The Weasel-nator returns!!!

Yes, he is returning tonight, ladies and germs!! After a 4 month hiatus in Yankee-land, and having to bond with Ferdi, it will be cool to have our middle brother back. I miss that bugger a lot. I just cant believe though that these 4 months went by so quickly!!!

So tonight Ferdi and I are picking him up at the airport, group hugs are guaranteed to be plenty. Word on the street is that we are getting some cool presents. But we are not greedy, we can wait till tomorrow. The bugger will probably be exhausted, and possibly hungover. Lol. We need another intervention!!!!

When Worlds Collide - the aftermath

And Collide I did!! Straight into my bed, that is! I was so buggered by the time Berny and I got to my place last night after Tempos that all I could do was just pass out on my bed. But I dont regret it one bit! Looks like Tempos is the place to be for some guaranteed kickass fun! And good company, of course.

We made a late fashionable entrance just after 5, and after getting a drink plus some Falling Short and Torment badges, we were called over by Ian, who Berny and I now call, Falling Short's daddy. I wish I had a cool rocker dad like him, mine just sits at home. Soon the drinks flowed faster than I could keep up, and of course, cameras were a-flashing non-stop too!

Falling Short and Torment rocked the stage, man they were awesome! Berny and I went wild. And I was so glad that I finally got to see LA Cobra. I wish I could see them play more often; they play my kind of music.

By the time Jo Day and then Inersha, came on, I was beginning to chill down after too many shooters and settled down next to Reinard and watched the bands from a distance – something I rarely do, but seeing as things got rather hectic earlier, I had to slow things down. After all, before he dropped Berny and me off at Tempos, Ferdi had warned me not to throw up in the car when he fetched me later on. In fear of his wrath, I had to obey. Haha. But I still managed to enjoy the bands at least.

I cant say much else, except that Berny and I had the time of our lives thank to these guys. The pictures speak for themselves…groupies? Us? Nah. Lol.

Another international band disappoints

As much as I tried to ignore the snide comments from some people predicting that Guns n Roses were most probably going to cancel the Coke Fest at the last minute, at the back of my mind I knew that this was going to happen. And now the prophecy has come true. Surprise surprise! Another American band disappoints. I will add them to the list of bands that I had purchased tickets for and then decided to cancel: Limp Bizkit (you are dead to me) and Nickelback (I cant even believe I bothered, I dont even like your music). Guns n Roses, my favourite childhood band, I cant believe you have disappointed me too.

Maybe I am being a bit harsh, I mean, the reason they are not coming is that the bassist, Tommy Stinson, allegedly sprained his wrist. Ok, maybe not allegedly, but this still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Surely they can replace the bassist for these shows? Or am I wrong.
Ever since I heard that GnR was coming to South Africa, I was like a kid at Christmas, jumping up and down with excitement until I got those tickets in my hand. Since they were one of my favourite bands (and since I had a huge crush on Axl Rose when I was younger, ssshhhhh dont tell anyone), I maxed out my credit card by insisting on getting the best tickets available for my brother and me, in the golden circle. They were the only reason I was really going to the Coke Fest. Otherwise I wouldnt have really bothered. Sure, they are not THE Guns n Roses I knew then, Axl is the only original member. But Axl IS Guns n Roses (despite the blatant absence of legend Slash).

When dear Berny broke the news this morning, I was praying that she was playing a nasty belated April Fools joke on me. But it wasnt to be, the 5fm website confirmed their withdrawal from the concert. I then debated whether to get a refund on my tickets or still go to the event. Then, I thought, what the hell, Axl, or no Axl, I am going to go to this Coke Fest and make it worth my while. There are still some good bands playing, like Staind, and the Nudies. So be it then.
As for Axl, well, Im reluctant to write him off completely like I did with Limp Bizkit. But Im damn close to doing so.

