Still alive

Things have been unbelievably busy with day job and music. I must admit that it has been more day job stuff than music, but I'm not complaining because day job does pay the bills :)

Musically things are getting better. I've discovered my inner songwriter. I promise to put my stuff up here just as soon as I've done all the necessary stuff.

When things calm down, I will carry on with my 'regular' posting.

I'm working and watching ANTM. Skinny model types are special :)

Why do YOU do it?

SO, the other day someone left a comment asking why I had a blog, what it was that I had to contribute? Uhmm... Okay!

It got me thinking: What exactly is meaningful? I mean I know what the word means, but who decides what is meaningful and what isn't? I decided to have my own blog because I wanted to share MY journey with my friends and anybody else who may be interested. It says so in my 'blog description'. I live in Cape Town, away from my friends and family (who are all over the world). I would love to say that I am the best at keeping in touch with ALL of them, but I'm not. So this is my way of keeping them updated on the happenings of my life.

That being said, I don't always talk about what is happening in my life. Occasionally I talk about what is happening around the world and things that have really struck a chord with me. I'm so sorry that 'anonymous' feels that what I have to say is not meaningful... Okay, that was a lie. I don't actually care. If you think my blog is boring or shallow you are not compelled to come back :)

I'd really like to know something: Do you sometimes feel pressured to write 'meaningful' posts or do you even care? I'm curious to find out why the rest of you are blogging?

P.S Thanks to Eishman for pointing out that I had not said where the band will be based: CAPE TOWN. Sorryyyy 'bout that :)

STILL LOOKING for A BAND

Okay... Now I'm going to post something until I find a darn band.

I take it all the musos were sleeping when I posted this. So I'll say it again: IA MA LOOKING FOR A BAND!! Contact me at porcelainband@gmail.com and let me know what instrument you play etc and then we can meet for coffee and see if we wont kill each other within the first 5 minutes.

Until my next band post :)

It's SO not about you

Lesson of the day:

"It's not always about you!"

In every situation there will be someone who will find a way to make it about them. In the process they will become the victim and you will be one of the perpetrators: whether or not you are actually plotting against the person.

There are just some people who think the world revolves around them and that everybody has made their life's work to 'bring them down' or undermine them. Aargh, some people are infuriating. So what do you?

DON'T ENTERTAIN THAT SH&$ and keep living your life :)

Sunday throwback video 2

I'm still hard at work on day-job stuff, so I figured I should play another game. Here is another throwback video. Yes, yes I know, I was too young to truly appreciate what this song was really about when it first came, I am now. Please enjoy it... Throwback video of the day is Common's 'I used to love H.E.R'



I just love it when he says:

"Now I see her in commercials, shes universal"

"Talkin about poppin glocks servin rocks and hittin switches

Now shes a gangsta rollin with gangsta b%$ch#s

Always smokin blunts and gettin drunk"

"Stressin how hardcore and real she is"

"She was really the realest, before she got into showbiz

I did her, not just to say that I did it

But Im committed, but so many n*&%z hit it

That shes just not the same lettin all these groupies do her

I see n*&%z slammin her, and takin her to the sewer

But ima take her back hopin that the sh%$ stop

Cause who Im talkin bout yall is hip-hop"

Gotta love this stuff. I LOVE that last line about her being Hip Hop :)

Thank you Sunday Times

For reminding me that my root canal (which still has't happened) kept me from seeing 'Mr John' perform. I hear he was FANTASTIC!! What do I see on the front page this morning when I bought my Sunday Times? A picture of a singing John... Sigh! The universe hates me! Well, here is a pic of 'Mr John', just to cheer me and anybody else who happened to miss his show up.


WHO the HELL PERFORMS at Sun City ONLY?? No love lost there though...

That's all from me for today :)

It's his day

So I thought why not post a 'Happy fathers day' message to all dad's and especially mine. Who called me this morning asking me if I had forgotten that it's fathers day, because usually people call early in the morning to wish their fathers a 'happy fathers day'. The man is a riot. To all the wonderful, involved and loving fathers (alive or dead) HAPPY FATHERS DAY from this daddy's girl.

Below is me and my pops playing silly buggers (he even loves me when I'm not pretty aaaaww).

WANTED: A Band

Okay, so project hush did not work out. I still can't tell you what it is because it is still happening it's just that we have gone back to 'refining' it. STAY TUNED...


