DURBAN GAY PRIDE 2014

There will be two posts one with a selection of the photos, the other with a review of the days proceedings. I was a bit disappointed that I could not attend the event in drag due to my recent hospitalization (see my earlier blog post) as I needed more time to plan for such an event. I will have to wait til next year and luckily I have found a dressmaker, so I should start planning now! Anyhow back to the 2014 event. I was accompanied by two friends and luckily we were about a kilometre away from King's Park where Pride was taking place, but unfortunately we ended up walking due to the cab company's cabs all being fully booked up. Something about end of the month, they said. On arrival we met people we knew, and as the day progessed a great time was had by all! Everybody was dancing to the music provided and I believe this was a very successful Durban Pride! Looking forward to 2014!
NB: This post appeared to have been half finished, for some reason, that is why I'm just updating it today.

FINDING BIGFOOT -Part 2



An apparent "bigfoot" killing in 1945.



Even though I'm very sceptical and I find the presenters a bunch of eccentrics, this show does have entertainment value. I have been sitting watching the show on DSTV Channel 171 and I find that either the show is scripted or that the presenters are a bunch of idiots if they expect us to believe what they say. They have never seen a "bigfoot" yet they are able to tell us how tall they are, what food they eat, how  they walk and what they even look like. I personally think that they make this all up, even some of their so called "eye witnesses" are their best friends. Maybe they pay them like they do when casting extras in a movie? And why is it that their camera mysteriously malfunctions leading us to believe that they missed an opportunity to capture "bigfoot" on film? Really? In all the episodes they have never seen one, but yet again they know exactly the kind of noise they make. Unbelievable is all I can say! And who says that "bigfoot" is a meat eater? And why is it that no one has found a dead "bigfoot" or even the skeleton of one? Because good people they don't exist. Just like the unicorn, "bigfoot is a fictitious creature. Either that or the "eye witnesses" all smoke weed or something! I really do not believe that this creature exists. Just like the Lochness monster no one has actually seen it up close and personal. As the one female presenter, Rennae, says that she is having a lot of trouble believing all this and until she actually has a close encounter with one personally, she remains  a non believer. If they ever do find "bigfoot" I'm sure we'll be the first to know!

FINDING BIGFOOT - FACT OR FICTION?



Is this real or a man in a monkey costume? You decide!

 How many of you have watched the TV series "Finding Bigfoot" on the Discovery ID channel? To me it seems very far fetched, and personally the people who claim to have actually seen these creatures must have wild imaginations or they were hallucinating at the time. It is very strange how the same eye witnesses didn't take a photo of it with their smart phone to actually prove they saw what they saw. Their excuse would probably be that the battery was flat. Let's not forget about the presenters of this show either. In the dark of the night they are shown using night lights to see where they are going, and making the "call" of the "bigfoot". How do they know the sound that they made is actually that of a "bigfoot"? They haven't seen one as yet. And the sound of their two-way radio communication and all the visibility of their night vision lights and so forth is enough to scare any animal away. In a loud whisper the one guy say to his buddy: "Did you hear that? It came from that direction." And he points vaguely into the distance. Of course the viewer heard nothing. Then there was the time when the guy tripped and fell just when "bigfoot" appeared in front of them. And in a loud whisper over the radio, he said "Damn, I nearly saw it with my own eyes!" Come now you seriously expect me to believe all this?   The whole series is clearly scripted, and I don't believe these presenters are experts in their field when they've never seen "Bigfoot"? The "eyewitnesses" seem to know more about the animal than the experts do! Mankind has always been interested in these type of "sightings" whether it be animal or even UFO's (Unidentified Flying Objects) which sometimes you cannot dispute as you've never encountered them before. You may believe they exist or you can just take it as an interesting fact. Take the "Lochness Monster" for example. Is it real or is it just myth? For centuries man has tried to uncover the mystery surround the creature that supposedly lives in Lake Loch in Scotland. Countless movies, stories and "fake" photos have emerged about sightings. In the Himalayas there were reports of an ape-like creature which was called the Yeti that was sighted trudging around in the snow. But which disappeared when humans tried to track it down. Sound familiar to you? The yeti was also known as "the abominable snowman" and probably spawned all these theories and myths about "Bigfoot" in the USA, as comparing the two the descriptions are very similar. So whether you believe in "Bigfoot" or not, one must admit it makes very interesting viewing for television.

