Cards of Cape Town

These are some cards of people and places I’ve come across in Cape Town.

Starting top left, cousin* Roger Goode DJ-ing at the J&B Met races’ after party. (* in a distant random relative kind of way.)

Zig-zagging along, next is creative incubator Matchboxology who do the South African government’s HIV/AIDs behaviour change campaigns, among other cool, creative, social change things.

I ♥ NEW WORK from Whatiftheworld / Gallery in Woodstock which Emily and I visited – it’s a “platform for a new generation of emerging South Africa contemporary artists” and was selected as on the of the ‘Top 50 Emerging Galleries from Around the World’ but Contemporary Magazine in London. I liked the Guyanese Samsonite – the ubiquitous plastic African holdall bag often seen trying to be taken as oversized hand luggage on flights, kitchen sink and all!

Next line down, it’s the logo of the NeighbourGoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill on Saturdays. Think Borough meets the Portobello with a urban micro-festival feel from the DJ amid the hay bale seats. You can get a good coffee, buy a dress that’s been designed and made in South Africa and then gorge on an assortment of culinary treats from the food stalls. (I asked someone if they could sum up Cape Town in one word and he said “schmorgasboard”; the food here was just so).

Then, Truth Coffee Cult. Our local coffee house. I started following them on Twitter and got a direct message: Have you tasted the TRUTH yet? Yes, I have! And it’s gooooooood. They recommended Square Mile Coffee to me, and that’s when I knew I’d come to the right place as it’s what I like to drink in London.

Bikes had to make it in somehow… here’s CT’s first Critical Mass flyer. Spread the word.

Today is a good day, especially if you have your breakfast here. Monocle magazines to browse while sipping your morning cappuccino.

Heather Moore, aka Skinny La Minx. An illustrator and designer she makes really cool home stuff like tea-towels, cushions and aprons as well as putting her illustrated transfers on ceramics. I especially like her Sevilla rock-art range.

Openveld’s card I picked up at the Neighbourgoods Market. They had great tasting salami and I liked the birds. There seems to be a thing about the use of birds in designs in Cape Town, they keep cropping up everywhere including the fab Birds Boutique Café.

I keep popping back into Lynne’s shop ‘Hello Again’ and have to stop myself from saying “hello again” – it must be an old joke and incredibly annoying. Lynne sells lots of fab American Apparel style clothing that’s made in SA, as well as her husband’s fittees (tailor made fitted T-shirts for people who demand a perfect fit to “feel sexy and look their best”) and his custom made fixed gear bikes, complete with recycling logo stickers. Love it.

Spier is a large vineyard in Stellenbosch that produces it’s own sustainability report, set up the Sustainability Institute next door and has a fantastic organic restaurant called 8 which serves only the food that is grown locally. Menus are created for the day based on what produce is available. Pity it was closed the day we went, but I did like the recycling messages stuck up in the loos. Good for a captive audience. I’d be interested to know if they really do all they say they do.

Second to last, Monkey Biz is an amazing bead-business. If you can’t read what’s written on the tag in the picture, it says: “I am a unique artwork created by disadvantaged people in the townships of Cape Town. Thank you for choosing me. Make us welcome in your home.” By us, they mean whichever elaborately beautiful beaded animal or item you have bought from them. The shop is a bead crafters emporium and a beady-eyed shopper’s heaven. There’s no artistic direction from the salespeople, the crafters in the townships (many with HIV) learn the art from their elders and are simply provided with the beads, wire and twin. Totally different and fantastic presents.

And finally, boutique design hotel and restaurant Daddy Long Legs. Rated by The Guardian as a good place to stay in CT with each of their 13 rooms designed by a different local artist/ poet/ designer/ writer/ photographer/ musician, etc., it’s a bit rock and roll with a retro Airstream trailer park on the roof and open air cinema screenings. It promises “to bring the creative spirit of Cape Town into your hotel room experience” although it’s probably a good thing you’re “in a world of your own” given the overload of onions in their Ceasar Salad. But great design and good they’ve got Fair Trade in Tourism status.

