Starting at the Stars

Santon. – To say that watershed’s latest album, “Staring At The Ceiling”, is going to be breathtaking would be the understatement of the year.

On Monday, 14th July, the band held an exclusive pre CD release listening CD session in Santon, where they gave some lucky listeners a taste of what is to be expected of their new album.
They performed 6 tracks which included ‘Ok’, ‘Falling’, ‘Train Ride’ and ‘Breathing’ – which is set to be their new hit single. But, judging the audience’s response to the easy rolling music, every song played has the potential to be a hit.

This will be Watershed’s 4th album and it is due to be released on 4th August 2008. With both ‘In the Meantime’ and ‘Mosaic’ gaining platinum status, the pressure was on to produce another star.

And they have done it. Despite there being nearly a three year gap between ‘Mosaic’ and ‘Staring At The Ceiling’ Watershed has definitely delivered an album that cannot disappoint.
Where did the album title come from? “When you think of an album title, you look at the songs and titles, and you try fid something that will tie everything together.” says lead singer and songsmith, Craig Hinds. The title is actually a line from the song ‘train ride’, which the band agrees is a “real boy’s song”. Craig felt that the line “staring at the ceiling” encapsulated the feeling and mood that they were trying to create in the album. He said that when a person stares at the ceiling, you are either letting your mind drift or “you are trying to buy time when you’re asked something you cant answer”.

Where does their inspiration come from? Watershed claims to draw its inspiration from people and everyday life, and their down to earth lyrics reflects this. But there is nothing “everyday” about this band’s music which is vibrant and passionate, yet unique and tricky to classify.
As one critic described their music: “Watershed owns a style that is not typically pop, not typically rock, but simply… Watershed.”

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Caption: Watershed treated a small crowd to a cross-section of sounds from their new album at their exclusive pre CD release session on Monday night. Their latest album ‘Staring At The Ceiling’ promises to be even better than its predecessors.

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Near to the Heart

Near to the heart Skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her pre term infant has been proven to greatly reduce the pain and trauma suffered by “premies” and speed their recovery.

According to Canadian researchers, premmies cuddling against their mother’s chest tend to recover faster from painful medical procedures that they must go through.

"Skin-to-skin contact by the mother, referred to as kangaroo mother care, has been shown to be efficacious in reducing pain in three previous studies," said co-author Celeste Johnston of Montreal's McGill University School of Nursing in an article published recently in the journal BioMed Central Pediatrics.

The study included 61premature babies born between 28 and 31 weeks. Half of the premmies were held in the "kangaroo mother care” position for 15 minutes before the painful heel lance procedure. The other infants were kept in an incubator.

The baby’s responses were measured according to the "premature infant pain profile", which measures grimacing, maximum heart rate and blood oxygen saturation levels.
Infants held by their mothers before and after the procedure tended to show a dramatically decreased recovery time compared to those left on their own.

“The shorter recovery time using [kangaroo mother care] is important in helping maintain the baby's health.” Johnston said.

Traditionally, the baby, wearing only a diaper, is held against the mother’s bare chest. The reason for this is that research has found that the mother’s body performs the function of an incubator as it helps regulate the infant’s bodily temperature. If the baby’s body cools, the mother’s temperature will increase and vice versa. Although this is most effective with skin on skin contact, it still works if the mother is wearing some clothing.

Babies tend to have a keen sense of touch, smell and hearing and feeling the beating of the mother’s heart, hearing her voice along with being supported in a womb-like environment helps give the infant a greater sense of security and comfort.

Another benefit of the wrap is that the infant is carried in front of the mother, and not on her back. She can thus observe her child and give it more attention.

The movement of the mother has also shown to decrease stomach ailments.

The Enfuleni Medi Clinic makes use of a cloth designed by Dr Elsie van Rooyen. It is a single piece of cotton fabric with two straps on either side of the centerpiece. This is then tied around the mother and her premmie to hold it securely on place. In this way, mothers can carry their baby around comfortably all day.The Kangaroo position is used extensively in less well equipped hospitals around the country, where the facilities for caring for delicate pre term babies is limited.

