Opposites Attract

CC5 How to stay the Topdog

2010-02-26T15:59:00.001+02:00

My 5th CC toastmaster speech. The objective was body language.

It's a dog eat dog world out there. The only way to survive is to dominate your pack and declare yourself the topdog , if you don't then automatically you'll be the underdog.

Madam Toastmaster, Ladies & Gentlemen I never knew anything about being the TopDog also known as the Alpha Dog or the Leader, until I decided to Buy a new puppy.
People buy puppies for different reasons. Some need help on their farms others want a guard dog, I just wanted a companion (Who couldn't speak back)

So how did I end up being the Topdog in a household with one husband, one hamster and a brand new foxterrier puppy named Bella. That's what I'm going to tell you tonight. Since day one Bella never stood a chance to challenge my Topdog position. Before she was born I did a lot of research on establishing and keeping alpha position and making sure that Bella knows who's the boss. Me. My research told me that it's very important that a dog knows his place in your human pack. A dog lacking in this order is an unhappy dog who will show signs of aggression, separation anxiety and no respect for humans.

On my fridge I printed a list of rules that every dog owner should follow to ensure that his dog knows his place in their human pack. I made sure that my husband also memorized this list, threatening him with the dog house if he slipped up.

So on our first day as dogowners we picked up Bella from a farm. She was only 6 weeks old and not used to the tiny collar that we put around her neck.

After taking her to the Vet for her injections it was time for the first pack walk. The number one way to communicate to a dog that you are his pack leader is to take him for a walk. Not the type of walk most humans take their dogs on but a pack walk where the dog is made to heel beside or behind the human who is holding the lead. This is most important for all dogs, as in a dog's mind, the leader always leads the ways.

Now the first pack walk is the most difficult. It took me 10 minutes to get Bella to stop eating her leash. Bella spoeg, spoeg dit uit, sies man. Soet hondjie, Soet hondjie. Ouch! I then had to drag her out of the yard. We made a little bit of progress until… the entire neighbourhoods dogs stared barking to the tune of Who let the dogs out. Woof Woof Woof Woof Bella wouldn't move an inch, so I picked her up (buk af) and carried her in my arms back home. Big mistake my husband reminded me, now she was going to develop Small dog syndrome. There goes your alpha position he smiled.

I wasn't about to give up I was after all the TopDog and had a few other internet tips at my disposal. If you ever want to become the TOPDOG in your pack, you need to know that is hard work. We had to completely change the way we do things. Now walking into a doorway was an issue. Why? Because the alpha dog must always enter a room first and if you've got an enthusiastic fox terrier it's very difficult to get anywhere first.

It also involved a lot of mind games especially during dinner time. All humans must eat before the dogs, as the leader always eats first. Here comes the tricky part. When you give your dog food you must eat a small snack first while the dog is watching, lay the snack near the dogs food so that he thinks you are eating out of his bowl. Having staring contests with the dog is also out because if you blink first or avert your gaze, it will only reinforce, in the dogs mind, that He is Top Dog.

After having Bella around for a few weeks the rules started to become routine and I felt like wagging my tail. There was only one aspect of being the Top Dog that I couldn't get right. Hiding my emotions such as fear, anxiety or nervousness from the Beta dog. Because a dog can sense these emotions they will see you as weak and want to take control as the leader. Whenever something upset me and I wanted to freak out I had to stay calm, assertive and consistent. I had to adapt my body language and instead of hunching my shoulders when the lightning stuck I stood very straight up with my shoulder pushed pack. All of a sudden the whole household was happy from the hamster to the husband and the new foxterrier puppy. Why? Because even though my bark is worse than my bite – I am 100% the topdog.

Madam Toastmaster

Toastmasters CC4 - How to say it

2010-02-05T10:54:00.001+02:00

CC4 – Pushing up Daisies

HERE IS A SMALL FACT You are - going - to die.

One of these days you will bite the dust,
meet your maker,
enter the eternal abyss,
soon you'll be pushing up daisies

Mr Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentleman. No matter how gently I try to tell you about your future, the facts remain the same – we are all going to die

If you are a toastmaster then you've got nothing to worry about. A recent survey found that people are more afraid of public speaking than of dying.
I'm not one of those people! I prefer being up here talking to you, instead of listening to a bunch of boring sentimental speeches at my own funeral.

Why am I scared of meeting the grim reaper? It's the fear of the unkown. I can only rely on my imagination ….he will arrive silently one cold evening, covered in a black hood as dark as the night, his bony hands grasping my soul.

Unfortunately when we die we don't get an invitation stating the When, where and how.
Doomsday Prophecies tell us that we don't have to worry about the When. On December 21 2012 the world will come to an end. That leaves us with 1023 days to worry about the where and how and with 58 Toastmaster meetings to discuss it.

What scares me more than the fear of the unknown is the prospect of pain. Just think about all the excruciating ways a person can die … drowning in the turbulent ocean, falling hundreds of feet with the wind in your ears and the blurry ground rapidly coming into focus, burning your insides with a tiny glass bottle containing a clear liquid – poison … Romeo & Juliet made it seem so Romantic – What William Shakespeare forget to tell us was the pain.

But the secret is not how to die, it's how to live. Princess Diana died in a horrible car accident but when you think about her what do you remember? How she died or how she hugged an aids orphan.

At her funeral Sir Elton John paid tribute to her with the following lyrics: "Goodbye England's rose
May you ever grow in our hearts
You were the grace that placed itself
Where lives were torn apart
And your footsteps will always fall you
Along England's greenest hills
Your candle's burned out long before
Your legend never will"

Princess Diana was Englands Rose. But her memory did not fade away like the colours of the rose petals after a few days, her good deeds did not become irrelevant. She left an amazing legacy behind. Even with a dying rose you can find beauty in the decay.

We should all follow in Diana's footsteps. Instead of worrying about dying we should focus on living. Friendships, relationships, good deeds, love.. .. you can work on all these things right now. You can leave an amazing legacy behind.

Ladies and Gentlemen

HERE IS A SMALL FACT

You are – still alive.

Mr. Toastmaster

Finance for non-financial Managers - Section1: Global Financial systems

2010-02-05T10:36:00.002+02:00

A NAMIBIAN CORPORATION
* You have two cows.
* You make biltong

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
* You have two cows.
* You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
* You are surprised when the cow drops dead.

A SOUTH AFRICAN CORPORATION
* You have two cows.
* You go on strike because you want three cows.
* They get stolen, so you blame the previous regime' and steal someone else's cows and shoot their owner.

A ZIMBABWEAN CORPORATION
* A farmer has two cows.
* You take over his farm, eat both cows and wait for the international community to supply more.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
* You have two cows.
* You re-design them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
* You then create clever cow cartoon images called Cowkimon and market them World-Wide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
* You have two cows.
* You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
* You have two cows.
* Both are mad.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
* You have two cows.
* You pray to them for food.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
* You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
* You break for lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
* You have two cows.
* You count them and learn you have five cows.
* You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
* You count them again and learn you have 12 cows.
* You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION
* You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you.
* You charge others for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
* You have two cows.
* You have 300 people milking them.
* You claim full employment, high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the numbers.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
* You have two cows.
* The one on the left is kinda cute

Invictus - William Ernest Henley

2009-12-28T09:39:00.000+02:00

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

Toastmaters CC3 - get to the point

2009-10-22T10:24:00.000+02:00

Here is my CC3 speech that I gave at my Toastmaster club. The objective of the speech is to get to the point. The copyright of this entire speech belongs to Zani Smit and may not be reproduced.

CRY ME A RIVER - Zani Smit

We all enter this world crying, and then 50 or 60 or 80 years later when we’re again pink and wrinkly we leave this world with everyone else crying at our funerals.

Madam Toastmaster, ladies & Gentlemen

My favorite memory of my dad is not of him laughing when I told a knock-knock joke, or getting excited when he opened his X-mass present of blue handkerchiefs. It is of him sitting next to me in the movie theater. I was only 10 years old and we were watching Lion King. I didn’t have a box of popcorn on my lap but a box of Kleenex because my Dad was bawling his eyes out. I still remember the scene, Mufasa’s Ghost said: “Look inside yourself Simba, you are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life. Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true King.”

I stored this memory of my Dad and years later when he had to walk me down the aisle I was well prepared for his tears and had a bunch of tissues hidden underneath my wedding veil.

Why do we love to cry? And why is it so important to cry? Maybe it’s because crying is so spontaneous even more so than laughing. Let’s first take a look at why woman cry. When your boyfriend gets down on one knee and pops the question it’s only natural to cry. He wouldn’t be impressed if you started laughing when you saw the size of that diamond. It’s also very natural to cry when you get a speeding ticket for driving 100 in an 80 zone and you’re pulled over by the metro police. There I said it – Woman use crying as a manipulation tool.

Are there any males in this audience who likes to cry? Please raise your hand if you do. When is it acceptable for men to cry… when they are chopping an onion, when their sports team loses or when their little girl’s heart gets broken for the very first time.

According to various cultures there are many acceptable reasons to cry .The first reason to cry is death. Grieving includes crying and people still believe that if someone does not cry at a funeral, they would suffer physically because they did not release their pain. Experiences in life and love are other reasons society allows us to cry. Cultures around the world are pro crying out of obligation, for show, and for grief and pain. We need to cry to function in the world.

Crying is a more complicated process than one would at first imagine. First of all, you get different types of tears.
1) Basal tears keep our eyes lubricated.
2) Reflex tears are produced when our eyes get irritated – like when you are chopping an onion.
3) The last kind of tear is produced when the body reacts emotionally to something.

Each type of tear contains different amounts of chemical proteins and hormones. Crying reduces these hormone and chemical levels in the body, and helps us return to a calm

That is why crying is beneficial to us both emotionally and physically. Traditionally Women have been allowed to cry more than men but the benefits of crying seem to suggest that men need to cry more.

Ladies and gentleman, Madam Toastmaster I want you to cry. It’s good for you. You can do it right now, I have a box of tissues, or if you want we can wait for the prize giving when the Sergeant at Arms doesn’t give you the trophy. Why wait till tomorrow when you’re stuck in traffic on the N1 or until the 7 o clock news when Julius Malema’s wisdom wants to make you cry.

I also don’t care how much you cry. One silent tear will be enough, crocodile tears will be even better a bucket full of tears would exceed my expectations. You know what ladies and gentlemen why don’t you just cry me a river?

Madam Toastmaster

Toastmasters International Humorous Speech

2009-10-14T11:14:00.000+02:00

I competed in Toastmasters International District 74's Area A2 Humorous Contest on October 8 2009. The copyright of the speech belongs to me: Zani Smit

THE SECRET CHICKEN CONVENTION - Zani Smit

This is Ann Gardner, life from NASA headquarters, reporting on a strange event that took place. A spaceship just crashed into planet Jupiter and no one is claiming responsibility. Not the Taliban, not Zimbabwe and not even the aliens. The spaceship looks like and egg and the pilot has a red beak. We will now play the SOUND coming from the ship.

Pik pik pik kla kla kla

My fellow chicks and chickens don’t be afraid. You’ve risked your lives to attend tonight’s Secret Chicken Convention but I can assure you that this venue is safe and that no chicken will be grilled or fried here tonight. Listen chickens a few humans managed to sneak in, don’t panic our secrets are safe the SAA is programming their brains and they now think this is a humorous contest. If any of the humans laugh then smile and wave.

We are here tonight to discuss our plans to take over the known and unknown universe. you’ve just heard the human news they have no clue that we chickens just conquered another planet Jupiter. Right after the big bang my great, great, great, great, great (pause) great grandfather was the first being to leave earth’s atmosphere and to land on the moon. His words: “one small step for chicken kind, one giant leap for poultry”

The agenda for tonight’s Secret Chicken Convention:
a) How do we fool the humans into believing chickens are stupid farm animals
b) The financing of our space missions
c) A progress report on our accomplishments

A) How do we fool the humans when they have spy satellites? We have much more sophisticated technology that allows us to see everywhere even what is going on in district 9. I’m taking about chicken agents that we station on every single church roof. The training is vigorous these roosters have to sit as still as statues, overcome their fear of heights and move with the wind.

