marketing campaign anyone?

so as mentioned, the company I worked for has recently filmed a little commercial and have posted it on youtube...I have a two second cameo, but you have to look very carefully!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Gh9X0omdc

This gives an idea of what Mindpearl is about - and yes, I am still enjoying it!

Laters,
Warbrad.

loooooong overdue...

Dear all

First off, I would like to apologise for our bad management of the blog that was supposed to make life easier. Let’s just say a whole pile of things got in the way and we forgot ;)

Well, now to update you all on the things that got in the way:

We finally got a new place, and are sharing it with a good friend Dominique from PE. It’s 2 blocks from where we were staying (in Dom’s old flat) but is amazing. We have a panoramic view from Bantry Bay, through Sea Point and Green Point, Robin Island and Table View. It’s amazing with new sites intriguing us daily from strange old ships waiting to dock to sardine runs and police on the hunt running across rooftops.

We are indeed lucky with this find ;)

Warren is still enjoying his job and ended his probation on Monday 30 April. He is getting loads more responsibility and I am so proud of him every day as he tells the story of events over dinner. His company did a video of what they actually do, which will be on Youtube shortly, we will post a link when it is available. The video doesn’t tell you what Warren does but gives you a background of the company, just know that Warren looks after all the computers you will see in the video as well as the networks, phone and internet lines they are connected to ;)

As for me: well, I didn’t make the final cut for the Axe add (bummer)and was not contacted again about the Mockumentary (double bummer) but did land my first job from my second actual casting. I am an extra in the Richmond’s Ham commercial to air in the UK soon. That was the most interesting shoot ever.... the company is stating that their ham is 100% natural with natural ingredients, so, the entire cast was naturally dressed.... meaning: birthday suits with strategically placed props. As it is a day time TV commercial, no intimate bits where to be filmed so things where covered cleverly by a picnic basket with French loaves and wine  or the straps of a hikers backpack and water bottle.

The shoot ran over 2 days as the first day was terribly cold with rain threatening so we had to end early. The great news is that I have now officially done my first shoot, after which I got a request for a Smirnoff advert (which I unfortunately had to miss as work would not let me off... we won’t go there) and a call back casting for another advert which I’m waiting to hear from now.

So, that means 3 actual castings, one job so far from said castings and one pending. Things are looking good.

In the meantime, I’m looking for other work opportunities in a creative field and out of the service industry which is driving me nuts. Hold thumbs that soon I will be informing you of my new adventure.

Otherwise, life is great! We had a superb visit from our good friend Rick as well as my ex-colleague Leana before her departure to South Korea. Warren’s parents and brother then made the journey here for the weekend weekend while I travel to PE for dad’s big 60^th birthday.

Missing you all and hope to hear from you soon.

Lots of love,
Inge and Warren.

Another delayed update...

Welcome back,

so time for an update and a bit of good news...Not much has happened since the last post. We have gone for a ride on the MyCiti bus which is highly effecient and cheap and a great way to get around - although it only goes round Green Point/Waterfront, City center and out to Table Bay and surrounds for now. Otherwise I have had my good friend Rick visit from PE as they were up for the Cape Town leg of RamFest. Was cool to see him again and take him around Cape Town in the minimal time we had.

Furthermore we have found a nice new pub called the Brass Bell in Kalk Bay where they have bands jamming every weekend - it is literally situated on the Beach with the waves pretty much splashing against the windows on the one side as it splashes into the little pools that you can even swim in if you wish.

Now for the good news: we have finally found a flat!!! After hunting for about three weeks and fighting with the realtors around town we have finally managed to secure a really nice place. It is situated on High Level road in Sea Point in an apartment block called St. Tropez - on the top (5th) floor with a sizeable kitchen, two bedrooms with BIC's and VIEWS VIEWS VIEWS! We move in this coming weekend and are super excited...Fortunately we are able to afford a nice place by sharing with a good friend of ours we met in Cape Town (he moved here last year and has been kind enough to allow us to stay in his flat thus far).

Hopefully we will have internet soon and will then be able to do more posts.

Much love and respect,
warbrad.

update

Hi all,

I realise it has been a while since our last post so figured I would bring things up to speed a bit. It has been a bit difficult to keep this going seeing as we are a bit busy and do not have internet at home...anyway, no excuses!

