Isochronous - it's a real word, okay?

I don't remember the last time I heard such beautiful music... especially coming from the conventional rock band istruments of four seemingly ordinary young men in t-shirts and jeans! That was my first reaction to and lasting impression of Jo-burg based band, Isochronous when they graced Bohemia (Stellenbosch) with a FREE show last week. Eyes closed, goose bumps shivering up and down my arms and back, senses stripped to the barest bones, I stood there... in awe of the musical doors this band must be opening in South Africa. To my reasonably out of practice, if not untrained, ear they could very well be the bastard son of Muse and Placebo, brought up in an orphanage run by the likes of The Decemberists, The Shins and The Mars Volta. As for the name... It is a real word. You don't believe me, go check it out. http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochronous.

J-Bay

It was the very last weekend of the holiday and the first of the annual J-Bay Billabong Pro... And because some things just have to be done, we decided to go on a camping trip to South Africa's very own surf mecca. As Murphy would have it, the first day or two of our precious weekend was characterised by pleasant weather (good) and a disappointingly flat ocean (bad, very bad), so we spent some time in the Billabong factory shop where I almost fainted from hyperventilation while rummaging through the cheap bikini box... which ended up yielding nothing, but a few bonding moments with random girls going through the same process. My disappointment in the shop was made up for by a treasure of magnificent shells acquired during a looooong walk on the beach later that afternoon and family-bonding time over a braai, some whiskey and red wine later that evening. On our last day we awoke to a chilly ocean wind, gathering clouds... and close to perfect waves. Awesome. We watched as much surfing as we possibly could in the few hours we had left, an absolutely exhilarating experience, as usual! The two lower photos above are typical depictions of J-Bay. The beach-front aloes standing proud and tall with their fiery fingers stretched skywards form part of that special J-bay magic and of course those long and languid tubes round it off perfectly. As for the other two photographs... Imar and Tamara fitted right in, looking like a real sun-kissed surfer pair on the Supertubes boardwalk. And us four young 'uns left mom and dad to hold the campsite fort, as our last night ended in a tentative exploration of J-bay's social scene. We visited a quaint establishment called Wax Cafe, which turned out to be lots of fun. We were even entertained by a random African dope white boy duo (I forget their name) doing some catchy, fun rhymes like: "Animals, animals! We love animals! Trees, trees! We love trees!" and "Naartjie! Naartjie" (I think that was the name of their afro-haired DJ). All in all a grrrrrreat weekend I treasure in my golden box of memories!

More of the Moon

So, the last time I posted something I was in the midst of my monthly full-moon euphoria... but then sadly something went horribly wrong with my camera connection and I couldn't download or post any photos. So to pick up where I left off, here are two more photos from those gorgeous and rare clear winter evenings. Like I mentioned in my last post, I discovered the Night Landscape setting on my camera and it has seriously changed my life!

Good news everybody!

Hello!

Just a little notification... I've decided to keep the blog up and running even though the June holiday is over. So, keep an eye open for some new pics within the next 24 hours or so!

xx

Connection problems

Bad news everybody! I'm having some issues with my camera connection, so there's going to be a bit of a delay on updates. :(

Magnificent miss moon

"...and I was aware that, as always, I was calmed by the moon" - Eva Luna. For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by the moon. Especially the full moon. The tiniest gaps in my blinds often allow the gentle rays to slip through and perform midnightly dances across my eyes, leaving me with an overwhelming sense that everything is okay and will be too. And no, I am NOT some or other cracked New Age hippie! Quite to the contrary I firmly believe that my awesome God often makes use of his most precious nature to speak straight to the very core of my being. Why would he not? And so it happens that my favourite time of the month has rolled round again... and how beautiful the full moon looks in her gown of pale light flowing across the Atlantic surface in a glittering train! What's more... I made the exciting discovery of a 'Night Landscape' setting on my camera and find the results rather magical.

Feline genius

Okay, okay I suppose the cat has become to my blog what Paris Hilton is to the tabloids... a far too regular occurrence. So, how about a little deal? Just still this photo of his very productive afternoon with my mom and dad; and I'll try my best to keep the blog Sandokan free for the rest of the week (unless of course he does something REALLY crazy). Okay? Okay. Besides, this photo absolutely proves the point that my kitty has got to be some sort of feline genius. I mean look at the size of that book and he got that far in just one sitting! A-mazing!

Growing old gracefully

Seeing I actually managed to keep at least one duck in its row and post some fun photos for Friday I'll skip straight ahead to Saturday's quaint object... this stately old lady parked somewhere in the upper reaches of Vredehoek. I think she's just beautiful and obviously her owners do too, as she is practically in mint condition... apart from a bit of clouding over on the windscreen.

I can like to has a laptop

It's very convenient to have a kitten for the purpose of Thursday's CUTE photos, as you may have noticed. He's just so full of crazy antics, it's hard not to include a photo of him in the weekly cycle! For some reason he really LOVES the laptop... I think it might have something to do with the warmth or maybe he's just a really intelligent cat trying to find some creative outlet. Either way, the half-closed laptop became an absolutely irresistible spot to chase his tail (as you see in this photo) and soon after a lovely warm nest (?) to curl up in...

Where is my mind?

Oh, lamentations! I have been absolutely terrible with my camera this past week! I can't actually tell you how many great photo opportunities passed me by since my last post (and even before)... I don't know where my head has been! But a good guess would be wherever my camera has been, as I seem to be forgetting to take it with me all the time! Very very bad for a pseudo photo blogger! Oh well, I guess I'll just blame it on the sunshine, or the moonlight, maybe the good times... or possibly the boogie.
So in an effort to redeem myself I've decided to catch up on the days I missed this week, starting with this nature photo for Wednesday. Unfortunately I haven't taken a great action photo in a while, so I'm just skipping Tuesday, but expect great things this week :)! This photo: a beautiful tree in the fairy landscape of Disa Kloof!

Fun with masks

My mommy and I spent a wonderful fun-filled day in Durbanville and surrounds with the Botha girls (Tannie Tess, Nikola, Tanee and Larel) yesterday coffee shop hopping, talking at the top of our lungs and laughing at the drop of a pin. Our amusement reached a pinnacle when Tannie Tess went to the bathroom at the oh-so-eclectic hot spot Dash, and returned looking like some Oriental apparition from Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away! Nikola and I soon gave into our own fascination with the masks, but Tannie Tess's humorous shoes were hard to fill.

Apologies!

Hello friends, family and followers!

So, the inevitable has happened... My travels to Stellenbosch and Durbanville have left me internetless for a few days and as you may have noticed, I'm about three posts behind! Eeek! I'm going to try fill up all three, but otherwise just post what I have.
Sorry about this...
In some circles there's nothing worse than an inconsistent blogger... oh dear oh dear oh dear!
xoxo