There is a problem, one human suspects our plans the former minister of health, garlic & beetroot. The one who likes her alternative medicines. When she was just a little girl our scientists tried to eliminate her with chicken pocks. Then when she hit menopause the military doctors took over and gave her bird flu. None of our efforts have worked so this year we will use a not so kosher solution – swine flu.

B) How do we finance our space missions? What do you see on the street corner of every small town, big city, township? KFC, Nando’s, Chicken Licken. Fast Food restaurants that make a lot of money for us because we own them. The best news is that they don’t sell chicken.

C) Our progress report shows that we chickens are clearly the winners of the space race. Humans are too busy asking themselves silly questions.

What came first the chicken or the egg? Why did the chicken cross the road?
Is Michael Jackson really dead?

Let's take a closer look at our accomlishments and at Human stupidity.

We chickens land on the moon then NASA files a report saying the chicken crossed the road because he wanted to get laid.

We take over mars, Venus, mercury and Pluto then the Taliban uploads an underground video saying: the chicken was on a suicide mission, he will now live on in infamy as the chicken who dared to cross the road.

My fellow chicks and chickens it’s sad that humans are so easily distracted from the truth. The earth is melting down and their own race is dying from diseases that can’t be cured by garlic & beetroot.

In reality we chickens aren’t crossing towards the other side of the road
Tonight we are leaving earth and would have crossed to the other side of the universe.
Contest Chairman

New Zealand through my lens

2009-09-28T17:05:00.000+02:00

Just some special moments I captured on holiday in New Zealand.

Movie of the year: District 9

2009-09-28T17:01:00.000+02:00

Aliesns, Prawn, Xeneophia, Scamming Nigerians... "District 9" has it all - this movie is the best Sci-Fi since Aliens, it's hillariously funny and it says a lot about humanity.

Trick or Treat with Sexy skeletons

2009-09-28T16:49:00.000+02:00

It's almost time for Halloween, if you can't find a date then why not take a sexy skeleton to trick or treat with you.

The light side of Fashion

2009-09-28T16:42:00.000+02:00

Coca-Cola lite makes a bold fashion statement

Promises from the word of God

2008-08-01T12:20:00.004+02:00

The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from sin.
1 John 1:7; Col 1:14

Jesus Christ died to give you eternal life.
John 3: 16; John 6:47

Expect His presence in your life.
Ex 33: 14; Ps 140:13

You can expect answers to your prayers.
John 15:7; Mark 11:24

God will teach you the turth
Ps: 32:8; Is: 28:26

God will work miracles in your life.
Mark 9:23; John 14:12

God will fill your life with love.
1 John 4:16; John 15:10

You can grow spiritually.
2 Cor 3:18; Eph 3 17-19

God will bless your family.
Jer 32:39; Ps 115:14

God wants us to live in peace.
2 Cor 11:16; John 13:35

Bible verses for your personal problems

2008-08-01T12:06:00.002+02:00

Here are some bible verses that address specific personal problems.

Doubt & fear?
Phil 4:13; Cor 3:5

Hard to live a clean life?
1 Cor 6:11; Jude 24

Need peace of mind?
Phil 4:7; Is 32:17

Tempted?
Rom 8:37; 1 Cor 10:13

Hung up with guilt?
Rom 8:1; Rom 3:24

Financial worries?
Phil 4:19; Luke 11:9

Unhappy?
Ps 126:5; Ps 45:7

Need Protection?
Gen 28:15; Ps 4:8

Hung up with guilt?
Rom 8:1; Rom 3:24

Sickness a problem?
James 5:15; Mark 16: 17-18

Need wisdom?
James 1:5; Ecc 2:26

Are you lonely?
Heb 13:5; Is 54:10

Impatient?
Heb 10:36; Gal 6:9

Grieving?
PS 23:4; 2 Thes 2: 16-17

Feeling inadequate/frustrated?
Is 45:24; 1 Cor 1:30

Feeling insecure?
Deut 33:27; Ps 46:1

The Dark Knight - my favourite quotes

2008-07-31T16:37:00.006+02:00

Joker: "I'm a simple man, i like gun powder and gasoline, there cheap."

Joker: "People will die.... starting tonight....im a man of my word...."
Joker: "I believe that what doesn't kill you simply makes you...stronger."
Joker:“You won’t kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness and I won’t kill you because you’re too much fun; I think you and I are destined to do this forever”

Joker:" I dont want to kill you , you complete me"
Joker:"How about a magic trick make this pencil disappear tada its gone"

Harvey Dent: "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villan"

The interrogation scene:
Joker: “Evening Commissioner”
Gordon:“Harvey Dent never made it home”
Joker:“Of course not”
Gordon:“What have you done with him?”
Joker:“Me? I was right here … who’d you leave him with hmm … your people? Assuming of course they are still your people and not Maroni’s … does it depress you commissioner to know just how alone you really are … does it make you feel responsible for Harvey Dent’s current predicament?
Gordon:“Where is he?”
Joker:“What’s the time?”
Gordon:“What difference does that make?”
Joker:“Well depending on the time he may be in one spot or several”
Gordon:“If we’re going to play games … removes Joker’s restraints … I’m going to need a cup of coffee”
Joker:“Ah the good cop bad cop routine”
Gordon:“Not exactly”
[The lights come on and Gordon leaves revealing that Batman is also there who slams the Joker’s head into the table.]

[Batman slams fist down on Joker’s hand]

Batman:“You wanted me … here I am”

Joker:“I wanted to see what you’d do and you didn’t disappoint … you let five people die, then you let Dent take your place … even to a guy like me that’s cold”

Batman:“Where’s Dent?”

Joker:“Those mob fools want you gone so they can get back to the way things were, but I know the truth there’s no going back, you’ve changed things … forever”

Batman:“Then why’d you want to kill me?”

[Joker laughs]

Joker:“I don’t want to kill you … what would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers no … no, no … no … no you … you complete me”

Batman:“You’re garbage who kills for money”

Joker:“Don’t talk like one of them you’re not … even if you’d like to be … to them you’re just a freak … like me … they need you right now but when they don’t they’ll cast you out like a leper … see their morals their codes … it’s a bad joke dropped at the first sign of trouble … their only as good as the world allows them to be … I’ll show you … when the chips are down these err civilised people, they’ll eat each other … see I’m not a monster, I’m just ahead of the curve.”

[Batman leaps up and grabs the Joker and pulls him over the table.]

Batman:“Where is Dent?”

Joker:“All these rules do you think they’ll save you?”

[Batman slams Joker against brick wall]

Batman:“I have one rule”

Joker:“Oh and that’s the rule you’ll have to break to know the truth”

Batman:“Which is?”

Joker:“The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules and tonight you’re going to break your one rule”

Batman:“I’m considering it”

Joker:“Well there’s only minutes left so you’re going to have to play my little game if you want to save one of them”

Batman:“Them?”
Joker:“You know for a while there I thought you really were Dent, the way you threw yourself after her”

[Batman slams Joker down on the table and then bolts the door with a chair.(Coughing)]

Joker: “Look at you go … does Harvey know about you and his little bunny…?”

[Batman slams the Joker head-first into the reflective glass and cracks it.]

Batman:“Where are they?!”

Joker:“Killing is making a choice”

[Batman punches him]

Joker:“You choose between one life or the other, your friend the District Attorney or the blushing bride-to-be” …

[Batman punches Joker again … (Joker laughing)]

Joker: “You have nothing, nothing to threaten me with, nothing to do with all your strength” … [Batman picks him up by the collar]

Joker:“Don’t worry I’m going to tell you where they are … both of them and that’s the point … you’ll have to choose either 252nd street and she’s out Avenue X.”

Why so serious?

2008-07-31T16:24:00.003+02:00

Meet The Waiter

2008-07-31T12:23:00.005+02:00

After 4 years of reading his popular blog - Waiter rant, and only knowing him as the Waiter, his identity is finally revealed. Steve Dublanica comes clean as The Waiter in an interview with the New York Post where he talks about his new book: "Waiter Rant - Confessions of a cynical waiter.". Just like his blog the book confirms every diner's worst fears. In the interview he talks about 5 lessons that you have to know when you eat out.

Check out the interview below:

STEVE Dublanica has swapped your decaf coffee for regular, "crop dusted" your table with his intestinal gas and called the cops on you after you got drunk and staggered out to your car.
Lesson No. 1: "Waiters can and do spit in people's food . . . I prefer more elegant methods of revenge."Dublanica is a waiter. Actually, he's "The Waiter" behind the anonymous (until now) four-year-old blog Waiter Rant, and he's got a new book of the same name out in stores today chronicling his nine-year career waiting tables in the city's affluent suburbs (he won't divulge the true identity of "The Bistro"). Anthony Bourdain has called it "the front-of-the-house version of 'Kitchen Confidential,' " his stomach-churning restaurant exposé that changed the way New Yorkers ordered food.

Similarly, whether you fear Dublanica or sympathize with him, you may think twice before treating him - or any other waiter - shabbily again. Because if you still insist on stiffing him after reading his book, he'll just put a friendly little note ("customer's an a - - hole," perhaps) under your name in the Open Table reservation system. Good luck getting that 8 p.m. table next Saturday night.

Lesson No. 2: "If you never get the table you want at your favorite restaurant . . . someone at the restaurant doesn't like you."Because if there's anything to be learned from "Waiter Rant," it's that there are consequences to behaving like a self-entitled jerk. "I think a misconception people have of me is that I treat everyone askance - that I give a hard time to every customer - but that's not true," says Dublanica over dinner one evening at Danny Meyer's Eleven Madison Park. Dublanica, 40, is dressed in preppy khaki pants and a navy blazer.

"I would give a hard time only to the ones who deserved it." Among the folks who have "deserved" to see Dublanica's "thousand-yard waiter stare" are those who call him names, those who feign food poisoning to get out of paying the bill and those who make "unreasonable demands" ("'Hi waiter, I want sushi.' 'Um, we're an Italian restaurant, ma'am, we don't have sushi.' 'But you have tuna, don't you?'").Foodies are particularly irksome, according to Dublanica, "because they ask questions they already know the answers to." ("You don't have super-fancy balsamic vinegar, do you?")

Lesson No. 3: "It's gotten to the point where I can tell how much money I'm going to make off a customer within 10 seconds of meeting them."
Of course, as any diner who has been treated unfairly in a restaurant knows, not everyone always gets the same level of service.
And profiling diners based on age, sex and race is still rampant in the industry. "I try not to fall into that trap," says Dublanica. "I've had waiters say to me, 'this group doesn't tip well' - whatever. I don't believe that. The people who have given me the worst tips of my life have been white Anglo-Saxon males."

Lesson No. 4: "Restaurants are places where people struggle to make a living."
At Eleven Madison Park, a small army of servers caters to our every whim. Why would anyone want to ruin this bit of dinner theater with the sordid backstage details contained in Dublanica's book?

For Dublanica, the answer boils down to responsibility. If you care whether the pig you are eating was humanely raised, shouldn't you also care about the people preparing it? "You need to know where your food comes from," he says. "The same thing holds true for restaurants. You should know that the waiter doesn't make a salary and a tip [or] that a good percentage of restaurants don't treat their employees well. "You're always gonna have people who say [that] you should be lucky you get 10 percent - and those people are lousy customers and you don't want them anyway. Then you're gonna have people who genuinely don't know [what goes on in the restaurant industry] and are interested and maybe they'll be annoyed, like with Anthony Bourdain's book."
But even perfectly nice customers like "The Waiter" have to deal with the occasional dining snafu: When it's time to leave Eleven Madison Park, we notice a charge for a $75 glass of dessert wine that was never ordered and is eventually removed from the bill.

Lesson No. 5: "Always examine the check!"
We leave in excess of 20 percent anyway. Maybe the waiter was just having a bad night.

