09 september 2013 issue 20

Perdeby Tuks se amptelike studentekoerant / Official Tuks student newspaper / Kuranta ya baithuti ya semmušo ya Tuks

09September2013

Future of clubhouses still pending

P5

UP wins brewing competition

P5

Homecoming Picnic 2013

The shyest, coolest and wildest party animals sink their claws into the second series of this year’s Homecoming Picnic.

P5

Spec-Savers Hatfield Shop 29, Hatfield plaza Burnette Street Hatfield 0123622887

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Does the shameless selfie have a shelf-life?

P13

AmaTuks sign ten new players

P16 Gangs of Ballet – The Perdeby interview –

P8 & P9

Photo: Eddie Mafa

Are compulsory student cards going to reduce Spring Day attendance? P4

Photo: Brad Donald

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Editorial

09 September ‘13

Perdeby

Perdeby is not in denial

www.perdeby.co.za perdeby@up.ac.za m.perdeby.co.za @perdebynews Tel: (012) 420 6600

Editorial Editor-In-Chief Carel Willemse

carel.willemse@up.ac.za @Ed_in_Chief

Editor Margeaux Erasmus

perdeby@up.ac.za @MargeauxErasmus

News Danielle Petterson

news@perdeby.co.za @DLPetterson

Features Bernd Fischer

features@perdeby.co.za @Bernd_Fischer

Entertainment Melina Meletakos entertainment@perdeby.co.za

@MelinaMeletakos

Sport Maxine Twaddle Web Nolwazi Mngadi

I walked through the HB last week and was greeted with something rather unpleasant.

Someone had made photocopies of the top part of our newspaper and had written “This is the headline? Perdeby is in denial!! Racism is an issue!!” underneath it.

The reason for these photocopied papers were made clear by a few tweets we received during the day. Apparently, a handful of students were upset about our choice of article for the front page. Our front-page article was about Spring

From the Editor

Day and how students will need student cards to enter the festival in September. This article made the front page instead of the story about the UP philosophy lecturer who resigned after she was accused of making racist comments on the website Praag.

According to this group, the fact that we placed Spring Day over the lecturer means that we are sweeping racism under the rug and are supporting institutionalised racism.

I would like to clarify how the one article was placed over the other. We send the newspaper to our printers on Friday evenings. This means that all our content and layout needs to be completed before Friday night. We only found out about the lecturer story on Friday morning, about the same time that the story broke on mainstream media, such as Times Live and Mail and Guardian.

Our news editor started looking into the story on Friday morning. When the article went to print we had the facts we could gather and a response from the university. It would have been inappropriate for us to embellish any of those facts in order to make the article long enough for a front-page story. And despite what this group is saying, the Spring Day story is important and concerns more people. Imagine if your friend bought tickets to Spring Day only to be turned away because they are not UP students or do not have a student card with them?

The other issue I have is how the group went

about it. People are not always happy with how the media reports on stories, but there is a proper way to address your concerns. The group printed something and distributed it around the HB without any sign of who they are on the paper.

Added to this, they seem to be under the impression that we are the problem. How are we to blame for this incident and how is it our fault that students are not reading news? I also do not understand how they can blame us for silencing racism claims. If we did not publish anything on the story, then maybe I could understand.

In other news, this week we have a features article on the whole selfies phenomenon on page 13. And we were at Homecoming Picnic. Our coverage of the event is on page 5. You will also find our interview with Gangs of Ballet on pages 8 and 9.

We put this edition together last Thursday because of the Varsity Student Newspaper Conference in Cape Town. Our editorial team is really excited about this and we are hoping to learn from other student newspapers while we are there.

This is also the last edition for this quarter. Our next edition will be coming out on 7 October. So I hope you all have a fantastic holiday.

Until next time, Margeaux

sport@perdeby.co.za @MissMax6 webeditor@perdeby.co.za @perdebynews @NollyNM

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09 September ‘13

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Vividus Men Vividus Men cannot be described any better than in our vision: Vividus Men is a dayhouse, dedicated to providing a place where the everyday student can belong and be valued, where they can passionately and proudly participate and set new standards in all areas at TUKS. Vividus Men is in fact not a residence in the traditional sense that our members live together in a shared residential area. We cater to the needs of students that do not fall within the residence category. Vividus Men, now celebrating our 10th year on campus, believe that we have an integral part to play in the future of student life at the University of Pretoria and thereby setting standards for day students nationwide.

Vividus Men has become well know on campus as a strong competitor in all student events and pride ourselves therein that we overcome the limitations of our members not living together. We believe that this creates a very unique experience and the possibility of growth.

Although Vividus Men does focus on exceling

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by Richelle van Zyl

XAYATA

House Xayata is a mixed student residence which prides itself on its distinct history, life and culture.

We also pride ourselves as a residence that strives for academic excellence above all else. The name according to the Khoi speaking people means “together we shall”, which has been incorporated in the house motto. Consistent with TuksRes’s motto, it can also be described as the “home of the brave”. In 2012 the house was officially launched by the Department of Residence Affairs and Accommodation and became part of the TuksRes Family. When asked to comment, later on after official launch, Dr. Lindelani Mnguni, the Head of Residence of Xayata, stated that “All those who passed by, heard the rumblings, and thought we were fighting - yet we were celebrating! They heard us chanting and thought we were revolutionary – and that inspired us!”

If you are looking for a residence that recognises

the importance of grooming students who are all rounded, focused on achieving academic excellence and leaders of tomorrow, then Xayata is the place to be.

“Together we shall”

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Vividus Ladies is the only female day house on campus that provides a place for ladies to participate in all the student life activities that residences do and have the opportunity to choose what they would like to participate in. With the new HK elected for 2013/2014, we are looking forward to welcoming many new first years next year and provide a place where they feel like they belong and are part of a sisterhood. In the upcoming year, we aim to build and grow all the more and are looking forward to taking the house to new heights. For any day students who are uncertain about student life, studies and life in general, a day house is definitely a place where one meets people that will journey together in finding out what they need to know; not only in studies but in well-being.

“Vivus Vividly Vivify”; Alive to vividly bring alive.

in student events, we are also determined to create an environment for healthy learning and development. Development being the key term, we believe in a holistic view catering for mind, body and spirit and therefore structure ourselves as to also create new opportunities for personal development.

The name Vividus Men can no longer be seen as just a dayhouse. Vividus Men is becoming a way of life for students that choose to be part of something greater and want to celebrate life in its fullest essence.

Vividus Men – Sons of Thunder, Sons of Life.

water tower which incites a feeling of triumph, and importantly, freedom; freedom to live, and not merely exist. It is in this that we realize the truth vested in our slogan, “Est Festos”; because experiencing life in and with Taaibos is nothing short of “a great feast”.

Some form of pride is taken in our recent accolades. These accolades only serve to reinforce the relevance of the values that we stand for, values contained very neatly in one simple statement: With integrity comes respect which commands the passion that is radiated with great discipline and ultimately consummates our excellence.

Much can be said, but the crux of it all is this: We are a spirit which fuels the great melting pot of different cultures, beautifully merging with unison of thought and readiness to serve for the ultimate and most noble pursuit, Greatness. Greatness, not in its typical interpretation, but rather a sense of really understanding that we can put together our heads of different color, breed and background to do what is best summed in one word: “extraordinary”. Why? Well, because we can. Ons is Taaibos, julle weet mos!

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Vividus Ladies

Taaibos – Est Festos

Ask any man who has found abode in Taaibos and he will certainly tell you, after careful pondering, that Taaibos is a lot more than just a building, it’s a Spirit! It is a Spirit that resonates between the great walls and permeates the blood-red passion that is encapsulated in every proud Taaibos man.

