U2 360 Tour Johannesburg

People have described the U2 concert as "a religious experience" - religious or not....it will definitely go down as one of my most memorable experiences! We cued for ages, drank loads of beer, ate lots of junk, walked for miles, screamed till we were blue in the face  and felt worse off for it the next morning!!!! BUT ...it was well worth it, and I would do it over again in a heart beat.

There has been a lot of negative feedback around the organisation of the concert. People have complained about terrible cues, beer running out, food running out, transportation issues (just to name a few things). I think if one considers the fact that this is the biggest concert that South Africa has ever seen (nearly 100 000 people) it was a phenomenal feat to put on a concert of this magnitude. The logistics that go into it must be scary! It wasn't great having to cue for things, but then what did people expect??? This is a learning curve for the concert organisers and perhaps next time things will run smoother. I know that I am so grateful to have been a part of this experience and despite all the negative aspects, I thought it was worth it.

Although I did not know all the songs that U2 played, I enjoyed every one of them. Of course they played the favourites like "With or Without You", " Beautiful day" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday", but ALL their songs were amazing! There is something to be said for a band that has been going for over 3 decades! This was evident from the diversity of the crowd - there were very young people as well as very old people and everything in between. This just shows that U2 has captivated that attention of a very wide audience. Not many bands can say that. For me they are right up there with the legends - The Beatles and Queen.

I think one thing is clear - U2 have a message.

They have become very political, and Bono is a well known activist, and I must say that I never quite understood it until I watched him in action. On Sunday night as I sat there watching Bono speak and sing to thousands of people about Mandela I got goosebumps. I felt a sudden surge of patriotism, I felt proud in that moment to be South African, if he could rouse this feeling in me, imagine how many people in the audience must have felt the same way! I understood in that moment that U2 have this amazing opportunity to reach millions of people around the world, why wouldn't they have a message more meaningful than music alone! They have a platform from which they can send a message out to people all over the world, and I think that it is commendable and wonderful that they do so!!!!

For me the most memorable moments were seeing the picture of Mandela on the screen and hearing Bono sing Amazing  Grace, these two moments brought me to tears and made me realise that I am a proud South African, Christian woman!!!!

U2 ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I will try post some pics later)

Melancholy Wednesday.

"Faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other."
-- Stephen L Richards 

This was the quote at the bottom of the page in my diary today. Normally I would read over this quote and think to myself "well that's quite profound" and then move on. For some reason today was very different. This quote got me thinking! It was probably due to the fact that I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and was feeling sorry for myself that I let my mind dwell on the meaning of life. 

I don't cope very well when things in my life are uncertain or when I am required to relinquish control to a higher being. (Yes they say that being a control freak is a problem...) Unfortunately there are just some things in life that we have no control over...this drives me insane. I like my life to have some sort of plan...that I have thought out and can manipulate. However, I realised today that there are certain things that require me to dispel all doubt and just take a leap of faith. As difficult as this is for the control freak in me to handle, I am beginning to understand that my happiness depends on it! 

This brings me to my melancholy mood today. You know when you just wake up feeling that you are somehow hard done by, that your life could somehow be better or more certain? As selfish as that sounds, everyone feels like this at one point or another. I know that I am not the most positive person, hence i like to surround myself with people that can pick me up when I am down, because I do tend to dwell on the negative a bit. Today I woke up, feeling like  I had the world on my shoulders. I walked into work this morning and you didn't have to ask me how I was feeling to know that I was unhappy, my face says it all! I have never been the best at hiding my emotions. However, I realised as the day went on, that as much as other people can shed some light on my dark moments...it is really up to me to change my mindset. You can't always rely on other people to pick you up.  

So when I read this quote I didn't just brush it off as "just another profound quote to make us all feel better for a brief second", I actually pondered on it. It is true that faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, because doubt creeps in slowly but surely and before you know it you have no faith left at all! 

The dictionary meaning of faith is a confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing OR secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.

I think to have faith would mean that you would automatically dispel any doubt that you may have in your mind. It is doubt that makes us fearful of change, it is doubt that makes us scared to let go. Only by having faith can you let go of all your doubts and start believing that although life may be uncertain and change may be scary things will turn out okay. It is this "secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of His will" that will allow us to embrace life's uncertainties and challenges. 

