Double Whammy

Getting up on Saturday morning was a mission and a half so while Ruan and Tai went to do some shopping, I got ready in slooooow motion. The day I had been waiting for weeks had finally arrived – Thornfest 2 at Tempos! Hell Yeah!

By the time the boys got back, armed with pizza and guitar strings, I was ready to rock ‘n headbang. Until I finished my breakfast/lunch, then sleepiness kicked in so Ruan and I took a power nap which almost made us late! We arrived just in time to see Tempos packed with rockers; 5 on the dot to see our buddies, Fragmented Children. Their new female vocalist, Sam, never failed to amaze me. Boy, can this girl scream! You rock, babe!

After that we watched Deity’s Muse, a band I really dig to watch but don’t often get the chance to do so. What a talented band. After that we mostly hung around the bar, waiting for the next band to finish so our boys could get on stage. Sometime after 7, Torment finally came on. We moshed, we drank Jager, we took lots of self-portraits, heheh. But most of all, we rocked our asses off. What a great crowd!

Then it was back to the bar for some more damage though I managed to watch some of Knave and Chromium as well. My memory is a bit fuzzy (damn those suitcases) but we all had a kickass time, forgetting that we had to be here the next day for another round of damage.

I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and mounting hunger for some sustenance. Getting up was not an option, but after much insistence from Ruan that I had 3 hours to get ready to get to Tempos (I do not take THAT long, pffft); I got up, miffed a bit then began my cleansing process. Turns out that I took less than hour and still had a few minutes to spare, hmmm.

While Tai took all the gear in the car, Ruan and I raced to Tempos in his bike. What a thrilling ride. I’m getting used to the speed very quickly now; 180km/h seems like nothing! Go FASTER FASTER FASTER!!! We made it a few seconds before 3, just as we were told. Most of the band was already there, chilling and looking as fresh as daisies, lol.

I swore I was only going to drink coke and/or water, but I thought, what the hell, lets have some brandy and coke, though this time I paced myself a great deal. And only ONE shooter, right at the end.

This time Torment played on the upper stage, which I rather hate cause I have to look up to see the band. And it doesn’t allow for much interaction from the crowd since they are so high up. Sunday’s crowd was much older, quieter and since most of us were pretty hungover from the previous night, we made quiet a dead, boring, audience. But that didn’t bother the boys as they had fun on stage and mucked about a bit. I had a good laugh when dearest monkey broke his guitar strap near the end but still managed to finish the song, albeit badly (so he says).

We hung around for about an hour after that, then had another awesome ride on the bike back home so I could pack my stuff and get ready to go to the movies with Eugene and Rene. We waited for Tai to get back with the car then drove to Cresta. I was feeling beat and sleepy after all this partying but I was amped to see the Dark Night so I made an effort to stay awake – though I gave in halfway through the movie, closed my eyes and I was gone. Not that the movie was boring, cause it wasn’t. Heath Ledger (RIP) was absolutely brilliant and hilarious as the Joker, and Christian Bale super suave and handsome as Bruce Wayne/Batman. But after a few nudges from Ruan, I was wide awake and caught the last twenty minutes or so of the movie. Guess, I will have to watch it again!

What a weekend!

(check facebook for more pics!)

Back to the 80s!

My Friday night turned out to be more eventful than expected. Since my hairier half was having a quick band session that evening and catching up with me later, I decided to indulge in a long bath and take my time getting ready. I had barely set one foot out of the bath when I get a phone call from Bianca. I contemplated not answering since I hate answering the phone in the bathroom (people sometimes think you are doing something else in there) and returning her call a little later, but something made me pick it up immediately. I am glad that I did. She phoned to tell me that she was picking me up in 15 minutes (15 minutes!!!) and taking me to Mousetrap at the Dome; the boys would be joining us later.

It’s amazing how quick I can be when given a little push, because I am famous for dawdling (spelling), poor Ruan has had to put up with that a lot. I got dressed, stuffed a ridiculous amount of clothes and toiletries in my gym bag and was ready to party by the time Bianca and her friend Julie arrived. Dragging my extremely heavy bag, I jumped into the car and off we went.

We got there just before 8 so the place was still practically empty and took a long time before the crowds started to fill the venue. The theme of the evening was mostly 80s and some 90s music, plus with tons of drinks specials, we were in our element!

Several drinks later we got some courage and strutted our stuff on the dance floor while the boys sat and watched. Poor things looked extremely bored but us girls were having so much fun we just couldn’t stop. It had been a long long time since I last danced so much. It reminded me of my good old days at Bourbon Street and Hurricanes. Damn, I miss those days! (and doesn’t that make me sound like an old fart, heheh).

There is nothing better than 80s music. Who can’t help but sing along to the likes of Starship, The Dyvinils, KC and the Sunshine Band and more. The DJ also played some good old rock tunes from Bon Jovi, AC/DC and Green Day. That’s when my monkey actually joined me for a dance or two. He wanted to leave early, but each time I convinced him to stay “for another 5 minutes”.

We left just after midnight, but not before a whole stack of balloons were dropped from the ceiling, with little freebies inside. I popped one and got a free shooter voucher, I think it was called Dynamite. Considering all the bugs Bianca and Julie bought for us, I was surprised I managed to have just one more shooter.

On the way home we stopped for some sustenance and then off to the bat cave, since the weekend was just starting for us! HECTIC! Stay tuned for more…

Gimme da beef, not da shicken!!!!

As I was surreptiously walking through the aisles of CNA at Cresta last night, I get a call from my Dad telling me we have been invited to dinner at Jimmy’s Prawns by Shawn’s family and that I had to cut my shopping experience short, race home and get ready. First thought, family outing – yay, we haven’t had one of those in ages. I was actually excited, who would have thought. Second thought – oh shit, its prawns, I don’t freaking eat freaking prawns!!!

Many would agree that I am a fussy person when it comes to food, and I have been forced to admit that I am. Even as a child, I would throw myself on the floor in a fit of rage if I didn’t get the food I specifically wanted. When I think back, I cant believe that I hated tomatoes and spinach (picture a tomato-less pizza – just dough and cheese. Yes, my poor mother was forced to do that for me). Something I still loathe and abhor, is chicken and seafood.

It’s actually funny how many people forget that I only eat beef (and it has to be well done. Dead actually. Don’t give me something that’s still alive cause I wont eat it). Just the other day, I was having lunch at the Baron with some work mates, and one of the “hot topics” of conversation over several bottles of red wine, was my particular distaste of chicken, and its origins. The very next day, while poking through the “delicacies” that were being offered by three people who were celebrating their birthdays, one of my colleagues, who was present at the lunch the day before, tried to offer me a prawn cake. I looked at him as if he was crazy, and he returned the look when I told him I don’t eat that stuff. Slowly, our previous conversation dawned on him. I swear, some people have the memory of a goldfish. Yes, I know its not common for someone to hate chicken and seafood, but please people, make this mental note stick: I ONLY EAT BEEF! Everything else is excluded (not only chicken and seafood – note, anything that comes from the SEA, don’t try give me oysters, caviar, or prawns, I WONT EAT IT – pork, lamb, kudu, ostrich, crocodile, cat, dog.). Funny enough, I eat ham and bacon. Weird – told you I was fussy.

So why all the fuss? Well, seafood is smelly. If my mother tries to cook that in our house, I try stay as far away as possible as the smell is bad enough to bring my last meal right back up. The other meats just give me the creeps for one reason or other. The chicken, however, has the best story.

Some of my earliest memories go as far back as when I was a tadpole. Joking. When I was two, living in the house my grandfather had built in Buenos Aires, Argentina, we had several chickens in a coop in our modest garden. Every morning I would go and feed them, and play with them. They were my very own “pet” chickens (now I think where my preference not to have pets comes from as well. Geez, my parents f*cked up my childhood).

