Bigbro's African Safari

This is not a prank, I actually arrived in Capetown today to work on my next German TV movie, to be entirely shot in South Africa (even 4 days of Germany scenes will be done here :) ). The next days I will spend location scouting. It will be a classic "African Queen" stuffy-European-lady-falls-in-love-with-rugged-game-park-ranger kitsch fest. with lots of animals, bad guy poachers, and the like. Depending on my internet connection I will report from this adventure, which is slightly more exotic than shooting in Bavaria...if only slightly.

To show that I am well prepared, here are some soundtracks I brought along:

Once I get to the bush, I will holler in excitement....

...while the natives look on with suspicion.

I will charm the village princess....

....by wearing the appropriate dress...

...but eventually end up like all white men do!

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-10-31 06:22 ]

Let me know if you ever need a white guy to play an African native. I can dance too.

On 2007-10-31 08:12, Jungle Trader wrote:
Let me know if you ever need a white guy to play an African native. I can dance too.

GROG not remember, but was Tarzan born in Africa, or just grew up there from the time he was an infant?

Good luck shooting Sven. GROG hope you have plenty of bug repellant and lion repellant.

You've got it all planned out, Sven. Looking forward to the reports from the bush (as it were).

-Weird Unc

Ah Man... That Marais LP cover is CLASSIC!! I have a few Marais Miranda Lp's but I've never seen that one!!

Have fun Sven!! Cape Town is a beautiful city.

If you get a weekend off, definitely try to take a trip to Knysna Forest and George. Ultra beautiful!!Just be careful. Although Cape Town is no Jo'burg, crime is still rampant. If anyone flags your car down, put the pedal to the metal and drive as fast as you can!!

I won't have much time off, but I will be shooting (photographing!) a baby elephant in Knysna...don't think in the forest though.

HERE is the real soundtrack to cliche TV Africa:

Daktari was classic late 60s Africa TV kitsch, some of it shot in Africa, and, according to the end credits, in "Africa, USA":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INFmPsTtYH8

Shelly Manne, THE drummer of 50s/60s West coast Jazz (and proprietor of his own L.A. bar, "Shelly's ManneHole"), recorded a fine soundtrack for it, and this Exotica Jazz formed an early influence in my young impressionable mind in Hamburg, Germany.

I always wondered: WHAT instrument made that "Weeeeiiiinng-weee-ying" sound for the lion Clarence's cross-eyed vision optical effect?

Here are the first pics from the dark continent:

Welcome!

In the thorny bush:

What is wrong with this picture?:

(the English driving system)

The lost continent is not so hard to find after all:

Bartholomaeus Klip lodge:

Lodge interior:

Location scout transport:

Far, far from civilization:

Mandisa Lodge, a deserted farm:

Empty stables:

God's lighting is always the best:

The three African languages: English---Africaans---African (one of 12 dialects):

Near the Cape of Good Hope:

Modern primitive art at Capetown location:

A tropical textured room?:

...actually the roof of the veranda:

That's all, folks! Tomorrow I'm off to Jo'burg (Johannesburg) to film all kinds wild animals for cutaways :)

Great pics sven! I love your scouting vehicle.

Lookin' forward to the next update! (especially pics of old land rovers and toyotas doin' what they're meant to do :))

Have fun!!!!

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2007-11-03 11:05 ]

Sven! So for the last week I have been meaning to call you. Now look where you are!

Are there Tikis in Africa? Man I gotta go! Maybe Sven's next book will be about African Tikis and their influence on..... Nevermind.

Ummm...!?....not "Tikis" really, that is a Polynesian tradition. But if you know my writings, mid-century Tiki pop culture is, though predominantly Polynesian, also influenced by other forms of primitive art, like African carvings, which, together with other Oceanic art, were a big inspiration for the European avantgarde of the 1910s/20s. Which in turn inspired modernism, which then brought back primitivism in the mid-century, at which point the whole aesthetic evolution came full circle.

