Mzansi Life & Style showcases the best that South Africa has to offer in terms of entertainment, fashion, lifestyle, culture, cuisine, travel, beauty and celebrity news. Subscribe to my website by adding your email address in the "follow" button below.
A Cape cobra fights against a yellow mongoose in the Namibian desert. (Earth Touch)
There are more than 3 000 species of snakes on the planet and they’re found everywhere except in Antarctica, Iceland, Ireland, Greenland and New Zealand. Of those, an estimated 500 species call Africa home. This March on National Geographic Wild (DStv 182, Starsat 221), Sundays are dedicated to showcasing these elusive creatures from 11:45 right through to 20:30 (CAT) every week, featuring intriguing and sometimes exhilarating snakey stories from across the world.
While snakes are feared in many societies, they help maintain a healthy ecosystem and are both predator and prey. Approximately 600 snake species are venomous, and only about 200 – seven percent – are able to kill or significantly wound a human. A new three-part series, titled Legends of Venom that will premiere as part of Snake Month, on Sunday 5, 12 and 19 March at 18:00, sheds light on various snakes: how they live, why we can’t see them, what they do to feed and breed, and how they deal with living near humans.
This week I attended the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Series at Artistry in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. unveiled the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23, marking a new era of Galaxy’s ultimate premium phone experience. Samsung Galaxy’s most epic camera gives users more freedom to explore their creativity, like capturing truly cinematic Nightography videos with transformative artificial intelligence (AI). The Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy unleashes a future-ready mobile gaming experience and powerfully sustained game play, supported by exclusive chipset enhancements made possible by Samsung’s close collaboration with Qualcomm. Galaxy S23 series’ new standard-setting innovations are housed within a striking design that advances Samsung’s sustainability commitment with the more recycled materials of any Galaxy smartphone.
“The most impactful technology is measured, not just by what it enables for people today, but also how it contributes to a better future,” said TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. “Galaxy S23 Ultra and the entire Galaxy S series line-up are the new standard-bearers of a trustworthy premium smartphone experience that merges industry-leading innovation and future-forward sustainability.”
With exclusive access to high-end music, great concerts, documentaries and never-seen archived interviews, the global music streaming platform, QWEST TV, officially launched on DStv channel 330 recently.
Music lovers will now be able to access QWEST TV via the DStv bouquet (channel 330) as well as on the Showmax platform. The Channel will be included in all the DStv packages in 44 countries across the continent.
Available exclusively to DStv customers, the channels offering includes:
Exclusive concerts from legendary artists as well as Rising Stars from across the globe
Premium music documentaries
Archived artist footage
Unreleased interviews with music icons including Erykah Badu, Questlove, Salif Keita, Gregory Porter, Marcus Miller, Seun Kuti, Kamasi Washington and Fatoumata Diawara
Founded in 2017 by musical genius, the legendary Quincy Jones, alongside TV and music producer and programmer Reza Ackbaraly, Qwest TV plans to bring genre-agnostic musical content to the African continent.
Every day, Shazam receives tens of millions of requests from users around the world who want to know more about the artist behind the song they’ve just discovered. These Shazams can come from anywhere—social media, car commercials, coffee shops, the mall —making them a powerful tool for predicting the next class of global superstars.
Today, Shazam unveils its annual Predictions 2023 playlist, a 50-track selection of artists that are perfectly poised to have a breakthrough year. Additionally, Shazam is spotlighting 5 artists from the list who have the potential to break out globally in 2023 and, for the first time, 5 artists who are gaining popularity regionally. Based on Shazam’s uniquely predictive data and algorithms, and coupled with the expertise of Apple Music’s global editorial team, this incredible selection of artists show early indicators of future growth — early and consistent momentum in Shazam activity, as well as discovery trends in more than one country.
Looking back at last year’s predictions, Shazam demonstrated, once again, its ability to uncover talent from every corner of the world earlier than any other service. Artists like the incredible Ayra Starr, who was one of Shazam’s five featured predictions last January, made Shazam’s Global Top 10 in October and is now being heralded as an artist to watch in 2023 by other platforms. Looking at streams, several listed artists saw their plays more than double on Apple Music worldwide from Dec. 1, 2021 through Nov. 30, 2022, compared to the previous 12 months, including Ivan Cornejo (+329%), DannyLux (+189%), Mina Okabe(+217%), La Zarra (+308%) and Lojay (+696%)
Overall, around half the artists featured in the Shazam Predictions 2022 playlist made Shazam’s Top 200 National charts and Apple Music’s Daily Top 100 charts. These artists were featured on 44 Shazam charts and 148 Apple Music charts. Three artists made Shazam’s national Top 10 and 13 made Apple Music’s. And two artists made national No. 1 on Shazam, and seven did the same in Apple Music, showing a plethora of amazing accomplishments by these artists over the course of 2022.
This year’s selection represents another remarkably global and diverse group of talented artists, hailing from all corners of the globe including Japan, Colombia, Spain, France, and Nigeria.
Things can get a little awkward when you realise that you forgot to buy a Christmas gift for your loved ones. But don’t be too hard on yourself, we’ve all been there. Despite the best laid plans, Christmas always manages to appear out of nowhere and surprise us. Between all the shopping, cooking, baking, wrapping, and prepping for the big day, something is bound to fall through the cracks. The good news is that you’ve realised before it’s too late, and there is still plenty of time to muster up a meaningful gift.
Let’s face it, figuring out what to gift someone can be quite challenging. Even more so when you only have a matter of days to pull something together. While you could grab a holiday card and stuff it with cash, the best gifts are thoughtful ones. That’s why the gift of experiences is an amazing idea as experiences are meaningful, surprising, and often, much more impactful. And what bigger impact can you make when you give the gift of experiencing the Kruger National Park? Kruger National Park, and its surrounds, boast some of South Africa, and the world’s most breathtaking natural wonders. From the iconic wildlife, such as the Big Five, to majestic rivers and waterfalls, and vast forest canopies to unique outdoor experiences.
Below is a last-minute Christmas gift guide to suit any budget and what’s even better is that you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home.
Mzansi Life & Style by Mishkah Roman-Cassiem 