The basic premise of Room is centred around a mother and son who are held captive in a single room. Of course, this premise is not basic at all, and it’s quite hard to wrap your mind around just how difficult such an existence must be. Continue reading

It’s Monday morning. My voice hasn’t yet returned to its former glory (probably quite a relief for many!) and my calves ache from jumping up and down like Tigger on crack for nearly two solid hours. I have a major case of the post-awesome-gig blues. Continue reading

There comes a time when a girl gets a little (or a lot) sick of all the same old-same-old-music-by-numbers bands. You know the ones I mean – they all have the exact same bland Americanised sound, with zero personality and made for TV hair. Enter To Hire A Nurse, with a bit of welcome colouring outside the lines. Continue reading

It’s been a long four year wait since Wonderboom released their last album, but their latest offering, The Automatic Shuffle is finally here and it’s a goodie. Fans have actually been hearing songs off the new album at shows and on the radio since early last year, but for a number of reasons it was only released in December 2010, and I only managed to get my hands on a copy last weekend. Totally worth the wait though. Continue reading

I actually read Shantaram a few months ago but delayed writing about it.  Partly because I needed a break from thinking about this epic novel after I’d finally finished it – I’ve had relationships that required less commitment than it took to complete the 933 pages – and partly because I feared the wrath of the Shantaram groupies (and they are legion) if they found out that I didn’t think it was the life-altering read it’s cracked up to be. Continue reading

Crowded House is one of those bands that is all tied up with my (slightly misspent) youth. They’re about R2 drinks and Happy Hour at Monks Inn, tricking bouncers into believing that we were 19 rather than 15 (I think I wore more make up as a teenager than I have in all my adult years combined!) and teenage crushes on boys in bands. They’re about carefree happiness and singing along at the top of your lungs. I didn’t go to see them when they came to SA previously, probably because the limited funds in those high school years were reserved for R2 drinks, but now that I’m older and wiser (ahem), I thought it’d be a great idea to check them out on their return to Durban. Continue reading

The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble was an absolute chance find for me. Essentially, I had to choose a book from my quarterly Leisure Books catalogue, and there were so many I wanted that I randomly chose the most reasonably priced one. Every now and then I have to take that route, otherwise I would spend my whole salary on books and not have a home to house them! I was a touch nervous, as it seemed a little more girly than my usual choices, but I liked the idea of a story about a book club. What a wonderful choice it turned out to be! Continue reading

I think it’s safe to say that most people know how much I love South Africa. I happen to think we are fortunate enough to live in the most beautiful country in the world. So it’s always a pleasure when friends come to visit from far-flung lands and the opportunity arises to play tour guide. Continue reading

Everyone who knows Durban knows it’s tough to find places that play decent music, and even tougher to find venues to host good bands. If you don’t want to listen to the latest radio hit, and you’re not an avid collector of the Bump series, then things can get a little tricky. Enter Unit 11, stage left, to save the day. Continue reading

My smarty pants friend introduced me to Martin Amis as a ‘must read author’ and I tucked into two of his novels the last time I was in Ireland. So I was quite pleased when the parental posted me a copy of his latest offering, The Pregnant Widow. Continue reading