A spirit which cements the solid foundation and culture of Taaibos, which has inspired many men to more than fill their places in Tuks.

This not only reflects in the passion we harbor, but it is so real that it lives on the lips of people; it is people who, for one, testify of how Taaibos is thee gentlemen’s res. Not so much in style of attire, but much more as a charming air of vigor, self-esteem and a modest implication of admirable confidence. This is one trait that we do not learn but cultivate through the exertion of self in the daily “give and take” of life- it is, in principle, the Taaibos flair.

Another among the many lessons that we learn during our stay, is that the essence of life lies not in learning life, but in living life. Nothing so beautifully captures the generic meaning and depth of this lesson as our proud standing

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At the end of 1990, the Rector Council made the decision to decrease the two biggest Men’s Residences on campus – Maroela and Mopanie – each with a third, to create a new Ladies Residence. In spite of numerous protests, the first ladies were moving in at the beginning of 1991.

On May 4, 1991 we were officially inaugurated by Dr. Rina Venter.

Katjiepiering operates independently with its own House Committee, House Parents, Front door and House Song which were specially written for us by Christa Steyn and Carmen George.

We are proud of our status as the only Rose among the thorns on the Proefplaas.

We are a Residence that is built upon Integrity, Pride, Participation, Respect, Reward and Responsibility…

PPRRR. Katjiepiering is a home away from home for so many of our young ladies who form part of our Katte family.

Katjiepiering is one of the smallest Ladies Residences. The benefit of being smaller is that we

have formed a genuine family here. Our House colours are Maroon, Navy and Gold and every Wednesday is our proudly Katte Day where we wear our House colours with pride. Our beloved Mascot’s name is Oogies and the beautiful statue, Lucia is our guardian of the House.

Katjiepiering’s motto is “Carpe Diem” which means “seize the day”. We see every day as a true blessing and therefore we must live to the absolute fullest.

Live all of your 9 lives – Be a Kat.

Luminous

Luminous. The name alone raises many question before you even encounter the members of the House. We are known to be very diverse in race and personalities but in actual fact all the crazies are placed in this one House. After all, you attract what you are and when everyone else around you is weird, you don’t seem so bad anymore. What many people don’t realise is that the main reason why Luminous is growing significantly is because we pride ourselves in being one big family. No Res Wars or lack of faith will ever bring us down!

Remember the name because we’re here to stay!

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News

09 September ‘13

What do you think about Spring Day? MOLEBOGENG MANGOALE AND BOIPELO BOIKHUTSO

The university’s annual Spring Day is set to take place on 18 September but the university has decided to implement a big change this year.

This year students will need a ticket and a valid student card to attend the event. Head of Student Development at the Department of Student Affairs Dr Rina Wilken told Perdeby that this decision was made for safety and security reasons and that the decision is final. TuksRag is unhappy with this decision and is discussing the issue with the university. There have been mixed reactions from students regarding this decision as well as the price and line-up of the event.

Perdeby asked students whether they are going to this year’s event, whether they are satisfied with the line-up and whether they think the price is reasonable.

“I am going as long as I can see Zebra & Giraffe.

R100 is a lot for the price of the ticket. Although I am fine with the line-up, I would’ve preferred a hot line-up for that price. I also want to bring friends as well.”

- Ona Tshikare, first-year BCom Taxation student

“I’m still deciding whether to go or not. The problem is we don’t know any of those people on the line-up, hence I’m not excited about seeing anybody. We would have appreciated someone like Black Coffee. We can never get tired of him. For that line-up, the price is not reasonable.”

- Ben Matlou, second-year BCom Internal Auditing student

“I want to go to Spring Day. I’m cool with the line-up, as long as I have a good time. I’m going because my friends are going as well. The price is also all right.”

- Charney Akala, first-year electrical engineering student

“I’ll definitely be there. However there are disadvantages of some sort – the fact that it’s mid-week. I’m not happy with the line-up but I’ll be looking forward to seeing Black Motion. The whole student card issue is justifiable if there are reasons for it, for example, when it comes to safety. Anyway, as students we are already used to carrying student cards everywhere. TuksRag has really tried to maintain the balance in encompassing everyone.”

- Terrence Thole, first-year BA Law student

“I am going to the Spring Day bash although I would’ve preferred last year’s line-up. The issue of student cards is okay especially in terms of safety.”

- Vincent Shongwe, second-year BEd (FET) (Natural Sciences) student

“I’m excited about Spring Day and I’m also excited about seeing Jeremy Loops and Bittereinder. The price is fine but I don’t like the whole thing of student cards because a lot of our friends don’t study here and would’ve loved to come along.”

- Carmen Simpson, first-year BAdmin student

“I am excited about Spring Day because the line-up looks really cool. I like Zebra & Giraffe and Jeremy Loops.

I think the price is reasonable because of the cool artists.

I think that Rag is not going to make much money by excluding people who are not from Tuks with the student cards issue.”

- Samantha De-Hart, first-year BSc (Biological Science) student

“I am definitely not going, I really don’t like the lineup and the price is just ridiculous just for that line-up. I do not understand why they have to exclude other people who are not from Tuks because after all Rag gets its funds from the community.”

- Michelle Drusman, second-year BA General student

“I am not excited. Who are these people on the line-up? I personally wouldn’t pay that much to go and if I was given a ticket I would probably give it to someone as a gift. I like the student cards idea because outsiders cause havoc. In 2010 I was almost robbed by old men at Spring Day.” - Keitumetse Matlhabegoane, second-year BSc Biochemistry student

“As for me, I’m not going. Most of my friends are not from UP so since we all can’t attend the event we’ll only go to the after party. I really have a problem with the event only being open to UP students.”

- Godfrey Boiman, first-year BA Law student

“The line-up is really lame. I would like to see artists like Black Coffee and Khuli Chana. The price is too expensive and very unreasonable because of the line-up.

I think the student card issue is not fair because we would like to have fun with our loved ones who are not in Tuks. I am definitely not going.”

- Katlego Mashuga, first-year BCom student

“The line-up is really wack and the price is ridiculous.

I think the reason why it is expensive is because they are anticipating less people to come with the whole student card idea which is unfair because we want to mingle with other people. I am still contemplating whether to go or not.”

- Kabelo Tshoke, fourth-year economics and actuarial sciences student

News

09 September ‘13

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Future of res clubhouses still pending MARISSA BRITS Decisions concerning residence traditions and clubhouses have not been finalised and TuksRes is waiting for a proposal from the chairmen and primarias.

TuksRes has already implemented changes to the residences, which include changes to the house committee (HC) structure first-year traditions.

Each male residence has its own clubhouse where socials are hosted and alcohol is sold.

The director of Residence Affairs Prof. Roelf Visser said that a decision concerning the clubhouses has not yet been finalised.

Prof. Visser told Perdeby that although the university has a liquor licence that allows the sale of alcohol, the licence presents some limitations. Firstly, the sale of alcohol is only allowed within a certain area and secondly, the alcohol must be sold in a clubhouse.

Prof. Visser explained that this means that the clubhouses need to function on a membership system and guests should be signed in and out.

He said that the clubhouses are currently not being run in this manner, but have developed into bars.

According to Prof. Visser, Tuks is the only university in South Africa that allows the sale of alcohol in residences. However, it is a TuksRes rule that no alcohol is allowed in the residences, which contradicts the allowance of selling alcohol in the clubhouses.

Prof. Visser added that the decision concerning the clubhouses is very complex and has many factors that need to be considered.