Sellotape Art

2008-07-23T11:37:00.003+02:00

Happy Birthday Madiba!

2008-07-18T12:28:00.002+02:00

Today is a very Special day. It's our African granddaddy Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday.

From everyone who still lives and breathes our African soil, we wish him a wonderful day and thank him for all he has done for South Africa and the rest of the world. We love you Madiba!

Your overdoing it at they gym when ...

2008-05-12T14:52:00.005+02:00

1. Instead of buying bottled water you use the gym's water cooler machine
2. One your way to a wedding you realize that you still have your adidas track suite on
3. Your Christmas cards are for your trainer, nutritionist, the staff at Kauai, the aerobic, yoga, Pilates and spinning instructors
4. You speak more to Vernon Koekemor types at the gym than your actual friends back home
5. You’re an expert at mixing protean shakes and fancy yourself as Tom Cruise in Cocktail
6. Just because you are never home doesn't mean you stop watching TV, the treadmills, bikes and steppers do have their own TV screens
7. You are so used to exercising with your IPod that you tend to yell at people in the supermarket while you are running laps with your trolley.
8. You don't have any clean socks left so you are forced to wear mixed pairs
9. Your spouse tells you that you are doing stomach crunches in your sleep
10. When people ask you where you are you say: "I'm at uncle Richard's" (referring to Virgin Active of course)

Best copy ad

2008-05-01T10:44:00.003+02:00

Click on image to enlarge. First read the normal text and then read the highligted words.

What is a crocodile?

2008-03-27T19:14:00.002+02:00

The crocodile is specially built long because the flatter the better swimmer. At the front of the crocodile is the head. The head exists almost only of teeth. Behind the crocodile the tail grows between the head and tail is the crocodile. A crocodile without a tail is called a Rottweiler.

A crocodile’s body is covered with handbag material. He can throw his tail off if he gets a fright but it doesn’t happen much cause a crocodile is scared of nothing. A crocodile stays under the water because if you were so ugly, you would also stay under the water.

It is a good thing because a person gets such a big fright if a crocodile catches you that the croc has to rinse you off before he can eat you. A crocodile isn’t hardly as dangerous as people say he is, except if he catches you. The longer a crocodile bites you the more it hurts. Very old crocodiles suck their people and buck that they catch dead.

If you eat a crocodile it is called a crocosatie. The little brother of a crocodile is a lizard. The slow sister of a crocodile is a chameleon. The gay brother is a daffodil and a crocodile also has a dead brother called a frikkadel.

Lank lewe die krokenoster!!!

Mc who?

2008-03-13T11:37:00.003+02:00

Here is something to nibble on:
McDreamy, McSteamy and McDonald (also known as Big Mc)

Why I could never win the lotto

2008-03-11T17:31:00.005+02:00

I'll never win the lotto for these 3 simple reasons:

1. I don't buy lotto tickets (never have and never will)

2. A varsity friend of mine did a project as part of her first year mechanical engineering course. They worked out the probability of winning the lotto and in their findings discovered that if you used all the different combinations of numbers on different tickets then you would win the lotto but you would make a loss because the amount of combinations are far more than the amount in the lotto pool.
3. Because I'd rather see a rainbow and that is what this blog post is actually all about my rainbow....

...See sometimes I do dream about winning the lotto and fantasizing about all the money. The only problem is that soon the smirk on my face turns into a frown as I try to work out what to do with all the "money." What would I buy first? Should I first pay of my debts and then spoil myself or the other way around? Am I supposed to share the money with my husband, sister, parents, church, friends and poor people? Do you tell people that you won the lotto? Do you switch banks? Do you invest the money locally or do you stuff it in a duffel bag and head to Switzerland where the exchange rate will anyway render it useless? I can go on forever but you probably get the point - winning the lotto would be to stressful for me.

So I've decided to wish for simpler but much nicer things in life - like seeing a rainbow (not because of the pot of gold at the end of it). I wondered how long it would take for me to see one and not even two weeks after I've been fantasising about seeing a rainbow my wish was granted this morning. We were staying at the Bakubung camp in the Pilanesberg and woke up at 5 to go for a game drive. The first thing that we saw was this beautiful rainbow, followed by a sunrise, a herd of elephants and three rhinos. So there you have it Lady Luck, I'd rather have my rainbow thank you very much.

Tata ma chance, Tata ma rainbow!

I dedicate this cloud ...

2008-03-11T16:40:00.007+02:00

This is the view from where I stay. Jaco took the photo one morning not too long ago after I told him the story of the Jewish fist fighter (Max). The photos are to give you an idea what the sky looked like on that particular day, because unlike Max you don't live in a German family's basement in Munich during World War II. Max, the basement Jew, is one of the lead characters in the best-selling novel "The Book Thief " by Markus Zusak. (The sky and clouds in these photos are dedicated to him)

In this book a german family the Hubermanns hides Max in their basement and his only contact with the outside world is with a young girl Liesel that visits him every afternoon in the basement. She gives Max a review of what the weather is like each day by describing the color of the sky so that he can imagine the world above the basement. "The sky is blue today, Max, and there is a big long cloud . . . . At the end of it, the sun is like a yellow hole. "

Max and Liesel become close friends and when Max falls sick Liesel takes it upon herself to give him a cloud as a present. (She writes down exactly how the cloud looks like and intends to tell Max the minute he wakes up). This got me thinking, how do you describe a cloud or the sky to someone.... go outside right now and try.... it's really difficult.

I've been practising everyday and I have to admit that Liesel would be proud of me if she could see the pictures (but obviously she can't because she's now dead and I'm just another fictional character in a book).

Recycling a movie premise

2008-02-24T18:53:00.017+02:00

A movie premise is the bottom line of a movie, what it is all about and what the movie comes down to. There are only a handful of movie premises that gets used over and over again. Here are some of the most recycled and overused movie premises.

1. Good VS Evil (Bourne Ultimatum, The Departed, American Gangster, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Spiderman, Superman, Batman, I am Legend, Star Wars, Fantastic Four, The last Nimzy).Sometimes the lines can be blurred and the hero can be the evil one (Mr. Brooks, Perfect Stranger). Or it can even be a case of Evil fighting Evil (Aliens VS Predators)

2. Boy meets Girl (When Harry meets Sally, Pride & Prejudice, Titanic, The Corpse Bride, Scent of a Woman, The Notebook, Stardust, Enchanted, Failure to Launch, No Reservations, Ameli, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, My Best Friends Wedding, 27 Dresses, You've got Mail, Noting Hill, How to loose a guy in 10 days).
This premise can have a twist that the couple doesn't end up together (The Breakup, Prime) or it could be Boy meets Boy (Brokeback Mountain) or Girl meets Girl (Kissing Jessica Stein) or even Boy meets several girls (Alfie)

3. Unlikely Friendship/Partnership (The Bucket List, Shawshank Redemption, You & Me & Dupree, Radio, Driving Miss Daisy, Blades of Glory)

4. Save the World from Disaster (Armageddon, Team America, Volcano, Men in Black, Signs, War of the Worlds, Independence Day)

5. The underdog (Legally Blond, Mean Girls, Sydney White, Hairspray, Shrek, A Shark Tail, White Stripes, Million Dollar Baby, The longest Yard, Coach Carter, The Mask, Charlie and the chocolate Factory)

6. A family comes together (Little Miss Sunshine, The Family Stone, Mrs Doubtfire, Big Fish, August Rush)

7. A quest for something (Fools Gold, Mad Money, The Italian Job, The Da vinci Code, Oceans 11, National Treasure, Pirates of the Carribean, tomb raider)

8. From ugly Duckling to Swan (My Fair Lady, Pretty Women, Never been kissed, 10 things I hate about you)

9. Random killing (House of Wax, I know what you did last summer, Scream, Midnight on elm street, Halloween, Jeepers Creepers, Friday the 13th).

10.Spoof/Satire/ Rip off (Meet the Spartans, Robin Hood - men in tights, Not another teen movie, Scary Movie, Epic Movie)

Writers Block

2008-02-21T10:57:00.007+02:00

For the past few months I've been burning the midnight oil - trying to finish the manuscript I'm writing for Pearsons. There were moments where I just wanted to run away, burn the pages that I've already written or use an imperius curse to et the nearest person to me to finish the book for me.

As any writer would tell you writers block can't be avoided. I had a close deadline to work to and I had to think of some quick and very unconventional methods to overcome writers block in a time frame of say half an hour.

How to overcome writers block in half an hour:
1. Take off your bra (we'll that's only if you're a women, maybe if you're a guy putting on a bra would give you some inspiration - just kidding). The only way that I can write is if I'm not distracted in any way. I need to clear my mind and by taking off my bra I gained a sense of freedom. PS: Only try this tip at home not at an office!

2. Invent a snack (the combination of peanut butter and feta cheese on a provita seemed to do the trick)

3. Intoxicate yourself (loads of strong coffee, a sip of wine and chocolate that will get your sugar levels up)

4. Throw a tantrum (scream, cry, kick the door, jump up and down, laugh hysterically afterwards you'll feel much calmer, and it's much better than trying to keep your emotions in)

5. Read about Britney (at the times when I really felt sorry for myself and though it was the worst punishment in the world to write a book I went to Perezhilton.com and read about Britney Spears. You really won't believe how reading about her failed life managed to cheer me up)

6. Change of location (writers get bored of their surroundings and that's the main reason why I got myself a laptop and not a PC so that I can just pack up and go write somewhere else. I even took the bus 3 weeks ago to go visit my parents and to write my book there for one week)

7. Phone a friend (organising your social life over weekends is a must. Once you know you have something to look forward to it's easier to convince yourself to work again)

8. Play useless computer games (the past few months I revisited some of the games that I used to play 8 years ago - Minesweeper, hearts and Solitaire)

9. Just Do it (force yourself to write one word, one sentence and then one paragraph, before you know it you'll have finished your first page)

10. Blog (write about writers block. The AA always tell their people once you admit you have a problem you're halfway there to solving)

I'm starting a book club

2008-02-13T14:45:00.006+02:00

A few weeks ago I went to visit my parents and I went along to one of my mom's book club meetings. I was so nice that my sister and I have decided to start our very own book club with a couple of lady friends.

Here is a list of a couple of books that we are going to start with in our book pool. I recommend all of these book if you also want to start your own book club.

1. Sky Burial by Xinran
2. Veronica decides to die and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
3. Q&A by Vikas Swarup
4. The curious incident of the dog in the night time by Mark Haddon
5. The Kite Runner by Khalded Hosseini
6. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
7. White Thorn, Power of one and Jessica by Bryce Courtney
8. The little prince by Antoine de saint exupery
9. The famished road by Ben Okri
10. Making money by Terry Pratchett

The only thing normal in life ...

2008-02-13T14:15:00.008+02:00

is the setting on a hairdryer, that's according to my father in law.

After finishing the book "Veronika decides to die" by Paulo Coelho (same author of the brilliant book - the Alchemist) I tend to agree with him.
In the book Veronika is send to a mental institution called Vilette, after she tries to commit suicide.

At Vilette she discovers that is better to be considered mad than to pretend to be normal by society standards and then end up mad anyway because you are denying yourself your dreams and ultimately the chance to live. ("collective madness is called sanity".)

According to society in this book it is normal to type on the keyboards that we know as the QWERTY keyboard, because most people wrongly assume that it is designed in this way to make us type faster. (It was actually invented to make us type slower because the keyboard keys used to stick together).

Society also thinks that it is normal for a clock to go clockwise (from left to right) and not the other way around. But who says that is normal? I always used to frown at my husband who eats with his knife and fork the other way around than what is said to be "normal" by society's standards. But after reading this book I'm ashamed at myself for wasting my time with petty things that society as branded as normal. So what if he wants to eat with his knife and fork the other way around - who says he isn't right and who says there is even a right or wrong.

