Archive for December, 2009

Check out the new commercial by Micheal Bay for Victoria's Secret Christmas Collection featuring our very own Candice Swanepoel

One word…. EISH!

Thank goodness YouTube doesn't have auto-repeat because I would be permanently hypnotized staring at the screen until the end of time… or until someone finally came over looking for me and managed to pull me away from the screen

The commercial premiered at the recent Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on 2 December 2009

Guys you will see what I mean and be left in a psychotic state of forever wishing… girls, enjoy what you could have this Christmas… if you play your cards right ofcourse

- Marky Mark

Over the past few weeks theres been alot of talk about the FaceBook Group, 'RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE FOR CHRISTMAS NO.1!' that seems to have ruffled X-Factor's Simon Cowell's feathers a bit. The time has come to see if this campaign is going to work.. and so far, it is… take a look

The group was created a few weeks ago by Tracy and Jon Morter who like many, seem to be a little bit more than fed up with the winner of the X-Factor sailing through to the UK Christmas number 1 slot, which it pretty much has done for the past few years. The last non X-Factor Christmas number 1 was back in 2004 where the Band Aid 20 released "Let Them Know It's Christmas" ever since then its been X-Factor winners such as Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson and Alexandra Burke respectively, and since this evenings X-Factor final won by Joe McElderry, many would already expect that the Christmas Number 1 spot is going to go to the X-Factor winner with his, as many would put it, "Glorified Karoke Cover", The Climb originally recently released by Miley Cirus. It's not surprising that many people are getting just a little hacked off that each year the X-Factor is timed to end on the Sunday of the Christmas Number 1 chart run up which has blatantly turned the whole thing into a manufactured money making racket blocking the way of more respected artists, which is basically the reason for the Facebook Group.

The group now has over 700 000 members and urges its members to purchase Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name which was released back in 1992, from a list of download sites such as iTunes for around £1 from December 13th. If you listen the lyrics of the song you'll probably realise why they chose it to be the front runner.

Its actually not the first time this has happened, last year Alexandra Burke released "Hallelujah" originally written by Leonard Cohen, however the masses responded by purchasing copies of the late Jeff Buckley's version of the song, which in my opinion is even better than Leonard Cohen's. Its actually one of my all time favorites. In the end Alexandra Burke hit Number 1 and Jeff Buckley sat at number 2 marking a first in chart history that the same song has claimed the top two spots similtaneously.

Simon Cowell recently commented on the Facebook group as it being a direct attack at himself however if that was the case, then I think they wouldn't be using the "X-Factor" but rather Simon Cowell's name specifically in their campaign.

I've got nothing against X-Factor, its pretty cool that people get the oppitunity to display their talents and make something of themselves, but what I don't agree with is that they never seem to have hits of their own (mind you Leona Lewis' cover of Snow Patrol's Run was very rare awesomeness and I don't care what anyone says about it) and the timing just before Christmas is blatant exploitation but good luck to the dude, I just hope he realises he is basically a music industry pop exploit at the moment, time will tell if he lasts in the long run.

Now check this out, as of 12am this morning, I've just taken a look at the iTunes Top 10… and would you believe it… people aren't wasting time, take a look for yourself…

Apparently within minutes, Killing in the Name sky rocketed to Number 1 before Joe McElderry could even make a dent on the charts with his teeny bopper cover.

Lets wait and see if it holds out against X-Factor, its gonna be an interesting couple of weeks. I've always been a huge RATM fan so I hope it does, although it is kinda for the wrong reasons as one thing I don't think was really thought through correctly, is that Rage Against The Machine are signed to Epic which is a subsidary of Sony BMG, so either way Simon Cowell's pockets are going to get full. I think if they wanted to do something like this, I reckon they should have got some dude and his guitar who is completely unknown, to take the honours.

I would really like to hear what Zack De La Rocha; Tom Morello and the boys have to say about it although I haven't found anything so far.

If you're keen on joining the fun, join the group at  http://bit.ly/inthename and get all the details you need to purchase the single and if you like donate a buck to charity which is a pretty cool thing to do

- Marky Mark

For a little while now I've seen Jack Parow and his song "Cooler as ekke" popping up all the time. So I decided to find out a bit about this dude and his seriously catchy tune that is now playing over and over in my head.

I first noticed Jack on 2OceansVibe a little while ago where he did "Cooler as ekke" in the back of a taxi for Taxi Jam (awesome idea btw, check it out) and my initial thoughts were, its rap, its afrikaans and its relative, how the hell did this oke get this mix right and make it sound frickin good at the same time? It's brilliant and if you actually listen to his hilarious lyrics you'll find yourself smiling the whole way through the song because we can all relate to everything he says

Jack from Belleville near Cape Town, got his name when he was a little tipsy one night, as most people are when they come up with highly enlightening thoughts, he was watching Pirates of the Caribbean and just somer tjooned, " fuck Jack Sparrow the pirate of the Caribbean, I’m Jack Parow the pirate of the caravan park". Apparently he was pretty stoked that he remembered it the next day because as you now know, the name stuck.