The entrance to the Maroela clubhouse. TuksRes is currently waiting for chairmen and primarias before any decisions about the clubhouses are made. Photo: Ilana van Heerden The clubhouses are currently breaching the liquor licence agreement and this puts everyone at risk. The sale of alcohol in clubhouses could be stopped and replaced with something else.

For example, residences could fill out forms that would allow guests to bring their own alcohol.

The chairmen and primarias are allowed to put forward their own proposals concerning this.

Prof. Visser said that it is not possible for TuksRes to run a bar and that it is impossible for them to control the large number of students who attend socials at the clubhouses. “We only want to take away what puts us at risk,” he said.

The decision about the future of the clubhouses will not only focus on the fact that they are in breach of the licence agreement, but will also consider the number of noise

complaints made by residents and non-residents.

Another key factor that will be considered is the possible change to the law that would raise the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. Prof. Visser stated that in this event almost 80% of the res students would be excluded from participating.

According to Prof. Visser, the changes to the HC portfolios, clubhouses and initiations are all being made in order to support the academic vision of the university and to aid the development of students. He added that these changes are not going to take away “good traditions”, referring to the inclusive traditions that make a residence unique and promote residence pride. This does not include firstyear initiation. Prof. Visser stated that it is not TuksRes’s aim to take away residence traditions

Homecoming Picnic takes over Pretoria Crowds from all over Gauteng gathered at the Centurion Rugby Club for the Homecoming Picnic in celebraton of Spring Day. Photos: Eddie Mafa MOLEBOGENG MANGOALE AND BOIPELO BOIKHUTSO On Sunday 1 September the Centurion Rugby Club was filled to capacity as the shyest, coolest and wildest party animals came out to sink their claws into the second series of this year’s Homecoming Picnic (HCP).

Since its inception five years ago, HCP has attracted a large crowd from all over Gauteng, boasting big names in the South African music industry. The latest HCP featured artists such as Lulo Café as well as Khuli Chana, Towdee Mac and KayGizm of Morafe.

HCP was founded by Katlego Malatji in 2008, who later joined forces with Neo Moela to take the event to new heights. According to Moela, it all started as “a small get together for friends who had gone their separate ways for varsity and returned home for school holidays”. Moela said that the aim of HCP is to “represent Pretoria by bringing people together and ensuring that we [organisers] host non-pretentious events that allow people to have fun while being themselves”. There have been numerous picnics but only eight of them were public. This was the third HCP held at the Centurion Rugby Club.

The day started out relaxed as crowds slowly flocked into the venue with their tents, fleece

blankets, camping chairs and cooler boxes. The ladies celebrated the first day of spring wearing shorts and mini-skirts. Other picnickers chose more formal attire.

By 16:00 the venue was filled with people dancing to the upbeat music. DJ Speedsta kept the crowd on their feet with a spectacular hiphop mix. The MC of the night, MTV Base VJ Nomuzi Mabena, impressed the crowd with her twerking skills and when the Metro FM DJ Lulo Café got on stage to perform some people were already passed out.

Lulo Café played a 30-minute house music set at the HPC and when Perdeby caught up with him, he revealed that he will be releasing his album Soul Africa soon. “I haven’t played at the Homecoming Picnic in two years and it feels great to be back,” he said.

Anatii, who’s featured alongside L-Tido on DJ Dimplez’s smash hit “We Ain’t Leaving”, got the crowd going crazy. Morafe, a hip-hop group made up of multiple SAMA winner Khuli Chana, KayGizm and Towdee Mac, performed their best hits at the HCP. Morafe told Perdeby that they are back in studio and currently working on a new album. Cassper Nyovest entertained the crowd with his current radio hit “Gusheshe”. Nyovest later posted on Twitter that HCP was amazing and that it is his favourite show of the year.

but rather to create new ones. He said that the university has changed over the years and so should its traditions.

These changes have been under discussion for some time and the unacceptable initiation practices were the driving force. Prof. Visser told Perdeby that the residence heads and house parents took part in a workshop earlier this year, aiming to identify areas of residence life that may need to be changed. Their main focus was the first-year experience.

Prof. Visser said that the changes to the HC structure were implemented suddenly because the decisions were made prior to the June holidays and needed to be put in place before the elections for new HC members took place.

According to an HC member from a ladies residence, the closing of the clubhouses will remove an area where it is safe for students to drink and this will only force them to find alternative places which may not be as controlled.

Maroela Chairperson Thabiso Padi told Perdeby that he is slightly indifferent to most of the changes because this is his first time on the HC. “The one change I hold close to my heart is the one relating to clubhouses.

These clubhouses have played a pivotal role in allowing me to integrate myself fully into the house. It was honestly very hard to make friends here. Everyone had already subscribed to one clique or the other and it was through my regular visits for a beer or a brandy and coke that I got to know most of my house mates in a less formal situation,” he said.

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09 September ‘13

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09 September ‘13

Olienhout to climb Everest for rhinos Government subsidy does not reflect rising costs TARYN RICHMOND

Sibusiso Vilane, the first black African to summit Mount Everest, spoke to Olienhout at their final fundraiser before their climb to Everest’s base camp. The group will be climbing the mountain later this month to raise money for the fight against rhino paching. Photo: Charlotte Bastiaanse MARISSA BRITS One of UP’s male residences, the Republic of Olienhout, is taking part in a long-term Rag project to raise awareness for rhino poaching.

The residence’s goal is to climb to Mount Everest base camp in full-body rhino suits to raise money for Stop Rhino Poaching. The climb is set to take place during September.

The final fundraiser for the climb was held last Tuesday. This event included a motivational speech by Sibusiso Vilane, the first black African to summit Mount Everest, and a short presentation by Elise Daffue, the founder of Stop Rhino Poaching.

According to Michael Smit, the Olienhout Rag HK, the aim of the climb is to show the world that Olienhout means business. The event was organised to “make people more aware of what is going on”.

The event’s pre-ticket sales raised R900 and during the course of this year the Republic of Olienhout raised R157 000 for Stop Rhino Poaching.

According to Smit, the goal of the climb is to have three rhino suits reach the base camp.

Sponsors can donate to the cause and have their logo branded onto the suits.

According to Vilane, “It is disheartening to see how cruel humans can be.” He also said that the fight against rhino poaching could only be won if people unite and stand up against it. Vilane wished the Olienhout team luck and stated that it took his team 14 days to acclimatise and reach the base camp.

“Thanks to Olienhout for helping to raise awareness. If it wasn’t for organisations like these, the number of poached rhinos would be much worse,” Daffue said.

UP’s vice-chancellor Prof. Cheryl de la Rey delivered a State of the University address earlier this year at the official opening of the 2013 academic year. She addressed one of the biggest challenges facing the university, the decline of the government subsidy. Perdeby looked into this issue and what it means for UP students.

Prof. De la Rey said in her speech that the issue is that the subsidy remains steady and does not reflect rising costs.

Prof. Antony Melck, the university’s executive director of the Institutional Planning Portfolio, said that, “The National Treasury annually makes a budget available to the Department of Higher Education and Training [DHET] for subsidising the university sector.”

Prof. Melck explained that the DHET takes this framework and divides it among the country’s universities depending on various factors. The factors include teaching inputs such as the number of students enrolled at the university and the levels at which they are studying, as well as teaching outputs such as the degrees awarded to students and research outputs which include publications and journals accredited by the department.

Institutional factors are also taken into account, such as the size of the institution (smaller universities receive more help) and

the demographic composition of the student body which helps to determine the degree of poverty in the student body.

Prof. Melck said that a university’s rate of growth in relation to other universities plays another major role in determining how much of the available subsidy a university receives.

The rate of inflation plays a major role in this whole process as inflation diminishes the value of the rand and therefore diminishes the value of the subsidies that UP receives.