One bleak and dreary morning (might have been sunny, but due to the following course of events, I am making it as horrible as possible), I go out to the garden to get up to my usual mischief and self-entertainment, when horror of horrors, I was faced with a bloody scene before my eyes. Standing by a table, with a big, bloody knife and mean look on her face, was my aunt (may she rest in peace), butchering one of my chickens for what would supposedly be our next lunch. I cant recall what happened next, just that scene stayed permanently glued to my brain, reminding me of that gruesome morning.

Needless to say, I never ate chicken after that. My mother tried to trick me several times by “sneaking” in the chicken in my food. Many times she succeeded, but eventually I outsmarted her every time and refused to eat until she made me something else. Ok, go ahead and say it – I am spoilt brat. To this day, I get something different to eat when she cooks chicken. I will not eat it.

Funny enough, I have seen one or two cows being slaughtered at one time or another, but these events happened at a much later stage when I was old enough to understand where our food came from. And I never had a pet cow called Clarabelle or Daisy. So it was all good. And no one can keep me away from a good old hamburger from McDs or Wimpy. Impossible.

I tried to go vegetarian once to be a bit healthier since unfortunately I had to pick the worst meat for my daily nutritional needs. That lasted about two months. I couldn’t resist the hamburgers, and steaks. And having pasta without bolognaise sauce was just not on.

So going back to our family outing last night, I was glad to see that the menu included some non-seafood delights like one of my favourites, rump steak. Well done, of course. Dead. Not alive. Accompanied by some awesome, crispy onion rings and chips, I was stuffed and satisfied, but not before I indulged in a Lindt chocolate mousse pancake. Weasel was convinced his name was written on the pancake with white chocolate, and after much irritation and persistence, he scored more than half of it since I could not devour any more of the chocolate richness. A small taste of it would have been enough.

The dinner was quite fun and enjoyable but I soon realised why we don’t go out as a family often – you cant take these people anywhere. For Christmas, I am getting Ferdi and Weasel one of those little old lamps you get to call the waiter. Then they can switch it on and off to their hearts content.

How about makin’ bacon? (that’s one for Ferdi)


Mooooooooooooo.

Tales from the gym

After a 3 month-plus hiatus, I returned to the gym, huffing and puffing, on Monday night. Having barely recovered from a two week long bronchitis and flu, I might have been a bit over-zealous as I almost passed out on the bike. But determined as I am, I stuck to my guns and completed a 40 minute workout, ran for my life in the pitch dark back home while the cold air burned my lungs and did weights and stretched for another 40 minutes.

While at the gym, I realised why I enjoy going there so much. Not only for the great sudden burst of energy and all-round feeling you get after a good workout, but also for all the weird and wonderful characters that you come across there. Even after my long absence from the gym, I saw that not much had changed since then. The energetic masses, from all walks of life, were there to work off their winter indulgences, pretty much like I was.

You have the hot studs (mainly the gym instructors) who pull back their shoulders and walk around like they own the place – I still cant help staring and drooling. They mainly hang around the circuit as doing cardio is almost beneath them.

Then you have the pretty, fragile Barbies who barely break a sweat so as not to pull a hair out of place or ruin their label workout outfits. But then again, they don’t really need to exercise, do they?

The ones that really make me laugh though, are the trolls and freaks. Which hole they crawled out of, I don’t know. These people certainly are not worried about their appearances and would make Vernon Koekemoer’s wardrobe look like Armani. Picture neon gym shorts in all sorts of bright, beautiful colours, thick striped baggy pyjama pants, oversized tank tops and those stupid boxing championship belts (someone loves to show off).

So yeah, liquorice all sorts at the gym. Now I am contemplating whether I should get off my lazy ass today and make another round trip over there. Having stuffed my face with sweet delights at work, maybe I should?

My Obsession with Jared Leto continues...

I got my first ink on Monday morning. It was time. For some reason I switched on my phone two hours before my alarm was scheduled to go off. It was as if my psyche was telling me to do so. I didnt get up though, I just lay there and groaned as my neck ached. Five minutes later, my phone rang and I croakely answered. It was the tattoo parlour asking me to come earlier as they wanted to close up shop at 13:00, since it was a public holiday. I looked at my watch, that gave me two hours to crawl out of bed, so I muttered a "ok" and hung up. Everything went in slow motion as I dragged my sore body to Cresta.

My hands were shaking, not so much for being nervous but due to the fact that I was hungover and hadnt eaten much in the last 3 days. I handed over my design and waited patiently while they prepared everything. Five minutes later I was called in and so began my moment of torture.

Only, it wasnt anything like torture. I barely felt any pain as the needle went into my skin, filling it with the black ink. I suppose having been poked and probed by needles of my life, this was a piece of cake. All I felt was a tingling sensation. 10 minutes and it was all over. I looked at my wrist and saw with pride my very first tattoo.

So what did I get? The 30 Seconds to Mars glyphics, thats what! Heheheh. I cant get enough of this band. But not only that, the symbols look really awesome, and fit my wrist perfectly. I love it. I checked several sites to get the exact meaning of them, and while there is no sure translation, there are two possible meanings:

The first being "30 Seconds to Mars", of course.

The second, one which I prefer more, are the four terrestrial planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

Another meaning, which I came up with in jest, is "I love Jared Leto", bwhahahaha.

Could this be the start of a meaningful relationship with ink and needles? I hope not. I know that it becomes very addictive and I dont want to end up looking like a walking, breathing painting. But I definitely wouldn't mind a few more "obscure" tattoos here and there. Only time will tell.

Seasons Wither 2!!!!

Painkillers, I NEED painkillers! Those were my first thoughts when I got rudely awakened this morning by the sounds of the vaccuum cleaner sucking up the mess downstairs. My ears were ringing badly enough as it was and no matter what, I couldnt go back to sleep. But Im not really complaining, all the aches and pains, the bruises, the loud ringing, it was all worth it. Seasons Wither 2 was even better than its predecessor! If only the day hadn't flown!

After much partying this weekend, I felt that nothing could get me down in anticipation of this event. And it didnt. We got to the Dome just after 12, and having quickly inspected the inside of Partyhouse and Rock Domination, transformed into the most amazing setting for a rock concert of note, with 3 stages, we quickly raced to McDonalds to line our stomachs. Well, I raced, the fat boys seemed to be in no hurry.

Having to adjust to light and dark as we exited and entered Partyhouse proved to be quite difficult, especially for someone like me that hates the bright daylight in my eyes (spoken like a true vamp). Once inside, you sorta forgot that it was actually daytime outside. Berny and I got our treasured Seasons Wither 2 tshirts, kicked off with a shot of tequila and parked by the Main Stage which looked amazing with 3 screens featuring the SW2 logo in a blast of fire.

First band was Elysium and I had a good giggle when Ferdi told me that the screamo vocalist was his boss' son. Not bad for a bunch of teenagers, but they totally destroyed Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit. Next up was one of my favourite bands, my boys from Fragmented Children. We all were looking forward to hearing their new vocalist, a chick this time, who was performing her final audition at SW2. Wooohooo! She seemed a bit nervous, which is understandable and unfortunately we couldnt hear her properly, but from what we COULD hear, she sounded hardcore and could belt out those screams without much effort. She definitely got my vote, especially since we got a killer mosh pit going and even I dared to join - thats quite an achievement! So boys, I hope you she's here to stay, she's definitely a keeper! YOU ROCK! And Ray, shot for the drum stick!!!!

We took a bit of a break after that, walking around for stuff to do, of which there was plenty, and meeting tons of friends here and there. Berny took a shot at the mechanical bull and last about 10 seconds while making funny sounds. I got the video clip - hilarious! Hee hee. We entered the Guitar Hero comp as well, but despite getting assistance from Julia, we both sucked heheh. Guess I can kiss my dreams of becoming the next Slash goodbye!

Several Smirnoff Storms later, we returned to the Main Stage to catch the last bits of Unlisted. I regretted not staying to watch Facing the Gallows and missing most of Agro, but I really wanted to watch New Found Disorder, a band I have been wanting to see for ages, at the Rock Domination stage. Before that we caught the last bits of Reach, another band I have been wanting to see and then headbanged till our heads almost rolled, to New Found Disorder. Smokin'!!!!!

