Gamers love to game

Just something fun.

Something nice for Autumn

This is going ot be me at the La Mouette Autumn Sale

So when the weather starts to get colder generally people like to stay under the covers, get all cosy with their other half, watch DVDs, drink hot chocolate and, well, eat. They eat a lot. They eat as much as they can get and as much as they can afford. Well I do anyways.

Which is why I'm super stoked that my friend Ming-Cheau from Butterfingers sent me a link to the most yummiest, awesome deal ever. Ever people, ever.

The La Mouette Restaurant is having an Autumn sale where you get 2 Tasting Menus for the price of 1. Score? I think so!

For the whole of April you can buy one for R240 and get two 6-course Tasting Menus. Guess what the lovely drummer's boy's going to be spoiling me with soon, hehe.

The sale is valid from Tuesday to Sunday from 6pm until 10pm every night. It's better to book in advance; I can just see hungry patrons, the look of ravenousity in their eyes, mawling each other for a table for two. Ha ha.

Anyways if you're keen email them on reservations@lamouette.co.za or call them on 021 433 0856 to book.

Maybe I'll even see you there. 

And speaking of cricket...

This evening I'm going to be watching my big brother and the boys from The Plastics playing action cricket.

I'm super amped for some reason. It should be fun.

Action cricket. Who'd have thought.

Also, it's raining in Cape Town and as one of my super slick Facebook friends stated; the time has come for legwarmers.

Hmmmmmmm. Winter's bringing sexy back.

Image from here.

Nandos takes advantage of the miserable cricket

While I'm disappointed the Proteas didn't make it through to the next round I'm not a fan of this South African tendency to call our boys chokers.

I feel that we should remain unmoving, loyal fans even in the face of numerous losses because when they win our nation feels as good as new.

That said I do enjoy this Nandos ad I saw on Bangers and Nash. The fastfood chain always seems to churn out top-notch, contemporary ad campaigns.

Nice one, Nandos. 

Good Mood, Food

I recently said in an email to someone I work with that I was in a good mood and they aptly replied with the good mood poem.

It's silly but I like it so I'm sharing it:

good!

good for a good mood.

a good mood is good.

gooder than food,

if you're in the mood,

for good,

not food.

I think it's pretty good. Happy Tuesday peeps.

Image via Vis.ualize.

The Weekend that Was

Hooboy, Monday is back again and it feels like the weekend was a whirlwind blur. This weekend I...

+ Watched Year One with Jack Black and Michael Cera (I love Cera's acting/sense of humour).
+ Saw Faith play a gig at Pick Wick's.
+Worked on a secret, new project that has me feeling really excited.
+ Watched Charlie Sheen's interview and the Songified version and loved it: Winning.
+ Had a bignightbignightbignight at Pickwicks and The Shack
+ Spent Saturday night at Assembly in the presence of some amazing local bands (The Plastics and Desmond and the Tutus) and beautiful people.
+ Had the laziest Sunday with a delicious lunch made by The Lovely Drummer Boy's dad.
+ Saw my closest friends drunk, happy, laugh, dance and generally have an awesome time (made me feel happy).
+ Did other stuff too.

What did you do this weekend?

Image from here.

Oh and also I saw this dog-walking ad on Life is Savage. It's funny. Read it. 

Desmond and the Tutus, The Plastics, Haasbroek vs Tommy Gun.

Yes it's happening. This Saturday night Assembly will see some Tututastics, funPlastics and a battle between the Bunny and the Gunn.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing all of you there.

In the words of Rebecca Black, "pardeeing, pardeeing, YEAH"

It's going down this Sat, 26 March. Doors open 8pm. Tickets are R50.

See you there?

My TEARS experience

My kitten sidekick for the morning.

Last week I decided to put my money where my mouth is and (finally) go volunteer at The Emma Animal Rescue Society (TEARS).

I have been a few times before but only to do little jobs. This time I was prepared to get my hands dirty.

I started out in the kitten section, cleaning out the litter-trays, sweeping and cleanig the floors, putting fresh water into their bowls. It was madness. I've never felt so happy to clean. As I worked the bouncy kittens raced after one another, running between mylegs and trying to pounce on the broom as I swept. It was so cool to see them so happy.

One kitten, slightly older than the others, took a liking to me and very regally followed me around, watching what I was getting up to. He melted my heart right then and there and had I been able to I would have taken him home.

After the kitties were taken care of I headed to the dog pound. It's quite overwhelming to see so many excitable faces begging and crying to be touched, acknowledged, fed and loved. Each time I've been to the animal rescue shelter before I've ended up in tears from the sheer shock of so many abandoned and unwanted animals.

I spent the next hour or so walking three dogs. First up was ladylike Sunny, then excited Rosalie and last gentle-natured Sabre. I can't describe the feeling of happiness I felt as I gave these dogs the bare minimum; a 15-minute walk a few pats and some kibbles. The happiness on their faces was appreciation enough.

I definitely plan on going back to help out as much as I can and would recommend any animal-lover do the same. It's incredibly rewarding to know that you've given an abandone and unwanted animal a bit of love and much-needed attention.

