Saturday, July 31, 2010

spectacular spectacular


Spectacular, Spectacular
No words in the vernacular
Can't describe this great event
You'll be dumb with wonderment
Returns are fixed at ten percent
You must agree, that's excellent
And on top of your fee

So exciting
The audience will stomp and cheer
So delighting
It will run for fifty years
So exciting
The audience will stomp and cheer
So delighting
It will run for fifty years


Muscle men, contortionists
Intrigue, danger,

...and romance

Electric lights, machinery
Oh, the electricity!


The hills are alive, with the sound of music

So exciting
The audience will stomp and cheer
So delighting
It will run for fifty years
So exciting
The audience will stomp and cheer
So delighting
It will run for fifty years

And in the end should someone die?

So exciting
The audience will stomp and cheer
So delighting
It will run for fifty years...


Generally I like it.


Friday, July 30, 2010

sustainable harvest


so i know all you hipster slash liberals out there simply adore a good dose of coffee before you go back to your independant-thinking deskjobs with the ever-urban and infinite desire to be effortlessly cool.vida e caffe is the household brand, hell, there's probably one within four blocks of your lofty kloof street apartment (i'm talking local now because we're not in williamsburg and there's sadly no starbucks here).

anyway, what i'm trying to get to here is not gonna sit too tight with all you skinny jean-wearing, illy-drinking outfitters. big question today - what exactly happens before that serving of freshly ground coffee is ground and stirred and steamed and poured into your waiting to-go cup?

luckily, in the spirit of sustainable development, coffee giant ILLY thought twice about this.

Sebastião Salgado, whom I mentioned in an earlier post, has shot a controversial series entirely in black and white as a tribute to the coffe-growers in Brazil, India, Ethiopia and Guatemala.
In a profound offering to human dignity Salgado documents the story of these ordinary men and women and shows how, with every bean, our coffee is harvested, dried and selected.


makes you think a little bit beyond your morning fix, no?

original article

http://www.illy.com/wps/wcm/connect/us/illy/art/sebastiao-salgado/

heaven help that fleshly want


Sebastião Salgado is a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist. I recently came across one of his very harrowing works in my sociology textbook.

take a look and tell me you don't feel something.


Thursday, July 29, 2010

well let's put it bluntly














...she's a damn fine actress.












Emily Blunt, Golden Globe Winner.

she's my favourite english golden girl, silver screen darling of

the moment.

queen jane approximately

from bob dylan's highway 61, this song never quite reveals the identity (or gender) of 'queen jane.' some speculations have pointed to lady jane gray or jane seymour.

this song talks of her fall from grace.

When your mother sends back all your invitations
And your father to your sister he explains
That you’re tired of yourself and all of your creations
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?

Now when all of the flower ladies want back what they have lent you
And the smell of their roses does not remain
And all of your children start to resent you
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?

Now when all the clowns that you have commissioned
Have died in battle or in vain
And you’re sick of all this repetition
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?

When all of your advisers heave their plastic
At your feet to convince you of your pain
Trying to prove that your conclusions should be more drastic
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?

Now when all the bandits that you turned your other cheek to
All lay down their bandanas and complain
And you want somebody you don’t have to speak to
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?



Copyright © 1965 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1993 by Special Rider Music

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Mechanicals present


On Wednesday July 14 I saw a show at the Little Theatre on Hiddingh campus for the first time ever. The opening show of Louis Nowra’s COSI, brought to life by The Mechanicals and directed by Scott Sparrow, was a pleasant surprise in return for my initially tentative expectations.

The Mechanicals Company is a lively troupe of professional theatre performers united in 2008 as a self-funded project. Equipped with cutting wit and a flair for contemporary showbiz this energy-driven group of passionate individuals promise to deliver innovative theatre productions right to our doorstep.


With a subplot based on one of Mozart’s most celebrated operas, Cosi fan tutte, this theatrical feast follows the lunatic antics of a band of certified madhatters attempting to re-enact an interpretation of this classic piece. This particular performance of Cost fan tutte takes place in 1971, in Melbourne, Australia, with the cast executing some very convincing Australian accents.
COSI is a semi-autobiographical play written by acclaimed Australian playwright Louis Nowra and was first performed in Melbourne in 1992.

The setting is a burnt out theatre and the characters, unforgettably, each suffer from a degree of lunacy or antisocial behaviour. Take a pyromaniac, a compulsive liar, a drug addict, an obsessive compulsive, somebody suffering from an adjustment disorder, a comatose pianist and a manic depressive and you will have the madcap cast that makes up COSI’s final curtain.
Interestingly there is all but one sane character in this entire fiasco – the lost and adorably bewildered director who one cannot help but to sympathize with as he finds himself thrust into the unexpected role of directing an unruly gang of borderline personalities.

