The 2 RECIPES you’ve been waiting for: Peanutbutter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread & Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I tried out this recipe I found on the net for Banana Bread Milkshake! It was pretty simple and oh so yumm…  vanilla icecream, milk, mashed banana, brown sugar and cinnamon in a blender.. that’s all it is. (Definitely worth a try!) Anyways, it inspired me to make banana bread again. However, I decided to put a twist on it by adding peanutbutter and chocolate chips (and when I say chocolate chips,  I mean bigass chunks of chocolate.. knife to a slab).

It was also my best friend Chad’s birthday that weekend. Chad likes bacon. Therefore, I decided to attempt baking cookies for him. Not any kinda cookies though, BACON chocolate chip cookies (and when I say chocolate chips, again I mean great big huge pieces of chocolate!)

So here are the recipes as promised;

 

PEANUTBUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA BREAD

 

Ingredients

• 3 overripe bananas, mashed
• 125ml peanutbutter
• 1 egg
• 65ml oil
• 125ml granulated sugar
• 65ml brown sugar
• 375ml AP flour
• ½  tsp baking soda
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 200g milk chocolate, chopped into large chunks
• Butter (for greasing pan)

Method

• Preheat oven to 180C;
• Grease a loaf pan with butter;
• Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl;
• In a spate large bowl, mix bananas, peanutbutter, oil, egg and sugars;
• Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until just combined (do not over-stir or the bread will be crumble);
• Fold in the chocolate and pour into the greased loaf pan;
• Bake for +- 50 minutes to 1 hour (cake tester should come out clean);
• Leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan and transferring to a cooling rack.

  

BACON CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

(Makes +-24 large cookies)

NOTE: 24-36 hour rest period for cookie dough

Ingredients

• 2 cups minus 2tbls cake flour
• 1 2/3 cups AP flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 ¼ tsp baking soda
• 1 ¼ tsp coarse salt
• 1 cup + 2 tbls granulated sugar
• 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 375 ml unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ cups dark chocolate chips (60% cacao at least)
• 1 small packed of bacon (+-8 slices), diced

Method

• Whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder and coarse salt;
• In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together your butter and sugars until fluffy (+- 4 to 5 minutes).;
• Add eggs to butter mixture, ONE AT A TIME (only add the 2^nd one after the 1^st has fully combined with the butter mixture);
• Add vanilla and reduce speed to lowest speed;
• Carefully add flour mixture and mix until just combined;
• Fold in chocolate;
• Cover the dough with clingwrap and refridgerate for 24-36 hours (no more than 72 hours). Dough will become rock hard in the fridge;
• When ready to bake, set dough out at room temperature and preheat oven to 180C;
• Fry bacon in a pan and line 3 baking sheets with wax paper. Leave bacon to cool;
• When dough has warmed enough to be pliable again (but not TOO soft), fold in bacon;
• Using a 2 tbls scoop, measure +- 8 cookies onto each baking sheet;
• Bake one sheet at a time for 15-20 minutes (until edges start to brown);
• Leave to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

 I made this pic and printed it on brown paper to go with the packaging I made for Chaddles’ birthday. It looked pretty kickass but I forgot to take a damn photo.

Also, I pretty much just used a good chocolate chip cookie recipe I had and then added bacon to it. Think of the possibilities! ^^,

Hope you guys love them as much as I did…

Snow is the colour of the Alps (Johannesburg 2012)

During the first week of August, the day before Oppikoppi, it was fucking snowing in Jozi. It has snowed in Johannesburg maybe twice in my lifetime as far as I can recall, including this occurrence. Not only that, it was snowing across the whole country. Random as fuck.  I mean, this is Africa dammit and this was probably one of the warmest winters we’ve had in years. The day before was hot as hell. What was this white shit covering our land? All the ‘ousies’ were probably running outside with their buckets cheering “it’s raining pap!”

I managed to get some cool pictures that document the event as seen from my eyes so as promised, here they are;

Kinda wish it would snow more often…

Updates, results, sweat, puke and dust.

There was a time when I could blog about simple things; anything; cheesecurls….

