On my way! (slowly...but surely)

It's 3AM Toronto time and I'm in a lounge in Frankfurt. How quickly I'd fogotten how looooong the flight to South Africa was!!!
I've already done over 12 hours on the first flight and the next will be nearly 9 (after a 6 hour layover of course :)

But how nice home sweet home will be!

Can't wait to see you all.

xo cm

Random Tidbits

There are a few things that I haven't been able to create an official post for that I thought you might all find amusing, so I'm starting a post just to capture some random tidbits:

1. There are no king-size beds in South Africa.

While I can't say with absolute certainty that this is true, I have stayed at two separate hotels now and both have two twin beds pushed together to create a king-sized bed. You wouldn't think that you would feel the crack between the two mattresses, but you do... believe me, you do!

2. I have now eaten ostrich

Amazing, right? See??? I can be adventurous! I thought it would taste more like poultry, but the taste and texture is actually closer to steak. It is tender and delicious. Who knew? :)

3. Men call tank tops "vests"

We were trying to meet up with our chaperone at a restaurant, so he told us that he would be wearing jeans and a green "vest". The vest was in fact a green muscle shirt...needless to say, it took us a while to find him!

4. I've decided I like the South African way of saying "You're Welcome"

Because they don't say "you're welcome". When I first arrived in Africa and thanked someone they replied "pleasure", and I thought "wow, that's really nice. It's their 'pleasure' to help me". I've since realized that is the common response. No one says "you're welcome", just "pleasure"...and I like it.

5. There are 6 million people in this part of South Africa

And you'd never know it. I think Cape Town may be the cleanest city I've ever visited. It's funny because the winds really gust at night and you can see some garbage flying about, but in the morning, everything is clean again. Apparently they have cleaners working at night to keep the city beautiful.

6. I could buy a house here

Literally. Financially. I was asking the chaperone how much some of the nicer/larger houses we have been shooting at would cost, and once we did the math, they're about $200-300K Canadian. Did I mention there are a bunch of worldwide advertising agencies here as well? ;)

Shoot Day 3 & 4

Yesterday went off without a hitch! I guess we were due for a good shoot day!
We're currently on set reshooting the spot we tried to shoot on Wednesday...some major deja vu happening here! :)

xo cm

I saw zebras today!!!

That is all.
I thought it warranted a post. :)

xo cm

Shoot Day 2

After a full day of sitting out in the rain, we were only able to capture 3 hours of footage (that was in English and French). Needless to say, we've had to add on another shoot day to the end of our week. We'll now be shooting the Saturday we had off before our flights.

C'est la vie, non? :)

xo cm

Shoot Day 1

After a week of gorgeous South African sun, we arrived on set to this...go figure.

It was a long, cold, wet day. Winds were blowing at 70 km/h, which is a little tricky when you're shooting patio sets (and umbrellas!)

Tiny Dancer

Last night after our wardrobe fitting we all went to the Elton John concert. Elton was amazing!!! He played all of the classics and really did NOT disappoint. I personally was expecting more costume changes from the diva (there were none!), but who can complain about 2.5 hours of pure entertainment?! Apparently Elton likes to do shows each new year in Africa. He thinks its a good way to start off the year, and it gives him a chance to see how his charity work with AIDS is helping.

Robben Island

Yesterday we took the ferry across to Robben Island. It's about a half an hour ride and approx 11km from Cape Town (at the closest point). Robben Island is where political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of society used to be sent. The prison is the main attraction, but there are other very cool parts of the island. There is a leper graveyard there, and old buildings that used to be hospitals for the mentally unstable or terminally ill.

Robben Island - The Animals!

Once we were off the ferry, we took a guided bus tour around to see the sights and learn of the island's history. The bus tour also allowed us to see the wildlife roaming about - penguins, huge tortoises, antelopes, springboks and many, many rabbits.

Robben Island Prison Tour

The tour of the prison was phenomenal! We had an ex-prisoner showing us around, which I must admit felt a little strange. It was weird to have someone explaining to us how things were...who actually experienced them while he was imprisoned there.The sad part was that he was only doing the tour because he was unemployed and needed the money - I'm sure it would be very hard to run tours around a place where you had been treated so poorly for 6 years. And for those of you worrying about the safety of having an ex-prisoner employed to run the tours - don't worry! Most "criminals" incarcerated there were political troublemakers. Our guide was found guilty of treason while trying to improve human rights in Africa. Pictured above is a shot of one of the cell blocks as seen from the yard. The cell that is fourth from the right was Nelson Mandela's. He served 18 of his 27 years in Robben Island. Our guide was released in 1991, as were all of the prisoners. Had the prison not been shut down and the prisoners released, he would still be serving his sentence until 2009.

I spy with my little eye....

I only have 5 mins to post before our chaperone picks us up for our next meeting...but look at the cuties I saw this morning!

We went to Robben Island and visited the prison and were lucky enough to see the penguins and this seal frolicking. Will post more details on the prison tonight. It was a fantastic tour.

xo cm

Saturday in Cape Town

Just a quick post since there is not a lot new to report back just yet. We were shooting magazine yesterday and are shooting more today, so we haven't really been out to see anything new in Cape Town. Thought you might find some of the test shots amusing...perhaps you recognize the models? :)

Tomorrow we have part of the day off, so we are going to Robben Island. It is a big tourist attraction, it houses the jail where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. Tomorrow night we have tickets to go see Elton John!!! Should be interesting!