Prof. Melck explains that, “Over the past decade, although the budgeted figure from the treasury has been increasing in nominal terms, real percapita subsidies in the sector have been falling.” In simpler terms, universities all over South Africa have been receiving less money per student due to inflation, resulting in a lower budget for the university to work with.

During Prof. De la Rey’s address, she encouraged members to assist the university in becoming more efficient and productive as well as in finding initiatives which will increase the income to the university, such as donor funding.

UP, among many other universities, has been put under financial strain and therefore, “The only other source of revenue comparable to the subsidy is income from student fees,” says Prof. Melck. This results in an increase in student fees.

“The only other source of revenue comparable to the subsidy is income from student fees.”

UP wins beer brewing challenge TARYN RICHMOND Over the last weekend of August South African Breweries (SAB) hosted its sixth annual Intervarsity Beer Brewing Challenge where universities from all over the country competed for the Castle Lager Best Bru Award and the cash prize of R25 000.

UP won the grand prize, the Ben Lamaletie IBD Intervarsity Beer Brewing Challenge floating trophy, as well as the Carling Black Label Champion Lager and an additional cash prize of R15 000 at the Intervarsity Beer Brewing Challenge this year.

According to an SAB press release, after the first beer brewing challenge in 2008, the concept grew from the idea of universities having micro-breweries. Ben Lamaletie, a senior trade brewer for SAB, said that the aim of the challenge is for students to be educated in brewery and for students to have fun at the same time.

The various universities which participate in the beer brewing challenge each have their own micro-breweries where they brew, ferment, condition and package their beers before the final stages of the competition. UP

student brewers won all the categories in 2008, landing the first grand championship and have since won in 2010, 2011 and 2013. This year they took on the defending champions, the University of Cape Town, who only managed to win the award for the Best Speciality Beer.

According to one of the independent and accredited beer tasters, Chris Roth, “The overall winning lager was very closely contested and the judges debated it for a while.” He explained that UP’s Black Forest Lager was the most balanced beer and was “perfectly to style”.

Carl Sandrock, a UP brewing team member, explained that the team focused particular attention on the criteria applied in the judging.

“We also have continuity in our brewing team which has helped us to grow from year to year,” he said.

The SAB technical service manager Vimlan Moonsamy said that SAB works to encourage a beer culture in South Africa and aims to support the local craft brewing industry. He said that this year’s competition had the largest number of entries compared to any other year.

Moonsamy added that the “quality of entries has also greatly improved”.

Back: Howard Benade, Edward Mills, David Wilson, Monique Schmidt, Jacques Teessen, John Cluett of IBD, Ben Lamaletie and Vimlan Monnsamy of SAB. Front: Harald Golob (SAB trade brewer), Carl Sandrock and Mike Heydenrych. Photo provided

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09 September ‘13

Entertainment

Hello, sweet success

Photo: Ravi Panchia MELINA MELETAKOS “Do you think people are going to pull in tonight?” asks a curious Brad Klynsmith, frontman of burgeoning anthemic synth-rock outfit Gangs of Ballet. The band is in Pretoria for the launch of their full-length debut album yes/no/grey and in a few hours they’ll be unleashing their new creation on Snor City fans at Arcade Empire.

The night before, soon after their performance at Jo’burg’s World of Yamaha, Gangs of Ballet found out that the album made it to the top of the local iTunes album chart after being made available for pre-order just a few hours before.

“You’re always unsure if what you’ve done is good anymore, or bad,” says piano and synthplayer Jono Rich. “Sometimes it’s nice to know that a few people like it,” he adds.

Durban may have been the incubator for Gangs of Ballet’s inception, but when it came to recording yes/no/grey, the band made their way to Jo’burg and headed straight for producer Darryl Torr’s Openroom Productions studio in Greenside.

“Darryl likes to get quite eclectic,” says Brad. Torr gave the band space to experiment with the sound they were concocting, allowing them to stomp in synch on a wooden board for the track “House and Money”. Torr took it one step further and put microphones on the wall to capture the reverb of the sound.

“If you listen to it, you’re not going to hear the wall, but the musical depth is quite something,” says Brad. “A lot of music is right on the front there and you just hear what you hear. I think it’s cool if you can start listening to music and every time you listen, there’s something a little different,” he adds.

Before Gangs of Ballet began tracking what would become their debut album, the band sat with Torr and arranged each song, ensuring that it would sound just as impressive live as it sounds recorded.

“Sometimes you get into the studio and you just track stuff on top of stuff. It sounds really cool but when you get to a live context, you just can’t pull it off because there’s too much going

Gangs of Ballet yes/no/grey

Gangs of Ballet vocalist Brad Klynsmith (left) and bassist Hardus de Beer (right) during the band’s performance at Oppikoppi last month. Photos: Brad Donald on,” says drummer Josh Klynsmith.

For a band whose performances have a sizzling pulse in them, being able to translate their irrepressible live energy into a record was important for Gangs of Ballet.

“Recording and live is like two different kinds of animals,” says Josh. “With recording, you’ve got to overcompensate and with playing live, it’s more about getting the energy right. I think recording is almost a means to an end to get to the live shows.”

The album yes/no/grey also sees Gangs of Ballet dallying with a shadowy, sometimes afflicted, sound that wasn’t present in the band’s EP. Brad owes this to the fact that the EP was tracked almost two years ago. He says that each band member, has grown since and explored different genres. “The album is far more musically intensive. It’s not as straightforward,” says Brad.

The subject of the grey in our lives, or the misunderstood, has tickled Brad’s curiosity in

particular.

“Progress has to come from questions in your life and being okay not to know the answers just yet. You have to have that kind of grey before you have the yes and no,” he explains.

Later on at Arcade Empire, Gangs of Ballet take to the stage, opening with “All These Things”, the first track on yes/no/grey. “It’ll huff and puff and blow you out,” snarls Brad towards the end of the song, holding his hand up and moving his fingers as if to reel the sea of people towards him.

It elicits a response that is maintained effortlessly throughout Gangs of Ballet’s performance. The crowd greedily quaffs everything the band has to offer and rewards them by singing back their lyrics word for word.

As Brad’s about to begin the final song of the set, he glances back at his bandmates, recognising a look of mutual astonishment on each of their faces before saying to the audience: “I’m actually speechless right now.”

“The grey is creeping in / It sticks against my skin / I find a comfort in the war within,” admits Brad Klynsmith on “Fool With A Heart”. The Gangs of Ballet vocalist is in a predicament. He’s neither here nor there, finding himself in the perplexing, foggy grey bit in between.

The Durban band’s full-length debut album yes/no/grey sees them treading murkier waters than ever before. If there’s one track on the album that encapsulates this, it’s “Fool With a Heart” with its jarring, seemingly disjointed soundscape that’s woven together wondrously by the threat that it’s going to fall apart at any moment.

On “Kiss Kiss”, Klynsmith mulls over life’s transience to a rumbling slab of synthlaced guitar, while on “Isn’t It a Shame”, he bemoans a failed relationship: “Love is a blood sport / We fight till our hearts burst.”

Now, now, it’s not to say that Gangs of Ballet have forsaken their endearing syrup-glazed hooks and belt-it-out choruses.

There’s still plenty of that to go around.

Klynsmith continues to ponder a chaos of quandaries by cranking it down a notch in a handful of songs, revealing a diversity in Gangs of Ballet’s songcraft.

On acoustic ditty “Don’t Let Me Go”, Klynsmith pleads: “Please, don’t let me go / I said please don’t let me go / With the world outside our doors / I’ll be safe here in your arms / Please don’t let me go.”