Unfortunately, times like those are on hold at the moment. To refresh your memory, I am busy writing a thesis and have not had much time to blog over the past month. Hopefully I do not need to refresh your memory of who I am and why you’re here coz trust me…I’m just as clueless as you are… (about why you’re here that is… i think I know who I am.. maybe?)

So talking about refreshing your memory; remember that time I went to write my music theory exam and got lost on the property and then had to endure time spent with a weirdass-don’t-care-if-that’s-not-a-word-fuck-you-microsoft-kinda-woman??? Well… you may or may not be thrilled to know (or perhaps not even give a fuck) that I passed that shit! ^_^

So now that I have proven to you guys that I may actually have some kinda level of intelligence, perhaps you’ll listen to the bullshit I have to say next. (One can only hope.)

So yeah.. August.. (and half of September even o.O) sorry for no posts whatsoever. Been a bit busy with my thesis… and then there was Oppikoppi (will tell you a bit more about that in a bit) …so I’m sure you can all understand? (Again, one can only hope.) So, let me not waste any more of your time… here’s a quick bullet point update for those that care (YOU guys rock my socks off by the way!);

• So still studying my ass off in order to finish my Honours degree in about 2 months;
• As mentioned before, I passed my grade 5 music theory exam. Fuck yeah!;
• I have a new boyfriend who’s actually kind of an old boyfriend;
• It’s my sister’s wedding next month! Almost time to attempt walking down the aisle in   heels o.O #fml
• I got tickets to see Lady Gaga in November and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers in February. (So fucking excited to see  Flea slappin’ da bass and Will Ferrell on the drums!!! Fuck yeah!!! ^^,);
• As mentioned before, i went to Oppikoppi Music Festival;
• I got to model for Balmain Paris at a hair show and ended up with R4000 quality hair extensions for niks! Mahala! Yes for free! Wopa!;
• My man and I tried out some new recipes that I will post for you guys soon coz dayamn they were goood and you all should give them a go! (I’m talking peanutbutter chocolate chip banana bread and bacon chocolate chip cookies. Awwwwwwwww yeeeeeaaaah!!!!!);
• I tried to renew my car license 3 times before ending up having to get new plates that say I’m from a province I do not live in…*facepalm* – so yeah.. I guess I’m still driving around illegally for now o.O
• I got to play in some random African snow (will upload some pics soon);
• I have a new obsession with pinterest, DIY projects, and 2 series I started watching –  Shameless and American Horror Story. (If you havn’t seem them, do check ‘em out. I highly recommend both of them.)
• Also, it’s finally spring and we now have goslings!

Goooooose-lings

 

I must quickly tell you about the other night. We had our first spring storm and it was scary as FUCK! (Coz fuck is scary as shit! …and shit is scary as hell!) Anyway, we still have no curtains in the new house and the view from where we were sitting watching series overlooks the entire lake which turned out to be a lightning show of epic proportions with thunder to match! But we were chilled, just blomming on the couch in the darkness watching Shameless, when all of a sudden there was this high pitch siren – just one piercing note – drilling into our ears. We were so confused coz it was not the house alarm, but it was so loud it hurt. It then suddenly changed to an out of control alarm that was coming from the garage. Car alarm obviously… so went to check what was going on. Opened the garage door, took care of the alarm and then just assumed it must’ve been the thunder and then returned to watching the series. 5 minutes later, the frikken loud phone rang giving me a fucking heart attack (it was after midnight after all). It was CMS – the people who come when you hit the panic button in your house or if the house alarm goes off – but… the house alarm never went off so I was pretty confused as to why they were calling. To freak me out even more, when I answered, there was no one there??? FFSWTF!!! Anyway, I just left it and then we carried on watching the show. 10-15 minutes later there was someone knocking on the front door, after midnight, in the pouring rain. Not too mention, we have a wall and gate around our house with electric fencing and no way for anyone to get onto our property. o.O I thought I was going mad… but after getting up to answer it, it turned out to just be one of the CMS guys who ‘conveniently’ had a remote to open our gate, get onto our property, and scare the shit out of us! And that’s not all… He had one of those wandering eyes and was all wet from running around in the storm and the lightning lit up his face like in an old school horror movie and I just kinda stood there for a second thinking if this was the zombie apocalypse and how unprepared I am for such things. o.O Needless to say, it was all very creepy indeed. Thank god we weren’t watching American Horror Story that night.

