Tails’ Blography

This weekend past was another OC (Organised Chaos) LAN. For those who dont know what a LAN is, basically you pay R140 entry, bring your PC along on the Friday evening, connect it to the network, and play games like Call of Duty 4/COD4 (among other things) with (approx 700) other people on the network until Sunday afternoon. Of course, you dont have to stay the entire time, but the die-hards do. By Saturday morning their are tents, pillows, mattresses, and sleeping bags all over the place.

This month, we arrived on Saturday morning, since I was recovering from a sore throat (which subsequently turned into a head cold afterwards…sigh). We set up and got settled in. By this, I mean we plugged in our PCs, had a game or three, then went in search of food in the form of cheese burgers and chips from the local cafeteria.

Normally it gets extremely cold (around 3 degrees celcius) and we freeze our asses off despite jerseys, jackets, sheepskin slippers and a hotwater bottle, so this time we added a sleeping bag to the equation. Wow, what a difference! I’m definately bringing one to every LAN!

After hours and hours of gaming (mainly COD4), swearing, chatting, and laughing, we were paid a visit by a friend who’s never been to OC. Needless to say, after showing him the ropes and letting him have a go on the PC’s, he was hooked, and might bring his own PC next time. Score!

Each month lately they’ve been trying to have a theme, and this month’s theme was Tie July. The person(s) with the best tie(s) could win a 1 terabyte (I think) hard drive each – very worth it! I’ll snag a photo of the two winners from the OC Fan page on Facebook to show you (credit to Sheldon, the OC ‘tog).

I baked gingerbread cookies to take with (I even made one in the shape of a tie, but I didnt need it cos I wasnt there on Friday), and they were a hit! I made O’s and C’s, and offered them to the admin, friends, as well as random people I passed along the way. It was great!

Without further ado, photos! Of course all taken with my new Canon 40D! I’m positively loving the new cam, by the way! It handles noise so much better, it seems to capture light better than my Sony, and its very speedy!

Setting up

Just a look around at what it looks like on a Saturday morning

The OC gingerbread cookies I made

Another look around at our neighbours

A view from where I was sitting during prize giving on Saturday night

They dropped a CRT monitor from the Velodrome ceiling…it went BOOOOOOM!

Everyone goes in for the remains

What was left…

Our friend who came to visit

The bf gaming…

The bf and myself gaming!

My hot man!

The bf, Chris & Ferdie

Winner #1

Winner #2 – I really LOVE this one!

Dont worry, no spoilers! Just opinions (which you shouldnt read if you dont want to go into the movie with expectations….like if someone says, “oh the beginning was terrible”, while its not a spoiler, I find myself watching and waiting to see when the terrible beginning starts an ends…anyway, I digress…)

So my mom and I went to watch it together on Sunday night, and firstly, let me say, I have a huuuuuge girl-crush on Hermione!! Man, she’s HOT!!! Shew!! *rapidly fans face with hand* I thought my only Harry Potter crush was Severus Snape *lesigh* That button-down jacket he wears…oh my! Ok, now that that’s out of the way, I can tell you off the bat that I enjoyed the movie. But! I’m not sure if I enjoyed it for the movie itself, or just because its a Harry Potter movie and they’re always great.

As a standalone movie, I wouldnt say its that great. Also, if you havent read the book, you might find yourself a little lost as to who’s who and why so-and-so is doing this or that. I read the book when it was released (ages ago), and even I struggled to keep up with the story, often finding myself realising afterwards who the character from 5 minutes ago was.

I heard, before I watched it, that it ended suddenly. This may be slightly true, but I personally felt the ending coming, so it didnt surprise me by just fading to black or something as I expected from what I’d heard. Also having read the book helped, as the ending made sense. I guess I can agree that they could have beefed it up a little bit, or something..cant quite place my finger on it. I also felt they rushed through a lot of it, but this is only after thought, as while I was watching I didnt feel rushed at all.

So, if you count the movie as a means to an end (pairing ‘HP & the Order of the Phoenix’ with ‘The Deathly Hallows’) it was great. The special effects are awesome, Quidditch looking especially believable now, the characters are great as usual, Hermione is hot, Ron is bumbly and adorable, and Harry…well he’s perfectly Harry.

They left out some parts of the book I would have liked to have seen, and I’ll probably find more when I reread the book now, but I’m happy they split The Deathly Hallows into two parts, not rushing and cramming everything into one movie. So, bring on 2010 & 2011!

PS: Isnt this cute and fitting!

Last night myself, my bf, my family and a few others were treated by my aunt to The Rocky Horror Picture Show being presented at The Barnyard Theatre in Willowbridge.

We sat on the balcony overlooking the stage and audience, so we had great seats. We got there early, ordered pizza, I bought a bottle of wine which I shared with my mom, and snacked on chips and sweets which we brought in. I’ve never seen the Rocky Horror movie (yea yea!), so I went in armed with only the synopsis in my head that I had read a few hours before leaving. I knew the gist of the show, and I tell you, I loved every minute of it!

Of course, the moved quickly through the movie, and added humour here and there, and of course everything was theatrical. The singing, accents, and costumes were spot on (so I was told :P) to the movie, and I found myself enthralled all the way through!