So I've made a vow nether to try and be normal again, nether to try and fit into society because "they" think it is right. So far this decision has lifted a huge barrier off my shoulders. In the past I would have worried that my green hand bag didn't go with my pink skirt but now I just don't care. If I like the way I dress, walk, talk, act, think and dream then that's perfect for me. I don't want to be a clone or sheep of society, pressed into a perfect mould like a Stepford wife.

I just want to be me, even if that means people will tell me:"You're mad", at least 20 times a day. I'm ready with my answer - "Thank you that is the best compliment anyone could ever give me."

Gesteelde fone verkoop by Hello Cello Corporation

2008-02-13T14:02:00.006+02:00

Laas week moes ek dringend 'n nuwe selfoon koop omdat myne in 'n glas water geval het. Ek het na die naaste plek wat Nokia selfone verkoop gegaan - Hello Cello Corporation in Waverley Plaza.

Ek het gedink dat 'n nuwe prepaid foon my ten minste R2,000 uit die sak sou jaag. Die eienaar het my egter ingelig dat hy 'n Nokia 2600 vir slegs R426 aan my sou verkoop. Ek het hom gevra hoekom is dit so goedkoop en hy het geantwoord: "We have a special". Hy het toe die foon van agter die toonbank gaan haal en vir my 'n Nokia boks gegee. Ek het met my kredietkaart betaal en hy het vir my 'n invoice met die hand uitgeskryf.

Toe ek by die huis kom het ek iets verkeerd begin vermoed. Eerstens die boks wat hy vir my gegee het, het slegs 'n nokia charger bevat en geen papiere of boekie met instruksies nie. Daar was dus geen waarborg op die foon nie en al die ander pre-paid fone wat ek gekoop het, het altyd met 'n waarborg gekom.

Toe ek die foon aansit was daar reeds 'n Welcome message op in Afrikaans. Die foon se message inbox was ook vol boodskappe en die Calendar was vol reminders om die kinders by die skool te gaan haal. Toe sink dit in - dit is seker 'n gesteelde foon wat ek gekoop het.

So as 'n waarskuwing moet nooit na die Hello Cello Corporation in Waverley Plaza gaan nie!

The first bunch of funny pics for 2008

2008-01-15T11:08:00.000+02:00

Gelukkige Nuwe Jaar!! 2008 is hier

2008-01-02T11:16:00.000+02:00

Aan al my vriende en familie

Mag die beste oomblik van 2007 die swakste een van 2008 wees. Voorspoedige jaar vir julle almal en sien uit om nog wonderlike goed saam met julle te doen.

Liefde Zani en Jaco

Kersfees 2007

2007-12-28T00:51:00.000+02:00

Baie Geluk Pieter & Yulandi!

2007-12-28T00:33:00.000+02:00

Pieter van Zyl en sy nuwe bruid Yulandi, het Saterdag 22 Desember 2007, die knoop deurgehaak. Die geleentheid het by Safari kwekery in Pretoria plaasgevind. Die troue was 'n feestlikheid en ons wens julle twee net mooi dinge en 'n gelukkige lewe saam toe!

A year in review: 2007

2007-12-12T11:53:00.000+02:00

I do this every year and since 2007 is almost kapot I thought it's a good time to reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly that happened this year.

Top moments op 2007:
1. 11 August - my wedding day
2. 12 August - drinking champane on a mountain top in Kaapscehoop
3. The whole honeymoon (Fado show in Lisbon - Portugal; Flamenco dancing show in Seville Spain; Belly dancing evening in Fez - Morocco; Swiming in the ocean in Malaga (spain) and Casablanca (Morocco); Seafood evening in Lisbon - Portugal; Shopping in Seville and walking next to the river)
4. Goo Goo Dolls performing Iris at 46664 concert and seeing Nelson Mandela in person for the first time at 46664
5. South African Springbucks winning the 2007 Rugby world Cup
6. Cherrie Festival in Tzaneen
7. Die oog longweekend
8. Girls weekend at Dikhololo
9. Enrique Iglesias Concert at the Dome
10. Easter picnic at Kaapschehoop

My top 10 movies of 2007:
1: As it is in Heaven
2: Little Miss Sunshine
3: Hairspray
4: 300
5. Bourne Ultimatum
6. American Gangster
7. La Vida Rosa
8: Stardust
9: Enchanted
10. Ratatouille

T0p 10 DVD's that I watched in 2007:
1. Stranger than Fiction
2.Number 23
3. Perfect Strangers
4. Alpha Dog
5. Breach
6. Mr Brooks
7. Highschool Musical
8. Happy Feet
9. Meet the Robinsons
10. Blades of Glory

Top 10 Songs of 2007:
1. Grace Kelly - Mika
2. The way I are - Timbaland
3. Umbrella - Rihanna
4. Leave me alone I'm lonely - Pink
5. Apologise - Timbaland
6. Bleed it out - Linkin Park
7. Pot Belly - Freshly ground
8. Do you know (Ping-pong song) - Enrique Iglesias
9. I believe - Live
10. Just like a star in the sky - Corin Bailey Ray

Best books that I read in 2007:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K Rowling
2. Eragon - Christopher Paolini
3. Eldest - Christopher Paolini
4. The Rainmaker - John Grisham
5. Making Money - Terry Pratchet
6. Screw it, let's do it again - Richard Branson

Favourite website of 2007:
1. Facebook.com
2. Perezhilton.com
3. waiterrant.net
4. Postsecret.blogspot
5. billboard.com
6. wikipedia.org
7. tvsa.co.za
8. Beeld
9. overture.com
10. gmail.com

Biggest Disappointments of 2007:
1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phenix (movie)
2. Eskom load shedding (goverment)
3. Shrek the Third (movie)
4. Going on a camel ride (touring)
5. Zuma not being arrested (politics)
6. Employee of the month (dvd)
7. Innocent Man by John Grisham (book)
8. Headlines song by Spice Girls (song)
9. City of Tangier in Morocco (touring)
10. Madrid Bus tour in Spain (touring)

46664 Concert - 1 December 2007

2007-12-12T11:30:00.000+02:00

Saturday morning, on the 1ste of December World Aids Day, we drove to Johannesburg looking for the Ellis Park stadium. On the official 46664 concert page they had directions to follow. The directions where simple - take Harrow off ramp and drive past the Ponte Tower and you'll find Ellis Park. After driving for an hour up the M1 highway, looking for Harrow off ramp, we finally stopped at a garage and asked the petrol attendant if he knew where Ellis Park was. "It's easy; just take Jo Something off ramp." I should have guessed - yet another name change by our competent government without alerting the citizens of their country. The same thing happened to me the other day as I was driving around looking for Hans Strijdom off-ramp. I drove past it because of a name change.

Anyway, back to the Concert. We arrived just after three, got our sitting seats with an excellent view of the stage and stocked up on food and cold drinks. There was a very amusing coca-cola vender who kept saying to the crowd: "Who wants BRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr."

In the first few hours South African musicians like Freshly Ground, Malaika, Danny K, Arno Carstens, Louise Carver, Soweto Gospel Coir,Prime Circle and Jonny Clegg performed. International musicians like Peter Gabrial, Razorlight, Jemelia and Live also performed.

And then the moment that we were all waiting for….. 7 o clock on the dot Nelson Mandela appeared on the stage. He was supported by his wife and with all the 46664 musicians behind him. The crowd went whild when he smiled and waved and I got goosebumps just hearing him address us. He talked about World Aids day and the 46664 concert. He had us all mesmerized. After Madiba’s speech more South African and international bands performed. (people like Just Jinger, Corine Balley Ray and Annie Lenox).

The next highlight of the evening was when my favourite band The Goo Goo Dolls perpormed my all time favourite Song – “Iris” from the movie City of Angels.
I actually cried that’s how touched I was. After they finished the song – there was silence for a few seconds and then the whole crowd started clapping and singing: “And I don’t want the world to see me cause I don’t think that they’d understand, when everything’s meant to be broken I just want you to know who I am.” That was absolute perfection for me.

Some unique Christmas gifts ideas

2007-11-14T11:11:00.000+02:00

ILUMINATING CAR SLIPPERS
Do you get up at night to drink water, go to the toilet? Do you wish you could see in the dark? Remarkably bright LED lights are triggered by your footsteps and light up the floor 30 feet in front of you; ultra-soft plush style are extra comfortable and cozy warm.

TOILET SEAT LIFTER
The PeaceMaker will end the battle of the toilet seat. Merely step on the pedal to activate the lifting mechanism. When finished, remove your foot from the pedal and the seat gently comes to a rest where it started.

TRAVELER'S PHRASE BOOK T-SHIRT
If you are traveling a lot and don't always know the language of the country you are visiting, then this T-shirt is for you. It has a phrase book printed on it so just point a finger at the pictogram you need and then point it twice at the question mark.

LOCK-CUP Anti-Theft Coffee Cup.
Are you tired of others stealing your coffee cup? Well now there is a solution. The Lock - Cup has a hole which prevents most people from using it. Only the owner of the cup can use his/hers shaped key to close the hole.

TRANSPARENT TOASTER
You love toast, but you always burn it? Than, this invention us for you. This transparent toaster allows you to see the bread while it is toasting so you just have to take it out when the colour is right. This idea is based on a transparent heating glass technology.

GIANT REMOTE
Never lose your remote again! With giant buttons, this extra-large remote is easy to use and impossible to lose. It is a 6-in-1 remote so you can use it to control your TV, VCR, DVD player, satellite, cable and auxiliary A/V device. It even features glow-in-the-dark buttons, so you can easily find the remote in the dark.

CRIME SCENE TOWEL
Chalk outline crime scene beach towel - be the coolest person on the beach!

LASER SCISSORS
Cutting a straight line has never been easier. Just aim the pin-point laser and follow the line. The scissor blades are stainless steel and cut very clean with a micro serrated edge.

Interesting photo's

2007-11-09T02:37:00.000+02:00

Pens down - Hollywood writers go on strike

2007-11-06T10:45:00.001+02:00

Hollywood writers went on strike Monday, a move that will have an immediate impact on talk shows, soap operas, and comedy programs that rely on fresh scripts. Many shows that began this season will also die miserable deaths. Shows with declining audience numbers that are difficult to follow, like "Lost", may disappear as well. Nobody knows how long the strike will last but what we do know is that the economy will suffer. (Entertainment makes up 7% of the US economy.)

The wordsmiths that belong to the Writers Guild of America want a greater share of residual profits from television series sold on DVDs and money made from programs shown on the Internet, cellular phones, and other new media outlets. In the '40s the Guild was formed after a strike threat. In the '60s the Guild walked for health, pension and residuals. In the '80s the Guild walked for Cable coverage, DVD payments and home video. Now there is a new medium and the Guild is fighting for their rightful share of the profit.

Writers are determined not to repeat a mistake made decades earlier, when they underestimated how lucrative home video sales would become and settled for a contract that gives them just three cents of each DVD film sale. At the moment they get 1.2 percent of revenues from shows streamed online for one-time viewing but get nothing from content downloaded to own from websites such as iTunes.

This is what the Teamsters had to say about the strike: “The digital world is not in the future, it is here now. It is now possible to watch Television and Movies entirely on the Internet, and the network sites, with ads galore, are proof. This is not a hypothetical. It is profit-making reality. If the writers are denied fair payment for reuse, I do not believe the Directors, Actors and the rest of us will fare any better when our turn comes.”

Dumbledore is happy (when he's with other men)

2007-11-02T11:32:00.000+02:00

Author J.K Rowling recently told Harry Potter fans at a Deathly Hallows review that Professor
Dumbledore is Gay. Albus Dumbledore is not only the headmaster of Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry, but he was also Harry Potters mentor and he helped Harry found the horcruxes. After Rowling revealed this interesting tit-bit she got a standing ovation from the crowd. She responded:"If I knew how you would react I would have outed Dumbledore much sooner." I guess a lot of men are going to dress up as Dumbledore at the next Pink Parade.

We are Rugby World Cup Champions!!