But enough about the storm… let me tell you about Oppikoppi…

It was great as per usual, but I won’t lie; getting there was a fucking BITCH! If you have never heard of this ‘Oppikoppi’ shindig, it is a music festival held in Northam, Limpopo, South Africa. (It’s about a 4 hour drive from my home.) ‘Oppikoppi’ directly translated from Afrikaans means ‘on the hill’. It is a very diverse music festival that’s been running for 18 years and is held on a piece of land up North in the African bushveld. 3 years ago it became a national heritage to our country – which is pretty awesome! – and it has also been voted one of the 10 best festivals in the world!

A photo of one of the stages that my friend Chris took last year…

Oppikoppi brings +-20000 people together for 3-5 days to enjoy some of the best South African music our country has to offer from a bunch of different genres, with a few international acts that headline. This year the headlining bands were Seether, Eagles of Death Metal, Bullet for my Valentine and Enter Shikari. Now I don’t wanna sound biased, but my heart truly lies with our local music here in South Africa. We have some extraordinary acts that make me so proud to be South African. Some of my favourite local acts from this year’s fest included the legendary Albert Frost (who has played every Oppi since the very beginning), Jeremy Loops, Shadowclub, Shortstraw, and surprisingly, Jack Parow. I’m not a huge fan of his but the party vibe he created was insane! Also, a TON of respect to Sibot and PHFat who gathered a few more worshippers uptop the koppi.

Anyway, as I was saying, you basically (and I mean BASICALLY – no luxuries whatsoever) camp with a bunch of friends under the African sun with thorns in your ass, a serious lack of toilets, no showering, tons of sweat, puke, and dust. But the music is fucking great and that’s all that matters.

As for the story, I first need to tell you that it was my 4^th Oppikoppi in a row and I have grown accustomed to the ways of the koppi and how to survive said weekend. On the other hand, my best friend’s boyfriend and his friend were not so accustomed and so a whole lotta unnecessary preparation took place. All you really need to survive oppi is a tent, pillow and blanket, a torch, a small bag of clothes and a toothbrush, a few litres of clean water, wetwipes, booze, a few energades, crème sodas, yogisips and some cash to buy food. That’s it. However, it was impossible to convince the boys of this fact (at least they know now and next time will be much better… one can only hope )

So, our ride to Oppikoppi just so happened to be my friend Kevin’s Opel stationwagon. He and his mate, Darren, sat in front… after packing the car so full (of bullshit we didn’t need in the first place) that there was fuckall space left for his girlfriend (my best friend) and I. Yes, Kev and Daz, fuck you guys if you’re reading this! We literally squished into the tiniest space in the back of his car, on top of each other, on top of a lot of other things, with me ready to pretty much give birth to her foot whilst my toes were in her ear. There was also no way to communicate to the front of the car but at least we could smile and wave at the people driving behind us coz we couldn’t even hear the boys in front. We had to text them every time we needed to communicate with them. But that aside, the car looked fucking rad. Darren made some awesome stickers and we branded the entire car with the festival logo and sponsor’s logos (both sides plus some big ones on the roof and bonnet). Given how dusty Oppikoppi gets, the plan was to peel off the vinyl after the festival and send them a pic of the festival logo made outta dust… but unfortunately, it was not to be.

Branding the koppikar!

 

So we chose to leave a day early on the wednesday before the fest actually started in order to get a good campsite and get the party started early. (I even had to take unpaid leave from work because the boys insisted that we get there before anyone else.) Anyway, after 3 hours of driving without being able to move a muscle and only 40kms from the festival, we landed up on a dirt road. Why? – well; simply because men refuse to take directions. (You fuckers know it’s true ) Let me just say that this dirt road is so bad that even Oppikoppi warns fellow festival goers to avoid the road entirely. Needless to say, no more Opel stationwagon. Geput!