Thank you to the wonderful men and women at TEARS who are so passionatetly dedicated to giving these animals shelter, food and love. Your actions are appreciated beyond words.

 If you're thinking about getting a pet of any kind please, please consider getting it from a rescue shelter. The street-specials and scruffy cats have the best personality and will be completely loyal to their owners.

Some kittens looking for a loving home

the (long) weekend that was

 

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend. It was Human Rights day on Monday and my friends and I took advantage of the public holiday and went away for the weekend to Plettenberg Bay.


This weekend I...

+ Spent about 20 hours in a car.
+ Ate an amazing Apple Crumble.
+ Walked in the Garden of Eden forest in Knysna.
+ Played a new drinking game.
+ Realised some interesting things about some people I thought I already knew.
+ Created a new veggie dish (we call it the Stairmaster Paella - don't ask).
+ Was shocked at how popular Rebbeca Black's weekday song became.
+ Hiked for almost four hours around Robberg Point.
+ Got silly and it was wonderful.
+ Went late-night swimming in the neighbour's pool.
+ Slept very little.
+ Read my book (Taking Lives by Michael Pye).
+ Watched a crap suspense movie - Pathology (don't get it out).
+ Enjoyed the company of friends in a diferent town.
+ Danced, laughed, drank some wine, chatted, giggled, swam, walked, lived out of a rucksack, had lots of tea, relaxed, lost my bank card, found my bank card.

How was your long weekend?

Image from here. 

Want to be an animal? Wear Wrangler jeans

Saw these ads on VanessaHuricane.com. Yes please. Love them

Now I want Wranglers. And to jump out of a building window.

 

 Check out Hurricane Vanessa for more pics. 

I toadally won

The photo that I "captioned"

Eek, I completely forgot to tell you all. I entered a caption competition on Facebook that was being run by Taj Cape Town and I won (to be fair there was only one other contestant, but still)

The wonderful people at Taj Cape Townhave given me a voucher for two people to enjoy a tasting experience at the Bombay Brasserie restaurant to the value of R900! How crazy!?

I just wanted to say thanks so much to Taj Cape Town and to the peeps who voted for my silly little caption.

And just in case you were wondering, I'm taking my Marja with me (yay). Soon we will be enjoying some fine-dining. Looking forward to it 

One Small Seed is renewable

The lovely Drummer Boy was in this viral and I wondered what the beeg news was. Well here it is: One Small Seed has renewed its old self and become a new self and just in time to have its new edition on the shelf.

Check out the new website here.

I liiiiiike. The old site was, well I wasn't a fan but his new and improved site is purdy.


Also I got the Mahala number two printed mag and they gave me a surprise: p.h. fat's Dinosaur Blood album. It's rad you should have in your ears.

A little birdie told me you can subscribe to Mahala's printed mag for free so that's exactly what I'm gonna do.

These South African publications; they know how to make a chappy happy.

Image from here. 

The Weekend that was...

I took it super chilled this weekend. This weekend I...

+ Had pancakes twice.
+ Watched Howl's Moving Castle.
+Ate the most delicious lamb chops (thanks Scal).
+ Spent some time on our 1000-piece puzzle of Marilyn Monroe (most difficult puzzle ever!)
+ Had some serious discussions.
+ Felt ovcerwhelmed about the craziness of the current world and my miniscule place in it.
+ Sorted out some issues.
+ Went to the wonderful Meh's house-warming braai (twas lovely).
+ Didn't see any of the Argus cyclists.
+ Spent Sunday evening in Kalk Bay at Cape to Cuba.

What did you get up to this weekend?

Image from here.

so what if i'm a bit soppy?

i really like the ide of this blog, kissssing.

it is a celebration of all things old-school love. Porter Hovey russles through the thrift-store boxes and find old pictures of elegant looking couples photographed in (mostly) black and white.

love was so stylish back in those days. here are a few of my favourites:

 

enjoy the love everyone!

i love Ram!

ok wow, so Ramfest was incredible, crazy and hot. our carpool left Cape Town at 1pm all cramped up and listening to Phoenix's Lisztomania (soundtrack to my life currently) and embarked on our lil adventure.

We had our tents, sleeping bags, booze and food and we were ready to rock the weekend out of its socks! we arrived and were brisked right through the entrance, no queues for the awesome, found our site and immediately headed for the pool for a swim.

the vibe was incredible. the weekend had begun.

i had checked out the lineups of all the acts and made a mental note of everyone i wanted to see. i probably missed more than half of my "want to see" list for, uh, reasons.

friday afternoon we kicked off with some vino and bounced around from electro pyramid to main stage to river to main stage to river to river to river (it was hot ok) and just generally had an awesome time. then i got hungry, got tired and passed out only to wake up in time for Die Antwoord.

the ninja and yolandi were disappointing. but even though the sound was terrible and they were shouting at us i couldn't tear my eyes away, especially when the fiesty little blonde pulled down her trademark gold pants and flashed us all her lily-white ass.

