miracle

On August the 23rd, a miracle happened. I actually posted more than once in a day! Yes, I know I am lame.

Here is something exciting: Last Sunday I went on an outing with my mom and sister to Paternoster. What, why and how will be explained further in a guest post I am writing for my friends at we-are-awesome.com. See this weekend there will be a follow-up to my last weekend’s excursion. So be sure to check it out over there once its up. And since they are an actual ‘real’ blog I’m going to have to sort my shit out and get writing!

whatever is over there is way more interesting than getting my picture taken

I have also finally met my godson (and my semi-nephew, our Facebook relationship status would say: ‘it’s complicated’). He is SO small! And in the pic he is looking all ‘geez whatever is over there is so interesting’. He also likes to pull the ‘worried’ face a lot. Not having any kids of my own or having any brothers/sisters/cousins/friends with smallies yet I find brand new babies a little scary. I seldom have contact with them, and honestly I think I might just break them, which would suck. So when mommy-Maz gave him to me to feed on the first night I met him, I tried to do it while he was sitting up right in my arms. She and my mom just laughed at me. How was I supposed to know babies can’t swallow all by themselves from day one? Blind minute puppies can… so that got me thinking: Us as humans, we are so much further down the chain of evolution than we think we are. Yes, I can use my dexterous fingers to type out this wonderful (and hopefully entertaining) post on a small touch screen device which another human being thought of, and then another human being actually made. But if you really think about it – it takes us a year to start walking! A YEAR… thats all I’m saying.

Tags: babies, evolution, maz, paternoster, silas, we-are-awesome

time to turn multi

In today’s day and age you have to become a multi-being. There is no time for the old school uni-focussed art director, or journalist, or model. You must now be able to tick that ‘all of the above’ box in order to make the world your oyster and hay while the sun shines.
The multi-being has evolved from the uni-being due to financial and economic burdens. In other words you just have to be able to do more for less.
The multi-being has sprung up and taken over due to our rapidly changing environments and of course thanks to globalisation. In other words you can be a variety of different people in different parts of the world with a touch of a screen and a swipe of a finger on a newly improved OSX Lion trackpad.

Examples of multi-beings:

Hanneli Mustaparta

blogger, photographer, model, vogue.com contributor, stylist... and hot!

Lorraine Pascale

model turned bake-queen turned tv-chef turned sainsbury's new spokesperson - win win combo

DJ Venus X

dj, film producer, party organiser and only 25.

The most Uber Multi-Being, Hedi Slimane

designer, photographer, art director, label developer, general cool creator - the list is endless.

For more examples of multi-beings pick up your newest Dazed and Confused and Interview, or have a gander at the Satellite Voices site. As a matter of fact just look to your left… and possibly to your right, and ask your colleagues what they do in their spare time, at the weekend or when they are free-lancing elsewhere. Perhaps you want to get more proactive and quit your day job, walk into an agency and sign up by ticking the stylist, photographer, model, art director, copywriter and videographer boxes. Anything is possible to a multi-being. Perhaps you can even start your own agency and sign yourself up.

The multi-being is the here and now. It is the neo-human.

In other words, the multi-being is the new black.

Tags: dazed and confused, dj venus x, hanneli mustaparta, hedi slimane, interview magazine, lorraine pascale, multi-being, satellite voices

summer in winter

The Western Cape cooks up all sorts for its normally stormy, cloudy, rainy, rough and ready to get you curled up in a blanket winter. I landed in South Africa to one of the coldest days Cape Town had had in a while, sitting at a comfy 15 degrees, I whipped all coats and jerseys off to feel the sunshine on my skin. What with Europe not playing the summer game (although now I hear that it is a toasty 34 degrees in Paris – typical!) I felt I deserved this little summer treat in the middle of winter.

