained, the crowd loved them! I am talking about Jet Li, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and all those other Chinese guys who kicked ass. It was always an experience, the movies were funny, they were always about revenge and honor, that’s when I fell in love with Cinema, I credit Kung Fu movies. I think that’s why I loved Kill Bill so much, it felt familiar like nostalgia, I even dreamed about it, I could not get the bride out of my psyche and she stayed with me until my late teenage years. I still can’t get over Kill Bill, it’s a masterpiece. I remember watching Shaolin Soccer and cracking up real good, the audience loved it. Shaolin Soccer was a King’s special, the posters inside the cinema were never removed, I remember it had a frame. All the other posters were changed and removed every week to advertise what was showing next week or in the foreseeable future except the Shaolin Soccer poster. It had that aesthetic, that feel, it described what King’s Cinema was all about. There was a program and when you purchased your ticket you basically agreed to spend your whole day at the Cinema. The box office opened at 12:30 pm and would sell tickets until 13:00 – 13:30 pm. After 13:30, the gates are closed and no one comes in the theatre. Once seated the first movie comes on, usually a Kung Fu movie that plays for 2 hours or so and then there is a recess, a little intermission so you can buy your Popcorn and snacks for the second movie – the main movie, what you came to the cinema to see, the big box office movies like Mission Impossible, Spiderman and Rambo. Hardly no one bought popcorn and snacks for the first movie but the stand was still open nonetheless. The Kung Fu movies were like preparation for the second movie but we loved them anyways, to tell you the truth, sometimes they were better than the big Hollywood movies. The second movie would play until like 17:30 to 18:00. So you would be in the cinema from 13:00 to 18:00 but it didn’t feel that way because time flew!
I loved how economic King’s was. For the day I needed just R12. That would be enough for the entrance, popcorn, juice and sweets (smarties). I would go there Saturday and Sunday and R24 would suffice, sometimes R20 for two days would do. But when I went with a grown-up I would get everything! I’d get Popcorn, Coca-Cola not Juice, a hot pie and sweets! Every time I had a hot pie and Coke was a great day! I remember the days like it was yesterday, the first time I went with my cousin and we watched Spiderman. The next time was with my mother and we watched X-men 2. Pie was expensive, it cost R7 and Coke was R5! My mother would give me the R12 to get me off her hair, she never complained. I loved the cinema, I’d go with my friends most Saturday’s, and on Sunday when they went to church, I’d go again on my own. I remember watching “Gladiator”, oh my lord, it was so epic! Like “Are you not entertained? Isn’t this what you came for? Spaniard! Spaniard! Spaniard!”. The audience in the cinema went crazy! Spaniard was our hero, when he died at the end, we felt an injustice like something was amiss, we hated the fact that Spaniard died but we understood, everything was stacked up against him and at least he killed the villian and restored order in the kingdom, it was a bittersweet ending. We loved movies with action, fighting and violence! The whistles would reverberate in the theatre and we actively cheered for the hero! Love scenes in the cinema were also cool but sometimes awkward and uncomfortable, most of the time you’d hear wooing. When the hero kissed the girl there was always an applause and whistles, we loved it! I also remember watching Troy, ah! It was such an awesome movie and the audience loved it. To tell you the truth, I’ve only watched the movie once, I forgot the plot but I remember the name of the movie and Brad Pitt was awesome! I watched a couple of Harry Potter movies at Kings but not “The Goblet of fire”, that installment I watched in the cinema at Sandton. When we watched “Passion of the Christ” everybody was emotional, the mood was tense and serious. You could hear sobs everywhere in the cinema. Even my friends didn’t talk to me, their gaze was fixed on the screen and they totally ignored my attempts to disturb them. It was strange and uncomfortable, even my friends cried for Jesus. I didn’t like “Passion of the Christ”, it had a lot of subtitles and I got bored following through the story, I didn’t understand what it was about. Still I remember that day vividly because everyone in the cinema was crying for Jesus and I felt guilty because I didn’t cry. I finished the day thinking I was going to hell, thank you for the feelings of guilt and shame Mel Gibson, fucken asshole. Mission Impossible 3 was awesome, that’s your definitive King’s movie in terms of engagement with the crowd, it had the audience going crazy in a lot of scenes! Tom Cruise didn’t disappoint, he did the impossible. I have two movies that could rival Mission Impossible 3, that’s “Cradle to the grave” and “Romeo Must Die”, reason being Jet Li, the hood loved Jet Li! His movies always filled up the cinema, Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Jet Li was the ultimate hero and he would beat the bad guys clean, everyone in the cinema cheered and whistled him on. He had a strong crowd. Kings was an experience, for me it was a place where I went to be myself. I relaxed, I laughed, I cheered, I rested my feet on seats, I interacted with the stories, I fell in love with cinema, it is my whole childhood. I spent a lot of my life in that cinema and I watched a lot of movies. Thank you King’s for everything!