I ♥ CT

It’s 13 years since I was last in the ‘Mother City’. And just like when you’re growing up and someone who hasn’t seen you for a long time typically says, “my, haven’t you changed”, so have I reacted to Cape Town. It’s like CT’s Big African Mama has finally kicked the city into shape. And just in time for the 2010 World Cup being hosted by South Africa!

There’s a joke that it’s called the Mother City because it takes 9 months to do anything in Cape Town. But I’d be inclined to disagree. It only took me two emails, one phone call and a visit to a shop in the city centre to find a bike I could borrow to take part in Cape Town’s Critical Mass last Friday. The guys at Fixed Gear Cape Town are doing a great job of bringing fixie culture and city cycle style to Cape Town.

I’m not sure what I expected to find on coming back here. I have hazy memories from January 1997 of the backpackers’ hangouts on Long Street, climbing Table Mountain because the cable car was out of service with a hangover (mine not the cable car’s), getting sloshed in Stellenbosch on a wine tour and being surprised by the chilly sea waters on the Atlantic coastline.

All of that is still here, although the cable car works and I’ve drunk considerably less Hunters’ Gold this trip. But there is so much more now too. A shiny new stadium built for the World Cup which Capetonians are really proud of. It hosted its first match just the other day. Lots more security and police presence. Arty suburbs aplenty with great creative spaces and lots of seriously great designers. A small but growing bike culture. A blooming green scene – the first article in Cape Town’s Time Out is all about “going green in the Mother City” citing the city’s first green shopping arcade, local organic markets and a green cab company. A retro vibe from all the vintage cars and second-hand clothing stores. And my personal favourite, a cafe culture with divine coffee, cakes and croissant. “Lekker” as the locals say.

It’s almost as though Cape Town has done a London. From a structure-less city it’s become a series of areas with their own identities, like the idea that London is really just a collection of villages each with a different vibe. There’s even an imaginary dividing line known as the ‘lentil curtain’ that separates the hippies from the townies here!

As far as I can tell in 10 days, the main areas and the character of their inhabitants are:

Observatory (or Obs) for the hippy-arty crowd

Woodstock for the eco-arty-foodie tribe

Sea Point promenade (a la Miami boulevard) for the highly-toned fitness fanatics

Camps Bay for the Riviera beach set (more St Tropez than S Africa)

Clifton for the wannabe-seen scene

Bo-Kaap around Cape Quarter for the true flag flyers of the Rainbow Nation

Long Street/ Kloof Street and Gardens for the they-think-they’re-trendy Alpha types

Kalk Bay for the literary-arty lovers

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

More to come about CT and its ‘capeability’ soon.

I just know that I ♥ the city whose tourism slogan is “Live it. Love it.” Exactly my motto.

Losing it in translation

For the past couple of months I’ve been working with a multinational insurance company on their internal corporate responsibility (CR) messaging. Headquartered in Paris and doing business in roughly 19 languages, the company’s central comms teams is not only brave but incredibly patient.

I had the fun job of talking by phone to CR managers in many of the locations (thankfully in English) to test potential messages. Although I’m definitely not a linguist, I thought I’d done a fair bit of ‘cultural appreciation and translation’ over the years, however this comms exercise made me appreciate even more the importance of communicating essence not just words. The call for native speaking copy-writers rang loud and clear every time. Otherwise there’s a real risk of ‘losing it’ in translation, in both the ‘failing to retain the meaning’ and ‘breakdown in mirth’ senses of the word.

In my travels near and far I like looking out for signs, especially those with a clever play on words or just amusing errors in translation. I set up a Flickr group last year to store the signs I found.

Here are a few of my favourites:

A typo or a genuine error? Use one sheep at a time – the guidance for taking a towel to dry your hands in Argentina.

A clever play on words: Don’t take A Fence – displayed in a pub competition “The Turnip Prize” in Devon.

