A Few of My Favourite Things

I believe that there is a song for just about everything. Sometimes it's hard to find the right song that you need for the right moment, and sometimes a flood of songs will rush in and compete for the same. 


Today, the *perfect* song came to me. Most of you will know this from your childhood. It may bring back sweet memories, or you may roll your eyes and scoff at me. Either way, it is today's perfect song...

These are a few of my favourite things - Julie Andrews

Today, I found a new favourite thing. It ranks right up there with Kutai Raw Chocolat and My Chemical Romance. Yes, it is that good.

My new favourite thing is Soy Body Bars.

These are bars of cream. Yep, not bars of soap - bars of cream. Kept in a tin, pop it into your handbag, and you've got a mess-free moisturizer on hand. Soy Body Bars are made from soy wax, and enhanced with various other ingredients, depending on which 'flavour' you select. They are organic ("orgaaaaahnic", for those of you who know me) and just divine.

You can order Soy Body Bars - and many other wonderful Soy products - online, or get them from the Bryanston Organic Market on weekends or Thursdays. For instant gratification, I purchased mine from Livingstones Supply Company in Woodmead. Livingstones supplies a wide range of garden and home products - if you have the time, go there to get lost among their shelves for an hour, and pick up a Body Bar on your way out. :-)

So, here's to that perfect song (which is probably now stuck in your head - sorry), and favourite things! 

Peace out.

Life is Like a Pansy

This is what our pansy garden looks...

Cheerful little critters, right?

 I spent an hour or so tending to our pansies today, giving them a little haircut. It is said that pansies 'like' to have their old, drooping flowers picked off. This simply ensures that they direct their energy toward growing new leaves and flowers.

 While gently plucking away old flowers, I got to thinking about life. (Funny how gardening does that.) And I found some similarities between life and pansies.

 Sometimes we hold onto to things beyond the point of reason; closed doors, dead ideas, wilting opportunities, draining friendships. We focus all our attention on feeding life and energy into dead-end avenues, leaving us too drained to nourish the new, the important, even the necessary-to-survive. It takes a special kind of perception to identify the wilting flowers in our lives, and then a whole lot of courage to pluck those flowers out.

Of course, poor perception can lead to mistakes. I accidentally mistook some new budding pansies for old flowers, and found that I had pulled a few out before they'd had opportunity to blossom. Likewise in life - and it happens to all of us - we can burn bridges, cut people off, close doors... and only in hindsight discover our error in judgment. Unlike pansies, one can sometimes correct what was lost. Reconcile. Re-open. Re-start. Often though, the damage is irreparable, and one must move on, and apply oneself to growing brand new flowers.

 I know I'm not the only one. But whatever mistakes we've made, may they only teach us to exam our flowers with more care before plucking them out. And to get rid of those that are blatantly sucking the life out of us.

May you have a cheerful, sun-shining-on-your-face week! 

Sharing is Caring!

Hi all! 


I'd like to re-direct you to a blog that I follow - the blogger, a young lady who I care about dearly, shared a really great quote this weekend, I just have to share it. 


Be inspired!


Have a great week, fellow inhabitants of this planet!


Peace out.

Epic Soundtracks: Transformers 3

 It is now a few months since the release of the third, and presumably final, Transformers movie. I was browsing YouTube recently, looking for various clips of Linkin Park, and I stumbled across their soundtrack for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Linkin Park have had their hand in all three Transformer soundtracks, with "What I've Done" and "New Divide" featuring in the first two films. The third film brings about the soundtrack, "Iridescent", and it only serves to solidify my opinion that these guys are legendary.


 Linkin Park has accomplished something that, in my opinion, few musicians do: they have captured the pure "epic-ness" of three epic movies into three epic songs. For the record, I have consulted my thesaurus, and am not satisfied that any other word is as accurate and true as "epic". Transformers = Epic. Full stop. 

 "What I've Done" and "New Divide" are both quite similar, in style and also in theme. They are fairly up-beat, alternative tracks, heavy guitar, loads of distortion, raw emotion. They seem to be about regret, mistakes, forgiveness, reconciliation, and mercy - both songs making use of the phrases "wash away what I've done" and "wash this memory clean". They've both been immensely popular, and have claimed huge success on the charts. 


