Archive for May, 2010

You know, I get that we have to do all these additional things for the World Cup (new stadiums, following FIFA standards, changing roads,etc.) but I really don’t think that security should be one of them. What has changed that makes it suddenly possible for our special forces to actually do their jobs? More money? A better incentive? The knowledge that the entire world will be watching?

I keep reading all these reports about the alleged Human Trafficking case in Kempton Park this morning, where they say that security has been ‘beefed up’ or their has been an ‘increased focus’, ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, and I just can’t understand why the Soccer World Cup should make a difference. Why weren’t we doing this before? What are we doing differently? Are you saying that if it weren’t for the World Cup all those Thai women would not have been rescued? I don’t know about you but I’d like to know what that means exactly, because as far as I am concerned, when it comes to our country’s security and the peoples safety, we should always be at our best!

People die everyday because of completely preventable crimes (such as prostitution, child abuse and human trafficking). We don’t even hear about half of it, but all of a sudden the security for these things are ‘beefed up’! I think somebody needs to explain this to me, because I am just not getting it…

I remember when I first started watching ‘Sex and the City’, albeit I was a bit young, but I still appreciated the utter honesty and the humour of it. Yes, some things are a bit over exaggerated, but the great thing about ‘Sex and the City’ was that it wasn’t some fairytale filled with happy endings. There is a huge amount of reality in it.

Most women are actually like that. Okay, we don’t all have beautiful designer clothes, live in New York, or have 3 amazingly close friends, but we do all have at least one great girlfriend, we do all love the designer clothes and we do all love attention. But the biggest reality of all is that we do ALL LOVE sex. And yes, we do talk about it and we do discuss all the things that Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha talk about. (Okay, wait, maybe not Samantha, but that’s because we don’t all have a friend quite like her). My point is, that Sex and the City is not just some fluffy romcom that gives us some strange fantasies of soulmates and love at first sight.

Now, the reason I felt the need to mention all of that was because, if you have watched the first ‘Sex and the City’ movie, you probably would have felt as though they had turned it into exactly that – a romcom. Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a good romcom. All of us ladies love it and most of us did love the first movie (me included). I mean, if I didn’t like the first one I wouldn’t have watched the second one, right? But now that I have watched the second one, I realize how far away from the series the first one was.

‘Sex and the City 2’ brings you right back to the TV series. It gives you all the same feelings and makes you laugh so hard that you cry. Samantha is back in full force, with all kinds of sex jokes, innuendos and sex in general. Charlotte is back to being the ‘girl next door’ who believes so desperately in fairytales. Miranda is once again her crazy, serious self, who has the best advice that anyone could ever need. And Carrie, of course, is back to questioning love! Throughout the movie you will be reminded of all of the things that made ‘Sex and the City’ the TV series so amazing in the first place!

They definitely hit the mark with this one and I suggest you go book your ticket right now

Click here to book at Nu Metro

Click here to book at Ster-Kinekor

“Feel It, It is Here!” – That’s the catch phrase for the 2010 World Cup that they have been saying on 5fm for the past few weeks, well today is the first day where I can actually agree. Today everything seems to be becoming ‘real’ and it is damn exciting!

The Brazilian and Australian teams have arrived (the Brazilians causing more excitement, of course!) The ‘Real Kaka’ tweeted the following:

And here’s him arriving in Johannesburg (Image via @richardmaspero)

The vibe is only going to increase from this point! I can’t wait! (Yesterday I  even went through all the match details on the FIFA website and I even read through the rules!!) I don’t know much about soccer, for the moment, but what I can say for certain is that by the end of this World Cup, I am going to know everything there is to know

This is just such a great song – I had to share it!! It’s right up my alley!

What do you think?

I admit that since ‘Twilight’, I have developed a fascination with Vampire stories. And not just any type of Vampire stories but rather, the ‘girly’ kind – you know, the ones that somehow revolve around a love story? And both of the above mentioned book series’ by LJ Smith are those kind of stories.

Let’s start with ‘Vampire Diaries’ – if you have watched any episodes of the TV Series, don’t be fooled. It is nothing like it. The entire story, and even some characters, are completely different. When you read the books you’ll realize just how much they’ve changed it to make the series fit into the ‘Twilight’ phenomenon. Although, I will not at all complain about this because without it, there would be no Ian Somerhalder to picture as Damon.

Do you see why this would be a tragedy?

Anyway, this series is different in that, instead of focusing on the average girl (or the really pretty yet geeky girl) in high school, the story focuses on the most popular girl in high school, Elena. She has her usual group of friends (Caroline, Bonnie & Meredith) and their lives consist of boys, school and shopping – yes, they are the incredibly shallow type. That is, until Stephan moves to Fell’s Church.

Elena sees Stephan in the halls and immediately makes it her mission to have him. Stephan, on the other hand, only wants to avoid her because she looks so much like Katherine, his former love and the girl who changed him into , yip,  you guessed it – a Vampire!

The story goes on and eventually we are introduced to Damon (Now, I do suggest watching the TV series first so that you can have the pleasure of Ian Somerhalder as Damon throughout all 7 books!).

Just incase you need another reason

The series is intricate and full of surprises – some weird, some terrible and some pleasant. I won’t give anything away, but I will say that these vampires (and other supernatural creatures) are not ‘fluffy’ (like those of the Twilight world) and the story does have it’s fair share of thriller and horror, but all-in-all, it is still a love story

Okay, *sniff* I shall move away from Damon/Ian, and all his deliciousness, and move on to the second series of books by LJ Smith – “Night World”.