The soothing strum of the acoustic guitar on “Pass Me By” sees Gangs of Ballet dabbling with a touch of country/folk, proving that Klynsmith’s honeyed voice works in just about any instance.

For the love of crashing Computicket systems, over priced beer and blinding pyrotechnics, can someone please give these guys a stadium gig already?

Entertainment

09 September ‘13

What’s in a name?

Gangs of Ballet sat down with Perdeby to talk about a few of the songs on their full-length debut album yes/no/grey.

“Can’t Do This On My Own”

Brad: Josh and I had a big fight about the end section of that song.

Josh: We had a lot of fights.

Brad: Ja, but that was a particular one. It wasn’t me calling him fat…

Josh: No, he was. [Laughs.]

Brad: No, we weren’t doing that kind of stuff. By the time we had gotten to the end of that song, it was fine, but it wasn’t quite there. It actually got a bit heated. Even the producer, Darryl, he didn’t know what to do.

He started mediating between us. “Guys, I’m sure we can try both ideas.” At the end of it, it gets enormous and musically quite fresh and has nice power elements. Our label manager reckons it’s his favourite track on the album. I think it just connects with him on another level.

So it was a healthy fight. We are a little bit like that. We don’t fight, but we are direct about what we want.

Hardus: We fight for the song.

Brad: Ja, we don’t fight each other.

Josh: We’re highly opinionated.

Brad: We’re very hard to work with.

Josh: Before we went to do the album with Darryl, we met with him and he said, “I’m quite a hardass in the studio. We have to work.” I don’t think he expected it at all. It was the other way round.

Jono: I think he expected us to be lazy.

Brad: We’re nice, though. We don’t attack people, just the songs.

Hardus: The fighting is the “grey” and the result is the “yes” and the “no”.

Jono: I think it’s just because we all really want every idea and song to be the absolute best that we can make it be.

Hardus: And at the end of the day we had champagne to celebrate it.

Josh: That’s the thing though. Although we fight, we have fun things in mind. We all want the same thing out of the project and how we get there is that I punch Brad in the face.

[Laughs.] No, we’ve never had a fist fight.

“Fool With a Heart”

Josh: “Fool With a Heart” sums up the album quite nicely.

Brad: yes/no/grey links itself mostly with “Fool With a Heart” lyrically, I think. “Fool With a Heart” is also much darker than our EP was. I think it’s still beautiful and has a real depth to the harmony underneath it. Throughout the album there’s some things we’re definitely “yes” about and some things we’re definitely “no” about and then this thing about the “grey” existence in our lives. It’s okay not to have all the answers and questioning is a good habit to have. Society doesn’t like it. Personally, I know the people I hang out with, they don’t like it when you question stuff.

Progress has to come from questions

in life and being okay not to know the answers just yet and you have to have that kind of “grey” before you have the “yes” and the “no”.

You have to endure that period of your life.

“Fool With a Heart” fits that grey space. It’s a bit darker, a bit out of Gangs’s reach. It’s a little bit more questioning, a bit more out there. It’s probably my favourite song on the album.

Jono: Even musically. In that second verse, with that guitar and the synth in the background, they make weird notes. They’re kind of pulling apart and are not anything directly related to the chords. It’s all in between things but it all ends up coming together. I think we’ve tried to explore lyrics with music which is pretty cool.

“Isn’t It a Shame”

Jono: When we were tracking it, they had this old piano from an old music school. Originally we were just going to track it with an electric piano and we actually got the real thing. It’s so awesome because you can hear the mallets and the tones and the overtones and all the little harmonic things. You hear the real instrument.

It was quite a cool experience to use that thing.

Brad: Josh’s kit was vintage. It’s priceless.

They won’t sell it to us, else I think Josh would buy it in a second.

Jono: It’s pretty cool because it’s all acoustically tracked and put in. It’s not all digitally overdubbed. It’s the real deal. The actual sound is that instrument which is quite cool because everything I use these days at home is a version of a real thing and it was awesome to get to use the real stuff.

Josh: I reckon this one was probably one of the hardest songs we had to track. We tried to do it first, I think, and Darryl was like, “Ja, it’s

not really happening. Go and sleep and come back and try it again.” It just wasn’t sitting, even though it’s really straight. I think in terms of how we play it and tonal aspects for that song.

Hardus: It’s a very groove-based song and groove is sometimes hard to get right because you have to be particularly tight.

“House and Money”

Hardus: I wasn’t actually there. I had to go early to finish my studies, but apparently they did some stomping in studio and recorded that.

Josh: We combined it with a whole bunch of stuff. We stuck this piece of board down and then we stomped. It was actually flipping sore.

After a while my ankles were stuffed. We were just sweating.

Brad: We worked with Darryl Torr and I think he gets kicks out of doing things like that.

I think it was for the same song that he was miking the walls because he wanted the reverb of the walls. Darryl likes to get quite eclectic. I think if you listen to it you’re not going to hear the wall, but musical depth is quite something.

A lot of music is right on the front there and you just hear what you hear. I think it’s cool if you can start listening to music and every time you listen there’s a little nuance that you pick up. I suppose a mic in the wall adds to all that stuff.

“Don’t Let Me Go”

Hardus: I think “Don’t Let Me Go” is a standout one. It was an 11 hour 59 minutes entry onto the album. It was the last one we put on. Josh and Brad finished writing it on a Friday, recorded it for a day on Monday and sent it for mixing on the Tuesday.

Brad: It’s probably going to be one of our singles so it’s hopefully going to be a good lastminute addition.

Josh: It’s a bit weird because I think we go through stages where we have a short period where we’ll just write, write, write. We just come up with piles of ideas. And then you have stages where it’s just barren. It’s just frustrating, or for me anyway.

Brad: The worst thing for me is if you have a good idea and now you can’t stuff it up because now you have to put it into a song. You have this idea and think, “This could really, really work, you know.” But one idea is not enough for a whole song, so for me, with songwriting, and we’ve actually found that we’ve had what we thought was a cool idea and then it’s taking us some eight months to finish it off. We’ve actually had to fight for the song.

Hardus: Sometimes the song doesn’t even make it.

Brad: You get to a point where you’re like, “I can’t pull this together right now.” I think songwriting is a bit of a journey and you have these revelation moments where something just falls onto a page and you have those other ones where you have to really invest yourself creatively and just push through.

Josh: I think “Don’t Let Me Go” was kind of like that. It came really quickly and, literally, in five minutes, words came out onto the page. To me, lyrically, it might be one of my favourite ones on the album.

Hardus: I think it’s a song that people can attach themselves to really quickly because it’s really accessible. I played it to my wife and she immediately said that this is going to be a lot of couples’ songs. It’s got love-song edge to it.

I don’t know how the guys wrote it, whether it was like that or not.

Brad: I was thinking about Josh. [Laughs.]

Download the augmented reality app Layar and see Gangs of Ballet’s album sleeve for yes/no/ grey come alive. All you have to do is download the app, scan the pages of the album sleeve and interactive information will pop up.

Photo: Brad Donald

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09 September ‘13

Fun & Games

Crossword ELECTROLYTES –SUMMERS’ SAVIOUR Long summer days are almost here and with it he prospect of great times outdoors , looking forward to that well deserved summer vacation and good times.

But as with all things, exams come before the holidays, “babelaas” comes after the” lekka” parties and the heat brings in increased risk of sun stroke, heat exhaustion and stomach bugs.

The best way to combat and minimise your risks this summer is to remember to stay HYDRATED. Alcohol, tea and coffee do not count as although these liquids act as diuretics, causing you to pass more water. A consequence of this is dehydration , lethargy, muscle cramps, headaches, dizziness and nausea. You also lose a lot of salts and electrolytes in the process and this can be very debilitating and dangerous to the point of being life threatening.

