Brace yourself - the YAhoos are at our doors

Tuesday, April 24, 2001 - 01:49 AM

Independent-minded people are in for a rough ride if the current events in South Africa are anything to go by writes Pravasan Pillay

Allen Ginsberg, arguably the finest American poet of the last century, opened his epic poem Howl with a crazed lament that rings all too true for independent-minded people in South Africa.

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness

When the poem was first published through the progressive San Francisco based press, City Lights, it came under tremendous criticism from the conservative elements in the United States government. They claimed to be disgusted and outraged at Ginsberg's graphic description of his homosexual trysts and abundant drug use. Ginsberg, in his uniquely beatific way, called people of this ilk Birdbrains and spent most of his life raging against their madness.

Here in Durban, South Africa some of us prefer to call them Yahoos after the unthinking humanoids encountered by Captain Gulliver on his final voyage to the land of the Houyhnhnms. Not that many future generations in this country will ever get to know this seeing that Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels is one the numerous books deemed unfit reading material for high school scholars. Other notable books included on this literary blacklist include William Shakespeare's Hamlet & Othello, George Orwell's 1984 and Olive Schreiner's The Story of an African Farm. These recommendations were made by a selection of South African teachers who were mandated by the Gauteng Department of Education to judge the suitability of over three hundred books for future study by high school scholars. The teachers were asked to ascertain whether the surveyed books promoted the ideals of tolerance, non-discrimination, non-sexism, and non-racism found in the South African Constitution. They were also called on to examine the style, the plot, the characterization, the themes, and the accessibility of the language found in the surveyed books.

Posted by punky    on Tuesday, April 24, 2001

LEEK AND THE BOUNCING UPTONES NEWS AND SHOWS

Tuesday, April 24, 2001 - 01:47 AM

<<<<<THE LATEST NEWS>>>>>



Hi



Firstly we’d like to thank all of you who came to the show on Friday the






13th at Nile Crocodile. We all had a good time and it looked like you all



had a good time too.

There’s not much news at the moment.



You can read a really old interview someone did with us a while back at



http://www.punk.co.za.



We will be filming a video for one of our new songs off the new album within






the next month or so, and could possibly be needing a couple of extra’s.


So



keep checking the web site (http://www.leek.co.za)


to find out how you could



be in the LEEK AND THE BOUNCING UPTONES music video.

Posted by punky    on Tuesday, April 24, 2001

Run Gina Run...The Zombies are coming!

Tuesday, April 24, 2001 - 01:31 AM

Germany sees the first vegan tv commercial > Run Gina Run - The Zombies are


coming!

Gina Wild and The Zombies line up to bring the vegan message to the world -


on national German TV networks and on the web!

The


renowned German advertising agency BMZ!FCA (www.bmzfca.de)


develops tv ads which use the topics Mad Cow Disease and meat



consumption along with a good portion of dark humour to invite viewers to the


leading German online magazine for vegans, vegan.de.

This


first commercial of a series in which actress Gina Wild is confronted with a


horde of wild zombies was first broadcast on April 16th and will continue to


be aired in Germany. It will also be submitted to the famous International Advertising


Festival in Frances, the Cannes Lions (www.canneslions.com).

You can now watch the spot in quicktime format at the following url: http://vegan.de/spots/

Posted by punky    on Tuesday, April 24, 2001

DailyInterview - the phoebes

Tuesday, April 24, 2001 - 12:22 AM

20 Questions with Caroline Hillary of the Phoebes







THE USUAL.







1.Who's in the band and where ya from?



Caroline Hillary - Bassist & vocalist from Melville



Jackie Oldfield - Lead guitarist from Edenvale



Joanne O - Rhythm Guitarist and backing vocalist from Edenvale



Kerry Oldfirld - drummer from Edenvale







2.Whats the scene like there?






well the scene in JHB is thriving at the moment, there are many punk bands but


we are the only all-girl punk band and we are getting loads of support from the


other bands - they are all very supportive

Posted by Justin    on Tuesday, April 24, 2001

WORLD BANK DEFENDS ITS CASHEW POLICY

Monday, April 23, 2001 - 12:55 AM

So, who is the World Bank? It is clearly not an agency which is interested in the well being of anyone in Africa.

