College radio will always be cooler. That always seems like a universal law. It takes a college that knows what they’re doing! But after that, you can safely say that the selection will be edgier, more on the pulse, and less corporate! UJFM started out in a tiny hole on the wall, and now after a year or so, proudly broadcast out of their slick new studios in the Bunting Road Campus of UJ (University of Johannesburg)

Its 95.4 fm. check it out. Join the Facebook group

A film by Adi Loveland.

The short film by Neill Blomkamp that went on to become the worldwide box office smash hit District 9.

Instead of talking about the actual film, I would rather share the experience of the film. I managed to catch it just before it went off cinema. In the somewhat full movie house, I started getting annoyed by the talking behind me. Here was this guy talking to his girlfriend about something. I managed to get the eye of the girlfriend and sent a strong signal effectively asking her to shut him up for me. Here I was thinking the guy was being rude.

The film went on, and so did the dude behind me. Before lashing back to swear, I stopped to listen to what he was actually saying. The guy was basically conducting a running commentary on the film explaining to his girlfriend similar stories and explaining back story on what that life was like. Suddenly it all fell into place. How often does a young african male living in Johannesburg get to see himself or a culture he can relate to, up on the cinema screen in his local shopping mall?

To top off the experience, the audience unanimously clapped at the end! Now I’ve been to screenings where people have clapped at the end, but thats when the director is in the room. Not some random friday afternoon in cinema 5 in Eastgate. We’re obviously dealing with something else entirely here. Something I think you should find out for yourself.

Rent the film at any decent video store, or purchase the DVD from any large music and DVD store.

I wrote this Johannesburg Talk Radio station off as a silly forum for bored houswives who’d finally found a soap box to bitch from. It must hover be admitted that this perception is completely riddled in the best kind of ignorance. In actual fact, I’d never even listened to more than a minute of the stations radio play! Its however been brought to my attention how the station has always been a very uniquea and effective community support system for many in Johannesburg. A place were listeners often call in for help and end up working together to help solve problems within communities. The most notable of which was a distressed  mother calling in to report her son had gone missing, and listeners in the area helped her find her son.

Mr John Robbie heads up the morning program, and although you might not want to hear more than an hour of his voice in one go, the man has to celebrated for his optimism and vigor when it comes to debates on many of South Africa and Johannesburg’s ever changing situations. He encourages his listeners to stay motivated and think critically about what’s going on around them. And a drive in the morning traffic with good old Robbie for however long it takes you, should keep you updated and feeling like you at least have some idea of what’s going on in the world.

Tune in on either 106 FM or 92.7 FM

Album photography by Ross Garrett

This entry provides a perfect example to why Jobusy is not a normal guide book. In exploring all aspects of Johannesburg culture, one cant forget the way the city’s music has the power to reflect it. For those that dont know, the band 340ml all come from the beautiful beaches of Mozambique. They came to the big city of Johannesburg to seek their fortune. Their first national released album Moving oozed of easy Mozambican living.

Their follow up Sorry for the Delay, stands out undisputedly  as a “Joburg album”, if ever the term existed. With songs like Regents Park, and references to Engen One Stops, as well as Joburg based photographer Ross Garrett providing all the unique and amazing imagery, the album deserves its place in Jobusy as the first to inspire the category Made in Joburg.

Give it a listen

Une etrange aventure de Fuzzy John, or just Fuzzy John as its affectionately known, was a short film made late 2008. The experimental film documented the night’s traveling of a group of socially conscious  youngsters as they run around Johannesburg CBD at night in full animal outfits. The film examined important issues around societies access into the city, as well as that of adaptation. How Joburg citizens are a specific kind of human that is always having to adapt, and constantly force others around us to adapt accordingly.

Alot of the time, if you too alone, to rich looking, too white, or just looking like you don’t belong, its easy to stick out against the currently accepted aesthetic of Johannesburg’s city centre. This little short film seeked to change this, and we feel did in its own little capacity.

Since the film premiered in November 2008 at the Wits Tele Awards, its been met with much love, walking away with Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Director, and lastly, Best Film. At the second annual Coalstove Off the Shelf awards, it received: Flyest title Sequence, Most Experimental Experimental, Most Original Script, and Best Director.