Our plans kind of faltered after that (I wanted to watch Only Forever and missed them :( Oh well)as we got lured by Louis from Knave on stage for some Metal Karaoke. It didnt take much arm twisting to get me to sing, since I have always loved the attention heheh. Dreams of being a rock star almost came true as I kicked off the competition by being the first on stage and giving the audience my rendition of Guns n Roses' Sweet Child of Mine. I have always loved to imitate Axl Rose's voice but instead, I sounded more like a girly Sheryl Crow. Berny swears I sounded good but after having watched a short video clip of me singing, Im not so sure. Still, it was fun and was amazed at how comfortable I felt on stage. Stage fright, me? NEVER! I was born to perform. Makes me wish I had auditioned for Fragmented Children! Hee hee. Never mind, just you wait, one day I will start a band baby! Start a band!

Needless to say, I didnt win and in retrospect I wish I had sung another more hardcore song, but as always, it was the guys that outperformed the chicks (there were two of us, a girl sang Nirvana's Smells like Teen Spirit after me, though we couldnt really hear her). Zack impressed me by singing an AC/DC song (cant remember which one) and the guy that followed, was absolutely kickass with Metallica's Enter Sandman. Last guy totally killed Evanescence's Bring Me to Life, doing a metal version. Ugh. Berny and I helped out in the end when Louis shoved another mic in front of us, hahhahahahahaha.

We then raced back to the main stage to catch the Torment boys in action. I secured myself a prime spot in front by the stage steps. We went totally apeshit as Wez and the boys rocked our socks off. What a performance! I attempted to enter the mosh pit as Wez went down and joined the crowd but ran out as soon as I entered, having clashed with Wez and biting my lip open. Bleeding lips - heheheh, Berny! I sucked the blood clean and carried on partying.

We stayed put as next were Chromium. Cant believe its been so long since I last saw these guys. It was cool that they changed the order of their songs around as I was getting too used to their routine. More headbanging, more screaming, more fists in the air. Hell Yeah, I was rockin' baby! I even got Jared's sweaty armband as sweet Llewellyn caught it and handed it to me. Shot, dude!

I could feel weary after all that, the long day was catching up with me so I mellowed out a bit and sat by the bar as Knave came on. 16 Stitch I watched from afar and returned back to front as soon as Pestroy came on - I hadnt seen them in over a year, methinks. It was difficult trying to avoid the mosh pit, I would have gladly joined it but I was too buggered and bruised so I pushed aside anyone that got near me.

I really wanted to stay to watch Underbelly after that, but clearly we were all worn out by the day's kick ass performances by quality, hardcore SA bands. Bed was calling us all, and so we slowly dragged our feet to the parking lot; I dozed off as we journeyed home.

So who needs international bands when we have all this amazing (how many times have I used this word today? But honestly, I was totally amazed!) talent right here on our soil? I take my hat off to Bo and the rest of the organisers who put together such an outstanding event. You are a ROCK QUEEN, Bo! Cant wait to see what else you have in store for us! THANK YOU!

(see facebook for more pics)

And finally - PART THREE

(sorry for the delays, Im so lazy. Also, sorry for the poor quality of the pics, need a new camera!!!)

After Kaiser Chiefs, I lost half my crowd as more people crammed into the Golden Circle to see Good Charlotte. I hadn’t realised just how identical Joel and Benji Madden were, as I have never really paid any attention to their music videos or seen any pics of them together. Miss Paris (b*tch, slut, hoe) Hilton was seen sitting on the side of the stage, filming and waving to her “adoring fans” (little did she know that they were actually shouting obscenities at her). Pity she wasn’t within throwing distance…

What really annoyed me was that she practically stole the limelight – if you had to look at newspaper reviews the next day, it was all about her, nothing about the bands!!!! Even on MTV-Base, the presenter spent all day looking for Paris. Surprisingly, she never found her. Please, next time, stay at home Paris!
I must admit that GC put on a good show, they really got the crowd going and everyone knew most of their songs – what can you expect from a typical SA crowd that mostly loves teeny bubblegum music? Don’t get me wrong, I like their music too, especially their latest stuff, but I’m not their biggest fan. When “Dancefloor Anthem”, my favourite song of theirs (the words mean so much to me) came on, I looked around for Mich and Berny so we could go mad together but they were nowhere to be seen. Luckily Caressa was with me so we went crazy together. Though I had to carefully control my movements as I hadn’t been to the loo since Wonderboom! Heheh.

It seems that fatherhood has made Joel Madden really soft as he sang The Cure’s “Love Song” which he dedicated to his newborn daughter, Harlow (Nicole Richie being the mommy, who had to stay behind and look after the brat, while Paris is off touring with the band). Can everyone go “AWWWWWW”? The crowd did. I almost gagged. He ended off with a big speech before his last song “Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous”, about how, despite their success, how much this song still means to them, bla bla bla. Paris was nowhere in sight, lol. A dig at her, perhaps?

As soon as they were done, I pushed past everyone and ran to the loos. I was quite impressed at how clean they still were being kept, however there wasn’t much to wash my hands with. Earlier, on my first trip to the loo, there was no water at all, so desperately I paid a girl standing nearby me, R10 for her half full water bottle! She thought I was crazy but hey, I need clean hands! Lol.

It was already quite dark, and as I made my way back to the Golden Circle I managed to track down most of my crew on the phone. We all parked right by the Circle entrance and sat down to watch Chris Cornell. None of us were really amped to see him and after the long day, we just chilled and watched from afar. I was a bit disappointed as I looked at my friends and saw the sad, tired, little looks on their faces. I hoped that this would soon change once Korn came on, cause the best was yet to come!

I think I only got up once when Chris Cornell sang one of his old songs from his Soundgarden days “Black Hole Sun”, still one of my favourite songs (yes, I have many favourites). I got out my bubbles bottle and blew a few while Mich and Tanya raced around to catch them. Ok, they didn’t race, they just stood there and caught them, LOL.

We moved a little bit closer to see Muse but we were still quite far from the stage. I think most people were there to see Muse, though for us, the big act of the evening was sure to be Korn. I love Muse’s songs, but I rarely made any effort to move around as I was saving my energy for later. They opened with the mighty “Knights of Cydonia”, however their stage presence was a bit disappointing, Matthew Bellamy barely spoke to the crowd, he just went from one song to the other.

When they finished, I saw that a lot of people made their way out of the Golden Circle, which made it much easier for Berny and me to move right to the front. Our spot wasn’t ideal, as we were on the far right of the stage, but we still had a good view. I felt the people from behind pushing towards the front, as more headbangers got closer and packed us like sardines. I was worried that we would get sucked in to a moshpit as soon as Korn came on, and I would have gladly joined in had my back not threatened to snap open. Funny enough, none of those people ended up moshing in the end – very disappointing, especially for the likes of Ferdi.


The wait for Korn seemed to take forever, Berny was getting restless and I was worried that she was going to turn around and join the rest at the back. But luckily she stuck around with me. Finally, the music started and Jonathan came on stage, wearing a camo kilt followed by thousands of loud screams from adoring fans. I badly wanted to see what was under that kilt but there was no way I could get a good look, lol.

The crowd went crazy as he played some of the old greats, with his psychedelic mic, like “A.D.I.D.A.S.”, “Falling Away from Me”, “Coming Undone”, “Faggot”, “Got the Life” etc.

The genius of a legend called Jonathan Davis didn’t fail to impress us when he came on stage with his bag pipes. We were all hoping he would. What a talented man. I am so glad I have a video clip of that.

Their performance seemed way too short to me (I later heard their set was cut by approx 5-6 songs due to time constraints) but they came back for an encore and did two more songs. They got an awesome standing ovation in the end (duh, we were all already standing, hahahahha!) and each member went to every side of the stage to salute the crowd. The drummer threw his drum sticks and Munky several picks, but we failed to catch anything, even though one of the picks was thrown our way, it was too damn dark to see where it went.

