Monday, June 25, 2007

Vacca foeda?

I was very pleased to find a comment from Denise Rich on one of my earlier posts about cows.

Denise is a cow painter and I asked her what made her to start painting cows in the first place. This is what she said:

"The easiest answer to why cows is that they just make me smile, I love their faces, their demeanor, their attitude, the fact that they are not in too much of a hurry for anything. I just can't look into the eyes of a cow and not be intrigued, they are much more intelligent than they are given credit for I believe. I just can't help but smile and even laugh when I am with them."



"Wide Load Ahead"


I can really relate to all of her reasons. That's why I like cows too.

I have heard that that in high tech farms the cows can decide themselves when they want to get milked - so it's not any more necessary to wake up at 5.00 am to have that done. They can have a sleep in too! I also know that some clever people have developed machines through which the cows can walk to have their backs scratched. Sweet life.

The sad fact however is that cows do not get to live a full long life but are slaughtered when they are not productive anymore. This happens in their teens. Given a chance a cow could live up to 25 years.

Whilst I can naturally understand that, it still makes me sad. And I'm ashamed to admit that I'm not a vegetarian. Talking about double standards...

Nevertheless, my dream is one day to own a cow, who could live a long and happy life in a farm with back scratching machine and no alarm clocks. I realise that I will never own a farm myself but I would be willing to pay for the B&B for Mrs Cow if someone would be willing to have a long term lodger like that. I could then drive to the farm with a a friend. "Look at those cows. Do you see the one, with a happy smile on her face? She's mine. "


"Black Angus Cow and Calf"

The lovely pictures here are Denise's paintings. You can view them and more on her site and her blog. Or if you are in sunny San Diego, why not go and visit her gallery.


Tongue in the cheek




Thought some of you might appreciate some cheering up this Monday morning.

This photo I managed to capture over the weekend really makes me smile. Hope it does the same to you.

Have a good week! It's my last in Joburg.


Friday, June 22, 2007

White night - this is as dark as it gets



It's midsummer eve in Finland. The sun rose in Helsinki at 3.56 am this morning and will not set until 10.49 pm. That's almost nineteen hours of daylight!

Midsummer is one of the biggest celebrations in Finland. The cities get deserted as everyone heads to their summer cottage by the lake.

If you have a life list - things to do before you die - you should add the Finnish midsummer to the list of things to experience. The white nights are magical.

Here in Joburg it's mid winter and business as usual...

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Pink Doughnuts

The place to buy art in Finland I told you about earlier currently holds this work called Trio by artist Jonna Johansson.



It is currently reserved for someone else, but only until the 22nd of this month. With any luck they won't take it and it will be mine.

I can already imagine this splash of color next to some black and white graphics I have. Fingers crossed!

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

When I'm King, what'll that make you?

The lions were not sleeping last night - in fact they were all singing and dancing and performing in a most amazing way you can possible imagine. And so were the hyeenas, zebras, antilopes, giraffes, elephants and lots of other fauna.

I am naturally talking about last night's performance of the Lion King in the Montecasino Teatro in Johannesburg.

The show is finally brought to Africa and rightly so, as there would not be a lion king without Africa.

I have always loved the story and the characters in it and the show lived up to all my expectations. The costumes were truly awesome and it was just so entertaining in every way.



I'm a also big fan of the dialogue in the story, and this is one to remember:

Young Simba: Hey, Uncle Scar. Guess what?
Scar: I despise guessing games.
Young Simba: I'm going to be King of Pride Rock.
Scar: Oh Goodee.
Young Simba: My dad just showed me the whole kingdom. And I'm gonna rule it all. Heheh.
Scar: Yes, well forgive me for not leaping for joy. Bad back, you know.
Young Simba: Hey Uncle Scar, when I'm King, what'll that make you?
Scar: A monkey's uncle.
Young Simba: You're so weird.
Scar: You have no idea.

If you are in Johannesburg, don't miss the show!

Monday, June 11, 2007

Going green

Thought I let you know a little secret of mine - I am going green. It's not OFFICIAL yet, but I am sure you as a friend deserve to know already. I will tell you more when I can.

To celebrate the occasion I have posted a few photos I took in Nairobi last week. They go with the theme, you see.









Friday, June 1, 2007

Have you got the moves?

If you are planning to hit the dance floor and party until the early morning hours this weekend, take notice on the moves.

These groovy posters are available form Allposters.com.








Hope you enjoy your weekend what ever you end up doing.