 "Iridescent", while slightly less successful on South African charts, is completely different. I first heard it in the cinema, watching Transformers: Dark of the Moon. I don't recall at which point in the movie it was, but within the first few notes, I had chills from head to toe. It is certainly one of Linkin Park's more sensitive songs, and a far cry from the first two soundtracks. 
 And while the first two hold a sense of suffering and pain - which is part of the process of forgiveness - "Iridescent" has a glimmer of something that resembles hope in it. The words "Let it go" are repeated over and over in the lyrics, perhaps pointing to the final stage of forgiveness: letting go of hurts and frustrations. A fitting end to the trilogy of songs, and without doubt the most epic of songs for the most epic of Transformer movies!

 It is just such an incredible track, and when accompanied by the movie itself, it is made complete. You can not tell me that you were not filled with a deep thrill when enormous machinery burst out of the surface of the moon, or when that monstrous Decepticon devoured a high-rise building with spinning tentacles and gnashing metallic teeth... You can not tell me that you did not get choked up when the Autobots were herded onto a space shuttle and instructed to never return, with Sam Witwicky standing by with tears in his eyes... I am unable to fathom that anyone could remain 'untouched' when watching this movie. Or any of them, for that matter.

 If you haven't watched Transformers, don't worry - I haven't given all that much away. If I were you, I would rush out right now and get the first two movies - it will really bring the music alive for you, understanding the depth of story behind the songs. Watch them, and prepare yourself for the most Epic movie-watching experience of your life: the release of Transformers: Dark of The Moon onto DVD and Blu-Ray. Check out the trailer, if you're not sure :-) You will be.


Oh, I get all giddy just thinking about it! 

Rant of the Day: Sipho the Street-Corner Sign-Holder

Every morning on my way to work, I pass a gentleman who stands in the road with a sign. The same man, the same street corner, the same sign. As per the sign, which is his only way of presenting his Curriculum Vitae to the world, his name is Sipho. He has experience washing cars, and is looking for work. Sipho is a friendly chap, with bright, nearly-shining eyes, and a big smile of straight white teeth. Basically, as far as street-corner sign-holders go, he is not altogether unpleasant to drive past.

This morning, as usual, Sipho was there, waving and smiling at the passing traffic, sign in hand. Just before I drove past him, someone behind me slowed down and hooted for his attention.

Sipho appears to be about 40 years old, but at that moment his face lit up, and he almost looked like a child, presented with a gift. He did this strange little dance-run towards the car that had hooted at him – such enthusiasm could not be matched! The car had slowed to a near stop – I was so thrilled for Sipho – and then as he reached the vehicle, they accelerated and drove away, leaving Sipho stranded in mid-dance.

Perhaps I’m in a sensitive frame of mind today, but my heart sank to my feet, and I cried for him. I can only begin to imagine the disappointment that must have washed over him, and I wanted to throttle whoever was in that car; I want to maim their cruel existences into nothing. How could anyone wish to crush someone’s spirit in such a brutal act of callousness?

I don’t understand some people in this world. It’s a beautiful Friday morning, why start the day with such unkindness? Why set out to hurt people that have done no harm to you? What is it that makes you such a bitter and twisted person, that your only means of feeling any better is to squash the people around you?

I pity you, you miserable creature. I can not even call you a human being, because there is nothing humane about you. 

Remember Me

The song in my head lately.. "The Only Hope For Me is You"... starts hauntingly with the words "...Remember me..."


So beautiful, and keeps going around and around in my head. Thought I'd share, so that anyone out there who wants to be remembered in some way can let the thought linger a while. 


My Chemical Romance - The Only Hope For Me Is You


Enjoy!

Why Babies are Awesome

The other night I was searching for pictures for my latest blog, and after stumbling across some legendary images on google, I have concluded that babies are awesome. Simple. Non-negotiable fact.


Just for a bit of fun :-)

Pull a face at someone, play with your food, live without abandon, and have a great day!

Midnight ponderings about beauty and war

It's almost that time of year... the time where much of the world unites to commemorate the horrendous attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11. I know, I know, this subject has become somewhat taboo over time, but I was watching a few minutes of a National Geographic documentary on the event, and I can't help myself. I know there must be millions of 9/11 blogs out there, all lamenting this same thing: how horrific and cruel that day was to the thousands of people who lost their lives, and their loved ones. This should never be taboo.

After a few minutes of National Geographic's disturbing documentary, I decided to retire to bed. As you can tell, I can't sleep, because here I am, lamenting about 9/11, like a million other people. Maybe nothing will ever erase this day from those of us who remember it, or remove the haunting feeling of loss - loss of life, loss of innocence, loss of safety. But I know that what I really need tonight, to get to sleep, is to know that beauty still exists. To know that all over this planet, there are still beautiful things among all the many atrocities.

To know that that there is still love...

And peace...

And innocence...

Unmarred beauty...

Commitment...

Laughter...