The show must go on and that means: it is time to take the next step. Which is... Finding THE BAND!! I am going to try and explain what's happening in my head as best as I can. Currently I am writing my own songs on my crappy second hand keyboard. As you all know I am no Mozart and I've just discovered that I can write a decent song. I can write a million songs, but I know they will NEVER be complete without a band 'in the mix'. I am in desperate need of a band. And I'm not going to discriminate against anyone who wants to join the 'Black Porcelain experience' (doesn't that make you think of Jimmi Hendrix ha ha ha).

You don't have to look a certain way: I don't care if you are White, Blue, Black, Bronze etc. Males and females welcome. No height or weight requirements. Just please be legal (age wise), I'd hate to have your mom calling you home to do your homework during practise. So, I'm afraid there is no room for any child prodigy's. All you need to have is: AN APPRECIATION FOR MUSIC. Any kind of music: Rock, the Blues, Classical, Hip Hop... No music snobs please! I cant imagining working with someone who doesn't not appreciate the diversity of music. My sound is very diverse, so a snob will not be happy playing with me.

At the moment I'm not sure what instruments will make the final cut ha ha ha. I feel so silly saying these things. I would really like a couple of African drums, guitar, bass, piano player (I don't think I can play for myself just yet... hee hee), violin, drums and... Well why don't you contact me here: porcelainband@gmail.com and we can take it from there.

If you play more than one instrument that is FANTASTIC, if you don't shout me a holler anyway. Oh... Uhm I live in a very small place, so the manager girl is looking at finding us a place to practise. So... Let the games begin...

LET THE GAMES BEGIN PEOPLE, LET THE GAME BEGIN!!!!!!

P.S I'm not perfect and I don't think I'm looking for 'perfect' people. I'm just looking for people to grow with. People to enjoy the music with :)

I did it in a STUDIO

I mean I really did it and it felt GREAT! I have done it in a studio before, but it wasn't a real studio. The producer kid (who I haven't gotten together with in ages) has a studio, but it's his bedroom... I know that sounds dodgy but it isn't. He converted his bedroom into a studio and you have to stand in the closet to record vocals. *LOL* It's actually quite fun!

Today I was doing it in a REAL studio. With expensive equipment and a REAL piano. I swear I almost had an orgasm (an emotional orgasm that usually ends in tears of joy). WOW!! I played the piano and sang and I LOVED it. I did it once, just to get the idea down and then I walked away from what could quite possibly be described as the most nerve wrecking and amazing moment in my life.

I recorded a song in a real studio and I was playing the piano for myself. Ha ha ha ha. Okay, so I wasn't playing a complicated piece. But I put those chords together, I wrote the melody and lyrics and... And... And the song is MINE and I played for MYSELF and it didn't sound like SHIT!!

Okay that was what I wanted to share :) Good tings are gwan, good tings!!!

Telesales bullies AARGH!

Yesterday I received a call from a telesales person from my Insurance company. I was busy, but I entertained it (BIG MISTAKE). After listening to this guy read something to me, I asked him to send me a pamphlet or something that I could read because I couldn't just a make a decision like that over the phone. He became annoyed with me and said that he couldn't send me anything until I committed to something. I said no and tried to explain to MR TELESALES that I couldn't make a decision like that over the phone. He got all snappy with me and started patronising me. I tried to stop the belligerent TELESALES person, but he kept cutting me off. He ended our conversation with a very sarcastic 'thank you for your time' and hung up on me.

Question: why did that man think that was okay? Do we entrust our service providers with our contact details just to have some unhappy chappy call us and attack us? If he had called me at work randomly or even at a public phone (I know that doesn't make any senses, but indulge me). But he called me on my cellphone. I don't give out my number all willy nilly because I value my privacy. So this bully PISSED ME OFF like you wont believe.

I immediately got on the phone and called the insurance company to tell them that I WILL NOT BE HARASSED on MY PHONE because some TELESALES person is having a bad day. I was at the receiving end of this cowards frustrated tirade and I didn't deserve it. I have problems of my own... UHHH ROOT CANAL COMING UP! But I'm not being a pain.

Aren't you tired of people calling you and offering you R10 000 worth of airtime, lifetime access to some obscure spa etc etc. ENOUGH ALREADY!! I'm not saying that ALL TELESALES people are bad, but it gets a bit much when you receive call s at the most inconvenient times.

I'm done sharing my story, feel free to share yours with somebody else. You'll feel much better.

I'm so beeezy today, so beeezy. Day job is kicking my behind-boo hoo hoo.

