Monstrous

So I didn't get deported. Crazy really because the guys at the DAS didn't notice that I've overstayed my visa, even though it was quite clearly stated on my Passport when I had to leave the country. It's always a thin line between love and hate with bureaucrats don't you think? So I didn't get deported, but perhaps more worrying, I joined Twitter. That's a lie actually. It turns out I had already joined Twitter and I had no idea. Either way, the bollocks that comes to me when I should be working can be read in its tragi-comic entirety here.

I just finished watching the World Cup Concert (is that what it's called? I'm sure it has some official name that I'm too lazy to look up). Although Colombia won't be attending the World Cup finals, they feel somewhat assuaged in that they have two artists representing them in the aforementioned concert, Shakira and Juanes. I find it offensive that a South African artist wasn't chosen for the official World Cup anthem, but you can't second guess FIFA. I actually wrote an article on the legal wranglings between Golden Sounds, the artists that recorded the original Zangalewa, and Shakira's management which can be read here. That track was a huge hit in Cartagena in the 80s, appealing as it did to the large ex-slave community that surrounds the city. Even so, I very much doubt the FIFA orgainsing committee knew that when they commissioned Shakira to reinterpret it, and even if they did, wouldn't it have been more ethically responsible not to mention fair and just, to have allowed at the very least an African if not South African artist to play with it instead of Shakira, a Colombian of Lebanese descent!?

This got me to thinking what my ideal "off-World Cup" ceremony would look like. I'm still working on the list but I'm certain these two tracks would feature prominently.






Not only are both by South African artists, they also exploded internationally and represent landmarks in regional dance music. My Zimbabwean ex-girlfriend assures me that South Africa is known more for tacky Bonkers-style raves than sleek, minimal Euro affairs. Fine. I can dig that. At least it's indigenous. I just think force-feeding Africans re-branded versions of their own music by way of internationally recognised pop stars is little more than window-dressed cultural colonialism raising its ugly head.