The Yeti or Abonimable Snowman.

DURBAN PRIDE 2014 PHOTOS

IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN FOR DURBAN PRIDE..........

Yes, guys it's time to dust off your high heels, and plan your outfit for Durban Pride 2014. Unlike last year's event, there will be a parade/march. This year it returns to the playing fields next to the Shark Tank at Kings park, and should be a lot of fun. I'm planning to dress up this year that is if I can find something fabulous to wear. I believe there are some people who for personal reasons say they will not be supporting Durban Pride. To me I can't see why they would not go, but thankfully it is a freedom of choice I suppose. Just like it is a freedom of choice whether to dress up in drag for the event or not. So with a week to go, everybody must be rushing around planning their outfits. Durban Pride 2014 is happening on Saturday 28th June at 10am. We'll see you there!

HELLO EVERYONE! YES I AM STILL ALIVE.

What a busy few months I've had! Readers of this blog must have thought I had "kicked the bucket" so to speak, as I have not posted anything new here for a while. Since my last post (5/5/2014) I was admitted to hospital for a partial removal of the colon. After the operation I was told that 75% of my colon was removed. That was a bit of a shocker to me. But after speaking to other doctors and other qualified persons, I was told that I have nothing to worry about and will function like any other healthy human being. I spent 2 weeks in hospital, and happy to say I am well on the road to recovery. Apart from being a bit tired at times, my surgeon told me that it will take about 6 weeks for the body to adjust. All I can say is thank goodness they did not do a colostomy, which I believe is quite traumatic to endure. I must add that nursing staff at Netcare Parklands Hospital must be congratulated on their dedication and care of all patients. With that being said I am well on the road to recovery!

MAKE YOUR MARK ON 7 MAY 2014

With South Africa's General Election drawing ever closer, less than two days to be exact, it would not be fair to tell South Africans who to vote for. Instead it would be better to tell you why you should vote. If you want a change in government, or you are unhappy with the current leadership then you must excercise your right to vote. It's no good sitting at home complaining about service delivery or the current goverment when going to the polls on 7th May and voting could change all that. My advice to you is: "Don't waste your vote by not voting!" and find out if you are registered by visiting Independent Electoral Commission and follow the links! 

"ILEMBE" THE PLAY ABOUT SHAKA ZULU (A REVIEW)

There have been many TV productions and plays written about the imfamous Shaka Zulu, each of them giving their own interpretation of what happened in his life. As they always say that there are two sides to every story, in this case the white man and the Zulu nation. As this play was performed in Zulu and English, the producers had tried to accomodate audience by having a translation of the language in which the actors were speaking be projected onto a screen at the rear of the stage. It did not work very well as the lettering was green and with it being too far back it was difficult to read. The stage lighting only made matters worse as it made the words almost non existence on the screen. The concept was a good idea, but maybe they should have gone for white lettering on a screen situated to the left or right of centre stage. I was exhausted just trying to read the translation and found the production too long with more talking than any action. They could have had the actors moving around a bit more. With that being said, "ILEMBE" is still an interesting take on Shaka Zulu... but will probably be popular with black and white theatre patrons who understand both Zulu and English. It was a pity that I was not one of those patrons, as I was one of the unfortunate ones who spent most of the play trying to read the translation which was not an easy task from where I was sitting. And apparently I was not the only one who couldn't read the translation either.

A REVIEW OF "MANDELA A LONG WALK TO FREEDOM"

Today I finally got round to watching the movie that everybody is raving about "Mandela A Long Walk To Freedom". But to be honest, after all the hype I was dissappointed. Having read the book, there appears to be important sections of Nelson Mandela's life that have been left out, like his inaugration as the first black president of South Africa. Even though it was mentioned there were no "flashback scenes" to remind us of that great day. And what about his trips to Botswana and other neighbour African countries? No mention was made. They could have made an epic movie with an intermission like "Ghandi" or one of those classic British movies. It would have ben a bit longer that the 141 minutes of the current film, but who would have complained? Here we have the life of an incredible man who became a world icon, and nothing was said about his joy of South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup back in 1995 or the joy on his face when he held the Fifa World Cup aloft to celebrate South Africa's hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup. So much more could have been done with this story. A big disappointment to me. Feel free to leave your own reviews/comments below.

