Aurelia

Right now: Vivaldi - Earlier (on my MP3 player): Lenine - O

Hey there you are! Nice to "see" you, Jeremy.

The Portuguese community is the second or third biggest "white" or European community in South Africa (the first being the Afrikaners, I would assume). Their numbers swelled enormously after the former Portuguese colonies nearby (Angola and Mozambique) declared independence in the mid-70s. There is no real Brazilian community as such - most Brazilians who end up there are expats on a temporary contract with a Brazilian or multinational company. When we moved there, the idea was initially to stay for one or two years - my father was working on a project with a South African company at the time. I came to Belgium to do a Masters degree. Even though we were studying in Brussels, the whole course was organised by a British university (University of Kent) so the working language was English. And our graduation ceremony was in Canterbury Cathedral, very cool! EDIT: P.S. Where did you live in South Africa? In Johannesburg? My family used to live in Morningside but have recently moved to Lonehill (the names will mean nothing to you if you don't know Joburg well, of course :-)).

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 at least give you a little glimpse of the "real me". Or at least of what I used to look like 20-odd years ago, hehe... This photo was taken on Christmas eve in 198?? - I'm the one with the startled look on the left, sitting next to my cousin (with a cast on her arm, poor thing). I think one of us must have been given a make-up set for Christmas and we were obviously testing it already. Should anyone else have the "guts" to post their pic here, please feel free.

Ooooh, if you ever think of hosting a conference, can I help organise?? I enjoy this sort of thing. It's not for nothing that I ended up working as a project manager.

We seem to have lived in South Africa more or less at the same time. I was there from 1992 right until the end of 2000 when I left to do a Masters degree in Belgium. I go back every year because my family still lives in Johannesburg. Yes, crime is a HUGE problem in South Africa. I didn't mention it in my post because otherwise it would have been twice as long. I must say we have been very lucky in our family in that none of us has ever been mugged, had our cars stolen or house broken into. This, of course, does not mean that our lives have not been indirectly touched by violence - the father of one of my best friends was shot dead after a couple of crooks followed him from the bank and tried to rob him. It's very sad and another reason why so many people are leaving. However, being Brazilian, I think this violence (horrible as it is) has not shocked us as much as it normally shocks Europeans. Rio de Janeiro is not exactly the safest city on Earth. When I visit my parents, I don't normally feel afraid to leave the house on my own but I do try to be careful, especially when driving at night. But it does seem as if you had a tough time while living there. No wonder you have mixed feelings about it. I guess anyone who has lived there does... And yes, houses are not properly insulated there. I used to walk around wearing 2 or 3 sweaters, and 2 pairs of socks inside the house in winter! South Africans say that winter is so short that it does not justify the expense of insulating the house or double-glazing the windows. Oh well, it's not for nothing that South Africans have a reputation for being stingy. But their braais are indeed legendary.

My pleasure. I know, the ones without background do look better. I think it depends on the type of file you're working with (jpeg, png...). Here's a better one of Impedimenta: Oh, and I almost forgot about the Romans!

Asterix characters avatars - part II Goth Impedimenta (Chief Vitalstatisticx's wife) Unhygienix (the fishmonger) Bacteria (Unhygenix's wife) Fulliautomatix (the smith) Mrs. Fulliautomatix Geriatrix Dogmatix (Obelix's little dog) Have fun

"I think the problem may have been... that there was a Stonehenge monument on the stage that was in danger of being crushed... by a dwarf."

Spinal Tap, yeah! I never get tired of watching them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXGbwIkvh38

Heino is truly heinous (and hevil)...

I have a few more saved up and will post them here later on (properly resised this time :-)). Just for the record, let me add names to some of characters that may not be immediately recognizable: Cleopatra aka Cleo Falbala (Obelix's love interest) Getafix (or Panoramix in French) Spartacus aka Kirk Douglas :-) Vitalstatisticx (or Abraracourcix in French)

Would these be any good?

Very interesting, thanks! I especially like the Celtic tattoos and body paint.

Hasn't someone mentioned this before in another thread? Or maybe I'm imagining things...

Normally I would agree ... but some of those girls were cute. Cheers. Haha, Spock is back! Ursus, those cute girls are probably old enough to be your mother.

Haha! Those aren't the new ones that I did for the base gallery. They were already there (part of the message board's original package, I presume), and the reason why I felt moved to provide some Roman-themed and Greek-themed avatars for our members. -- Nephele Ah, I see. I think some Asterix characters should be added as well, in keeping with the Roman theme. What do you think?

Ha! So it was you I saw outside! Great to have you here Kosmo. Answering your question, I can't really say that racism has ended in South Africa. You still bump into racist people, but I'm not sure if the proportion of racists there is higher than in other parts of the world. I must say though that a lot of white South Africans feel very disgruntled ever since the ANC began to implement their "black empowerment" policy (aka affirmative action) in order to "redress" the enormous social gap between whites and blacks. Unfortunately, what has actually happened is that only a tiny fraction of the back population has benefited from this - and they are usually the ones who are close to those in power. And sadly, the new "black middle class" tend to be as prejudiced against their poor cousins as some whites during Apartheid. As a result, since 1994, South Africa has experienced a huge brain drain - many educated white South Africans who feel that they are not being given a fair chance (academically or professionally) are emigrating mostly to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK. I personally know quite a few who have left. My brother is working there only because he has opened his own business otherwise I'm not sure he would have stayed. I agree with you. I admire both De Klerk and Mandela for striking a compromise. It was political expediency of course, but you have to admire their vision and common sense - the opposite normally happens in Africa when power-hungry politicians will do the craziest things without any consideration for the consequences, even if this means ruining their own countries. Just look at Mugabe, Mobutu, Idi Amin, Jonas Savimbi, Charles Taylor, the list is endless. I don't think Mandela is a saint but I like him because he chose to put the past behind him (not easy after 27 years in jail) in an attempt to bring some unity to the country. Anyway, I do like Ces

Yes, Ginger did have a reputation. But if I'm not mistaken, so did Fred...

Bruce Wayne, Catwoman... Flik?? :-)

I was expecting them to boil Harry Potter in their cauldron. Or, since they're from Mordor, at least a hobbit...

Another classic Afternoon Delight hehehe....

Anyone interested in an original (as in not recorded from TV) video tape (PAL format) of the film Gladiator? I was planning to give it away to a charity or second hand shop but thought I'd check here first. It's in excellent condition and you could have it free of charge (except for a token fee to cover mailing expenses). First come first served.

There are so many tombstones of children. It is heartbreaking to read...

Poor Ginger, FV! I can see you are "slightly" biased towards Rita. :-) Ha! I don't think G is a tough nut to crack. I quite like my anagram. It just needs a little adjustment, as Nephele pointed out: Ignorre G. Gores Ginger Rogers +o