findingthemojo no 288

Hello again - as we welcome the mega Obama-circus to CT this weekend, thought some pithy quotes by two (famously critical) American writers would be in order

image: wikipedia

•  "How much longer are we going to think it necessary to be 'American' before being cultivated, enlightened, being human, and having the same intellectual discipline as other civilised countries?" - Edith Wharton, quoted in The Daily Mail

image: AP Photos

• "The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country - and we haven't seen them since" - Gore Vidal, quoted in The Guardian

cheers and enjoy your weekend break
jp

findingthemojo no 287

Hello (or hallo, as they say in Afrikaans) and here are a couple of suggestions for your weekend

image: the baxter

• do not miss Mies Julie at The Baxter, the award winning play is on until 6 July and has had outstanding reviews locally and overseas

Jono Dry's RA

• definitely pop into Salon91 on Kloof St, they have a most interesting mix of new works on show entitled One in a Million.  Open Tues to Fri 10 - 6pm and Sat 10 - 2pm

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 286

Hello - weird items left in hotel rooms (just love these random stories) as published in The Telegraph travel section recently

• teddybears! - "Travelodge claimed to have reunited 76,500 with their owners last year"

image: ebay.co.uk

• "I was working at a luxury hotel and we had a fairly big name band staying with us. There were no noise complaints, and they seemed to be perfect tenants. When they left and we went to clean the room, every single piece of furniture was nailed to the ceiling in roughly the same configuration that it had been on the floor. I found it to be quite amusing. Management didn't."

image: The Telegraph

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 285

Morning - interesting art doing the rounds

• take a piece of paper and create something incredible! as Hanoi-based origami artist Nguyen Hung Cuong has done

Eagle by Nguyen Hung Cuong

• French artist Bruno Catalana has created these intriguing bronze sculptures on the Marseille waterfront, entitled "Travellers" (in search of themselves?).  More of his 'missing' work appears in the town of Megeve and on his website.  "The figures seem to be mysteriously suspended in mid-air.  In fact, the upper body is welded to the lower half of the sculpture to form a 'negative space'", according to Inspir3d.net

image: caters news agency

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 284

Hello - who drinks the most tea in the world? well, it's not the English

• according to Dan Lewis's Now I Know column: "the United Kingdom is widely regarded as a major consumer of tea, and while it is -- 1.9 kg per person, per year -- it's not in the top ten. Paraguay tops the list, at 11 kg of tea per person, annually, followed by Uruguay (9.3 kg) and Argentina (6.7 kg). The UK is 13th on the list, surrounded by the archipelago nation of Seychelles at #12 and Azerbaijan at #14" - (SA comes in @ no 65)
  

June 18, 2013. A villager selects tea leaves in Hukou Village of Enshi City in central China's Hubei Province.  Image: Yang Shunpi—Xinhua Press/Corbis

• and who drinks the most coffee? - here are the top 10 (according to whichcountry.co) but where are the French and Italians? - who would have thought....

Rank	Country	Consumption (kg Per Capita)
1.	Finland	12.0
2.	Norway	9.9
3.	Iceland	9.0
4.	Denmark	8.7
5.	Netherlands	8.4
6.	Sweden	8.2
7.	Switzerland	7.9
8.	Belgium	6.8
9.	Canada	6.5
10.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	6.2

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 283

Hi there - this week Jim Davis's famous lasagne-loving creation, Garfield was 'born' 35 years ago (in 41 newspapers) - he always had something clever to say

"Avoid fruit and nuts: after all, you are what you eat"

"Never trust a smiling cat"

"The meek shall inherit squat!"

image: kootation.com

cheers and have a warm weekend
jp

findingthemojo no 282

Morning morning - as we head towards the Winter (Summer) Solstice (can you believe it, already!), there's masses of fun stuff on in CT this weekend: dance, funny festivals, wine & champagne tastings across town, you name it - who ever said Winter was boring in CT? - two suggestions for you

• start off at The Palms in Woodstock where Die Platteland Market opens at 9am every Saturday - best thing is, there's free parking on the premises!

image: bottleplatepillow.com

• the award-winning show, Jersey Boys has finally opened at Artscape in CT this week and is on until 14 July, Tues to Sunday - can't wait!

image: theatrebreaks.com

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 281

Hello again - two of the scariest stats appeared recently in The Week

• "58% of men admit they have damaged their home with DIY.  50% have abandoned a project; a third have covered up their failed handiwork" (Disney/Daily Mail) - more reason to duck as soon as that toolbox comes out

image: merchantcircle.com

• "41% of British men and 33% of British women do not shower or bathe daily" (SCA/The Times) - good reason not to travel by tube during a London summer

image: getty

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 280

Morning - hope you made the most of your Public Holiday yesterday and enjoyed the wonderful weather, heavenly!  Well, it's back to rude reality and our privacy being invaded in every which way - here are two of the best from Time's 'cartoons of the week' for last week

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 279

and a lovely weekend to you too.........

