Writing It Randomly

Before we pop on over into the New Year this week, let's take a few minutes to look back on 2015 with a weirdly smooth mashup.

Pic Source: Attribution

Honestly, December is the most wonderful time of the year, if you ask me. I love driving people up the wall with my Christmas Play List. I love tinsel, glitter, and everything else related to the Festive Season. To top it all off, it is also my birthday on Wednesday. In fact, the only thing I'd love about it more, is if we were in the Northern Hemisphere (so we could wear corny Christmas sweaters too). Down here we'd die of heat stroke if our skin came into contact with wool right now. Thank you for reading and/or following my blog posts over the past few years. I've loved creating my posts (albeit amateurishly ), and I hope you get a kick out of them. May you have a very merry Christmas with your loved ones on Friday (or Kwanzaa , or simply 'Happy Holidays' since Hanukah has passed already [or if you do not observe any religious holidays]).

Now that we know what Slipknot sounds like when Disneyfied , what if Disney went metal?

The new Star Wars is being released this week (yes, we have tickets booked for it at the IMAX), and since it is Disneyfied , why not Slipknot?

Long before Taylor Swift starting telling people to shake it off, Harry Belafonte had me (and other Beetlejuice fans) shaking it. Happy Monday!

Before we continue, please first read this post - Rose McGowan wrote an angry letter to Caitlyn Jenner about that Woman of the Year award. "...expecting more from a fashion magazine award ceremony is weird." I don't think that's accurate. As women in the public eye, they should always know and understand that they represent the world's view of the rest of us. I get that I might be too critical here, but surely that weight of responsibility is part of the compromises (sacrifices?) in exchange for the money & fame? "...her words suggest that Jenner isn't really a woman at all, which is a stereotype transgender women are fighting themselves." True. It might've done Rose some good to calm down before ranting on Facebook (a mistake many of our generation keep making these days). Her feelings were valid, but in a less angered state she may have reworded her reaction and would not have come across as if trying to bash Caitlin so harshly. M...

How much kinder and happier the world would be if everyone just realised that we're all a little strange. Let your weird flag fly!

Naturally, I'm delighted by this random creepy old photo I found through Google Search this morning. It's so weird - how can I not love it? What I do not understand, however, is what exactly transpired on that day. I tried image searching, and I found a few versions of it online, but was unable to link it back to any website / source to shed more substantiated light on the matter. Want to help me figure it out? Be my guest. Just please put me out of my misery and share your findings by leaving a Comment below. So far I've come up with the following possible explanations: Some type of clan pageant. A Halloween beauty parade/pageant/pool party. The girls were being judged on their physique alone and didn't want their faces to sway the judges' decision. Random silliness. These gals were just as much into spreading the weird stuff as I am.

Okay, so I'm thoroughly aware of the fact that he's not singing of actual canine puppies (obvious from the video and the rest of the lyrics), but the way he sings 'puppies' is exactly how I will want to belt it when encountering any of the fur balls again.

(Pic Source: Etsy )

It's been six months. Six. Fucking. Months. If you asked me at the beginning, I might have said that the worst thing about loving someone with cancer, is the initial shock and fear of abandonment, but right now I believe it's the perpetual waiting cycle you get caught up in. Wait on results. Wait on surgery. Wait for surgery to end. Wait on recovery. Wait on new results. Wait for chemo to start. Wait on results. Wait on another surgery.Wait for surgery to end. Wait on recovery. Wait on even more results. Wait on chemo to restart... As a loved one you also feel guilty. Or I do. I feel guilty for feeling weighed down by it all, because my whining & worrying is so fucking ridiculous - it's not even happening to me. My "worst experience" requires patience, hers require pain management, courage & persistance. Good news today though: Mum's recovering much quicker after this second surgery - she already started walking small distances over the weeken...

As die-hard fans, it's so weird that neither me, nor my sister, knew that this duet existed. I lack the words to describe exactly how awesome I think it is.