He started messing around rapping in 2000 just for shits and giggles but rapped in english up until 2004. One day he rapped about getting mugged, but did it in afrikaans which made him realise it actually sounded pretty schweet and he couldn't understand why he'd never done it before, so it was from then that he started rapping in afrikaans. He's influenced a lot by boozed people because of the shit they come up with and thinks that drunken conversations are the best thing ever. (don't worry Jack, me too) I reckon it would be pretty schweet to interview Jack Parow over a few bottles of Klippies, I'd just have to remember to take a tape recorder though cause EISH!

This oke seriously has a good thing going here, especially with the release of Cooler as Ekke which like I said, after a few listens you'll find it popping up in your head all the time, even if you don't understand a word of Afrikaans… so you'll even find all the Durban North locals will be busting to it in their heads

Rumour has it that Parys Potgieter is his number 1 fan

Check out the video for Cooler as Ekke below

"Jy's die ou met die new fresh look, ek's die ou met die Pep stores broek!" Love it! haha

One thing that seriously made me laugh in the video was, check at 1:45, my ma used to have an ornament dog exactly like that in our lounge

Jack, ek schmaak it bra! dis Poes lekker!

Check out his MySpace here

- Marky Mark

At around 11am this morning an Airlink passenger plane had a bit of a tumble when it missed the runway at George Airport in the Western Cape, it went crashing through a security fence and then onto a major road where it came to standstill.

Its not entirely known what exactly happened and I'm no pilot but from the pic below it looked pretty misty, although saying that, pilots are able to land massive jumbos at Heathrow airport in very poor visibilty conditions, so I'm sure we will find out soon enough.

Apparently the pilot was trapped in the cockpit for nearly an hour before he could be rescued but it wasn't clear whether he was injured or not, however it looks like he would have got the biggest of the bump as the plane came down the bank slamming the nose onto the ground. Hopefully he's not gonna be in too much of a kakpit after this one.

George Traffic Chief, Kenny Africa said that all 35 passengers had been evacuated from the plane with only minor injuries.

Looks like some people have had a bit of a kak start to the week. Hopefully the passengers didn't forget to pack a spare pair of jocks in their bags because I'm sure I would have literally kaked myself EISH!

[source]

- Marky Mark

The highs and lows of ZA News last week focusing mainly on the World Cup Draw

- Marky Mark

Did you know you can get a bunny chow in Wimbledon? I'm quite surprised at how many people don't know… and its right under your noses at Kafe Karahi… well right next door as you stumble out of the Walkabout.

Quite a while ago after a boozy night, Huncle and I decided to pop into Kafe Karahi for a curry. While we were standing there talking to the guys behind the counter, we told them they should start making bunny chows due to the high concentration of Durban locals in Wimbledon, because personally I'd pay good money for the delight. To our amazement, the dude behind the counter said that he had a bit of a surprise for us because he already sells them. Without any hesitation whatsoever, we ordered two for a test drive and sat patiently waiting for them drooling all over the place. When they arrived we chomped through them like there was no tomorrow, damn they were good… and so it began, the start of a constant weekly ritual of landing up at Kafe Karahi on a Friday and/or Saturday night at around 3am to fill our alcohol saturated tummies with a taste of Durban, to the extent that we're on a first name basis with the guys behind the counter.

Kafe Karahi is situated inbetween the Wimbledon Walkabout and Wimbledon Cabs right on the Broadway. The bunnies are very reasonably priced at a fiver a piece and my main man Umair will fill the loaf of bread with any curry of your choice. The Jen will usually go for a milder Chicken Tikka Masala Bunny not to scorch her tender lips whereas we'll usually go for a hotter Lamb Bunny, but be warned… if South Africa beat Pakistan in the cricket that day you're in for a surprise trust me hehe

The bunny chows are awesome, trust me, I wouldn't have been going there every weekend for about the last 3 years now if they weren't, they're that good, but if you're only feeling a bit peckish check out the rest of the menu as they've got a huge range of kiff chow on there, samoosa's and all!

These are the two bunnies that The Jen and I flattened on Friday night.