There we were stranded on a dirt road at 10pm in the middle of nowhere. Thorn bushes to our left, mielie field to our right, dirt road ahead and behind, and the clearest of stars above us. (Darren had to walk a few hundred metres just to get signal on his smartphone.) After about an hour and a half of fiddling with the car and trying to get hold of other friends who were supposedly on their way and googling contact details for roadside assistance in the area… we managed to eventually hook up a tow service which we had to wait another hour for. Hennie and his Hilux came to the rescue and put Kevin’s car onto a trailer and then piled us into his bakkie. We then drove for an eternity on said dirt road before reaching civilization once again.

This is where we were stuck… in the middle of the night o.O

Hennie then took us to his workshop where we had to abandon Kevin’s car in order for it to be fixed over the weekend. We had to unpack everything and oh my fuck… shit was so tightly packed that every colddrink can was loose and packed into whatever small space was left after packing the bigger things. Once everything was unpacked, we then proceeded to pack everything into the back of Hennie’s bakkie. Somehow we got it to all fit and once that was done, Hennie kindly drove us to Oppikoppi. What a legend! (For future koppi breakdowners, Hennie’s number is 0833784610/1. Save that shit now!)

Unfortunately Hennie did not have a ticket (not so unfortunate for us and it was for him of course) and he therefore had to drop us at the gate with all of our stuff. I must also tell you how cold it was. It was now past 1am in Limpopo province and it had snowed the day before across the entire country. Give you an idea?

Waiting at the gate in the cold

We then waited another 30 minutes for some friends who had arrived just before us to unpack their car and setup their camp. They then met us at the gate so we could pack all our stuff into their car. Once that was done we could not fit in the car and so they went ahead and picked a camping spot for us (the whole reason we had to leave a day early) whilst we walked for what felt like forever in pitch darkness and the freezing cold until we found them.

2am. Time to axe some thorn bushes and setup tents. All our things were just piled in the dirt coz we had no car. Luckily I had my own tent with enough room in it for everyone’s things. We were eventually sorted, exhausted, but at Oppifuckingkoppi! Fuck yeah! The night was still young. We then met up with some friends at their campsite. They had a fire going and so we chilled with them for a few drinks, basked in the heat of the fire and enjoyed some great conversation until about 4:30 am…and that was our start to surviving Oppi weekend. A lot of bitching and moaning but fuckin’ good times! I won’t tell you all about what went down once we were there as what happens at Oppi stays at Oppi but here’s a bunch of pics I chose to share with you all;

Oppi camping grounds

Watching the first band of the first day

Some of the crazy fellow campers…

Days well spent

Dust anyone?

Boom Straat 500 Naked Dash

Die bottle boom

Friends of ours won the award for best campsite and got to do a photoshoot with Jack Parow. heres one of the pics and a link to the rest…

Jack Parow

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.428114890557332.86391.121422841226540&type=1

3 full days and 3 full nights of non-stop roughing it in Africa with the greatest of people and the best live music. My heart belongs to Oppikoppi music festival and nothing will ever stop me from getting there; no matter how many times we break down on the way, no matter how many times I have to pack and unpack, no matter what bands are on the lineup, no matter how broke I am, no matter how old I get… Oppikoppi is an experience that is truly unforgettable every year. It’s such a unique festival with the greatest vibe.. it’s the party of a lifetime with guaranteed memories no matter how drunk you get.

Anyway, I feel this post is getting just a bit long now.. not that that’s anything new. Guess I’ll just end it here. I’ll post the Jozi snow pics as soon as I can and also the recipes. So feel free to subscribe by sharing your love for hedgehogs (towards the top, right hand side) and you’ll receive a notification when I find the time to blog again. ^^, Personally, I don’t know why any of you read this shit but thanks for pretending to be interested in this hullabaloo that I call life. Muchos ‘appreciatos’! I don’t know if that is a legitimate sentence or word. :/

Yes, again;…slacking with the reviews, marketing posts and picks of the month.. I know… but I can really only apologise this time…  and leave you with this;

My cat is a TURTLE!

…and the other one’s a fish. She recently took an unexpected dive into our bath. ^_^ They make me so proud. #fucktardcats

Follow me on twitter to stay with the action! (@_cjstone) … or look for the link somewhere on the right hand side of the page.