Here are some examples of African pop primitivism I photographed so far:

Column at Capetown airport:

Card and bookmarks bought at Capetown airport:

nice bookmarks

anyone esle think this?

and now I thinking Casey Casum

So for those who are open minded and curious enough, and who believe, like me, that the pop culture recreations of exotic worlds other than (but related to) Tiki can be fascinating and a lot of fun, here are some more pictures from the Wild:

Quiet Village:

A typical African settlement, deserted for fear of slave traders that roam the area.....NOT!

This is, of course, a film set, where else would one find such a cliche. Last weekend I got to shoot a lot of the animal footage for the film, (principal photography will not begin until next Tuesday). The best place to do this was at the Glen Afric game park near Johannesburg. The animals there are quite tame, and can be directed in the desired setting with food, so you can say "We'd like the giraffes here, some Elephants on the hill there, and the Zebras down in the grass over there..."

They currently are shooting two TV series at Glen Afric (apparently contemporary versions of DAKTARI), the British “Wild At Heart” came first, and now they are re-shooting the same scripts for the American market with AMERICAN actors (!?) for an intelligently titled series called “Life Is Wild” (why not “Africa Gone Wild”?) There are lots of sets, they built the big lodge TWICE, so they can shoot parallel, but we needed animals in the wild.

Our lodge were we slept had a nice A-frame roof:

Some bars only need ONE piece of décor to create an exotic effect:

The same bar, after some bottles of Windhoek beer and shots of Conquerer Rum:

Next day, my first view of African wild life:

This guy has to do a shitload of work to get the ball rolling: The famous African dung beetle rolls his cargo with his hind legs while his wife enjoys the ride.

Let’s start small:

The attractive wart hog

The wild Wilderbeasts:

Watch Out! Zebra crossing!

These patterns would look good on my Witco couch.

Hallo handsome:

The real thing:

Chewing the cudd:

And now, for the grand finale:

Lions’ lunch

Cute cats…

The thing was, the lion was not allowed to roam around the landscape freely (but WHY !?), so how was one to film him without the fence in the foreground!

I found out:

Once I was in the cage, the game keeper casually mentioned that the lion was a bit grumpy today, because his mate was in heat. GREAT!

Sniff sniff

Getting the hell out of there!

Next: Impressions from Capetown

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-11-08 03:35 ]

Looks like you are having fun Sven.
Whilst I dont know how many actual Tikis you may come across in S.A. there is Tiki there in the form of the Village called "Tiki Tiki" on the West coast, a bit further afeild is another village in Niger called "Tiki" and a river in Zimbabwe called "Tiki".
Maybe the word means something in African dialects as well?

On 2007-11-08 04:20, cheekytiki wrote:
Looks like you are having fun Sven.
Whilst I dont know how many actual Tikis you may come across in S.A....

But Jamie, you should know that WHEREVER I go I will find Tikis:

These were standing around at a prop house we are renting decor from.

Not bad for painted Styrofoam!

But I do not need to find actual Tikis per se, there are many other interrelated details that the curious urban archaeologist might discover, one just has to stay open to new influences. I am writing my books to inspire people to see things in a new light, and discover that mundane things can become art....not so they slavishly copy redneck middleclass lifestyles of the past.

Today's Tiki revival has become stuck in a cycle of pretty uninspired repetition to some degree, because people do not look further than their own backyards. But there is so much more to discover in the exotic make-believe worlds of Western armchair explorers!

Yes we have to stay true to Tiki for it to retain its particular character, but the popular Tiki style of the mid-century was informed and inspired by many more aspects than just Polynesian culture...as one can see in TIKI MODERN.

But back to Capetown: Since I am staying at an apartment on the ocean in a neighborhood called Sea Point, I found this sign as a funny new interpretation of the familiar-to-us concept:

And I photographed another sign curiosity on the door to the backstairs of my apartment building:

Would you trust a fire escape marked as Brand (which is German for "Burn") Trap? (which must mean fire escape in Africaans)

How about the amazing amount of South African ATM machine language choices:

Cool, isn't it?