A crying HIP HOP mess

That is exactly what I am today. ONE BIG crying MESS!! My day did not start off so grand because of the pain and because we had such a crappy show. These things happen you know :)

On my way home I was listening to my Common CD: It's your world (from the 'Be' album), I sat in my car for a while after parking it and just listened to the song. Then I had a Christina (from greys Anatomy) moment: I started bawling and couldn't stop. I sat there for a good 30 minutes and CRIED. The whole time I kept thinking 'great, I'm finally falling apart!' One of my worst fears is losing my mind, so you can imagine how scared I was. I finally called Marcee, because I was SOOO scared that I would NEVER stop crying. She was in town so she came home and sat in the car with me (while I cried some more).

I'm getting to the part about WHY I was crying. Well near the end of the song there are these kids that are saying what they want to be when they grow up. I used to be one of those kids. I once wanted to be a... Well I was one of those kids that wanted to be EVERYTHING (I had no idea that I could make music for a living back then, but I still LOVED music). How many of us actually get to be Fire-fighters, ninjas, vets or any of that stuff? Why do we 'forget' or give up on all that. Oaky, maybe the kid who wanted to be a Ninja found out he had arthritis or whatever *LOL*

But at that moment in the car I REALISED that I had 'given up' on ME. I had given up on the girl who can make the music, the girl who FEELS and KNOWS the music. The reason why it takes so long for me to make music is because I don't have any faith in MYSELF!! I was crying because I had lost the little girl in me who BELIEVED that she could do it (whatever 'it' may be). When I eventually stopped crying I looked at my best friend and said to her 'YOU are SOMEBODY! You deserve to BEcome the person you KNEW you COULD be when you were little." Below is what 'Pops' says at the end of the track (don't balme if it's not 100% correct, I got it from here):

Be, be here, be there, be that, be this

Be grateful for life, be grateful to life

Be gleeful everyday, for being the best swimmer among 500,000

Be-nign, be you, be mom's mean pie, be little black sambo With bad hair

Be aware of what a lynch is, Be, be boundless energy

Be a four star ghetto general, be no one except I

Be a strong academic student, be an A student in sociology

Be food for thought to the growing mind, be the author of your own horoscope

Be invited, be long-living, be forgiving, be not forgetful

Be a proud run, only to return to fight another day

Be peaceful if possible, but justice in ways (?)

Be high when you low, be on time but knowing to go

Be cautious of the road to college, taking a detour through Vietnam or the middle east

Be absent of wars at any past or present fought amongst themselves

Be visual of foreclosure over your shoulder while begging

A nation built on free labor for reparation, Be a cartopogropher

Be a map maker, be able to find afro-american man

search thoroughly it may be close to black man

Be ammended 5/5ths, be ammended 5/5ths human

Be the owner of more land than is set aside for wild life

Be cupid, to world government

Be found among the truth, lost tribe

Be at full strength when walking through the valley

Be not foolish as tender 18 of the mountain tops

Be a brilliant soul, sparkling in the galaxy while walking on earth

Be loved by God as much as God loved Ghandi and Martin Luther King

Be that last one of 144,000, be the resident of that twelfth house

Be....eternal!

Who says Hip Hop isn't deep? ha ha ha ha ha! It made me cry dammit! I'm still feeling a little emotional, but I think that is just the 'sick-Ms Porcelain-cry-baby' thing.

Can crying too much make you sick? Because I have a killer headache and I just want to sleep. So, goodnight!

The music thang

Okay there is much madness in my life right now. Day job is keeping me lank busy and I have not had a moment to scratch my... Uhmm, never mind!

I will be recording a demo of one of my 'babies' (songs that I have written, composed, produced etc myself) TOMORROW and once the manager chick has registered it with SAMRO I will put it up here. I cannot wait to hear what you think of it. Go easy on me, I'm a first time songwriter. I'm already getting better, but this is the FIRST DRAFT people. I'm in no hurry t accept my Grammy. This is a journey and I realise it :)

Funny how no matter how busy I am, I always make time to post a blog :) I love putting my thoughts on here and getting the occasional comment now and then. It's therapeutic to have a place where I can vent and share. YAY BLOGGING!! I don't have much time tonight, so I have to run.

Due to the cost of my root canal I will no longer be able to afford a plane ticket and a concert ticket for 'Mr John'. I'm a little sad, but I'll get over it. Right now the cost of the root canal is what is causing me much unhappiness. I miss medical aid. I really need to get back on one SOOON!!

Later days

Sunday throwback video

I haven't had any fun and games of late. So here goes... Notorius B.I.G's 'sky's the limit' is todays throwback track. I used to LOVE this video, now I'm not sure about those little girls shaking their 'groove thang' LMAO!! Oh Biggie he went from 'Ashy to classy" ha ha ha. What a lovely throwback...



