findingthemojo no 236

Hi there, so the Easter weekend is upon us and here's wishing you all the best if you're doing Two Oceans and all the best if you're dealing with loads of visitors from out-of-town; traffic queues and melting chocolate eggs

image: zimbio.com

• "Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right" - Jane Goodall, quoted in NationalGeographic.com

image: astropix.com

• "If you don't have confidence, you'll find a way not to win" - Carl Lewis, quoted in The Windsor Star, Ontario

Drive carefully and enjoy your long weekend, speak to you next Tuesday again
cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 235

H there - recently enjoyed a lovely trip up the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and there were two highlights

 
 

• delicious reds and heavenly champagne at Domaine des Dieux Wine Farm - quaint little tasting 'container' with lovely views

• scrumptious lunch at Moggs Country Cookhouse - different, fresh and good service - delicious!

cheers
jp

   

findingthemojo no 234

Hello - yes, you have a lovely Easter weekend ahead with plenty to do in and around CT but in case you need some guidance and alternative suggestions with extended benefits..........?

image: ely public library

• here's a really useful list of volunteer places just looking for your assistance (and it's long-term), or

image: cultureandcommunication.org

• try geocaching in the Mother City -  "geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location" - all you need is a smartphone or GPS (borrow one from a friend!)

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 233

Morning morning!  - signs of the times continued......

• the UK Office for National Statistics has changed the basket of goods it uses to measure inflation: e-books are in, champagne is out - why? surely the two items are pretty inseparable, anyway?

image:  online.wsj.com

• the 2014 World Cup in Brazil is not that far-off and Brazilian soccer stadiums "are installing reinforced double-width seats for over-weight fans". These new chairs "are twice the price and a different colour from normal seats, are required under the country's disability laws" and can "support up to 40 stone".  Seriously!?

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 232

Hello and welcome - today, 20 March is the official start of Winter (oh no!), ok, Autumn here in the Southern Hemisphere.  It's also, believe it or not, National Proposal Day, huh, since when?

• while we're enjoying this magnificent weather, take a picnic and go and see a great doccie/movie @ the Galileo Open Air Cinema at Kirstenbosch - they are showing Life Cycles/I believe I can Fly tonight   .  If you miss this one, check out the rest of the program

• get to The Theatre on the Bay to see Absolute Turkey, Christopher Weare's absolutely brilliant version of a Georges Feydeau farce - ends this Saturday!  It's frenetic, fast and fabulous!

it's going to be a lovely long weekend
so cheers till Monday 25 March
jp

findingthemojo no 231

Hello and welcome - with a (extra-long for some) longish weekend ahead, make the most of the last of the fab Summer weather and get out there with friends and/or family

image: capepoint vineyards

• enjoy a long lunch/picnic on one of our wonderful wine farms: apparently the picnic at Cape Point Vineyards is fabulous!

• take a hike through a forest, over a mountain, up a gorge, next to the sea - take your pick!  Capetownmagazine.com have some brilliant suggestions
  

image: www.muizenberg.info

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 230

Morning -here's one beautiful idea and another really dumb one

• terrariums are (once again) trending in 2013 and they are quite beautiful! have a look at Hermetica's lovely examples

image:  hermeticalondon.co.uk

• read Sally Newall's hilarious put-down of the ridiculous new ePad femme (and no, it's not a sanitary pad, as suggested) - Five reasons why women don't need the new 'ePad femme' 

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 229

Weekend greetings - one of the topics of the week

image:  dennismansfield.com

• "Too much of anything is bad, but too much of good whiskey is barely enough" - Mark Twain, quoted in The Times

image:  commons.wikimedia.org

• "When you stop drinking, you have to deal with this personality that started you drinking in the first place" - US journalist Jimmy Breslin, quoted on Forbes.com
  

 






cheers and have a fab weekend
jp

findingthemojo no 228

Hello - heavenly day here in the fair Cape.   Thinking along weekend lines..........

• how about spending Friday evening at The Fugard Theatre.  Master Harold and The Boys is a Fugard classic and has had good reviews

• find that feather finery, fling it on and join the fans on the Somerset Road fan walk this Saturday at The Cape Town Carnival 2013 - flippin fabulous fun!

Cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 227

Hi there - look out for

• Infecting the City  - it' s in full swing, it's a free festival and on until Saturday, 16 March 2013 - "under the influence of the annual fandango, the CBD’s public domain will transform from a series of mundane, everyday nooks and crannies into a collection of extraordinary platforms for entertainment. Street corners will become staging grounds, squares will morph into amphitheatres and pedestrian ways will blur into exhibition halls" - you can expect music, dance, flash mobs, mind-blowing acts etc - always interesting and loads of fun!

