Man or Muppet?

I think I am a big kid at heart, especially when it comes to the movies that I watch. Every animation that comes out, I have to watch! It's like I never grew out of the phase, and luckily Grant is exactly the same. Only, while I grew up watching Kideo and Disney movies, Grant grew up five years earlier with the Muppets.

It's not that I didn't grow up knowing about the Muppets. I knew of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy and I'm pretty sure that I watched movies like The Muppets in Space and Muppet Treasure Island, but I was always one who was more into watching Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast hundreds of times over rather than watching live action. But, dating Grant, it was slightly hard to avoid the Muppet mania. It just pops up every now and then, like when I was introduced to the Manamana song, which got stuck in my head for months on end and is likely to get stuck there again now that I have even mentioned it. Or, when Grant rediscovered The Muppet Christmas Carol and we watched that a couple of times.

So it should come as no surprise then, that we have been in Muppet mania over the last few months, ever since we heard about the Muppet movie. Even I couldn't resist the hype. The advertising campaign was amazing, with them running ads for the movie based on trailers for various other movies. Confused? Try watching the trailer entitled The Pig With The Froggy Tattoo or Being Green. You'll see what I'm talking about. Oh, and did I mention that the movie stars How I Met Your Mother actor Jason Segel and Enchanted actress Amy Adams? What about special guest appearances from Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris and Jim Parsons (Sheldon from Big Bang Theory)? Mix that with the rave reviews that it was getting and Grant and I were practically jumping off our seats dying to see the movie.

We eventually managed to get a copy of it, and I suppose the real question is going to be, "Were we disappointed?" The answer is a resounding NO! Let me make something clear right now - the movie is a kid's movie. But it is a kid's movie that speaks to an older generation of kids. It is a musical straight from the 70's with the choreography and goofy moments that you have come to expect from a typical Muppets movie. And that is what it is - a typical Muppets movie in typical Muppets fashion, presented to today's children. Which they should be thrilled about! I don't know if they are going to be, but they should be.

The humour was great with moments of laughing out loud and moments of cringing, but not in the dodgy way that most comedies lead to these days. The songs themselves were hilarious and wonderfully done. The storyline is a little weak, but entertaining nonetheless. Basically it is about a guy named Gary and his girlfriend, Mary, who decide to take a trip to LA and bring Gary's little brother, Walter, along. Walter feels like he never fits in, which is not surprising considering that he is a muppet without actually realising it. Anyway, he loves the Muppets and they decide to visit the old Muppet theatre in LA only to find out that it is derelict and about to be torn down by an oil-digging Texan tycoon. So, of course, they go off and try to get the Muppets back together to save the theatre.

Who would I recommend this movie to? Anyone who loved the Muppets as a kid and is ready to see them with a slight (very slight) modern twist but with an old school feel. Also, anyone who is in the mood for a good clean laugh and anyone who has kids. Not Rudi. He apparently hated it. *Shrug* Anyway! 5/5 from me!

Life

I feel like I have aged over the last two weeks. There has been so much going on, not necessarily in my life, but in proximity to my life that is making me feel older than I actually am. Of course, there are factors that influence this - instead of being surprised to hear that I am as old as 23, as people used to be, they are now surprised to hear that I am as young as 23. That more than anything makes me feel like I am getting older, at least in the looks department. My style has certainly changed (at least during the week) in that I no longer wear a t-shirt and jeans to work, or if I do it is at least a sharp looking shirt or a t-shirt with smarter pants or a skirt. I have also taken to wearing dresses a lot more often, possibly because they are fitting me better than my t-shirts at the moment. A story for another day.

No, the reason why I feel like I have aged is that life is moving forward for those around me in both good and bad ways. There are some things that I am going to discuss that may feel very personal, and I apologise to my friends about that and will not use their real names to ensure their anonymity, but feel like I need to talk about the things that are on my mind.

It feels like there has been a lot of death recently. Some of the deaths are people that I have no connection to but affect me because of the pure sadness of the situation. One example of this is the death of Jamey Rodemeyer. I don't know how I came across his story, but it stuck out and is something that I have been thinking of a lot recently. A few months before his suicide, Jamey had taken part in the "It Gets Better" campaign, a campaign in support of LGBT teenagers that was formed due to the large numbers of suicides in America over the last few years. He spoke about how he truly believed that it gets better, that the support of family and friends overcomes the bullying that is experienced, that being proud of who you are will give you the strength to overcome the obstacles. I watched his video knowing the outcome, and it just absolutely broke my heart. The video can be seen here, and a tribute that was performed for Jamey by his idol, Lady Gaga, can be found here.