Last night I watched a local TV show that was similar to "America's Funniest Home Videos" in that it consisted of amateur videos sent in by the viewers...except it was all footage from rare and seldom witnessed animal behavior observed in the African bush! Shown here is a video of two rhinos fighting to the blood:

And finally, from the "It's a small world after all" department: I had to go and see a Nose and Ear doctor because I got a nasty sinus infection from all the plane riding, and the production company referred me to their doctor, a Dr. Woermann. Just a coincidence, I thought.
But upon meeting him it was confirmed that he indeed was the grandson of ship owner/ primitive art trader Karl Woermann, who I quoted in the Book of Tiki with "Once you have seen them, they will haunt you like a feverish dream!"

Here is an old calendar from Woermann's East Africa Line:

Unfortunately the good doctor had not inherited Karl's Tiki fever, or anything else but that calendar, it seemed. Still, an amazing chance encounter!

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-11-08 10:13 ]

And now: Interesting critters of the African Bush:

The South African red locust. This puppy was HUGE!:

Scary spider that moved swiftly and silently:

Scary old lady at used book store counter:

Old book at used book store:

Apparently, Andrea Bayard was a stunning blonde beauty of German/Brazilian descent that acted in several Brazilian movies in the late 50s/ early 60s, most notably the classic B shocker "The Girl In Room 13":

...but then she also wrote a couple of books about Brazilian native tribes! A true modern primitive?
But I am veering too much off the subject here, begging forgiveness, but when the lord made me, he made a ramblin' man.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-11-10 06:40 ]

That scary old lady in the bookstore is looking at a book called "Sex Crimes."

Not that IS scary!!!! Yikes!!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Here are some impressions from Capetown proper. First-this IS Capetown (not my photo):

In the background to the left is Table Mountain, and where the mountain range ends in the ocean way back on the right, that is the Cape of Good Hope, the Southern most tip of the African continent.

Ships rounding the Cape:

Beachcombing: Some didn't make it...

...this would make a good sign for a Tiki Lounge :)

And now for some architecture, which in Sea Point reminds me a little of Miami:

Apart from streamline moderne, I found some midcentury modernism too:

Very cool sculpture, like the Witco world sideways..

But otherwise it was a pretty square brick building, maybe they REALLY liked that sculpture?

Here's another one of my favorite subjects, the multilingual signs, here a traffic light button sign:

And now for some local products:

This seems more like a SPEED bar than a power bar. Don't put that in Junior's lunch, now:

I think I better stick to my JUNGLE OATS:

...but but..there are no Tigers in Africa!? :)

And last, THIS product gives my home town a whole nother connotation:

..but how does Colonel Sanders fit in the equation?

Up next: A visit at the curio store!

Seems a long long way from Hightower Avenue in L.A. Call me when you get back and we'll have a drink at the Tiki-Ti.

Jeff S.

Mmmm....full milk cream solids, yum.

Truly, this thread is a delight as we get to explore Africa with Sven as our guide, yet from the comfort of our computer chairs!

Aloha Bigbro,

Don't forget to pick up one of these while you're out there............

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Thanks, guys.
Though SOUTH Africa is not know for any figurative carving tradition, that of course is no reason not to have "curio shops" (actually still called that) filled to the rim with art from all other parts of the continent here. Though there is nothing Polynesian or Oceanic to be found there, the joint tradition of influence on Western art makes these carvings relevant to me. Also, to come home and say "I was in Africa but did not get a carving for my home because it was not Polynesian" would seem a little narrow-minded: It is after all a memento from a trip to a faraway, exotic place, which is part and parcel of the Tiki Lounge decor concept.

Not far from my apartment building...

...one block off the beach, I found this place:

A curio shoppe as it should be, fillt to the hilt with primitive airport art:

Some of it too big to put in your luggage though:

again, the clutter being reminiscent of the early Natural History Museums

with stuff for your trophy room

or for the elegant modern living room

Some really nice shell lamps!

THIS guy was really talking to me, sort of a mixture of E.T. and a Marquesan Tiki...but at almost two feet of squat height he's very heavy.