Mrs. Maydelene Moss gave birth to her son, Bokang, on 20 June at the Enfuleni Medi Clinic. Bokang, a 36 week premie, is still at the hospital, but is healthy and set to make a full recovery. His mother visits him daily.

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A decade of Sentinental Sense

Many a great success story sprouts from humble beginnings; where a combination of talent, luck, dedication and passion distinguish a select few from the rest.
O.F Sense, formally Sentinentals, has one such story: a journey from complete obscurity to international recognition through talent and hard work.
The a cappella group will be celebrating its 10th anniversary next March, and is planning – once again – to make big waves in the music industry.
Despite not having released a CD yet, they have performed for the likes of Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela. They were also sponsored to go on tours to both Germany and Italy in 2003 and 2004 respectively, where they appeared on a television show, and shared the stage with Andrea Botticelli at the opening night of the Florence 2004/5 Men’s Collection which featured designer names like Levi, Prada and Gucci. Their return form Italy was also covered by SABC news.
The five-strong group has its roots deep in the dusty roads of Orange Farms, near Johannesburg.
Sentinentals was born in 1999, after a local band visited their school and inspired the boys to make use of their talent. Sammy Nyembe (28) – now the lead singer – recruited the original 15 plus boys, of which five of the original members are still going strong.“The ones who were destined to be here today [remained]. We were stuck together.” says Zweli Dlomo (27), the group’s manager and spokesperson.
They used to practice daily, and through singing other artists’ music, such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, they become comfortable and confident in both their own abilities and those of the others within the group.
According to Dlomo, Sentinentals was an appropriate name at the time because “we all had the same mindsets and beliefs. We were all into singing and living a positive lifestyle.”And they still are, even after Leon Hlakudi – former lead vocalist – left the group, they decided it was time for a change, and O.F. Sense was born in October 2007.
“Sense” was to represent everything that matters in life to them: love, passion, education and dedication. “O.F.” stands for Orange Farms and symbolizes their roots and the group’s dedication to helping uplift those living there.
“Orange farms is one of those townships that is seen as very bad… in terms of crime, teenage pregnancies: a whole lot of negative things. But again, there’s lots of raw talent that can be seen as the best in the world, not only South Africa.” Says Dlomo.
And they hope to stimulate that talent by raising over R1 mil for both sports and the arts: music, drama and theatre. Not only are the former Love Live volunteers concerned with helping the youth, but the needy too.
Since Gordon Gule (26) had a kidney failure in September 2003, one of the group’s ultimate goals has been to raise R10 mil to help finance those needing, but who cannot afford, organ transplants.
They hope to raise this money from sales from their upcoming CD, as well as corporate performances for various companies.
In 2007 they produced a CD called ‘The Journey Begins’ which was never released. Their new album ‘Uhambo Lwethu’ is ready for production, but is just waiting for finances. They 15-track album will feature genres such as R&B, Afro-pop, House and Gospel.
“One of our goals with the songs in the album was to challenge listeners to make a difference in the world around them.” Says Dlomo.
Their inspiration springs from their environment: how it affects emotions and daily life.Sung in an array of languages - from English to Sesotho, Xhosa, Zulu and Tsonga – the easy tunes have proved to appeal to people from all backgrounds.
Anyone interested in having O.F. Sense perform for them can contact Zweli Dlomo on 073 289 3574 or email him at zweli.dlomo@gmail.com
Pictures: by Anthea van HeerdenPhoto 1: OF Sense 1Caption: Gordon Gule(26), Sammy Nyembe(28) and Zweli Dlomo(27)outside Thamsanqa High School, Orange Farms, where the group started and where they still practice today.
Photo 2: OF Sense 2Caption: Sammy Nyembe(28) Erick Mkumbeni (26), Zweli Dlomo(27), Gordon Gule(26) Morris Ngobeni (27)performing in Florence, Italy, on their 2004 tour.

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