GUESS WHAT LOYAL READERS?

Friday, February 28, 2014

Hello everyone

I've got a few sets of Simply Asia vouchers left over and instead of making everyone grab them, I'm going to just give them to my most loyal readers who are always on this blog, the people I think about when I'm posting, the people who always give me iLove back just to say thanks you guys!

So here goes, since I have 6 sets left, I'll pick the top six:

Nomali
Zimmy
Mandy
Ackie
Siki
Thando Ziqhu

Tweet me when you see this cos I'm going on the road now and won't be able to check my blog till this evening. If you see this, hit me up @missmillib on Twitter and also include @SimplyAsia #sweetdeal in there and then you can send me your delivery address :-)

Thanks and have a fabulous and Simply delicious weekend.

xxMM

OH HOW I WISH

Thursday, February 27, 2014


Got this in the mail the other day, oh how I wish I was in Paris.

Chance meeting

Monday, February 24, 2014

I think it was meant to be. I sent an Instamessage to @oromaelewa when she was here last week and didn't hear from her. I assumed she was busy and actually felt a little bit shy going any further looking for her contacts so I let it go.  I was sitting in Rosebank during a meeting on Friday and when I looked up to see a statuesque figure approaching, I stopped listening to my meeting people.  We locked eyes as she approached and she gave a nod of hey, aren't we supposed to know each other? I got up to greet, we hugged and I introduced myself.  She was with an old friend of mine Kholeka from The Times, who emailed her upon hearing that she was in town.  It turns out that Oroma thought that Kholeka was me and while they were walking, were talking about me and then a few minutes later, we all bumped into each other. She said she'd be back soon so we will see what happens.  She is gorgeous shem, jealous down. My meeting people were like ''ngubani loya?"And they got it. 

IF YOU GET A CHANCE


Do it. It's brilliant. 

FKA TWIGS CAN GET IT


This song, by this adorable little minx is currently on serious rotate these days. She's a 25 year old Brit underground sensation called FKA Twigs or Formerly Known as Twigs.  

THERE IS SUCH A THING AS A FREE LUNCH

Friday, February 21, 2014

Sunnybonani! Well, actually it's not so sunny today which is the perfect weather for indoor dining. Simply Asia meal giveaway is about giving away a free lunch to a deserving person.  For some research that I'm doing, I'm reading You and Drum magazine and the letters people send are to praise others are so heartfelt they actually inspired me to do the same. I'm sure people would rather get money or a holiday but there's also something really kind about giving someone you appreciate a free lunch/dinner or taking them out. 

So here we go.  Between today and Monday I'm giving away 3 double vouchers to the value of R200 each to try out Simply Asia's new menu.  Who would you nominate for a free lunch? Who has been really generous to others with their time, skills, efforts and kindness? Someone you just wanna say thanks to. You know how much I like a story so if there's one to tell holler.  

You can simply fill in your answer in the comments section then tweet me @missmillib with the hashtag #sweetdeal. Oh, guess who also finally started a Facebook page? So if you wanna rather hit me up there, you're welcome.

TANQUERAY ROCKS

Ah man, pictures really don't do this momentous surprise any justice.  There I was, minding my own business when a knock on my door ended up being the best surprise ever.  I don't know how they know me but the people at Tanqueray Gin South Africa, put together a seriously thoughtful Valentines Day gift pack for me and I am really grateful. I have to share it because, I mean really:


First of all, that bottle green is one of my favourite colours the box is wooden and I have already found a use for it. 


They made a little booklet that was printed with various blog post images and quotes that they used to figure out the the things that I like.  So for instance:





BOOM! Gift vouchers to The Space, a Kerry Washington movie DVD and not one but two Erykah Badu CD's (you can't see the other one here :-) which are in my car.



This is my absolute favourite thing - it's a giant poster that I'm taking to the framers TODAY! 


Quotes by the old man, what better way to ground ones self?




So not only these, they got me a super cute clutch bag, a burned orange Le Creuset tea set which I have already used 3 times and forced guests to drink tea from, a Le Creuset butter cup, heart shaped lollies from Woolies and of course a delicious bottle of what was already my favourite gin in the world, we are getting Tanked this weekend. Thank you so much for this you guys, I get a lot of these kinds of things all the time and this one certainly tops the ''best of'' list. 

I'm sorry for the bad quality pictures. I took these with my iPhone, which is obviously over life or something. 





SHE'S ALMOST READY

Tuesday, February 18, 2014



Hello my beautiful people.  I hope you're having a good week so far.  Good news, we are close to putting www.missmillib.co.za to bed but still not quite there yet. I thought I would share a bit of the new look and feel and my favourite thing about it, that illustration of me by my friend Koos Groenewald.  There's a lot to do still and all this while I'm literally busy doing 5 different jobs and still finding time to be mad at South Africa's gross reaction to Boity. I'm still thinking of ways to articulate the uneasy feeling it gives me. Don't worry it will be a blog post. What do you think of the teaser blog?