I have not made up my mind yet....

And now, for some primitive art from the movie set, here "Mandisa Lodge/Interior":

As it has been the tradition to place a copy of my Book of Tiki somewhere in my films, it was quite appropriate to (for the first time) have TIKI MODERN in a scene here, next to some National Geographic magazines

Here with the actor, in my lighting:

This fine piece of set dressing is, according to the local crew, a TOKOLOSH, a South African Demon:

Pretty cool, very Voodoo-like

And here is a TIKI MODERN QUIZ :) :

Which ones of these three masks (styles) can be found in TIKI MODERN, and on what pages? And which one was the inspiration for a Spanish Tiki mug?

On 2007-11-17 21:59, bigbrotiki wrote:

A curio shoppe as it should be, fillt to the hilt with primitive airport art:

This shot reminds me of Harry's in Hamburg. Though it looks like Harry might have more stuff in it :lol:

Thanks for the travelogue - is great fun to see!

On 2007-11-17 22:33, bigbrotiki wrote:
And now, for some primitive art from the movie set, here "Mandisa Lodge/Interior":

Here with the actor, in my lighting:

This room is totally cool! Wow, I love that! Nice one.

Thrift store shopping here is not as rewarding as I was hoping it to be, there is very little indigenous art to be found. This area is populated by British retirees who cannot afford European places and come here because their money can be stretched that much farther, not because they want to revel in the native culture. So the stuff I saw was mostly below garage sale quality junk:

There were however a few items of African brass kitsch, but too big (or too bad) for me to pick up...yet interesting enough to photograph and post (I hope):

Here is a large tribal tray, quite impressive:

...and a checkered mask thingy:

And I did make a coincidental find: A Shelly Manne LP which for the first time showed me the interior of his LA bar,

...coincidental because I had mentioned his place earlier in this very thread here:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=26173&forum=16&vpost=341766

...and ironic to find this so far from its home town, where-if I ever WOULD find one there-it would certainly not be sold for a buck/fifty :)

AND I did find me a fine piece of primitive art, at a street vendor's booth, which had all sorts of modern junk, but only five carved African pieces:

We know that African craftsmen are masters in artificial aging to make their carvings look old, but this mask even has termite holes in it. If they go as far a applying bugs to age these, hats off!
For 30.- bucks, it will be a fine addition to my collection.

Besides, I kinda like the color scheme of the piece :) :

Very cool photos Big Bro. But how about a picture or two of the Afkrikaner women there besides the book lady?

I don't quite follow, Tim. You mean something else other than art and architecture? I have no eye for such frivolities!
Instead, here is a nice side view of my mask :) :

On second thought, it seems like that the mask carver could have picked a piece of wood that already had termite holes in it to give the piece a vintage quality. Experienced Tiki carvers pick used wood, or drift wood as material to carve, sometimes. Eli Hedley built a business on that look.

But it seems that a part came off and had to be re-attached. I am ashamed at my ignorance over such matters, something I have to remedy!
Now isn't that much more interesting than mere foreign feminine charms!

What a fabulous sharing of your exotic travels. It is so fulfilling to live vicariously through your pictures. You capture such interesting realism and turn the mundane into bizzare with a twinge of humor and love. You looked just like a prime rib in that cage!!! GOOD LUCK...or in Afrikaans...."voorspoed","alle voorspoed","al die beste","alles van die beste","alle heil/sukses" and "dit gaan jou goed/wel".

I would have a hard time passing up some of those nice carvings and other exotic decorations, but am sure postage is pretty pricey. Your mask looks great...don't bring home any live critters living in it though. :lol:

Sven, make sure to try the Biltong and Boerewors while there.

Sven,how far is Fish Hoek from where you are? There are some pro and cons to Fish Hoek however.

