When silence speaks louder than words

Butcher Boys (1985/86) is a sculpture made by South African artist Jane Alexander of three life size, oil painted plaster figures with animal horn and bone details, seated on a bench.

The humanoid beasts with powdery skin, black eyes, broken horns are devoid of their outside senses – their ears are nothing more than deep gorges in their heads and their mouths are missing, appearing to be covered with thick roughened skin.

The artwork represents the brutal dehumanizing forces of Apartheid in South Africa.

On my bucket-list

Chefchaouen or The Blue Pearl is a breathtaking mountain town in northeastern Morocco. The picturesque medina, set against the dramatic backdrop of the Rif Mountains, is filled with white-washed homes with distinctive, powder-blue accents. Every street is better taken care of and cleaner than any other city in Morocco.

The blue-rinsed houses and buildings mirror the cloudless Moroccan sky – but religious rather than stylistic reasons are behind the design choice that comes from the town’s former Jewish population. In Judaism, blue represents the sky as well as the heavens, reminding everyone to live a life full of spiritual awareness.

The name “Chefchaouen” simply refers to the shapes of the mountaintops that tower over the town, that look like the two horns (chaoua) of a goat. “Chef Chaouen” literally means, “look at the horns”.

In love

Need I say anything more?

So what impresses you much?

A positive attitude
Humaneness
Acceptance
Integrity . . .
The list of things that can't be bought goes on and on . . . and so does my task to keep on working at achieving these.

Joie de vivre

I firmly believe that happiness is a choice, and joyfulness an attitude.

Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek

Catastrophe 2015 TV Series

I find most sitcoms and comedy films quite boring – slapstick, been there, seen it, yawn – but every now and then something pops ups that tickles my funny bones so delightfully that it makes me laugh out loud.

Catastrophe is one of those rare comedies, deliciously surprising and yet, so very, very real. The catch line only gives you a slight indication of what is to come: An American man and an Irish woman make a bloody mess as they struggle to fall in love in London.

Catastrophe is for anyone who loves unexpected, slightly dark, British comedy, and I am thrilled to report that the second season is already in the making.

Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney in Catastrophe

Boychoir

An important part of evenings on my own is watching movies or TV series and fortunately one doesn’t have to consider anyone else's preferences.

Recently, I watched Boychoir from acclaimed Canadian director François Girard. It is the story of a gifted, but troubled 12-year-old youngster (Garett Wareing) struggling against the odds to find his voice at a prestigious East Coast music school. He clashes with the school's demanding choir master (Dustin Hoffman) who pushes him to fulfill his true potential. Co-starring in this inspiring drama are Kathy Bates, Josh Lucas, Debra Winger and Kevin McHale.

I thoroughly enjoyed this uplifting film, and it will be on my list for best movies of 2015.

South Africa's wetland feral horses

In the triangle between the R44, the R43 and the Atlantic Ocean lays the Bot River Estuary with the Cape Nature Reserve, Rooisand astride where it spills into the sea.

The lagoon is famous for South Africa's only herd of feral horses to be found in a wetland habitat. They are a little shy, but not aggressive or dangerous and roam free from Kleinmond to Fisherhaven. I often see them, even walking past my house on their way to the beach at the end of my road.

Many years ago, so one of the stories is told, a local farmer, tired of farming, sold all his cattle and turned his horses loose into the wilderness. Somehow these horses survived in the wetlands, and even thrived. They were once so seldom seen that many people doubted their existence.

Another story has it that at the end of the Anglo Boer War, evacuating British soldiers let their cavalry horses loose in the great vlei of the Kleinmond lagoon. By the 1940’s the herd had grown to over 400. Totally wild, the horses roamed the river area, decimating precious grazing. Farmers began to round them up or shoot them. Apparently only three horses escaped the attempt to eradicate the herd.

These animals have been isolated and not cross-bred with other stock for over 100 years. Today their descendents can be seen splashing through the lagoon or cantering between the dunes. This unique herd of over 20 wild horses are cherished by most who live here, and have become quite a tourist attraction.

Remember

Thinking

Yayoi and Iris made me think: Keep doing what you are doing long enough, and you will become a master at it. They are living proof of it.

So, whether that something that I am doing is good or bad, big or small – if I persist, I will become a master at it, whether I like it or not.

On the topic of rare birds . . .

There is ageing gracefully, and then there is Iris: Iris Apfel (born August 29, 1921) is an American businesswoman, interior designer, and fashion icon. Apfel consults and lectures about style and other fashion topics.

The former interior designer was 83 years old and over a decade into her retirement when her second career started and she became an It Girl. At age 90 in 2012, Apfel was a visiting professor at University of Texas at Austin.

The documentary Iris by Albert Maysles was released in April 2015.

And when asked what’s next, then? She answered: "Oh, I’ve got so many projects on the fire. The movie is coming out. The kids come from Texas. I’m working on another handbag collection. I have another jewellery collection, too. I’m starting a new book—musings, things that pop into my head, little essays, and one-liners. A lot is going on."

Iris Apfel doesn’t give a hoot. This woman is a law unto herself.

Charmingly rude, brilliantly abrupt, wearing gigantic owlish glasses and necklaces that look like pythons sliding around her oesophagus, Apfel is the kind of rare nonagenarian people want to keep hold of.

"I would tell everybody to keep as busy as possible, because if you have obligations and things to do, you can put any problems aside and stop kvetching."

Iris Apfel (94)