When Worlds Collide

I admit it, I have been too lazy again to write anything. Lazy to do anything in fact, even though I managed to work hard all week and be up to date with my work as of this morning. I just feel like hitting my head against the wall as my weeks get more boring and bland by the minute. I live for weekends, when all the excitement happens. That's why, I am happy to report that, after much begging and synchronising with our kind brothers, Berny and I will be attending this gig at Tempos on Saturday:

Im really excited. I get to see Falling Short again, who have promised Berny and I each a copy of their video, and a CD soon to follow, as well as iNeRsHa again. Im also quite keen on seeing LA Cobra for the first time. I have heard so much about them and have waited patiently for them to come play in JHB since they are based in Pretoria. Last but not least, Torment. Their drummer told me that they have a new guitarist. I just hope that Berny doesnt ask the wrong member again if he is the new guitarist, lol.

Looking forward to hanging out with Ms Sensual Sloth again. What a cool chick, she definitely rocks!

So until then, I at least have jnf and ujfm chat (with the occassional "full blown orgy" to amuse me haha) keeping me sane. Unfortunately I am stuck here until around 6 tonight thanks to my boss rescheduling our morning meeting for this afternoon. Bugger.

Friday the 13th Fest at Tempos - WHAT A NIGHT!!

Last night turned out to be more than I bargained for, which seems to always be the case when I get to see some of SA’s finest bands. I had been looking forward all week to seeing Aion Truth again, along with Chromium and iNeRsHa, my current three favourite SA bands (who incidentally all played at my birthday party earlier this year). Another favourite, Knave was also there and a fairly new band, Munkinpure.

My brother, Ferdi and I arrived early, and were met by Dylan from Aion Truth in his clown outfit. Since it was Friday the 13th, everyone was encouraged to dress up as their favourite character from a horror movie. I cowered behind Ferdi in fear, as clowns really do scare me. He actually reminded me a lot of the Slipknot clown so eventually I warmed up to him and even posed for a photo. I think the alcohol had a lot to do with it though. In the end, I didn’t really dress up since finding a decent scary female character was too much work for me. I kind of did a half job of dressing up as Amanda from Saw, and borrowed some of Dylan’s paints to paint Ferdi’s face and sort of make him look like Uncle Fester from the Addams Family.

The turn-out was great and I stood in front to greet the bands as they arrived. Blonde moment of the night went to my dearest sidekick, Berny, when she asked Cavan, the bassist from iNeRsHa if he was their new guitarist. I wanted to kick her, but I was laughing so much I couldn’t do much else. She said he looked different – didn’t look different to me, he just had a bit of make-up on. We were then introduced to the real new guitarist, Colin. When I was just recovering from Berny’s little whoops moment, another girl came over to Cavan and asked him if he was the new guitarist. Cavan, of course, was dumbstruck. I was almost on the floor. Shame, poor guy.

Munkinpure kicked off. Their audience was rather tiny as they are pretty much an unknown band, but not too bad I thought. Berny and I watched their whole set and moved to the beat of their catchy songs. They are not the usual hardcore bands that I prefer, but I really enjoyed watching this band. I hope to see more of them.

What can I say about Aion Truth that I haven’t already? This band just gets better and better with each performance and I can tell by the way the crowd goes wild. I just cannot wait till they release their first CD. I have a few demos of their songs, “Awakened” being my ultimate favourite, which Dylan dedicated to the Aion Truth Army once more. They ended with another favourite of mine, a new song called “Deliver Us”. My throat still hurts from all my crazy screaming.

Next was Knave but I had to take a break from the music as tequila was calling my name. But from what I could hear from the bar, the crowd was loving every minute of it. Rock on, guys! While I was downing tequilas I met up with Ms Sensual Sloth and EVOL drummer Charles from Torment. They have convinced me to come to next Saturday’s gig at Tempos, labelled “When Worlds Collide”. The band line-up looks really good, including the likes of iNeRsHa, Torment, Falling Short, Jo Day and LA Cobra, among others. I really must make it to this one.

After posing for several photos, and mucking about, I moved to my usual spot in front of the stage to watch Chromium. I have to admit, that this must be SA’s most kickass band of the moment. They always kick off with my personal favourite “Forgive Me” and go on with major mosh-pit producing songs like “Control”, “New Born Eyes” and “Set Me Free” their first single of their album, “Intro Spectre”. This time, for “Set Me Free” they were joined on stage by Louis from Knave who screamed out their chorus. Flippen amazing, I have never seen a crowd go as crazy as they did that night.

