District 9

Just picking up from that lunch memory at the Troyeville Hotel I mentioned yesterday. The cold Castle lager I was happily sipping away that day should have been to celebrate my friend’s Hollywood breakthrough. But my friend James Taylor, fully present at that Portuguese lunch, didn’t mention then that he had worked on the now famous sci-fi thriller District 9 which was shot in South Africa.

Indeed James helped building some of the props and sets for that blockbuster. Made in South Africa by a South African with South Africans,.... and with little big help from a Kiwi brother (aka Peter Jackson). A down under partnership with little cash but an awesome result. 112 Minutes of it.

But James didn’t boast about it at all. He just mentioned it en passant a few days or weeks later when we were hanging out together again. For him that District 9 job seemed just another creative matter done. Done and dusted and moving on.

Anyway. Indeed we should have toasted that Castle for James’ District 9 artwork. Sadly James won’t participate in any follow up to District 9. He died earlier this month. Just like that. A matter of a missing heartbeat. Or maybe he was just taken away by those District 9 aliens? Maybe they loved his artwork and hijacked him to their home turf. Joburg style.

And as September slips further down history second by second, some life is gone while other life gets born. The proof is in this photo below. Just some baby pigeon in my garden getting ready to face the universe. Tough task ahead.



p.s. It’s Heritage Day today in South Africa. Remembrance of the past while building the future. In football/soccer terms (to get some 2010 fever inserted) it would be: remembering the early games while building a better, winning team.

SA publishing house Jacana Media released a few years ago their “Exploring our national days” series. 7 Books about South Africa’s national days (public holidays) written for the youth of the land. The one on Heritage Day is this one here below. Check it out....

lunch @ the Troyeville Hotel

The fact that it rained in Johannesburg last night says it all. Winter is now really over. It was welcoming rain. Nature is smiling today. For those unknown to the meteorology of the City of Gold, be advised that winter here on the so called Highveld is dry. Very dry. As dry as the Algerian desert on a hot summer day. And thus as the flowers are waking up to the new season and the birds are happily busy with a new family, the rain was very much welcomed. Drops of life.

260 Days to go to high fever. That’s 37 weeks and a few days to the kick off whistle of the opening game in Africa’s football/soccer first world cup ever. Madness guaranteed. The opening game will be played in the brand new FNB stadium in Johannesburg’s south-western township Soweto. That stadium is now officially named Soccer City. Joburg is also host to another world cup football temple. Ellis Park. I think it’s called Coca-Cola Stadium now. That is TBC.

Ellis Park lies in the middle of town. Down town is a metropolis with a bad reputation. But down town is also a city with a shiny new bus system. And a stone throw away from Ellis Park stands the Troyeville Hotel. It’s indeed just a stone throw away. You don’t even have to be an Olympic athlete to throw this imaginable stone. From the terrace of the hotel you could nearly touch Ellis Park. The giant from Gulliver’s Travel would not even have to stretch his arm. So that stone throw is for us mortals easily within reach. Unless of course you are a plastic-human, socialite type like the Paris Hiltons of this world. Then that stone throw might upset your hairdo or undo your botox treatment.

Anyway. Last Joburg winter the 4 of us were having a relaxed lunch at the Troyeville Hotel. Portuguese lunch because that is what the menu there has to offer. Simple but perfectly tasting. The company was great, the food good and the winter sun spreading warmth through the large windows. I see that this week the menu highlights grilled kalamari with chips. Mouth-watering. I wonder when a game is on in next door Ellis Park if the rolling thunder of the fans stamping their feet and blowing their by now famous Vuvuzela trumpets would tremble your plate of fine food. An Ellis Park earthquake ripple effect.

For more on the Troyeville Hotel just copy and paste this link: www.troyevillehotel.co.za



Last year November the Troyeville Hotel was also host to a pretty big and loud party celebrating Barack Obama’s victory in those historic US presidential polls. It was red, white and blue all over.