2007-10-22T10:54:00.000+02:00

Go Bokke!!! We are the World Cup champions again after South Africa beat England 15-6 at the Stade de France, on 20 October ,in the Rugby World Cup 2007 final. We had to wait 12 years for this after the Springboks won the World Cup back in 1995 and now again in 2007.

Weeks before the game, the whole of South Africa had rugby fever and where dressed in green and gold. CD shops only sold “Ons vir jou Suid-Afrika” and Leon Schuster’s – “Hie’kommie bokke 2” and sport shops had long quess of people lining up for green and gold jerseys. Even the French public started favoring South Africa and they went as far as decorating the Eiffel Tower with green and gold lights.

The big day arrived and a bunch of us went to a local rugby bar called "Oppiplaas." Everyone there was ready for action, drinking springbokkie shooters and dressed in their Springbok jerseys. South African flags where waved around and green face-painted men smiled nervously while they drank their castle bears. We watched the clock tick a way and as it approached 9 o clock a deadly science fell on the crowd.

The game kicked off, and in the first 7 minutes Percy Montgomery scored 3 points for South Africa. We were in the lead!!! Then Wilkinson equalized the score and the cameras panned to the English crowd and showed a close up off Prince Harry. A tipsy gentleman not too far from us started shouting: "Ooh f-off Harry, you stupid Harry Potter." In different circumstances I would have laughed. Half time came and the score was close 9-3 for South Africa.

The second half started and things got even more emotional. The Tv ref had to decide if England got a try and I found myself eating my nails and walking up and down waiting for his decision. Percy Montgomery was also pushed into a Telivision camera by number 21 of England. This idiot didn't even get a yellow card, and Percy had to play injured for the duration of the game.

5 minutes before the final whistle blew, we were leading 15-6 and all the people at Oppiplaas started singing: "Ole Ole Ole Ole, We are the Champions, We are the Chamions." We could all smell victory and we didn't have to wait long to see our Captain John Smit lift the Web-Ellis trophy high up in the air with President Thabo Mbeki at his side.

It was a sweet victory for South Africa with our winger Bryan Habana also winning the IRB Player of the Year Award and Jake White the Coach of the Year Award. Apart from winning the World Cup, South Africa was also named the IRB Team of the Year.

I'm really proud to call myself a South African.I'm going to say this again: "Go Bokke - We are the World Champions, OLE!!"

Enrique Iglesias concert in Johannesburg

2007-10-22T00:16:00.000+02:00

Last night I had the privilege to go to the Enrique Iglesias concert in the Johannesburg Dome. Jaco spoiled me with tickets for my birthday, and it was definitely the best birthday present ever - thanks Jaco!!

The concert started at 9 and Enrique dressed in Jeans and a Blue T-shirt, sang his opening song "Ring my Bells". He went straight into his next so songs before he greated the crowd: "Hello Joburg, fuck it's good to be back." He then told us: "Tonight I'm going to give you everything I have, all of my songs." I can't remember the order of the songs but I remember he sang: "Don't turn of the lights", "Love to see you cry", "I will survive", "Do you Know", "Push", "Hero", "Don't you forget about me", "Escape".

Apart from his stunning voice, he's also got the most amazing stage presence and he really interacts with the crowd. He pulled various people unto the stage and chatted to them. He danced with one girl while he sang Hero, and she was so excited she almost fainted. He also got a gay couple on the stage and they were lucky enough to sit on a couch while Enrique sang 3 songs.

Enrique told the crowd that he was born in Madrid Spain and they moved to the US when he was 3. He learned English from this song, and then he started singing:"Knocking on Heaven's Door."

My favourite part of the concert was when the whole stage was dark and then on the big screen, a ping-pong table made from lights appeared and the ping-pong ball went back and forth. Enrique then started singing the ping-pong song. He ended the night with his biggest hit – Escape and he told the crows: “You’ve got a beautiful country, the best one in the world. Take care of it.”

World Cup Final this Saturday

2007-10-17T03:43:00.000+02:00

Go Bokke - Suid Afrika is in die finaal

2007-10-15T03:55:00.000+02:00

Groen en Goud is al waaraan ek gaan dink hierdie laaste week voor die rugby world cup 2007 finaal. Wow, 12 jaar later en ons is weer soos in 1995 in die Rugby World Cup finaal. Ek is seker dat ons soos laas weer die beker huis toe gaan bring. Saterdag speel ons in Parys in die finale Wereld Beker 2007 teenoor die "defending champions" Engeland.

Suid-Afrika en Engeland is altwee uit groep A, en het al teen mekaar gespeel in die wereld beker, toe SA vir Engeland 36-0 gewen het. Maar nou is Engeland se troefkaart, Johnny Wikenson, weer in goeie vorm en hulle belowe om stywe mededinging vir die springbokke te wees.

Iemand om voor uit te kyk in Saterdag se wedstryd is Sa se super vleul - Bryan Habanna. Hy het in die semi-finaal teen Argentinie, Jonah Lomuse se rekord van 8 driee ge-evenaar. So as hy Saterdag nog 'n drie teen die pommies aanteken dan is hy die nuwe rekord houer van die meeste driee in 'n wereld beker. Percie Montgomery is ook die voorste punteaanteker in hierdie jaar se wereld beker.

Nog net 'n week, tot die groot wedstryd en ek kan al klaar nie meer wag nie. Go Bokke!!

No Electricity = Bordeom

2007-10-10T11:34:00.001+02:00

Yes, I know I'm spoiled and that half of South Africa never had electricity and still cook their food by candle light. That didn't changed the fact that yesterday when the whole of Gauteng suffered serious power cuts I was mad - not because I couldn't finish my work, but mad because I was bored. Ever tried doing something without electricity when you're bored? It's impossible.... you can't listen to the radio, watch TV, go to the movies, bake something or even read a book in the darkness.

The only thing that still worked was my cell phone that I luckily charged the day before. As I called all my friends I realised that they were no better off also stuck without electricity. My plan to go grab a quick coffee at a coffee shop wasn't going to work since all the places where plunged into darkness for as far as we could tell. Venturing into a road was also madness with all the traffic lights out of order. It was then that boredom inspired me to try some old fashioned physical labor.

I walked over to the in-laws place and soon I was helping them unpack an assemble their brand new garden chairs and table while listening to news reports about the power cuts on their battery powered radio. We were just figuring out what to cook on our "gas braaier" when the electricity came on. Today's going to be the same story, with power cuts taking place later this afternoon. While the power still lasts I'm multi-tasking trying to get as much done as I possibly can. This means that I'm now listening to the radio, working, blogging on my laptop, charging my phone, watching TV, seeing a movie and baking goodies all at the same time. Ooh the joys of living in South Africa.

My new office space

2007-10-09T00:52:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I moved into my very own office. This isn't a corner office of some big corporation, this is my very own office where I pay the rent every month and got to decide on the wall colours and floor tiles when they where busy building it. My father in law owns the building so I'm actually renting from him and he renovated it for me as a present.

Not since I was a little girl and played office-office with my sister did I ever imagine that I'll have my own office. Now sitting behind my laptop I'll try my best to describe it to you. It's a medium sized room that is divided off with a dry wall that leads into a tiny kitchen with my microwave oven and fridge. The walls are painted white and the tiles are a grayish white colour. A sliding door opens up on a view of the street.

Next to the kitchen I have a white storage rack with my filing in it and a few cactus plants. Then in front of the kitchen is my trendy little desk with my laptop on it. Next to my desk I have table that can be folded or extended to fit 2 people, 4 or 6 with a brand new orange table cloth. You'll soon realize that everything in my office is orange, I decided to stick to just one colour since the walls and tiles are white and so far its working beautifully.

In front of my desk I have two orange squares that you can sit on. They are very comfy and don't take up loads of space. Next to them is my bookcase with my books, radio and a photo of my husband. On the other side of the orange squares I have a very long but thin orange carpet with a huge orange giraffe standing on top of it. I had a very successful shopping trip yesterday and picked up the giraffe at the crafters market.

We had a hectic Highveld storm here last night and most people even went home earlier because there were reports of a tornado. Luckily the tornado reports where a hoax but it still rained a lot last night. So this morning when I stepped into my brand new office it was full of rain water and my brand new carpet was soaking wet. Nothing that a towel couldn’t fix and everything is again back to normal. I'm already planning to invite a few friends over and have a type of "office warming" party.

The Amazing Tourist in Spain

2007-09-20T10:41:00.001+02:00

One week after the wedding we set out for our great adventure, I should actually call it our relaxing holiday or romantic honeymoon in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. We flew with Qatar airways from Johannesburg International to a small country called Duah for a 2 hour stop over. We arrived at 2 in the morning and when we stepped out of the plane it was 40 degrees. After this short stop over we flew to Madrid – Spain where we arrived at 8 in the morning.

It was by accident that we bumped into our Trafalgar tour guide called ‘David’. As soon as he dropped us at our hotel – The Florida Norte, we went out exploring on our own by using the Metro System. It’s really easy to use and you should just follow the lines. Since it was a Sunday all the museums charged no entrance and we went to visit the magnificent Museum del Prado with its world-famous paintings. We got to see the works of Spain's Diego Velázquez and Francisco Goya, as well as of Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch and collections of El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens and Raphael. My favourite paintings were Bosch's "Garden of Delights", and Rubens' "The Three Graces".

In the evening we ate at Casa Mingo, the king of Spain’s favourite restaurant and afterwards we went to a bar and drank espresso while we watched the soccer team “Real Madrid” Play. A note to all tourists going to Madrid, don’t get ripped off the way we did in this bar. We asked in Spanish for coffee – “café” and when we got our espresso’s the bartender charged us 9 Euros each. (That is R81 for 2 coffees in South Africa you’ll pay R20 for two coffees) When we told our tour guide this he was very pissed off and even wanted the name of the bar.

The next morning we went to the City of Toledo, famous for their swords. The city is surrounded by a huge river and an ancient wall. Then we where off to our overnight stay in Granada; the place with the narrowest streets I have ever seen. My favourite thing about Spain is that they have siesta between 2 and 5 everyday and that it only starts getting dark after 10 in the evening. I was surprised to see families walk around with their kids in a pram at 12 at night and also people jogging with their dogs at that time. Now the streets are so narrow and winding that the evening when we went to see a Gypsy dance in a cave, we had to leave the bus and take a small mini-taxi up the narrow streets of Granada. Our local guide then got lost and we spent hours trying to find our way back to the hotel but it was worth it cause we got to see a view of the Alhambra palace at night time.

The next morning we took an optional excursion to the Alhambra Palace and you won’t believe the cues of people lining up to buy tickets. Some of them even spend the night there in sleeping bags and by ten in the morning all the tickets are usually sold out. The Alhambra gardens used to have 900 gardeners looking after it and now they only keep one section open for the public and this section is maintained by 90 gardeners. The garden was build to represent the closest thing to Eden with threes like the bougainvillea and fountains and mazes all around.

The next two days we went to the Costa Del Sol where we stayed in the coastal town of Malaga. The biggest bull ring in Spain is in Malaga. Our hotel was one block away from the beach and we had the best time swimming in the calm waters of the Mediterranean sea. The beach was also nice with white sand and loads of permanent beach umbrellas. I spotted one jelly fish and what was interesting is that they have no sea shells but only colourful rocks.

That night we went to a local restaurant called ‘Casa Juan’ where we had lovely calamari and loads of sangria. Walking next to the beach we saw that all the restaurant use small boats with an open fire inside to cook sardines. What was really special about our wedding sermon was that the minister talked about the rock of Gibraltar and we got to see it the next day as we went on the ferry from Spain over the Morocco. You can read more about our adventures in Morocco in the post titled: “The Amazing Tourist in Morocco.”

After we spent 6 days in Morocco we came back to Spain and went to my favourite city – Seville. Seville is very cosmopolitan with the woman of Seville dressed to kill. It is also in Seville where we ate a delicious plate of paella and tried the house vino. Then it was off to a boat ride on their famous river, followed by loads of shopping in their department stores.

