This Gleek is just back from GLEE Live in London at the O2 Arena. Now, bear with me if you have no idea what I’m talking about. (If you know, you know…if you get what I mean?) It was awesome. No Mr Schuester and no Sue Sylvester, very sadly, but the entire rest of the team – including the Warblers! – made an appearance. I screamed like a teenage girl and my ears are now ringing from the volume of the teenagers in the row behind us!
Never been prouder of being a Gleek than today. In fact, I’d say I’m rather breathless at it all!
Kurt on stage...it was all glitz!
* It’s also been a sad day. I got news this evening that one of Windhoek’s funniest men decided to quit life. Completely unexpected and no one knew that anything was wrong – he was all smiles as usual until this morning when he decided that he couldn’t carry on living anymore. RIP darling. We never understand why people do these things, but we have to find solace in the fact that we’ll never understand another’s pain completely. May you now find the relief that life couldn’t offer you. xxx
Today I hung out with a friend from back home for a couple of hours – we started off having a coffee (well, let’s be honest, it was a Starbucks Coffee Light Frappucino at half price between 3pm – 5pm for this week – all together now: Hello Sue) and then we just hung out for two hours and caught up in Afrikaans. And it was so good to just have a good old ‘natter’ in the mother tongue! And with someone whom I’ve known all of her life and most of mine. Isn’t that incredible? After our good and long catch up I convinced John that we should join her in attending a discussion around technology in Africa hosted at the Royal Geographic Society – and boy am I glad we did! Such stimulating debate and very interesting to see how a big American investor and philanthropist has such an ideal vision of how African governments can be influenced, while the Ghanaian business man just firmly believed that government should be smaller – or even non-existant – and that the power lies within the private sector! I think one has to have lived in Africa for the reality of how things really work on the continent to set in. It was hugely amusing and very interesting – particularly to see again how such innovation is coming out of a continent with extreme poverty and the minimum of internet access.
But what this impromptu evening really drove home for me is just how lucky we are to have access to all these world-class talks and facilities. And I have committed myself to getting back into this scene – find interesting events to attend and really focus on expanding my view of the world. Enough of just sitting around and basing what I know off what I see on TV and read on my Facebook news feed! This girl is heading back out there!
Or maybe it was just the influx of mother tongue for the day which has reenergized me? Either way…it’s good to have the mind stimulated and soothed at the same time. Go on, give it a try!
Yesterday we returned from three glorious sun-drenched weeks in Namibia and South Africa. In an effort to stay awake and combat the dreadful jetlag that a six-hour time difference and a 23-hour door-to-door journey leave you with, we decided to head to the movies and see Clint Eastwood’s Invictus, featuring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as the captain of the Springbok rugby team, Francois Pienaar.
As the camera panned the Cape Town scenes that I love and know so well, John whispered, “Do you think there’s anyone in the theater that saw Table Mountain in person more recently than us?”. No. There definitely couldn’t be. But most importantly, I felt pretty sure that no one in the packed theater was viewing this amazing film with as much love for that country as we did.
It was a strange experience, seeing what went on ‘behind the scenes’ during the run up to this momentous rugby match. I was a 15-year old girl living in Namibia at the time of the 1995 Rugby World Cup and all I remember of it is the immense pride with which we watched every game the Springboks played in, right up to that final kick by Joel Stransky that declared the Boks the winners. As a white teenager living in the relativele luxury of white suburbia, I really was oblivious to all the politics and drama that was happening on our doorstep. (Namibia became independent of South Africa in 1990 and has remained a politically stable country ever since.) What I do remember is the absolute passion with which I fell in love with Madiba. His humility and passion for his country was contagious and the way with which he embraced all races inspired me and everyone around me.
The camera panned a scene of the townships outside Cape Town and Johannesburg and John again said, “It’s shocking that it hasn’t changed much since 1995, right?” and I felt a surge of anger…and of shame. What are we doing to change that? Here is a country filled with so much hope, so much creativity, pride and an overriding belief that things can change, that everyone has a chance of being who they want to be. And yet the vast majority of people in this country still live in absolute poverty, with so little hope. And, not for the first time, I felt ashamed. And I decided that this year I will do something to change, for the better, the lives of at least one person living in my homeland. How I’ll do that I’m not yet sure. Perhaps we should each sponsor one child’s school fees for the year. Perhaps I will start a fund to help our domestic worker in Windhoek to send her kids to school. One thing is for sure – the problems in Southern Africa are not going to fix themselves. It is the responsibility of us all to help in whichever way we can.
The year ahead is filled with opportunity and change – for me and John and probably for you too. What will you do to help others?
Invictus – William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
My former Cape Town flatmate Sam came to visit me from Ft Lauderdale where she now lives and, as per the usual visit-from-Sam ritual, we decided to go see something fabulous on Broadway. The nature of New York’s Broadway scenes is such that you truly can go see a new show once a week and never run out of options – it’s amazing.
The press has been rampant with reviews (both good and less good) of ‘ASteady Rain’, a new play with a twelve-week run featuring Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) and Daniel Craig (Bond, James Bond). It’s not easy to get tickets for this show, but Sam used her whit and charm (and flirted shamelessly with the ticketing agent) and secured us two amazing seats in row H, right in the center of the row. After a quick brunch yesterday morning, we made our way down to West 45th Street and got in line to grab our seats.
I was glued to my seat and the 90-minute performance (featuring only the two actors and minimal stage props) went by in a flash. A Steady Rain tells the story of two Chicago cops who are lifelong friends and their differing accounts of a few harrowing days that changed their lives forever. It was fantastic! And yes, Hugh Jackman is even more beautiful in real life than he is on stage. Daniel Craig is also quite the looker, but has grown a mustache for the play which is somewhat less becoming…
At the end of the play they auctioned off their (unique-to-this-show’s-sweat) undershirts at $4,000 each to raise funds for Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS and they were selling a photo opportunity with the two of them at $1,500 each. (Never had my credit card burnt such a hole in my pocket, I’ll tell you that!).