Hope everyone in SA has a great spring! Stay awesome & mooi bly! ^^,

June/July updates, apologies and other shit that makes my life awesome!

Fuck me… June was a crazy month. Apologies for my silence. Not having time to blog has been haunting me.. and when I finally got the time, my internet cut out *facepalm*…  Anyway, I hope this post will make up for it.

So let me start with an update…

We moved house last weekend. Our new house is smaller but it’s right on a lake and it’s pretty fucking awesome. It came with free pets even! We now have geese, ducks, flamingos, fish and various reptilian folk… including snakes! My mom got super carried away with the packing.. Lost the plot I tell you! I woke up one morning.. opened the fridge.. and this is what I found..

Bubblewrapped pizza! O.O

My kittycats are very stressed. Had to force my cat out from under my bed to feed her and she puffed up into a ball, ready to fight whatever came her way. I wanted to get her a sword.. and some boots and a big hat with a feather and then teach her to meow in a Mexican accent!

This is my babycat.. her name is Chlo.. and she’s half housecat, half wildcat… and she thinks she’s a boycat.. but really she’s just a pussy(cat?)!!!

She used to be even cuter! I can’t even handle it!

And this is my sistercat.. because she’s my mom’s baby… and her name is Dharma.. but I call her bubalubuz (pronounced boo-bah-loo-buse) – and I have no fucking idea how that happened? :/

All she does is sleep on my mom’s bed all day everyday..

And here’s a pic of some of my newly inherited pets…

They.do.not.shut.up. Oh my fuck! I just wanna run outside at night and shout “SHUT UP YOU FUCKING FUCKTARD DUCKS!!! I AM TRYING TO SLEEP LIKE A HUMAN BEING!!!” but I can’t coz theres this.. uhm.. Roboguard?..is that what it’s called? *picturing a real life transformer in my yard to protect me at night and shoot at the geese with his laser beam like a power ranger when they are getting randy! Oh how much I want my own Optimus Prime. But he should be in the same colours as Tommy – the green and gold power ranger (yes I know his name coz he was the shit back in the day!)*

I can just imagine it now…

This….

plus this…

But anyways… I can’t go outside at night (even though I have a door off my bedroom onto the lake) because it’ll set off the damn alarm and I can only imagine what fun the geese will have then. My god.

This just so happens to be the view from my bedroom… ^^,

I was very sad to leave the old house though as we had lived there for 12 whole years. That’s more than half my lifetime! o.O I’ve moved roughly 14 times in my life so I really loved that house.. it was my first real home. Then, 2 days before we moved out, the new owners started chopping down our trees and I had a fucking panic attack. I really hate it when people cut down trees. As pathetic as it may sound, I literally burst into tears and can’t breathe. (If you’re gonna cut down 6 trees.. please plant 6 trees to repent for your sins and we’ll see if I’ll forgive you!)

… other than moving…

I went on a blind date with a guy I met on the internet! My friends won’t stop giving me grief about how funny that is considering my unashamed addiction to the internet (will someone in the states PLEASE send me a nyan cat t-shirt! Cant’ get one in South Africa :’( Size small – or make that XS … XXS? – we’re talking US human size now aren’t we?) ^^,  Anyway, his name is Jacques (Not sure if that’s French or Afrikaans – someone please tell me!) and he writes for a magazine and works in PR and social media development. He’s also a very talented musician. So ja we have a few things in common. (One day I will master the piano! Then I will have a concert in blue lighting, wearing a tail coat and starting with that twist-your-arms-finger-stretch thing. I will then continue to play Flight of The Bumble Bee whilst violently headbanging to make myself look like I’m having an epileptic fit at the same time – now that’s what I call talent! I will then bow whilst people applaud and throw roses at me… or perhaps they are for the Bumble Bee that made me have a fit? Not sure who the credit is supposed to go to :/ ) Anyway.. (yes, I keep getting distracted and running off on a tangent.. ) …he interviewed me for his blog (which you can read here: – http://insatiableban.wordpress.com/) and that’s pretty much how we met. We have been on quite a few dates since and so far it’s going well. The only crap thing is he lives all the way past the boerewors curtain!

