Evita and Joseph and Cats - Oh My!

So, now that the excitement of Christmas is over and the New Year is upon us, it is time for me to psych myself up for what will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of my life.


I've always loved musicals - how can you not? It's a view into a world very like our own, except that everything in this world is expressed through song and dance. It's how I imagine Heaven (and that's the truth). I have seen many in my eighteen years. The first I remember as being the Wizard of Oz. Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, Annie and the Sound of Music were probably next and then Fiddler on the Roof. However, it was my exposure to Andrew Lloyd-Webber's masterpiece, The Phantom of the Opera, in 2005 that made me a musicals junkie.


Of course, all of the musicals that I have seen so far have been on video or DVD , most of them shot like a movie. I have only seen two that seem to have been shot in front of an audience (even though they weren't actually). Santa brought me 'Cats' and 'Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat' for Christmas and they've been amazing, especially because they're shot like a stage-play and not like a movie. Not that I have anything against musicals being shot like movies, it's just that I like to see how musicals (especially Lloyd-Webber's) would look live on stage.


Because you see, for all that I profess to be a musicals junkie, I've never actually seen one in a theatre (unless you count school, which I don't). 


However, all that is about to change. 


On Monday night three brave Strandians will embark on a journey to Camps Bay that will change the way they view musicals forever. Three Strandians, three tickets, one musical: Andrew Lloyd-Webber's 'Evita' (are you sensing a pattern?)


I literally cannot wait. I almost wanted to fast-forward through Christmas so that we could get to January 3. I saw the movie version of the musical with Madonna and Antonio Banderas and I must say that it is, in my opinion, one of the best musicals of all time. The music, the story, the characters - it's just perfect. 


Needless to say, I am wishing the next few days to go rushing by. I apologise to any of you who have to get something done by Monday. Strategise, that's my humble advice.


Well, that said, I'm off to watch a bit of 'Cats'. Have an amazing weekend!


Happy 2011!

- Cath x

No, it won't be Madonna, but it will still be amazing

My New-Year's Resolution

It's good-bye 2010 (as crazy and busy as you've been) and hello 2011.


Wow, first of all, 2011 is quite a mouthful. Compare it to the catchiness of 2010 and you'll see what I mean. This is probably the only reason for me to next year, but I digress. 


Inevitably the coming year comes with regrets of the previous year. Regret is the birth-place of resolution as I have found over the past few years. In an attempt to rectify the mistakes that you have made through the course of the year, you set yourselves goals and rules and convince yourself that you will be able to stick to them. You make lists, you draw up strategies and you try your hardest to keep the promises that you make to yourself.


However - and I'm sure that most of you will agree with me - you don't keep those promises. In fact, within a few weeks you leave the majority of your plans in the dust. I speak from experience. Every year my New-Year's resolutions are annihilated by the beginning of February. The sad thing is that I don't even notice. Not until I have to make my resolutions for the next year. It's terribly frustrating.


That is why this year I have resolved to not make resolutions. Yes - I know that that's a resolution, but it's my blog and I can do what I want. Seriously, I feel that I will come up much lest disappointed if I don't set myself new rules this year that I will inevitably break next year. However, once I am in the new year, I will make myself strategies for a number of things as I go along - after all, you still need a battle plan for the year.


You may think that this is me just making New-Year's resolutions in the new year - and you'd be right. I think (for me anyway) that there is something about the term "New-Year's resolutions" that makes you want to rebel. I don't know. All I know is that my resolutions are always jinxed if I make them before January 1. 


This doesn't mean that I'm slating you if you do make resolutions. If you make resolutions and you stick to them then I take my hat off to you. If you make resolutions and you don't always stick to them - well at least you care about the direction of your life. I just prefer to make mine at a less conspicuous time.


Well, with that said, whatever you choose to do in the next two days, I hope you bring in 2011 well. I really hope that this is the year in which all your dreams come true, or at least begin to come true. 


So, Happy New Year!


- Cath x

Lol, Happy New Year!

