The proverbial new kid on the block, or rather the new kid in the caravan park, rapper Jack Parow answered a few questions about his name and claim to fame.

If you weren’t a rapper what would you be?

A bodybuilder with the self-tan… And I would just be flexing.

How did the name Jack Parow originate?

We were really drunk and were watching Pirates of the Caribbean and I said: “Jack Sparrow the pirate of the Caribbean I’m Jack Parow, pirate of the caravan park.” It just stuck.

If you could be any animal what would you be?

I like watching the National Geographic channel and there were these rats; the biggest rodents like ever. They’re cool; I would like to be them.

What does Jack Parow like doing in his spare time?

Drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes and playing games.

Jack Parow will be the special guest in the Versus hospitality tent at Splashy Fen this year. Meet and have your photograph taken with the rap star on Friday 2 April from 13:00 – 15:00.

For more info on the Splashy programme visit: splashyfen.co.za

Gevaarlike, romantic Afrikaans rapper Zander Tyler, better known as Jack Parow, seems to have exploded out of nowhere and is taking over the SA rap scene, working with big names like Fokofpolisiekar, Heuwels Fantasties and Die Antwoord. Meneer Parow is spreading his dirty-and-dangerous lyrics and music to all he can.

In a recent interview Parow said that he has pretty much always wanted to rap since Std 3, after he heard Snoop Dog’s Doggy Style, and because of the rise of the Afrikaans culture coolness phenomena brought about by the many musical talents emerging from the other side of the Boerewors curtain, he can now claim it as his full-time career. “I bought that Now Monster Hits 4 and Snoop Dog’s Doggy style was on there and since then I always wanted to rap. I was in Std 3 or 4, that’s when you first decide what type of music you like. And I always liked Dr Seuss, I have always liked things that rhyme – its fun I dig it.”

Parow started out rapping in English, but quickly discovered that Afrikaans worked and sounded a lot better for him. “I rapped in English for long and then I did this song. I was with Juda from Brasse Vannie Kaap and MC Dread and everyone was rapping English cause at the time there wasn’t really an Afrikaans rap market, but we did this one track called Hard Headed Hobo, where they were the Hobos and I was tuning them as an Afrikaans Boer. And it went so easy and sounded so nice and I thought: why haven’t I be rapping in Afrikaans before?”

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Meet the legend in the Versus Tent:

Jack Parow will be the special guest in the Versus hospitality tent at Splashy Fen this year. Meet and have your photograph taken with the rap star on Friday 2 April from 13:00 – 15:00.

For more info on the Splashy programme visit: www.splashyfen.co.za

We’re having another Market Day wine sale at our Welmoed cellar door in Stellenbosch.

Dates: Thursday 25 March to Saturday 27 March 2010

Venue: Welmoed Cellar door. Here are the directions: Directions to Welmoed

The following wines will be on sale:

If you have any  queries  regarding the Market Day sale, please contact  our cellar door directly on 021 881 8062

A stable of young-gun comedians are gearing up for Splashy Fen.

Booked to do a daily comedy hour at the festival, several of Durban’s top (and rated among SA’s best) comedians will be performing in the Versus tent from Thursday through to Sunday. That’s right, Versus returns to Splashy Fen this year, proving that this unconventional wine brand is the life-blood of the party.

Comedians lined up for the daily comedy hour include Glen Bo, Simmi Areff, Robby Collins, Jem Atkins, Gareth Woods, Little Paul and Neil Green, among others.

Glen Bo has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was a regular on the UK comedy scene before returning home where he tours and performs in theatres, clubs, dingy smoky pubs and at big comedy festivals. He’s an award-winning globe-trotter, leading the comedians into battle. He was born in Mooinooi. It means pretty girl. It’s a real place.

Simmi Areff (from the ECR breakfast team) is a young effervescent Muslim comedian who has opened for John Vlismas. Known for his parody songs, Simmi is young, single and carries a pipe wherever he goes. This is why he is single.

Robby Collins was voted KZN’s ‘Best Newcomer’ of 2008 and is a regular at DSOC, Punchlines! and 99% Zulu shows. He is from Sydenham/Overport and wears his granddad’s hat. He is currently billed to open for Trevor Noah in Joburg.

Gareth Woods hails from the ‘bustling metropolis’ of Klerksdorp. He’s a graduated scientist and trainer lawyer and, within his first year of stand-up, won the 5FM Fresh Drive Comedy Competition and opened for Trevor Noah.

Little Paul has been part of the Durban underground comedy resurgence since it started in 2007. His humour has been described as dry, and is based mostly around personal, cultural and political observations.

Jem Atkins is KZN’s ‘Best Newcomer’ of 2009 and also made it to the third round of SA’s Got Talent on SABC in the same year.

Neil Green is a regular on the ‘Bruin Ou’s’ comedy shows and performs on the DSOC scene.

Dusty Rich is a skilled tattooist and resident of Toti. He brings a degree of grit and self-deprecation, which is steeped in honesty and hilarity. He recently toured to Cape Town, playing the club scene.

To view the complete comedy programme at the Versus tent visit: www.splashyfen.co.za

The other day I lost a bet with a friend. He said a guy married his pillow and I didn’t believe him. Well here is the proof of this outrageously weird event (and now I owe my friend a bottle of unconventional Versus).

True love can take many forms. In this case, it has taken the form of a Korean man falling in love with, and eventually marrying, a large pillow with a picture of a woman on it.

This guy gave new meaning to pillow talk and will he ever have a pillow fight with his wife?

Lee Jin-gyu fell for his ‘dakimakura’ – a kind of large, huggable pillow from Japan, often with a picture of a popular anime character printed on the side.

In Lee’s case, his beloved pillow has an image of Fate Testarossa, from the ‘magical girl’ anime series Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha.

Now the 28-year-old otaku (a Japanese term that roughly translates to somewhere between ‘obsessive’ and ‘nerd’) has wed the pillow in a special ceremony, after fitting it out with a wedding dress for the service in front of a local priest. Their nuptials were eagerly chronicled by the local media.

‘He is completely obsessed with this pillow and takes it everywhere,’ said one friend.

‘They go out to the park or the funfair where it will go on all the rides with him. Then when he goes out to eat he takes it with him and it gets its own seat and its own meal,’ they added.

The pillow marriage is not the first similarly-themed unusual marriage in recent times – it comes after a Japanese otaku married his virtual girlfriend Nene Anegasaki, a character who only exists in the Nintendo DS game Love Plus, last November.

Read more on www.metro.co.uk

One of South Africa’s most successful bands will be performing at this year’s   Splashy Fen Festival .

Prime Circle has been together for more than eight years and their albums like “Live this Live”  and “Hello Crazy World” made them the biggest selling South African rock act for three years in a row (2003-2005)

They will be performing on Saturday 3 April at Splashy Fen’s Grant Erskine Marquee. Other bands on the programme include Newtown, Horse the band, Fokofpolisiekar, Jack Parow  Dimeshift and much more.

Be sure not to miss this festival on a farm near Underberg in KZN. Join us for South Africa’s Ultimate Outdoor experience.

Unconventional wine brand, Versus, will have a hospitality tent at the festival and there will be various comedy and music acts in the tent, so don’t miss out. You will also have the opportunity to meet Afrikaans rapper Jack Parow in the Versus tent at Splashy. For more details, visit www.splashyfen.co.za