The Rise and Fall of Apartheid

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Yesterday I attended the opening of The Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life an exhibition at Museum Africa featuring over 800 images of South African life during Apartheid, undoubtedly the darkest period in South African history, a time we are going to take at least a century and more to truly recover from.  



We have not moved on as a nation.  It won't take 20 years to first undo and collectively heal from an oppression of black people that started in the late 17th Century and was at its peak between 1948 and 1994.  And I have problems with people who say we should move on and forget race. South Africa's racially based complexities will take as long to break down as they took to build. 



Exhibitions like this are rare and it is a bit disconcerting that it started in other countries first and is only coming here now.  A French friend of mine asked me afterwards if these images were part of my childhood, were they entrenched into our education as much as French history, especially through imagery, is inculcated in their little French minds as soon as they can speak.  The unfortunate answer is no.  Some of these images are very familiar and others, I had never seen before.  That's part of the reason why it left me so touched, because I was reschooled.  But how many regular South Africans can say they engage with our history through such imagery on a regular basis?  How many working class black people have been in a museum? How many privileged white people immerse themselves in history through these images and stories on a regular basis? Honestly, the one thing I left with was a sense that okay, there is some evidence to give credence to what I've heard some of my white friends say ''my parents were activists''.  It's not that I never believed them, I had just never seen anything to substantiate their claims and because white people have always been shown on one side of the discourse, this left me surprised. Here I saw images displayed in a manner that forced me to confront those claims. 


The exhibition features works by local and international photographers, the familiar ones like Jurgen Schadeburg, Alf Khumalo, Peter Magubane, Cedric Nunn, Santu Mofokeng, David Goldblatt. Then there are other photographs by people I had never heard of or artists I did not know were photographers. These include names like Gille de Vlieg, Margaret Bourke-White, Jane Alexander, Gideon Mendel, Absalom Mnisi, Omar Badshar and about 100 more.  There are also short films, illustrations, magazine articles and videos of pivotal historical moments.  It really is an education. This is not to say the countless images of the black struggle are not more intense to imbibe in this environment.  They are because they are in great numbers, both famous and infamous images. Two whole floors of them.  



The exhibition opens today and runs until 29 June 2014.  If you live in Joburg, it's a must. If you're visiting Joburg, don't forget about it. I would encourage you to take the little ones too. 
Museum Africa is at 121 Bree Street in Newtown, Johannesburg and opens on Tuesdays to Sundays from 09.00 - 17.00. The exhibition is curated by one of the most respected curators in the world and modern African thinkers, Okwui Enwezor.  Thank you to the men and women who captured our history. 

THIS WOMAN THOUGH

Tuesday, February 11, 2014


She's currently on the cover of New York Style Magazine.  I must say, I do wonder why she's getting this much media attention. I mean she's gorgeous and can definitely act but doesn't it feel like there's a different kind of adoration given to her than other black actresses? Is it because she's African African?  I can't put my finger on it. Either way, I'm very happy for her. 

SIMPLY YUM TIME

Friday, February 7, 2014


It's Simply Goodie Foodie Time!!!!!!

Hey guys, it's Friday and as promised, today I'm giving away another delicious opportunity to try one of Simply Asia's new meals meals and deals http://bit.ly/1giSIT4 

In the spirit of sharing good things, all you gotta do is share with us one good thing that happened to you in the last week. One shining moment of pure good karma and feelings that left you happy and grateful to be alive.  A story that will make us smile. 

The best story + if you tweet @missmillib @SimplyAsia_SA and hashtag #sweetdeal then you win a R200 Sweet Deal meal voucher! PS you simply HAVE to try these sweet corn cakes. 

I THINK THIS IS A WORLD FIRST

Thursday, February 6, 2014


Seriously I don't think this has been done before. But I stand corrected. My friend Koos Groenewald broke his foot at the end of last year and instead of bumming out like some of us would have, he started making drawing after drawing and posted each drawing on Instagram.  Just for fun. The response was so great that people started asking for more and more.  He's made a lot more than the above and will exhibit them all on 11 February 2014 on Instagram.  You have an opportunity to buy these limited edition illustrations just by following @koooooos (6 o's) on Intagram and being the first person to comment with the hashtag #SOLD.  They aren't too pricey but all that will be revealed on the day of the exhibition.  This is going to be great. Koos. My love for you knows no bounds.  


WORD OUT: CAPE TOWN

Hello Cape Tonians,

I have a brilliant friend from Rhodes who goes by the name Carla Liesching.  She's an (legitimate) artist who is visiting Cape Town from New York, where she works and lives, to do an exhibition at Brundyn + Gallery.  The exhibition is called Nihiliphobia: Expeditions into the unknown. It's a series of photographs and prints that explore the relationship between geography and human identity.  Says the artist: “My work investigates the ever-more complex ways that humans and their geography collide. I respond to the impacts of globalization and the erosion of our faith in dominant systems of knowledge, searching for new ways of realizing the self within this unstable terrain.


The exhibition starts today and ends on 13 March.