Midway through Mum's chemo, it's time for the second operation today. This evening they will remove her gallbladder, spleen & the three remaining lesions on her liver. There's no way I'd ever admit it to her, but I'm worried. This is a big op (they'll be slicing from the left to the right of her midsection), and knowing that she's still battling the cancer isn't making it any easier to block out those negative thoughts. She's a little frail, and things don't always work out the way we want them to. Such is life. It sucks. P.S. On a related note, if there is colon cancer in your family, please have yourself checked out sooner rather than later. Yes, it's an uncomfortable idea (the only preventative test for it - that I know of - is a colonoscopy*), but this type of cancer can be easily treated and/or removed without complications if detected early! *Even the idea of having to use a suppository will have me inadvertently taking on t...

Please forgive me for reblogging, but Retrospace's October 2013 post,  Retrospace Radio Halloween Rewind , is beyond brilliant - it provides links to fantastically spooky vintage podcasts, which you can download (file sizes not too bad) and enjoy at your own leisure. When I listen to them, I feel like I'm time-travelling. I also found the post quite suitable for this week's musical merriment in anticipation of Halloween on Saturday. Hope you love it as much as I do (and have a look at the rest of the podcasts on the Retrospace Blog. Just as awesome; I haven't downloaded them all yet, but I probably will).

This week's song comes from one of my favourite horror movies . Had me in stitches.

We don't have an abundance of photo albums in my home. Back in the day, families like mine often only had one camera - and developing photos wasn't a cheap undertaking, so my father had a camera that we shared amongst the six (later seven) of us, but all photos weren't always developed, so there are many years and moments we have no visual record of. My mother obviously kept an album on each one of her kids, but I think mine stops at around my twelfth year. I therefore have nothing to look back on (or very, very few) taken throughout my high school years. Things changed on my 21st birthday when I received my own camera - a digital one! And these days taking a photo is easier than ever, because thanks to smartphones you no longer need a separate camera in order to take photos, save them, and share them. Unfortunately, although I love looking at photographs, I'm not that great with actually snapping them. I often get so lost in the moment or physical experience that I ...

I am so jealous of everyone who celebrates Halloween (especially everyone in the US)! Over here in SA it's not that big. Despite what you read about our crime statistics, most South Africans are very friendly, but because of our exposure to crime, there is no way people are going to let complete strangers into their yards. Especially not up to their front doors, so Trick-or-Treat'ing is practically impossible. Some of our stores (eg. Woolworths) started to sell Halloween themed candy a few years ago & I've heard of a few closed communities (security complexes) which allow Trick-or-Treat'ing for the little kids, but the general affinity for the Holiday has not yet grown to the point where it is as easy as it is in the States to get hold of costumes, or host big Halloween parties, etc.* I tried to get everyone at the office into the spirit of it last year, but we're less than twenty people there - and then it can be a challenge to spread the enthusiasm aroun...

I sometimes wonder whether it's possible that we all have stalkers out there, rummaging through our dustbins, looking for - I don't know - hair or toenail clippings. This could be their anthem.

This is probably TMI, but I'm going in for my first colonoscopy tomorrow morning (preventative measure as a result of Mum's situation ), so this week's song choice is really too perfect.

I confess, finding weird (sometimes werid strange, sometimes weird amazing) songs/music videos to share with you, is getting tricky. I have a few up my sleeve, but I would prefer to keep them on hold until next month for Halloween (how excited are you?). This one comes to you courtesy of me having watched Who's Afraid of Vagina Wolf?  last night.

I was VERY skeptic when a friend suggested that I watch Home , because - unless there are subtle comedic cues for the adult audience, my mind wanders off in a different direction. Luckily, what it lacked in dark comedy, it made up for in cuteness. Some scenes were so adorable that it made me uncomfortable, and the dance scenes had me suffocating on giggles. This song from the movie is also a bit catchy. Even if I don't want to admit it in public, I have to. It reminds me of Busta Lime* every single time. *You'll have to watch the movie.