After they were done, I was practically finished, suffering from the odd blackout and realised that I had no more memory in my camera left to take pictures of the final band, iNeRsHa. So my phone camera had to do, though the quality was not as good, of course. This was the first time I had seen these boys since February, when they had Sean’s farewell gig and the first time that I had seen their new guitarist, Colin. I was quite impressed by his guitar skills, and it didn’t seem to make a difference to their sound at all. But then again, I am not a music instrument expert, so others might disagree with me. Fred, as usual, got the crowd going with his amazing vocals and stage presence. I hope to see them next Saturday again.

At the end of the evening, I was tipsy, I was happy, I wanted to steal little Dylan’s (drummer from Aion Truth) Viking head gear. I haven’t had this much fun in ages, and hope there will be more gigs like this one!

I have a hangover from hell

And this is why

But it was an AWESOME night. Details to follow soon as my headache disappears!

Reminder: Friday the 13th Fest!

Be there! Scare the hell out of me! Just be there!

Last year I wrote about Friday the 13th - whether we should be really superstitious about it or not, and how it all started. I am still undecided about whether it's an unlucky day or not, and so far this day has given me mixed feelings about it.

Ferdi and I left at our usual time this morning - to find almost no traffic. GOOD THING. I forgot my breakfast. BAD THING. One of my systems went down. BAD THING. I got the baffled question right this morning for UJfm's daily quiz. GOOD THING. So it was just another sort of typical day with good and bad things happening. Cant blame anything on the fact that its Friday the 13th today.

But Im sure it will end on a good note! Tonight is gonna be kickass!!!

Female Horror Characters

Friday’s gig at Tempo’s is themed Friday the 13th Fest, duh. Everyone has to come dressed up as their favourite horror character. Really easy, if you are a guy, there are plenty to choose from like Freddy Krueger, Jason, Dracula, Frankenstein, Leatherface, Hannibal Lecter, Ferdi, the list is endless.

But what about girls? Not many out there. Normally they get to play the victim, the damsel in distress that runs away screaming in the wrong direction and gets her head chopped off by the demented freak. They get stalked, they get slashed, or scream their lungs out, or typically, they prepare for their shower scene.
There are some sort of scary female characters, like Carrie, the little girl from the Ring, Frankenstein’s bride, Dracula’s brides, Celine from Underworld, Morticia, but most of these require a lot of effort, and frankly, Im not big on effort right now.
I have considered going as Amanda from the Saw movies. That should be simple enough. All I have to do is pull a mean face. I have the hair, I have the pure evil in me.


One of my favourite female characters and one that I would have loved to try out is the Queen of the Damned, Anne Rice's Queen Akasha, the mother of all vampires. Unfortunately, I dont look Egyptian, nor do I feel comfortable to prance around half-naked like she did. But she is definitely my favourite. So evil, so self-centered, so powerful. Until her demise that is, lol.

Or I could always go as Barbie - now THAT is scary!!! Moohahahahhahaha!!!!

I am sad today

My aunt and uncle left today to return to Argentina. The past three weeks flew by so damn quickly!!! And it if hadnt been for my local aunt's overzealous holiday trips all over the place, I would have gotten more time to spend with my godfather. Oh well, no use blaming her or anybody, they are gone now. But they made me promise that I will come back to visit next year, with my brothers. I so badly want to! Last time I was there I had such a ball!!!

This complicates matters for me a bit because I have been putting off my London trip to see my best friend Wendy, for many years now and its long overdue. I also want to go to Cape Town, George, PE AND Bloemfontein!!! Why is everyone so scattered? Lol. And lets not forget my licence woes that will eventually require lots of spending on my part.

But if there is a will (not an inheritance, you fools, an urge, a determination! LOL), then I will defininitely find a way!

Though my uncle and aunt are now gone, at least Weasel is returning in two weeks' time! I had a long conversation with him on Saturday night and even though he is enjoying getting to see a lot of the US of A, I could tell that he missed home a lot. He should now be in Las Vegas and then he is off to LA and returns to San Jose for the last week to finalise and pack everything.

I think we need another intervention party!!!!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow!

Every three years or so, I get the "I-need-to-cut-my-hair-ridiculously-short" itch. And it doesnt stop itching until I do it. Last time I did it was about 3 years ago when I dyed it pitch black and cut chopped it short. So 3 years are up again, and the itch was back. I finally gave in a few weeks ago. I was anyway getting tired of the blonde, which was so difficult and expensive to maintain. I was born blonde, but it mysteriously darkened when we moved to Africa.