We also got to see Christopher Columbus remains in the cathedral and we went to visit the Church of Macarena with all its beautiful floats and clothing that they still use for the parade each year over Easter. The evening was one of the highlights of our tour when we had front row seats for a Flamenco show. The dancers energy were really amazing and the way they used everything from the castanets to their Spanish fans to move, really got the crowd clapping along and screaming ‘Ole’ .
So for now it is 'Adios' I'll chat to you in another amazing adventure.

The Amazing Tourist in Morocco

2007-09-20T10:40:00.002+02:00

Wow where to begin on our adventures in Morocco. I would seriously never ever advice anyone to go and visit Morocco. This after 27 people from a tour group of 43 people got serious food poisoning, we got ripped off and cheated by the locals all the time and a camel tried to eat my skirt leaving me in just a T-Shirt and underwear on its back. (laugh all you want but remember there is such a thing as karma) We took the ferry from Spain over to Morocco.

The ferry is 3 stories and huge and our bus graciously drove unto it. There is a duty free shop on the ferry and it’s really nice to sit outside on the deck. It took us 45 minutes to go from Europe to Africa and arrive in the port city of Tangier. They are very security conscious in Tangier and you aren’t allowed to take any pictures in the port. This rule also applies for the rest of Morocco where you aren’t allowed to take pictures of any one in uniform. If you do they will take your camera and you’ll get into serious trouble. It’s really easy to exchange your euros or dollars for dirham at any bank in the port. 1 Euro = 10 dirham. 1 Rand = 1.15 dirham

After arriving in Tangier we travelled to the city of Fes where we stayed for two days. Because it is an Islamic country alcohol is supposed to be illegal but they still sell it everywhere – the only difference, it’s very expensive. The best bear that we had in Fes is called “Espesiale” and it’s also the cheapest costing between 20 and 30 dh. More expensive bears like the “Casablanca” will cost you 60 dh. In Fes we went exploring by taking a small train that drives on the normal road. I was busy taking photo’s when a policeman in his car started driving next to the train and yelling at me because I was taking photo’s. He almost wanted to jump on the train and take my camera. Luckily he did not!

The next night we went to a hotel for an arabian belly dancing experience. Belly dancing is much more difficult than you can imagine and the two belly dancers and fire dancers are really flexible and not rhythmically challenged. They even pulled us on the dance floor to wiggle next to them.

After leaving Fes behind we drove 8 hours on winding roads to arrive in Marrikesh. This city has got a pink glow because all the houses and buildings are made of pinkish stones. In the evenings the locals of Marrikesh all gather at this huge market where they play games, watch snakes and monkeys dance, bet and eat. It's really overwhelming to be there and see 2000 locals in their element on a Friday night. The next day we got to experience the less crowded square again and do some shopping and bargaining for handbags, silk, Moroccan instruments and spices. I got two types of spices, one for sea food and the other one is called 42 spices and you can use it on anything.
Casablanca is the next city that we visited. It was made famous by die movie of the same name with Hitchcock starring in it.

Here we got to swim in the Atlantic Ocean with the locals and tan on the beach while heating a ice cream wrapped in tin foil. The evening we wanted to watch a movie but when we arrived at the "Movieramma" all the films where in French. So then we went to a beach cafe where they only served non-alcoholic drinks and a DJ played music while all the people danced in front of the stage. When we wanted to buy for our drinks the waiter suddenly changed the price of our sprites from 20 dh to 50 dh. I wouldn't take any of it and found an English speaking local to tell the waiter that he won't cheat us out of our money. He finally gave us our change and we left in a hurry.

We kept traveling in a circle in Morocco because the last city that we stayed at was again the port city Tangier. When we arrived at the hotel they gave our tour group a welcome drink that was a fruit juice. It was after the whole tour group got food poisoning that we realised that the hotel mixed the fruit juice with tap water. If you plan to visit Morocco then don't drink their fruit juice, tap water or eat lettuces or anything else that they wash in water.

My Wedding Day - 11 August 2007

2007-09-18T03:06:00.000+02:00

I started this blog 3 years ago when Jaco and I just started going out. We where in a long distance relationship and the blog was one of the ways that we could communicate during the day. Now 3 year later I had to give up my unique surname Barrish and become Mrs. Smit (no regrets).

We got married on Saturday, 11 August in a little town in the Mountains called Kaapschehoop. The wedding service and reception was at the SilverMist lodge a place known for its wild horses roaming around. We had great weather and when we started talking our photo's a herd of wild horses walked up to us to say hi!

Jaco said that he’ll always remember this beautiful picture in his head: “… the small little ring bearer Jacob smiling all the way and leading the wedding procession down the isle. Right behind him 4 year old Samantha with her basket filled with rose petals. Samantha walked really slowly down the isle and placed each rose petal neatly next to the isle. The proud dad then brought in the glowing bride and all the women in the church started crying when she entered followed by her bridesmaid holding up the trail of her dress.”

The minister gave a short sermon about 'The Rock of Gibraltar' and how your wedding day is not the end your life together but the start and that we should think of it like Christopher Columbus who believed that there is life beyond.' What was really special is that we went on our honeymoon to Portugal, Spain and Morocco and got to see the rock of Gibraltar.

After taking photo’s we entered the wedding reception on U2’s “Everlasting Love” to the loud cheers of our friends and family. The highlight of the evening was definitely when we opened the dance floor on Louise Armstrongs “What a wonderfull world” while everybody lit up a starlight. This was truly the happiest day of my life.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Review (SPOILER ALERT)

2007-07-27T03:02:00.000+02:00

If you haven't finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yet, then don't read any further because I will discuss the book to great lengths in this post and I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

"Brilliant" - that was my first thought when I finally closed the 607 pages, 36 chapters and 7th and final book from the Harry Potter series. Don't think for one moment that J.K Rowling just randomly decided to write 7 books in the series. Jo planned it carefully from the start using the magical number 7 throughout the series 7 horcruxes, 7 potters and 7 books.

The twists and turns and the intricate plot amazed me throughout the series and this excelled in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where Rowling perfectly manages to keep the suspense, tie up many loose ends and even keep some questions unanswered: What is going to happen to the sorting hat since it burned? How did Neville manage to pull out Gryffindors sword if Griphook had it? What career are Harry,Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Luna following? What happened to the Dursleys and to Hermione's parents? Who's going to be the next Headmaster of Hogwarts? Is Hermione going to convince Harry to set Kreatcher free?

There were a lot of casualties in this book from loved characters like Hedwig, Mad Eye Moody, Dobby the house elf, Fred Weasley, Colin Creevey, Lupin, Tonks and Snape to characters we hardly met like Charity Burbage the muggle teacher at Hogwarts, Scrimgeour the Minister of Magic and Gregorovitch the wandmaker. The dark side also suffered losses with Grindelvald, Goyle,Bellatrix and finally Voldemort, or should we just call him Tom Riddle, dying.

There were a few pleasant surprises in the book and I like the fact that Dudley Dursley tried to reach out to Harry by making him tea and by thanking him for saving his life. To quote Dudley: "I don't think you're a waste of space" was probably the nicest thing that Bid D could say with his limited vocabulary. I also found it hilarious that Putunia Dursley, Lilly's muggle sister, wrote to the headmaster of Hogwarts asking if she could join her sister.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Sirius Black gives Harry a two-way mirror to communicate with. In this book Harry keeps seeing piercing, brilliant blue eyes in the mirror that he wrongfully believes belongs to Dumbledore. They actually belong to Dubledore's brother Aberforth who not only sends Dobby to rescue everyone from Malfoy Manor but he also allowed Harry, Neville and the rest of Hogwarts to use the secret entrance from the Hog's Head into Hogwarts saving many students lives. It is also Aberforth that alerts Percy Weasley about the battle of Hogwarts that results him in reconciling with his family and apologising for being a :"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron."

We finally find out about the 7 horcruxes and where they were buried. Harry already destroyed the first horcrus - Tom Riddels Diary when he found it in the Chamber of secrets in his second year at Hogwarts. The 'fake' golden locket that Harry found in the cave with the note from R.G.B was taken by Sirius brother Regulus Arcturus Black. It is Kreacher who tells them the tale and who fetches Mundungus Fletcher for them. Mundungus admits later that he sold to locket to Umbridge and Harry, Ron and Hermione has to steal it back from her at the Ministry of Magic. The second horcux, Gaunt's ring, was hidden in the shrinking shack and found by Dumbledore. Voldemort didn't realise that this ring was actually also one of the three deathly hallows. Voldemort realises that the Horcruxes are being destroyed when Harry breaks into Gringotts with the help from the goblin, Griphook and retrieves Hufflepuff's Cup Horcrux. Ron and Hermione manage to destroy this horcux.

Now Harry realises that another Horcux, Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem is at Hogwarts. After speaking to Ravenclaws ghost the Grey Lady, Harry found out that the Diadem was hidden in a forest in Albania and that Voldemort found it turned it into a Horcrux and hid it somewhere in Hogwarts. He realises that he's seen it before in the room of requirement and when he finally finds it Crabbe destroys it with fiendfyre. The only horcrux that remains is Nagini the snake and it is Neville that pulls out the sword from the sorting hat and slices off the snake's head.

This brings us to the next surprise in the book that also serves as the title of the final book - the Deathly Hallows (three legendary objects that conquer death: the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, and Invisibility Cloak.) Dubledore was afraid to share to much information about the Hallows with Harry fearing that he would, like Dumbledore and Grindelvald, crave power and become obsessed with the Hallows instead of focusing on the more important task of destroying the Horcruxes. We see a completely different side from the perfect Dumbledore but instead of feeling resentful towards him like his brother Aberforth did, I actually feel sorry for him and feel that Jo wrote this to make him seem more human.

This also explains why Dumbledore never wanted to become the Minister of Magic. My favourite chapter in the book, chapter 33: "The Prince's tale" finally answers the question that's been bothering me for so long. Why did Dumbledore trust Snape? The answer is very simple and very beautiful: Snape loved Lily Evans with all his heart and motivated by his lifelong love for Harry's mother he decided to turn away from Voldemort, stay loyal till the end to Dumbledore and do everything in his power to protect Harry. It was Snape who sent the doe Patronus to lead Harry to Gryffindor's sword. Snape also begged Voldemort to spare Lily Evans when he realised that the prophecy was about Lily's son.

I had a weird suspicion in 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' that all was not as it seemed when Snape killed Dumbledore. Now we know that Dumbledore was doomed to die after being cursed by Gaunt's ring. He instructed Snape to kill him to spare Draco from fulfilling Voldemort's task. It was also Dubledore that told Snape to give Voldemort the date of Harry's departure from Privet Drive in order to stay in Voldemort's good books so that Snape can remain at Hogwarts and not leave the students to the mercy of the Carrows. Snape was forced to take part in the chase but hit George accidentally with a curse meant for a death eater that was chasing Lupin.

After all of this came about it is so sad that Voldemort killed Snape because he thought Snape was the master of the elder wand when it was actually Draco Malfoy who took this wand from Dumbledore.In their final battle when Harry and Voldemort duels the elder wand chooses Harry because he took Malfoy's wand and Voldemorts killing curse backfires on himself. Harry repays Snape later in life by naming his second eldest sun after him : 'Alubus Severus,' Harry said quietly, 'you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.'

The biggest twist in the book is definitely the weird connection between Harry and Voldemort. To quote Dumbledore on this: 'Tell him the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lilly cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort's soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself on to the only living soul left in that collapsing building. Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort's mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains attached to, and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die. So Harry must die and Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential.'

Harry was actually the seventh Horecrux and he had to let Voldemort use the killing curse on him to get his own complete Voldemort soul back. And after letting Voldemort do this Harry didn't die because Voldemort took Harry's blood in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and used it to rebuild his living body with it.

This brings us to the end of the book and the epilogue that takes place 19 years later at King's Cross station. Rowlings leads us to believe that Harry and Ginny married and they now have three children: James Albus Severus and Lily Potter. Ron and Hermione have two children named Rose and Hugo. We also see Draco Malfoy with his sun Scorpius at the station and learn that Neviile is now the Hogwarts Herbology professor. The book ends with: The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."