Hugh Jackman coming out of the theater (Blue cap & scarf on the right).
This morning I opened my gmail account and was ecstatic to see that I had finally cracked an invite to join the new Google Wave! (Oh man…how much of a geek have I become?) I put everything else aside and prepared to be amazed – Wave, for those of you who do not yet know, is meant to change the way in which we communicate and share information online. Everyone who is anyone in social media has been Tweeting and raving about it and I had to get in on the action as soon as possible.
So I logged in and…nothing. I only have five contacts (and I don’t know three of them, to be honest), and the two that I could interact with were too busy to play, sorry, wave with me. What a let down! To make matters worse, I had not received any invitations to forward to my friends, so I feel completely at the mercy of Doctor Wave!
After much deliberating, I decided to annoy my two contacts (which I clearly did as neither of them really responded to my desperate waving much) and then I gave up. I guess, like all good networks, we’ll have to wait a while for this one to fill up before we’ll truly be able to experience the bliss that is the wave.
New York is full of opportunities to be creative and, on the flipside, to enjoy the creative endeavors of others and on Saturday we had the opportunity to do just that. The Accomplice: The Village is part theater, part walking tour, part mystery crime riddle and a whole lot of fun! Eight of us met at a corner in the West Village and, while I can’t give you too much details about what happened next, you should know that it involved me crying with laughter, drinking spiked coffee and beer and laughing so much my belly hurt! It was awesome. We met with various strategically placed actors throughout the Village and ventured into coffee shops, restaurants, parks and bars, looking for clues and strangers that could help us solve the mystery.
Yes, people looked at us strangely and yes, you do sometimes feel like a fool, speaking to a man with oversized teeth, but hell…if you can’t handle that in New York, where else in the world could you?
Now I’m rallying to get the troops together to do the original – The Accomplice: New York before the winter sets in and we retreat to our hibernating holes / apartments…
Last night another one of my life dreams came true when I got to see (and hear) Bono sing ‘With or Without You’ live. My entire being was covered in goosebumps and I just could not stop smiling / jumping / screaming / giggling with excitement. (Yes, I was THAT girl at the concert…)
My friend Rose had bought two tickets and invited me to come along. Seeing U2 in concert was, for me, even bigger than anything I could comprehend. I grew up listening to Bono and know most of the lyrics off by heart, so I didn’t even have to think about my answer before giving her a resounding ‘Yes!’. I’ve been counting the days until the arrival of the concert and headed straight to Penn Station after work to catch the train to Giant Stadium where 78,000 people gathered to enjoy the U2 phenomena. And they did not disappoint! The stage looked like a just-landed space shuttle, the sound was perfect and the lights…oh, the lights were just amazing.
Bono’s in there somewhere!
The weirdest moment of the show was when Bono started singing ‘One’ and it was preceded by a film showing Desmond Tutu speaking about poverty and education in South Africa. The next minute, this girl next to me shouted ‘F**K YOU NELSON MANDELA’! I gasped before I turned right around, tapped her on the shoulder and said, ‘Excuse me! WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?’. This girl tried to ignore me, but I would have none of that… “I am from South Africa. The man on that screen is Archbishop Desmond Tutu and he is a great man. Don’t you DARE say anything negative about Nelson Mandela. Ever.” Then I finished with a snarky line…”Get a passport, honey!”
How dare she? On later reflection I think she must have gotten Desmond Tutu confused with Robert Mugabe and called him Nelson Mandela (how??? no idea…), but it made me really feel so angry about being in this country where some people just don’t know anything beyond their own state borders!
My anger at this stupid girl didn’t last too long as I was again swept off my feet by the lovely Bono.
Really the only negative about this evening was the commute back from New Jersey into the city (the show ended at 11pm and I only got home at 2.30 this morning – very tired. But I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
I’m adventurous in many aspects of life. Roller coasters are not one of them. I hate having the bottom of my stomach drop into my toes and I hate not being in control of rapidly accelerating vehicles of any kind.
So you can imagine my horror when John finally managed to convince me and a couple of friends to visit Six Flags (horror of horrors) a couple of weekends ago. I went along on the condition that I could be the bag-lady (i.e. keeper of the bags while the crazies went riding on crazy roller coasters) with no pressure whatsoever to participate in any of the scary rides, unless I chose to do so out of my own free will!
Eventually I gave in and opted to go on the only ride I’ll do at these huge amusement parks, the Enchanted Teacups.
Well, I should have known better. Within seconds our teacup was spinning at top speed and my dear friend Marcel was there to document the whole thing (and then put it up on YouTube for you all to see.)
With friends like these, who needs enemies, right?
Last night the Mr took me on a romantic date night that involved eating at a great place called The Fatty Crab (we drank rum and coconut water out of actual coconuts – pity about the New York traffic right outside…I almost felt like I was on a beach somewhere tropical!) and then a movie. After the initial disappointment of having to go see a Sci-Fi flick, I have to tell you that I am blown away by this one.
Created and produced by South African Neill Blomkamp, the cast is all local and it was shot in Johannesburg. I particularly loved the authentic South African accents and really had a good giggle every now and then when a Bliksem or Kak (Afrikaans swear words) made it into the dialogue. Also, I’m pretty sure that everyone who saw the movie will be saying ‘F*k You’ with an Afrikaans accent (which better way to say it in, right?) Without me giving away the whole plot, I’ll just ask that you do your bit for my country and go see it!
