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Bohemian Rhapsody Review

Hi friends!
Here’s a new section that I am adding to the blog. One of my loves is watching movies and tv series – mostly because I’m an overthinker and getting transported into a different world visually not only helps me turn off but it also lights up that part of my brain where I have a huge appreciation for cinematics.

We’ll be starting off this new section with a much-anticipated movie that will be hitting the big screen on November 30th. I was lucky to catch the World Premier Pre-screening of Bohemian Rhapsody over a month before its official release.

 

A biopic (and I love me a biopic) about the lead singer Freddie Mercury and the band Queen. It follows the life of Mercury from his small beginnings,  through to his process as an artist and his larger than life personality he intensified with the success of Queen.  All entwined with the personal struggles he faced with his identity, loneliness, and sexuality. See the trailer below:

My background with Queen

Sadly, the real Freddie Mercury died in 1991 so I have never been able to experience the massive icon that he was but thanks to my dad I was exposed to Queen’s music from a young age. I remember getting all excited at age 4 to watch a Queen concert (without Freddie ) on TV and that’s where I fell in love with guitarist Brian May’s mad guitar skills. A couple of years ago I attended a Queen tribute show at Johburg Theatre, where my interest in Mercury actually took off. I started watching more of their music videos and interviews with Freddie and to my utter surprise, I had been walking around for 25 years not knowing he was Parsi Indian!

 

 

With my background on Queen and Mercury, I went into this movie really excited to see what I have read about his flamboyant life in articles, come to life on the big screen. I didn’t follow the production of the film too closely but I was aware that the living band members worked closely with the production team in order to get a close-to-damn-it portrayal of the rock legend. Also having cast Rami Malek in the lead role was a great choice from the get-go in terms of looks but I was still holding my breath to see his performance.

Thoughts on the film

The movie is a  glimpse into the life of Freddie Mercury, from the formation of Queen, his writing and recording process and the many successes of the band. This is pretty much the chronological order the movie follows but it also touches on issues fans may not have known about him and his personal trials with loneliness which is a theme seen throughout the film.  It is a story about a man who was unapologetically himself, he pushed boundaries and knew what he wanted but still had a human condition that needed a form of anesthesia in order to cope.

Although the film touches on realistic problems that contrast his ostentatious life and makes the character real, it also plays it safe and doesn’t explore certain issues that I would have like to have seen a deeper look into. BoRhap is a film honoring his memory but what would have made a bigger impact is if we saw more inner turmoil as he dealt with issues such as identity and finding himself.

Rami Malek

Let’s talk Malek for a moment. If anyone had to play Mercury it had to be him. Looking at images from the film we can definitely see that he looks like Mercury but could he act, I wondered? And yes, he can! I know Malek from the unhinged role of Elliot in Mr. Robot and I did not know that he was so versatile as an actor. He brought the essence of Mercury to the big screen and I think he did an amazing job with this character. Speaking for myself, I could see Malek in the character but there were certain instances in the film where Mercury just shone out. Especially in the scenes on stage, parading around with the microphone and stand, that was brilliant.

 

 

 

Okay, so to wrap this up. I loved the film (my biased is showing because I love historical movies,) the music fills the cinema and creates this atmosphere of anticipation and excitement and that’s all I needed. Despite the few hollow areas of the movie, I would recommend you go see it if you love Queen or biopics. One thing that I took away from this movie is that it doesn’t matter where you come from the important thing is, if I work hard at my dreams I could also do something half as significant as Mercury did in his short life.

 

Thanks for reading!

What are your thoughts on Bohemian Rhapsody? Will you be watching it? The movie releases on 30th November at my favorite cinema Ster-kinkor.

Before I go, I’d like to say a big thanks to Melanie Pretorius for the tickets and Ster-kinekor for hosting the event.

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Best Birthday Cakes. Ever.

I have been doing the monotonous task of sorting through years and years of photos, I’ve hoarded on my external hard-drives. To say the least its been hours of mind-numbing stuff – weeding through the accidental, very unflattering up-the-nose pics, I hit gold when I found a folder with pictures of my Birthday last year which sparked this post.

Around about that time I was still on my blogging hiatus and so could not share my utter glee with the world by putting into words how damn awesome my birthday cakes were. If there’s something you must know about me, is that I really enjoy the craftsmanship of novelty cakes and because I can only get cake once a year and I refuse to bake it myself, I make a point of going all out and last year I found the one, the ultimate pâtisserie.

While on the hunt for a new baker I went through so many websites trying to locate the perfect one but I just could not find any that were doing it for me until,  Cafe Hemingway’s. My first impression of them was WOW! Not only was their website beautifully presented but unlike a lot of other places I had looked at they had all the information I needed categorized nicely between different tabs. Hallelujah!

Which has become a rarity lately, as a socially-awkward-running-on-a-low-budge-student it is super helpful that I get all the information I need on your website instead of calling in for a quote and finding out I grossly cannot afford it. Yes, cakes are made to order but what Hemingway’s get right for me is their Cake Book which details the prices according to size, flavor, and fondant.

I must have mailed them immediately and asked for a quote on a unicorn cake and was surprised to find out that I could afford 2 more! And in less than 2 hours Melanie had given me all the information I needed and processed my order, all without having to call in!