Berny and I raced back to the cars in fear we would be left behind but we soon learnt that it was in vain to have hurried there. We got lost on the way as we couldn’t remember where we had parked and after trying to get hold of Weasel and Ferdi, Basti was the only one who answered his phone and directed us to the cars.

Immediately we saw that there was no way we were leaving the racecourse anytime soon as there was a huge traffic jam. Everyone was in a hurry to leave and there was only one way out. So instead we took off our muddy shoes and sat in the car waiting and waiting. Even though Berny and I were each sitting in our brothers’ cars which were parked next to each other, we logged onto mxit and chatted to each other, recounting the days events. We decided that Im going to hire 30 Seconds to Mars for Cazzfest, once Weasel makes his first million. Loooool.

I think we must have left there eventually around 2 am. We were home just before 3am and I got to bed at 4, since I had to degrease in the bath first and quench my incredible thirst – I hadnt drunk much since my drunken moshpit during 30 Secs and that was around 16:00pm!

All in all, I think this was an incredible day that would be hard to top. I had my aches and pains, but I had some of the best memories I could ever ask for, no blackouts, an absolute awesome day! Let’s hope 2009 will be of the same calibre!

Cokefest or Cockfest? PART TWO

After 3 quick beers I was on top form, and danced and sang to Prime Circle anyway. Once they were done, I was getting quite loud and shouted “JARED!” every 5 minutes or so, till I almost lost my voice. The wait was long and to keep us entertained, I made friends with my neighbours and unashamedly flashed everyone while Berny and Tanya wrote a very rude message for Jared on my chest and stomach. In retrospect, I wish I hadn’t as I’m in no shape or form to be showing such parts of my anatomy – luckily Jared never got to see that as we were deep in mud and horseshit and couldn’t be lifted up by anyone. Phew!

The clock was ticking, and Jared and co still kept us waiting. So it was time to get out my infamous poster, with the very rude request for Jared:

Immediately cameras were pointed my way, people nearby turned to me and had a good laugh. I was sure that this would get Jared’s attention. Finally 5fm DJ Fresh came on stage, who made some funny comment about my poster (I wasn’t paying attention, I was waiting for Jared) and announced the next band: 30 SECONDS TO MARS! Thousands of screaming girls went berserk and swooned when Mr Leto finally came on stage, kicking a big red ball into the crowd. He was much shorter than I thought, and so damn skinny! But hotter than ever, even with the dark eyeshadow and guyliner. Whoever says he is gay, is just jealous, heheh.

Out of all the bands, he had the best stage presence and interacted well with the crowd, despite his continuous use of the F-word – not so attractive, Mr Leto. Having written 4 of the songs featured in the “Beautiful Lie” record in South Africa, he is quite fond of our country and reminded us every chance he got. He sang all the favourites, like “From Yesterday”, “A Beautiful Lie” and “The Kill”, with just about everyone singing along.

After lifting my rude poster several times, he finally noticed it, looked straight at me, and said something that went on like this (I barely remember, I was busy screaming my lungs out along with all the girls next to me): “We have a pervert here that wants my sperm. Ok, its kinda dirty, not something I’d usually do….etc etc etc my mind went blank after this. Someone told me that at the end he said “though…that could be FUN!” AAAAHHHHH!!!!
I was put on the big screen for all 35 000 people to see, including my poor brothers, lol. He had called me a pervert! I became famous! I fell in love!

Loser of the day: ESKOM! (though I don’t think they had anything to do with this here). Before Jared finished one of his last songs, the power went kaboom and all was silent. A frustrated Jared almost went off stage, but not before the crowd started to chant “F*CK ESKOM” and before we knew it, there was sound again. Very embarrassing.

However, he finished with a big bang, climbing right to the top of the scaffolding as the girls silently prayed that he wouldn’t fall to his death (I would have jumped and caught him) and the guys prayed that he would! Apparently he does this at every concert, but so what? He sure can climb fast! He came down just as fast, while a bunch of South African drummers joined him on stage to finish off the final song. What a finish! Before they went off, Jared promised that they would be signing autographs outside. I immediately said to Berny that we are running there and will stand to get his signature, even if we miss the rest of the bands!
She agreed and so we ran out as soon as Jared and co went off stage. At the backstage gate, we were told by security that they were signing on the other side of the stage. I dodged people here and there and eventually lost Berny as she couldn’t catch up with me. They were nowhere in sight and I was beginning to think that we were being lied to. After running twice around the whole racecourse, asking the Info people and getting stopped by several of my new-found “fans”, I slowly made my way back to the Golden Circle, sulking and cursing.

Kaiser Chiefs were already on, and I missed a few of their songs. I walked over several people before I found my crowd and caught the last of one of my fave songs “Everything is Average Nowadays”. I was happy to see that Amy, Lyndal, Tarryn, Dylan, Craig and Johan had joined us as well! Berny eventually caught up with me and we jammed to the songs. While I was blowing bubble into Martin’s face and the back of Johan’s head, I told Martin how I like to blow….bubbles. That’s when he asked me to turn around and introduced me to a guy called Bubbles. Hahaha, I had such a good laugh.

I then heard that Ferdi and Shadley had a bit of an accident at the beer tent as the two buggers tried to start a mosh pit there. Why, I don’t know. Ferdi tackled Shadley and both went flying on top of the wall tent; Ferdi landed on Shadley (those who know them both will now immediately go ouch! Poor Shadley – as Shadley is 5 times skinnier than Ferdi), who hit his head on a concrete slab. He was taken to the medic tent where he suffered a mild concussion. It was nothing serious, but they spent a great deal of time there, though Shadley swears to me that they still had a great time and I had nothing to worry about. So I believed him.

The lead singer from Kaiser Chiefs climbed the scaffolding too, but not as high as Jared, and just seemed rather lame in comparison, he even dropped his microphone. Still, a great performance from those boys, their tunes are really catchy.

It was then, after Kaizer Chiefs went off stage, that 5fm DJ, Elana Afrika, came on to read a apologetic statement from the organisers, that due to security issues, 30 Seconds to Mars would not be able to sign autographs – understandable, as me and 1000s of other girls would have probably mauled, raped and taken Mr Leto home to meet mommy and daddy. (and you can imagine my disappointment and envy when I heard that the damn Capetonians got to meet the band! Its just not fair!

Cokefest or Cockfest? PART ONE

(this will be done in several parts - I have a lot to say!)

I have taken my time writing my next blog, mainly because other things have been occupying my mind, and over the past few weeks (I cant believe its already two weeks!) since the Cokefest 2008, I have been trying to get the general feel of everyone’s opinions on this event. The post-mortem has been one of mixed feelings, many complaining till they are blue in the face (something South Africans are well known for) but many, many more, like me, had the times of their lives. I have repeated this many times and Im going to say it again: “If you can’t rough it, then DON’T bother!” Don’t expect 5-start treatment at these events just because you think you are worth it (because you are not). It’s something that you don’t even get overseas. At the end of the day, it’s all about the music.

So here are my thoughts.

Ever since somewhere around the middle of last year, when I heard Korn was coming to South Africa, I had been eagerly waiting in anticipation for the MyCokeFest annual concert. When ticket lines opened in September, I was one of the first people to purchase those tickets, for myself and friends. We just couldn’t wait. R600 seemed worth it for Korn as well as Muse, Good Charlotte, Kaiser Chiefs and Chris Cornell. Quality bands, in my opinion. And I was quite beside myself when I heard later on during the year that 30 Seconds to Mars had been added to the line-up!!!! Oh, Jared Leto! Pure BLISS!

A week prior to the event, we counted down the days, the hours, the minutes, till 21 March 2008 finally arrived. I hadn’t slept much that whole week, especially on Thursday night as I sat on the floor in my room, listening to 30 Seconds to Mars on my Ipod and drawing the poster that would make me famous. But I was on such a high that I felt nothing could get me down. Nothing. The moment was almost upon us.