Kalushi, my brother
Kalushi, my brother
I would do anything for Kalushi, he is my blood brother. There’s so much to say, the things we saw and experienced together many people would ascribe to as fiction. Frankly I have a tough time believing our experiences. Just maybe it is fiction or just a dream. Still we had a lot of fun, I wouldn’t trade the experiences for anything. Obviously I can’t cover everything but I’ll provide a highlight reel.
The story starts with feminine energy, I was in Grade 9 and I saw this girl who blew me away. She was in Grade 8, yellow-bone, pretty and perfect tits. Her name Mapule, she was top quality. But I just admired from a distance. My life was in shambles and I was depressed and sad. My parents got a divorce and they played me like a chess piece. It wasn’t fair, I was objectified like a piece of meat. They were like kids, they couldn’t handle their problems like adults. How can you use your kid for nefarious ends? I didn’t allow it though, I saw through all their mental games and their attempts to control me. I chose to distance myself and venture out into the unknown. I became an adult at a very young age. I came back to Alex and I was separated from my brother, sister and my mother who was pregnant at the time. From Kempton Park they moved to Olifantsfontein and we didn’t even have a number to connect. Months elapsed and still no contact. Everything seemed so final like I would never see them again. I was sad and depressed and it reflected with my image and my results at school. That year, in the first term I failed 6 out of 9 subjects. I failed because of inactivity, I didn’t have the will anymore, I just didn’t care. Thank God for FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi, literally they were the only thing that made me happy. My eyes sparkled when Messi had the ball on his feet and my spirits were lifted. Every weekend for 2 hours, I was happy. Pep Guardiola and Messi never disappointed me, they gave me pride. I even watched Real Madrid games and that season Gonzalo Higuain and Ronaldo were on fire. Manuel Pellegrini had a really good team and they played beautiful football, they pushed us to the end securing 98 pts while Barca won the league with 99 pts, to this day I don’t understand why he was sacked. Soccer provided an escape from the world that I desperately needed, it was a remedy for my broken heart that was shattered to pieces. At school Miss Nkabinde got ahold of my results and she was concerned. She knew me from my days in Grade 8 where she taught us Life Orientation and she always thought I was bright. She scheduled counseling for me and through that I got to reflect. I realized the seriousness of everything, before this I had never failed in my life. I had to be accountable for the failure. I took it in and I promised myself that I’d be better for the second term. On a positive note, my mother gave birth and she made contact so I can see my little brother, it was at a private hospital in Kempton Park so after school I went there and he was so small, I held him in my arms and I was happy again.
I started the second term more focused, I needed to redeem myself for myself. I was still living in Gomora but things were better now, I was now in contact with my mother and slowly we mended our relationship. I also saw my brother and sister again, something that gave me life. I was still contemplating changing schools though. I enquired at Sandringham High and it looked like my next destination. I wanted to change schools, Rhodesfield was a technical school and I wanted a normal school because I was artistic in nature. Still I didn’t fully commit to changing schools. I did well in the second term and I was lively again. My Grades improved, I was a man on a mission. I decided to live with my mother and siblings in Olifantsfontein for a while and you won’t believe what I saw! Mapule, the hot yellow-bone with perfect tits. I took that as a sign, I hadn’t made my move with her before because I was troubled but now everything was perfect. I talked to her and I got her number. We communicated on Mxit and she was completely complicit. We were on the same wavelength. We would meet at the park and have discussions that lasted an eternity. Still I didn’t force things, I was getting my life back together and I had to pull the strings slowly for maximum output. I passed the second term and redeemed myself in my eyes. Mapule moved on with some guy and I remember thinking “Yes, that guy is good for Mapule. It’s okay, you didn’t lose it just wasn’t meant to be”. They looked good together and at least Mapule was still a friend. This guy made me feel good, he had a aura that was familiar to me, he was in 9B, neat guy, his shoes were always shining, Red Mountain bag and was affectionately known by his peers as “Mbazo” – that’s a good nickname.