The Jen packing it in like a savage again

This is why I listen when The Jen speaks, trust me, you don't want to get a tighty from that hand

- Marky Mark

Candice Swanepoel, recently promoted to Victoria's Secret Angel status is insanely hot. I'm finding it rather difficult to put words together after seeing pics of her. In my opinion, South African birds are the most insanely beautiful dolls on the face of the planet… and here I'll show you why

Candice is a 21 year old thoroughbred South African from… wait for it…. Mooi River in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Yes you know that small town along the N3 between Maritzburg and Escourt that if you blink you'll miss it, yip, thats the place. She was spotted by a modelling scout browsing through a Durban Fleamarket with her mom when she was 15 years old. The rest is a short yet incredible history of high profile international modeling. By 16 she was already earning R40 000 for a days work. Her portfolio is already extremely extensive with appearing on the cover of the greek edition of Vogue, Nike ad campaigns and strutting her stuff in fashion shows for Tommy Hilfiger, Diane von Fürstenberg and the big one that has put her right up in center stage, Victoria's Secret.

I reckon I'd have a chance, we have things in common you see, we're both Libras haha ja ja But sorry okes, she's not single, she has a boyfriend by the name of Joshua David Jones who is fighting in Iraq. Personally, if my doll was a top super model such as Candice, I certainly wouldn't be running around playing shoot em up in Iraq, I'd be enjoying EVERY moment possible with her but ja, he is one lucky dude. I've got The Jen, which is why I'm not playing armies in Iraq, but all the best to all those guys out there doing what they do.

Here is proof that South African birds are the best.

(If you have a heart condition, it is not recommened to view at these pics)

CRANKING HOT!
Those dimples… EISH!

- Marky Mark

My mate Brad is about to embark on the Miller “Rock The Boat” 3 day party cruise from Durban – Mozambique this weekend which sounds like its gonna be one mother of a jol!… if the flyer is anything to go by…

There has been no Facebook status update of Brad’s this week where he hasn’t mentioned the cruise, so I guess its safe say, he’s a tad bit excited for the event, to the extent that he has gone and done this I hope they at least give him a case of Miller Draft for this
 

While we sit here wrapped up in coats and holding umbrellas above our heads in London, this is what’s going down back in Durban Town… March 2010 couldn't come sooner!

Enjoy the trip guys! Send us a post card mkay

http://www.rocktheboat.co.za/

- Marky Mark

I just could not resist this, here are some interesting fun facts about the luscious Megan Fox, nothing too hectic, pretty random… but ja, I'm sure its gonna take you a bit longer than average to get to Number 10 haha

I know the Boschman is gonna love reading them

Enjoy *drool*

- Marky Mark

Would you believe it, a Facebook app is said to be bigger than Twitter. If you don't know what Farmville is, or haven't at least seen the name, then clearly you are not on Facebook. Not a day goes by where you don't see something posted on your Home page where it says something about what a friend has achieved or what stray black sheep they found wandering around their farm.

Farmville is a Facebook application developed by Zynga, which is a seperate company to Facebook, it allows you to start a small virtual farm where you plough land and make it ready for seeding, then once whatever you've grown is ready, you then harvest it and earn Farmville coins to buy more stuff to grow. You can also farm animals and entertain yourself with just about anything that is related to farming. You do this day in day out until you find yourself with a "plantation" after a few weeks of being glued to the app neglecting everything else on Facebook, it is rather addictive to say the least… trust me, I know

Unfortunately eventually you do get a bit tired of ploughing, seeding and then harvesting each and every block of your 24×24 block farm that the novelty wears off a bit until you start letting your boredom flourish into more creative things like this…

And thats more or less where my Farmville experience ended…

Now as you can imagine, this little addictive game has quite a lot of active monthly users… around 69 million to be exact.

If you have logged onto Facebook in the last 24hrs, you would have noticed a message from the main man himself, Mark Zuckerberg announcing that Facebook now has 350 million users. As you can see Farmville alone has attracted a huge chunk of that, pretty much around a fifth of everyone on Facebook is playing Farmville on a monthly basis.

Now the thing is, Facebook don't mind releasing their statistics, whereas Twitter do mind a bit and you'll see why. It is said that Facebook serves 200 billion page views per month and here's an interesting one, 1.6 billion messages are exchanged on Facebook chat on a daily basis. I think its safe to say that Facebook is heading for world domination Twitter on the other hand do not release the amount of users they have onboard however they do release their monthly active user stats, and with all the hype about Twiiter you'd expect the following figure to be a little more than it is, 18.9 million monthly active users.

In other words, that innocent; time wasting; ridiculous yet  addictive Farmville application alone, is more than three times bigger than an entire social networking platform that is said to be Facebooks biggest rival, well all I can say is that it seems the guys at Zynga are doing something right.

Anyway, you can return to your farms now…

[source]

- Marky Mark