The Day After Christmas

'Tis the day after Christmas
And by now you must feel
Sick at the mention
Or thought of a meal


You've over-indulged
Admit it - no fear
For this is what happens
At Christmas each year


You eat when you're talking
You eat and you pick
You eat and you eat
'Till you're literally sick


And what of the presents
You so lovingly wrapped?
They're strewn through the house
Like a treasure un-mapped


Some toys are broken
From over-excitement or worse
Let's hope you kept those receipts
In that now-empty purse


But - at least it's over
You may now finally rest
And spend some well-deserved time
On the one you love best (That's you by the way)


The dinners are finished
The puddings are gone
But the memories of Christmas
Will still linger on


So from me in my Owlery
I wish you good cheer
Just learn from your mistakes
And have a great new year


:)

Even Santa is feeling it...

Why grown-ups can't believe in Santa

So, another sleepless night. I really don't understand it tonight because I was up at eight in the morning, but clearly I am not in control of my own sleeping patterns, so I thought I'd log on and blog.


It's Christmas on Saturday (yay!) which means a lot of frantic, last-minute shopping, Christmassy food and music, and a great amount of harmless lying to the youngsters. Santa Clause is coming to town is one of my little bothers (the left-out 'r' is intentional, by the way) favourites at the moment because it promises him that if he is an angel for the next few weeks, he is guaranteed a visit from the jolly old Saint Nick that all children are obsessed with. You can understand the appeal, a man who spends all year making that toy that would have cost your parents an arm and a leg. You don't even have to pay him, well, besides with cookies and milk (which are always gone in the morning, thus proving his definite existence).


However, what I have found is that it is absolutely impossible for a grown-up to believe this "Santa" business. I mean obviously they know that he doesn't exist because the parents do all the buying - but as we get older, our brains become more logical. We start noticing all the impossibilities and list them to make ourselves feel smart. I got to thinking about the most common of the reasons and here's what I've come up with:


1. His sleigh and reindeer couldn't possibly fly
Due to all known laws of genetics and aviation, it is impossible to think that an enormous sleigh made of heavy wood and steel containing an overweight man and enough gifts to supply the whole world could be hoisted into the air by anything, let alone eight or nine (seemingly depending on the weather) normally flightless animals. It is a well-known fact that you need wings and a light bone-structure to fly. Reindeer have neither. Maybe Derren Brown could pull it off, but not a guy who lives off of cookies and milk.


2. Speaking of cookies and milk...
It is also a well-known fact that too much milk makes you sick. Coupled with biscuits... well let's say that Santa would not be so jolly all night.


3. There are not enough hours in a night
Unless Santa can time-travel, there is no way that he would be able to visit every single home on the planet in a night. That's just nuts.


4. Santa could not wear that suit everywhere in the world
As I am typing this I am beginning to melt. Imagine being in a thick red suit with fur-lined boots in temperatures of 30 + degrees. >.< Ouch.


That's all I feel like typing now. If you have suggestions for further impossibilities, comment them below.


I don't want to sound like I'm the cynical Ebenezer Grinch, I just thought that I would highlight the difference between kids and grow-ups as I like to believe that I am in the middle somewhere.


If I don't post before then, may your Christmas be wonderful and full of blessing. Don't over-do it ;)


- Cath x

Why do parents make their kids do this??

Well, I'm still standing...

As some of you may know (if you don't, read the previous post) yesterday, I was terrified of a roller-coaster.


Well, I did it. I did the Cobra.


I left it until the end of the day as I didn't know what to expect. We tried pretty much every ride, it was awesome. After going on each ride at least twice, we decided there was nothing for it - it was now or never. I was hoping for never, but soon we were walking past the snake tanks that lined the entrance to the ride and then we were in the line and then we were at the front of the queue and then we were in the waiting zone.


The inside of my head is not normally a place that I want to invite people, or that people necessarily want to be invited to, but I have decided that for your entertainment, you should know the thoughts that were running through my head at this time. This is best done in third person - 

***

Cath stares at the empty loading zone in front of her, heart hammering in her chest. She has no idea what awaits her, besides a 32-metre climb to the point of no return.


