Quartet Chap.

Yes, apologies for the neglect yet again. But i'm back!

Last sunday I checked out the Dan Shout Quartet at Lyra's - a small restaurant in Rondebosch (literally a hop, skip and a jump away from my flat. brill). Check out some of the snaps I snipped from the day...

chap.

Twiggy Chap.

Hello! Was at Amy's hip 21st birthday shindig on friday night - the theme was the 50s and 60s. So freakin' cool! Lori-Rae popped by early to the flat, along with her beautiful array of vintage clothing (ok, so the cream dress was from H&M. but still, pretty cool). Lori went 50s-mad men-housewife on us, red top, belt, and high-waisted pleated skirt. And let's not forget the red lips and pearls too. Wow. Lucy took the 50s route too - pink top, black skirt, and a velvet bow tie :) whereas I attempted to channel twiggy, nabbed the H&M dress and went to town on my eyes with the eyeliner. the results, were positive!

Check out some snaps...

chap.

Daisies Chap.

"I'm a citizen of the world. I like it that way. The world's a wonderful place. I just think that some people are pretty badly represented. But when you speak to the people themselves they're delightful. They all want so little. "


Sup...
So, on saturday morning my mate Charlotte and her boyfriend Dean picked me up around 10am, we went grocery shopping galore, literally stuffed it all in the car, and set off to ROCKING THE DAISIES. Its in Darling, which is about 2 hours max out of cape town. Lemme just tell you, saturday was HOT, like really hot. I'm scottish so anything above 10 degrees and i'm whipping out the shorts and bikini top. The temperature last week was enough to make me abandon all forms of clothes and go starkers. I might've gotten in for free if i'd done that, but maybe a few stares (on account of my pale european complexion of course). 
Needless to say when we arrived we dumped our stuff and headed to the dam, which was located right next to the main arena (i say arena, but somehow that doesn't seem to fit the context of the festival - it was in a field). There was splashing, snapping, and people were pulled in (some fully clothed - Lindsay was less than impressed). We then headed back to the camp, had a quick nap, and hit the main stage. I watched Civil Twilight, Bank of Skulls (from the UK no less!) and Lark. The night was ridiculously fun, and I eventually landed back in the tent around 3am. Some highlights - spying a kid with her parents and wrongly describing her as a 'dwarf', a man stripping COMPLETELY naked and changing his clothes. at the main stage. Jamming with some funky friends, old and new :) getting home on Sunday afternoon, I had possibly the best shower of my entire life. Nothing like a good scrub to get 2 days of dirt off your body (I thought I was tanned, but alas, no luck).


Here's a few snaps from the weekend...

chap.

Clever Chap.

Before my post about rocking the daisies (which will come tonight)...I've had such a great morning. Considering last night I had a flippin tough economics test, and I accidentally left my student card in the test venue, and i'm not really sure how i'm gonna get it back, i'm in such a great mood! I got my philosophy test back and I got one of the top marks in the class, so chuffed! And I didn't do too badly in my politics essay either! It feels a little sad to be sharing these mundane things with you, but its made me realise that if you do put in the effort things WILL eventually go your way! Maybe not eventually, but have to have faith that you'll get there in the end. I've always been considered 'average' at most things - not rubbish, but then again not outstanding either...but these marks are giving me the confidence to actually believe that i CAN do things, i can achieve more than 'average'. And that's all there is to it!

Today, i'm a very happy chap.

chap.

Viva la Chap.

"They were sitting / they were sitting in the strawberry swing / every moment was so precious"

Yes...its been over week since my last post. Virtually slap me for my neglect, you know i deserve it. But now i'm here, i'm back and i have a new post for you! Well, actually I have 3...here goes!

Last wednesday, a small 4-piece band (you might now have even heard of them) arrived in sunny Cape Town and put on a little show for the people of the city in the football (don't you DARE say soccer, that's for Americans. Plus, its wrong) stadium. Oh, I might also add that they're called COLDPLAY. Heard of them? Yeah, didn't think so. Just to fill you in, the band consists of lead vocalist Chris Martin (think Gwyneth Paltrow, kids Apple and Moses. eish), guitarist Jonny Buckland, drummer Will Champion, and bassist Guy Berryman (representing for us Scottish folk, he's a local lad from Kirkcaldy!).
So anyway, on wednesday I scooted off with pals Amy and Alice, hopped on the bus to town, and finally arrived at Greenpoint. We hung around outside and grabbed a bite to eat at Steers (or was it Wimpy? can't believe i can't remember, we stood in the queue for over 20 mins). We sat on the pavement by the road and munched our way through R30 of junk food, feeling like homeless students. Its was fab.
Getting to the golden circle (yeah, we went big) was a bit of a mission. First, we got in the wrong queue and ended up waiting with all the chaps who had seated tickets. When we found the right queue and eventually got inside, we had to run the ENTIRE length of the stadium to finally get to the entrance to golden circle! As we walked down (whilst the support band was playing) the whole crowd started cheering. I like to think that they were cheering for us, and they may well have been, because the band playing - the Parlotones - was beyond lame (don't deny it!).
The crowd went carrrrrrrraaaaaaazzzzzzzy when Coldplay arrived, and boy were we in for a treat. Their set was flawless - it flowed brilliantly, and although it was almost 2 hours, they could've gone on playing all night. A few highlights - paper butterflies falling from the ceiling, mexican phone wave around the whole stadium, giant beach balls bouncing amongst the chaps standing on the ground, and Chris Martin explaining that the reason they hadn't been to South Africa in 12 years was because "that was how long it takes to get a visa". Being an international student, i know EXACTLY what he means. But he might have been exaggerating just a wee bit...

Check out the video for one of my favourite songs of theirs, 'Strawberry Swing':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb9X5jMofEo&ob=av2e

chap.

Busy Chap.

"I Love Rock n' Roll"

I'm a busy, busy, busy bee at the moment. I have a crit due next monday (don't you think that sounds much more impressive than an essay...."hey, so yeah, i've got a crit on some fancy pants Philosopher due next week"), and then an ecos test to study for (its next wednesday)...so i'm working i'm working like a dog to get as much done as I can, because on friday something awesome is happening...ROCKING THE DAISIES. A 3-day music festival in Darling, and weather is meant to be sweet, so keen to spend a few days chilling with friends, watching some stinkng-good bands, drinking beer and eating junk food. Heaven. So, i'll be away for the next few days, but i'll be back on sunday to upload some pictures from the fest and the low-down on everything.

For now, here's some snaps from the last festival I was at in Scotland - T in the Park. This'll be me on the weekend, so stoked.

chap.

Sometimes Chap.

"I told you to be patient / I told you to be fine / I told you to be balanced / I told you to be kind / In the morning I'll be with you / But it will be a different "kind" I'll be holding all the tickets / And you'll be owning all the fines"

Sometimes relationships suck. Sometimes you think that they're something when they're not. Sometimes you know what they are, but you try to convince yourself that they'll change into the kind of relationship you want them to be. Sometimes you have to stop letting your imagination run riot, because inevitably you'll set up aspirations that this relationship can never meet. Sometimes you have to accept that you can't change people, they'll be who they are (good or bad) no matter what you say or do to them. Sometimes you have to stop relying on them to boost your convince or your self-esteem. Sometimes you just have to take them for what they are and embrace the memories and experiences that come from those relationships.

Sometimes it hurts, but by accepting the harsh reality you can be happy. Really happy.

Have a listen to a cover of Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" by my chap of the moment, Ed Sheeran. He's british, he's ginger, he's talented. He's bloody awesome. Thanks for the recommendation bro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3KjRY-Kdq0

chap.