Mr West is in the building

Are you one of those Jo'burgers attending Kanye West's concert? if yes, then make sure your look suits the occasion... oh!!! word of advise PLEASE NO BEGGY CLOTHING!!

Ashley Mokwena

@ashfonik

Couture Corner: The look to build self-esteem

Slip those feet in the Crockett & Jones Apron Toe Penny Loafers

Paul Smith belt

Look neat in a Jaco white V-neck t-shirt

 Be on time with a Flud Watch

Protect those eyes with a pair of Police Sunglasses

Make sure you get the appropriate Chino pants

Ashley Mokwena

@ashfonik

 

Beat Box: Kanye in the villa...

Seeing that the creative King Kanye West aka Yeezy is gonna be paying a visit to the land of the Big Five, why not do a lil piece on him and his creative mind. But we gonna be K.I.S.S (Keepin’ it short and simple).

The Atlanta born rapper, producer and fashion icon has had the opportunity to showcase how creative and passionate he is. In his works one can find coolness, calmness and a great level of creativity. The one song that cemented Kanye’s music to my ear was “Touch the Sky” which he features Lupe Fiasco.

Mr West has created musical works for hip hop heavy –weights such as Jay-z, The Game, Lil Wayne, Drake, Common and Mos Def to name drop a few. Give him a keyboard he’ll blow you away, put him on vocals he’ll sweep your feet away and give him a Bra Hugh Masekela or a Ray Charles song to sample he’ll rope in class.

With his record label Good Music, it’s evident that Kanye aims to rock the same way as his mentor Jay-Z whom he collaborated with on “Watch the Throne”... if your one of those individuals attending his concert this coming Saturday embrace yourself for an A-GRADE performance.

The order in which my ear has rated Kanye West’s albums:   

  

1.       Late Registration

2.       Graduation

3.       College Dropout

4.       My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

5.       808s & Heartbreak

Ashley Mokwena

@ashfonik

Box Office: Guns, Prostitutes and true friendship

Gangster Squad

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Josh Brolin

Running Time: 1hr 50 mins

The ruthless Brooklyn born Mickey Cohen (Penn) runs the streets of Los Angeles and reaps the rewards from the dirt of drugs, guns and prostitutes. Doing as he pleases with the streets of Los Angeles, Cohen is a well looked after mobster taken care of by his goons, cops and corrupt politicians who are on his payroll. But LAPD secret crew led by Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) team up to destroy Cohen’s game plan.

Intouchables

Director: Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache

Cast: Francios Cluzet, Omar Sy and Anne Le Ny

Running time: 1hr 52 mins

The uplifting comedy about friendship, trust and human possibilities is based on a friendship between a disabled millionaire played by Francios Cluzet, who’s looked after by a street loving ex-con caretaker (Omar Sy). The film highlights a friendship rooted with trust, honesty and humour between two characters who possess nothing in common.

Ashley Mokwena

  

What Dem say in Tweet city:

@richardquest: Btw parties @davos not nearly as fun as everyone believes. Maybe I ain’t invited to right ones. Karaoke at piano bar is a lot of fun.

@PearlThusi: Kanye West wat wat almost here. Planning nails and outfit as we speak. We must slay.

@FunnyOrTruth: probably the worst thing about being a penguin is after you’re in an argument you’ll try to waddle away angrily but still look adorably cut.

@LwaziMngoma: Need to head to the shops and start prepping dinner. Hosting Masterchef Top 5 Lungi #NoPressure

@BryanBoy: I looked very editorial at the airport. There I was in my head damn I look fierce but I was suffering inside cause of the heat. 

Tech bite: RIM to consider sharing Blackberry 10 with other Smartphone makers

Every time my Blackberry device freezes, I sometimes wish there was an anti-freezing product available to the rescue. The reason why individuals like me are still using a Blackberry device, it’s because of the BIS service which allows internet usage at an affordable rate. But even that still can’t cover for the messes of the freezing and frustrating device which has lost market share in powerful marketplaces. Enough with the criticism...

Canadian mobile maker Rhythm in Motion will announce its newest operating system, the Blackberry 10 on 30 January in varies major cities across the globe. It’s expected that should the launch go as planned and the software shows good performance, the company will then consider licensing the Blackberry OS.

 

RIM aims to hop into the same direction Google hopped in and offer the OS to other smartphone manufacturers. With Google powering major smartphone makers with its Android OS, it’s still yet to be known which smartphone maker is to jump into bed with Blackberry. The important aspect which smartphone makers have to be concern about is whether Blackberry 10 can be relied on. Momentum has been building up quite nicely ahead of the launch and application developers are encouraged to port their apps to the Blackberry 10 platform.

Chief Executive Thorsten Heins mentioned that shortly after the Launch, new Blackberry devices running on the Blacberry 10 OS will be unleashed to contest to recover lost market share.