Having been home for just over a week now I have been seeing friends and family, including getting introduced to a new human being (my ‘sister-in-law’ had a baba boy while I was away and he is just so small and sweet and sleepy); catching up on sorely missed cooking time; cuddling the cutest dogger out there who has grown into a tall skinny thing; helping out with work stuff for D; spending way to much time sitting in a sliver of sunlight on my computer reading through blogs and saving too many pictures for my trusty laptop to contain and thinking about the possibility of a new venture. Exciting times. Too little time and too much procrastination!
It is thanks to UNISA that I am not able to actually complete my degree this semester, and therefore have some purposeful thing to do in the spare time I have found so graciously awaiting me upon my return. Due to a technical glitch my request for a semester transfer of 2 courses was not processed and so here I sit. With nothing to do you find so many things to do all at once and the problem becomes one of refining. Where to focus energy and when to just sit back and have a good old resting period.

One thing is for sure I want to spend more time here:

And yes, for some reason Mr D is pulling a Mourinho ‘duck-face‘. Clearly my hair was smelling particularly good that day, uh… or maybe not.

Tags: D, helshoogte pass, unisa, weather

a-traveling i will go

Back in Hamburg and I have decided to give it another chance. So much of a chance that I am looking at getting back to Paris sooner than expected. So much sooner that I am actually leaving today. Hooray!

But now onto London. Apart from the fact that London is falling to pieces thanks to the hooligans in numerous neighbourhoods, I managed to avoid the hoodlums and had a pretty good and quite fantastic weekend – mostly in the East of London too. As Friday was my birthday I spent a very happy day in Battersea park soaking up some friendship love and rare London sun. Since my trip was so very spontaneous, I contacted everyone on Facebook with a message and a link, sending everyone to a most fantastic place called The Albion in Redchurch Street just outside Liverpool Street station where I planned on having dinner. Once there and standing in line to get to the rooftop bar area I found out that in fact my link had sent everyone to another pretty cool bar in Islington, also called the Albion. According to a friend on FB I had a case of ‘linkage failure’! Oops.
Never the less, everyone ended up at the same place and we had an amazing evening amid the rooftops of Shoreditch and then a super-super dinner at a much-more-fancy-than-expected Boundary in the cellars of the same building. So what was on the menu? For most of us it was venison haunch -wow! – and lobster and langoustines. As birthday girl I decided to take full advantage and had an escargot entree, and the lovely haunch as a main and the BEST champagne and berry soup for dessert! Hmmmm… it was yummy! In fact it was so yummy that I forgot to take any pictures of anything that night. Darn! Thank you to all friends who came to celebrate at such short notice.

Saturday was festival time. My loveliest friend Julia bought me a ticket for Field Day, and so off we went through rain and shine to watch Darkstar, Twin Shadow, Warpaint, Wild Beasts and The Horrors. A pretty awesome time was had amongst some of the strangest dressed people I have ever come across. (Yes, I am talking to you bearded man in fur gillet and brown minidress!) And then suddenly London time was over.

Now it is time to head back home. Europe its been wonderful, but what the hell did you do with summer? And do not fret, our time has not ended forever. I shall return to you in September!

Tags: 2011, birthday, darkstar, field day london, hamburg, the albion, the boundary, the horrors, twin shadow, warpaint, wild beasts

its my party and i can…

This is what is so wonderful about Europe:

I am stuck in Hamburg, and by stuck I mean that this place just does not agree with me. Or I with it. So as it is my birthday weekend (yes this year I am claiming an entire weekend for myself) I didn’t want to be ‘stuck’ any longer. Options of jumping on a train to somewhere exotic flitted around my brain. Denmark was looking like the best choice as it isn’t that far and I didn’t have to get on an aeroplane. I have never been to Denmark. Research then showed me that it was Copenhagen fashion week this weekend – one thing I am trying to get away from is people, crowded cities and well shops. So I opted for the smallest island I could find, Mandø. Basically a raised wetland consisting of three farms. Perfect!

Train timetable check at the main station this morning confirmed that it would take me almost 7 hours to get to Mandø. Why? train from Hamburg to somewhere, change, to another-where, change, to even-another-where, bus, to the coast by another bus and then get on a tractor-bus to the island! Wow, ok. I could do that I am up for an adventure.
Weather check: 16 degrees and rain, rain, rain. Hmmm, adventure in the rain. Not so good.