Pro -one of the best sunbathing and swimming beaches (weather dependent)
Con- Dry Fish Hoek (no liquor sales)

Pro- Peers Cave- Fish Hoek Man found in 1926, dated at 12,000 years
Con- no public winehouses (Bars)

I don't know about Fish Hoek, just Ren Hoek (...from Ren and Stimpy?)
I MUST be faraway from it, because THIS is where I am now:

Here is a nice street sign (the above part) that echoes the town of Laingsberg's atmosphere:

"Alles verloren" means "Everything is lost" in German. Cool name.

The movie caravan is coming to town:

Here in Laingsburg they have a very sensible motto:

...which is quite appropriate for a sheep farmer's town.

AND they have a famous BILTONG store!:

Biltong basically is beef jerky, but here it is a national specialty:

Of course there are 39 Flavors (almost):

And here are the proud providers!:

If some of the vegetarian inclined TCers think THIS to be weird, just wait for my next post coming up!

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-11-30 02:51 ]

On 2007-11-30 02:43, bigbrotiki wrote:
"Alles verloren" means "Everything is lost" in German. Cool name.

Can't be TOO band a place if they have wineries there (note the logos on the sign).

Just found this thread today (thanks Vintagegirl for the pointer) since I have been on a little excursion of my own for the past two weeks - to the slightly less exotic city of Paris (speaking of wine.....!).

Found a little bit of exotica in France -- that will show up n a new thread in a couple of days when I finish sorting pics.

In the meantime, I'll be coming back to this thread, eagerly awaiting the next installment of your safari adventures, Sven. Nice stuff. Thanks for sharing it and in such detail.

Thanks James. You are right, that sign was in a nicer area, in Riebeek Kasteel, in the wine growing country, where we shot for three days in Bartholomeus Klip: http://www.bartholomeusklip.com
To drive from here to Laingsburg was like going straight from Napa Valley into the California desert.

While in Riebeeck, I came upon this namesake place:

It used to be the local trading post, and is now an event hotel. The huge main room still has all the original wooden counters and shelving in it:

The proprietor's wife's name is Karen Kirsten...my mom's name is Karin Kirsten. Have to ask my dad for possible distant relations, he is a Kirsten family geneology nut.

The deprevations of the desert here are aggravated by my recent e-mail frustration: Since 3 days now I can log into my aol account, and SEE the new e-mails in my mail folder, but I cannot click on them to open them...or send any mails. Arrrgh! I can however surf and post here. Hope this fixes itself soon, with no phone this is my main mode of communication.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-12-07 00:20 ]

But, any real or imagined "desert deprivations" pale when viewing the following documentation- As announced:

WARNING! If you are easily grossed out by dead animal parts, and do not want to be bothered by images of poverty, do not scroll further, just wait for page 4, or start from the bottom up, after this post will come more cute jungle baby stuff.

While still in Capetown, me, the director and the AD had the privilege to be invited by one of the actresses in our film, Cornelia George, to take a tour of her home and neighborhood- a typical South African township. I was very grateful because I had seen townships only from the freeways, and felt I was shut out from an important part of South African reality.

I love taking home tours and to get to see how people live, and here was the extreme OTHER end of the spectrum of such a thing as a Palm Springs ModCom home tour. I have seen settlements like this in Mexico and Cuba, and I felt very impartial about doing this, and the people were open and curious about our interest. I am very inspired by visual extremes (this is what got me into Tiki), and some of the upcoming images could be likened to the Mondo Cane/Africa Addio genre (though I am not a particular fan of that genre). I do not aim to offend, just to document.

Now while the affluent Capetowners dine at places such as Sushi Bar TANK, (which could very well be in LA), others have to find nourishment under different conditions:

Here a local delicacy, sheep heads.

Goin shopping:

They are prepared by burning,

singeing and boiling them.

Like an ironic cliche, Coca Cola billboards are everywhere

Cornelia was a very engaged tour guide

In a further "Life imitates art" experience, these shacks look exactly like the film sets in I AM CUBA. But they are real, real complete families live in them. The materials of construction vary...

This is the interior of a home-made beer brewery.

No, I did not get to try any.

If you have a business you may live under your spare parts:

This is the community arts center, where dance and art classes are available.
These photographs might help to put ones own economic woes into perspective.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-12-02 03:08 ]

awesome!