then i headed over to the pyramid and was blown away by Tom Deluxe and Haezer. somewhere between all this my lovely friend Se and i made a sneaky late-night trip to the pool for a little bit of swimming and i managed to slice open my palm a bit on the broken asbestos of the pool floor: fun. the medics were super accomodating even after i'd been back a fourth and fifth time for a redressing. needless to say i'd be swimming with one hand for the rest of the weekend.

saturday passed in a hot, dusty time loop of swims, refills, chilling, more chilling, arbing around and food. i tried to enjoy the "beach party" vibe they had set up but the acts were all scheduled wrong. bummer. and let me just say this right now: Alkaline Trio and Funeral for a Friend: disappointment. i didn't watch either passed the first two or three songs.

instead i revelled in the madness of the pyramid. Mr Sakitumi, Bruce Willis?, P H Fat all totally blew my mind. and of course throughout the weekend i'd amble in and out of crazy reminiscence at the Mercury tent where everyone loved everyone else and everyone knew the words to every song. DJ Sideshow you are pure, beautiful music-love.

my Ramfest highlights:
+ Vodka slushies
+ the river
+ late night missions
+ the pyramid
+ naps
+ redbull
+ hanging around our awesome campsite (Sash, Se, Wal, Paul, Kaley, Key, Jeanne, Matt, Nick, Kyle, Steve and Karl, you made this weekend amazing - thank you!)

how was your Ramfest experience?

oh and thank you Griet, your excellence is well-observed.

pics to follow

also if you've got Ramfest FOMO check out more of Paul Ward's pics of the entire weekend, they'll almost make it better.

the weekend that was

wow Ramfest was brilliant!

this weekend i...

+ went to Ramfest
+ got really really dusty
+ cut my hand
+ danced for hours
+ saw P h Phat, Mr Sakitumi, Die Antwoord, Bruce Willis, Isochronus, Alkaline Trio, Funeral for a Friend and Tommy Gun
+ made some new friends
+ got lost
+ got found
+ only slept about four hours
+ swam in the river
+ spent a lot of money
+ got home and bathed
+ spent Sunday at a chilled family braai
+ finally watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall

what did you do this weekend?

image from here. 

first things first

yesterday i went with the lovely Se to get tested for HIV and Aids at UCT. technically i'm not a student anymore but shh.

every semester the university sets up booths in the jammie hall and invites students and staff to get tested for free with the goal being to eradicate the stigma around the disease by getting people to know their status.

we waited in line for about 20 minutes and chatted about condoms, same-sex relationships and plans for Ramfest. i didn't stop to think about what i do and don't know about HIV and when i was called into one of the nurses booth i got quite a shock.

firstly it was very hot and when its very hot your blood doesn't seem to flow quite so easily so not only did i have to get two jabs but i had to "let" myself by pushing the bright red liquid up and out of my finger. those of you who know me know that that is the scariest notion for me. but my nurse was so gung-ho she wouldn't even listen to my mumbling about being scared of needl...ow!

more importantly though, i learnt something about myself.

you see was totally clueless about the most simple aspects of the disease that so many people in Africa suffer from. these things i did not know:

1. there is a window period in which if you've been infected the antibodies will not show up. my nurse said they say that it's about 12 weeks.

2. HIV is the first stage of the disease. the bad cells start to kill off the white cells that keep your body healthy.

3. you only have AIDS when the bad cells have successfully killed off pretty much all of your white cells and other illnesses (such as TB, flu etc) can kill you.

4. HIV/Aids doesn't kill you, it affects your immune system allowing the other diseases to have a fatal effect on your body.

the thing is, i honestly thought i knew all this kinda stuff but when asked about them i came up blank. it was really a learning curve for me.

it's a good idea to be in the know about this disease especially because it is such a problem in our country.

on a positive note, happy Thursday lovelies.
anyone gonig to Ramfest this weekend? i am *so excited*

ps, i also don't know what my blood type is (very bad!) do you know what yours is?

image from here.

sailor jerry....ahoy! (the Holy Smoku party)

so on Friday night i went to the sailor jerry party at Mercury Live and had some of the liquid gold (which, turns out is way too sweet for me with coke).

twas an excellent night spend frolicking and dancing with friends, listening to bands and letting the stress of the previous week go. here are some things i think about the night:

Albert Frost was a bit of a laugh. at some point i remember watching him at the downstairs stage and he had guitar problems. fair enough but then he stops playing and the music continues? huh? did i miss something here and if i did please correct me but isn't the music suppose to be heard when the artist is playing it? at first i thought i was going crazy but my friend noticed it too so there you go.

Machineri are cool cause Sannie Fox is a sexy frontgirl a la Natalie, former frontgirl of Red Light in June. but the fox had lost her heart (or something). she stood onstage like some sort of zombie sultrily (i don't care if that's not a word) singing away. kinda a weird mix.

i loved The Bone Collectors. they're mad zany and have such a cool onstage vibe. the bluesy rock and the action onstage as these guys bang on their instruments is lovely.

and, to be perfectly honest, i missed Peachy Keen. by that time i had migrated to the great watering hole that is The Shack.

were you there that night? what did you think?

Image from here.