Winter ended with record high temperatures for August down here in SA. We knew better though. It was just too weird for Spring to kick off acting like it's Summer - and this early!? A cold front was inevitable. Last week, as foretold by our guts, the cold returned accompanied by cloudbursts. Meaning that I spent my weekend checking for leaks in our roof, and/or puddles of water in the lounge. Inspiration struck somewhere in between, and that's how I found our weird song for the week. What a trippy intro, right?

After hearing Verka's catchy Spy song , I had no other choice than to scour the web, listening to what else he had on offer out there. Luck was on my side - with Joné's help I found this Jumpy tune. Enjoy. P.S. If you're in South Africa (or anywhere else in the Southern Hemisphere) too - Have a Happy Spring Day tomorrow!

Amongst the billions of people on this planet, how many of us have this relentless internal compass, persistently steering us towards something greater? A lucky few find out where they're headed early on in life. I'm not one of them. When I was fifteen years old, depression (combined with circumstance) almost cost me my life. These days, on the good days, I feel lucky to have survived my own actions. I also feel like there must be a higher purpose for my existence. Maybe there's a story in me waiting to be told, or perhaps I can provide encouragement to others like me out there. It's been over 17 years and I still don't know what this inherent pull is trying to show/teach/tell me. My blog is churned out as a byproduct of these musings. I thought that if I could open the flood gates, I could maybe share something meaningful through the words I write, or the content I share. Most of the time, I still think my posts lack substance, and it feels like I still have e...

I went through a pretty tight Bollywood phase about ten years ago. Kal Ho Naa Ho was one of my favourites (mostly because of Shah Rukh Khan), and it had this " cool"  hit:

For shame! I cannot believe I forgot to publish my regular post yesterday. My sincerest apologies, blogpeeps. I won't stand for such insolence, especially not on my part. To apologise, I would like to pull a John Cusack outside your window, but my stalking skills clearly need much improvement, because I don't know where you live. Here's a vid for you from the tried & trusted Lonely Island instead.

I don't think you should waste your time on this one, because after watching it I felt so uninspired that I could not even come up with a review of my own. Rather go out (or stay in) and get hold of the original . If you don't want to take my word for it, go read Maynard's Review - maybe he can knock some sense into you.

My sister & I adore Melissa McCarthy . It's important for you to know that it does not supercede our fondness for  Meryl , but it does mean that we will watch ANYTHING she's involved with*. This year, we have already watched Spy a couple of times and one of the scenes I fell in love with, was the one with the open air pop concert. I enjoyed everything about it, but it wasn't easy to find out who the chirpily weird group is. Finally, Joné told me who the shiny sensation is, so here it is! You're welcome. *Other firm favourites are Kirsten Wiig, Sandra Bullock, Rebel Wilson, Amy Schumer, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Pic Source: Impawards.com I am not afraid of the dark, and struggle more with weird dreams than I do with nightmares, so I find it laborious discovering good horror these days. As luck would have it, the 2013 film Oculus proved to be less disappointing as I had expected it to be. The plot (a girl set on proving that all is not what it seemed behind her parents' deaths, cue creepy mirror lady), is told at an adequate level of psychologically fucked-up, and without spilling any spoilers, I can tell you there was at least one scene that made me want to throw up in my mouth a little bit. I have to agree with Maynard though - the pace dwindled halfway through, and there were definitely room for improvement (although I am not qualified to speak to its cinematic properties such as camera angles, etc). This movie should be horrifying enough for you if your stomach is not as strong as mine (or if you don't get the same adrenaline kick from fear as I do). And if you do ...

Dear Readers, I am devastatingly embarrassed to admit that until recently I did not even know who exactly Frank Zappa was, or what his musical stylings sounds like, but then I listen to this song and forget all about my chagrin.