Make your bottle of water your constant companion this summer, A SECRET that your pharmacist recommends is to always keep a few sachets of a reliable and inexpensive electrolyte sachet on hand, in your room, car and bag. Whether indoors or out, partying and studying or playing sports, or recovering from the stomach bug, it will keep you fresh, focused and at your peak These handy sachets contains essential minerals, salts and electrolytes that you can mix instantly into your water will make sure you have the edge this summer PACK SHOT Across: 1. Actress starring in The Impossible (5,5) 4. Nickname for one’s father (3) 6. Remorseful or guilty (8) 7. Vessel for containing a corpse, usually carved in stone (11) 9. A prompt, hint or signal (3) 10. A person appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game (8) 12. Scientific name for a grey wolf (5,5) 16. Small, narrow boat powered by means of a paddle (5) 17. Appearing to the mind as threatening or ominous (7) 20. Drugs that change the way a person perceives the world (12) 21. A void, deep hole (5) 22. Belonging to the mysterious or enigmatic world (6)

Down: 1. Monodon monoceros (7) 2. Play by Athol Fugard, The Road to _____ (5) 3. To quench or satisfy (7) 4. Capital of Syria (8) 5. 2001 movie written and directed by Richard Kelly (6, 5) 8. Execution device of ancient times (5) 11. Chances of encountering harm or danger (5) 13. An inconsistency or glitch (7) 14. Things formed when dripping water freezes (7) 15. A bequest left by someone after death (6) 18. Poison secreted by certain reptiles (5) 19. Accounts for a quarter of the bones in the human body (4)

Created by: Maggie Roodt

Entertainment

11

09 September ‘13

Reviews

Big Sean’s plaque reserved Big Sean Hall of Fame

½

Magical realism comes to life Midnight’s Children Director: Deepa Mehta

LUSANDA FUTSHANE There is a list of books that for many years has been labelled as “unfilmable” by movie buffs.

But there’s always a director brazen enough to cross one of the items off the list. This year that director is Deepa Mehta, who has taken Salman Rushdie’s notoriously unfilmable Midnight’s Children and brought it to cinematic life.

Midnight’s Children isn’t exactly a story about one or two specific things, but here are the bare bones: at the precise stroke of midnight on the eve of India’s independence in 1947, Saleem Sinai (played by Darsheel Safary as the child and Satya Bhabha as the adult versions of the character) is born. Over the next hour 1 001 other children are born and all of them are gifted with supernatural abilities. Saleem possesses the most important one – the ability

Elysium Director: Neill Blomkamp

NAYAAB MAHARAJ After the roaring success of District 9, writerdirector Neill Blomkamp uses the trusted recipe of presenting Earth’s doomed future in his latest release Elysium.

Polluted, overpopulated and disease-ridden, Earth is almost uninhabitable. While the poor are left to waste away on Earth, the rich prosper on the luxury spacecraft Elysium, a state-ofthe-art man-made estate, with machines that can cure disease and reverse the ageing process.

Many people are desperate to escape their hell on Earth, trying and failing in their attempts to reach Elysium. After a life-threatening radiation accident, Max (Matt Damon) is forced to travel to Elysium to fight not only for his survival but also for the fate of Earth as well.

This socially conscious sci-fi thriller touches on broader issues such as the running out of natural resources, illegal immigration threatening America and the power struggles

to telepathically bring them all together. Fate is altered from the moment of birth and he is inextricably linked to his motherland his entire life.

The movie is visually stunning. The atmosphere of India and Pakistan is dense and almost tangible, drawing you into Rushdie’s world smoothly and believably. Rushdie, who also wrote the screenplay, does well with the dialogue, mingling humour and romance with struggle and natural gravitas. Viewers who have never read the book are sure to be in for an engaging journey that manages to be just as life-changing as the novel itself.

A few things hurt the movie, like Rushie’s bland voice-over narration and the cutting out of some of the more beloved scenes in the earlier part of the story where the hystory of Saleem’s family is beautifully presented in the novel. This problem will probably only annoy the members of the audience who have read the book, but every adaption has to suffer the book/ movie comparison and nitpicking.

All the characters are portrayed honestly by the actors: Bhabha as the adult Saleem, Shahana

between the rich and poor.

The computer-generated imagery and production design by Philip Ivey, who previously worked on The Lord of the Rings and District 9, showcases this power struggle by contrasting a dusty, barren LA with the hi-tech, glamorous world of Elysium.

Blomkamp uses quick-speed camera techniques to bring you into the gruesome action but it can become a bit jarring at times.

Matt Damon is believable as the heartfelt hero while Elysium’s minister of defence Delacourt, who is played by Jodie Foster, is a confusing mix of French, English and American.

Sharlto Copley, better known for his role as Wikus van der Merwe in District 9, proves to be the highlight of Elysium for a South African audience as Delacourt’s undercover agent Kruger. Brandon Auret, better known as Doep from Isidingo, plays alongside Copley as one of his henchmen. The two give the film a true South African feel with their use of Afrikaans slang.

Brilliantly directed, Elysium’s social commentary is unfortunately lost in its intense focus on action and plot.

Goswami as his patient and long-suffering mother and Charles Dance as the charming yet dodgy Mr Methwold. As long as you ignore former Prime Minister Indira Ghandi’s fumbled inclusion near the end, Midnight’s Children is well-cast and well-paced with all the pivotal scenes holding on to their drama and narrative importance.

The thing about unfilmable novels is that they’re usually unfilmable for a reason. Some things just work better in print than they do on the big screen. Midnight’s Children, as a novel, bobs and weaves through fantasy, war, romance, politics and poverty and does so with Booker Prize-winning grace. As a movie, however, it loses some of the magic.

Midnight’s Children is a vast, nearly unbelievable tale that continues long after the last page and to distil it into less than three hours of movie time is a task similar to (to borrow one of Rushdie’s famous metaphors) “swallowing a world”.

Midnight’s Children will be in cinemas on 20 September.

JOHAN SAAYMAN Big Sean has done what many current mainstream hip-hop rappers can’t do with their music: evolve. From his first releases to his current album, it is clear that Big Sean isn’t just sticking to what he is comfortable with.

Following an 18-track mixtape released in 2012, Hall of Fame is his second studio album.

It clearly displays how Big Sean is able to develop his music with current trends while maintaining his own sound and style.

Among the aspects that are consistent is his hip-hop sound. Being neither low-budget basic beats, nor over thought complexities, the album stands on the border of having too many mainstream electronics and too little authentic hip-hop, satisfying an entire spectrum of listeners.

Big Sean stuck to using numerous collaborations, calling on the likes of Juicy J, Kid Cudi, Lil Wayne, Miguel and Nicki Minaj. Vocals by British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding appear on the song “You Don’t Know” which was co-written by Goulding.

What has changed though, is that the lyrics are notably more crude. The lyrical themes, however, seem to have deepened romantically, like on songs such as “You Don’t Know”, “Sierra Leone” and “Ashley”. Sexual references are still often made, as in “MILF” and “Mona Lisa”, which can be expected from any hip-hop album.

The odd songs “Fire” and “First Chain”, about fame and fortune, keep the album grounded and authentically hip-hop. On the other hand, songs like “Nothing Is Stopping You” carry an inspirational, and perhaps personal, message.

More digital sounds have been used on the album, giving the music a modern sound. Big Sean manages to manipulate the arrangements so that his style is emphasised and uses modern influences to complement it.

Big Sean’s tone isn’t quite as dull as one would expect it to be from a rapper. In fact, it is more vibrantly used in this album than his previous music and although it’s not as diverse as most pop or R&B singers, it gives colour to the music nonetheless.