MY NEW MOBILE PHONE

After using a Blackberry for over 6 years, and getting frustrated with the limited apps available such as blogging on the move, I decided to do something about it. A friend of mine had purchased the MTN STEPPA. It had a touch screen, Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and games galore. And this blog was available in app form. My prayers were answered! All this for only R499! I obviously went and purchased one and not a moment to soon as they were sold out countrywide! I now have two cellphones and will use one as a backup. Oh and the phone has Instagram too. I'm slowly getting used to the touchscreen and have surprised myself by writing this post using the blog app available. This is marvellous!

WHO WILL BE THE BIGGEST FOOL TODAY?

Don't read newspapers or the social media today. Why? Because today being April Fool's Day anything can happen. This morning I logged onto Facebook and my timeline was flooded with April Fool jokes, from Helen Zille upgrading her residence; mermaids being discovered off the coast of Africa; to the green and gold Springbok rugby jersey being changed to red and gold. The fact is don't believe anything you read  today because chances are it is an April Fool's joke! LOL

CRICKET BAT OR GUNSHOT?

It's day 11 of the Oscar Pistorious Murder Trial, people everywhere are sitting glued to their TV's, laptops and social medias such as Twitter and Facebook. This is rivetting stuff and has all the makings of another Hollywood blockbuster, even the comedians are finding enough material to tweet a string of jokes about defence lawyer Barry Roux. When the Proteas cricket team played at Centurion on Friday, it was said that he notified ADT (a local security company) because he thought it was a gun battle going on! I am told that there are still over a hundred witnesses still to take the stand and that is not including the murder accused himself. Listening to the testimonies so far, I get the impression that Oscar was a "loose cannon" who liked guns. But the matter at hand asks the question: "Did he kill Reeva, intentionally or not"? The lady at the chemist believes that the two had an argument and that he hit her with the cricket bat and she ran to the bathroom bleeding and screaming. She locked the door and still screamed as Oscar attempted to break down the door with the bloodied cricket bat. (You will remember last year a bloodied cricket bat was found at the scene). The fatal shots followed because he wanted to keep her quiet. Photos of a bloodied duvet were shown in court which don't make sense. Oscar has a lot of explaining to do and by the way I see it (excuse the pun) he doesn't have a leg to stand on. Why would an intruder turn on the bathroom light? Why would an intruder lock themselves in the toilet? That night Reeva was scared of Oscar and feared for her life! Defence lawyer Barry Roux is trying his best to win the case for Oscar, by suggesting that he screams like a woman. And what about the sound of a cricket bat being struck against a maranti door? Does it sound like a gunshot? No wonder Twitter comics made fun of the fact by saying that Mr Roux took part in the Argus Cycle Race, and struggled to start peddling because he was waiting for the sound of a cricket bat being hit against a maranti door. And then what about the woman interpreter who couldn't speak English properly when she attempted to translate from Afrikaans to English. I believe she was shown the door later in the day. I wonder if we will have another entertaining day in court? Let me go switch the TV on..........

WE LOVE DURBAN



The walkabout (tour) of the airport building.





Some of the bloggers and tweeters who attended the event.



A few weeks ago, on the 21st Febuary 2014 to be exact, I attended my very first social media event held  in conjuction with eThekwini Municipality,  I LUV DURBAN and Carver Media at King Shaka International Durban. This was also another first for me as it was my first visit to Durban's new international airport. This was not the first media event held by Carver Media for the WE LOVE DURBAN campaign as it was launched two weeks prior at Durban's other landmark, The Moses Mabhida Stadium. I was accompanied by three other social media fans/friends and a very enjoyable evening was had by all. Lucky draws were held during the evening's proceedings, and I was lucky enough to win the first prize of the evening of 6 complimentary movie tickets courtsey of Sun Coast. Welcoming speeches were held including a speech and walkabout of the airport by Colin Naidoo, Communications & Brand Manager of King Shaka International Airport. The whole event was held in News Cafe at the airport and the walkabout included a view of the arrivals and departures hall which could handle large amounts of passengers and luggage.  Some of the invited guest were lucky enough to view the airports control room which is not normally shown to the public. An array of snacks and desserts were served "buffet" style. And by the end of the evening invited tweeters had gained a few followers, taken photos and made new friends. It was a very enjoyable evening and I look forward to be invited to the next #welovedurban event.