An unfortunate brand name: The Malaysian Fatman cushion. It reminds me of the Women’s Institute in a village near where I grew up called Ugley. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture.

And finally one from Southern Africa where I’m going tonight. I’m hoping it will be what it says on the box: Very Nice!

Love in the teenies

I’ve noticed lots of ‘love’ messages around recently. Maybe it’s a Christmas thing. This picture is of Carnaby Street’s Christmas decorations. But I’ve also seen ads asking us to love our office (Clerkenwell), love your bank (Earls Court) and there’s the great Waltham Forest ‘heart’ recycling campaign designed by my friend Emily Wilkinson while at Futerra.

According to The Sunday Times ‘love’ is going to be a big theme of the teenies (the follower of the noughties). At number 18 in their 50 trends for the coming decade they pronounce that ‘Love is the new happiness’. They say: “this isn’t about smug, coupled-up bliss – more a big-hearted approach to work, money, family, community, even politics.” Sounds good to me.

As you may have gathered from this blog, I love my bike. This Christmas I haven’t been able to ride for various reasons including icy conditions and the fact that rail-replacement buses and bikes don’t mix. Instead I’ve been seeking mental escapism.

For my older brother’s Christmas present I bought him the latest issue of The Ride journal which I secretly wanted for myself but figured that three days at his would give me ample time to flick through it. Recommended it by a friend and old colleague Dave, a wise city cyclist, I’ve really enjoyed reading every issue so far. The articles are just the right length, the visuals beautiful, the stories inspiring, the contributors passionate people who happen to ride bikes, and the content varied enough that every kind of rider will find something for them.

I found myself identifying most with an article titled ‘The Chase’ written by Tammy Thorne from Toronto who is the editor-in-chief of a bike magazine called Dandyhorse. She describes her love of two wheels…

“I love that I am responsible for my actions and myself. I love that my method of transportation is responsible to the environment we all share, and does minimal harm to an already damaged earth. I love that it keeps traffic flowing. I love that it keeps me fit and sun-dappled. I love the speed and freedom.

I really love all the stops I can make on my way home. I can fill up my pannier and basket with groceries from the market, return library books, pick up dry-cleaning and maybe a bottle of wine for later, and a fresh homemade loaf of bread. I love that I can detour and chase a fixie boy who thinks he’s faster than me. I love that I meet new people and talk to old friends on my commute every day. I love that sometimes I am late for work because of it.

I’ll keep chasing through the city to improve safety on the streets, especially at the intersections and underpasses. But I’ll also chase fast boys on bikes, cold beers in parks and my imagination, to make this city a better, more beautiful and more bike-friendly place…

I love riding my bike. And I love the chase.”

I can’t put it any better. I love all of it too. Bring on love in 2010. May bikes become the new happiness.

Christmas as you like it

This is a picture I took of my Uncle on Christmas Day in 2007. It’s on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast on the walk down from Golden Cap to the pub. We were heading for a pint of beer and a plate of scampi and chips by the sea. A perfect Xmas lunch.

This picture was going to be one of my business card photos, but then I thought it might look more tree-destroyer than tree-hugger which would not be on message.

But I like this picture because I associate it with that Christmas two years ago. It reminds me of our blustery walk by the sea. Wellies and woolens on. Getting out of the house and away from the excesses and expectations of this time of year. Enjoying the crisp coastal air. Being free. And feeling like Christmas Day was ours.

I hope you get your moments of festive freedom and enjoy the holiday season as you like it.

Looking forward to seeing/ hearing from/ working with you in 2010.

Georgina

Selling the sizzle of cycling

Today’s not the best day to write a post about the joys of cycling when we’ve had sleety snow in London and every rider in town has probably arrived at their destination with a wet bottom. More soggy than sizzle. Rain on that BBQ. But bear (bare?) with me.

