Lil' South Beach (sans the beach)

I have already professed my undying love for all things art deco so naturally we had to take a drive out to the East Rand to check out two art deco gems we had heard about, Springs in Ekurhuleni and the Rand Airport in Germiston.

Downtown Springs has been likened to South Beach in Miami or Old Hollywood because of its large number of small art deco buildings built during the mining boom days of the 30's. I get the similarity. There are a large number of low-slung art deco shops and businesses, and people in Springs do seem to prefer to live in Hollywood deco style bungalows.

And there are royal palm trees lining the streets adding to the South Beach feel. But sadly, no beach and no ocean.

But Springs does have the really cool deco Central Fire Station with its porthole windows ...

Rand Airport on the other hand really looks and feels like a Hollywood movie set from the 30's. And in fact, it has been used as the film set for a number of movies set in that era, such as The Amelia Earhart Story with Hilary Swank and Richard Gere.

All the vintage aircraft flying around and sitting on the tarmac adds to the throwback feel too.

And like the Grand Central Airport in Midrand, they also have a Harvard Cafe for brunch and lunch. This motorcycle makes it look more like a scene from Top Gun.

At one point I actually saw a vintage pink plane flying up above in the azure blue sky. Now that is very South Beach!

Lonehill

The Lonehill headquarters of African Parks is bursting at the seams. Some of us are sharing three to a room and some of us (me) are currently without a phone as a result. African Parks is negotiating to acquire more parks - 20 by 2023 - and we are staffing up to do it. Parks in Ethiopia and Nigeria, more parks in Malawi, another in Chad .... So we are seriously on the hunt for new office space. But even though we are cramped, I am going to miss this space for a couple of reasons.

First, Lonehill is very close to my home and my commute is against the predominant flow and therefore blissfully traffic-free. I drive away from Sandton during the morning commute and return unencumbered in the afternoon. That shouldn't change with the new crib as I am told we are looking to relocate nearby.

But I will miss the view from our headquarters in the Lonehill Office Park. Specifically this view ...

This is a photo of The Granite Tor, the lone hill of Lonehill as seen from our conference room. According to the Blue Plaques of South Africa (it has one),

"This hill, Lonehill, represents one of the most prominent of a number of Archaean granite tors ('Castle Koppies') developed in the central and south-western parts of the 3200 million-year-old Johannesburg granite dome. The tors vary in composition and texture, but generally consist of medium to coarse-grained, homogenous granodiorites and ademellites, as well as banded gneisses and migmatites. In some tors the granite rocks contain large feldspar crystals in a finer-grained matrix and are referred to as porphyritic granites. Tors similar to Lonehill are extensively developed in the Archaean granites of Zimbabwe, the Eastern Transvaal and Swaziland, and formed mainly by differential weathering of the faulted, fractured and jointed granites."

I have not done more than gaze at the tor from afar. It sits on a plot of around 20 acres of veld surrounding the koppie, which is around 80 metres high. The plot is fenced and locked during the work week but unlocked on the weekends, allowing hikers and picnickers to climb to the top, or just lay out a picnic blanket in its surrounding grassy area. I am never there on weekends so I have yet to see it up close and personal. Too bad too because it is an extremely significant site - it has three Stone Age furnaces in the veld below the koppie which were excavated in the 1960s by Professor Revil Mason, formerly head of archaeology at Wits University.

I keep meaning to climb it one weekend, but it might take a move to a room without a view to motivate me to do it. Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone? Well at least we won't be able to say that about African parks if African Parks has anything to say about it.

Le Zulu Blanc

photo by Anne Walsh Wertz

Johnny Clegg is a music legend and one of South Africa’s most celebrated sons. He is a singer, a songwriter, a dancer, an anthropologist and a musical activist whose infectious crossover music, a vibrant blend of Western pop and African Zulu rhythms, has exploded onto the international scene and broken through all the barriers in his own country. In France, where he enjoys a massive following, he is fondly called Le Zulu Blanc – the white Zulu.

