Just as Durban Scouts aims to bring readers a certain perspective on life in this city, so too does the website of Abahlali baseMjondolo (www.abahlali.org). The similarities are striking: both sites use the Drupal system to create content, they have similar layout, and both present users with dated entries and the ability to comment, much like a blog.

However, the story these two websites tell of life in Durban could not be more polarised. On Abahlali, it would be common to find an article detailing the deaths of tens of people in a raging shack fire; whereas on Durban Scouts you're more likely to find a review of the latest in local music happenings. Two tales that seem worlds apart, but are ultimately bound by a common future in this city.

Balloon headed monkeys mingle with faceless children, talking loaves of bread, and limbless Christmas shoppers. The pick of Icebox for me was definitely this animated short called "Marvelous, Keen Loony Bin", a surreal and exquisitely produced piece of art.

For those who don't know, Icebox is a collection of animation and visual art totaling just over an hour, screened this year at the Kwasuka Theatre as part of the DIFF. This was to be followed by a very well-promoted "party of the year" event involving the Rustpunk crew, at a bit of an unusual venue.

Great respect to Glen Bo, who has managed to inspire a bunch of rebel up-and-coming Durban comedians into creating an awesome night of entertainment. Kudos too, for persuading a gorgeous little chick from the audience to "get her tits out for the lads"! All in the name of good comedy, after all.

Being a developmental club means there will always be a few jokes from the amateurs that fall flat, however the overall package was far above average on the list of fun things to do on a Thursday night. In fact, it's pretty much at the top.

I really thought the 'ol Winnie had fallen off the map after Burn moved to Stamford Hill. Turns out, it's still rocking hard in the next couple of weeks for The Uprisings Festival preliminary competition. Twenty-four bands are taking each other on for the privilege of being one of the five chosen to play at Uprisings.

We went to check out a heat with Lowprofile, Black Die Grace, Go Go Bronco and Mea. Like always, I missed a couple of sets due to being out in the carpark or generally involved somewhere else, but managed to grab a complete song by Lowprofile, which is here for your perusal.

Well, it's June time, when Durban imagines it's cold to make our sister cities feel better. Time to rock out with the Uprising soon, as well as the Durban July. Plus, there's the Beach Festival and all the cuddly friends we have in Stone City. Yea! June is also famous for its film festival, and that's what the next few lines are about.

There's an interesting forum that I follow called skyscrapercity.com (thanks dysan1). It's geared towards development and construction, but also dabbles in all sorts of general topical content, including promoting cities and tourism.

Anyway, long story short; their users have posted hundreds of photos of Durbs that I think are wasted in the pages of the forums: it's a nightmare to navigate and takes forever to load up the huge high-res images. So I've collected them together using a nifty Firefox trick and some fast bandwidth, and added them to our Picasaweb channel for everyone to enjoy. It's better because you can browse the thumbnails and only download the ones that interest you. Click on the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/durbanscouts/DurbanGallery

Chrisso sent in this highly amusing flyer that he picked up at the beach and scanned for our enjoyment. For R20, it seems, Dr Mama and Dr Muwanga can do just about anything!

* Removal of misunderstandings with anybody
* Men's penis which cannot erect powerfully
* Women who cannot produce
* Gonorrhea
* To be liked at work
* Diabetes
* Education
* Court Cases
* Tuberculosis

A flash mob is when a whole bunch of people congregate briefly in an area to do something wacky, then immediately disperse, confusing the hell out of the general public. They're normally organised underground on the internet, to make sure that the location remains hush-hush and so that no-one can tip off the authorities or try to stop it.

But is it art? Or just a bunch of bored students looking for an excuse to bunk lectures?

The good news is that Durban has it's own flash mob crew, and they're actively organising events so you too can partake in the pointlessness! So far, there have been two events which were recorded and put up on YouTube - and it looks like it could be a lot of fun.

If you were bored of spending Friday nights feeding your cats and wanted to hit the town instead, would you prepare for your night by first trudging through a 12000 word gig guide, in order to find a something to do? Word-Of-Mouth thinks you will, and they believe it so strongly that they'll take time out to compile the 19 page abomination and send it to you every month.

There are seemingly hundreds of online and electronic gig guides doing the rounds these days, and in order to make sense of it all it's worth comparing a few of the different approaches side-by-side to see how they rack up. So here it is: Durban's finest events, as seen on the Internet.

“Undressing Durban” is a staggeringly important book - absolutely critical reading for all us Durbanites who hope to overcome the unique challenge of building a vibrant, culturally integrated city. It's a stark exposure, and subsequent dismissal, of all the prejudices and misconceptions that we harbour deep down in our collective psyches, as racialised members of this proud 'Rainbow Nation'.

The book is a collection of approximately fifty diverse essays and studies, written mostly by students, academics and post-graduates from the Sociology department at UKZN. It was originally conceived as an alternative guide for the delegates visiting Durban for the International Sociology Convention - “alternative” in the sense that it “Undressed” Durban to it's bare form, and presented the truth about the many different ways the city is perceived by it's various social groups. The truth that the local tourism agencys are often reluctant to talk about.