Half time brought lots of chatting, more wine, and I got to meet one of the cast and I snapped a photo (with her permission). The make up was brilliant, I just had to get a shot! After half time we all got up and did the Time Warp, as instructed by “Dr Frank N Furter”. Lots. Of. Fun!! Then the show continued and once again I was enthralled. Posters of “Rocky Horror” were being sold and my cousin bought one and managed to get it signed. After the show, I managed to meet three other cast members, namely “Dr Scott” and “Columbia”, and I was glad I got to thank them for a fantastic performance.

We werent allowed photos of video of the show, and I was too chicken to try my luck, so you’ll have to make do with seeing the photos I got before the show (click each for larger), at half time, and after the show. The show ends today for Cape Town, but they’re showing in JHB next, so if you’re there – you’ve GOT to watch it!

The poster of “Rocky Horror”

Michael and I (the camera makes us look pinker than normal…I swear!) :P

The view from our seats

The view to the right of us

Looking directly over the railing at the audience below

On of the cast members who came by at Half Time

Last night the bf, myself and two other friends went to see the Boswell Wilkie Circus: Pirate Experience at Grand West Casino. Let me first explain that I’m a huge sucker for the circus. If you’re easily embarressed, dont go with me. I clap when they ask, I sing when they ask, I probably would get up and dance, if they asked. I love bringing out the inner child in me, so I thoroughly enjoy visiting the circus.

Anyway, basically the circus was performed around an “island” which consisted of a pool of water, sand, pirate treasure chests, lanturns and skulls on poles – very authentic-looking. The ship was moored next to a jetty, on which various stunts were performed. I wish I could explain the stunts, but they wouldnt do any justice, and they were pretty strict on cameras/video footage so the photo you see here is the only photo I managed to take, and its not very explanatory either haha. The costumes were great and the various artistes were fantastic! There were no animals and most of the stunts were done from ropes and trapeze bars and ribbons.

The show ends tomorrow, so if you want to see it, book at Computicket asap. I recommend seat blocks B, C & D (or H, J & K). Leave the floor area for if you have kiddies. We sat in block E and we struggled to see what was happening on the ship itself, albeit very little was done there. I must add, the standard wasnt quite up to what I remember of the Boswell Wilkie name, so dont judge BW circuses on this particular show.

So yesterday started out as a normal day. I went to work, looked forward to a friend’s birthday dinner that night, came home (a little early…maybe this was my ‘downfall’?), got ready for gym (see, even when I’m going out I still go to gym! *proud*), and while waiting to leave I saw an auction ad on Facebook for a camera. A Canon 40D. R1 reserve. Hmm.

I’d seen one of these before, for a Nikon D90, and it went for R12,500 or so. So I thought, “lets see what this one is sitting at…” and found (to my amazement) it was sitting on R7500. Before I could stop myself, or think about funds, I signed up and placed a bid for R7750 (has to go in R250 increments). I figured, if I get it for R7750 then I’ve saved almost 50% on the camera and lens alone, forget about all the extras it was coming with, and if I didnt, well then I’m not out of pocket for any moolah…whats the harm, right? Right??!?

Well, all through gym I found myself thinking about my bid…and I even had gone to far as to make a link to the auction on my cellphone to keep watch. Got home from gym, showered, washed my hair, and off we went to dinner. On the way, however, I checked my bid and saw a few other people had bid…so I upped mine to R8500. Yes, I can see you shaking your head…you can stop that! With all the pro bidders out there, not to mention snipers or even people that actually have the funds to pay for their purchase, I wasnt going to get it. The auction was set to end at 11.30pm.

Let me digress quickly and mention the dinner. Firstly, it was utterly fantastic, and probably deserves a post of its own, but seriously, Wang Thai at the V&A Waterfront is amazing! I had two really huge oysters for starters (I can hear you asking, “only two?? you cheapskate!” and my response is that I’m still getting into them, and dont want to eat too many to turn myself off them so I’m taking it slow…I want this love affair to last, m’kay!), a couple of pina coladas (also made to my satisfaction, since I make them from scratch for myself at home), and then the bf and I ordered honey chicken and honey duck to share. Large quantities of Jasmine Basmati rice (mmmmmm!) was ordered for the table and I must say the service and food we received was amaaaazing! Well and truly! Big ups to our waiter, Shepherd!

Throughout dinner I’m ashamed to admit my conversation at times was dominated by my bid. I kept checking my bid every half hour or so, and it was solidly on R8500. With less than an hour to go, I realised I might very well win this…and started to get all light headed. I didnt think this far…I dont really have this kind of cash to spend…I surely cant really win it…can I??

By the time 5 minutes was left, most of the table was interested in the results and I was a nervous wreck. I promptly ordered a tequila, as no matter the outcome, I was in need of a shot! I refreshed my phone browser a million times and with only a minute to go someone sniped in a bid jumping the total up by R500!! Quickly I whipped into action, and without thinking of the consequences I bid R9250…a couple of agonising seconds went by and then it was closed. I had won. I had WON! I promptly downed my tequila.

I confirmed my purchase as soon as I got home and am currently sorting out payment finalities and I will be the owner of a brand new Canon 40D body kit, EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Autofocus Lens, .50x Wide Angle Lens, 2X Telephoto Lens, 8GB Memory Card, USB Card Reader, Carrying Case, Velbon CX-460 Tripod, Table Top Tripod, Lens Pouch, 3 Piece Filter Kit, Universal Screen Protector, & 3 Pc. Lens Cleaning Kit. All for R9250 (almost half price!).

If you want to know more about the Canon 40D (or any other camera for that matter), check out the stats on DPreview.com (click the indepth review link for even more info) which is only the best site for camera reviews and stats…seriously.