Chuffed with myself, I decided that the family and I ( le Boyfriend and Mum) visit the Cafe for a taste test. The bristro was beautifully decorated and delightful. We had a few cake options to choose from but we went with the basics chocolate and vanilla and I can tell you this, you have not eaten cake until you’ve had a slice at Hemingway’s. Happy as a fat kid with cake I couldn’t wait for my birthday! I was literally vibrating when I left the Cafe.

When cake day arrived I sent le boyfriend to collect them but was a bit nervous – if you have ever transported a cake before it is at least a 2 man job and I was sending only 1 boyfriend for 3 cakes. The math did not add up. But Hemingway’s had us covered they packaged each cake into a very sturdy box and tied with a pretty ribbon that made each cake look like an individual present. This not only got them home safely but added more whimsy to the whole event.

When they finally arrived I was over the moon and happy with the effort that went into my cakes, from the boxes to the amazing work of art each cake was. I chose the  Fluttershy Unicorn, Color of Magic and the Black Minx cakes for my Birthday.

Fluttershy Unicorn 
This cake was my first choice, of course. French Vanilla sponge covered in vanilla icing with piped swirls for the unicorn mane, decorated with fondant for the unicorn details.

Color of Magic
I loved this as it was pretty in pink. Red Velvet sponge covered in pink icing with cream cheese frosting between the layers, it was decorated with lovely fresh flowers.

Black Minx
I wanted something a bit unusual and this was a gorgeous cake! Chocolate sponge covered in black icing and gold flecks, decorated with white chocolate bark, macarons and fresh flowers.

Cafe Hemingway’s did a marvelous job and I felt the cakes were worth much more than I paid for them. Each one was moist, just the right amount of sweetness and delicious flavors. I think my favorite was the color of magic as it had a bit of tartness to it that balanced the red velvet. Right now I’ve just placed my order for this year’s cakes and I cannot wait!

Thanks for reading!
xxx Cass

Do you like cake as much as me? Let me know your favorite sweet treat in the comments below.

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Life Update – Where have I been?


Hello reader…

I know it’s been forever and a day since I updated my blog, wrote and new post or even made a peep but a lot has happened since I was last here. I am alive. And if that is enough for you, you can go now, but if you are remotely interested in why I took a long extended absence from my space on the internet read on.

 

 

The last time I left off, I was gearing up for the second semester of my second year of study. Exciting times indeed but in my personal life, I was facing the closest I have ever been to hell. My world was rocked after le boyfriend lost his job. We were faced with very adult decisions to make about our immediate life, where we were going to go and what was going to happen. There were days where all we did was sit on the couch and literally cry while we picked up the pieces of our life. And of course, when it rains it most certainly pours and everything that could go wrong went wrong. FUN.

I cannot condense in words how utterly difficult that time was but trust me I would not have got through it all without the support from my friends and family. Thank you to everyone. We are, however, still trying to get back on some kind of track and it will take some time to regroup before we feel normal again. But in some crazy way we are in a better space than we were before and my last few months have been amazing.

 

This is what I have been up to lately :

 

We bought our first couch:

Not something I was going to mention but I believe it is very important to make note of the milestones in one’s life even if it may not be as important to the next person. After 4 years of living together and not making any sort of improvement to our general living space we bought a couch. It may not be the most expensive and some might say they’ve sat on more luxurious pieces of furniture but you know what, it’s my couch and I am proud of our achievement.

 

My best friends came to visit me for the first time in Jozi:

I have been friends with Raafeeqa since we met at age 15, that’s 12 years of friendship. We still maintain a strong bond after so many years and even after I moved to Joburg we are still consistent in our friendship. Nazz, her sister, who I also absolutely adore is the little sister I never had. In August they both made a trip just to see me and we had an amazing week together. Lots of shopping, cooking together and most importantly our great convos.

 

 

I went to Comic Con Africa:

I can officially say I was one of the people to attend the first Comic-Con Africa hosted in Johannesburg. It was mind-blowing there was so much to see and it was fantastic. I also DIY’ed my mermaid attire including a magnificent trident. Le Boyfriend went as the 11th Doctor and screaming girls asked for his picture even though all he did was buy a fez and went in his work clothes! I met a lot of friends I met online and even after CCA we still keep in touch.

 

 

I surprised my mother for her 60th Birthday:

With all the drama that has been going on in my life, I was really happy I could pull this one out of the hat, okay really all praise should go to the man that made it happen but come on I did all the planning. So my mother turned 60. Wow. And I had to be there. I took a 10-day break from reality to visit my mum for her big day and see everyone that I could back home. I spent well deserved time with my loved ones and with my closest friends, reunited with family and truly hit a reset before exam season starts.

 

What’s next?

I am currently preparing for exams. One last stretch before I can breathe. I have 4 exams and 1 portfolio to complete by the end of November. Studying is going slow but I am sure it’ll pick up very shortly.

Other than that I have started the Inktober challenge which is keeping me creative. In a nutshell, I have to follow daily prompts for the month of October and interpret these into daily drawings.

Something that is keeping the procrastination alive, is, unfortunately, my upcoming Birthday smack bang in the middle of exams! Well at least I am not writing any exams on my Birthday this year, last year I wrote 2. I’ve been getting sucked into what I want to do for my day and how I spend it. It is something to look forward to and I am excited!

I would also try to blog more. Le boyfriend gave me a little notebook to write down my ideas and goals and I am hoping to use this to help me be a bit more consistent in my writing and creative space.  Well, that is all from me for now, hopefully, I will be back sooner than last time.

Thanks for reading. xx