As far as being busy is concerned we are constantly out of our lodging either walking around Sea Point, the Waterfront, Canal Walk or just driving around and finding new cool spots for a hit of caffiene or cocktail. Fortunately most of Inge's shifts are now falling in line with my work hours so we commute to the Waterfront together and have the evenings off. Unfortunately we have not fallen into a proper routine with regards to training and cooking and hope to change that soon!

As mentioned the pay day has come and gone and at least given us a nice boost in terms of saving for deposit and some other things that we require - all in all things are still going well and we are still surviving just fine. I have alluded to the fact before that we are looking for a flat and hopefully we can have a result on this front very soon, but I do not want to get my hopes up with anything yet as things change very quickly here on the Cape Town Realty market!

Anyway, I am at work early and quickly wrote this post, but will hopefully have some more time one evening this week to give a more lengthy post with some more info and possibly some pics of things around us.

Take care,
Warbrad.

Kicking off "things to do in Cape Town"

Thought I would list some of the really cool things that we have found to do or visit here in Cape Town in case you come visit and wish to do some planning. To kick off let's start with the thing I tried out yesterday - ROCK CLIMBING at CityRock.

Based in Observatory (about 10minutes from Sea Point) they offer a huge variety of climbs ranging from absolute beginner to way way advanced. It was probably some of the most fun I have had in a while and fortunately took to it quite naturally - which is a problem as now I want to buy the gear and that. Fortunately it is not too expensive compared to golf or triathlon...Cost for the day is broken down as follows:

• R135 for the day which includes:
• R35 entry (this is only cost if you have your own kit)
• R50 for the rental of some climbing shoes
• R50 for the rental of the climbing harness

The place is layed out in L-Shape with about three stories of climbing to be done on each wall. They also have a cave style climb for more advanced guys or if you wish to work on your endurance.

This is something I can definitely recommend you do if you visit the Mother City.

Regards,
Warbrad.

A little from my side

Hi all

Well, waitressing is fun. Really didn't think I'd be quiting my teaching job originaly for waitressing but it is giving me the off time I need to go for castings and shoots.

I have been meeting some amazingly interesting people some of whom have intense conversations with me in another language (usually Dutch or Spanish) with me just nodding my head saying 'I'll bring you a menu then?' At least it's giving us the cash we need for now.

My first audition was the first Monday after our arrival. It was in Obs and seriously difficult to find with Warren and I about to kill the Garmin if it gave us another turn up the wrong end of a one way road.... that was such a learning curve for us.... Cape Town has so many one way roads.
Anyway, I made it in time to find everyone warming up like dancers.... So as not to look like a complete outsider, I joined.... bending and stretching for no reason...
The whole audition was in mime and movement and was more of a workshop. It felt like I was back in one of Linda-Louise's movement drama classes.
I enjoyed every moment and realised half way through that the cast members who were working with us in the audition were all deaf.... hence the whole show will be in mime.
The audition consisted of a lot of group work in mime  which was so much fun, then.... we got to the final activity, a solo piece in mime.... we were told that the female lead in the show is super feminine and she gets spat on my the men in the office.... she the goes through a transformation and becomes more masculine. We had to depict the transformation in mime or dance and how it affects the woman. Well.... that brought out the wierd..... Some of the women got so expressive they started miming ripping their breasts off... very odd and uncomfortable.
Needless to say, I unfortunately did not make the cut, I think my more literal expression was not the flavour of the day ;)

So far I have received an email for an advert to be shot next Wednesday and a short film for next Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Hopefully I can prove myself there and get more work.
There are a ton of shoots going on daily in Cape Town, with traffic being blocked off. I really hope I can be the cause soon ;) but I am super positive and moving forward!

Love to you all
Inge

It's been a month...well nearly...

So after nearly a month of throning around the streets of Cape Town the idea of living here is starting to properly sink in. This really is a beautiful city with so much opportunity and I ask myself daily why I had not moved here sooner...anyway...

There are some exciting things to look forward to (for us anyway) over the next week including our first (and much needed) pay day so we can start saving for the deposit on our own place. Inge also has some good opportunities coming up late next week with regards to some casting and I am holding thumbs for her (go baby!). As far as work for me I am still loving it and still putting my stamp on it.

As alluded to we have started to look for a place of our own and needless to say this has forced us to get in contact with some of the local Real Estate Agents and frankly they leave much to be desired in their work ethic and drive - I guess places in Cape Town just sell themselves...

Oh well, here goes!

Much love and respect,
Warbrad.