Then there are the deaths that have been slightly closer to home, like finding out on Tuesday that a friend's boyfriend had been murdered, brutally, in what was seen to be a hate crime. He was found naked, bound and gagged in his home, and even though my friend had only been dating him for a short amount of time, it really hit home just how horrifying the situation is. There is no doubt that, had I read about the incident without knowing someone involved, I would have been disgusted,  appalled and horrified, but it made it so much worse that my friend was suffering through the situation on his own, and most of all that I couldn't be with him in his time of need.

Still reeling from this knowledge, I found out later in the week that a friend's mother had passed away. I was utterly shocked to hear about it, to hear that it had been from a disease (an e-coli infection) that I recently had and that it had affected her so badly. And what struck me even more is that life goes on. It seems amazingly obvious, and yet, if I was in the same situation, I don't know how I would react. I don't know what I would be feeling, or experiencing, or thinking. But life goes on. You do keep feeling and thinking and experiencing and you have to get out and do the same things as you always did. You go on with your life, trying to remember that person who passed away as best as you can and in the best light that you can and you move on. Whether that takes weeks or months or years, I don't know. But it happens.

And in the midst of all the bad comes the good. There are weddings and celebrations of love. There are new years to bring in and good wishes to be sent to every family member and friend. New life is being brought into this world by those same beloved family members. And you have to remember that, while there is so much sadness in this world, there is also so much joy, and while you should remember those people that have passed, while you should feel sorrow and pain and sympathy, you should also celebrate every joyful opportunity that comes your way. And I intend to do just that.

So, while my deepest sympathies go out to the families and friends who are going through tough times, my heartfelt joy is going out to those with celebrations on the horizon and lives that are just beginning in all senses of the word.

Reach For Your Dream

A Cobra waiting to be started at Killarney, Cape Town.

I love children. This much should be fairly obvious given the fact that I travelled halfway across the world to teach them. I feel the need to say it, however, just in case it wasn't obvious and you didn't know. I will say it again. I love children. I love looking at them, but most of all I love the good feeling that I get from helping them, whether it comes from helping them learn English or helping them across the road; helping entertain them or helping babysit them. What can I say – I just like helping people. This is why, on Sunday, when my dad mentioned that he was going to Killarney to help some children, I jumped at the opportunity to get involved.

There may be a number of questions that you are asking yourself right now.
What the hell, you might be asking for example, is Killarney?
There may even be Cape Townians asking this question. Killarney is a race track situated along Plattekloof road where you will find all sorts of races (classic cars, motorbikes, go-carts and more) on just about every weekend. Going to Killarney was one of my favourite pastimes as a kid as I would stand on the side of the track with an ice-cold Coke in my hands, listening to the engines roar, bouncing up and down and from foot to foot from excitement and nerves whenever there was a crash and trying to spot Dad's green and yellow in the blur of colour that was the cars drifting around the bends. This pastime fell by the wayside as shopping, movies and friends became more prominent and the roar of the engines started sounding like nothing more than noise. It has been years since I had been to Killarney, and I felt that it was about time that I returned. And what better reason could there be than helping the children?

This is where your next question may come in.
How does going to Killarney help children?
My answer to this one is short and simple. Reach for a Dream. Well, perhaps that's too short and simple for some. Reach for a Dream is a foundation that helps children with life-threatening diseases reach their dreams, whether that dream is owning your own computer, being a princess for a day or even, as was the case this time around, being a professional race car driver.

Now sure, the kids weren't allowed to drive the cars. That would be a little reckless and I am not sure that too many people would hand over their cars to the hands of children. Instead, the kids were brought to Killarney and were provided with a number of cars to ride in – from Dad's classic Lotus to a stylish Ferrari and about 20 others in between. But they don't mind someone else driving – they just have the need; the need for speed. One by one the kids lined up to get a chance to ride in the cars as the drivers were given strict instructions: Be careful; Don't drive too fast; No drifting; Yada-yada-yada. No one was really interested in the rules – everyone wanted to get out on the road and the kids could hardly stand still – their anticipation getting the better of them.

Car after car was brought forward as the stewards and assistants helped the kids into their helmets (another must) and into their cars of choice. Wide eyed, they sat as the cars sped towards the starting line and, with a seemingly obligatory revving of the engine and squeal of the wheels, made their way onto the track. Round and round they went with the onlookers leaning over the cement divide and practically falling onto the tracks themselves to see what was happening and who was coming around the corners. With each whoosh of a car passing by, the waiting children became more and more eager for their turn to come around. Each car that returned saw a face grinning from ear to ear and a child running out of the car to stand in line once again.

Boerie rolls, curry and rice; fruit juice and Coca-Cola; eyes glued to the track as cars overtake each other, cringing at how close they came to colliding; jumping as a car's engine revs unexpectedly or a tyre squeals in the distance; noses stinging at the smell of burning rubber, dropped oil and used petrol. Nothing like a race at Killarney to take me back to the good old days of no-cares living. Now if only I could have hopped into one of those cars too...