“Night Word” is another series that focuses on the supernatural but it is entirely different to what we are expecting. Each book contains 3 stories which all intertwine, but are very different. The stories are all centralized around ‘The Soulmate Principle’ and although that may sound cheesy, there is a bigger picture.

These books are about ‘The Night World’ which is a world amoung our own, in which only ‘Night People’ (Vampires -made & born, witches, werewolves, shapeshifters, etc.) know about. There are two basic rules that each Night Person must follow – they cannot tell any humans about the Night World and they cannot fall in love with a human. Breaking any of these rules is a death sentence.

But there is a new generation of ‘Night People’ emerging and they no longer want to be entrapped by these rules… they do not agree with the predjudices of their world.

I have only read the first 3 books and I am hooked. LJ Smith definitely has a talent of completely engulfing you into any supernatural world she sees fit.

I definitely recommend both of these series’ to anyone who has a soft spot for love stories of the supernatural variety!

If you want to find out more about LJ Smith, you can visit her website here.

PS:

This is helping me beat the Monday Blues

On my way to work today I made a mental promise to myself that I would not allow the traffic to make me angry or irritated or anything. I can’t say that it worked, but it did let me think a little bit more about things. I am curious as to what everyone thinks.  Can we judge people by their driving? Or do the South African roads just bring out the worst in all of us?

I know that I personally get a lot more aggravated and impatient on the roads than I do in any other area of my life. I know that my tolerance of people on our roads is incredibly low when compared with my tolerance of people in other areas of life. I think that that may have to do with my patience having run out somewhere along the line, though. I think that the road works have created a kind of monster in all of us.

I was thinking about all of this as I was sitting dead still on the highway, while car after car sped past me in the construction lane. It really made me wonder about the type of people in those cars. Are they that inconsiderate off the roads? Are they that arrogant outside of their car? Do they think they are somehow more important than other people? Or do they just think they are somehow the smart ones of all of us? Or do they even think about the consequences at all? Do they realize that they are contributing to the traffic that the rest of us are stuck in? Or are they just so ‘gatvol’ with traffic and roadworks that they just don’t care anymore?

I really want to believe that they are ignorant rather than arrogant, but I really don’t know anymore! I am just glad that the majority of people are still considerate and patient enough to wait there turn and take the traffic in stride!

One thing I am convinced of, though,  is that once these road works are finished we are all going to advanced drivers, impatient or not

I haven’t done a book review in a while but these books definitely deserve one. If you haven’t read them yet, I suggest you get to your nearest bookstore (they are actually cheapest at CNA) and get reading.

“The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” is the first book in the series and you may find that when you start the book that it is a bit difficult to read, or even a bit boring, but give it a few chapters. Once you meet Lisbeth Salander you will realize why it is a best seller.

The first book introduces you to Salander. She is by far the most unique heroine I have ever come across. Not only is she utterly fascinating, but she is funny, insane and completely lovable. She is a complete mystery and she’ll hook you from the moment you meet her.

“The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” follows the story of Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist who has been persecuted for Libel, who finds himself in the middle of a crazy family mystery. Blomkvist is ‘hired’ by Mr Vanger to solve the mystery of his missing niece, with the promise of the truth to help Blomkvist clear his name. In comes mastermind and super hacker, Lisbeth Salander. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot here, but trust me. The book is absolutely enthralling.

The second book of the series, “The Girl Who Played With Fire”, was definitely my favourite of the series. In this book you learn more about who Salander is and why she is the way she is. The story only becomes more intriguing and it completely sucks you into a whirlwind of mystery.

The third and final book, “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest”, is a much more complex book. It definitely pulls everything we know together and gives you all the answers you have been dying to know since the beginning, but the amount of detail can leave you feeling completely overwhelmed. It is definitely a book that requires your full attention when reading.

All-in-all, “The Millennium Trilogy” is a brilliantly written tale with tremendous detail that will leave you feeling as though you are a part of the story – helping each character solve the case.

For more info about Stieg Larsson (the man behind Lisbeth Salander), visit his website – http://www.stieglarsson.com

This Lolly Jackson case reminds me so much of a crime fiction novel. I can’t wait until they find the killer and we can actually understand what has happened. I mean, it’s such a strange case – celebrity business man, 15 shots and the killer calls the cops before fleeing the scene in Jackson’s Jeep? Why? What could the motive be? And why was the house locked?

I may sound a bit creepy, but to be honest this doesn’t feel very real and I didn’t know Jackson, so to me it’s just a really interesting story. He was quite the controversial man, with some people saying he was great and others saying he was terrible. I suppose it’s all about who you ask. Maybe he was both and maybe he was neither… right now that feels a bit irrelevant. I just want to know what the hell happened!

We are so used to crime in this country. Most of our headlines consist of people being killed left right and centre – it’s been a while since it’s been an “actual” murder, as such, and not just a robbery or some kind of crazy prejudice. Eugene Terreblanche’s murder was a big one, but that didn’t feel so ‘crime fictiony’.  It was almost expected and all it did was create drama between racial, or should I say cultural, groups. This is different – this is really interesting.

Okay, I need to stop sounding somewhat excited by the drama.

I do feel terrible about the reality of it and my condolences do go out to those who loved him.