Cath: I can't believe I'm about to do this. [Starts screaming in her head]


Cath's heart almost stops as the harnesses arrive. The small gates keeping them from running across the platform swing open, and almost without thinking, Cath seats herself in a seat right at the back, next to her brother and is harnessed in. There is no turning back.


Cath: I can't believe that I'm strapped into the Cobra. How stupid was that? Just ask the nice dude checking the harnesses to let you off. He won't mind. Do it. Do it now! 


Somewhere in the distance, Cath hears the ride operator telling them to enjoy the ride and then, without any further warning, the ride give a jolt and move forward, beginning its climb. Cath now has her eyes firmly shut and can hear people cheering as the shade disappears and they begin heading in the general direction of the sun.


Cath: What are they cheering for? Oh crap, the thing is lifting. I'm not horizontal anymore. Argh, I must be heading to 32 metres. Good thing I'm not looking. I wonder how far we are.


Cath asks her brother how close to the top they are. He replies that they are nearly there.


Cath: Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh nooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!


The ride begins its descent, it twists this way and that until Cath is not sure which way is up and which way is down anymore. However, far from alarming or terrifying, the ride is - there was no other word for it - fun.


Cath: Maybe I should open my eyes?


Cath opens her eyes, only to see that they are about to be twisted upside-down.


Cath: Closed is definitely better. OH MY GOSH THIS IS SOOOOOOO EPIC! I THINK I'M GOING TO THINK IN CAPS FOR THE REST OF THE RIDE! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


However, just as Cath is starting to really enjoy the ride, it stops. Soon they are back at the platform, climbing off tentatively, then climbing down the stairs, then leaving the ride.


Cath: Let's do that again!

***

Thus concludes the insight into my mind under pressure. The Cobra is more like a python. Not immediately dangerous; you can have your picture taken with it. It's all good.


I'm going to own that ride the next time I go to Ratanga.


See ya x

Mine really didn't, but this is a cute photo

I think the roller-coaster may just eat me

It's me and Ratanga Junction tomorrow - the only theme park for miles and miles. If you're looking for a thrill or a rush of adrenaline in Cape Town, this is where it's done.


I, however, am not an adrenaline junkie. I'm not a junkie at all. 


For the last few times I've been there, though, I have gone on pretty much all the main rides - log rides and runaway trains. Fun, right? I'd agree. There was nothing particularly terrifying about any of them.


There is one ride that I'm terrified of, though. Every time I go to Ratanga, I stand there under the shadow of it and cower in fear. It's a terrifying mass of twisted yellow metal, tempting me to my doom.


Its name is the Cobra.


It appears to be innocent from the comfort of your home. They describe it on the website as: 


"...a suspended looping coaster which catapults riders from a height of 32m along 779m of track at up to four times the force of gravity and speeds of close to 100km/h. Adding to the thrill of the ride is the suspension of riders beneath the track, feet flying free..."


Well, okay, maybe it doesn't look so innocent from the comfort of your home. 32 metres high? Being flung at 100km per hour? 4G? My feet hang loose?


To be honest, most of that doesn't freak me out too much. I quite enjoy speed. 


But 32 metres? Really?? It isn't a good ride for people like me who feel uncomfortable on top of a jungle-gym.


However, I have resolved to go on it. Once. I know that after the initial climb, I'll be perfect. It'll all be great. I'll probably love it. 


I just hope that can I convince myself to get strapped into it in the first place. 


Hold thumbs for me!

Don't tell me that you don't find this intimidating.

Some People That I Will Never Understand

This world is full of people. The total population of Earth is bordering on 7 billion and in a world so full of different characters, you’re bound to find one or two people that puzzle you, perplex you and downright confuse you.

This post is dedicated to those people.

Those little old ladies who get  a blue rinse
So, to be fair, I did go and read up on this and apparently there is a very valid reason that they do this. As we get older, we become more colour blind. The balance between blue and yellow is thrown out of whack. Little old ladies with white hair now see their hair as yellow. To combat this, they put a blue rinse in their hair to make it look white to them. Unfortunately, this makes them look like they have candyfloss for hair. Okay so I personally don’t have a problem with wanting to make your hair appear normal to your own eyes, but it’s just a little mind boggling if you don’t know the reason behind it.