The next year I decided on staying on as opposed to moving to Sandringham High. I was now in the same class as “Mbazo”, his real name Kalushi Mkhonto. My Instincts were correct, he was a great guy. He was a smart guy, well articulated and got good grades. He was always in the top 5 of achievers in most subjects and sat at the first row in Physics class. In fact he was always the guy who rivaled me in English class. I would always get A’s on all my essays and speeches and it was the same thing with him. Our energies gravitated towards each other and we became good friends. We were in the same team that created the OPI concert and I nominated him to be the Headboy of the school. I genuinely believed he was the perfect guy for the job. In the end he lost out because he wasn’t a kiss ass.
I created a lot with Kalushi. I suffered a lot with Kalushi. I have a lot of memories with Kalushi. We started KOSP together alongside Kay of course. KOSP was beautiful. We started an online radio station. We started a soccer team together. We started a farm together. We lived with each other for years building for a future that was only in our eyes. We know everything about each other, we know each other’s mothers, we formed a genuine brotherhood. Kalushi taught me a lot. Kalushi is smart, creative, passionate, generous, ambitious, has great taste in music and just an overall great guy. I love Kalushi, he is my blood brother forever!
PS. Thank you for the Yezzys and all the times you accompanied me to Mokopane so I can purchase a stand to build a home. Thank you for the time you gave me R3500 from the goodness of your heart so that I can continue online trading. Thank you for the Cassio watch and HP Laptop. Thank you for everything. I appreciate you and all our adventures. Spirit homeboy!
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Feel Good
Feel Good
I believe Lira’s Feel Good is one of the greatest albums of all time. It has such a high energy level. It sounds like heaven and I mean that in a literal sense. It is an enlightened album that covers sophisticated subjects, subjects that calibrate at a high conscious level, subjects like; love, gratitude, self-realization, happiness and freewill. It explores the psychology of a young, bright woman who is optimistic about the world. She sees the world through the eyes of a child and sees novelty in everything. A woman who is so intelligent and knows her worth. She has such a strong, confident personality that it is contagious. It spreads through the listeners ears, hearts and finally life through melodious choruses and striking chords. It is the ultimate feel good album. On “Typical” she is dismissive of girls trying to get to her man, stating that “his not into the the typical”. This of course communicates that she is not “typical”, she hints at possessing something extra, something that makes her irresistible. She’s so confident in her self that she states “it doesn’t matter what you do, he still remains my baby love.” In this song, she understands her worth and communicates to the listener on a subtle level that we all have something about ourselves that is desirable and that we should love ourselves and not be concerned by the attributes of other people. This song is about self-love and appreciation because no one views themselves as “Typical”. It is a song brimming with confidence. It is assured and has plenty of attitude. Another song with attitude that shows self-worth and understanding is “Ixesha”, quite simply the chorus translates to “Stop wasting my time”, this eludes to a woman who has things to do. “Dance of life” is more celebratory, it literally sounds like a dance and this is enforced by the striking chords of the piano. The song is upbeat, festive and positive. It references dance styles like “the cha-cha” and the slow-dance. The whole song is a metaphor celebrating the life shared by Lira and her partner and she explains that life is like a ball in which they have to keep moving and dancing, implementing new and different styles at times. Life is fun and beautiful and she is just so happy and blessed that he is besides her dancing in the game of life. The song is bursting with imagination, originality and creativity – listening to it is pure bliss. “Ngiyazifela” explores the love he has for his lover. It’s not infatuation or romanticism. The love she has for him is pure and heart-warming. She states that she is proud and will patiently wait for him. That she loves him and wants to be with him forever. In the chorus she states that she can’t help loving him. That her love is automatic and