Are institutions real? Or are they composed of individuals? I object to the reification of groups. Groups are just individuals who want to shirk responsibility and make vast claims of power and significance. No doubt some deep psychological deficits cause people to insist that they are acting on behalf of others as agents in a group, institute, agency, or what have you.

Posted by punky    on Monday, April 23, 2001

New CALIBAN CD out now on Lifeforce Records

Monday, April 23, 2001 - 12:49 AM

Since April 9th the new CALIBAN CD "VENT" is avilable. All I can say


that it is the most amazing Harcore record from Europe ever. They have been in


the studio for about 4 weeks and also a woman can be heard as a singer on this


record. But don´t be scared it´s still brutal and hevy as f**k and


if you like bands like Arkangel and Morning Again you can´t do anything


wrong with buying this record! Try to get this piece of genius Hardcore from germans


famous CALIBAN!!!! U can get an MP3 and order the CD on this page : http://www.impressionrec.com/mp3.htm

Posted by Anonymous    on Monday, April 23, 2001

Epitaph Punk Rock Editorial

Monday, April 23, 2001 - 12:37 AM

Mr. Brett,



Hello. My name is Matthew Strugar; I do merchandise for the international noise conspiracy. We've met. Someone from Epitaph Canada asked the band to do a short piece on the protests in Quebec and our experience trying to cross the border for the Epitaph web site. As I am of a superior intelligence and far better looking than anyone in the band, they naturally asked me to compose the piece. They told me to address it to you. It is going to be short because I am unmotivated and it is 5am, but I will attempt it nonetheless.

Posted by punky    on Monday, April 23, 2001

Daily Interview - Leek

Friday, April 20, 2001 - 04:24 AM

20 Questions with Andrew Wright from Leek & The Bouncing Uptones




THE USUAL.







1.Who's in the band and where ya from?



We’re LEEK AND THE BOUNCING UPTONES. We consist of Jaco on bass, Pieter on drums, Mpho on trumpet, William on trombone and Andrew on guitar and vocals.



We’re from Pretoria, South Africa







2.Whats the scene like there?



The scene rocks! It’s not like what the Cape Town scene is like with all this brotherhood and stuff but when there is a show the kids come out and have a good time.







3.What style music do you play?



Mmmmmm, I guess you can call it punk with a dash of ska

Posted by Justin    on Friday, April 20, 2001

SHIFTY HEADING OVER SEAS

Friday, April 20, 2001 - 03:17 AM

Hey all,whats up??



If any of you were wondering what happend to Shifty,the boys are



heading over to London England!!! Two members are already over there



and the rest of the crew leave at the end of May.



I just wanted to wish them all the best over there and who knows maybe



South African punk bands can eventually be put onto the international



map!!! We wish you all the best boys,and show those Londoners whats



up!!LATERS

Posted by Anonymous    on Friday, April 20, 2001

Bring the Ruckus

Friday, April 20, 2001 - 03:15 AM

by the Ruckus collective, Phoenix

Over the last few years there has been a growing discussion among revolutionaries of the need for a national or continental antiauthoritarian revolutionary organization. This discussion has emerged from several contexts, including the death of the Love and Rage Revolutionary Anarchist Federation, the anti-globalization protests that began in Seattle in 1999, and by criticisms of the whiteness of the American left made primarily by revolutionaries of color. World and national events also seem to justify such discussion: globalization, the persistence of the American racial order, and the bankruptcy of reformist movements from the left, right, and center. Yet if talk about the need for a new organization is abundant, steps toward building it have been awkward. Much talk is simply recycled debate over violence and organizational structure, while other debates, such as over strategy, have been largely overlooked.

Posted by punky    on Friday, April 20, 2001