I woke up early on Friday morning, got my prized ticket ready and met everyone at McDonalds for breakfast – that turned out to be my biggest meal of the day as food became less and less important as the day progressed. This year we were quite a big group, 12 people (and met up with more at the Newmarket Racecourse where the Cokefest was being held): Ferdi, Weasel, Berny, Martin, Brydon, Michelle, Shadley, Tanya, Shawn, Basti, Berny’s friend Mark, and myself. After rushing everyone and waiting for the “born on African-time” (lol) Shawn, we got in 3 cars and went in convoy to Alberton.

Parking wasn’t really a problem as I had pre-booked it online (but it was a HUGE problem when we had to leave!). By 11am we made it to our destination; the racecourse was already packed with hoards of fans waiting to see their favourite bands. The number of people that attended varies from site to site and review to review, so I have taken the average – there were approximately 35 000 people there, surely much more than last year!

The whole place was covered with mud pits mixed with fragrant horseshit, but that didn’t get me down. In any case, I was well prepared with my ultra cool skull gumboots, perfect for treading in deep mud (shit). Drinks were first in order, which didn’t take too long to get, and then I managed to find a very short queue (thanks to a kind guy that pointed it out to me) to get my 2 very expensive but much coveted 30 Seconds to Mars (Jared on my chest, hee hee) and Cokefest t-shirts. I got a coke as well, since I wasn’t planning on getting hammered, but I was quite disappointed that I had to empty my bottle into a plastic cup before I entered the Golden Circle. I don’t get the point of that, since the plastic beer cups could be just as bad a weapon as a coke bottle. But who am I to judge?

Once settled inside the Golden Circle (or the VIP section as Jared Leto later called it), I expertly changed into my 30 Seconds t-shirt without flashing anyone – quite pointless as I later flashed almost half the crowd…(more on that later).

Before I knew it, the first of the SA bands, Lonehill Estate, came on stage, and having never heard them sing before, I was quite surprised at how catchy their tunes were and moved my hips and butt along to the beat. Caressa joined us, and I finally got to meet her. We ended up jolling together almost till the end.

After Lonehill Estate, Berny and I went on a quick run to get a round of drinks. We ended up missing Crash Car Burn as the queues were quite long by then. I didn’t mind at all, but Berny was disappointed that she missed out on them once again. Armed with a tray full of beers, Berny balanced it out of the tent, very expertly, while I guided her through the crowds, about to give birth to two coke bottles that were wedged inside my skirt, haha. Yes, I managed to sneak them in to the Golden Circle, unnoticed. Suck on that! On the way we met up with other friends, poor souls that had bought general admission tickets, but nevertheless they were having the time of their lives. ROCK ON!

Wonderboom was soon on stage, a band that I have always loved and stalked during my younger days, hahahaha, ok, I sound old now, don’t I? Knowing Cito well when he performs and standing there with the sun glaring in our faces, I knew what was coming and shouted far from Cito’s earshot “TAKE IT OFF!”. Eventually he listened and the shirt came off. What a bod! They finished off rocking to our all-time favourite, “Charlie” and had me jumping up and down, singing at the top of my voice. Ok, it was more like shouting, not really singing!

Last band was Prime Circle, a band I have grown tired of lately, but decided to move right to the front with Caressa, Berny and Tanya as I definitely wanted to be in front for the next band….!! DING DING DING!!!

Down with the Homophobes

This title should actually read: RIP Heath, but as it now stands, the so-called Christian biggots are taking the limelight from this talented actor who sadly and tragically, died too soon. I was shocked and literally knocked off my socks when I got to work on Wednesday morning and was told by my colleague that Heath, one of my all-time favourite actors, was dead. I thought she was joking, so I had to confirm my fears with news24. And there it was, my hero died of an overdose of sleeping pills.

Forget how he died. Forget about the possibility that this was suicide or just a tragic accident. Forget, even, that he was such a diverse and talented actor that tackled each role with precision and passion. DONT forget that he played a gay man in Brokeman Mountain (for which he was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor), because that is what the US Evangelical Church is doing. They plan to picket any memorial that this man deserves, purely on the account that he once played a pansy.

Big whoopeee. Get off your high horse you damn bunch of biggots. I reckon you are all closet gays yourself who are too afraid to come out. Dont get me wrong. I am a Christian too, but I am not a homophobe. Gay people have rights too, and for these idiots to be trashing a dead man's memory is disgusting and so un-christian like (for the lack of a better word). You people make me sick. And please, dont come quoting your Bible verses at me, it will fall on deaf ears because you interpret the Bible the way you want to, just to discriminate when it suits you.

So, a legend is dead. Yes, a legend. He didnt make as many memorable movies like the likes of Mel Gibson, Robert Redford, Al Pacino and co, but he could definitely have been up there with this elite team of actors, had he not been taken from this world before his time. He will be sorely missed. I cant believe how much this has affected me, I really enjoyed his films and I look forward now with even more anticipation to his portrayal of the Joker in the next Batman movie, The Dark Night, which is due later this year.

So long Heath. May you rest in peace.

Cazzfest 2008 - The Review

I havent completely recovered from the party, which explains why I havent written about it as yet, but I thought, since I feel like Im dying, I better write this blog so I can finally die peacefully.

Even though I started to organise this event about 2 months ago, preparations went on full force last week, especially Friday when I took the day off to finalise the minor details. After a long, rainy shopping frenzy (which was depressing me to the extreme, this weather just wasnt getting any better) with Ingrid, we rushed to pick up Tink at the airport. Poor thing had to wait as Ferdi had to attend to some work at the last minute and then came head-to-head with the crazy Friday afternoon traffic. Tink didnt seem to mind as she settled in the Ocean Basket smoking room at the airport and waited for us.

I had a good giggle when we finally arrived and walked out the parking lot. Two well built, generally good-looking, super-tanned (too tanned actually) guys came out pushing their trolleys when one turned to the other and said, "You are such a SLUT!" and even did that naf hand movement. I burst out laughing and put my hand over my mouth before they could notice that I was laughing at them. Thats when I noticed just how gay they were as I watched them walk past us, hips in motion. My giggles turned to hysterical laughter when Ferdi said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the plane from Cape Town has landed". I was finished.

Once we finally got home with our new arrival from Cape Town, we had some of mommy's pizza then met Shadley, Mich, Shawn and Nick at Primi Junxion across the road from my house. Honestly I didnt want to do anything hectic that night as I wanted to be fresh as a daisy for Cazzfest. But since Nick was relinquishing his MC duties at Cazzfest and ditching me for the Queen of England (he had VIP tickets to see Elton John - pu-leeaaase! He could have sold them on eBay and bought me tons of drinks instead!) he wanted to make it up to me by celebrating that evening. I swore I was only going to drink one Jam Jar but that turned into 2 plus a tequila. I was quite giddy after that and all the crazy talk and almost gave in when Nick invited me to go to Manhattans. But I just couldnt. I had to say no. Yay for Cazz!

Next morning we dragged ourselves out of bed, went to Marks Park to decorate the hall and get out of there as soon as possible. Only it took longer than anticipated. Still, the hall looked fabulous - half heaven, half hell and I take my hats off to Ingrid and Tink who got the hall looking superb after all my ordering around, heheh. Owe you girls a lot. In the meantime, the heavyweights, Ferdi and Basti, did all the heavy lifting and setting up of the Hi-Fi. Weasel conveniently arrived late, just as we were finishing up.

Back home we ate and degreased in a hurry. Martin, Berny and Cailin arrived early to help with whatever still needed to be done. While I spent 3 hours at the hairdresser getting the do from hell, Cailin waited for me at home and the rest went to Marks Park to get the party started and help the sound guys set up.