Can you think of a single thing that makes you giggle without fail? My funny bone feels a tickle every time someone says Dallas with an Afrikaans accent, but puns also do the trick. I can't help but putter out a few "Ha"s. Even when they are of the first-grade-joke variety, or in some cases, extremely inappropriate. This week, I kept telling myself how lame these are, but that smile broke through anyway: P.S. This post's images were sourced from Freepik.com.

If there's one type of weird I find it very hard to love, it's the weird people go to great lengths to manufacture - for attention. Yolandi's body is SICK and I think the dealer is cute (although I would've loved to see more teeth), but they just try way too hard. I don't know. I'm probably missing something.

Mum started chemo today, so yesterday, Joné baked her a delectable blue velvet cake. Sure, the icing started sliding off the sides (probably because the cake was supposed to cool down more before being decorated), but it all gets mushed in your tummy in any case, right? Even after (and during) all the cake-eating, Mum was still very much in a tizzy over her first chemo session in the morning, because she had no idea what to expect. All chemo is not equal. Her doctor told her about possible side effects (eg. nausea), but it all differs from person to person as well as the amount and type of chemo treatment you receive. So far, the only update we've received from her today, is that it didn't hurt at all when they inserted the needle into the port . Excellent news, because she tends to faint whenever anyone (herself included) have their blood drawn.

This song is so cheesy that it hurts. It is also proof that Mr Seagal's vocal range is as surprising as his facial expressions .

I thank my lucky stars that I've never had to deal with an STD, but I read in Classic Rock Magazine's  latest issue  that Bon Scott was on a first name basis with his local VD clinic; which obviously explains AC/DC's song, The Jack .

For those who were left wondering after my initial  cancer news about my mum: She recovered pretty quickly from her op  in April, and although they removed most of it with a chunk of her colon, she still needs to start chemo this month so that the lesions on her liver can be dealt with. In other words, so far the bumps in the road hasn't been too big. We remain ever hers in optimism!!! She looks like she's lost a lot of weight, but she's such a champ! Back at work already and gracefully taking it in her stride almost. I don't think I would've been able to keep myself as composed as she manages to do every day. I think she just HATES the colostomy bag, and I suspect that the initial loss of control over her own body and life (being stuck in a hospital bed for weeks) was very difficult for her, but she's not really discussing much with us in depth/detail. It's different for her being our Mother opposed to being a friend/sibling, I suppose. She probab...

If you haven't noticed yet, I'm trying to be more organised with my blog posts by first getting into the rhythm of scheduling certain posts (like this Weird Music Monday one). I know I'm still failing miserably, but please bear with me for a little while longer. I'll get there. Eventually. "Slow and steady wins the race", or that's what I've been told . Until my next post, you'll probably find me in the kitchen again, just like you would at parties.

Saying that I don't like all these songs would brand me the biggest liar on the planet, because I'm proudly born in the '80s and will love it forever! However, I do agree with the fact that their videos are completely nonsensical.

One helluva Monday! Apologies for keeping you waiting... I want you to form a deep understanding of just how weird this week's song is. Listening to the words just won't cut it, because in this case the actual lyrics sound like misheard lyrics . You'll find yourself wondering, after every line, whether what you heard was actually what was sung. Take a minute to  read them . It won't exactly set your mind at rest, but you'll feel better knowing that there's nothing wrong with your hearing.

Technically speaking, I'm not really posting this for being weird per se. I'm sharing the musical magic of Fire Tiger , because I'm crushing on them with the power of a thousand eighties rock ballads this week. However, for the sake of Weird Music Monday's legacy, I'll point out that the weirdest thing about this music (other than the unnatural depth of my love for their sound) is probably the fact that this music comes from a relatively new LA band - hard to believe that whilst listening to them, because when I do, I feel transported back in time.

The only way this song could've been less weird, was if it was actually performed by a rock lobster ...

What makes this '80s music video weird, at first, are the dolls. After watching the entire thing, my main observations are: 1. Grace Slick 's eyes are scarier than the dolls'. 2. Samantha just wanted to be a real girl.

