Romantics wed on Robben Island – Valentine’s Day gallery

Posted on February 16, 2012  /  No Comments

Following a 12-year Valentine’s Day tradition, Robben Island once again played host to 11 couples who chose to say “I do” on the island where Nelson Mandela and fellow political prisoners were once incarcerated. Photographer Jac Kritzinger took the ferry out to find out why the lovers chose the iconic island as their nuptial altar.

All photos © Jac Kritzinger / www.relevantreality.co.za (more…)

Maine film festival set to celebrate the mighty moustache

Posted on February 16, 2012  /  No Comments

Move over, Cannes. Maine will be playing host to its first-ever international moustache film festival, part of its annual pageant that celebrates the bristly facial hair.

The festival set for 30 March in Portland will feature short films with storylines that involve moustaches or a main character who wears a moustache, said Nick Callanan, head of No Umbrella Media, a video production company organizing the event. (more…)

Japan priest fights invisible demon: radiation

Posted on February 15, 2012  /  No Comments

On the snowy fringes of Japan’s Fukushima city, now notorious as a byword for nuclear crisis, Zen monk Koyu Abe offers prayers for the souls of thousands left dead or missing after the earthquake and tsunami nearly one year ago.

But away from the ceremonial drums and the incense swirling around the Joenji temple altar, Abe has undertaken another task, no less harrowing – to search out radioactive “hot spots” and clean them up, storing irradiated earth on temple grounds. (more…)

Homeless death toll soars as Europe freezes over — Ukraine worst hit

Posted on February 15, 2012  /  No Comments

As temperatures plummet in Europe’s “big freeze”, the number of homeless dying on the streets is steadily creeping up.

Street paper editors across Europe have reported deaths amongst homeless people as a result of the extreme cold weather, with the worst casualties recorded in Eastern Europe. While statistics vary, it is estimated that the big freeze has caused up to 400 deaths across Europe during the last two weeks, with the homeless and elderly remaining the worst affected. (more…)

McBook: The book industry’s nugget of hope

Posted on February 13, 2012  /  No Comments

The kid’s book industry is booming, but now it looks set to conquer the fast food industry too, as McDonalds launches a scheme which will use their Happy Meal to give a book to every child in Britain.

The latest figures show that children’s and young adult books are increasing their market share, now accounting for 29% of all book sales in Britain (and worth £318 million). While the publishing industry struggles (the number of books sold overall fell by 7.2% in 2011), a spokesman for Nielsen Bookscan said the children’s market “is fairing the best of the major genres”. (more…)

Muizenberg wins fight to keep big fish: City grants permit for street art mural

Posted on February 10, 2012  /  No Comments

The City of Cape Town has backed down on its threat to paint over a street art mural on the Muizenberg beachfront following an outcry from the beachside suburb’s community.

The City issued last week a “Notice to Remove” the colourful fish mural, painted by renowned Brazilian street artist Binho Ribeiro on a council-owned toilet block. (more…)

China driving schools teaching millions the art of war

Posted on February 9, 2012  /  No Comments

China is rapidly becoming a country on wheels and its crowded driving schools are racing to churn out licensed drivers as fast as cars roll off the assembly lines. But judging by the daily smash-ups and blatant disregard for even basic traffic rules on China’s roadways, quantity seems to have trumped quality at many schools.

China surpassed the United States in 2009 to become the world’s largest auto market, and just as newly affluent Chinese are snapping up expensive cars in staggering numbers, driving schools are bursting at the seams. (more…)

Face-to-face with irrational shark fear

Posted on September 12, 2011  /  17 Comments

‘Why am I doing this, why am I doing this” is on loop through my head as my sweaty hands struggle to slip on my fins while I peer down into the tank below where dark shadows circle. My heart’s beating way too fast as I struggle to shove the Jaws soundtrack back into the 80’s playlist box in my brain, where it belongs under chain and padlock along with Kylie Minogue and Rick Astley. (more…)

No reason to celebrate Women’s Day…yet

Posted on August 12, 2011  /  Comments Off

Among the family archives lives a photo of my mom wearing a maroon velvet jacket and a buttoned-up-to-the-neck white frilly blouse, sporting that quintessentially Princess Di haircut of the ‘80s. What’s funny about this photo is not the look (although it has led to a great deal of heckling at family dinners), it’s the fact that she’s surrounded by men. Black-rim bespectacled men in equally laughable suits and Brylcreemed hair. Lots of them. In all shapes and sizes. She is the lone woman, standing out like the proverbial thumb. (more…)

Jou Ma…would even like this comedy club

Posted on August 1, 2011  /  45 Comments

Stand-up comedy is always a mixed bag. While I appreciate the courage it takes to stand up in front of an audience to garner a giggle, I am usually the one staring blankly at the comedian thinking “I can see how that can be funny, but I ain’t laughing”. (more…)

Art for the people…even the plebs

Posted on July 26, 2011  /  61 Comments

I’ve never been much of a fan of traditional art exhibitions. All those people milling around the work on the wall, nodding knowingly and talking in hushed voices, bandying about terms like Postmodernist, Neo-Dada, Fauvism and Hyperrealism, while quaffing the free wine. I’ll come right out with it: to me, it’s a pretentious cliché, too exclusive, and, well, dead boring. (more…)

Stood up by the Skirts

Posted on July 25, 2011  /  47 Comments

The Dirty Skirts launched their new album Lost in the Fall on Saturday night. Unfortunately, I can’t make any comments on the band’s album or their music as I had had enough of staring at an empty stage for over two hours and left the crowd of impatient fans at Zula Bar on Long Street before the iconic Cape Town band got on stage. (more…)

Street papers divided on whether to support campaign to make poverty illegal

Posted on July 22, 2011  /  Comments Off

Could poverty be made illegal worldwide, just as torture and other human rights abuses have been?

It’s a radical concept, and one that’s being vociferously debated at the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) annual conference following a call by Henrique Pinto, from Cais street paper in Portugal, for street papers to support his campaign to make poverty illegal. (more…)

Hacking scandal may push more readers to street papers

Posted on July 21, 2011  /  46 Comments

While traditional media sales dipped during 2010, the international street paper movement increased sales by 10% overall and by up to 30% in specific regions.
The Big Issue South Africa is among those papers with an increased circulation, which we’re of course pleased about, and we’ll be releasing the exact figure as soon as our most recent ABC audit is confirmed. (more…)