Aptly named ‘The Lunatic Fringe’ as a play on the term coined by Theodore Roosevelt to describe American anarchists, COSI explores the fanaticism that goes hand in hand with social and political movements. With a light-hearted edge and some laugh-out-loud moments, this lovably madcap troupe invites the audience to delve into complex social issues, namely Communism during the Vietnam War, the reasons for insanity and the true meaning of love. In parallel with ‘the lunatic fringe,’ which refers to the radical and irresponsible people in social organization or political party, COSI’s unconventional spin takes this term quite literally by employing actual lunatics to address universal concepts with their antics. In their performance of COSI, the cast of lunatics deliver a humorous medley of contrasts between infidelity and infidelity, sanity and lunacy, inside and outside, loneliness versus solitude...
This stellar performance is brilliantly acted and superbly designed. In true theatre craftsmanship the show succeeds in delivering a charming, funny and heartfelt message to its audience with many laughs in between.


Go and see COSI with an open mind and expected to be charmed, shocked and, of course, entertained by this very human story that reveals many important truths about love, freedom, reason and politics within a hilariously dysfunctional setting. It’s quite a lengthy show, but so entertaining that the approximate two hour long laugh session was one well spent.


COSI is showing at The Little Theatre until 31 July. 021 480 7129
www.themechanicals.co.za

this article is in the current edition of Varsity.
shot for the free tickets.

:)

gave or god-given?


I saw you cry today,
the pain may fill you

You made me smile today,

you spoke with many voices.
NUMB, Sia [2005]

banksy and africa

the ever-elusive british street artist Banksy has left his mark on African soil.

he is a prolific and internationally reputed political activist who succeeds in maintaining his famed anonymity.

here are examples of his work found in the suburbs of Mali, West Africa.


Monday, July 26, 2010

eli et papillon

i came across this beautiful little sentiment to play when i am feeling melancholy.
the lyrics are in french. they are simple. they talk about a me and a you. that is all. if only there was a song that existed that would say everything.

Une chanson qui s’écrit
Pour raconter les folies
Que fredonnent les rimes
De poèmes griffonnés
Par les mains d’un musicien
Qui mélange les accords
Et forme des mélodies

Une chanson, pour tout dire
Une chanson, pour t’écrire
Une chanson pour moi
Une chanson pour toi
Pour t’écrire

On en trouve qui sont douces
Qui sillonnent les amours
Elles errent dans les coulisses
Et puis y’en a qui osent dire
Sans gêne à voix haute
Les passions du printemps
Sous les draps
Tandis que d’autres soulagent
Inondent les visages
Fracassent sur des airs colériques

Une chanson pour moi
Une chanson pour toi
Pour t’écrire

Elle ne fait pas que chanter
Quelques-unes aiment parler
Mais celle que je t’écris
J’ai peine à l’achever
Les mots sont égarés
Ils traînent dans ma tête
Et je n’ai pas l’air pour danser

Une chanson, pour tout dire
Une chanson, pour t’écrire
Une chanson pour moi
Une chanson pour toi
Pour t’écrire

DKNY





The English Are So Nice!

The English Are So Nice!
By D.H. Lawrence

The English are so nice
so awfully nice
they are the nicest people in the world.

And what’s more, they’re very nice about being nice
about your being nice as well!
If you’re not nice they soon make you feel it.

Americans and French and Germans and so on
they’re all very well
but they’re not really nice, you know.
They’re not nice in our sense of the word, are they now?

That’s why one doesn’t have to take them seriously.
We must be nice to them, of course,
of course, naturally—
But it doesn’t really matter what you say to them,
they don’t really understand—
you can just say anything to them:
be nice, you know, just be nice
but you must never take them seriously, they wouldn’t understand.
Just be nice, you know! oh, fairly nice,
not too nice of course, they take advantage—
but nice enough, just nice enough
to let them feel they’re not quite as nice as they might be.

cannot steer, and have no port



when your legs feel like cotton wool and your head is a carousel and you're afraid to walk around blind corners and you're constantly trying not to trip over your own two feet.

when you'd rather flight than fight.

when the climate seems so alien to you.

cold-shoulder drawn.

turn back and glower.

never simple. ever.

edible delights















cakes all for me.













if only all men were made of gingerbread. edible, always smiling and covered in glazed icing. never argue or complain and go very well to tea.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

brewers &union

description: primal, earthy, satifying
two distinct types of filtered, unpasteurized beer





























the unfiltered lager and the dark lager

p.s. they've recently started doing poached eggs too. goodie.