 
 

• loads of fit out-of-towners - yes the City is still heaving, happily!  Last Sunday's Argus Cycle Tour, this coming Sunday sees the start of The Cape Epic and it's the Two Oceans Marathon on Saturday 30 March.  Then there are the bus loads of sight-seers - great for the CT coffers!

image: news.com.au

 cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 226

Mornings - two photos by Schalk van Zuydam appear in the best pictures of the week: 1 - 8 March 2013, according to Time Magazine, both taken at The Holi One Festival here in CT, last weekend - fabulous!

image: Schalk van Zuydam — AP

image: Schalk van Zuydam — AP

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 225

Hi there - two interesting articles in today's The Telegraph

image:  guardian.co.uk

• not surprisingly, digital detox holidays are the latest 'thing', says John O' Ceallaigh  - just switch the damn thing off, I say!

• JM Coetzee's new book: The Childhood of Jesus is reviewed by Anthony Cummins, as is an English translation (by Michiel Heyns) of his biography: A Life in Writing by JC Kannemeyer - looking forward to the read

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 224

Hello weekend - here in CT it's definitely going to be a wheelin one

image: musicbicycles.com

• "When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.” - Sherlock Holmes author, Arthur Conan Doyle, Scientific American, 1896

image: gatewayreservations.com

•  “An engineer designing from scratch could hardly concoct a better device to unclog modern roads - cheap, nonpolluting, small and silent…” - Rick Smith, International Herald Tribune, May 2006 
  

image: charactergrades.com

• Ned Flanders: “You were bicycling two abreast?”
  Homer Simpson: “I wish. We were bicycling to a lake.”
  The Simpsons, ‘Dangerous Curves’ (Episode 2005), first broadcast, November 10th 2008 

cheers and be safe
jp

findingthemojo no 223

image:  At the Cycle-Track by Jean Metzinger

Hi there -take your pick this weekend from sexpo's at The CTICC to Super Rugby at Newlands ......... so if you're not riding The Argus this Sunday, you had better have all your plans (and route maps) firmed up.  The City is heaving with visitors and they all seem to be on sight-seeing tours (who can blame them?)

• need to escape all those wheels and experience another side of this beautiful City?  Get to Kirstenbosch early (8am) on 8 (this Friday), 11 or 29 March for a free guided bird walk with an experienced birder.  Go to www.sanbi.org.za

• theatre is always a welcome escape: Master Harold and the Boys is on at The Fugard Theatre, and

 

• Theatre on The Bay's current production of the delightful Noel and Gertie ends this Saturday

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 222

Hello - isn't nature wonderful!

image: treknature.com

• a 12-month survey has revealed that when certain species of male garden birds go grey, they immediately become more attractive to female birds - ornithologists have called it "the Clooney effect"

image: ecardgreeting.com

• an owl's eyes, although unusually large, can't move: an owl can only look straight ahead.  Owls can however swivel their heads by as much as 270 degs! as their "vascular network" has adapted magnificently, allowing the owl to do the twist  with ease

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 221

Morning - two great (and very different) reads on artistic achievement  in today's The Telegraph

image: list.co.uk

• "He was the human equivalent of a Google search" and remains "as brilliant as ever" - "David Bowie is knowing what to do next".  Read Paul Morley's  rave article, as David Bowey  is about to release his latest album, The Next Day (on 11 March - reviews have already given it *****) and what should be a fascinating new exhibition, David Bowie Is opens at the V & A in London on 23 March 2013 (with 30,000 advance tickets already sold!)

 

•  check out Sally Williams's article on  the work of two "globe-trotting, slum-painting" crazy artistic dudes, Haas & Hahn and the fabulous colours they are spreading throughout the world

image: Philly Painting (JON KAUFMAN)

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 220

Hello - with such wonderful eating-out options here in SA, it can be a little overwhelming.  Here are two useful, up-to-date restaurant lists when friends from out of Town need a recommendation or you just want to try somewhere new - from the latest Eat Out newsletter - (worth subscribing to)

a favorite Italian: 95 Keurom St, Cape Town

• Cape Town's Best Restaurants - from bistros to burgers, all pretty yum!

image: taste.com.au

• you know those visitors are going to want seafood and lots of it! well this seafood platter list should help and it works for SA's inland cities, too

cheers and enjoy!
jp

findingthemojo no 219

Hello and welcome to your weekend

image:  blueheat23.deviantart.com

• "In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this" - Terry Pratchett, quoted in The Montreal Gazette

 

image: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

• "Way down, we're all motivated by the same urges.  Cats have the courage to live by them" - Jim Davis

cheers and enjoy your weekend
jp