Small blessings...

And dreams...

And of course, beautiful music. Daniel Bedingfield sings one of my all-time favourite songs, Honest Questions, which without fail brings a tear to my eye.


Yes. There is still beauty in this world. While remembering the tragedy of 9/11 ten years ago, may you rest assure that all over this wondrous world, there is still beauty!

x Sleep tight x

In All Seriousness: Cranberries

Was driving home yesterday, and I just couldn't settle on what to listen to. So I put my iPod on shuffle and listened to some songs, while skipping others.


Throughout the hour-long drive home, my iPod played 3 Cranberries tracks, none of which I skipped through, which is saying a lot, as I was skipping just about everything else. It's funny how some days one can endure just about any kind of music, while on other days, only a very specific genre will appeal to one's mood. 


I guess I must have been in a very serious mood, as my usually happy Avril Lavigne was irritating the life out of me, U2's chilled-out-ness felt dreary, and My Chemical Romance was a tad too angry-sounding (although I did briefly enjoy the seething emotion of Famous Last Words)


No, it would seem that I needed seriousness, the kind that it would seem only The Cranberries are capable of producing. I am, of course, referring to their older albums, which were predominantly about war and sadness and John Lennon's death. I see that they are bringing out a new album in 2012... about time too, and I hope that at least some of their songs hold the weight of their original tastes in music... You know, the good ol' 90's grunge. I'm in need of some new serious music. 

Not sure why I was so very sombre yesterday evening... probably because I'd been to the dentist yesterday morning, and I suppose I was feeling somewhat sorry for myself. Licking my wounds, as they say. 


Feeling much better today! Take care of your teeth my friends, I want to see those bright shiny smiles!

Forgiven

When I was a teenager, a friend and personal mentor of mine showed me this picture. It has haunted me ever since - it did something to me. 


It is only now, more than ten years down the line, and I have finally managed to track down the artist, Mr. Thomas Blackshear, and the name of the painting, "Forgiven".


I don't need to say much more - this beautiful canvas speaks for itself. 

Peace Out.

Indulgence Alert: Moloko Spa

*Aaaaaahhhh*

That is the sweet sound of relaxation... of stress ebbing from shoulders. My shoulders, to be precise. 

I decided to write today off altogether, and take myself to a spa. I went to the Moloko Spa, which is an organic spa situated at the Strathavon Hotel in Sandton. I booked in for a two hour session, which included a treatment in the rasul chamber, a back massage, an indian head massage and a pressure point foot massage. 

*Aaaaaaahhhh*

Have I mentioned that sound before? 

Here is a picture of a Rasul Chamber, very similar to the one I experienced:

I was somewhat hesitant about the Chamber, having never heard of them before, but it is essentially just a sauna-on-steroids. One is enclosed in the chamber with a towel on which to make oneself comfortable. It's not long before a gurgling and hissing sound fills the room. In virtually no time, the entire chamber is engulfed in thick steam. It gets hotter and hotter and hotter.... Heavenly hot, as far as I'm concerned - I love summer, sunshine, humidity, hot baths, hot showers, hot water bottles, hot cups of coffee, warm hugs, electric blankets, duvets, hot ovens, fireplaces.... You get it, I love heat.

Two minutes into the treatment, my entire body was covered in a smooth sheen of condensed water.

Five minutes into the treatment, it was dripping off me. 

Ten minutes, I could feel my core temperature rising.

Fifteen minutes, the air was becoming thick and laborious to breathe.

Twenty minutes, my eyelids were heavy, muscles relaxed. *happiness*

Twenty-five minutes.... rudely interrupted by a shower of cool water - designed to feel like a light rain, it's purpose is to cool you down, and restore a normal body temperature. Urgh! Cold. 

But overall, what a beautiful experience, and so peaceful! The perfect preparation for a neck, shoulder and back massage, indian head massage, and pressure point foot massage... all of which, was idyllic. Well, mostly idyllic, except for the fact that my therapist - who was lovely in most ways - found a knot in my shoulder muscle that, come hell or high water, she was determined to work out for me. At one point, I was certain that she had resorted to climbing onto my back to do a pirouette on my shoulder. To her credit, she conquered the knot, and I'm sure I'm all the better for it. I think.

In any case, if given an opportunity to return to the Moloko Spa, I would do so in a heartbeat. The atmosphere, the facilities, the level of good old-fashioned TLC... I'm sold. And, of course, the Strathavon Hotel is a short 5 minute drive from Sandton City, which provides the ideal shopping experience to end off such a indulgent day :) 

Bring on Monday morning, I am ready!