Scenes like that certainly make ya humble. Yesterday, the electricity went out in my neighborhood for about 3 hours, so I left home and went shopping. When I got home the electricity was still out for a little while and I thought about all the things I couldn't do (no TV, no Internet, couldn't do laundry, couldn't use dishwasher, couldn't vacuum, couldn't take a bath...yada yada yada). Made me think of places like where your pictures came from and they don't have any of these things....yeah....humble. Thanks for the great pictures.

On 2007-12-02 03:02, bigbrotiki wrote:
If you have a business you may live under your spare parts:

This is interesting that in such abject poverty, people still have a need for things like cell phone repair and CV (resume) design.

After this unscheduled sojourn into harsh reality, back to our regular programming: The escapist world of TV movies!:

(Don't worry, NOT a Republican brain pool !). Let's cross the foot bridge into tourist Africa again...

Why what a cute monkey baby!

and this one was very cuddly too (the one on the right, please!)

BAD monkey! Bit the lead actress! Tiz tiz!

Watch out, wet!

I got to shoot me a leopard...outside the cage, this time!

...and I got to ride a giraffe!:

otherwise this is your typical movie, with car rigs,

Steadicam,

bored British sound men (just kidding, Dave),

crazy prop masters that do bird calls (Sasha also played a tribal chief in the upcoming "10.000 Years B.C.").

bad guys getting squibbed (Please be assured: These bloody elephant tusks are FAKE!),

David Lynch type lighting ALL the time (I wish!),

Night exteriors,

with (more) lamb carcasses and dancers around the fire,

wind machines (as if we needed any extra wind!),

fire bars,

..and explosions. All in a day's work. :D

Not many can claim to have ridden a giraffe!!! :D

On 2007-12-04 03:30, bigbrotiki wrote:

BAD monkey! Bit the lead actress! Tiz tiz!

SPANK the Monkey!

great pics and stories bigbro, thanks for sharing your other life!

My pleasure! Not to sound whiney, but while this might seem like exciting and glamourous stuff, it is damn hard, long, and stressful work, especially this gig, where the budget is stretched extra thin and I am constantly chasing after the clock, -runnin' and gunnin'!
I probably would go nuts if I would not have my Tiki World to escape to...

On 2007-12-04 03:30, bigbrotiki wrote:

I got to shoot me a leopard...outside the cage, this time!

Was the leopard inside the cage with the cheetah? :wink:

On 2007-12-04 09:00, GROG wrote:
Was the leopard inside the cage with the cheetah? :wink:

Yeah, well, ....the dead Leopard actually is BEHIND me on the dolly! :)

Ernie, you're such a wise guy! Hey, I WROTE the chapter on "The History and Meaning of The Leopard Print"! So anything that wears a spotted skin is a Leopard to me! ....except these gals:

(..thanks Mike)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-12-04 10:58 ]

great pics and stories bigbro!

my personal favorite:

Just seems right. Landies, Africa and hard work.

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2007-12-04 16:32 ]

Boy, you seem to have a serious V.U.V. (vintage utility vehicle) fetish! :)
Here is some more urban archeology from the town of Laingsburg:

Authentic interior of rental property home used for crew lodging.
A lamp:

Shelf at the Biltong store:

At the market:

These Rose's products might be familiar to the Brits, but I've never seen them in the US. I wonder what "Kola Tonic" is like. The "6% juice blend" on the label does not sound too promising, though.

More from the "vintage packaging still on the supermarket shelf" department:

This seems to be an African classic.

Heard of, but never seen this product:

...for babies (not the matches!).

...this is MY preferred "gripe water"! Not a top-of-the-line product, but does the trick, sipped with an ice cube, after a long day in the desert.

To anyone who has been trying to contact me, my e-mail woes have returned, I have been unable to open my "new mail", or send any messages for the third day now. If urgent, pm me here on TC, please. I hope my e-mail will be available again soon. If not, I will get home on the 14th/15th, and reply then.