The Weekend
The weekend actually didn’t end up being a complete loss after all.
Although we spent a long time at Mainport, where Paul and Warren were setting up a server (we ended up getting our Mimmo’s pizzas as take away), we did eventually end up at Mimmo’s as sit-down patrons. It felt quite strange walking in there with take-away boxes, but we did at least order drinks and a focaccia to share between Paul, Warren, myself, and Robin, who joined us.
Being in the Musgrave area on a Friday evening is like being in some Bollywood equivalent of the fast and the Furious, or, more accurately, Need For Speed: Underground. Everywhere you look there are heavily-modded, souped-up cars full of Indian youths, revving their engines, tearing down the street, or, as we discovered, waiting in underground parking lots for their latest mission to load.
On Saturday Paul was working from 9am to midnight with the sever set up. In a way that was a good thing because I wasn’t tempted to blow off work for some fun activity. By 3pm I was finished what I could do for the technical manual, and after spending some time online (during which I had to recover my blog after somehow deleting the template), I had a lazy DVD evening, watching the very over-the-top Sahara, and then the copy of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that Ian had sent me for my birthday.
After seeing Johnny Depp in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I had begun to think that Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka was a pleasant, likeable character. Turns out I what I remembered was wrong. Wilder’s Wonka, while not as socially uncomfortable as Depp’s, is just as much of a madman / weirdo. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that despite being 35 years old, the film’s special effects hold up very well. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is still a very very good film.
Thinking about it now, Roald Dahl must be the author whose books have most consistently been translated to into good films. Mathilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches and James and the Giant Peach have all been excellent.
On Saturday evening, I also sketched Superman. I’ve been in a superhero mood lately. Once I’ve scanned and coloured the pic, I’ll post it here.
On Sunday I spent my morning fighting with my iPod and iTunes, which put me in a bad mood by the time I got down to Paul’s house. Our plan to hire a DVD was scuttled by the fact that his family was watching cricket. So after stopping in at Mainport (yet again), we ended up back at my place, where we had a little 2-person braai for dinner, and watched I Robot.
We’ll definitely have to do some group socialising this coming weekend, after so long without having seen people. Ian should be back and that’ll definitely justify a major celebration.
In good news, I finally convinced Paul to go to the Coca-Cola Colab Massive Mix concert on 21 March at the Absa Stadium. We’re paying about R50 more than general standing, but we decided to book lower stand seats. The thought of standing for 12 hours is a bit much, considering I was overwhelmed by the crush of bodies at the Westlife concert last year and had to be helped out of the crowd before I fainted.
Besides, I’ve been in seats for several stadium concerts, including Michael Jackson, Bryan Adams, Roxette and the last big collaboration concert, the Big Night Out With Lenny Kravitz, and there’s nothing wrong with them apart from obviously not being within touching distance of your favourite performers.
I started compiling a list of the groups I was most excited about seeing, but pretty much everyone is awesome.
Plus, it looks like Paul wants to go away for a weekend in the berg within the next few weekends. I’m really looking forward to a break there. At this time of year, it is absolutely stunning.
Although we spent a long time at Mainport, where Paul and Warren were setting up a server (we ended up getting our Mimmo’s pizzas as take away), we did eventually end up at Mimmo’s as sit-down patrons. It felt quite strange walking in there with take-away boxes, but we did at least order drinks and a focaccia to share between Paul, Warren, myself, and Robin, who joined us.
Being in the Musgrave area on a Friday evening is like being in some Bollywood equivalent of the fast and the Furious, or, more accurately, Need For Speed: Underground. Everywhere you look there are heavily-modded, souped-up cars full of Indian youths, revving their engines, tearing down the street, or, as we discovered, waiting in underground parking lots for their latest mission to load.
On Saturday Paul was working from 9am to midnight with the sever set up. In a way that was a good thing because I wasn’t tempted to blow off work for some fun activity. By 3pm I was finished what I could do for the technical manual, and after spending some time online (during which I had to recover my blog after somehow deleting the template), I had a lazy DVD evening, watching the very over-the-top Sahara, and then the copy of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that Ian had sent me for my birthday.
After seeing Johnny Depp in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I had begun to think that Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka was a pleasant, likeable character. Turns out I what I remembered was wrong. Wilder’s Wonka, while not as socially uncomfortable as Depp’s, is just as much of a madman / weirdo. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that despite being 35 years old, the film’s special effects hold up very well. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is still a very very good film.
Thinking about it now, Roald Dahl must be the author whose books have most consistently been translated to into good films. Mathilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches and James and the Giant Peach have all been excellent.
On Saturday evening, I also sketched Superman. I’ve been in a superhero mood lately. Once I’ve scanned and coloured the pic, I’ll post it here.
On Sunday I spent my morning fighting with my iPod and iTunes, which put me in a bad mood by the time I got down to Paul’s house. Our plan to hire a DVD was scuttled by the fact that his family was watching cricket. So after stopping in at Mainport (yet again), we ended up back at my place, where we had a little 2-person braai for dinner, and watched I Robot.
We’ll definitely have to do some group socialising this coming weekend, after so long without having seen people. Ian should be back and that’ll definitely justify a major celebration.
In good news, I finally convinced Paul to go to the Coca-Cola Colab Massive Mix concert on 21 March at the Absa Stadium. We’re paying about R50 more than general standing, but we decided to book lower stand seats. The thought of standing for 12 hours is a bit much, considering I was overwhelmed by the crush of bodies at the Westlife concert last year and had to be helped out of the crowd before I fainted.
Besides, I’ve been in seats for several stadium concerts, including Michael Jackson, Bryan Adams, Roxette and the last big collaboration concert, the Big Night Out With Lenny Kravitz, and there’s nothing wrong with them apart from obviously not being within touching distance of your favourite performers.
I started compiling a list of the groups I was most excited about seeing, but pretty much everyone is awesome.
Plus, it looks like Paul wants to go away for a weekend in the berg within the next few weekends. I’m really looking forward to a break there. At this time of year, it is absolutely stunning.
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--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com