Weekend report-back
This weekend was a surprisingly social one from my side, with a birthday party, a baby shower and a farewell braai (that's a barbecue for the non-South Africans out there).
Friday evening was the birthday party, and involved much wine drinking and geeky pop culture conversation. I think some of the guys were forever scarred when a comparison between Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles forced us veteran Vamp Lit readers to reveal that Lestat guzzles menstrual blood in Memnoch the Devil. Rice may be a complete loon but she pushes limits and goes to dark places that Meyer certainly never would.
The main activity of Saturday was a baby shower in the afternoon. Frankly I was dreading it because in my past experience these kind of "traditional" events veer between tedious and juvenile. Tedious, because watching someone open presents for an hour, and having to coo over assorted tiny socks and baby grows, is fucking boring. And juvenile because making grown women wear nappies and dunk for chocolate in a baby potty filled with apple juice is ridiculous. I mean, just let these moms-to-be enjoy the attention, pampering and, most importantly, adult company. Once baby arrives they're not going to have many chances for any of those 3 things for the next 8+ years!
Anyway, as it turns out, the baby shower was surprisingly, and refreshingly, mature. We played some games - like word scrambles, handbag contents bingo, and drawing babies with our eyes closed - but the expectant mom did not have to humiliate herself in any way. Also the smaller number of guests was perfect. There's nothing worse than having to contend with the oestrogen overdose that stems from cramming dozens of women into one small area.
On Saturday evening I began work on the latest Girlz 'N' Games web comic - which should debut online tomorrow on my portfolio page and the comic's Facebook group, and then on Wednesday right here on this blog. While I was working the bf amused himself by replaying Fallout 3 again. This time he made sure to blow up the town of Megaton by triggering the nuclear bomb. Man, that's an impressive explosion.
On Sunday morning I attempted my usual weekly culinary experiment. This time it was Eggs Florentine - poached eggs on a bed of spinach with Hollandaise sauce. I thought it turned out pretty well, although proper butter would definitely produce a better sauce than cooking margarine, which unfortunately was all I had.
Sunday was beautiful and sunny here in Durban and we spent it outside our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club premises at Greyville Racecourse, having a farewell braai for our instructor and his wife, who are emigrating to the UK. It's an awesome spot for a social gathering, overlooking the golf course in the centre of the race track as well as the city skyline.
Apart from carrying on working on my web comic, I rounded off Sunday watching 3 movies.
First up was the outstanding feature documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster* which focuses on anabolic steroid abuse in professional sports, as well as the use of performance enhancers across American society. Director Christopher Bell doesn't push a one-sided agenda like fellow documentarian Michael Moore - rather Bell presents the facts, shows multiple angles to an issue and allows the audience to make up their own minds as to the morality of people's behaviour.
If you're at all interested in the issue of health and fitness, body beauty, and what people will do to succeed in a very competitive world, the documentary is a must-watch.
After Bigger, Stronger, Faster* we watched the hopelessly juvenile Step Brothers, starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as 40 year old boy-men who still live at home with their parents, can't hold down a job and continue to act like pampered brats. Their behaviour gets worse when their parents marry and suddenly they're forced to share a home. Step Brothers has its moments but they're few and far between, sandwiched between a lot of lowbrow humour.
Finally I happened to stumble across St. Elmo's Fire on ETV. Watching this 80's Brat Pack answer to The Big Chill today is like stepping into a time machine. The hair, the fashion, the consumerist aspirations, the "big issues" - it's all there in this tale of a group of 20-something college graduates struggling with the challenges of the real world. The film stars a very young Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, Mare Winningham and Andie MacDowell. It's really worth checking out as a nostalgic snapshot of a long-gone era. You also have to love these kinds of 80s ensemble movies where everything is so nicely resolved by the end. Ah, if only real life was like that.
Friday evening was the birthday party, and involved much wine drinking and geeky pop culture conversation. I think some of the guys were forever scarred when a comparison between Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles forced us veteran Vamp Lit readers to reveal that Lestat guzzles menstrual blood in Memnoch the Devil. Rice may be a complete loon but she pushes limits and goes to dark places that Meyer certainly never would.
The main activity of Saturday was a baby shower in the afternoon. Frankly I was dreading it because in my past experience these kind of "traditional" events veer between tedious and juvenile. Tedious, because watching someone open presents for an hour, and having to coo over assorted tiny socks and baby grows, is fucking boring. And juvenile because making grown women wear nappies and dunk for chocolate in a baby potty filled with apple juice is ridiculous. I mean, just let these moms-to-be enjoy the attention, pampering and, most importantly, adult company. Once baby arrives they're not going to have many chances for any of those 3 things for the next 8+ years!
Anyway, as it turns out, the baby shower was surprisingly, and refreshingly, mature. We played some games - like word scrambles, handbag contents bingo, and drawing babies with our eyes closed - but the expectant mom did not have to humiliate herself in any way. Also the smaller number of guests was perfect. There's nothing worse than having to contend with the oestrogen overdose that stems from cramming dozens of women into one small area.
On Saturday evening I began work on the latest Girlz 'N' Games web comic - which should debut online tomorrow on my portfolio page and the comic's Facebook group, and then on Wednesday right here on this blog. While I was working the bf amused himself by replaying Fallout 3 again. This time he made sure to blow up the town of Megaton by triggering the nuclear bomb. Man, that's an impressive explosion.
On Sunday morning I attempted my usual weekly culinary experiment. This time it was Eggs Florentine - poached eggs on a bed of spinach with Hollandaise sauce. I thought it turned out pretty well, although proper butter would definitely produce a better sauce than cooking margarine, which unfortunately was all I had.
Sunday was beautiful and sunny here in Durban and we spent it outside our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club premises at Greyville Racecourse, having a farewell braai for our instructor and his wife, who are emigrating to the UK. It's an awesome spot for a social gathering, overlooking the golf course in the centre of the race track as well as the city skyline.
Apart from carrying on working on my web comic, I rounded off Sunday watching 3 movies.
First up was the outstanding feature documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster* which focuses on anabolic steroid abuse in professional sports, as well as the use of performance enhancers across American society. Director Christopher Bell doesn't push a one-sided agenda like fellow documentarian Michael Moore - rather Bell presents the facts, shows multiple angles to an issue and allows the audience to make up their own minds as to the morality of people's behaviour.
If you're at all interested in the issue of health and fitness, body beauty, and what people will do to succeed in a very competitive world, the documentary is a must-watch.
After Bigger, Stronger, Faster* we watched the hopelessly juvenile Step Brothers, starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as 40 year old boy-men who still live at home with their parents, can't hold down a job and continue to act like pampered brats. Their behaviour gets worse when their parents marry and suddenly they're forced to share a home. Step Brothers has its moments but they're few and far between, sandwiched between a lot of lowbrow humour.
Finally I happened to stumble across St. Elmo's Fire on ETV. Watching this 80's Brat Pack answer to The Big Chill today is like stepping into a time machine. The hair, the fashion, the consumerist aspirations, the "big issues" - it's all there in this tale of a group of 20-something college graduates struggling with the challenges of the real world. The film stars a very young Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, Mare Winningham and Andie MacDowell. It's really worth checking out as a nostalgic snapshot of a long-gone era. You also have to love these kinds of 80s ensemble movies where everything is so nicely resolved by the end. Ah, if only real life was like that.
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