Am still hoping to see the penguins at some point, and to go to the top of Table Mountain (the mountain I've pictured below). They have a cable car that rides to the top that is supposed to be amazing.

xo cm

A Day In the Life

Today was my first full day in Cape Town. So what can I tell you so far?

Cape Town is lovely. The people are lovely, and it is HOT. I haven't had a chance to sit in the afternoon sun yet, but I'm told you can't stay in it for longer than half an hour at a time. I had to smile at some women lazying by the pool today. They are soooo burned, and yet they are sprawled out worshipping the sun again today. I'm sure they'll have a wonderful leather-like finish by the time we all leave :)

Everything is backwards here. Cape Town was a British colony, so the driver's side is on the right side of the car, you have to push all light switches down to turn them on, and you even go up on the other side of the escalator. Yes, we've looked pretty stupid a few times. I still keep trying to get in on the wrong side of the car, and keep trying to go up the down escalator.

As you can see from my pics below, our hotel is right on the wharf. This morning we saw a seal playing in the water from my window. It's amazing to see all these animals you never see at home. There are zebras that you can see on the hills as you're driving in towards our hotel and I'm still keen on seeing the penguins that are on the beach. Am hoping we can carve some time away to go do that. Johnnie was talking about doing some shark cage diving, but has had his hopes dashed - apparently the dives are only available on the off season. I'm a little relieved. It's one less thing they can try to talk me into here!

The food has been delish...though, being on the wharf has it's drawbacks. Anyone who knows me will probably understand why I might not appreciate the location and the menus in this part of town!

Tonight our team and director went to a a restaurant off the wharf and then went back to the director's hotel (the oldest in Cape Town) for a drink. He's from LA, so he was dishing a bunch of celeb gossip, that we all were eating up (of course!). Nothing huge to report back yet, but I'll let you know as the week draws on. There has been some talk on his part of the fact that Elton John is in town and that we could get tickets......I have to tell you, you do not want to be around a bunch of ladies and our gays when someone utters the words "Elton John" and "free tickets"! LOL!!! Not entirely sure we'll be able to get in, but you'll know if we do!

No new pics to post quite yet. It's been a meeting filled day. Will hopefully be able to get some tomorrow while we're driving to our print shoot location. Am thinking of posting some video tomorrow if you're interested in seeing!

xo cm

The view from here...

As promised...same view as below, but in the daylight! It's incredibly beautiful!!! I've also managed to take a few other shots around the wharf, but this is the extent of it right now. We've been in meetings all day, but I'm hoping to get out at least to do a little walk around later this afternoon.

My computer's powered up for now, so I'll do full post tonight.

Miss you all.

xo cm

Cape Town

It's really dark here, but as you can see, the view is beautiful. There are some mountains back there somewhere too...will have to post a daytime shot tomorrow! This is the view from my room at the hotel - we're right on the water, and so far the hotel is really nice. I have to keep this short since I am not able to charge my computer in my room (I can't get the adapter to work), will hopefully get this sorted tomorrow.

Hope this post finds everyone well.

xo cm

We're here!!!!

Nearly 2 days later and we're finally here! :) We arrived at the hotel about half an hour ago (9:30 Cape Town time). Will post a full update when I have a moment, in desperate need of a shower (!!!) before our 10pm meeting.

xo cm

Home Sweet Home

How sweet it is...if only for today! We fly out tomorrow morning so I have enough time to repack my suitcase, see my fam and get in all my hugs with my dog :)

Will post some more pics from Vegas just as soon as I find my USB cable...I know it's in one of these bags somewhere!

cm

Permanent Midnight

Wow, when they say this is the city that never sleeps, they're not kidding. The casinos feel like permanent midnight - they are always full, always dark and people are always losing money. Last night we met a man from BC who we saw lose a few hundred dollars on a couple of hands of blackjack! I'm sure the fact that Whitney Houston was the dealer may have helped soften the blow! :) Other dealers included Elvis (pelvis shaking and all), Stevie Wonder (who was an amazingly good dealer for someone who pretended to be blind), Debbie Harry, Madonna, Tina Turner and Billy Joel. They get up to perform as well. Very funny.

The old strip is also tons of fun. The boys were really in their element there, able to roam the streets with open alcohol while smoking cigars. Rae loved it and is thoroughly enjoying the Elvis sunglasses I bought her...and I indulged in a few very large margarittas. While I have strayed from my usual gin-based beverages, I am happy to report I have still been able to get out of bed in the mornings (mostly).

We just got back from the Grand Canyon today. It was gorgeous, but freezing. There was snow and ice on the look-outs...did I mention none of us wore a coat? Brilliant planning, I know.

We're back at the hotel just long enough to get ready for the show tonight. We've got tickets to "Jubilee", which Rachel and I bought since we wanted to go see a Old Vegas style show...you know, women with the big head dresses and sequined bras, maybe some can-caning.... :) Well, I think the boys are going to enjoy this one, we just noticed in the car on the way home that the tagline under the show name reads: "Topless Extravaganza". Oh. My. Well, this is Vegas!

Will let you know how it is!

xo cm

Viva Las Vegas!

We're finally checked into our room after a loooong hot flight - the lovely snow storm had us in the de-icing area for quite a while. So far we have gorged ourselves at the buffet and have checked out the Lion's Habitat (kitty with his rawhide above). Tonight we head out to the old strip...after we have a nap. We definitely should NOT have stayed up to ring in the new year last night!

Happy 2008 everybody!

xo cm