I LOOOOVE YouTube :)

Toothace HORROR!!

So you know how I was complaining about that toothache last night? Ja. Well, it turns out that it wasn't any ol' toothache. It is infact an abscess... YUCK YUCK YUCK!! If you want a gross definition of what an abscess is, go here. Pus?! GASP... SHOCK... FAINT! Okay back to my tooth story.

A month (or so) ago I had a filling done, by a stand in dentist. Not sure where my sweet, gentle and smart dentist was. After the filling was done, my tooth was unnecessarily sensitive, anything could set it off: cold water, hot water, food etc. I went to go see the dentists and he said that it was minor and recommended that I rub Mentadent S on it and all would be good. I did and all was not good. Now here I sit with pain that I cannot describe and an appointment for a root canal for Tuesday the 19th. WHYYYYYYYYY?!

Why me? I have a dental jinx. Anything that could possibly go wrong when it comes to my teeth, always does. Why me? Why? As if that is not enough, I am now on Antibiotics and CANNOT have ONE DROP of alcohol. Conspiracy theory anyone? Root canal is going to cost me many limbs (I am no longer on medical aid because I'm a freelancer) and that means that I'm going to fork out many many Ronds! That means no more John Legend for me. I had to choose between healthy gums and teeth and an amazing musical experience. I'm afraid I HAD to pick the latter, because I HATE pain.

Later days

Toothache blues

I have a HECTIC toothache and am starting to think that I will need to go to the dentists for EMERGENCY SURGERY (to remove the sucker) tomorrow morning... As in as soon as I open my eyes. I think I have mentioned that I cry a lot when I'm not feeling well. So, no prizes for guessing what I was doing the whole of this afternoon. Poor Ms Porcelain... What a whiny crying woman!!

Ooohhhh ooohhh ooh!! Before I forget, last night I finished a song entitled 'A song for...'. It's a fun little song that I will put on here once I've recorded it. I plan to record it this weekend. I CANNOT WAIT to share it with you all. Yay!! Yay!! I won't put it up here immediately but it will be here eventually. I CAN'T wait!!

I am becoming better at writing and composing my own songs. Thank God I decided to take up those piano lessons. I must say that the sound is developing as well. YES! YES! YES! I'm so happy about the music stuff. SOOO happy. Once I have enough music I will start doing live gigs. *falling over with excitement*

Enjoy the weekend :)

Flying solo

So I hosted the radio show all by my lonesome today. Okay... let me start at the beginning. I have been sleeping really late because of the project HUSH HUSH (can't really say what it is, because well it's on the low for now) and I had to wake up really early to get to the studio in time to do a prep and have breakfast. On my way to work I heard my phone ringing, but I couldn't answer it because it was in my handbag, which was in the boot. It was the host of the show who was calling me. She called about 3 times so I knew it was urgent. I called her back and she said that she had a personal crisis and couldn't come to work.

WHAT?!! PANIC PANIC!!! After 5 minutes of panic I called Marcee and said 'Please come to the studio... I think I'm gonna faint." Like a TOP TJOMMIE she put everything down and came to hold my hand. I know how blesed I am to have someone like her in my life. I LOVE YOU MARCEE POO!!!! I was sure I was going to throw up all over the desk and get fired for destroying equipment and fainting on air. Everything went well. I had the support of my bestfreind and everybody else. It went pretty okay and I'm still in one piece. So there is one thing I thought I could never do and I DID IT. Verity was right, I have let my fear keep me small and prevent me from really knowing my strength. I FLEW SOLO TODAY!!!!

Experiment update:
The experiment is going well. Tonight we had Lentil Bobotie (is that the right spelling?). Lovely stuff. I would love to say one of us cooked it, but ti was store bought. Things have been more than hectic this week and it's not going to get better either.

I'm still trying to find a way to go to the John Legend show... Sulk sulk sulk. HEEEELLLLPP!!

Experiment update 1

The experiment is going well-ish. I haven't had any meat yet, but that does not mean that is has not been hard. I've been eating meat for AGES and never thought there was anything wrong with it. It's in my blood... Like the other day when I automatically ordered a chicken mayo sandwich. I'm learning and un-learning at the same time. Marcee is loving it. Thank God I have such an amazing 'experiment' buddy.

