africa blog: August 2015

A WALK IN THE PARK or COTW BACK ON THE TRAIL!

wow, mid august!
time flies! can't believe my last post was late June!
sorry blog lovers! time to catch up!

in the last episode i was transforming from fish eagle to city pigeon. enough of life on the high perch of Strand overlooking False Bay and the sea, and time to become a Townie, a true Capetonian. and so i found an amazing flat in the very heart of the CBD, Central Bowl District, aka City Centre. i'm officially in The Piazza on Church Square on Parliament Street. close to everything. i walk everywhere. (for those into Fitbit, i'm getting my 10,000 steps in more days than not.)

the big things in the last month besides the move to downtown was a trip to Malawi for a video shoot for UrbanPromise out of New Jersey.

And i finally applied for my Permanent Residency Permit here in South Africa... the RSA. it should take 8-10 months to get back the result, but fingers crossed ZA will be my permanent home. it works for me on so many levels.

and now that i'm living in town, the history, culture, and colonial architecture, will suit me just fine for years to come. and to think i almost bought that cowboy house in Stanford! but that house sold and that door closed. and voila, another door opens with me moving into The Piazza. the divine plan me thinks.

a far cry better for me in town than living in Strand or even Papyrus Lodge in the wine country outside of Somerset West. i'm out of the 'burbs, and in the heart of Cape Town. in a flat that suits me just fine. i even have fast internet (100mbps, uncapped) now so i can Skype more easily with a better image, and i'm back to streaming movies and TV series on my AppleTV. ahh, some first world comforts.

it's winter here, so the production work/ TV industry has been on hiatus, but i recently signed with Talent-Etc in Joburg, and it's possible now i may be auditioning for stuff in Joburg and even Nigeria, India, and may now have a link to sign with Actors International in the UK, which could be very cool.

more and more international projects are coming to ZA and i'm getting lined up with some good agents to possibly do a lot more work. and that suits me very nicely. i'm keen to get back into acting and any directing opportunities that come my way. Talent-Etc says the only have one actor over 50 and he barely speaks English as he is Afrikaan, so i should do well... but i have to confess i don't book every role for an American! ouch! somewhat humbling. : /

it's another cold, gray day here today, so i have to say i'm looking forward to summer coming. but the cool thing is i live a 1 minute walk to the city park here called Company Gardens, and i walk through the park almost daily.

hence, A Walk in the Park. i've been hanging out on the trendy Kloof street, using the Long Street heated swimming pool, hitting the steam and sauna at the old Turkish Baths, and the art house cinema called Labia, also a walk in the park to get there.

i decided late July i needed a booze break so i've been on the wagon since july 26 and am shooting for sept 3 to give it a 40 day rest. need a detox and reboot with a juice diet and better eating. trying for no processed food, and minimal animal products. nothing too crazy, but aiming for a more plant based intake. and want to drop some kgs/lbs. i have a bit already, but need to get more serious. up my walks, and my swimming. and just get out of the flat! keep moving. just do it.

the acting master class is on hiatus for now. i need a break and need to recharge. having only 4 students at a whack has been humbling, if not a tad bit demoralising, and not worth the effort for now. but come october i may ramp up with more marketing and give it another go. but for now i'm in chill mode. hibernation. i am teaching some privates in American dialect accent. that's fun! hard to screw that one up!

still funny to me how Cape Town was never on my radar as a place i would live someday. and yet this journey i'm on has landed me here. my current work permit is good thru 2017, then we shall see. but here i am, in a land down under. just not THAT down under.

i never figured on living here. i was actually here for New Years once...1989? Blues Restaurant in Camps Bay. never could have imagined i'd be here full time and probably retiring here. wow. that was 26 years ago!

truly the life adventure leaving DTLA in october 2011 to go to africa has taken me to some pretty amazing places, from juba, south sudan to phnom penh. i wake up some days and say 'How did i get here again????' but i love my new hood, am meeting good folks, and i have a future here. now, like the rest of life, one just needs to see how it all plays out.

do i miss the USA? not really. i follow stuff on the news, i miss the NFL season coming up, and the elections are already amusing, but most of the time i'm very happy to be here. i'm somewhat of a big fish in a smallish pond and feel there is more upside for me here work wise. dare i say career wise? and i like the culture and the euro feel.

