Published by Mark April 10th, 2008
in Blogroll, durban, opinion and interesting.
We see it everyday. On our way to work, on our walls, on bridges, basically on any available spot. Graffiti has started to take over.
There has been lots of talk lately about graffiti taking over the city of Durban. Wherever you go you are bound to find some sort of graffiti. I was asked the other day whether I view graffiti as art or crime. My answer simple, if it is done in a respectful way and not done in a way to vandalise property then it is art. If it is done without respect and purely on the basis of defacing something it is crime.
The city is now offering rewards to people who are able to give information on any of these so called “vandals”. The Durban North area has been hardest hit with churches, schools, restaurants and houses being tagged. The cost of removing the graffiti is huge and as a result of this some people can not afford to remove it from their walls so it is just left there.
So why do these guys spray walls? What is wrong with the spots that they are allowed to graffiti that are given to them by the city? Well, most of these cats are trying to send a message out to the city expressing their unhappiness with certain situations. If it is done in the right way it sends out one hell of a message.
A friend of mine gave me some insight into the whole situation and he reckons that graffiti has become so much part of the modern alternative world that we live in that graffiti is the middle classes own art collection. Think about it.
There is so much to talk about regarding this issue. I am in the process of gathering as much information from varying sources and in doing so both sides of the story can be heard.I have purposefully not included visuals fro this piece as I am in the process of collecting various forms of graffiti from in and around the Durban area. Watch out for part 2, it should make for some interesting reading
Published by Duncan April 10th, 2008
in babble, interesting and Music.
<<This is NASA control beaming out Across the Universe.>>**
Alright so this may not be entirely “new” news, but I picked up the story this morning and I just had to chuckle to myself.
NASA has beamed out a signal to the Northern Star (Polaris) in the form of an old Beatles song.
The obvious choice for the pencil pushing brainiac’s: Across the Universe.
I’m not sure if you guys know the lyrics to this song but dude, I’m hoping the “little green men” don’t get the wrong idea.
I can understand money being spend on sending a signal out in the form of a SOS, because face it we need it.
Also I’d think the message should have some kind of data about who or what we are and our social intricacies.
Instead they get lyrics like: “Nothing’s gonna change my world”.
Now if that isn’t a defiant message I don’t know what is.
Continue reading ‘Beatles song in Space’
Hai hai Mina-san.
What a beautiful day it is, the sun is shining and the air is crisp and cool, just makes you wanna get back to nature and because I’m in such a nature-tastic mood I decided to showcase one of our classic designs that is back due to popular demand.
Scope out the E-Classic, Ronin’s: Mountain and Ripples.
Mountain and Ripples is probably one of my favorite designs I’ve ever had in the store, it’s very Japanese, which is so me and also very natural and minimalistic at the same time.
All the elements are just perfect in this Ronin masterpiece.
For me the design is almost whimsical in nature and its stylized nature makes almost look like it could be an illusion or perhaps a mind’s eye view of a metaphysical plane of existence.
When a monk sits contemplating the cosmos and the meaning of his existence, he falls deeper into a rhythmical mantra and the lines between the realm of the material and the spirit intertwine, this is what he sees. His eyes are closed but his ethereal body floats across a landscape at the speed of thought and sees everything for what it truly is.
WoW that would be awesome, don’t know if I could handle being a monk though, I’m too much of a sinner 
Continue reading ‘Ronin Mountain and Ripples’