In an interview, author J. K. Rowling gave additional information about the characters that is not explicit in the book. Rowling said her original epilogue was “a lot more detailed,” including the name of every child born to the Weasley clan in the past 19 years. (Victoire, who was snogging Teddy — Lupin and Tonks’ son — is Bill and Fleur’s eldest.) “But it didn’t work very well as a piece of writing,” Rowling said. “It felt very much that I had crowbarred in every bit of information I could … In a novel you have to resist the urge to tell everything.”

But now that the seventh and final novel is in the hands of her adoring public, Rowling no longer has to hold back any information about Harry Potter from her fans. And when 14 fans crowded around her in Edinburgh Castle in Scotland earlier this week as part of TODAY’s interview, Rowling was more than willing to share her thoughts about what Harry and his friends are up to now.

We know that Harry marries Ginny and has three kids, essentially, as Rowling explains, creating the family and the peace and calm he never had as a child.As for his occupation, Harry, along with Ron, is working at the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic. After all these years, Harry is now the department head. “Harry and Ron utterly revolutionized the Auror Department,” Rowling said. “They are now the experts. It doesn’t matter how old they are or what else they’ve done.” Meanwhile, Hermione, Ron’s wife, is “pretty high up” in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, despite laughing at the idea of becoming a lawyer in “Deathly Hallows.” “I would imagine that her brainpower and her knowledge of how the Dark Arts operate would really give her a sound grounding,” Rowling said. Harry, Ron and Hermione don’t join the same Ministry of Magic they had been at odds with for years; they revolutionize it and the ministry evolves into a “really good place to be.” “They made a new world,” Rowling said.

The wizarding naturalist Luna Lovegood, the eccentric Ravenclaw who was fascinated with Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and Umgubular Slashkilters, continues to march to the beat of her own drum. “I think that Luna is now traveling the world looking for various mad creatures,” Rowling said. “She’s a naturalist, whatever the wizarding equivalent of that is.” Luna comes to see the truth about her father, eventually acknowledging there are some creatures that don’t exist. “But I do think that she’s so open-minded and just an incredible person that she probably would be uncovering things that no one’s ever seen before,” Rowling said.

Luna and Neville Longbottom? It’s possible Luna has also found love with another member of the D.A. When she was first asked about the possibility of Luna hooking up with Neville Longbottom several years ago, Rowling’s response was “Definitely not.” But as time passed and she watched her characters mature, Rowling started to “feel a bit of a pull” between the unlikely pair. Ultimately, Rowling left the question of their relationship open at the end of the book because doing otherwise “felt too neat.” Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom: “The damage is done.”There is no chance, however, that Neville’s parents, who were tortured into madness by Bellatrix Lestrange, ever left St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies. “I know people really wanted some hope for that, and I can quite see why because, in a way, what happens to Neville’s parents is even worse than what happened to Harry’s parents,” Rowling said. “The damage that is done, in some cases with very dark magic, is done permanently.” Rowling said Neville finds happiness in his grandmother’s acceptance of him as a gifted wizard and as the new herbology professor at Hogwarts.

The fate of Hogwarts Nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts, the school for witchcraft and wizardry is led by an entirely new headmaster (“McGonagall was really getting on a bit”) as well as a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. That position is now as safe as the other teaching posts at Hogwarts, since Voldemort’s death broke the jinx that kept a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor from remaining for more than a year.

While Rowling didn’t clarify whether Harry, Ron and Hermione ever return to school to finish their seventh year, she did say she could see Harry popping up every now and again to give the “odd talk” on Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Vending machine advertising

2007-07-20T10:22:00.000+02:00

Dikhololo Girls Weekend away

2007-07-18T05:26:00.000+02:00

It's 3 and a half weeks before my wedding day and the girls (Susann, Rhoda & Ketna) decided it was time for another girls weekend to celebrate my last step from singledom into married life. Instead of going to the coast, like last time, we went to Dikhololo wild life resort in the Northern Province. It's next to a small town called Brits. So off we went Friday afternoon after work for our very short drive to Dikhololo. (It's about 40 minutes drive from Pretoria). We hardly parked the car when we were pleasantly welcomed by two beautiful giraffes! (The one kept staring at us - freaky).

Then we went exploring and discovered that Dikhololo has 3 cold water swimming pools, 1 hot water swimming pool, table tennis, tennis courts, mini-golf, super tube, hiking trails, lots of wild animals and even a bird park. OOH I almost forgot about the pub. We went to the pub on Friday night and had lots of fun untill they shoved us out at 11 0 clock. Then we did some “Bundoe-bashing” in the wild looking for random people or animals (don't ask) and we contemplated for an hour if we should play poker or not.

The next morning we were up early and enjoyed the tennis courts, table tennis and swimming pools. 2 Big Eland Buck came to make their acquaintance. Before sunset we went on a drive looking for more animals. Then one of my friends that studied with me came to visit us with another friend. They then took us clubbing to the local Afrikaans club scene in Brits. The club's name is Legends and average dress code is track suit and plakkies. (now that I think about it I probably stood out in a skirt and high heels). Jip you guessed it at the club we witnessed some very serious cellulite bitch fights and we also spend a lot of time on the dance floor not doing our sexy back moves but trying to lang-arm sokkie! You try to lang-arm sokkie after a jagermeister and you'll also end up on the floor hence our weekend away being dubbed - "legends of the fall". It was a great weekend - thanks ladies.. we'll do it again soon.

10 reasons to go to work naked

2007-07-18T05:17:00.000+02:00

10.Your boss is always yelling "I wanna see your ass in here by 8!"
9. Gives "bad hair day" a whole new meaning.
8. Diverts attention from the fact that you also came to work drunk.
7. People stop stealing your pens after seeing where you keep them.
6. You want to see if it's like the dream.
5. To stop creepy guys in Marketing from looking down your blouse.
4. "I'd love to chip in, but I left my wallet in my pants.
3. Inventive way to finally meet that special person in Human Resources.
2. Take advantage of pc monitor radiation to work on your tan.
1. No one ever steals your chair.

Outdoor Advertising

2007-07-04T10:24:00.000+02:00

Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Klaradyn - die beste dames koshuis op Tuks

2007-06-27T03:44:00.000+02:00

Foto's van Klaradyn se 1ste jaar anneks Roosmaryn. Ek het in 2000 hier gebly terwyl ek by Tukkies geswat het en toe in 2001 en 2002 in die Klaradyn hoofgebou gebly. Die beste tye van my lewe!

Beware of the Cyber Stalker

2007-06-26T05:15:00.000+02:00

Gone are the days of stalkers following you from a distance on their bikes and leaving magazine cut-out letters in your post box - enter the new age of Cyber Stalking.

I read an interesting article in the July Marie-Claire on how cyber stalking is on the increase. In this day and age stalkers can watch your every move from far away by using every day technology like GPS to track your every move.

One of my friends mom realised the other day that she was a victim of Identity theft and that somebody's been using all her details to purchase things online. So how safe are our we really on the Internet? Not very safe, that I can assure you! Do a Google search on yourself and you'll be surprised to see how much information comes up for ordinary people like us.

I'm a paranoid person by nature so as soon as I put that Marie-Claire down I went unto Facebook and other social media sites like Linkedin, Flickr, Myspace and Tagged to change my privacy settings. I even deleted some of the information (my hobbies, likes and dislikes, favourite movies, places I hang out) and applications (Slideshows, Ilike, My movies, My Fliles) on Facebook that seemed innocent but could give a cyber stalker the upper hand.

If you think about it joining websites like SA Reunited lets to whole world know from what high school you matriculated and in what hometown you grew up. While websites like 43 things seem like just pure fun would you really want everybody out there to know your hearts desires, what you aim to achieve and when and what you've accomplished so far in life.

So if you have a geeky ex boyfriend who's now working for Linux beware, he might be stalking you.

Esme en Riaan se Troue: 16 Junie 2007

2007-06-20T03:06:00.000+02:00

Esme Burger, nou 'n van der Merwe het Saterdag by Bondev Huis in Pretoria met Riaan getrou. Ons was saam in die dames koshuis Klaradyn op Tukkies en Esme was my buurvrou in ons 3rde jaar. Ons ander koshuis maatjies Sonja en Marizanne is ook saam met ons op 'n foto hier onder. Dit was 'n stunning troue en ons het behoorlik die dansvloer warm gevryf.

Tips on buying a Laptop

2007-06-20T02:27:00.000+02:00

I recently moved jobs and because of this had to get a laptop (notebook) of my own. I've never had a Notebook and didn't know where to start searching. After talking to people, doing research and looking at different options I finally found the most suitable one for my job.

So here's my list of tips to help you find the perfect Notebook:

1. Purpose of your Notebook: First establish for what reason do you need one. Is it for entertainment purposes to watch movies on, or are you going to use it to check your email and type the occasional word document?

I'm going to use my laptop for SEO purposes so I'll be on the net 24/7. For that reason I made sure I've got a fast connection, lots of memory, a bright screen and a user friendly keypad. Since I won't use the notebook for watching movies or for making a fashion statement I don't mind that it's lacking in the graphical department and is more practical than pretty to look at. If you're going to use your laptop in Coffee shops make sure that the screen can adopt to different lights and that your laptop is light.

2. Determine you budget and then stick to it: Laptops can cost anything from R5,000 to R16,000. If you have R10,000 to spend then don't go for anything cheaper because quality comes at a price and it doesn't help if you get a cheap notebook that you can't use. Double check if the price includes tax, it usually doesn't.

3. Ask for advice: I consulted many friends, colleagues, websites and magazines like PC Format before making my final choose. According to the latest PC format HP Notebooks are the most popular, followed by LG and Acer.

4. Don't trust the salesperson, read reviews: Remember the sales person wants to get commission so it's best to do your own research. The best place that I discovered for excellent reviews on notebooks is: www.notebookreview.com

5. Compare prices: I went to many stores like Game and Dions for Quotes, to companies, such as Eurobyte, that supply to corporate people and to HP's own website before finding my laptop for a lower price at www.pcmall.co.za

Latest Cool Ads

2007-06-13T03:03:00.000+02:00

Click on the ads to make them bigger.

Second Hand Car

2007-06-12T04:04:00.001+02:00

The following is an actual advertisement in an Irish Newspaper:
* 1985 Blue Volkswagen Golf ,only 15 km
* Only first gear and reverse used, never driven hard
* Original tires,Original brakes,Original fuel and oil
* Only 1 Owner
* Wanting to sell due to employment lay-off

Catch 22 - South Africa Public Service Strike

2007-06-07T02:43:00.000+02:00

It's the 4 day of the Public Service Strike in South Africa and things are turning ugly. "A Johannesburg principal has been beaten up for keeping her school open while there are reports of sjambok-wielding teachers terrorising colleagues who try to go to school.", Newspapers are rife with news reports of teachers and nurses being intimidated by the Unions.

After speaking to my mother, who is the headmaster of a primary school in South Africa, on the phone I get an even clearer picture of what's going on in this violent strike that knows no end. "7 of my teachers called me last night to warn me not to go to the school today" she says, "they all said the same thing to me 'The Comrades are coming to kill you.'" I almost drop the telephone as my mother continues:” I have to go to school and can't strike like them because the government won't pay any teacher or nurse that doesn't show up for work. If you do the math’s you'll realize that they are deducting money from your Gross package for every day that you miss and I cannot afford to not get a salary this month."

"So what do you do everyday", I ask my mother, "do you just wait for them to burn you car and kill you." "No", my brave mother answers, "I pray. I'm not going to allow them to intimidate me by being afraid of them. I have a duty to the children of this school to stay open.”

“That’s hectic Mom, is there anything that we can do to help”, I picture myself and friends driving to my mothers rescue with hockey sticks and cricket bats as protection. “Just ask everyone to pray”, my mother said, “I’m sure that would help.”