the exchange rate is outrageously in my favour as the USD is very strong, and i love the culture here and overall vibe. like they say, it isn't South Africa, it's south of africa. and that's largely true. i feel as secure as i would in any large city, in fact more secure in some ways as the Western Cape seems to be off grid for the terrorists favourite spots.

i never fret going into a mall here as i did in nairobi. in that regard i'd say i'm safer here than back home. the world is now a dangerous place and certain elements are getting out of hand. why the US and EU doesn't do more to eradicate ISIS and other terror groups is beyond me. we kowtow to all these zealot kooks and for what? for whom? it's not PC to protect our way of life? public safety? security?

maybe it's unsolvable. IDK, just seems like we sit on our thumbs. we know where most of the bad guys are...pssst...they're in Raqqa, Syria. we went after Hitler, is this not serious enough? should we be more tolerant? how much more serious does it need to be? or is it somehow about oil? okay, no more soap box. but i'm making friends in cape town who knew loved ones killed at Westgate Mall in Nairobi 2013 by Al Shabaab/Al Queda. i had friends there that day as well. that DOA list globally is a long one. let's roll.

cape town feels remote enough to be off grid. sure we have some local issues and spats. One highway, the N2, gets closed down occasionally with burning tyres; and cell phones get stolen on the street right out of your hand if you're not paying attention, but were not getting the suicide bombers or Boko Haram or Al Shebaab or Al Quaeda. not yet anyway.

sure in a country of 50 million with only 5 million whites you're bound to have some strife. things can get thorny. and many young people here are getting their ancestral international UK/Ireland or Dutch/EU passports so they have options to bail. most folks will stick it out but most will tell you ZA is heading downhill. Thanks Zuma.

and the national "load shedding" power cuts are annoying and a bellwether to problems with the current direction of the big government, so it's not all roses here. it just is for me.

for a 60 year old pensioner in his twilight years this place with all the old euro architecture, sidewalk cafes, coffee houses, city parks, and cool eateries is Shangri La. i just don't take my cell phone or other valuables with me at night everywhere. discretion is still the better part of valour. be street wise. like i did in Manhattan in 1985. be smart. act smart. stay aware.

remember kids, safety is no accident.

well, we have lots of pics and those are the fun part, so let's get to it.

welcome to my new world! the central bowl district. The Mother City.

or for this COTW...a walk in the park!

back door view from my old flat in the Strand.

living room view in Strand of False Bay. wasn't sure if i'd be happy leaving here, but i've never
looked back. i made the right move.

my last supper in Strand at my favourite Belgium Bistro.

moving day. Stuff and More Stuff. took me a month to finally unpack it all.

i hired some local movers. wasn't sure it was all gonna fit!

not exactly "enclosed" as advertised, but it got the job done.

the new view...Table Mountain. ahhh.

when i picked my second-hand fridge, it was sunset over downtown CPT.

Twankey Bar is right across the street. and open from 8am til 11pm. with wifi.

sisdewalk cafe on St. George Mall. 1 minute walk.

reverse angle.

killer thai chicken salad.

some of the local buildings. old school.

my view. church square is down to the left.

my street, Adderly.

Motherland Coffee. Starbucks clone but felt like home. now i have other favourites.

love the old columns. and everything is built with brick here.

i always wanted to live Europe, and now this is my building on the left, it wraps around the church clock tower. tres Europa!

thursday is market day on St. George mall. foot traffic only.

the new flat.

love this place. reminds me of the Beverly Hills Hotel. a classic and the oldest 5 star hotel
in cape town.

the Promenade in Company Gardens park.

tapas bar La Parada.

Always a fun vibe at la parada. it goes off on art walk night, the first thursday of the month.

my local jazz club, 1 minute walk, and my saturday night hang.

part of Parliament.

more Parliament, from the promenade.

it's just a really nice city park. cool statues. lawns, fountains, critters, birds, good stuff.

the park with table mountain behind on a sunny day.

CPT museum straight ahead. cable car hub on top right of table mountain.

RAW espresso bar, my local hang. they do their own roasting too.

one of my favourite buildings in cape town. classic colonial.

