Saturday 26 March 2011
Friday 25 March 2011
Butterflies make me happy...
There are over 200 butterfly/insect houses/museums in the world, which makes it "one down and over 199 to go!" On the 11 April 2009 I made my way to “Butterflies for Africa” (Butterflies for Africa) in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. It was a wonderful outing, which included a guided tour, and I could have sat in the walk-through house all day.
I have now found one in Cape Town, "Butterfly World". It is situated in at the junction of the main Wine Routes of Stellenbosch and Paarl. I will definitely be making an outing to this butterfly house very soon. here is a small visual of what I can expect...
Lepidoptera
(pronounced /ˌlɛpɪˈdɒptərə/) ~ The study of scaly-winged insects, including butterflies, skippers, and moths.
source unknown
Thursday 24 March 2011
It's like an orange on a toothpick!
Dilka Bear, an Italian graphic designer, paints quirky portraits of delicate, abnormally large-headed girls and their strange little pets.
Limited edition prints are available for purchase on http://www.etsy.com/shop/Dilkabear?ref=top_trail
Wednesday 23 March 2011
When in wine country...drink wine!
When in wine country...drink the wine!
Departure time 10h00, first stop Hazendal; situated on the slopes of the Bottelary Hills in Stellenbosch. Taste the great range of Hazendal wines or enjoy a private viewing of ancient artifacts at the estate's gallery. We did not enter the estates gallery, but there is always a next time round!
Onward to Simonsig; at the foothills fo the Simonsberg mountains in Stellenbosch. Wonderful company, stylish setting with an outdoor sitting area sheltered by grape vines twisted over supported beams and yes, the wine...
Continue to "The Potbellied Pig" for a bite to eat...Mmmm...pepper steak pie and a few other goodies. Including a small jar of "Rosey's Choppy choppy"; a combination of olive oil, chillies, garlic, sundried tomatoes, feta cheese herbs and spices! It smells amazing (taste review to follow at a later stage).
Welcome to Simonsvlei; nestled in the Groot Drakenstein and Paarl Valley, with the Simonsberg mountains as a backdrop. I had the pleasure of tasting some delightful desert wines. This will definitely be one to visit again, and perhaps make a purchase or two!
And the journey takes a last visit to Fairview Wine and Cheese Estate; this has become one of the most popular Cape winelands destinations for its unique and talked about tasting rooms. Our wine tasting ended and the cheese tasting was everyones favoured choice at this point of our outing. The tasting consists of a selection of 6 to 8 of Fairview’s Jersey milk and goats’ milk cheeses...a perfect way to round off the variety of wines enjoyed that day.
Day concluded at 16h00, first wine tasting ever and my final thoughts on the matter...let's do it again!!
Tuesday 22 March 2011
Dreams between sleep...
Introducing Asleep in Transit, a local Durban band, that has entered the Indie music scene with a folksy, instrumental sound and exciting vocal mix, giving them a quirky and light-hearted character. The lead singers combine their voices with interesting effect: the powerful vocals of Irina Buzdugan, who's voice has a range to send any songstress into fits of jealousy, contrasts so well with the softer sounds of Allister Christie's voice, which is reminiscent of the vocals heard in Postal Service or Two Door Cinema Club.
Their songs create an air of times present and times to live. Besides the acoustic guitar sound (played by Christie), they are often accompanied by Jason Du Randt on Bass Guitar and cellist, Michael Jooste.
Their songs create an air of times present and times to live. Besides the acoustic guitar sound (played by Christie), they are often accompanied by Jason Du Randt on Bass Guitar and cellist, Michael Jooste.
I have not yet seen the group perform live but I hope to make it to one of their performances very soon. They have already performed twice this year and very recently alongside better-known, South African band Wrestlerish at Unit 11, a Durban Indie club and band venue.
Check out their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Asleep-in-Transit/135212256548591 and have a listen to their first single: Brother, Sister.
Check out their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Asleep-in-Transit/135212256548591 and have a listen to their first single: Brother, Sister.
Sunday 20 March 2011
Chassing Pirates...
One of my favourite female artists, Nora Jones, and her song "chasing pirates" . Is bluesy, is chilled and it brings about a sense of calm and relaxation. The dream-like feel this music video gives made me recall my fascination with pirates; how we would run around wielding our wooden swards, having pirate themed birthday parties and finally growing up and attending Halloween parties dressed again as those swashbuckling pirates we see in movies and story books.
Saturday 19 March 2011
Friday 18 March 2011
Thrown into the deep end...
