Morning Melodies and more...

Been an exciting day or two for ol' Suzy Q. First I received death threats from the founders of Ashley Madison after my last posting,  (only kidding) which actually pipped an article on them entitled adultery.com a profitable affair in The Cape Argus by a day, so stick with me kids and we'll sock it to you first from your favourite blog.

Yesterday Mr SQ and I decided to play hooky and try out one of the Baxter Theatre's Morning Melodies concerts, which happen once a month. At R30 a ticket you really can't go wrong for a live performance we reckoned. I'm not the greatest fan of the building which opened in August 1977 at the bequest of the former mayor, William Duncan Baxter to create a theatre complex at UCT which would be independent of the state run Nico Malan Theatre. However, seeing it in the daylight was an unusual experience for me, and I rather liked the natural light and the views of the foliage through the large glass windows. It was bitterly cold following Tuesday's torrential rain, so we bundled up and were very glad to have booked tickets beforehand. For a mad moment I thought we'd been dropped into the set for a commercial for a retirement village. There sure are plenty of silver haired folk out there and they were out in force at the Baxter yesterday morning. Yikes, is that us in 10, 20 or 30 years time!? Oh well, good for the goldy oldies to get out and take advantage of this wonderful event, and I do hope that I am in the same state of health to do the same when I reach their age. I just hope I don't regress as some of them seem to have done by talking and tapping loudly whilst unwrapping my cellophane wrapped sweeties. 

The programme kicked off promptly at 10.30am with an introduction and then a most enjoyable hour and a half of arias sung by Violina Anguelov (mezzo-soprano) and Beverley Chiat (coloratura soprano) accompanied by Victor Tichart on the piano. Dahlings, such talent we have in our fair city. The ladies sparkled in their shimmering dresses.
 (Notes to self:- 1. Must up my game and do the dusting in a sequinned ball gown with sexy ties down the back. 2. Should also practice my scales while I'm at it.)
 The programme included popular favourites that even an opera fan who might not qualify as a buff would enjoy, and I sat back and was transported into a world of midmornng musical magic. 
www.baxter.co.za

Local lady, Beverley, and the Bulgarian born Violina seem to have been born to form a formidable duet, being of such similar slim builds with wild dark hair. They entertained us with saucy winks and smiles, and seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as we were. When they took a few moments to change into - gasp - identical dresses, Victor played amusing piano solos for us. It was simply wonderful to be transported out of the real world and have our fears for the future of our land allayed for a while in this veneer of civilization. Thank you and encore Beverley, Violina and Victor. I'm definitely booking for James Grace's "I Love a Guitar" on 18 July and may just subscribe to the series from July to December for a mere R150, as we really enjoyed our Warmth in Winter event so much.  

www.republicradio.co.za

In the evening we went to Kalk Bay Books to hear Marianne Thamm interview that doyenne of South African magazine publishing, Jane Raphaely about her recently published autobiography, but left feeling rather bored by the whole overcrowded occasion. A pity as we have attended some really enjoyable book talks there previously, but this one just didn't do it for us. I'm not quite sure whether or not Marianne was intimidated by her former mentor and boss, as she had been outstanding when she took on Gareth Cliff, Denis Beckett and Martin Welz at the Franschhoek Literary Festival in May. So much so that she was, I reckoned, a woman with male appendages in her pants. I fear that they had deflated by last night.

www.flf.co.za

                                 www.thesoapgirls.co.za

This morning  I spent some time at the studio of Republic Radio in Hout Bay, which I wrote about recently, chatting on air to Tom Purcell about the Life and Times of Suzy Q, a few other random topics, and spinning some good discs, which was most enjoyable. So there you go, my five minutes of fame, if not fortune at last. Thanks for the time Tom and to anybody who tuned in. Stay tuned in for easy listening 24 hours a day, with a few fascinating guests thrown in too. I was followed by the sassy local Soap Girls who were ready to entertain the teeny girl fans after I left. Hmmm, think I should spice up my act and join a girl band in my next life...?

Lotsa love,


Suzy Q

How to meet a cheat...

Lots of talk lately of the arrival in South Africa of, wait for it, the world's largest, most successful and reputedly discreet online extramarital affair website. Those adjectives coupled with the service they are offering leaves my little head reeling.

I'm talking of Ashley Madison, and I first heard of it on the news last week further to the founder owners visiting Cape Town to promote their site and services. Noel Biderman and his Cape Town reared wife, Amanda (now there's a daughter of the Mother City of whom we can all be extremely proud) claimed that there is a demand for them here which they picked up from site traffic reports. Where would we be without useful market research like this, ladies and gents? 

Granted I grew up in the Dark Ages, but in my old fashioned book, the purpose of marriage is to love each other, warts, picadilloes, kids, old age and all, for the creation of a stable family unit, which in turn will send young adults out into the world with a strong moral core who will continue the process, trying to make society a better place. I am also fully aware that adultery has been around since Biblical times and beyond, but it was then a stonable offence. It is also very strong grounds for expensive, acrimonious divorces  and the breakdown of families in modern times. Imagine my shock when I tentatively googled www.ashleymadison.com to discover that their website has a picture of a female with a finger over her lips and the mission statement Life is Short. Have an Affair. As blatant as that, and boasting 14 700 000 members.

I'm no Mother Grundy, but I really am incredulous. There goes the sanctity of marriage in one moment. I am fortunate enough to have many good friends (not forgetting the most wonderful husband I could ever hope for) who all seem to be trying to do it right through life, being good, loyal wives, mothers, husbands and fathers (unless I'm reading everybody wrong?) So where do all these other people, ready to drop their draws at the flick of an Internet key come from? Do they really expect that a "discreet" affair with a bored stranger in their locale, or further afield, will have no repercussions on their lives, relationships, homes, psyches and sexual health? And with the world as interconnected as it is today, there are no secrets any more. EVERYbody knows somebody you know and if the casual sex is hot, and even if it's not, the wires will burn, baby.

Historically, Ashley Madison seems to be a genuine success story. Noel, that romantic little rascal, launched it on Valentine's Day 2002. The site calls itself The Original Extramarital Affairs Site. 100% free for Women. (Why?) Married and looking? They advertise extensively on billboards as well. So imagine Noel or Amanda driving into work one morning after a sleepless night with sick, howling babies, obviously no sex and a bit of a tired tiff thrown in for good measure. All they have to do is sign up with Ashley Madison for a bit of uncomplicated slap and tickle to make them feel better about themselves, or according to Noel, "strengthen their marriage." Where they will find the time, venue and energy will remain a mystery to me. There is however, something fundamentally wrong in encouraging people to stray from their partners, when more time should be spent promoting the benefits of fidelity, trust and family values, those very morals we all signed up for when we got married. 

                                           Didn't they?


Rather ironically, Amanda Biderman doesn't condone infidelity, but accepts that Ashley Madison is a business, which coincidentally has generated millions in income for the couple. That's rather like saying my husband deals in drugs but heaven help anybody who supplies my kids with them. The lines, I'm afraid, are very fudged here.

I'm going to have to put on my thinking cap to come up with a less disturbing concept for my next blog posting - anything in particular you'd like to hear about?

Please email me at suzyqueue75@gmail.com You know I just LOVE to hear from you. And thanks for asking, my midwinter swim was, if somewhat lonely (I live in a world of wuss's) most enjoyable, and definitely pepped up my sluggish winter circulation.




Stand by your man, or woman, kids!
















Love, 
Suzy Q