natural. Her voice sounds sincere and honest. Her lyrics are like a love letter or a poem and she gives all of herself by delivering an amazing highnote that highlights that she would do anything for him. The song is an expression of love and it sounds so beautiful. On “Crush” she talks about someone she is smitten by. He is the object of her desire. He is the image of perfection and he just drives her crazy. The man is too good to be true and she is locked in a trance. She doesn’t know what to do. She wants to talk to him but she is scared to do so. She doesn’t want him to ignore her, she wants to be seen. For the first time in the album she questions herself and displays her insecurities, questioning “Do I even stand a change?” This results in apathy and she is left to just contemplate about him. The song ends in her stating that “his such a beautiful stranger”. “Crush” is descriptive and will leave you reminiscing. The song is nostalgic and golden. The type of song that has the ability to make your soul dance. “Twisted” is a more soulful song. It is intimate and thoughtful. It explores Liras feelings at depth about the relationship she is in. It is a reflective song and this is reflected by the horns and Lira senerading us. The song is mature like good wine. On “Ngiyabonga”, Lira expresses her gratitude to her family and friends. She is grateful for the gift of life and where she is in life. She is open and expressive. The song is joyous, festive and celebratory. On “Iris” she explores choices and being whatever you want to be. She covers freewill, an inner scorecard and an inner campus. The song sounds like liberation. It sounds like it’s setting is in nature with the trees and animals roaming around. The acoustic guitar solo is like a painting of nature with its mountains and lake. She pleads to the listener “You don’t have to be what people say”. “Iris” is about individuality and the process of self-realization. In the land of Iris is an ideal we should all aspire to be. This is my favorite song in the album. “Dumisa” is another song about gratitude. The song is minimalistic and contains mainly an acoustic guitar in its background while Lira takes center stage and serenades the listener. It is a soulful and harmonic song. “Feel it in me” is about intuition and an inner voice that we all have. It is about the will to life that pushes and propels you forward. It is a genetic code, a kind of destiny, the universe and even the God in you. The song states that everything is in you, that you are the source of everything in your life. The song is upbeat and vibrant. It contains drums that steal the show to turn it to a Fiesta. The song feels alive, youthful and celebratory. “Yeah, yeah, yeah” is a beautiful song dedicated to her mother. It is smooth and light with the only instrument being an organ or piano of somesort. It contains melodies that complimentary to the texture of the song. Lira is thankful to her mother for everything; the lessons, the sacrifices and the unconditional love, this highlights a recurring theme in the album – gratitude. The last song “Change the world” is highly optimistic and discusses how me and you can change the world. It is ambitious and Lira aims to solve the biggest problems in the world. She implores us to change individually so we can alter the world collectively. She states that if we can live as one nation then we change the world. By “live” she states love because it is it that unites. Love is patient, love is kind and by practicing love in our lives, we have a chance to change the world. The eternal optimist, something she is certain we can achieve. In the main theme of the album is choice and love. Lira states that we have a choice to want to be happy. The first song “Feel Good” is about a choice to lead a life that is meaningful. It is about saying yes to life in its totality, to embracing it and living it in a way that makes people grateful of your existence. The album is a great example of reason and pure unadulterated love. The album is a mirror of life, it embodies nature and the idea of life striving to be more. The album is free and natural. It is an album that can resonate with anyone because it is so philosophical in its lessons. The aim of philosophy is to teach and “Feel Good” teaches one how to live a fulfilled life; a life of gratitude and love. This is such a great album and I salute Lerato and her team for bringing this to the world. Lerato because I want to be closer to her, to her spirit. She is such an amazing artist, a brilliant creative who created one of the masterclasses of the ages.
