The Final Countdown

We all seem to love a countdown. Think New Year's famous "5, 4, 3, 2, 1..... Happy New Year!" How about all of our web pages in South Africa plastered with FIFA World Cup countdown clocks? Remember those wonderful little calendars we received in December counting down the days to Christmas. Each day we opened a window and received a mini chocolate - what fun.

What is the Final Countdown?

We all recognize the iconic words of the song by Europe, but what do they mean to us? Well, for different people, it will probably mean different things

Different Things to Different People

A Bible believer will think of Christ's return. A final year school student will think of the day that school's out. A pregnant mom will think of the birth date. A jailbird will think of release. An unhappy employee will think of 5pm. An astronaut thinks of blast off. We each have our own countdown.

And what happens when the countdown ends? New beginnings, I guess and a new countdown!

Adam Lambert's Same-Sex Kiss at the AMA

Photo: Adam Lambert's AMA kiss. Credit: Dick Clark Productions

We've had Britney and Madonna at it, Charlize Theron doing it for charity, and now Adam Lambert kissing a guy on stage at the American Music Awards. What is it with all these public same-sex kisses?

Reasons for the Kiss

I don't recall seeing too many heterosexual kisses during live performances. Is it for shock factor? Is it for publicity? Is it to make a statement? Is it to improve sales? I certainly do not claim to have the answer to that question.

If they did it for effect, they achieved their goal, as Google is abuzz with Adam's scandal and Twitter can hardly keep up. TV and newspapers are loving the gossip and everybody is talking about it - either in shocked delight or indignant offense.

No Apologies

Adam Lambert defends his performance accusing the media of double standards, accepting sexy women's risque' antics on stage, yet denouncing his. Although he has not made himself wildly popular with his performance at the AMA, there are bound to be a whole lot more people watching his video and buying his new CD.

I wonder what will be next?

Meteorite Fever, Caster Semenye and Vuvuzelas

We have had a lot of excitement in South Africa recently. First we had the Caster Semenye debacle', then the ongoing vuvuzela controversies, and recently the National Anthem being slaughtered by a Rastafarian, and now our very own meteorite! How exciting.

Meteor in the Sky

The sad thing is that although it was spotted in the sky by many people, nobody seems to have seen where any of the debris landed. I find that kind of weird. I would have expected a sudden thumping of rocks of various sizes landing in the area would be pretty noticeable. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Now we have a meteorite rock search. All sorts of stories will probably emerge regarding aliens and we should have a fair amount of entertainment over the next short season. Already Wikus Van Der Merwe and his "prawns" from the movie, District 9, are being acknowledged.

Illegal to Own a Piece of Meteorite

Another interesting fact to remember while you eagerly scramble over the Limpopo terrain looking for galactic rock, is that it is illegal to own or keep a piece of meteorite. Now that is quite scary, because how do we amateurs know whether we have meteorite rock or earth rock in our possession? It causes my imagination to take flights of its own - remember Superman and his kryptonite.

The video is CCTV footage of a meteor spotted over the skies of Gauteng, South Africa on the 21st of November 2009, shortly after 23:00.



Before my superpowers take hold, let me get back to earth and enjoy the meteorite fever which already has a grip on me.

Airport Delays and People's Reactions

I'm sitting at the airport waiting for my flight, which has been delayed for an hour due to bad weather. It was initially delayed for half an hour, and while I was checking in, another half hour was added on to it. At first, I was highly irritated, but then accepted the inconvenience and settled down to use the time constructively.

Delay at Airports

It is quite interesting to watch people's reactions. There are the uptight who get really angry and give the poor check in staff a hard time as if they purposely arranged the delay. They scream and perform and provide much needed entertainment for the rest of us patiently waiting in the queue. If we didn't know about the delay before this, thanks to their tantrums, the entire departures hall of the airport now knows - no need to announce it over the PA system.

There are the courteous who politely acknowledge it, shake their heads subtly, and make their way to the coffee shop to while away the time, being as little bother as possible.

There are the corporates who make annoyed sounds, snatch up their boarding pass, immediately make frantic calls on their blackberries and briskly stride to the nearest hotspot and whisk open their laptops, never to look up again until the flight is finally announced.

People Watchers Don't React Much

There are the people watchers who don't react much but find a seat with the most traffic passing by and sit and watch the passers by, making up delicious stories about perfect strangers.

I am sure that there are a still a whole lot of categories which I have not yet noticed with various reactions and idiosyncrasies. That's what makes humanity so very interesting. Despite all being thrown to the same circumstance, like a delayed flight, there are so many varied responses.