BEFORE:

This time I decided to go for a colour more closer to my natural hue (though I forget these days what my natural colour actually is!). I opted for a chocolate brown instead of the pitch black which made me look pale and sick - if I ever need a long break from work cause I look ill - then that is the colour I will go for!

My hairdresser had this excited look on her face as she chopped a huge bunch on my hair in one snip and showed me my hair. She asked me if I wanted to keep it but Im not that sentimental. Its actually kind of creepy to keep your own hair!! She decided I needed a "Posh Spice bob" and I looked at her in fear. Me? Posh Spice? Hell no. But I was happy with the end result. I looked nothing like Mrs Beckham as I asked her to cut it a bit shorter in the front.

AFTER:

I have to admit that I miss my long locks now, but Im blessed with a rapid hair re-growth. It should be a decent shoulder length in 6 months unless I keep on chopping it off. The advantages of this cut is that I dont have to do anything with it. No blowdrying, no brushing really. I just mess it up with mousse and voila! I love it. I feel so much better with dark hair!

Happy Easter!!!

Happy Easter everyone!!!! Dont indulge in too many chocolate eggs!!

Ferdi and I woke up at 4:30am for our Easter Sunrise Service this morning, as per tradition. Since I played on the internet till the early hours and struggled to fall asleep thereafter, I only got about 3 hours sleep. Im sort of awake so Im gonna watch Back to the Future II and see if I can stay awake or not!!!! Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

Thursday night at Roxys

This was the first time that the Aion Truth Army got together in numbers to see Aion Truth perform at Roxys. And what a fun time we had! I have never seen, been dragged into and partaken in so many random group hugs in one night! Haha. It was also quite a family event: we had about 6 sets of siblings there: Foot soldier Ferdi and me, of course, Sgt Berny and Martin, Princess Amy and Corporal Craig, Lyndall and Jonathan, Morgan and her sister, and little Dylan and his brother/sister, I think. Cant really remember, oops!

Aion Truth was supposed to go on first but at the last minute they were asked to go on last, so we watched the other bands first. The Havoc Vultures kicked off, and I could have sworn we had gone back to the seventies. They weren’t bad, just not my type of music. It took us a while to figure out what the lead singer had in his pocket until he pulled it out for a song: it looked like he had glued several spoons together as some sort of instrument. Lol.

After that it was the Vulcan Nerve Pinch. Maybe I was just too tired, but I didn’t really pay too much attention plus I was bummed about how the Roxys barmen were ripping us off with the drinks. Tarryn caught them out though. After they he wanted to charge her R22 for a Red Bull (WTF???) and she complained, the barman went to the back to “check on the price” and told her it was actually R18. Still a ridiculous price, but now I am convinced we are getting ripped off big time here.

Many people were looking forward to seeing The Kick, who came on next, so I watched to see what the fuss was all about. I thought they were good, especially when another singer came on to sing the last song (awesome) but their what seemed like 15 minute long song near the end made me a bit restless.

I was disappointed that a lot of people left after The Kick were done but we still had a good crowd to watch Aion Truth. I moved to the front and had a kick ass time. My neck still hurts, but it was worth it. Awakening is definitely my favourite song and I was so chuffed when Dylan dedicated it to me, Berny and the rest of the Aion Truth Army. Thanks!!

In the end it was a good night, though it killed me to go to bed so late. Thank goodness this is a long weekend! It was also cool to finally meet some of the guys we have been chatting to on the UJfm site. Thanks for coming! Hope to see you all again soon!

Dont forget this gig tonight!!!

Better see you all there!!!

My Licence Woes Continue...

After all the kak that I went through with the licence call centre last year, I got desperate and decided to go straight to the testing station to see if I could book for my learners’ test for once and for all. I had been warned that I’d probably need a whole day just to stand in line all day, but if that is what I have to do, then that’s what I have to do.

