I come in peace...

[Poogie]

Ed....How many rooms does it have?  Around here you would get 1 bedroom and a pot to pee in, 3 blades of grass, and oh, maybe it will have a roof.  Just kidding. But it's getting pretty close to that. It's funny how we're getting pushed out of here because so many people want to live here. This state has people from all over the world put in one little area. I can go about a block away from my house and it's like I'm in another country, can't even read the signs on buildings, they're in a different language depending on the majority of people living in that area. If you decide to go into the store you have to find that one person who speaks English. Is it like that in Oregon yet? It's a very strange feeling. 

[Dennis]

Actually it's kind of funny to drive down Valley Blvd. (main street, runs from Pomona to downtown L.A.) in San Gabriel and see all the signs in Chinese and Vietnamese and then see one for McDonald's or Taco Bell. This neighborhood has changed a lot in the last twenty years, I like living here.

[Yaddo 42]

Trevor, thanks for your reply. I was aware of names like Johnny Clegg and Savuka they got a lot of mention on MTV here during the 80s (and even some airplay). I knew that Trevor Rabin of Yes and movie soundtrack fame was from SA and was in the pop/rock band Rabbit.

Do you have a link or list of films banned in SA during the apartheid era, I am curious actually? I'm guessing even non-classics (but still good films) like The Wilby Conspiracy didn't makle the cut. What about The Wild Geese, not South African, but deals with issues of post-colonial Africa.

I once saw the South African cop flick Vengence Cops on TV here. It was odd, the cars looked like 70s models, but the clothes and hairstyles looked like the late 60s. You could see highway signs that identified SA cities but no black people appeared in the film at all. What should have been a straight forward genre action flick had an air of unreality to it. Oh, I bought Kill and Kill Again a few years ago, also odd but more for the goofy story and cetain scenes rather than political elements.

[Trevor]

Hi Yaddo 

I have a list and will post it here soon or will create a new thread with it ~ you and the brothers and sisters of BM.org will be shocked at what was banned and why ~ most of the time, the Censor Board didn't have to give a reason beyond this: "We find this film / publication / song offensive so it is banned forthwith." They had scary powers those guys ~ our new censors can be found at www.fpb.gov.za. I would rather find them in the toilet.

That film you mentioned is locally known as Flying Squad (1971) and the film Vengeance Cops is its' other title and oddly enough, the film also includes footage from Flying Squad's sequel Gold Squad. A friend of mine directed both of these, incidentally and they were propaganda films portraying the feared SA Police as avanging angels ~ where they failed was trying to mimic Dirty Harry and getting mighty dirty in the process.

[Yaddo 42]

Trevor, I look forward to your list, why films cross the line in various locales around the world always interests me.

Thanks for your info on that film as well, when I saw it on Speedvision there was little info about it. IMDB at the time was little help also (haven't checked it lately), and gave the release date as 1988! I'm guessing that date had something to do with a video or TV release in the USA maybe.