Finally at 5 I was all done, gathered all my stuff and dashed with Cailin to the party. Everything was ready, the girls had put up all the movie posters that Shad got from work and the sound was kicking ass! (very impressive). I loved what the girls did with the boys' loo - they put up a "Back to Gaya" movie poster on the door, but removed the "A" at the end, heeehheee. I added my touch to it but putting a MEN sign right under the "Gay" Part. So "Back to Gay Men". How appropriate. No wonder the girls' toilet got the most action that night, most boys were afraid to enter the boys' loo.

I started to worry as 18h00 arrived and not many people were arriving. The stress was killing me. Perennial Darkness was the first band to arrive and I was so impressed with their outfits! They looked devilish. The rest of the bands arrived soon after, dressed for the occassion. My stress levels were peaking but after a few drinks and re-assuring words from Adam and Shadley, I was able to relax and have fun with the people that had actually bothered to pitch. And what a BASH IT WAS!!!!

It started and ended on a good note as Michelle introduced the first band, Acoustic Liquid, who kicked off with Berny's and my favourite song, The Pixies' "Where is my mind?". Immediately I was moving to the music and having a ball. After four great covers, Perennial Darkness came on (after being called on stage by Ferdi and Mich to down a Jagerbomb and SoCo - I SAID NO DOWN-DOWNS! I made my speech, no slurring this time) and blew my socks off. I was so impressed that I bought the lead singer a drink afterwards. Great band to watch! Thanks to Judd, their drummer, for organising!

Next came Torment, but not before we hogged the "stage" again and had another down-down and handed best dressed awards to Sonja and Bernd - y0u guys looked awesome. By then I was completely motherless, but I managed to still let my hair down and enjoy Torment's performance from beginning to end - and remember it! You guys were FANTASTIC! And the mosh pit was in full force, I even dared to enter it.

The rest is a bit of a blur as I engaged in several conversations with my guests, most of whom I met for the first time. To this day I still dont know why I had to get up on a chair and talk to the people. I saw the photos, nothing rings a bell - if anyone can shed some light on this, please give me a call. In the meantime, Fragmented Children was setting up. Unfortunately I missed some of their performance due to an "incident" in the parking lot but I was soon summoned and enjoyed their last few songs. You guys kick ass, cant wait to see you again!

When all that was done, we cleaned up and kicked everyone out before the clock struck 12 and Ferdi turned into a pumpkin again. I dont remember doing much cleaning, just showing my bloody knee and bandaged fingers to anyone that would pretend to care.

I was in bed, without getting sick (very weird) by 1h30 and instead of waking up with a hangover from hell (very weird indeed, considering all the down-downs, no hangover at all!), I had a stinging, burning pain in my knee that allowed little movement. With great difficulty I got dressed, limped carefully downstairs and had breakfast with everyone at McDs. We then went back to Marks Park to finish cleaning up. It was only 4 of us, Mich, Shad, Ferdi and me (Tink had been dropped off at a friend's house before she returned to Cape Town, sniff sniff), but luckily we managed to clear up in no time.

So, despite all the injuries and several no-shows, Cazzfest 2008 was a huge improvement from last year, and this only gives me hope for the next years to come! Bring on Cazzfest 2009!

Two more sleeps till the heavens collide!

I cant believe what a great response I have received about Cazzfest, taking place this Saturday. It looks like it's going to be bigger and better than last year, which means that this can definitely be something I can now do on a regular basis, as stressful as the planning can be!

It started with Torment agreeing to play at my bash and I now have 3 more bands to add to the line-up. An extra band approached me as well, but I could not fit them in due to time constraints. The disadvantage of having at Marks Park is that I have to make sure we are done by midnight (before I turn into Cinderella again, and Ferdi into a pumpkin hahahahaha!). But do it anywhere else, and the costs will be astronomical for me once more. As always, Cazzfest puts a huge dent in my pockets, but its all worth it. The band line-up is as follows:

19h00 Acoustic Liquid (Charles and Wez from Torment's side project)
20h00 Perennial Darkness
21h00 Torment
22h00 Fragmented Children

I'm really excited about this line-up, there is something in there for everybody!

More exciting news was that I managed to convince (well, not too much convincing, they are such cool people) DJ Michelle and DJ Nick from UJfm to be my MCs for the evening! How cool is that? Im looking forward to see what they have in store for us!

What is really making me nervous is the ever-growing guestlist! I want as many people as possible to attend, to give the bands exposure, so the response is awesome. I just hope it all goes smoothly. I dont know a lot of the people that have RSVPd but I look forward to meeting and getting to know them all.

Preparations are almost complete thanks to my efficient task team, and we are set to go and dress up as our inner demons / angels. Im off from work tomorrow to finalise everything and meet my sidekick from Cape Town, Tink - I cant wait to see you again, babe!

So hold thumbs everything goes well and we rock our socks off! This year I'm warning you all - I WILL NOT DO ANY DOWN-DOWNS! I WANT TO REMEMBER THE WHOLE OF CAZZFEST 2008!!!!

Watch this space for the review on Monday (or a week later, depending on how long I will need to recover!). See you all on Saturday!

The Dawn of a New Era

Ok, it just seems like dawn to me right now, hence the title. I woke up at the crack of dawn on my first day back at work for 2008, just so Weasel could be at work before 7, meaning I was probably one of the first people in the office buildings when I arrived here at 6:30 p.m. I feel like I have been hit by a freight train, and no, no alcohol was involved, just lack of sleep thanks to the damn mosquitoes that keep me awake at night.

The festive season came at went. Lots of merry making and cheering went on. We drank, we partied, we sang our hearts out. I am not going to go into detail, but it was one hell of a busy two weeks, that almost went by in a blur. I welcomed 2008 with a bang, just as I intended, armed with a 1.5 litre of water to avoid any hangovers (after the many I suffered the previous 10 000 parties). I endured a lot of teasing, but guess what? In the end I was one of the few that felt fresh and alive yesterday morning as I watched everyone else groan and moan in pain. Hahaha, touche!

As usual, I havent made any New Year's resolutions. Screw that. What's the point? I just want this year to be better than last year. I sure had my ups and downs, more downs than up that's for sure, so I intend to improve on a lot of things this year, but taking baby steps of course. No pressure. Just take it as it comes and hope for the best.

So here is to you all. Hope you have an awesome 2008! Bottoms up!

Here is a word from our sponsors, hee hee:

Cazzfest 2008 - Angels and Demons Collide

Its almost that time of the year when I turn another year older, but who is counting?(shuttttuppp). Since the devil's mother was ironically born on Christmas Day (nicknamed all sort of horrible things like "Nightmare on Christmas Day" and "Carols by Candlelight), the bash is taking place almost a month after. Due to Cazzfest 2007's great success - who could forget, oh wait, that would be me - I have decided to make this an annual event and will host the next one on January 19, 2008.

This time around the planning is a whole lot easier since I know what went wrong (getting motherless drunk, spending a ridiculous amount of money) and what went right (wonderful group of people there, bands etc). And now Im introducing a theme party to go with it, first one being the appropriately named "Angels vs Demons" theme. Guess who I will be coming dressed up as? Dont even need to dress up, lol.

Since money is a bit tight, Im probably not going to have as many bands as last time. So far I have Torment confirmed and I am so excited that they will be playing at my party. I really dig their music. Im still waiting to hear from another band, but no matter what, its bound to be a HELL of a party!!!

Once again, its an open event so please invite all your friends. Just let me know before-hand approximately how many people are coming so I can calculate numbers for drinks and snacks. All details are in facebook, under Cazzfest 2008.

I am soooooo excited, I cant wait!!!!
State your legions, NOW!

Broken Bones

Damn.

I struggled to get up this morning - first sign that last night was a damn good night. Rough, but damn good. Damn.

It was sort of a last minute decision to go to Zeplins in the end, because no one wanted to go except Ferdi, me and Shadley. But we thought, fuckit, it's The Narrow! We couldnt stay away. We would have gotten there early and paid R10 less for the entrance, but Ferdi decided to miss the turn-off and take us on a scenic route with pretty houses all lighted up with Christmas decorations. The bugger drove us around for over 40 minutes, having no clue where he was. We still got there early in terms of band starting times, but we still missed out on the cheaper entrance (less money for booze).

