This is a photo my father took in Johannesburg recently while running an errand. South Africa is notorious for its creative ads (many of them involving wild animals). This is living proof that creativity is alive and well in the "Rainbow Nation" in spite of its many problems.
Here are a few more samples of creative South African ads:
- Vodacom is a South African mobile phone operator. This is a play on the classic 80s film, The Gods Must Be Crazy.
- Nando's is a c
This latest version of Bohemian Rhapsody by the Muppets has apparently taken You Tube by storm. It recorded about 9 million views in just 2 weeks. EMI has recently announced that it plans to turn it into a major Christmas hit in the UK. It will be up against whoever wins X Factor, a British television singing competition. Seriously??
Now that Rio de Janeiro has been chosen to host the 2016 Olympic Games (not to mention co-hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2014), it is only natural that it should be in the limelight for the next few years. Unfortunately so far it has only generated bad publicity: a police helicopter was shot down by drug traffickers a few weeks ago, and today a big blackout plunged the city into darkness. Although this is the first time I hear of a helicopter being shot down, I cannot say the same for the violenc
I have been absent from UNRV for a while now - and after having a quick look around, I have realized that I'm not the only one. My life has gone through a few ups and downs in the past few months and many changes have taken place. To be more specific, I have recently changed houses, jobs and even relationships. All of these changes have been rather significant so it's been a lot to take in.
Anyway, I'm glad things have started to settle a bit which means I'll hopefully have more time for UN
I was checking my inbox today, while taking a break from work, and came across this wonderful video forwarded by a cousin of mine. Apart from the cool Latin name, they also have a very cool sound. They are a musical group from Slovenia and do mostly covers of jazz numbers.
This is not exactly jazz but amazing nevertheless, especially the sound effects:
And of course, I also enjoyed this (and was impressed with their accent):
If you also need a quick break, do check them
I am officially employed now. Well, actually I have been for the past two weeks, which accounts for my partial absence from UNRV (thanks for noticing FV ).
I am working in the trade division of a certain Embassy here in Brussels as a commercial adviser. Basically what this means is that we liaise with entrepreneurs in Belgium and the country I'm representing, promote this country's goods and services in Europe, organise business rounds and so on. It all sounds very glamorous but in fact it
I've noticed that people are very protective of their real identities around here. Very few use their real names or even post a photo of their real selves in their profile page. This is a virtual community so it's normal, I guess. But human curiosity is also natural so I imagine that after a while we all end up wondering what our virtual friends are really like in real life, what they look like and so on... Or is it just me??
I'm not revealing my true identity just yet but I thought I would
It looks like Jacob Zuma will become the next South African president. Even though everybody knew he would win the elections, this still saddens me a little. I moved to South Africa with my family in 1992, just before the end of Apartheid. I was very fortunate to be there when the country experienced its first democratic elections in 1994, which culminated in Nelson Mandela being elected president. He was a brilliant speaker and a unifying force in a country that could very well have sunk in a b
The trip back to Belgium turned out not to be so pleasant after all. I had to pay about $120 for excess weight (for my luggage, not for myself ) and then an additional 50
Currently packing my bags and hating every moment of it. I'm flying back to Europe tomorrow evening and while I don't mind the long-haul flight too much (I always find ways to entertain myself on the plane ), I absolutely loathe the packing routine that precedes it. It normally takes me about two days to get the job done. The worst part is not actually deciding which clothes and shoes to take along but to find a place for the "little things" i.e. toiletries, books, camera, travel documents an
When I mentioned elephants yesterday, some of you might have thought I had one too many cups of coca leaf tea. So before I get a bad reputation in the neighbourhood, let me clarify things. I went to visit an Elephant Sanctuary situated just outside Johannesburg. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
This is one of three elephant sanctuaries in South Africa that provides a safe haven for elephants that have been orphaned or rescued from zoos. In the course of a 2-hour educational tou
Dear guests,
My name is Aurelia and I have just moved into my new insula. You are all welcome to come visit at any time and sit down for a chat. I'll be happy to serve tea and various delicious Roman tidbits: honey cakes, cochleas lacte pastas, glires, and morsels of licker fish fresh out of the Tiber, yum!
I'm currently painting the walls and arranging furniture in order to make my home as nice and cozy as possible. First though, I need to go see about some elephants.