ttp://www.brewersandunion.com/home.html

110 bree street
bread, milk & honey

no, this is not your typical teaspread on a sunday afternoon. it's a place in spin street where i'd very much like to go.
bacon and egg pastry...can you say SUPER DUPER break to the fast?! yes, i heard you! can't wait to bite into one of those one day soon.

found it on the foodie whose culinary judgement i trust wholeheartedly.

http://foodcapital.wordpress.com/


there is a pumpkin on your roof.
my dear but so i see. and there is good reason for it too.
why is there a pumpkin on your roof? are you saving it for when the rains come? for a nice soup when the family comes round? to hide your wife inside?
it is there for mere decoration, of course. a bit of colour in an otherwise dull grey world. it was my finest of '56 you know. and if you say the magic words it will change itself into a splendid carriage and ride away to the pumpkin ball, where all the pretty girls with orange hair will be dancing with pumpkin princes in great beautiful pumpkin dresses and drinking pumpkin juice from straws.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

fifteen men on a dead man's chest...

...yo-ho and a bottle of...?


imagine a dog-life of ransom, pillaging, murdering, looting, sabotaging...
and not feeling bad about it?

imagine being a pirate, a scourge of the seven seas, a scalliwag.


a song from the fictional Captain Hook and his crew on the pirate ship Jolly Roger:

"Avast belay, yo ho, heave to,
A-pirating we go
And if we're parted by a shot
We're sure to meet below!"
"Yo ho, yo ho, the pirate life,
The flag o'skull and bones
A merry hour, a hempen rope
And 'hey' for Davy Jones!"



"...but why is the rum gone?"


gonna miss me when i'm gone

simple plan - when i'm gone
official music video

Friday, July 23, 2010

'a heart whose love is innocent'







holiday's end

monday is around the bend and raising chaos in my head. have come to the conclusion that i am so shit scared of going back to university that i am losing sleep over the prospect!
how bad can it be? i mean seriously. my results were okay. i got through the first semester. the next round can't be so bad, right?

here are some things i will miss about being on sabbatical.

-late nights out with no clue how to get home.
-late mornings and a big old fry-up in the kitchen with streaky bacon, filter coffee and lots of egg-cracking
-waking up without responsibility, other than to make sure one gets out of the bed on the correct side.
-having so much free time that you don't know what to do with it.
-public transport missions
-crowded buses to the golden acre.
- the world cup.
-tadpole fishing and stalking grouses at kirstenbosch.
-watching how i met your mother
-not thinking about holiday's end.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

one day in tribeca




Triangle Below Canal = TriBeCa


a neighbourhood in Lower Manhattan, known for its high-end real estate and celebrity residents (even JFK Jr, Leo Dicaprio and Meryl Streep have been known to reside within Tribeca's dialing code, which is 10013 by the way).


the architecture is an eclectic mix of neo-Renaissance and Art Deco, with some industrial conversions of cast iron buildings that have undertaken to serve as residential lofts.


during the 60s and 70s the warehouse-district of Tribeca was a secluded space for Manhattan creatives settling down to an inexpensive life of urban solitude in the concrete wilderness.


i decided to look up the real Tribeca after i had this amazing mint mocha at Tribeca Bakery on Kalk Bay Main Road. Steamy heaven in a good size cup topped with frothed milk. I recommend.


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

MODE.
















all the right faces

some characters out and about at the old biscuit mill





clothes-whores





these are a couple of biscuit mill moments from the neighbourgoods market.

still life compositions, fresh produce, vintage collections, things that are yummy.







































































mmm bagels.















konfyt/confiture
free range.

french habits

i can't sleep so i am going to write about france.

france is the place where you can grow the perfect love story. it has just the right climate, temper, manner and charm. it also has the right soil for growing love. fertile and airy with the ideal amount of minerals to nurture and foster a love so abundant that every silly young girl would gladly sow her seeds here.

france smells of mint and wax wrapper and incense. it is the accordian playing through the old plaster walls. it is the creak of the wooden floorboards which shudder with the musical strikes of the grand piano. france is the family gathered around the dining table, slowly drunken on good bordeaux. france is the log fireplace when it is cold outside. a walk in the snow when it's about to fall. and the joy of it when it does.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

sandwishes

we all love sandwiches. here are a few nice ones to make you feel greedy.













the fashion sandwich the picnic lunch











the filled croissant the croque monsieur

















the prawn salad and linseed sandwich the gourmet sandwich







the trendy wrap












the mega-watt calorie gatsby



















the club sandwich the burger bun
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