We first went to get some food in this dodgy aread. Its so dodgy that most fast food places were already closed. The boys wanted KFC, I wanted Steers since I dont eat chicken, but refused to go there on my own. Yes, I admit I was a big sissy. So I went with them to KFC and ordered me some chipsssss. Turns out this KFC was more dodgy than it looked, it had no chicken hamburgers or foldovers left, much to Ferdi's disappointment. So he had to settle for some chicken pieces and 10 chips (I counted them).

Once we were done we went to Zeplins, there was no queue so we didnt have to freeze for long outside and went straight to the bar. Shadley and I have now gotten into this habit of getting two Heinekens in one go (quite to my detriment as it all went straight to my head almost immediately). We went to the stage area and saw that the Straatligkinders were on stage. We had no desire to see them so we went back to the front bar and watched Mudvayne and NIN videos.

When we were sure that that band was done, we found a spot somewhere in the middle of the crowd and waited while Inersha set up. This time I phoned Berny while Inersha played so she could have a listen. I really need to get this chick back into the gig scene (mostly so I can watch Shad rip off Fred in front of her, loooool).

Five Heinekens later I was ready for The Narrow. I pushed my way right to the front and had the perfect spot right under Hanu's nose. I could even touch his feet, which made Shadley so jealous. Hahaha. At least I took a pic of his feet for him.


This night was better than the previous as the crowd went wild. I suffered more injuries this time as I was pushed against the stage everytime the mosh pit got crazy. I even received a punch to the head. Had I not used to stage as support, I probably would have gone down like a ton of bricks. Despite it all, my reflexes were on top form - some chick decided to use my jeans as support when she was about to fall (if only she knew how easy it is to get out of my jeans). She pushed down and as soon as I felt the tiniest cold breeze, I grabbed on for dear life and pushed them right back up. Phew! Disaster averted!

By the looks of it, Ferdi and Shad suffered more injuries too, and we left immediately after The Narrow ended, feeling worn out but highly satisfied with another good performance. Ferdi and I had the munchies again (I only had chips, remember? And Ferdi, well, he is fat) so we went to Hatfield and prayed something would be open. This time I managed to get my Steers. We sat there and chatted for a while and eventually went home. I couldnt stay awake, I was literally worn out.

Waking up this morning was a major task, I couldnt even lift my head, my neck hurt so much. But once that was done, I had to deal with a sore back that threatened to break into tiny little pieces. Had we not been invited to a braai at Shawn's house, I probably wouldnt have surfaced at all. But I made the effort. I really didnt want to drink but since Ferdi was playing barman, he spiked all my drinks and made me feel even worse. All I want to do now is pass out and die...Monday tomorrow, ugh. Its going to be a long week!

Best f"ing mosh pit ever

Last night was epic. It sure ended with a bang! It was so good that we are going to see The Narrow again tonight at Zeplins, if all goes well. What a night it was!

It started off badly, as people started to cancel on me left, right and centre. I was so miff that I didnt even want to go in the end, especially since my partner in crime, Berny, couldnt make it either. How could I possible jol without her? But after a "fuckit, lets just have fun" sms from Shadley, I was geared for a good night.

I waited at home alone with a sick Rooney while Ferdi went to fetch Uli and Shad, and Weasel returned with mom from the hospital after visiting dad. We were running a bit late but arrived just in time to see 16Stitch setting up on stage. The place was packed, which is understandable considering the top class bands that were playing there that night.

We couldnt really find a good spot to watch the band, and the bars were packed with people wanting to get drinks. It looked like Tempos was short-staffed. After 2 songs I couldnt handle it anymore, so Shad and I went to the inner bar to try and get some drinks. It seemed like mission impossible. Only one barmaid who had no sense of direction as she served random people in no specific order. My mood was beginning to worsen.

Shadley had clear instructions for that evening: to keep me away from the male species that night, except from Andrew from 16Stitch (sigh, he's gorgeous as ever). And he did a superb job except for the five minutes that he left me alone at the bar while he went to the toilet. In those few minutes I had already made friends with the guys next to me and I flirted unashamedly. One guy insisted I smile and wanted to give me a lift over the counter so I could serve drinks behind the bar. Another just randomly started to talk to me. Conversation went something like this:

Random guy: "You look angry. What's wrong?"

Me: "I need a drink, that's what's wrong"

RG: "Looks like you need a hug. Want a hug?"

Pause...

Me: "No, I need a drink"

RG: "You sure?"

Me: (almost did an Andy from Little Britain impersonation). "Yeah, I'm sure".

Shame, he was very sweet and cute, but I was a girl on a mission that night, and that was to get my drinks! After 20 minutes I blew a fuse and swore at the barman, I think I scared him. And now with Ferdi at my side I finally got some service. I wasnt prepared to queue again so I ordered in bulk. Armed with drinks I went to watch what was left of 16Stitch's performance. One song. Dammit.

I caught up with Andrew afterwards and had a short chat with him. After all these years he still remembers me. What an awesome guy. It was very surprising that they didnt get to play at Woodstock. Thank goodness I didnt go. The Inersha boys arrived in time for their set after 16Stitch, said hello to them and got my spot ready in front of the stage. Kerran looked strange with his blonde hair, not sure if it suits him. Shadley laughed when I got a hug from Fred - Berny is going to be so jealous (dont worry Berns, I know he is your dibs).

My mood improved a whole deal as we rocked to Inersha. They had a couple of new songs that were kickass. Hope to see more of them. Fred threw a couple of Inersha DVDs at the crowd but I was always out of reach, so I approached him afterwards and scored me one too, heheh.

Finally the moment we had all been waiting for had arrived - The Narrow on stage at Tempos again. We had the perfect spot right in front, though we knew things would get deadly once the mosh pit got under way. I didnt care, it was the freaking Narrow forfreaksakes!!!!

Now, throughout the years I have bought all their CDs, but, and this is a big but, you havent truely experienced the magic that is the Narrow until you see them perform live. They have amazing stage presence and will have the crowd rocking and begging for more. Something that you just cant capture on a CD.

When they walked on stage the crowd went wild. Hanu looked like he had spent seven years in Tibet. That beard of his freaked me out (Ferdi wants one). His brother Emile (sigh), cute as ever too. Drummer Lias looked like Jesus Christ and Jow looked normal without his dreadlocks. Sure, they might have changed their appearance ages ago, but I hadnt seen them in over a year. Berny gave me instructions to stare at Deon (her dibs too) for her, so while I was singing along to their tunes, our eyes met, I pretended I was Berny and gave him a big smile, which was immediately returned. Snap, bang, I was Caz again and set my eyes on Emile again. Lol.

This was Shadley's first mosh pit and the goofy smile on his face meant that he was having a ball. Every now and then he would get swept into the throes of the pit, and would eventually surface, a bit roughened at the edges. Ferdi, of course, was in his element as everyone dropped like dominoes the minute he dived in there. It was funny to watch. I didnt escape unscathed either. As the mosh pit got bigger and bigger I got sucked in and was headbutted by a chick in front of me, and another hit me hard on the cheekbone. But it was all good, I just carried on as normal. I was proud that Uli remained in front with me for most of the performance. We will make a rocker out of her yet. Both Uli and Shad get the thumbs up.

They played all the favourites, like "Travellers", "Lonely Lonely" (damn we went wild), "Push up the Level", "The Banded" as well as the "newer" ones like "20 Questions" and "Shoot the DJ". The crowd didnt let up for one minute, the band had us enthralled the whole time. Before I knew it they finished their set and walked off the stage. But we didnt let them get away that easily and immediately chanted "WE WANT MORE". Ten seconds later they were back on stage (a bit rehearsed, if you ask me) and ended off with one of my personal favourites "Promised the World".

So it definitely ended on a high note after the disastrous day I had. Trembling and sweaty, I moved closer to the stage and called Emile over. I asked him for his guitar pick and immediately he placed it in my hands (such soft hands. Snap out of it, Caz!). I smiled at him and walked away, looking at my new precious. It was purple, my favourite colour. Sigh.