John Galliano (a British fashion designer who was head designer of Christian Dior from 1997 to 1 March 2011.) is the theme for this years Beauty Fantasia Make-up Artistry Competition, held in Cape Town this May. I have entered all of my students into this category, they had no choice, and so decided to give them an exercise to get them started. I chose the images and allocated them to each student (please take note that they have never done something to this degree of creativity, that they are still developing their techniques and that they had no idea which make-ups they were getting). The results were great, take a look for yourself.
Makeup Artistry Student: Tamryn Hill / Model: Corlea Heunis
Makeup Artistry Student: Corlea Heunis / Model: Tamryn Hill
Makeup Artistry Student: Olivia Dummer / Model: Chane Lombard
Makeup Artistry Student: Teide Grice / Model: Teide Grice
Makeup Artistry Student: Chane Lombard / Model: Olivia Dummer
Wednesday 16 March 2011
I would not want to live in a world without magic...
I pray that the world never runs out of dragons.
I say that in all sincerity, though I have played the part in the death of one great wyrm.
For the dragon is the quint essential enemy, the greatest foe, the unconquerable epitome of devastation.
The dragon, above all other creatures, even the demons and the devils, evokes images of dark grandeur, of the greatest beast curled asleep on the greatest treasure hoard.
They are the ultimate fright of the child.
They are older than the elves and more akin to the earth than the dwarves.
The great dragons are the preternatural beast, the basic element of the beast, that darkest part of our imagination.
The wizards can not tell you of their origin, though they believe that a great wizard, a god of wizards, must have played some role in the first spawning of the beast.
The elves, with their long fables explaining the creation of every aspect of the world, have many ancient tales concerning the origin of the dragons, but they admit, privately, that they really have no idea of how the dragons came to be.
My own belief is more simple, and yet, more complicated by far.
I believe that the dragons appeared in the world immediately after the spawning of the first reasoning race.
I do not credit any god of wizards with their creation, but rather, the most basic imagination, wrought of unseen fears, of those first reasoning mortals.
We make the dragons as we make the gods, because we need them, because, somewhere deep in our hearts, we recognize that the world without them is a world not worth living in.
There are some many people in the land who want an answer, a definitive answer, for everything in life, and even for everything after life.
They study and they test, and because those few find the answers for some simple questions, they assume that there are answers to be had for every question.
What was the world like before there were people?
Was there nothing but darkness before the sun and the stars?
Was there anything at all?
What were we , each of us, before we were born?
and what, most importantly of all, shall we be after we die?
Out of compassion, I hope that those questioners never find that which they seek.
One self-proclaimed prophet came through Ten-Towns denying the possibility of an afterlife, claiming that those people who had died and were raised by priests, had in fact, never died, and that their claims of experiences beyond the grave were an elaborate trick played on them by their own hearts, a ruse to ease the path to nothingness.
For that is all there was, he said, an emptiness, a nothingness.
Never in my life have I ever heard one begging so desperately for someone to prove him wrong.
For what we are left with if there remains no mystery?
What hope might we find if we know all of the answers?
What is it within us, then, that so desperately wants to deny magic and to unravel mystery?
Fear, i presume, based on the many uncertainties of life and the greatest uncertainty of death.
Put those fears aside, I say, and live free of them, for if we just step back and watch the truth of the world, we will find that there is indeed magic all about us, unexplainable by numbers and formulas.
What is the passion evoked by the stirring speech of the commander before the desperate battle, if not magic?
What is the peace that an infant might know in its mother's arms if not magic?
What is love, if not magic?
No,I would not want to live in a world without dragons, as I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery, and that is a world without faith.
And that, I fear, for any reasoning, conscious being, would be the cruelest trick of all.
R.A. Salvatore
I say that in all sincerity, though I have played the part in the death of one great wyrm.
For the dragon is the quint essential enemy, the greatest foe, the unconquerable epitome of devastation.
The dragon, above all other creatures, even the demons and the devils, evokes images of dark grandeur, of the greatest beast curled asleep on the greatest treasure hoard.
They are the ultimate fright of the child.
They are older than the elves and more akin to the earth than the dwarves.
The great dragons are the preternatural beast, the basic element of the beast, that darkest part of our imagination.
The wizards can not tell you of their origin, though they believe that a great wizard, a god of wizards, must have played some role in the first spawning of the beast.
The elves, with their long fables explaining the creation of every aspect of the world, have many ancient tales concerning the origin of the dragons, but they admit, privately, that they really have no idea of how the dragons came to be.