I think I sufficiently managed to change my mindset today. Although things can seem tough when they are happening, there will always be someone out there experiencing far greater challenges in their life! 

So heres to "blue Wednesday" and waking up on the RIGHT side of the bed tomorrow :)  

Ham Tagliatelle Recipe

This recipe feeds 6 people. I made this the other night for dinner at my parents place so I had to cook for more people than I am used to. It is quite a rich meal though, so suggest having it with a side salad.

Ingredients:

500g Tagliatelle Pasta

500ml Fresh Cream (reduced fat if you can get it)

1 packet of diced bacon (optional, adds more flavour)

10 slices Cooked Ham

! red pepper

1 green pepper

2 Tsp crushed garlic

Buttom Mushrooms ( I used about 6, but you can use more)

Paprika 

Origanum

Black Pepper

Parmesan to season

Method:

Chop red pepper, green pepper, mushrooms and ham into pieces. Use a large non-stick frying pan. Put a teaspoon of oil in the frying pan and then add the red peppers, green peppers and two teaspoons of crushed garlic. Fry them up a little and then add the paprika. You would use quite a fair amount of paprika as it gives the dish some flavour, I would say about 4 heaped teaspoons. Frying the paprika in the beginning with the peppers brings out the flavour. You can then add the bacon and mushrooms and fry up until bacon is golden. Then add the cooked ham (the ham doesn't need to cook, so it can be added last). At this point you can start boiling your pasta in water, with a dash of oil and a pinch of salt. The oil helps the pasta not to stick together or to the bottom of the pot, and the salt just makes it taste good. Make sure the heat for the frying pan is now turned down. Then add the cream to the frying pan with all the other ingredients. Let it simmer.

Once the pasta is cooked al dente I would suggest draining the water and then putting the pasta in a Pirex dish. If you were only cooking for two you could add the pasta to the other ingredients, but in this case there is just far too much food! Once the pasta is in the Pirex dish you can pour the ingredients from the pan over the pasta and mix it up a bit until all the pasta is coated with the creamy sauce. I then sprinkled the top of  the pasta with some grated Parmesan.

Serve with a side salad or Ciabatta bread (if you are really hungry)

Hollywood Nights at Zimbali Lodge

 I am still exhausted after a very eventful weekend, hence the reason it is already Wednesday and I am only posting this blog now! Our work function on Friday night was a huge success, but left me wondering why I didn't decide to stick to having two drinks and only getting tipsy. As we arrived at work to catch our bus on Friday afternoon we were met by some legendary Hollywood characters, they included the likes of Charley Chaplin, Ozzy Osborne, The Godfather, Hugh Hefner, Maverick (Top Gun), James Bond and of course the Playboy Bunnies! We were loaded on to two buses and as we started to make our way up the North Coast Highway there was much speculation as to where the event was being held. It was only when we pulled into the driveway at Zimbali Lodge that true excitement mounted as we realised that we were in for a very elaborate evening!

Hugh Hefner and The Playboy Bunnies

We entered the venue on a red carpet, and were met by life sized Oscar statues as well as photographers to capture our true Hollywood moments. The evening started off with champagne which was followed by the most delectable appetizers. At this point the cocktails started to flow and everyone started to feel far more relaxed and sociable. This was followed by a rather embarrassing moment for one of my colleagues who ended up in one of the ponds on the deck. This was only at about 8pm, so you can imagine how the rest of the evening turned out!

The food was magnificent and the DJ had everyone on the dance floor the whole evening. A few too many shooters were had by all as well as a few too many embarrassing moments. I woke up the following morning with a very fuzzy head trying to recount the events of the previous evening to make sure that I had not embarrassed myself. Fortunately I don't think I was the only one who was a little over zealous with the tequilas!!

The Bunny's are on the dance floor!

Pictures speak a thousand words, so here are a few of the decent ones. (I didn't think it would be wise to post too many of the incriminating photos!)  

Later on in the evening

Charlie Chaplin

  

Charlie Chaplin has passed out in the bus on the way home