So I booked a ticket to London instead! Ha! I have friends there and a place to stay and its not supposed to rain all weekend. And yes, I am taking a plane, and yes it is a city, and yes it is crowed. But you know what? It is also my birthday weekend, and so a slight bit of extravagance is needed.
So there you have it. I booked a flight about an hour ago, and I leave in 3. That’s what is so wonderful about Europe!

Cheack out Mandø here. It is beautiful. And I think definitely worth a visit if you are already in Denmark, or going to be in the Jutland area for longer than 2 days.

Tags: 2011, birthday, denmark, London, mandoe, mandoe-kro

Ok, I’m back and I promise to behave this time round. More blogging discipline is to be implemented. So here is to a new leaf, a turned page and blah, blah, blah…

Paris – London.

It was my friends Julia’s birthday that prompted me to head over to London. Julia and I have a super special relationship – its a traveling relationship. It all started with Reading Festival in the UK, and it ended up with her visiting me in Paris and New York and me heading over to Amsterdam with her and never skipping an opportunity to stay with her in London. So when I got sent the invite for her ‘Fuini Fiesta’ my Eurostar ticket was booked straightaway.
The strange things about visiting London this time round was that I didn’t really want to be in the city. I wanted to see my friends that lived in the city and go to a gallery or two but, I didn’t actually want to deal with the city. London is huge. It’s transport system although renowned across the world is actually a shambles, the bars close too early and the taxis are way to expensive. It is all these things that add up when you start to live in another city and try to call it home (well for at least a couple months). But do not fear, there is not only misery and complaint here, there is a party too! The day of the Fuini Fiesta comes and we are baking cupcakes and making nachos and sipping tequila and lemonade and preparing piñatas, oh and praying for good weather while it slowly begins to spit rain outside. Did I mention we were having a picnic?

birthday girl... or bandit?

Luckily everything went down well. The sun came out and I hit the piñata Llamas head off. This being slight more exciting than it should have been!

llama spoils

I also went to my usual spots on the South Bank – Borough Market and the Tate Modern. Borough market is packed is awesomeness, the lines are enormous at lunch time, with every Englishman and Aussie looking for a big plate of meat. So heading over to the veggie section you get served immediately a big box filled with a halloumi burger and barley and beetroot salad. And for desert, goats milk ice-cream! Apart from the Rothko room in the Tate which is one of my all-time favourite places in the world, there is a great permanent collection. This time they had a Joan Miro retrospective. Not knowing too much about Miro’s early works, B and I sauntered through 13 rooms of mastery. Miro’s simplicity of breaking down objects to their basic forms and lines shows us what we all really are, nothing but the same. His spots of red throughout his all his works stayed with me for the rest of the afternoon, a hint of playfulness with a heavy undercurrent.

And then it was bowling time. For those of you who have been to London and haven’t been to one of the bowling lanes – go! We booked 2 lanes for Friday night at Bloomsbury Lanes in Euston. Dressed for the occasion in cropped leather trousers, leopard print shirt, basketball varsity jacket (thanks Julia!) and lined eyes… we stepped into the basement to be greeted by a bellowing double bass, flying polka skirts, Bril cream, James Dean and a raw voice shouting out some old rock ‘n roll. After a quick shoe-swap, let the bowling begin! One game, 13 people and two 15” pizzas later we find ourselves out on the street and contemplating our next move. Inevitably the group splits up and those with a sense of adventure and no plans for the next morning head off into the East and the dead of the night.

Tags: 2011, birthday, bloomsbury bowling lanes, bowling, fiesta, greedy goat ice cream, joan miro, julia, London, safari, siri hustvedt, tate modern

madiba

Happy 93rd Birthday to the most ultimate man of our time – Nelson Mandela. He has not only shown South Africans what it is to respect and tolerate your fellow human beings, but he has shown the world that it is possible to overcome the most difficult obstacles with love.

Find out more about his work, and how you can help here.

nelson mandela

Tags: birthday, nelson mandela