Guys who wear baggy pants that threaten to sit around their ankles at any moment
This has actually happened to me. I had just met this guy, a friend of a friend and he was wearing his pair of “gangsta jeans”. They were in the process of moving, and as he bent to put something into the car, his pants fell around his ankles. I was fourteen and had just met the guy. Needless to say, I was scarred for life. Please, male population, on behalf of poor innocent girls everywhere, at least wear a belt.

“Emos “
This one might be a little unfair. After all, I’m sure that there are teenagers out there who genuinely do have emotional problems and need an outlet for them. I also respect the fact that not all people who call themselves Emos act the way the world stereotypes them. But somewhere in this whole thing of teenagers trying to deal with their emotions, it became acceptable for teenagers with no real cause for emotional distress to wear skinny jeans, starve themselves, and mutilate their bodies. For what? For attention? Please, teens of the world, do me a favour and eat something, buy  some clothes that fit properly and boys, leave mom’s eyeliner alone.

Paris Hilton-style handbag-dog girls
Take off the diamante-studded collars and frilly pink outfits. It’s animal abuse. How would you like it if I did that to – never mind. You got there first.

Girls who spend half their life gossiping about other girls
This is one that I really don’t understand. If you are trying to make lasting friends this is not the way to go about it. You see what happens is you have a great laugh at some poor girl’s expense, but at the same time the girl you are gossiping with thinks “It might be me next” and closes up. After all, who’s going to share deep personal stuff with someone who might go and repeat it to someone else? Even worse are the girls who use this as a weapon. “Girl A, if you go and talk to Girl B, I will tell the world that you ABC.” You get the idea? Girl A is too terrified to have her secrets out there for the world to know that she goes along with whatever Girl C says. It really makes me sick. Girls, find yourselves a good, solid friend, one who would keep your secrets even if their own reputations were at stake. Also, please don’t gossip. You ultimately end up hurting yourself.

This one ended up slightly ranty-er than I had anticipated, but you know, after finishing high school and looking back, I felt I needed to.  

The moral of the story is, be true to yourself.

- Cath

Technically, this isn't a woman, but it gives you the idea

Why Do We Care?

It's 2010. We can see relatively far into the depths of the universe, technology is far beyond what we could have ever imagined and Branson has created a company that allows ordinary members of the public (for a small fortune) to fling themselves into space. People of this century should be sitting in their arty, but highly uncomfortable furniture, lit by the glow of the iPhone, iPod, computer screen and HD TV, patting ourselves on the back for being so clever with so little intelligence.


Instead, we criticize tweeny-pops like Justin Bieber.


I have realised recently that I'm a music snob. You know how you get food snobs? You see them on the TV all the time - those people that will not eat anything unless they can find at least fifty adjectives to describe it and if all the ingredients are picked five minutes before they eat it. Yeah, them. Well, I'm pretty much the same, just with music.


I like music to be emotive. Everything from the lyrics, right through to the infrequent 'ding' of the triangle should tell me something about the artist.  After all, if music is no longer to express inner emotion, then really, what is the point? So it really breaks my heart when I hear songs that go something like "she's indecisive, she can't decide" blah blah blah blah "shawty is an eenie-meenie-minie-mo lover". 


Oh, and remember long ago when the beat of the song used to change according to the mood? That's a thing of the past. Now it's all "boom boom SCREECH SCREECH boom boom" and contains pretty much no imagination or emotion. It's just an endless string of synthesized sounds with soulless lyrics dubbed over them.


I don't have a problem with all new music. There are artists that can use the synthesized nature of their songs to create real art. Musicians like Lady Gaga still manage to make amazing music with an electronic beat. You can tell that the songs aren't superficial, which is what I'd classify most of the music on the radio nowadays. There is hope.


So maybe music is heading into lame new era, but come on people - it's up to the true musicians out there to change it. So stop complaining about Justin Bieber's girly voice and hair and pick up a guitar or something.


That is all.

I couldn't resist putting this picture on though...