How to hide an elephant

2007-06-05T02:51:00.000+02:00

Test your eyes

2007-05-22T01:50:00.000+02:00

Can u find the B? (there are 2B's):

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Once you've found the b - Find the 1:
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII1III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Once you've found the 1 - Find the 6:

9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999699999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999

Once you've found the 6 - Find the N:

MMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMNMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMM

Once you've found the N - Find the Q:

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOQOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Bulls SA se 1ste Super Span!

2007-05-21T09:34:00.000+02:00

Bryan Habana, Bulls-vleuel, duik sierlik oor die Sharks se doellyn in die doodsnikke van die eerste Super14-eindstryd tussen twee Suid-Afrikaanse spanne. Liefling Derick skop vlak voor die sharks oor die Pale en daar het jy dit: Die geskiedkundige telling 20-19. Die Bulls wen!

In my Blue Bulls hemp op 'n koue Maandag in Gauteng en met 'n seer keel van my longe uit skree toe Habana oor daardie doel lyn seil, kyk ek na Saterdag se foto's. Ek kan dit nou nog nie glo nie.....Ons het gewen en nie net sommer enige wen nie maar seker die beste wen vir my na die 95 World Cup.
Die wedstryd was spannings vol ek het al my naels opgekou en by tye agter 'n kussing weggekruip veral toe dit lyk asof die Sharks hierdie ene het.

Maar toe kom Habanna soos 'n blou masjien. Hy het binneveld toe gesny, afgetrap na regs en toe reguit doellyn toe versnel om die wendrie met 'n sierlike duik te druk. Die sharks het nie geweet wat het hulle getref nie en het so tussen deur al die blou vlae stilletjies die stadion verlaat.

Jaco van der Westhyzen was so oorstelp dat hy die rugby pale uitgeklim het. By die rugby braai waar ek was het groot mans mekaar omhels en soos kinders op en af gespring. Soos Habanna na die tyd in 'n onderhoud gesê het: "Never Say Die".

17 May - The Age of the Sail Boat Race

2007-05-18T10:05:00.000+02:00

Today we (The Melrose Rapids Boating Club) had a great turnout with heaps of drama. The excitement began when Captain Blacklung's (also known as Nathan) peg leg got caught in a bush and he landed face-first in the undergrowth. He was OK afterwards though and I am very sorry for laughing at him.

We had some strong contenders in this race, but not long after the boats flew off the starting line, the SS Snail sunk followed by the Submarine and the SS Evil Ousie. The race favourite, The Coob II unfortunately got stuck on a rock and went 'belly up'.

Meanwhile the crowd went wild as the revived SS Sing King Feeling raced by Xolani, elbowed it's way into the lead followed by The Maya (my boat) with it's captain Maya The Bee (who unfortunately went overboard) and hot on The Maya's heels was Shaan's round boat which didn't appear to have a name (?).

The Sing King Feeling won the race, leaving The Maya and Shaan's boat floating aimlessly in a still pool. These boats would have had a floating chance, but some of the rowdy land lubbers threw rocks at them until Shaan's boat sunk.

ARRGGGGGG very exciting indeed!

This is Spartaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

2007-05-18T09:36:00.000+02:00

Pictures from the movie

2007-05-18T08:35:00.000+02:00

Hit the road Jack... I mean Johnnie

2007-05-17T10:16:00.000+02:00

Zani and Deshanta at Zoo Lake

2007-05-13T07:04:00.000+02:00

We went to Zoo Lake on Saturday for a Wine and Cheese Picknick for Rhoda's Birthday. We took this one picture and then the battery went flat!

Poker night at Deshanta

2007-05-13T06:47:00.000+02:00

Poker in die Botaniese Tuine

2007-05-13T06:39:00.000+02:00

Melrose Rapids Boating Club

2007-05-10T09:25:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I took a half day's leave from work and would you know it, I missed out on a lot of excitement. The peeps from work held a 'Dirty Sea Dog Boat Race' in the Melrose Arch river rapids in our lunch hour.

9 MAY - The Dirty Sea Dog Boat Race

It was a hair- raising start as all boats set off from the starting line. The Apocolypse Cow along with it's crew was the first to sink. There goes another one of Nathan's crews...RIP

Round the next turn, the SS Platinum Play along with it's Captain up-ended and sunk to it's watery grave.Tich the teeny little ship got lost under a rock a short while laterThe Coob and the SS Sing King Feeling carried on strong.

The Coob dominated in direction, heading straight for the waterfall. Unfortunately the SS Sing King Feeling lost it's bearings and began to sail around in circles. It then zipped under a rocky overhang..

Meanwhile The Coob zipped down the waterfall but unfortunately sunk soon afterwards.
The Sing King Feeling was salvaged and sent back on it's merry way, made it down the waterfall and stayed afloat on the otherside.

• The Resilience Award goes to Michael's the SS Sing King Feeling!!
• The winner of the first leg of the race is The Coob!!

Wedding Diets

2007-05-09T09:41:00.000+02:00

Lunch Time In Melrose Arch

2007-05-08T09:38:00.000+02:00

So working in Melrose Arch Johannesburg is not as exciting as most people think. It's actually rather boring walking around in Superbia all day and eating out in restaurants with the worst service in the whole of Joburg.

That's why a few of us (Zani, Michael, Nathan, Orla and Erich) went exploring yesterday in the Arch Jungle. We actually found out that our access cards allow us out of this gate into a secret garden with a river behind the Virgin Active in Melrose Arch. In the pictures we are frolicking in the river. Being, like ... one with nature maaan, doing our best with peace and happiness... and insanity and testing out the high voltage cables.

Companies that got their websites wrong

2007-05-04T01:08:00.000+02:00

All of these are legitimate companies that didn't spend quite enough time considering how their online names might appear ... and be misread.

1. "Who Represents" is where you can find the name of the agent that represents any celebrity.Their Web site is: www.whorepresents.com

2.Experts Exchange is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at:www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at: www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at: www.therapistfinder.com

5. There's the Italian Power Generator company: www.powergenitalia.com

6. And don't forget the Mole Station Native Nursery in New South Wales, www.molestationnursery.com

7. If you're looking for IP computer software, there's always: www.ipanywhere.com

8. The First Cumming Methodist Church Web site is: www.cummingfirst.com

9. And the designers at Speed of Art await you at their wacky Web site: www.speedofart.com

The Axe Effect

2007-04-25T10:33:00.000+02:00

Rudo en Chantelle se Troue laas naweek

2007-04-22T11:41:00.000+02:00

Eduard en Marleen se Troue

2007-04-22T11:27:00.000+02:00

Paasnaweek by Kaapschehoop

2007-04-22T10:07:00.000+02:00

Braai by die Krugers

2007-04-22T09:34:00.000+02:00

My Crazy advertising peeps

2007-04-16T04:36:00.000+02:00

If you're on of those people who works from 9-5, walk the dogs on weekends and hangs out in Cresta Mall - then you won't know any of these people. They're a special breed of advertising Copywriters, Designers and Art Directors who I've been fortune (or should i say unfortunate) enough to work with. They kept me insane and made the bad times worth remembering.

Clockwise from the left: Carl and Erika pouting; Life before Indesign by Carl; Suzanne and Carl; Theuns in a state of happiness; Theuns anticipating the deadline looming closer.

Susann's farewell at Moyo's

2007-04-10T08:56:00.000+02:00

Susann Deysel, one of my co-workers and friends last day was on Thursday. A bunch of us went to Moyo's in Melrose Arch for her last supper in the dungeon. We also got our faces painted in true Moyo's style. (The pictures are a bit dark).

Here's what Susann had to say: "After 2 years I have to say goodbye to Osiris office life, and of course I’m a little bit sad. On a lighter note, I will definitely still seen in The Arch for those famous after work drinks. So, good luck and goodbye (for now)."

Top 10: Wedding No-No's

2007-04-10T01:27:00.000+02:00

Something’s in the air and it's not necessarily love. All of my friends, Jaco's friends, family, acquaintances, frenemies and even people that we've only met once have decided to get married this year. Okay I know I can't really complain because I'm one of them, but really I've been to 12 weddings from October 2006 until now and there's still 6 wedding left before mine in August.

With all this wedding bliss going on I can't help but be over critical.

So here's my ultimate list of Wedding No-No's:

1) If you're friends of the groom (not the bride), they can't expect you to attend the kitchen tea just so they can get more presents.

2) Don't send your wedding invites out 5 months before the wedding. People will loose the invites and forget to RSVP.

3) A DJ can make or break your wedding so invest in a good one. A DJ who plays 'Slave to the Music' and 'De La Ray' clearly fails the test.

4) Give the DJ clear instructions of what type of music to play and compile your own play list to make sure he plays a variety of music. Remember that single people at the wedding won't hang around if you just play love songs.

5) Hungry guest aren't happy guests. Make sure there is enough food for everyone. (That includes enough salad and vegetables for the last 5 tables.)

6) Wedding speeches and toasts need to be short and to the point. Clichéd wedding jokes, are well a cliché.

7). If you're going to show pictures in a slide show format make sure that all your guests can at least see the pictures and that the picks are relevant and interesting. Rather play music than showing 10 baby picks where nobody's sure if it is the bride as a baby or the groom.

8). Don't be afraid to ask for money instead of wedding presents on your invite. If you don't ask for money or don't have a wedding register on the invite, people will be confused and end up buying you something you don't want.

9) Don't be vague on the wedding invite. I consider dress code: Strictly formal as vague. (Formal as in ties and smart jackets or Tuxedo's and ball gowns?)

10) If you're not the bride then don't wear white to the wedding. That's just rude.

* No brides we harmed in the making of this list.
* The list comes from my personal experiences from weddings and is all facts and not fiction.

Snowwhite

2007-04-04T01:46:00.000+02:00

You may kiss the groom - my BGF is getting married!

2007-04-03T01:26:00.000+02:00

My best gay friend (BGF) and his long time partner are getting married in May. I've been invited to the wedding and the pink Bachelors (now that’s something that I won’t miss for the world.) Being a girl I have only been to boring kitchen teas and you’ll see from the picture that the pink Bachelors won’t fall in the boring category.

Can't tell you how excited I am. When I tell most people that I’m going to my BGF’s wedding, they look at me in disbelief and ask me: 'but don't you think its wrong for two men to be getting married'. I've told them and I'll say it again, I believe if two people love each other, regardless of their sex or colour, they should have the right to express their love by getting married.

So why do I, a straight girl who’s also getting married to a man this year, have a BGF? I’ve always had girl and guy friends but since varsity I’ve had my very own BGF. I certainly couldn’t discuss the latest guy that I had a crush on with my straight guy friends and with girls it’s just different. They either try to steal the guy from you or they get jealous and say negative things to discourage you.

My different BGF’s have taught me more than Cosmopolitan Magazine about guys but don’t be fooled to think that’s all we talked about - Hollywood, fashion, politics, advertising and many other subjects where discussed over a Strawberry Daiquiri.

One of my favourite memories was when I went with a BGF to a gay club after the pride parade. I was wearing fairy wings and a guy came up to me and said: "OOh look, I found the only fairy in the club and she's a girl."I won’t call myself a fag hag but I’ve had my fair share of BGF’s over the years and each one’s got a special place in my heart. So here’s my cheers to the queers.

April Fool's Day

2007-04-02T09:32:00.000+02:00

This year April Fools Day fell on a Sunday, so not many people where aware of it or even tried to prank other people.

I've always loved this day and used to think up elaborate scams with my sister. The one year we emptied out a coca-cola bottle and put coffee powder and water in it. It looked like the real thing and needless to say my parents weren't really impressed.

So yesterday morning I became the April Fool on my own account.

Here’s what happened:
I was sitting in church on Sunday morning when the minister asked the congregation: "Do you know what day it is." In unison everyone answered: "It's Palm Sunday", while I loudly yelled: "It's April Fool's Day." That was it for my fiancé; he was laughing so much he couldn't concentrate for the rest of the sermon.