Hall of Fame stands out as an album that is more entertaining than the usual serving of hardcore bass, dance and shallow lyrics and is what could get Big Sean to the top with more awards like his 2012 BET for Best New Artist award. Big Sean delivers a good album with Hall of Fame, which has fans certain that his next album will be as current to its time as this one.

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09 September ‘13

Online platforms

Illustration: Simon-Kai Garvie

Features

13

09 September ‘13

Does the shameless selfie have a shelf-life?

BERND FISCHER

What do the words “muggle”, “bootylicious” and “gaydar” have in common? Well, for one, unlike Gretchen Wieners’s desperate attempt to try and make “fetch” happen, these words did actually manage to “happen” a few years ago when they were added to the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

This week Perdeby takes a closer look at and explores the prominence of another such word which has officially made its way into the same online dictionary due to the influence of popular culture and new media. Let’s all welcome the (already wellknown) “selfie”.

If you haven’t heard this term before, you should probably crawl out of your cave and join what we in 2013 call “social networking”. Within minutes of joining a social network, you’re bound to see at least two or three selfies. If you think you’re unable to identify a selfie – though the majority of faithful (read: annoying) selfie-uploaders will probably have used at least one hashtag to let you know that what you are seeing is in fact a selfie – then the OED’s definition should clarify that for you: a selfie is “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or [a] webcam and uploaded to a social media website”.

What most people might not know is that the selfie has been around since 1900, roughly around the same time when the Kodak Brownie camera box emerged, popularising the concept of the snapshot. Could this perhaps be the inspiration behind the name for the now popular photo messaging application Snapchat? We’re not sure, but history tells us that thanks to the Kodak Brownie, selfies are now a thing. According to AlexanderPalace.org, the 13-yearold Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was the first teenager to send a selfie (along with a letter) to a friend that she had taken using the Kodak Brownie while standing in front of a mirror in 1914. And so, the “mirror selfie” was born.

If you’re really looking for someone to blame for the rise of this trend despite the selfie’s first making its appearance back then, you should be pointing your finger at MySpace. Kate Losse, writing for the The New Yorker in an article titled “The return of the selfie” published in June of this year, mentions that, “From 2006 to 2009, the term ‘MySpace pic’ described an amateurish, flash-blinded self-portrait, often taken in front of a bathroom mirror.” These, Losse says, “became a sign of bad taste”. However, not too long after this, Facebook emerged and quickly became more popular than MySpace due to its improved technological functions as well

as its being considered of better taste by its users. “By the time Facebook surpassed MySpace’s traffic in 2009, selfies seemed doomed to marginalization,” adds Losse.

Ironically, just like new technology killed the selfie, new technology brought it back. In 2010 Apple’s iPhone 4 was released with a front-facing camera. Naturally, most smartphone manufacturers followed suit and the selfie no longer needed the help of an awkwardly bent arm. Furthermore, apps like Instagram pretty much fed the selfie, making it a bigger phenomenon. “There is little space on Instagram for delivering context or depicting a large group of people [and] the confines of the app make single subjects more legible than complex scenes,” says Losse.

Even though the selfie doesn’t lend itself to much subject matter other than the person themselves, what the selfie lacks in main subject matter is made up for in location and expression.

People will find the strangest ways to take a selfie and it would be impossible to name all the kinds of selfies found online.

There are, however, the most popular and most commonly taken selfies. DigitalTrends.com lists some of these, which include the bathroom selfie, the duck-face selfie, the fitting room selfie, the sleeping selfie (we don’t understand it either) and most recently, the bookshelfie.

What most consider as innocent fun (read: narcissism), others believe the selfie to be more sinister in nature. According to sociologist Ben Agger from the University of Texas at Arlington, selfies are most typically practised by girls and young women, calling them “the male gaze gone viral”.

Canadian newspaper Straight.com explains Agger’s view: “The ‘male gaze’ is a concept developed within feminist film theory. It describes the way in which women’s bodies, whether it be in advertising, pornography, or the real world, are seen as objects to be consumed or as things that exist to be looked at.”

In the same article, writer Meghan Murphy agrees with Agger, adding that, “There’s no doubt that the selfie is a gendered trend.” Murphy elaborates, saying that, “There’s the odd shot of a teenage boy, looking confused or intentionally stoic,” but a simple Google search for selfies will cause you to “find hundreds upon hundreds of shots of young women, often in various states of undress or attempting to capture the perfect face-to-cleavage ratio.”

In addition to the fear of worsening societal gender relations, a 2013 study done by the University of Birmingham found that those people posting selfies risk becoming social pariahs.

Williamson’s “fair share of selfies”. Screenshot from Instagram The study revealed that Facebook users who posted photos of themselves had lower levels of social support from Facebook friends. But it’s not only your virtual friends you risk losing. Dr David Houghton, lead author of the report, added that, “Those who frequently post photographs on Facebook risk damaging real-life relationships.” Ouch. Looks like Tom, Dick and Harry aren’t as interested in seeing what your face looks like every three hours.

Richard Williamson, a first-year BConsumer Science (Retail Management) student, told Perdeby that he believes selfies are a part of “the natural progression in today’s tech-savvy, self absorbed generation. If you think about it, the self portrait has been around for centuries. Although, the concept has been cheapened by the ease and accessibility of the selfie.” Williamson finally adds that, “With that said, I have taken my fair share of selfies.”

Whether the selfie is here to stay for good this time round or whether it will disappear again as soon as social media sees new improvements is uncertain. Perhaps we should be asking ourselves whether we prefer the fact that most people can inundate us with selfies over the fact that not everyone is physically capable of “twerking”.

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14

Fun & Games

09 September ‘13

Sudoku

Last edition’s solution:

Congrats 2013/2014 Day and Faculty House Chairpersons!

Vividus Men Juan-Pierre van der Walt

Vividus Ladies Nicole van Wyk

Luminous Hennie Joubert

EBIT Steve Mooke

Law House Johanna Nashitati

House Jakarandia Brendan Nortjie

Health House Andrea Maree

House Humanities Mellisa Mlambo

House Theology Marco Koch

NATHouse Relebogile Thethe

House Commercii Tamlyn McAulay

OPVSC Bronwyn Orford

09 September ‘13 Sport Curlitzia, Vividus Ladies, Erika and Zinnia through to finals of residence netball league KHUMO MEKGWE Curlitzia and Vividus Ladies will play each other in the final of the senior residence netball league while Erika and Zinnia will play in the junior league’s final.

The semi-finals were held on 3 September.

Curlitzia beat Klaradyn 14-11 in the first semifinal of the senior league. Curlitzia scored the

first goal of the game and Klaradyn equalised a few minutes later. In the second quarter, the teams intensified their defence and the attacking players struggled to create play in the circle.

In the second senior match, Vividus Ladies beat Katjiepiering 26-16. Katjiepiering had a rough start and their first goal only came in the early stages of the second quarter Vividus Ladies took advantage of the gaps in Katjiepiering’s defence. Katjiepiering fought hard in the last quarter as they doubled their

score, but they could not reduce the ten-goal deficit.

In the first junior semi-final, Erika beat Asterhof 6-4. Asterhof had a good start when an offside from Erika enabled them to push closer to their goal post and to score the first goal of the match. The first quarter ended in a 2-2 draw after a number of technical errors from both teams.

The teams struggled to gain momentum in the second quarter. Asterhof kept most of the

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ball possession but failed to score. Erika scored the only goal of the quarter. The game gained speed in the second half with the ball reaching both circles.

Zinnia beat Katjiepiering 19-4 in the other junior semi-final. Katjiepiering were three players short and Zinnia used this to their advantage. Katjiepiering scored three goals in the third quarter but their momentum was stopped by Zinnia, who scored the last goal of the game.

International sport news

England’s Football Association (FA) has adopted a new development strategy with the aim of winning the 2022 World Cup. FA chairperson Greg Dyke said in a press conference last week that the lack of investment in coaching, the decreasing number of English players playing in the Premier League and the absence of a substantial winter break in the English football season are the main factors preventing the English team from succeeding at an international level.

Dyke set two goals for English football in the next ten years, namely to reach the semifinals of the 2020 European Championship and to win the 2022 World Cup. The last time that England reached the semi-final stage of a European Championship was in 1996. England has only won the World Cup once (in 1966) when the team beat West Germany 4-2 on penalties in the final.

Bolt to retire in 2016 Usain Bolt has confirmed that he will retire from athletics after the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Bolt was speaking at a press conference before last Friday’s Diamond League meeting in Brussels and told the media, “I think it will be a good time to retire on top and [after] having dominated for so long.” Bolt revealed that he found it difficult earlier this season to find motivation to compete at the top level of athletics. He said, “I couldn’t find that goal, that drive to get going again.” Bolt will now focus on winning gold in the men’s 100m and 200m events at the Olympics. He said that he hopes to continue to dominate so that people will consider him a sporting legend at the end of his career.

A Texas judge has ordered Lance Armstrong to provide written documents answering questions posed to him by insurance company Acceptance Insurance Holding by the end of September.

The American company paid Armstrong millions of dollars in bonuses from 1999 to 2001 and is trying to reclaim at least $3 million of these bonuses.

Armstrong will also have to reveal how much ex-wife Kristin Armstrong and International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid knew about his doping.

Armstrong’s lawyers are calling the case, which will go to court in April next year, “malicious” and an attempt to “make a spectacle of Armstrong’s doping”.

New Jersey Grand Prix cancelled A Formula One race scheduled to take place in New Jersey has been removed from next year’s race calendar.

The race, which would have had the New York skyline as its backdrop, was cancelled because the organisers do not have the funds necessary to host the event. It is likely to be replaced by a race in Mexico City.

A provisional schedule for next year’s Formula One season has been published.

According to the proposed schedule, the season will consist of 21 races, making it the longest Formula One season to date.

The season is due to start on 16 March and will run until 30 November. Races in Russia and South Korea have been scheduled but are likely to be cancelled as there is a dispute between the Russian race organisers and Formula One authorities. The South Korean organisers have not yet signed a contract with Formula One authorities.

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AmaTuks sign ten new players GABRIELLA FERREIRA

Nothing is ever permanent in football, as is illustrated by AmaTuks, who have had a successful mid-year transfer window after welcoming ten new signings to the club.

The club, which finished eighth on the log in last season’s Premier Soccer League (PSL), had looked to strengthen its squad with a heavy influx of new players, particularly focusing on the attacking positions. With so many new signings this season, below are a few players to look out for.

Geoffrey Massa Massa returns to the PSL after playing for Turkish side Yenicami Ağdelen S.K. in the Telsim Super League. In his one season with the club, Massa scored 29 goals in 24 appearances and will be looking to bring this good performance to his new club. The Ugandan striker also played for Jomo Cosmos in his first stint in the PSL. Fikru Tefera Tefera is another striker who joined AmaTuks in the transfer window. The Ethiopian has much experience in the PSL after having been with Orlando Pirates, Supersport United (on two separate occasions) and Free State Stars. Tefera will hope to use his experience to his advantage by gaining a spot in the starting line-up as well as perhaps helping younger teammates in developing their talents.

Nimrod Tsengwa Tsengwa was one of the many players to leave Thanda Royal

Zulu this season and is the only goalkeeper to be signed by AmaTuks in this transfer window. The experienced goalkeeper played a major part in Thanda Royal’s promotion to the PSL. Tsengwa’s arrival to AmaTuks will create competition among the goalkeepers for a place in the starting line-up, hopefully leading to better performances by all contending for the position.

Siphelele Luthuli Luthuli is a product of UP’s youth system and is expected to have a great impact on the team. AmaTuks coach Steve Barker has said that he expects the midfielder to become a household name.

Other new signings include Lucky Mathosi from Rustenburg Sea Eagles, Obadiah Tarumbwa and Grant Kekana from SuperSport United, Lantshene Phalane from Platinum Stars, Alan Robertson from Barnet FC and Atusaye Nyondo is on loan from SuperSport United. A total of eight players left AmaTuks over the transfer period. These players are Mame Niang (SuperSport United), Bongani Zungu (Mamelodi Sundowns), Aubrey Ngoma (Orlando Pirates), David Radebe (released), Dumisani Ngwenya (released), Sepeke Manamela (released), Thokozani Sekotlong (released) and Vincent Kobola (Black Aces).

AmaTuks are currently in 14th position with one point after three games and without a win for the season. The team will be looking to show that its transformation was not in vain in the next league match, which will take place on Saturday 14 September at home against Bloemfontein Celtic.

Massa playing for Uganda. Image: www.supersport.com

TuksTennis women win PHILIP STOFBERG The TuksTennis women’s team beat Eldoraigne Tennis Club 15-3 in the Gauteng North Reserve A league on 31 August.

Nthabeleng Mokalodise and Ele de Villiers won their singles matches in straight sets as well as their doubles match 6-2 6-1 giving the rest of the team a good foundation from which to play.

Mokalodise, who won her singles match 6-2 6-0, said that she had to play a slower game than she is used to because her opponent was much older than her. “Playing against an older lady affected my game. [I couldn’t] actually hit [my] normal shots,” she said. De Villiers won her match 6-1 6-1.

Ilana van Heerden and Stacey Lock lost their first doubles match 6-7 4-6 and won their second 6-0 6-1.

Kyla Yelvrton and Genevieve Barnes won both their doubles matches in straight sets, winning the first 6-0 6-0 and the second 7-5 6-4.

“The team is playing well,” Mokalodise said, adding that she hopes the team will play in a higher league next year. “There are a lot of challenges, but I think next year we will play in the B division,” she said.

TuksBasketball loses in final GABRIELLA FERREIRA

Stacey Lock waits for a point to start. Photo: Brad Donald

Rugby lovers listen up Absa Boktown is bringing the human spirit to the Barnyard Theatre this September as the Springboks go in search of Rugby Championship glory this season.

Perdeby and Absa are giving away tickets to the Absa Boktown event on 28 September.

The prize includes a ticket for you and three friends to Boktown and an Absa hamper. To win the tickets all you have to do is tell us who South Africa is playing against on 28 September. Send your answer to sport@perdeby.co.za.

The competition closes on 16 September at 12:00

The TuksBasketball women’s team took part in the Ekurhuleni Invitational Women’s basketball tournament in Brakpan last month and finished in second place after being defeated 63-57 by Vaal University of Technology (VUT) in the final.

The tournament consisted of seven teams from Southern Africa. The teams were divided into two groups with each team playing against the other teams in their group once. The top two teams of each group progressed to the semi-final round.

The Tuks team’s group round results included wins over the Lakers (Zimbabwe) and Ekurhuleni, and a loss to VUT. Tuks ended on top of their group and played undefeated group B runner-up Maxaquene from Mozambique in the semi-final. Tuks won the match 67-61.

The final saw a rematch of the VUT-Tuks group match. VUT was one of the strongest teams that participated in the tournament and many of their players are members of the South African national squad. The game was very contested. It was VUT who eventually came out on top by outplaying Tuks in the final minutes of the match to win 63-57.

The TuksBasketball men’s team has won two league matches in the last month. The team beat national champions VUT in a hard-fought match that eventually ended 58-51.

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