We also went to see Snow White & The Huntsman which is one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen minus the awkward moments where I felt like I was watching Twilight… and then the awkward moment when Bella – oh for fuck’s sake I mean ‘Snow White’ – led an army of people willing to fight for her. I’m sorry, but Kristen Stewart… you’re very pretty, but this acting thing just isn’t working out for you. I’m glad to see that you upgraded from dear old ‘Sparkles’ to ‘Thor’ though. Kudos to you! And Charlize… wow! AMAZEBALLS performance. One of her best. Very proud to say that I was born and raised in the same little town as Charlize Theron. Benoni is an awesome place (and by that, I mean the civilized part of Benoni of course ^_^) My favourite part of the movie.. besides the wonderful fairyland I wanted to live in.. was when she was looping round in the snow (what a fucking coincidence that Snow White would be in the snow.. which was also white!) with her childhood friend William.. and he said to her “You are your father’s daughter”. No fucking shit Sherlock! Ahahaha I cracked when he said that. Tooo funny for me

Dear Thor… I’d be your Snow White any day. From Cass

And what else..?

Ooh yes.. I completed my 5^th summester of my degree. Awwwwww yeah!!!! One more to go! ^_^ That’s the real reason behind me not having time to blog this month. Had so much work that had to be handed in.. and then we were packing and moving on top of that and I am also currently writing a book! In all honesty, the next few months are going to be bloody hectic for me as I complete my degree so I apologize in advance for not blogging as often. Please forgive me minions! In a few months I’ll be back on schedule with tons of time to blog I promise.. but for now I’ll just blog when I can.

I think that’s all I can really update you on. Apologies for there being no Music Marketing post or Weird/Wonderful post or Review last month. I was pretty fucking useless wasn’t I?! But, in all honestly, I just ran out of time.  And besides, I’m counting my 2 cents about Snow White as my Review for the month, my optimus prime/green power ranger idea as my Weird/Wonderful post.. and as for Music Marketing.. share these in the meantime!;

As for my picks of the month for June 2012.. well here they are;

Awesome picture of the month: 

Lost innocence…

Quote of the month: 

“World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not the absence of violence. Peace is the manifestation of human compassion.” ~ Dalai Lama

Song of the month:

Funny picture of the month: 

Creepy as fuck!

Youtube video of the month: 

More reasons to love THE INTERNET!

Holy MACKEREL!!! (I have always wanted to say that but never out loud ^_^) It’s already June! (and why on earth did sometime decide to use the word ‘mackerel’ and how the fuck did something like that go viral in the first place? – #somerandomfoodforuselessthoughts)

On to my 2nd month of blogging, and I won’t lie; it’s still pretty cool. I’m enjoying it a lot and glad to see that some of you are too. Thanks for the ‘likes’ and subscriptions and all that shit. Much appreciated. ^^,

So let me just give you a heads up;this is probably going to be my most random post so far if you’ve been following my banter; however, I’m thinking of making this a new featured category on my blog coz I love finding bizarre shit on the web. So as of now, I will have a new category called ‘Weird/Wonderful’ – so that’s where you’ll find all this kinda weirdness. The next posts wont be as long.. just had a lot of pics this time round. I know it’s way too many but I couldn’t not share these things.

 

Feel free to leave longer comments if you like. I’d love to see what each of my readers think of these things. Some are pretty cool in my opinion. Especially #3 and #17!!! I want!!!

 

1. Glow-in-the-dark Gravel

2. Deep-fried Watermelon

3. Retro Cassette-tape Tables

4. Nutella-coated Bacon

5. Keyboard Skulls

6. Edible Insect Sushi

7. The Sculpture Park of Veiji Ronkkonen

8. “Dexter’s Victims” Poster

9. The Beard Beanie

10. “How to Traumatize Your Children” Book

11. Finger Piercings

12. Japanese Neon Lamp Fights

13. Cannibalistic Dresses

14. DIY Keyboard Designs

15. Oversized Mattresses

16. Burger Socks

17. Instagram Socialmatic Camera

18. Underwater Hotels

19. PC-free Data-sharing

20. Boombox Pillows

Ja.. lotsa weird shit out there I tell you.. but some of it’s pretty awesome! Speaking of awesome, I really want a Nyan Cat t-shirt! I’ve looked online but the only cool one I found was on Amazon and it could not be shipped to South Africa.. so I’m looking to make a new friend in the US that could help me out with obtaining said clothing item. Maybe we could do a postage trade or something ^^,  I am also currently on the lookout for an awesome Maneki Neko that doesnt look like an asian banshee threw up it’s golden kitschness all over it.. so if anyone comes across a nice one.. please let me know! It must have a moving paw though!