I saw him perform a couple of his most famous songs at the Nelson Mandela Memorial Tribute at the Nelson Mandela Foundation Centre of Memory, including Asimbonanga, my favorite Johnny Clegg song. He was one of a long line of performers and speakers who were there to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela. His performance left me wanting more.

photo by Anne Walsh Wertz

The opportunity arose yesterday as part of the Old Mutual Music in the Gardens concert series at the Pretoria National Botanical Gardens on a beautiful winter's day. Ah, you gotta love winter in Gauteng! Temperate climate pleasant enough for a picnic in the garden on a Sunday afternoon.

Johnny was born in England to an English father and a Zimbabwean mother and was brought up by his mother in Zimbabwe. He moved to South Africa after his mother married a South African journalist when he was seven. Johnny's mother was a cabaret and jazz singer and his step-father a crime reporter who took Johnny with him in the the early 60's into the townships, exposing him to a broader cultural landscape than would have typically been available to a white South African boy.

photo by Anne Walsh Wertz

It was in the 70's at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where Johnny was by then a lecturer in Anthropology, that he conceived the concept of blending English lyrics and Western melodies with Zulu musical structures. This blend was recognised by a South African producer, Hilton Rosenthal, who became the champion of the project and drove it with passion and commitment. He signed up Johnny and Sipho Mchunu (his songwriting and performance partner at the time) to his independent label at a time when mixing music was effectively unprofitable because of the radio censorship of mixed music and mixed bands.

At this time they could only play in private venues as the law forbade mixed race performances in public venues and spaces. Testing the law, they played at universities, church halls, migrant labour hostels and even in the lounges of private houses. The battle ground of public versus private performances was often challenged by the security police who attempted to close these down whenever they could. Many shows were closed down but not enough to prevent the emergence of a substantial following of students and migrant workers.

photo by Anne Walsh Wertz

In late 1979 their first album, Universal Men, was released. The album was a musical journey into the life of the Zulu migrant worker, living and working in the city, but continually journeying home, caught between two different worlds.

His 40 year musical career has been rich and varied and he has amassed a long legacy of songs, albums, awards and historic appearances. Johnny Clegg performed on all four of Nelson Mandela’s 46664 Aids Awareness Concerts in South Africa and in Norway. Mandela has joined him on stage during the rendition of Asimbonanga, a song written by Johnny about Mandela (and other struggle heroes) during his period of incarceration. At every live performance of this song, the audience, charged with emotion, spontaneously rises to their feet. During the Cape Town and Tromso 46664 shows, Johnny also performed duets of his work with Peter Gabriel (who was in the audience at the Mandela Tribute last December.)

He has a new album out and if his performance in Pretoria is any indication, his legacy will keep on growing.

Kramerville, the Definition of Industrial Chic

Kramerville is an industrial district on the outskirts of Sandton dedicated to decoration and design. Like the D&D Building on NY's upper east side, Kramerville is a one stop shop for anything you might need to decorate your house, upholster or drape it, or outfit it with lighting and appliances. But unlike the D&D building in NY, it is not just for the trade. Anyone can buy there.


Besides street after street of design shops and showrooms, Kramerville also has some pretty cool cafes and restaurants tucked in here and there which are mostly open only during the day to service the trade.

Kramerville is also home to Katy's Palace which I have blogged about before. Katy's Palace is an event space in and above Amatuli's, a purveyor of African and Indonesian furniture, art and artifacts. Katy's regularly hosts brunches and wine events as well as a great night market one Thursday of every month.

There are a few shops too with things other than for decorating. Next door to Amatuli's is Melvill & Moon where you can outfit yourself as well as your safari camp to make it look like you just walked off the set of Out of Africa. I was tempted to get a real pith helmet there but opted for a great canvas and leather safari hat instead.

And once a month there is a pop-up market and food truck emporium called The Collective which sets up shop in a parking garage on the corner of Kramer Road and Desmond Street. You can shop for one of a kind jewelry and clothing as well as vintage ware. 

Then you can grab a Balkan burger or some other street eat from one of the many food trucks parked in front of the space at 9 Kramer Road.

Kramerville is the definition of industrial chic.

Happy 4th of July from Pretoria, South Africa!

photo by Dana Dwyer

4th of July Pity Party

American down to my toes

Vince is in the USA for some meetings in New York next week. But before that, he is in California to spend the long 4th of July weekend with our sons. First they will meet in Monterey where my younger son Nick is stationed with the Marines. There is a big 4th of July parade in Monterey and Nick will be marching in it. Then the three of them will go sailing in Half Moon Bay and probably take in some of the uber-patriotic food and festivities at the downtown Monterey street festival before they head up to Oakland where my older son Alex lives just in time for some fireworks somewhere over San Francisco Bay.

I am beginning to regret my decision not to accompany Vince to the USA. But (as my reasoning went at the time) I had already been to the US to see our sons twice since Alex was in Africa with us last Christmas and I will probably go back again before Nick comes here for this year's Christmas holiday. It'll be no big deal. And besides, my rear end is just starting to recover its feeling after the last endless butt-numbing flight from Joburg to San Francisco in April.

When Vince and I discussed his upcoming trip last month, my butt was still mostly numb and I guess I let it influence my decision to stay behind. (Nobody hops on a plane for 20+ hours without really thinking about it first.) But now that the reality has sunk in that I will be without family in South Africa for the 4th of July, I am having some decider's remorse. Boohoo. Time for a pity party!

4th of July = beach

I never used to be so nostalgic about the 4th of July. Patriotic, sure, but nostalgic, no.

And it's not that I particularly feel tied to the Macy's fireworks display which I've seen many times over NY's Hudson and East River on park benches and from a boat. (Although they truly are the best!) I have spent the 4th in cities out of the country before - in Paris and London and Dublin and last year in Joburg - which meant no fireworks whatsoever on any river from any vantage point. (Although one time I was actually flying home from Europe at night on the evening of the 4th of July and had an aerial view of all the fireworks going off all across the tri-state area. Unexpected and quite something to see!)

CHQ parade & symphony concert

In the USA I have cheated on New York with other big cities too on the 4th - Boston (great live music on the Esplanade to accompany their awesome fireworks,) Washington DC (great music too and a "monumental" background.). On the west coast, I have seen the fireworks myself before over San Francisco Bay and even further (north)west in Anchorage where the fireworks do not even start until almost midnight after the sun finally goes down!

flares line the lake perimeter for the fireworks display

Even though I do equate the 4th of July with the beach,  I have two-timed the Jersey Shore plenty of times with other beach towns - Chatham, Edgartown, Block Island, Nantucket. And I've even snuck out on the beach altogether with a lake of all things! In Chautauqua - fireworks and flares.



And it's not like I have nothing to do on the day itself. I am going to the US Embassy 4th of July party in Pretoria. I will be surrounded by plenty of red, white, and blue Americans ... some of them even Marines. I sure hope that when I do, I will be able to shake off this melancholia and feel better about my decision to be independent on Independence Day. Once again I turn to my Facebook albums for solace. Here are some pictures I scraped off from celebrations past to help me cope ...

Southside Johnny at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park. A local Jersey Shore ritual, Southside performs there before every 4th of July.

The parade in Mantoloking.

With its Grand Marshal and Mrs.

And veterans.

Aly in the Manto parade

Vintage cars and red firetrucks and decorated bikes.

After the parade there are games at the yacht club.

Have to have some John Philips Sousa to accompany the...

... barbeque at the yacht club, along with kayak and canoe races, a memorial mile run and a flag-raising ceremony.

Red White and Beer.

Gathering on the beach after dark in Point Pleasant to watch the fireworks over the Atlantic Ocean.

We brought some of our own too.













Oooohaaaah!

Back to the beach the next morning in Mantoloking for the Memorial Paddle-Out.

Lots of house and cocktail parties! Here I am on my way into the July Governor's cocktail party at Mantoloking Yacht Club.















There's a regatta, the Barton Handicap in Barnegat Bay,

a sailing selfie

And more sailing just for fun.

summer jewelry!

That's Governor Pataki!

Had to get in some baseball if the Yankees were in town.

A requisite stroll on the boardwalk over the weekend for some games and rides.

Hmmm. That's a lot of nostalgia for a little ol' American Embassy celebration in Africa to live up to. I better start thinking of this 4th of July as just another Independence Day out of town ... Way out of town.

God bless America!