The concern is can the once powerhouse of the smartphone league survive the shark attack or is the company going to give in to the bite??  

Ashley Mokwena

Gaming: Zynga releases ‘Running with Friends’ for IOS

Mobile gaming maker Zynga has presented a first person social chase game based on escaping from bulls of Pamplona and it looks to be somewhat similar to Temple Run.

The game has social dimensions and players can test their skills against friends and compare scores. The point of the mobile game is to run and dodge from being run over by vicious bulls.

The game is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and it looks to be very interesting. A million dollar question is can ‘Running with Friends’ be as successful as Temple Running, which has seen over 100 million downloads and has motivated developers to create the successor which is expected to be available in the App Store very soon.

If you’re heavy on mobile gaming; patience is required to access the game as it’s not yet internationally available, unless if you have an account for that territory.

Ashley Mokwena  

Couture Corner: The English architect of style

Sir Paul Smith is within the fashion industry one of the most respected figures. Born in Nottinghamshire, England he has managed over the past four decades to maintain certain level of style which has seen his fashion label widely admired on a global scale.

His collections of clothing and accessories are usually identified by the presence of Smith’s multi-stripe signature on each item. During his early teen years Smith had the desire to become a cyclist, and thanks to an accident that had occurred today we can wear a piece of his artistry.

Acquiring the skill and knowledge required in the colourful and challenging world of fashion Smith joined Lincroft Kilgour in Savile Row after being spotted by Harold Tillman, where his makes were worn by celebrities and footballing greats such as George Best.

In the 70’s Smith built on the foundation he had laid and opened his first men’s fashion store and then went on to showcase his first menswear collection in Paris, under the Paul Smith label. The global growth of the Paul Smith brand led to Paul Smith opening a store in Japan. The opening of a store in Japan awarded Smith the opportunity to align the brand in Asia.

In the late 90’s the great craftsman showed his first women’s collection which continues to this and with the unveiling of the women’s collection Smith expanded his brand and opened stores in across the globe.

The successes of Paul Smith’s designs are all due to his classic and quirky combinations which allow a buyer to have some twist of individuality. 

Made by Paul Smith

Beat Box: The Afrikaans introspective punky sound

Formed in Cape Town, the creative capital of South Africa is an Afrikaans controversial punk rock band Fokofpolisiekar. Inspired by bands such as Queens of the Stone Age and Alkaline Trio, since its inception in April of 2003 the bands objectives were to question the religious motives and the socio-political situation Afrikaans speaking South Africans face. 

Fokofpolisiekar first released an EP titled “As jy met vuur speel sal jy brand”, following the release of the bands first EP one of their tracks “Hemel op die platteland” made history when it became the first Afrikaans song to officially play on national youth radio station 5FM.

The Band went on to release their debut album titled “Lugsteuring”, producer John Paul De Stefani showed his mastery and was released in 2004. After the success of the first album Fokofpolisiekar kept on releasing EP’s and went on offering a second album “Swanesang” that included hit “Brand Suid-Afrika” which was a mixture of punk and acoustic elements.

The creative band from Cape Town recorded a DVD in late 2008 which was to be released in 2009. That offering contained four sizzling tracks, the band’s music videos and a behind the scenes documentary which premiered at the 2009 Encounters International Documentary Film Festival and walked away with the “Audience Award”.

Fokofpolisiekar is made up of a fantastic bunch that’s passionate about South Africa, music and have the highest regard for their mother tongue.

Ashley Mokwena  

Twitter: @fokofpolisiekar

Facebook: Fokofpolisiekar

Box Office: caught up in testing times of human lives

Today Da Stitch reviews two fantastic movies, set in the testing times of human lives. Les Miserables and Django Unchained, movies director by two gifted directors within the story telling industry.

 Les Miserable

Director: Tom Hooper

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe and Anne Hathaway

Set in the era of 19^th century France, Les Miserables tells a story of bashed and hopeless dreams, love, passion, sacrifice and redemption. The storyline reflects a testament of the survival of the human spirit. Jean Valjean played by Jackman is an ex-prisoner wanted for decades by the hearthless policeman Javert. The movie possesses a thrilling storyline and a super weight cast that’s talented enough to keep the eyes glued onto the big screen.

Django Unchained

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kerry Washington

Quentin Tarantino, the master mind of thrillers such as Reservior Dogs and Inglourious Basterds has once again dished out a film that has the ability to catch our eyes and lure us to enter the cinema. Django Unchained is a Western film that follows a freed slave (Foxx) who travels across America with a bounty hunter (Waltz) on a mission to rescue his wife (Washington) from a cruel and ruthless plantation owner. The film couldn’t have come at a great moment, as it’s that crazy time of the year where rewards are earned.

Ashley Mokwena