It’s so ugly I could die! Find me a pretty & white one!

I’m tagging ‘Asian Banshee’ purely because I’m interested in seeing if anyone would get here by searching for that!

Fancy Toast For One

So here’s the recipe for one of my favourite creations. Try it out and let me know what you think.

INGREDIENTS

• - 2 slices of wholewheat bread (toasted)
• - Simonsberg cream cheese (Thai Sweet Chilli flavour is best)
• - cherry tomatoes (sliced and sweetened with sugar)
• - cheddar cheese (grated) – enough to generously top one slice of toast
• - 1 Spring onion (chopped)
• - 3 leaves of fresh basil (chopped)
• - small bunch of fresh chives (chopped – keep some long ones aside)
• - 2 tbls Wellingtons sweet chilli sauce
• - 1/2 red onion,sliced
• - 1 tsp brown sugar
• - 1/2 paprika
• - a handful of wafer-thin sandwich slices of turkey (torn)
• - 1 egg
• - 1 tbls tangy mayonnaise
• - 1 tbls hotdog mustard
• - 1 tsp lemon juice
• - salt
• - black pepper
• - sour cream (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Pop the bread into the toaster, put the oven on grill, fill the kettle and boil it, and get all your ingredients out.
2. Leave the toast to cool on a wire rack. In the meantime, dice the cherry tomatoes and sweeten them with sugar.
3. Grate the cheese and put it into a small bowl. Add your chopped spring onion, basil and chives, then mix together with 1 tbls sweet chilli sauce.
4. Once the toast is completely cool, cut them into rough triangles. Spread on a layer of cream cheese, then add the sweetened tomatoes. Spoon the cheese mixture on top of this.
5. Get a small pot out and fill it with the hot water from the kettle and put it on the stove. Get the water just before boiling point and keep it at that temperature.
6. In the meantime, get out a small bowl/cup. Mix together your mayonnaise, mustard, and lemonjuice. Season with salt and pepper. (For a creamier version, fold in some sour cream that’s been beaten to a soft peak.)
7. Pop the toast into the oven for about 2 minutes. (Cheese should melt, and edges of toast should begin to blacken before it’s ready.) In the meantime, caramelize your red onions in brown sugar, salt, paprika and 1 tbls sweet chilli sauce. Use your hands to tear up the slices of turkey.
8. Once the toast is out of the oven, arrange them on top of each other on the plate. (Make sure you switch the oven off.) Place the torn turkey on top.
9. Poach your egg in the hot water. (Make sure you get the yolk out whole.) Place this on top of the turkey. Spoon the mayo/mustard sauce on top and season with black pepper. Place the chives you kept aside on top for presentation.

Music Marketing Tips: #1

Build Lasting Relationships: Friend Requests

 

I have chosen this as my first topic for my posts on music marketing, because in my opinion, building relationships is the most important factor when it comes to marketing.

 

It is true that making friends online can be a lot easier than making friends in the real world. However, just because someone accepts your friend request does not automatically mean that you are now friends. Most of the time, they have no idea who you are or why you sent them a friend request in the first place. Some people might even find it creepy, especially if you have no mutual friends. For some, a Facebook invite is already a step too far into their inner circle, and they expect you to at least have had a few email conversations first. However, this tip should work with most people.

 

If you’re sending out friend requests to people that you intend on building relationships with, would it not make sense to introduce yourself? Think about it. If you were to meet in real life, I’m sure it would start with a handshake and a short introduction and not you waving your face in their face whilst shouting “Look at me! See what I can do!”

So why should this be any different online?

