Phuthu Stay Phut, Don't go!

Some of us had to dig real deep for this week’s challenge: “Write a poem… any poem”, the suggestion came from Katrine, our very own professional writer. Yes, she does this for a living. BossLady over here probably fancies this as a lovely little project (she can do anything, I kid you not!)… which leaves Kerry and myself … So with blank expressions and a cheery attitude we decided to give it a shot. This is what came up:

Katrine

Love…

Every little seed
needs time to grow
before turning into a strong,
healthy plant

But to sprout
it needs to be watered
continuously

To stay upright
and handle a gust of wind,
the stem needs support

And to feel the purest sense of safety,
the leaves need to be protected

Only then
will it flower
and show its most beautiful colours

Louise

Oh Mirror

Mirror Mirror on the wall, which country is the fairest of them all?
Is it that which turns pumpkins into coaches and mice into horses,
Or where kissed sleeping beauties are saved from eternal slumbers?
But aren’t fairytales such that no fortified castle is free of villains,
And no prince is without a woman to rescue and battles to fight?
It seems to me that these fanciful tales are like my day-to-day life
- A little bit of ordinary, a spoonful of magic and a pinch of strife!

Kerry

What Rhymes With Art
I have always loved to be surrounded by beauty
Oh crap, what rhymes with beauty….. fruity, tootie, cutie?
Anyway, so I decided to take up painting and create gorgeous works of art
Um…… part, cart, tart, fart… ok got it……
I use oil on canvas that incorporates all the dreams from my heart (see quite clever hey, art, my heart)
So as you can tell by this, I am definitely not a poet
But I can paint a Picasso in my sleep, as I’m an Artist and I know it.

Elzet

Kringe in die bos
in Kombuistaal

Die lewe, ‘n snakes ‘n ladders bordspel, en
elke dice-gooi ‘n ewigheidsbelegging
Keuses bepaal na watter kant ons oorhel

Naak en kwesbaar neem ons stelling in
reg vir ‘n proeflopie van trial and error
Op jul merke, Gereed… Besin!

Die lewe, ‘n dress rehearsal wat bepaal
op watter noot ons die eindpaal haal

Translation:
Life is like a game of – no, not chocolates – snake and ladders. Our decisions determine our direction. Naked and fragile we start off as babies; engage on our life journey, a dress rehearsal of trial and error which influences the End.

The Parlotones released their new album “Stardust Galaxies”.

To celebrate and promote the album, The Parlotones embarked on their biggest international tour to date.

They started the international leg of the tour in the United Kingdom, then through Europe and Russia, with concerts booked in countries where the singles off “A World Next Door To Yours” album have emulated the success enjoyed in SA already.

It was then ‘down under’ for band, with its first Australian performance at ‘One Movement for Music Perth’ (OMFM) – a two day, priority music industry event for the Asia Pacific region which featured 80 artists premièring their latest material, via unique 30-minute showcase sets, in a full outdoor festival setting.

And now SA fans can catch them live in concert this weekend at Cape Town’s Grand West Casino Amphitheatre and at The Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg, to help them celebrate the end of this immensely successful tour.

Now I have one question for you guys-

WHY DIDN’T YOU COME TO DURBAN?

I think my next post will be about how miffed I am on all the concerts I’ve missed, as bands always seem to give KZN a miss.

Good on ya to Kelly Clarkson as I see she will be coming to SA soon and she has included our little province into her world tour itinerary. Aaah, it’s so nice to be loved.

When: 13^th November in Cape Town & 14^th November in Johannesburg

Where: Cape Town’s Grand West Casino Amphitheatre & The Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg

Quentin Tarantino has done it again. And I really do think this is one of his best! In fact, I would say it’s his best since Pulp Fiction. And I think I even enjoyed it more than I enjoyed Pulp Fiction. But that could just be a personal thing – as I do enjoy my war movies… Besides, the fact that Inglourious Basterds stars Brad Pitt as an arrogant, thickly accented Lieutenant from Tennessee also helps.

The plot goes like this: In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as “The Basterds” are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers… and that’s all I am saying because I don’t want to give it all away!

Brad Pitt as 1st Lieutenant Aldo Raine, aka “Aldo the Apache” is a vengeance-driven 1st Special Service Force officer from Maynardville in Tennessee, who puts together a team of eight soldiers for the OSS. His character has been described as “a voluble, freewheeling outlaw” similar to Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction.

But in this movie, Brad Pitt has nothing on Christoph Waltz as Standartenführer Hans Landa aka “The Jew Hunter” – he is absolutely brilliant!!! Landa is the central antagonist: a romantic, yet sinister pipe-smoking Austro-German SD officer with a keen ability to locate Jews hiding throughout France. He is well-versed in languages, being able to speak fluent English, French and Italian in addition to his native German. Tarantino has said that this might be the greatest character he’s ever written. He originally sought for Leonardo DiCaprio to be cast as Landa but then decided to have the character played by a German actor. Thank goodness for that! I think we’ve seen enough of Leonardo’s fake accents after he played a Rhodesian in the movie Blood Diamond. Ok, he wasn’t that bad. He did say ‘lekker’ and ‘hey’ and ‘allrrrite’ a lot. But it’s just doesn’t sound the same when it’s not your native language.

So the role ultimately went to the Austrian Waltz, who according to Tarantino, “gave me my movie back” – as he felt the movie couldn’t be made without Landa as a character but feared the part was unplayable. Waltz won the Best Actor Award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival for his performance, which speaks for itself!

Mike Myers has a brief appearance as British General Ed Fenech – a legendary British military mastermind who provides a plot to kill the German leadership. And Diane Kruger stars as popular German actress Bridget von Hammersmark – who’s a spy for Great Britain.

I missed him this time, but Quentin Tarantino stars as an unnamed Nazi footman (the first to be depicted being scalped), and also as an American soldier in the German propaganda film-within-a-film, “Nation’s Pride”, with a single spoken line: “I implore you, we must destroy that tower!” It is a recurring feature of Tarantino’s movies for the director himself to appear in a cameo role.

Tarantino has said that despite it being a war film, Inglourious Basterds is a “spaghetti western but with World War II iconography”.

I cried a couple of tears at one stage, and I laughed out loud at least three times – which to me is an indication of a good move indeed. Go see it, and judge for yourself!

I might go see it again, actually… I think it’s one of those movies which benefit from a second viewing – as you’ll discover new elements. And well, I missed Quentin’s appearance. Now that I know what to look out for, I won’t miss him the second time around.

By Katrine