Over the course of COP15 things have got a bit miserable, like the weather. Demonstrations. Arrests. Leaked documents. Mistrust. Power struggles. And there’s more to come now the world’s leaders are arriving. We haven’t heard much positivity. The Ecotopia event sounds like a rare light. The idea of positive visions is addressed by Futerra’s new report Sell the Sizzle which challenges communicators with where’s the sizzle? Where are our visions of a positive, exciting, desirable future? The ’sizzle’ concept is that heaven sells better than hell. So why do we keep flogging hellish visions of climate apocalypse in the hope people will get it and change their behaviours and save the planet? The mouth-watering smells and the stomach-rumble inducing sounds of the sausage sizzling over the coals sells far better than a cold, limp lump of uncooked meat-of-sorts.

Take this analogy to the bicycle. And I speak from my point of view, but the kick comes from the ride, the wind in your hair, the adrenalin of weaving in and out of traffic, racing off the lights, getting to places faster, door-to-door and avoiding public transport. The feelings from riding are more than the sum of the bike parts. Not to say I didn’t carefully choose every part of my bike, I did and I love it. But the sizzle is in the ride and not the metal. The metal is the facilitator.

The awful accidents and vulnerability of riders on the roads doesn’t help win over new converts. My friend Bev works in the intensive care unit of a South London hospital where the latest woman to die in London this year in a bike accident was transferred before she very sadly died. Bev didn’t see her, but her friend did, and what I heard about her injuries was horrific. No wonder Bev, a very new cyclist, has been put off. There’s no sizzle in danger.

There are also the constant antagonisms between vehicles and riders, pedestrians and riders, and old and new riders. The last category I find the most upsetting. Where’s the solidarity? There’s definite sizzle in solidarity.

A recent Sunday Times feature on cycle rage asked if ‘cyclists should be give the red light’. Okay, so some cyclists are a little crazy and ride dangerously but so do drivers and they do far more harm to other people. But articles like this don’t really help sell the sizzle of cycling.

What does sizzle for a certain target audience is this music video featuring a critical mass of very cool looking cyclists. It won’t make cycling mainstream, but it’s a beautifully shot film and it’s a long way from the ‘Evansisation’ of cycling. There’s an interesting blog from Copenhaganize about it. I quote from the post: “Don’t we – the writer and reader of these words – sometimes secretly feel as though we are the cycling Kings and Queens of Promise?” Yes we do and let’s sell that sizzle!

Grounded

This last week I’ve been grounded. My wheels, or more specifically my knees, have been out of action since I took a tumble off my not so trusty stead last Sunday. No-one else and no moving vehicles were involved. Just wheel, curb, knees, tarmac. *Ouch*

Other than the swelling, bruising and challenges negotiating stairs, the most inconvenient and annoying thing is getting about town sans velo. I’ve realised I’m totally lost, consistently late and lethargic without my bike. Walking is SO slow. Buses never come. Tubes are packed. Eurgh. The only, extremely small benefit I can see is being able to dress in the mornings without a cursory thought of ‘will I be able to cycle in this?’. Then I realised that most of my clothes can be fashioned for freewheeling freedom.

Drawing by Emily Wilkinson, a very lovely birthday present.

Other bike related presents included a new bling bell, a beautifully illustrated book about global fixed-gear bike culture inspiring lots of ‘I want one of them’ comments and a cleverly hand-crafted and dead stylish Cath Kidston-esque reflective sash inspired by cycle fashion pictures on The Guardian website which my friend and fellow bike-belle Erica made.

Now all I need to do is to get back in the saddle.

I left my blog in Borneo

This blog series started with a RIP to my former now defunct blog Borneo and Beyond. Till now I haven’t tried to rewrite any of it, but after yesterday’s get together with people I met in Borneo, I’m in the mood to share a selection of jungle learnings:

If it ain’t raining, it ain’t training. Type 2 fun – fun in retrospect but not at the time.

You’ve gotta love Malaysian phonetic spelling – you want Teksi?

Langoustine to go! All part of the Filipino Market experience.

You can be a foodie in the jungle. Mess tin breakfast Raleigh-style.