Last Friday, Ingrid, Basti and I finally decided to go to the Randburg testing station to book. There is strength and motivation in numbers. But it was all in vain. First of all, Ferdi and I went to the Licencing Department by mistake (he thought that was were we had to book). Ingrid and Basti had gone to the correct place and phoned me to ask me where I was. Turns out, that they don’t take any bookings on Fridays. The lazy buggers. Looks like they wanted a long weekend.

So we decided to go back on Monday. After queuing outside in the cold for almost an hour, a notice gets put on the gate saying that computers were down on Friday, will be down that day, AND the following day. Looks like they can see into the future. So they got an even longer weekend. Bastards.

What amused me was this guy that came up to me while I was walking to the long queue. He told me that he had a place right in front of the queue and he would sell it to me. So even this now has become a money making scheme! I told him no and walked away, Im not that desperate to pay R100 just for a place in front of the queue. Not yet. Well, Im glad I said no because that would have been precious money down the drain.

I went back this morning, much earlier, hoping to get a better place in the queue. But as soon as Ingrid, Basti and I were dropped off, our faces dropped when we saw that this queue was even longer than before. Seems like all the people that were turned away last week were all here today. And lets not forget that its also school holidays.

After waiting for an hour again, a man came outside and told everyone that computers were down, again, in the whole of Gauteng. Now you cant help getting angry and start to shout at this man after all this nonsense. I felt just a little bit bad for him but come on! This is really pathetic now!!!

The people I really feel sorry for is the schoolkids that wanted to use the holidays to book. They now only have one day left, and chances are they wont be able to book then either. I seriously dont know what to do anymore, my patience is running out. Maybe I should, after all, go outside Gauteng to book my learners, because this province is PATHETIC!!!

Gold Reef City

On Saturday morning I was rushed out of the house at the last minute to accompany my aunt W, uncle R and my aunt C that's visiting from Argentina to Gold Reef City. OK, I rushed by choice, cause I really wanted to go. After Friday night's hectic drinking, I had just gotten up and had a quick shower when I was told that they were leaving. But I made it! Who said girls cant get ready quickly, huh?

The last time I was there was around 2002. Cant believe time had gone so fast. The first shock that I got was how much the entrance fee had gone up! It put a huge dent on my purse, but oh well, at least I got to spend some quality time with aunt C. My two aunts first went down to the mine shaft for the tour. I refused to pay extra to go down so I waited outside with my uncle and browsed around the curio shops. Everything was so damn expensive. I guess its all better suited for tourists.

When they came out we went on the ferris wheel. Now I have a huge fear of heights so going up on the ferris wheel was a huge task for me - but sometimes I like to face my fears head on (though I will never ever, face up to a c-c-c-c-lown). I did alright, I think, though I hate the part when we stop right at the top for a while and the wind rocks the cage back and forth. It was soooo cold. I managed to be brave and take a few pics too:

We went on a few boring rides after that, even the Thunder Train was boring. I really wanted to go on the Anaconda (kind of ironic for someone who is afraid of heights, but I love the adrenaline rush of it, and the ride is quick). The last time I was there I went on it and had a picture taken. The expression on my face was priceless. But this time the queue was too long. Aunt C even wanted to go with me. It was a pity. All I could do was watch the lucky buggers that had the patience to queue for so long (for the train we queued for over 40 mins, ridiculous).

The afternoon went by too quickly. Having to queue all over the place really shortened our activities so I felt that I didnt get my money's worth. In the end we settled down at Mugg & Bean for a late lunch. I was buggered, but had a bit of fun. Dont think I will be going back there anytime soon.

The Aion Truth Army Uprising!!!

Recently I was extremely honoured to be ranked as Sergeant Cazzy of the Aion Truth Army. Together with my kickass sidekick, Sgt Berny, we run the army and try to promote them as much as we can. Check out the site at www.myspace.com/aiontrutharmy and become our friend!!

Aion Truth consists of Johan Joubert on lead vocals and guitar, Dylan Ellis on guitar and backing vocals, Morgan Retief on bass, and Dylan Van Zyl on drums. This is one of SA's up and coming bands so get to a gig and support them NOW!

Upcoming gigs: This Thursday 5 April at Roxys, playing with Havoc Vultures, the Vulcan Nerve Pitch and The Kick. Also, check the gig below that's happening at Tempos, Friday the 13th!! Its bound to be AWESOME!! Im dressing up! Are you?