• "It's a good maxim to trust a person entirely or not at all" - Henry Fielding, quoted on Forbes.com

image: bookishgirl.com.au

• "Nowhere did he reveal his originality so forcefully as in the ideas he borrowed" - Delacroix on Raphael, quoted in The Guardian

Raphael's The School of Athens, image: wikipaintings.org

cheers and keep warm!
jp

findingthemojo no 278

Hello hello - the weekend starts here and if you're doccied out from this week's Encounters Film Fest, the multitude of food and wine tasting shows etc

• take a walk in the beautiful forest we have on our doorstep and visit the Winter Hues and Blues Exhibition on at the Art in the Forest venue, Constantia Roads Drive, Constania Nek - "different interpretations of Winter reflected in ceramic art".  Open from 10:00 to 16:00, Mon to Sat and entrance is free!

image: lightfromafrica.com

• go and have a good laugh at The Baxter where the 2013 Jive CT Funny Festival has commenced it's four week run, featuring our favorite local and overseas comedians - good for the soul

image: the baxter

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 277

Greetings - long weekend ahead, including Father's Day on Sunday, Youth Day on Monday but there are a couple of things you don't want to miss on the way to the weekend

• the 2013 OM Trophy Wine Show is on Thursday 13 June from 17:00 to 20:30 at the CTICC and for R150 pp you have the opportunity to taste the top prize-winning wines out of the 1000 wines which were entered, these include the OM Trophy for Discovery of the Show which went to the Eikendal Charisma 2011, a 'Shiraz-based Dry Red Blend'.  Be sure to also taste the Best White Wine Overall, the Rijk's Chenin Blanc Reserve 2008 and the Delaire Graff Botmaskop 2010, the Best Red Wine Overall - yum!

image: howtopracticejazz.com

• make sure you get tickets (R80pp from computicket) for Friday's 2013 Youth Jazz Festival at Artscape, starting at 19:30.  The seven finalists will be led by the legendary Camillo Lombard and accompanied by Cape Town jazz icons Kevin Gibson, Peter Ndlala and Gorm Helfjord.  Finalists are

Brandon Ruiters (24) on trumpet
Hanley-Marc Jumat (19) on guitar
Jason Beukes (19) on drums
Marcelle Adams (18) on trumpet

Vocalists billed to perform on the night include:
Megan Herbert (19)
Zoe Palesa Modiga (19)
Zolani Bongo (19)

Cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 276

Hello - here are two really scary stats

• from The Times - the average cost of a British wedding, including rings and honeymoon, is £18,244, that's about R 273,660 (why?)

image: etiquette-guide.com

• from The Independent on Sunday - the minimum age limit to qualify for a firearms certificate in Minnesota is 11 - seriously?

image: killinofirm.com

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 275

Hi there - from time.com's "10 best cartoons" of the past two weeks

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 274

Morning - loved these two bits of wit

image: wisdomportal.com

• "there is wisdom in turning as often as possible from the familiar to the unfamiliar; it keeps the mind nimble, it kills predjudice, and it fosters humour" - George Santayana, quoted in San Francisco Chronicle

image: bl.uk

• "education is not about filling buckets, it's about lighting a fire" - W B Yeats, quoted in The Sunday Telegraph

have a wonderful weekend
cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 273

Hello again - any weekend plans? definitely a musical weekend ahead

• GrandWest on Friday and Saturday is where "musical mayhem" will happily be taking place:  Kings of Chaos Rock Legends will be performing there, two shows only!

image: designdesiredelight.wordpress.com

• on Sunday at 8pm, you need to be at The Artscape Theatre where the world renown and beautiful violinist, Sarah Chang will be performing with The Cape Philharmonic Orchestra.  The conductor is Theodore Kuchar and the show starts at 8pm - not to be missed, one performance only!

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 272

Hello - we are so lucky residing in this beautiful place which is Cape Town (even in Winter) with it's fantastic restaurants serving superb, simple, fresh food, prepared with care and a infinite choice of local wines, all at a fare price - compared to what one has to pay overseas!

•  Tracy Macleod in The Independant reviewed the "white-hot" new Restaurant Story in London, serving "translucent cod skin with gin botanicals (powdered juniper berries), bread with an edible candle (beef dripping that melts into an edible pool) and some "pure fun" desserts: mini milk bottles containing layers of rhubarb compote, custard and foamed egg white" or three bears porridge, one sweet, one salty, the third just right".  She reckons taking your elderly parents there for a meal will be a total waste, unless they are "modernist architects"!  6-course menu 45 pounds, 10-course menu 65 pounds, excluding wine and service

Gidleigh Park Hotel, Devon

• Gidleigh Park in Devon is another restaurant where you are "paying for the whole sensory shebang" says Zoe Williams in The Sunday Times.  At 110 pounds for 3-courses per person (without wine or service), the mind boggles -  the dining experience described as "hugely, operatically transfixing" is only for lotto winners - crazy!

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 271

Hi there - how is your week looking?

• The Encounters Documentary Film Festival starts on Thursday, runs until 16 June, and the CT line-up looks excellent!

• also up on Thursday is the First Thursdays Open Evening which takes place in the centre of Town with all the interesting galleries staying open till 9pm, including pop-up exhibitions, coffee shops, live music, vibey restaurants and more

image: flavorwire.com

cheers
jp

findingthemojo no 270

Morning morning - interesting sporting snippets for your Monday

image: londonpass.com

• the All England Club has announced that it will be increasing the prize money at this year's Wimbledon Tennis Tournament by 40%.  Players who lose in the first round will receive 23,500 pounds, and the singles champions will each receive a whopping 1.6 million pounds!

• stat of the week (according to The Times):  during a 90 min game, each footballer is in possession of the ball for just 53,4 seconds, on average - seriously?!

image: fifa.com

cheers
jp