These two Kiwi films turned out to be quite the Double-Feature Treat for us this past Saturday night, and I simply had to tell you about them before I forget! What We Do In The Shadows This is the funniest thing I've seen in some time. The entire cast had me giggling my ass off*, but I don't mean to oversell it and ruin your experience (I think that's what I already did to my cousin before making her watch it with us again on Sunday), so I won't say much about what you should expect, nor will I tell you which were my favourite funny bits... I just think that if you like whatever's dark & unusual, as I do, you should give this one a look-see. *And my heart will forever hold a soft spot for Viago. Housebound Coincidentally, the initial trailer/review I saw for WWDITS, also made a reference to this New Zealand film - so naturally I had to see it too. What I specifically enjoyed about it, is how they mixed in just enough silly dark humou...

When I told my sister about my latest blog venture (sharing weird & lovely music every Monday), Joné said that High School Confidential was the first thing that popped up in her mind, so let's give it a minute (or 3.5)...

You have my husband to thank for this one:

This past week left me voiceless. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel and I definitely do not know how to explain how I feel. Not even to those closest to me, so I thought I'd give writing it down a go, because when you're writing, you can reread, change, and mould until you're happy with the message/idea the piece conveys, right? A few days ago, we found out that my Mum has cancer. On Friday, she was wheeled into theatre to have a large tumor removed. Her operation went well and she's currently recovering in ICU, but this morning it was tentatively confirmed to be stage 4 cancer . I guess, above all else, that I just feel so angry ! When Dad passed away, we weren't ready to lose a parent yet; and now, four years later, we're not ready to stop clinging to the one we have left either. They were supposed to retire and grow old together. I feel so lost. My frame of reference is so limited. I mean, to civilians like me, the only peeks I ever got wer...

Okay, I promise I'll think of some other random content for all my readers over the next few days, but in the meantime - in keeping with my weird Monday Music trend - here's another ridiculous beauty...

In light of my  earlier musical post , I thought I'd extend the melodic journey with yet another gem:

ink Tank I cannot thank you enough for this one - because the best Weird is Vintage Weird.

I'm a hardcore introvert, who really enjoys her own company. I'm weird (not cool weird, just weird). I thrive on personal freedom. Solitude is my soul companion. Or, that's what I thought before being home alone over a long weekend. Our suburb is deafeningly quiet over the Easter weekend, because most of our neighbours go on vacation this time of year. At first, this was great. I had the whole bed to myself, slept in, and with no one around to question my nutritional choices, I lived on caffeine & nicotine alone. Less than twenty four hours in, it got to me a bit. So much so that I accidentally got drunk on vodka from the freezer - all by myself - and started researching Pretoria and Joburg nightlife online (not that I would've been able to drive anywhere in my inebriated state, even if I found anything worthwhile). What made matters worse, is that my husband went on a "camping" trip with the boys to  Witchfest , so he isn't even around to annoy...

Pic Source:  Pixabay

Monica Lewinsky's Ted Talk got me thinking some more about what we see and hear every day. Fortunately I have not personally been subjected to cyber bullying, but two aspects of current social interaction leaves a serious thorn in my side. Troll Fees I admit that I'm a big, fat virtual voyeur who often lurk in the background and read comments on posts like this Ted Talk as well as other blog entries, Youtube videos, etc without uttering a single word; but it especially struck me over the past few weeks how many viewers/readers air opinions that make them seem like bullies. It's as if they're purely trolling about for anything on which they can add (or should I say claim?) their negative two cents. Am I delusional in thinking that an open mind means that we should listen, read, and view without our own agendas and opinions on the foreground? That we should first find out whether what another person chose to share has any validity to it, instead of immediately try...

If you've forgotten what it feels like when a heart breaks, take a moment to watch this film. I loved each character regardless of their many, many flaws. I felt the desperation in their pain, and learnt that hiding weakness is definitely not the same thing as being strong. There will be cinematic critics, as always, but I think it was absolutely beautifully done!