My own belief is more simple, and yet, more complicated by far.
I believe that the dragons appeared in the world immediately after the spawning of the first reasoning race.
I do not credit any god of wizards with their creation, but rather, the most basic imagination, wrought of unseen fears, of those first reasoning mortals.
We make the dragons as we make the gods, because we need them, because, somewhere deep in our hearts, we recognize that the world without them is a world not worth living in.
There are some many people in the land who want an answer, a definitive answer, for everything in life, and even for everything after life.
They study and they test, and because those few find the answers for some simple questions, they assume that there are answers to be had for every question.
What was the world like before there were people?
Was there nothing but darkness before the sun and the stars?
Was there anything at all?
What were we , each of us, before we were born?
and what, most importantly of all, shall we be after we die?
Out of compassion, I hope that those questioners never find that which they seek.
One self-proclaimed prophet came through Ten-Towns denying the possibility of an afterlife, claiming that those people who had died and were raised by priests, had in fact, never died, and that their claims of experiences beyond the grave were an elaborate trick played on them by their own hearts, a ruse to ease the path to nothingness.
For that is all there was, he said, an emptiness, a nothingness.
Never in my life have I ever heard one begging so desperately for someone to prove him wrong.
For what we are left with if there remains no mystery?
What hope might we find if we know all of the answers?
What is it within us, then, that so desperately wants to deny magic and to unravel mystery?
Fear, i presume, based on the many uncertainties of life and the greatest uncertainty of death.
Put those fears aside, I say, and live free of them, for if we just step back and watch the truth of the world, we will find that there is indeed magic all about us, unexplainable by numbers and formulas.
What is the passion evoked by the stirring speech of the commander before the desperate battle, if not magic?
What is the peace that an infant might know in its mother's arms if not magic?
What is love, if not magic?
No,I would not want to live in a world without dragons, as I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery, and that is a world without faith.
And that, I fear, for any reasoning, conscious being, would be the cruelest trick of all.
R.A. Salvatore
Tuesday 15 March 2011
And now for a musical interlude...
Kimbra Johnson is a 20 year old Kiwi singer/songwriter. Her debut album is due in 2011, it includes her first single Settle Down.
Kimbra's musical style harbours "smoky soul, flights of dazzling invention and intricate layers of deeply felt emotion". Comparisons have been drawn with Nina Simone, Amy Winehouse and Bjork. Her songs are heavily thematic and laced with "quirky" jazz chords. Kimbra's music pertains beyond the "four chord cliché but still maintains strong hooks and catchy melodies that are sometimes unpredictable but satisfying".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimbra
Sweet Milla Jovovich by Matt Jones (8 pics)
Model turned actress/singer Milla Jovovich has always been a style icon for me. She is beautiful, graceful and has a classic air about het. This shoot captures happiness, innocence, sensuality and complete femininity.
This image graced the cover of Elle Italy in 2009
Image Source: My Modern Met
Monday 14 March 2011
Off to a bumpy start...
I wanted this blog to be an honest reflection of who I am and so I decided to design the header myself. It took a few doodles before I came up with something that fitted me perfectly at this moment in time...now all that needs to be done is converting it into a Jpeg and deciding on the right font...
Who would have thought that designing a blog would be like decorating a room, choosing the colour palate, the wall paper (do you, or don't you), how you want to feel when you are in the room and the atmosphere you wish to create when others visit... and then choosing the right accessories.
So I present you with the rough edges and hope you are left in anticipation to see the final product.
Friday 11 March 2011
A Blog
Welcome!
Like most blogs this one is going to serve as a journal; visually, musically and poetically. I have never been good at keeping journals or travel diaries but this I know will be something different. I have traveled to Cape Town to pursue a new Career as a Makeup Lecturer. This I admit has been something I have wanted to do since I completed my Makeup studies in 2008, and it’s just the challenge I was looking for. It has only been two months and sleepless nights have already found their way into my well structured routines, and with this my usual perfectly scheduled life has been turned upside down. With my black and white life being clouded with grey I am starting to accept that I can’t control everything…and that to me is uncomfortably exciting.
Without all my unrealistic goals I have found more time for my short term goals and hobbies; learn to play the guitar, learn to sing (if only in key), to bake, to do cake decorating, to paint and draw again, to design children's toys/decor, learn to sew my own clothes, develop my green thumb, become a kitchen goddess, to go on more adventures, discover & explore, take a photography course, become a well known makeup artist, stylist, art director & producer of fashion and creative shoots…
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