We left soon after that, since we were all exhausted and injured. Not that that is going to stop us from more torture tonight! PUSH UP THE LEVEL!!!

The end of an era?

I think I have outgrown clubs, and by that I mean the trendy dance clubs filled with teeny-boppers dressed to impress, all glittery and sparkling. I certainly did that to death during the good ol' days of Bourbon Street and Hurricanes. Sigh, how time has flown. Just this week I took a trip down memory lane with some of my good mates from "those days". We used to get up to so much mischief and walked into the club as if we owned the place. One might think that we actually did, since we were there so often. I cant believe how much we have grown up since then, I realised just how much, last night.

After pre-cocktails with Ingrid and Sonja at the Blue Goose we followed Ferdi, Shadley and Michelle to Manhattans. I had only been there once before, quite recently actually and its amazing how drunk I had to have been that night to actually enjoy it. Last night was a different story. I made a promise to myself not to drink too much as I wanted to look alive for tonight's big event (The Narrow at Tempos!!!). So I took it slow.

When we arrived, Inki, Sonja and I went to the ladies bar and each had a complimentary Brutal Fruit Peach cocktail (very yummy). We couldnt find the others so we walked to the dancefloor and stayed there most of the night. But I just couldnt find the beat, mostly because I hate dance music. I can only tolerate so much. And being practically sober, I just couldnt enjoy it. Its sad, I know, but recent circumstances did not allow me to have a good time.

I did have one teeny tiny highlight that evening where my old self almost came to the fore. While I was looking around for the others, I saw a Collin Farrell look-alike in my midst. I would have followed him (he was that hot) but Im not a stalker...yet. Haha.

Sonja and Inki left just before 11 since they were going to Pretoria. We eventually found the others and after a drink, we went home. It felt good to be home early for a change, but I feel that last night was a bit of a downer. Sure, its always good to spend time with my friends, but Im not sure Manhattans is the place to go. Maybe its just me, and my crap mood of late, but if I have to go there again, it will have to involve more alcohol, lol.

But at least I have something to look forward to tonight. Not only am I seeing my sidekick Berny again (damn its been long), we are also going to what I think is going to be the gig of the year - The Narrow, 16Stitch, Inersha and more at Tempos. I havent seen the first two in over a year! Its crazy! Now THAT is my kind of scene, where I feel at home :)

Tempestual Times

If one more person tells me to get a grip and be positive, Im going to push them from the 18th floor of my office building, and then maybe I will give them a toothy grin. A bit extreme? Hell no. Im stuck in a rut and I cant help feeling miserable. Let me get on with it and eventually I will be back to my old cheerful self. I hope.

Thinking I could get my licence after 10 days's worth of nail-biting driving lessons was a tall order, and damn, did I work hard to get there. I spent all my hard earned cash to get what I should have gotten 10 years ago. (10 years ago? Daaaamn). I know most people dont pass first time, but I strive to succeed in everything I do, first time. I tried, really hard. But my nerves got the better of me, even after overdosing on rescue remedy drops (boy did I feel drunk afterwards! lol). I excelled in the yard, getting all my parking right, but as soon as we went out on the road, I just lost control. I caught a red robot and couldnt stop in time - going over the white line is an immediate fail. Shame, the examiner really did want to pass me (yeah right) but there was no way he could do so since I committed a "traffic violation".

Oh well, so Im back to square one, and hope that my instructor can organise me another booking before the end of the year - before I lose hope and everything that I learnt. I went home feeling sorry for myself and almost kicked the dog, when I really should have been kicking myself. The rest of the week passed me by while I was in a trance, thinking of what could have been.

One might think its silly of me to be depressed over something so trivial, but with everything that's been going on lately, this is the cherry on top of the yukky sundae. I needed something to cheer me up, some bit of good news, anything! In fact, Im still waiting. Not even the sun is present to put me in a good mood.

I did manage to drown my sorrows temporarily on Friday night at Shadleys. Too quick though. Way too quick. Way too many drunken conversations. Waking up with a serious hangover the next day was not pretty - I was bed-ridden for the rest of the weekend, except for Saturday night when we went to Stones and Winstons Pub. But I wasnt myself and did not have fun. How boring.

I lay in bed watching the first season of Little Britain. Occassionally it got a few giggles for me (it is hilariously funny, really) but mostly I just sat and watched idly like the guy in the wheelchair who loves Monster Trucks. I hope season 2 and 3, which Im about to get at lunch today, will brighten the mood a tad more.

Now will someone please give me a dose of good news already!!!

Beware on the roads

My dear boss has given me some time off so that I can for lessons to learn how to drive. Yes, I finally got my ducks in a row, got the number of a reputable instructor, and started with my lessons. Today was my second one, a bit disastrous at first, but it got better as we progressed. Im a very nervous driver, who fails to listen to instructions at the worst of times, and panics when there are other cars/cyclists/pedestrians on the road. Lol. But Im trying my best to set my fears aside and get this thing going. I dont have much time.

Im not going to say when my actual test is taking place, Im a bit superstitious about that. Only the ones that really need to know, know about it. Lets just say its soon, very soon, and thats why my instructor is practically throwing me in the deep end to get my up to speed, so to speak, in time for the painful, nerve-wrecking test.

For me, there is no other result than a pass. I will be bitterly disappointed if I fail, even though considering Im doing this in the nick of time, does allow me some leeway if it all goes wrong. It certainly wont be the end of the world. There will be other chances, Im sure, and most people I know have never passed on the first time. But I intend to, even if it kills my nerves!

F*ckiiiiitttttt

After my interesting afternoon at my high school reunion, I went back home to exercise my best powers of persuasion to get everyone to go to Berny's boss' place for a laid back braai. So what if we were all feeling a bit ill after all the week's festivities, and the thought of alcohol made us all go a bit green. So what? So F*cking What? S.F.W. Fuckiiiiittttt.

We got the troops together and went in convoy to the braai. Even Uli came with, I was so happy. I was feeling very lethargic but looked forward to a nice relaxed evening, sitting by the bar, and talking sh*t. And it was here where Mich, Berny and I came up with this "f*ckit" concept. Something getting you down? F*ckit. Someone giving you grief? F*ckit. Wish the world would open up and swallow you whole? F*CKIIIITTT!!!

I sipped my SoCo very carefully, massaging my sides every five seconds or so, but for some reason I felt tipsy quite quickly. So maybe its all a state of mind. Maybe my friends' company makes me giddy! Hahaha. After having a fit of laughter when Berny played only 10 seconds of Nicholas Louw due to our evil grins (last monday we predicted she would play that CD and made a pact to throw her in the pool. Lucky for her, she was landlocked so we couldnt get to her), she switched to the cribs' "Mans needs". Mich had another fit of laughter, because I was convinced that in one part of the song, they said "Apollo Creed". I still dont know the words to the song, so I like to add in my own bits. What surprised me was that no one around the bar knew who Apollo Creed was!!!! Shock horror! Rocky ring a bell anyone??? They didnt even get my "Adrienne" joke. The company I keep these days!!! Hmph.

So anyway, looking to have some more fun, Michelle and I decided to teach Jesse the parrot to say "F*ckit". We repeated it about a 100 times and eventually the bloody bird said it, though it sounded more like "packet". It would say it, then giggle. I think I nearly died. Haha. Hope Berny doesnt get fired, hehehh.

We didnt really get up to much the rest of the evening, since Shadly was stone cold sober, and refused to fight with me (please, lets not ever do that again!). In fact, we were all pretty much sober and extremely tired, so we packed up and left just after midnight. Shadley swears he is on sabbatical from now until the end of the month and I want to believe him, but I just dont see it lasting too long. Its just the wrong time to do it. But one thing we should all try and do is to have fun, but less drinking. Its way too damaging. And it gets people to call the cops on us. Lol.

Lets wait and see how this week goes.