Haas, always a nice hang. good food, good coffee. good vibe.

Parliament Street with my building entrance on the left. skywalk into my parking structure.
i park on the 7th floor.

my last HAMC master class.

certificates so you know it's legit.

Afrikaaner soap star Ramey Short. now in cape town for more int'l work. he volunteered on the boom
this day at class. great guy!

heading to Malawi.

Lilongwe via Joburg and Blantyre.

layover in Joburg at O.R. Tambo int'l.

jetports are still space age. these things fly 5 miles high in the sky. still trippy to think about.

another angle. to me each plane has a personality.

boarding for Lilongwe.

Lorella and Dennis of Filmic in Nairobi flew down as producer and Bcam operator.

kids at the Rise Malawi school project. beautiful.

very nice classrooms in this privately funded school. and not overcrowded.

the patio at Crossroads hotel. nice enough. lots of sundowners here!

lorella standing in on interview day.

me and the village chief! watch the vid...http://youtu.be/DKqC6bt3n_M

outdoor kitchen

leaving Lilongwe

a walk to the plane. a very nice jet.

Kamuzu intl airport. you've heard of it surely.

stairway to heaven?

nice and empty, how i like em.

there is a billion plasmas at Tombo. good way to keep on my broadcast fonts.

love the building lines at cape town int'l. had a great taxi driver home!

all the languages spoken at my ATM across the street. but no kiswahili! hakuna!

AKA cape of storms. another wintry day. love it. and colder than LA. much.

went Morrocan theme for the rugs in my flat.

yeah, i bought more than one. a lot more.

dramatic sunset turns table mountain into the grand canyon. from my bedroom.

had a gas cooktop and island made for my kitchen for the load shedding. good call!

more view from my flat...Lions Head on the right.

Birds down the street. another cool hang.

more Birds.

Bantry Bay near Clifton Beach.

More Bantry.

tom drewitt, from ZA living in UK but we met in Kenya.

his wife Greta.

view from Bantry over to Muile Point.

more Raw Espresso bar. one of my faves.

famous Truth Coffee is around the corner.

meanwhile back at Haas.

Company's Garden.

more Parliament. the squirrels in the park are fed nuts by folks and are huge!

more la parada. just a fun hang. good music.

found some like-new Breville juicer and blender. good stuff.

more winter . the mall and church street

winter day on the Mall, view from Mint cafe in the Taj hotel.

hot soup weather. em em good.

Jennie (left) brought Thaya (right) and me to West Side Story. world class production.

we were 4th row house left. above the pit. awesome.

this is the Artscape Opera House for WSS. great venue. great show. only a 4 week run. crazy short.

the grand ole Artscape. (arts cape)

spend Women's Day holiday in my old hood in Helderberg wine country.

reservoir water for the vines and Maxie.

modern cape town architecture.

yet another coffee shop. not my fave.

i did some ADR looping for a recent project but its a secret. shhhhh.

ADR studio in cape town. great place. cool room. shhhhhhh.

dry dock at the waterfront.

i've been jonseing for a different bike lately. but maybe one with a motor.

chopped up Honda Gullwing. wow.

Kenyan comrade Lorella got a 1 year visa to visit the USA. amazing! she'll be bopping
around late october. NYC, Philly, LA, maybe DC and Chicago. but for a kenyan to get a USA
visa is a very big deal! congrats LoJ! sea turtle doco screening in NYC at WCFF.

i've been sitting in at the Cape Town Youth Choir Handel rehearsals. it's a week away!

more CPTYC. sopranos, altos, tenors, and bass.

Knead, becoming a new hang! on Kloof street.

the "after" shot of my flat after moving in. Morocco Modern.

love my bed, my bedroom, my view, my flat!

some nice old churches all over cape town!

the old colonial Cape Town Club. over 250 affiliates world wide. and they serve brekky.
will probably be joining this soon. very old school. lots of wood, wine and whisky.

cheeky. since 1858.

a few reminders of the old days.

still amazed we all lived that way.

Company Garden city park.

Planetarium in the Park. my next stop! see da shows! a walk in the park.

Labia art house theatre. good cinema. 4 screens. seeing lots of good stuff. also a walk in the park.
only $3. i recommend A Royal Night Out if you like WWII UK.