Yes, the internet is full of ‘noise’ and people are busy and most don’t have time to read every message or email they receive; but a short “Hello. My name is [insert your name] and I [insert what you do]. I am very interested in what you do and impressed by how you do it. I hope that we can someday work together and form a strong and lasting business relationship.”

 

If you received a similar message from someone online, would you not feel more inclined to find out who they are? Maybe check out their Facebook or LinkedIn profile? Perhaps follow them on Twitter? Better yet, reply to their message and immediately start building that relationship?

Also, you’re probably not the only one shouting “Look at me!” with your friend request. These people probably receive more than 1 a day and it would go a long way to make yours stand out. A message like this will help them remember your name and who you actually are when filtering through their list of ‘friends’.

 

This is a perfect example of how a little can go a long way.

 

REVIEW: ALBUM – Ceremonials (Florence and the Machine)

This is my first review and I would not have it any other way. I’m not going to discuss the individual tracks or meanings behind the songs because I did not write them and could never interpret them 100% correctly, so I’m simply going to give my opinion on the album as a whole.

 

 

‘Ceremonials’, released in 2012, is honestly one of the best albums I’ve ever heard. Mind-blowing instrumentation, haunting lyrics and a one-of-a-kind, almost alien voice to top it off; it is everything you’d expect from Florence and the Machine and more. On the back of grandiose production and huge ambition, it’s over-the-top, dramatic, haunting, depressing, uplifting, and overpowering. It’s gothic, celtic, gospel, dancy and, with the exception of one or two tracks, a bewitching masterpiece.

With songs that take you back to the most primal eras of our existence with their tribal drumming and chanting, and sounds that echo the atmosphere of the most authentic churches and rituals; ‘Ceremonials’ takes you on a unique journey that pulls on your heart and shakes your soul, forcing you to feel what it is to be human.

 

As a vocalist myself, I am in awe of Florence Welch. ‘The Good Witch’ manages to somehow hit notes that some people would not think human, resulting in many a ‘goosebump-moment’ whilst listening to this album. On stage and in her videos, Florence appears detached from reality and herself, which makes you wonder if she is in fact human at all. In my opinion, the only links to her human existence, are her resonating lyrics and the unrestrained soul that she expels.

 

 

I have to say, I am glad that following the success of their first album (suitably titled ‘Lungs’), Florence Welch did not fall into the shiny commercial trap of success, and instead dug deeper into her darkness. She is not just a singer, she is a true artist. Without a doubt, one of the greats of our time.

 

My favourite tracks:

2. Shake it out

3. What the water gave me

7. No light, no light

12. Leave my body

 

 

I am a crazy person.. come outside!

Ok… so the most random thing EVER just happened!

 

Busy minding my own business, doing some online research, when the bell for the gate rings. I look outside and there’s no car. So, curious to find out who it may be, I answer;

“Hello! How are you?” says an over-enthusiastic girl with an accent I can’t quite make out (although I think it could have been Romanian. :/ )

“Good thanks,” I reply. “Who am I speaking to?”

“My name is ORE,” – yes, Ore :/ (however you spell that) – “and I am a bit crazy because I am an artist. Come outside and see my paintings! I am a crazy person, yes, but I won’t bite you! I promise!”

This is along the lines of what I was picturing at the time.

 

“So, you want me to willingly come outside after you’ve admitted you’re a crazy person?” I asked, full of laughs.

 

 

So, just as curiosity was about to get the best of me, my parents arrived at the gate and she started her “pitch” all over again. Unfortunately, they turned her down (I would have liked to actually have seen her art.) Anyway, still listening over the intercom, she began to sing “Lonely, lonely sunday morning” by The Narrow as she walked away (and I have to say, that was the most random part of all. So glad that I secretly stayed on the line ^_^) However, I regrettably wish I had met the girl. I think she’s a special kind of awesome and that we would have gotten along… (assuming that she’s the cool kind of crazy… not the scary kind that I posted above O.o)

 

Picks of the month: May 2012

Awesome picture of the month:

Quote of the month:

“The power of art is that it can connect us to one another, and to larger truths about what it means to be alive and what it means to be human.” ~ Daniel J. Levitin

Song of the month:

 

 

Funny picture of the month:

 

Youtube video of the month: