Monthly Archives: May 2013

The Sapphires (Movie review)

Title: The Sapphires Director: Wayne Blair Starring: Chris O’Dowd, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens, Miranda Tapsell Date: 2012 Genre: Musical Rating:7/10 An Australian movie about four young Aboriginals who put together a band and travel to war torn Vietnam. … Continue reading

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Ballet Auditions for Youth America Grand Prix 2014

One of the joys of the arts is the opportunities they provide for really top performers to travel internationally. Young South African ballet dancers (between 9 and 19) hoping for the opportunity to participate in the Youth America Grand Prix … Continue reading

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Building ballet’s reputation here and abroad

Dirk Badenhorst is tall, elegant and imposing and I first ‘met’ him as a dancer with PACT before it was disbanded. He was one of the founder members of PACT’s successor, then a breakaway company, and now of the SA … Continue reading

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The Conqueror, A Victorious Roman Emperor

The plaque for this statue at Emperors Palace says: “This stunning portrayal of a victorious Roman Emperor which dominates the Emperors Plaza and the entrance to the D’Oreale Grande hotel and casino at Emperors Palace is believed to be the … Continue reading

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Business is best at D’Oreale, Emperors Palace

The O R Tambo International Airport precinct is, like any other major airport surrounds, full of hotels. Emperors Palace alone has four hotels from which travellers to Johannesburg can stay. They have the Metcourt (3 stars), the Metcourt Suites (3 … Continue reading

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MarketOnMain in Maboneng

Two or three years back some people developed some of the cheap space in City and Suburban (the suburb was developed in 1896, ten years after Johannesburg came into existence, and the name was taken from the nearby City and … Continue reading

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Side Effects, a movie review

Title: Side Effects Director: Steven Soderbergh Starring: Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Channing Tatum Date: 2013 Genre: Psychological Thriller Rating: 7/10 This is a thinking person’s movie with a complex but neatly tied up plot – with room for … Continue reading

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Mother to Mother, the story of Amy Biehl’s death

The turmoil South Africa was experiencing in 1993 is difficult to explain to young people today. The old was not quite gone and the new had not quite come. There was a huge amount of uncertainty in the minds of … Continue reading

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Giulio Cesare, a Baroque opera at the Movies

Giulio Cesare is the last of the 2012/2013 Live in HD movies. Now one will have to wait until the end of the year for the 2013/2014 series to begin. However, the present series ends with a particularly enjoyable offering … Continue reading

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Caldo Verde

I have a Portuguese friend who cooks. I have been nagging him for some Caldo Verde for a while now. Winter is soup season. Last night this friend and I were talking about Caldo Verde. He promised to make it … Continue reading

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