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Everyone thinks they’re right
Everyone thinks they’re right
Everyone thinks they’re right and in the process we lose our humanity and further surpress our mortality. We forget to love one another and act justly. Even Adolf Hitler thought he was right and he thought that he was going to live forever. He justified the atrocities that transpired in the 20th century to God. He vilified the Jews so much and propagated hate that everything he said made sense. He got supporters. The world fell under his hypnotic frame and genocide became accepted. It’s the same thing with white supremist groups like the KKK and slavery, everyone thinks they’re right and it also makes sense too. In elevating our status we demean the statuses of others and come to see them as weak, we believe we are superior, better, chosen and that we are going to live forever. The hate becomes our refuge and it protects us from the injustices of the world namely that life is suffering and there is no apparent reason for this suffering, so we commit more suffering since that creates some sort of meaning and justifies our existence. The thought that perhaps God doesn’t care about us is unbearable but we entertain it since if God doesn’t exist then all is permitted. Everyone thinks they’re right and there’s always a feedback loop that justifies their findings. Kaffers are dangerous and apartheid fair, while the negro is genetically built to serve his master, the white slaver. Jews are corrupt to the core and spread this plague like a virus throughout the world. Everyone thinks they’re are right and God is always on their side. I learned it’s not important to be right, in fact I don’t want to be right. I’d much rather be wrong and make my way up, as long as there’s breath in my lungs I have a chance to be less wrong. I want to be a good man and have love in my heart. My time is limited and so I meditate on that so I can practice my humanity and make the world a bit better than I found it. My mortality haunts me but it motivates me to be kind, loving and a good person. I don’t want to be right, I want to be just.
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Propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda tends to have a negative connotation and it’s warranted, we saw what happened in the 20th century with Nazi Germany. What transpired was just pure evil, but it’s not just with Nazi Germany. Propaganda is everywhere. We see this with the depiction of Africa by the West. And how is Jesus Christ white again?
Propaganda is everywhere, we see it on our money with Nelson Mandela, he is always there, looking at you, smiling. Sandton City has a place called “Nelson Mandela Square” and it is a place designated for Mandela. It has art, it has statues, it has stores that sell Mandela gold coins, it has stores that sell the type of clothes he wore, it is Mandela heaven. Because Sandton is my home, I see Nelson Mandela every day. I believe his propaganda, I believe that he was a great man. I am surrounded by proof. Yes, I concede Nelson Mandela was a great man, easily one of the greatest men who ever lived. The propaganda makes him better than the “Greatest”. He has malls named after him, streets, hospitals, bridges and just about anything you can think of. The “Mandela” brand is a great brand and it is because of this propaganda.
Essentially what propaganda is, is Marketing and PR. It is showing only one side of the story in the best possible light repeatedly. It is biased and one sided. We see this with the advertising industry. Everyone is always smiling on Billboards and on ads and that KFC burger isn’t that great in real life. Propaganda is flattery and deception, it is what we humans do best. Social media has allowed us to propagate propaganda for our personal brands. We can take pictures and filter them to be perfect and then share with the whole world. We have more power than ever!
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Resilience
Resilience
When I think of the word resilience, Nelson Mandela and his freedom fighters come to mind. They fought so hard against the “impossible” and they won. They achieved this feat because they cared more. It wasn’t easy too, 27 years in prison is an eternity. That is more than 10 000 days in prison – mastery!
Consider Nelson Mandela’s life for a moment. He and the other freedom fighters were banished to an Island were they would serve life for treason. They worked in labor camps all day every day, turning big rocks to small rocks. They were harassed, disrespected, abused and made to feel inferior throughout. They were treated like animals and not shown any humanity. The food was cold, rationed and not fit for a dog. The cells were cold and solitary confinement was a part of life because they were so vocal about their rights. Life carried on without them, family members died and they couldn’t attend funerals. They spent the best years of their lives, their youth, confined in a cell like animals. They couldn’t even communicate with the outside world because the letters were heavily censored. No newspapers to inform them of current events of the country and the world, all they knew were the four corners of Robben Island. There’s also the case that all of this could have been in vain. What if the people they were fighting for forgot. What If the unjust oppressive system of Apartheid won in suppressing peoples spirits and oppression was the norm? What if there was nothing that could be done?
Nelson Mandela and the other freedom fighters, endured a lot of suffering. They lost so much. It’s so easy to be hateful and angry but he Nelson Mandela preached peace and making the country a better place to live in when he was released. The future was all that mattered and creating one with equal opportunity and no oppressive legislature for people of color was paramount. He was driven by a new vision for South Africa, it defined him. He gave everything to his people. What a leader, what a great man. Nelson Mandela embodies what it is to be resilient. The action of getting up and fighting, even after a thorough beat down. He stands for doing what’s right and never giving up until the very end. He stands for victory under the most difficult circumstances. He is integrity, resolve, determination, resilience and greatness.
Thank you for everything Tata, this is dedicated to the freedom fighters who gave up their lives and freedom so I can be free.
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