Adidas Kampong – you can’t beat a pair of Malaysian rubber shoes in the jungle.

A rather wild Orang Kampong mastering the art of eating a meal sans cutlery.

And finally, an awesome orang utan (man of the forest) enjoying a durian. Tastes great, smells awful.

Who am I? A blog about identity

In true blog dialogue style and having been pipped to the post (literally!) by the creator of my identity, the talented Emily, here are my thoughts and responses to Emily’s blog post and my lovely new ‘g’.

I’ve always had lots of nicknames – it comes with the territory of having a 3 syllabled first name. I’m also slightly obsessed by my name or anything with my name on it and possess a large golden G acquired one drunken night many moons ago at university to prove the level of my fixation. That’s another story.

I’m definitely a ‘g’. Pre-teen I was known at home as ‘little G’ being the littlest of 3. Then there was the name George which came from playing the tomboy in Enid Blyton’s Famous Five in a school play and which kinda stuck. But there’s also girl-in-control, the G-ster or G-Meister. We were known as G squared when I worked for a Ghanaian charity with a girl called Georgie. There’s my German alter ego Georg. My larger than life persona Porge (every Georgina is cursed by the nursery rhyme). And the not-to-be-messed-with G-force. But never Georgie or Gina.

If I start on my surname the list gets longer. Combes. Combester. Combie. Coombo. Single O Combes. Combsie. Miss C.

Then the totally random Rose, Miss Hilary and Pinks.

No wonder a girl can get confused. I like to think each name embodies a different me. A bit like my bikes (Pashley, folding and single speed) representing different parts of my personality. In co-creating my freelance identity with Emily, an illustrator-designer-writer, we started to look at these different sides of me, my passions, beliefs and what Emily would call my ‘essence’ (definitely chilli flavoured).

The brainstorming process involved mind-maps to muse on like this:

Reflection on quick illustrations Emily’s done for me in the past, including ‘The island of George’ which represents boundaries:

Choosing photos I’ve taken that reflect my personality, passions and places I’ve been. See some card pics here and below. The shoes – Malaysian jungle rubber footwear – seem to be the most popular.

And picking my favourite quotes which I’ve talked about in a recent post.

From all of this, the best part of the creative process was being given the chance to co-design a way of representing me, what I do, what I like and how I go about doing what I like. It was all about me!

As another George said, It is never too late to be what you might have been. Now I’ve got my identity I feel like I’ve got a much better chance of being what I want to be.

All all thanks to Emily. For fabulous illustrations and co-created identities, Emily can be contacted on emily.f.wilkinson@gmail.com.

Need visual climate comms? Try a flash mob

A lovely attention grabbing stunt from the power shifters of The UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC)… last week they organised a Flash Mob of dancing bright young things on the grass by the London Eye. Watch the video of their visual statement on Vimeo.

The masterminds behind the event and the coalition include two friends, Amy Mount and Casper ter Kuile. Both bloggers, both media savvy, both passionate, dedicated and incredibly inspiring. They are great role models for the under 25s who care about climate change. Care enough to do something about it. And either know or actively find out what they can do.

But that’s the thing. As Amy wrote in an email following the event: “Many of them [the 300 under 25 year olds who joined in with Power Shift last weekend] had never done any kind of campaigning before, but everyone wanted to do something about climate change – they just weren’t sure what they could do.”

So is this the biggest problem with climate change? Greater than people not believing it’s happening. That people still don’t know what they should or can be doing. Or that the options for doing something about it are not attractive or desirable enough? We’re obviously not marketing them well enough. As Solitaire Townsend said on the Newsnight Greens on Trial last night, we’re good at selling green to greens, but not to the mainstream.

Back to Amy and the UKYCC folk. They’re obviously having an impact on their peers around climate change. And they’re going about it in the right way using personal story telling, tactics taken from Obama’s presidential campaigning and making green behaviours normal.

Perhaps we need to take advice from them and get a piece of some mob action on climate change.

This blog post is part of Blog Action Day 2009.