Speaking of buddies My dad was here (Cape Town) for one night. Aaaahh... I love my pops, what a lovely lovely man. What makes me love him even more is because I know that he is only human, he has his mistakes but he is still such a GREAT guy. He actually introduces Marcee as his daughter. Sweet man!! We went for dinner and I had Nachos for the first time and Ms Marcee had her first ever Veg burger.

My other 'top tjommies' have started their own blogs. WELCOME WELCOME guys. Got much love for you, hope blogging gives you as much joy as it has given me. Marcee... *crickets*
Uhmm.... Anytime you are ready to join us here in cyber space. Take your time... *crickets* My three 'top tjommies' and I are working on a bit of a hush hush project, will let you know about it in the near future, just keep your ear to the ground and your eye to the screen ha ha ha ha. I'm easily amused...

Went to go see a play earlier on tonight, but I will do a review of it later this week when I have a picture of the cast etc.

Still trying to make my way to Sun city to see 'Mr John'... Sigh!

P.S Tertia's little boy Adam had an operation and he came out of it just fine. Well done Tersh, you survived your first 'big mommy' op. I wish you nothing but the best for your FET cycle that starts this week. I will have a glass of wine for you AND Marko.

He is COMING!!! And I'm not...

This morning my girl Phi calls me and tells me that JOHN LEGEND will be in THIS country next week. So I'm like: WHAT? And she is like: YEAH. Okay, so I must have missed the extensive advertising for this gig. But don't panic because you can still catch the show in Cape Town. This is what I was telling my self.


IT'S FOR TWO DAYS ONLY... Two days?! *running around the studio frantically* 'Oh poor John, how will he cope with two shows in two cities and no day to rest', I asked myself. IT'S ALL HAPPENING AT SUN CITY... At this point I have fallen over in despair and am completely inconsolable.


So today is my first day as a Vegetarian and this is what I've learnt so far:

1. Vegetarians cannot have chicken mayo sandwiches (I did it out of habit, but a good friends quickly stopped me)

2. Sun City is very far away from Cape Town

3. Men will come, WITH or WITHOUT you.. sob sob


Nuff said :)

Fully clothed, beautiful and talented

Here is proof that you can be classy (as in not naked) and still be a respected and most AMAZING singer. There is no reason why we need to be half naked to sell records. I have much respect for these ladies. Just in case you are wondering what it is: the first one is Billie Holiday singing one of may favourites (Fine and Mellow) and the second one is Mama Ella with 'Night and day' (not one of my favourites, but still sooo beautiful). The clips are a little long, but definitely worth it. Fabulous-ness!! I LOVES it. This is my kinda stuff. These ladies are amazing!! Mama Ella's voice stayed so strong and SOOO beautiful :)





Nuff said...

The unforgivable sin

Why do people 'lip sync'/'mime'? Why do some South African musicians think that it is OKAY to 'lip sync'? Why do you want to mime your way through a performance? Why must you waste our time? Why even bother showing up when we can just play the CD? There is nothing more pathetic and embarrassing than an artists miming their songs at a 'live' show... NOTHING!!!

Okay, so I know you're wondering what has brought this on. Well, I was watching 'Strictly come dancing' re-runs tonight (yes I'm unexciting, but that is SOO not the point) and there was this new hip hop artists who came on. Now... There is always a band and singers on this show, so a live performance would not have been asking for much. They have two singers who actually sing live every episode. But, not 'brother man' he decided that he was going to show up and 'mime' his song.

Am I the only one who thinks that is embarrassing? I would rather die than do that. Call me a snob, but I want to perform live. Nobody wants to hear the song sound exactly like it does on the CD, otherwise they wouldn't show up for the LIVE PERFORMANCE!!!

A few months ago I had a very interesting conversation with Lira and I asked her how she feels about people 'miming'. I was very relieved when she said that she does not mime. She would rather sing live on TV even if the final mix does not sound that great. I can totally respect that. I was highly impressed with that. Surely the people listening appreciated the fact that you are singing for them at that very moment and not pretending to.

I hate people that do not sing 'live'. If you are not going to sing 'live' don't do it at all. Just stay home. I'm not sure how it works everywhere else in the world, but I know that here at home too many people are doing it. Please don;t get me wrong. I'm not saying ALL South African acts 'lip synch', cause that would be a lie. I have seen some pretty good live perfomances, but it's mainly the guys who appear on TV shows etc. I am also not talking about cases where people have hectic dance routines and would never be able to sing and dance.

Tell me, does it bother you when singers don't do the 'live' thing or are you generally happy just to see your favourite artist on TV/stage? I would really like to know how you feel.

Okay that it from me :)