Back in June, we invited South African rave-rap crew Die Antwoord to play their first show in New York City. They are one of our favorite bands and their performance that day was one of the most hectic, intense and amazing shows we had seen in a long time. While we were hanging out with them here, Ninja and Yo-Landi kept talking about a little monster called Tokoloshe, the most feared of all African demons. Ninja told us about how when he was growing up, his nanny would use a stack of bricks to raise her bed up, just to keep the Tokoloshe away at night. It turns out this is a fairly common practice among women in South Africa since this hairy, pot-bellied dwarf, unlike your typical Western boogiemonsters, is believed to have a penis the size of a horse’s and a penchant for sneaking into people’s bedrooms and raping them.

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Back in June, we invited South African rave-rap crew Die Antwoord to play their first show in New York City. They are one of our favorite bands and their performance that day was one of the most hectic, intense and amazing shows we had seen in a long time. While we were hanging out with them here, Ninja and Yo-Landi kept talking about a little monster called Tokoloshe, the most feared of all African demons. Ninja told us about how when he was growing up, his nanny would use a stack of bricks to raise her bed up, just to keep the Tokoloshe away at night. It turns out this is a fairly common practice among women in South Africa since this hairy, pot-bellied dwarf, unlike your typical Western boogiemonsters, is believed to have a penis the size of a horse’s and a penchant for sneaking into people’s bedrooms and raping them.

The story goes that once you’ve slept with a Tokoloshe, you’ll never be satisfied by a man ever again—it typically leads to divorce and basically ruins your life. This phenomenon is so commonplace that the South African Daily Sun regularly features cover stories about Tokoloshes raping women, men or stealing groceries, and even publishes theories about remote-controlled Tokoloshes used to steal peoples’ money.

Ninja and Yo Landi invited VBS.TV to South Africa to try and find this demon even though no one has ever filmed this thing, or seen a picture of it before. We talked to crime reporters at the The Daily Sun, people on the streets of Johannesburg, and even sangomas (witch doctors) about the Tokoloshe’s origins and what you can do to keep him at bay.

Since Harry rocked the party last night, David treats him to a haircut. Afterwards he scares a lot of cute girls away. Meanwhile, David discusses how the road kills relationships with Echo Rush’s bus driver as the crew continue their Chinese sojourn due South.

See the rest at VBS.TV: Thumbs Up! Season 3: Episode 9 - Thumbs Up! | VBS.TV 

Hamilton goes to meet a new bokor deep in the rice fields of Artibonite. To prove his strength, Hamilton takes a large dose of zombie powder and is rewarded with a peak inside a zombie’s shed.

See the rest at VBS.TV: Nzambi 5 of 6 - Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia | VBS.TV 

While waiting to consult another Bokor, Hamilton recruits Haitian guides to help him fetch the ingredients to create a zombie of his own.

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Hamilton is granted a meeting with the leader of the Bizangos, a Haitian secret society and beholder of the formula for zombification. Negotiations are made and a local Bokor agrees to create a nzambi—for a price.

See the rest at VBS.TV: Nzambi 3 of 6 - Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia | VBS.TV 

Hamilton arrives in Port-Au-Prince and checks in to the Adams Family mansion. There he meets his guide Alex, a man who survived fourteen bullets to the face. Together they attend a Vodou ceremony and watch a pig become an ambassador to the gods.

See the rest at VBS.TV: Nzambi 2 of 6 - Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia | VBS.TV 

Hamilton goes to speak with Wade Davis, author of The Serpent and the Rainbow, world renowned ethnobotanist and (don’t call him a) Zombieologist.

After being briefed on the history of the Haitian Zombie, Hamilton takes off for Port-Au-Prince on a quest for the secret poison.

Ivar and Julita meet up with Xawery Zulawski, a young, respected film director whose father was the great Polish director Andrzej Zulawski. While at his campsite, they talk over his controversial new film, hailed as the Polish Trainspotting, a drug fueled narrative with plenty of stylistic twists that tries to capture the essence of Polish mentality. Then to Lodz and its famous film school, where Julita interviews the amazing Malgorzata Szumowska—up and coming director and producer, and one of the most famous female filmmakers of her generation.

See the rest at VBS.TV: From Poland with Love - Episode 6 - From Poland With Love | VBS.TV 

Ivar and Julita head to Gdansk to meet a hero of the Polish solidarity movement who helped put and end to years of communist rule in 1989. Gdansk was the first stop for Hitler on his way to fucking up the whole of Europe, but the city also saw the start of the fall of communism in its Lenin Shipyard. Edward Szwajkiewicz, an electrician in the shipyard who used his position to disseminate anti-communist flyers, talks them through the final days of communism and how he and his co-workers fought the powers that be. At the end of the day, Julita’s gran tell us her secret recipe for pickled herring.

See the rest at VBS.TV: From Poland with Love: Episode 5 - From Poland With Love | VBS.TV