I also find it very interesting that we all want to be categorized in one way or another. How often do we fill in surveys to see what type of people we are? We read the results and agree with the parts we like and disagree with the parts we find offensive, but we do like to fit in somewhere. That's what causes so many interesting sub cultures in society.

On that note, let me close my lap top, grab a cappacinno, find a seat in a busy area and do some people watching.

Fun Things To Do on a Recessionary Budget

Browsing through my twitter posts this morning, I came upon an article about how South Africa may escape recession in the third quarter, which I quickly looked up and read. It was a fairly positive article talking about our slow recovery in the next two years. Recovery is wonderful, but two years - eish! Ok, so that gives me another two years to live on a really tight budget. I can do that.

Budget Fun is Challenging

So how am I going to have fun? Fun is easy, but budget fun is a little more challenging. In order to motivate myself I have decided to do the following. Once I have gone through the list, I need to come up with another ten, so if you have any suggestions, you know what to do.

10 Fun Things To Do

1. Watch a good video and make loads of popcorn to share with friends during the movie
2. Have a picnic on the bed
3. Take a walk somewhere scenic, like the beach or a park
4. Visit an old age home or a children's home and spread some love
5. Go window shopping at a shopping mall - at night when the shops are closed and I can't be tempted
6. Play a board game with a gang of friends
7. Make out with the one I love
8. Read a really good book
9. On a cool day find a sunny spot to spread my blanket and laze in the sun
10. Have a self-pamper session with manicure, pedicure and facial

Enjoy life!

Is It Just Me Battling to Exercise?

I love the look of a sleek, slick, fit and healthy body. Even better, I love the feeling of being fit. I love being able to bound up a flight of stairs without collapsing in a fit of coughing. I love running a short circuit in our neighbourhood without the feeling that all the oxygen was suddenly released off the planet. I love walking briskly and suddenly realising that I am the one who is still breathing evenly while everybody else wheezes along.

So, why then, is it such a schlep to motivate myself to exercise? Once I begin, I always enjoy myself, apart from the few times that I overdid it in wild enthusiasm. If I know that it will be fun, why do I have the need to force myself into action? I love eating and I don't need to force myself to eat. I love reading and I don't need to force myself to read. I could go on and on. I cannot understand why it is so difficult to do something that brings good results and that is fun once I get down and do it.

Some Easily Motivate Themselves to Exercise

So, what I want to know is, is it just me? I know some people who eagerly leap out of bed on cold early mornings to get in enough running mileage, or who pry their eyes open at some dark phase of the morning and push weights at the gym. When I awaken in the mornings all I want to do is snuggle under my covers for as long as possible.

Then there are those who rush out of the office the second it is acceptable and dash to their form of exercise before going home to cook, bath and all the rest of our nightly chores. When I leave work, I usually feel rather exhausted and enjoy a leisurely drive home, popping in to the shops to get something easy to prepare for supper, pour myself a glass of wine and get on with dinner, so that I can soak in a hot tub, possibly with a book, and then lounge in front of my current favourite reality TV show and nod off.

The only thing that causes me to stop at the gym is the fact that I have prepaid for it and if I don't go a certain amount of times a month I will lose it. And I can't afford a new gym contract. So I force myself and once there, amazing - I enjoy it!

Is it just me?

When the Going gets Tough..

So many times I have heard stories of strength through adversity. People in dire circumstances who have had to innovate in order to survive, who land up discovering a whole new way of life. Isn't it amazing that we seem to need some sort of hardship to learn life lessons, or to find new pathways to success in the entirety of its meaning? I wonder why we don't often learn the same kind of lessons during times of ease and prosperity.

The old saying, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going," seems to be so very true. "Tough" is also a relative term. What is tough for me could be a breeze for you, and what is tough for you may be totally extreme for me.

Our Response to Pain

One thing that has always fascinated me is the way people respond to pain in its various forms. Two people brought up in the same family and environment often respond in completely different ways in situations.

I was involved in working with abused women some years ago and it always amazed me how one woman would rise up and take hold of opportunities presented to her while many others would give up and wallow in their hardships. What makes one "tough" and others seem weak?

The Optimist and the Pessimist

I once heard a joke about twin sons where the one was the eternal optimist and the other a complete pessimist. The father decided to test their attitudes and so for their birthday he filled the pessimist's room full of brand new expensive state-of-the-art toys and filled the optimist's room with horse manure. He eavesdropped on the boys and was amazed. He heard the pessimist moaning and groaning that he would have to keep his room tidy and that he was fearful of breaking the toys, so he went outside the optimist's room. To his surprise he heard giggling and the sound of digging. "With all of this horse manure in the room, there has to be a pony here somewhere!"

As for me, I choose to be one of the "tough".