2013 MTV Video Music Awards

The highly anticipated 2013 MTV Video Music Awards went off with a bang Sunday night.

Starting the festivities was Lady GAGA who donned wigs and ensembles representing various Gaga eras during her "Applause" performance, getting everyone in the crowd like Will Smith and his daughter WIllow Smith moving and grooving. In typical fashion, Gaga topped herself by almost going topless: stripping down to a seashell bikini to watch the rest of the show.

After that came everything from Miley Cyrus stripping down to a yellow two piece while performing (and bumping and grinding) "Blurred Lines" with Robin Thicke to what appeared to be Kanye West having a seizure while performing. A performance that Thicke clearly approved of as he tweeted Kanye praise. Go figure!

And did we mention Selena Gomez  and Taylor Swift rocking out during Miley's performance, which included performers Miley brought along from her favorite Los Angeles club, Beachers Madhouse? Because that happened too.

Held in Brooklyn at the newly opened Barclays Center, the biggest moment however, had to be without question,'N Sync's  reunion during Justin Timberlake's performance!

Justin was performing a medley of his hits, which had Selena and Taylor, along with the rest of the audience on their feet. But what really made the audience freak was when all the members of 'N Sync interrupted to perform a medley of their own hits on stage.

And that wasn't the last of the fantastic surprise star turns. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Same Love" performance included a surprise appearance by Jennifer Hudson and might have been the most moving VMA performance to date!

As for the most awkward moment, aside from Miley's hair, did Taylor really drop an F-Bomb while One direction and ex Harry Styles were on stage?! The Internet sure thinks so.

And another awkward moment for the ex couple? While accepting the Moonman for Best Female Video for "I Knew You Were Trouble" Taylor said thanks to "who I wrote this song about cause you know who you are and now I have this award," while MTV then cut to a smirking Harry, who kept chewing his gum. 

And speaking of One Direction, the band may have won Best Song of the Summer against Miley, Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding, Daft Punk, and Robin Thicke, but when they went up to receive the award, the audience booed the boys!

Faring far better with the crowd was Katy Perry who closed out the show with a live performance of her hit single "Roar" outside under the Brooklyn Bridge. Nice.

To see who took home a Moonman, read the full winner's list below:So was it the best VMAs yet? We will let you decide for yourself!

Video of the Year: Justin Timberlake, "Mirrors"

Best Hip-Hop Video: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton, "Can't Hold Us"

Best Male Video: Bruno Mars, "Locked Out of Heaven"

Best Female Video: Taylor Swift, "I Knew You Were Trouble"

Best Pop Video: Selena Gomez, "Come & Get It"

Artist to Watch Presented by Taco Bell®: Austin Mahone, "What About Love"

Best Collaboration: P!nk feat. Nate Ruess, "Just Give Me a Reason"

Best Video with a Social Message: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Mary Lewis, "Same Love"

Best Rock Video: Thirty Seconds to Mars, "Up in the Air"

Best Art Direction: Janelle Monae feat. Erykah Badu, "Q.U.E.E.N"

Best Choreography: Bruno Mars, "Treasure"

Best Cinematography: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton, "Can't Hold Us"

Best Direction: Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z, "Suit & Tie"

Best Editing: Justin Timberlake, "Mirrors"

Best Visual Effects: Capital Cities, "Safe and Sound"    

Song of the Summer: One Direction, "Best Song Ever"

Top Ten Places to book a Holiday/Vacation from your Mobile device

As a local Cape Townian who lives in London now, i always look at where can i book a weekend away in and around Europe and what can i get most for my pounds.

As the internet is really fast, reliable and sufficient and most of us having mobile devices, i have put together the top ten places to book a holiday from your mobile device.

i have obtained at stats online and here are the results

1. at Work - 27%
2. in Bed- 19%
3. On a daily commute- 12%
4. at the pub- 9%
5. on the toilet- 8%
6. on the bus- 7%
7. at the dinner table- 6%
8. at the supermarket- 5%
9. on the tube- 4%
10. at a Wedding- 3%

Therefore, looks like people make time at work or between getting lucky in bed or going to bed to book an awesome holiday

good luck with your travels from where ever  you book from :)

Capetonians baffled by naked man on highway

Cape Town - People using a Cape Town highway were greeted with a strange sight this week: a naked man walking in the pouring rain. 

It was unclear who the man was or why he was naked but people later saw the man riding on the back of a scooter.

The man was seen strolling along the yellow lane of the M5 highway, near Ottery, at around 08:00 on Thursday, the Cape Argus reported. 

The city’s traffic services confirmed that they had spotted the naked man on the M5 northbound near the Ottery turn-off. 

“We handed the matter over to Wynberg SAPS,” she said. 

The Argus said many people claimed to have seen the man before, walking in areas such as Riviersonderend and on Lansdowne Road.

Why has the South African Rand fallen so sharply in 2013?

• Why has the South African Rand fallen so sharply in 2013?

Why has the South African Rand fallen so sharply in 2013?

Today we see the South African Rand (Currency:ZAR) is feeling the heat once more:

The latest figures from the spot markets show the pound to South African Rand exchange rate 0.08 pct higher today at 15.7010.
The US dollar to South African Rand is 0.7 pct higher at 10.0526.

Note that the above are spot market quotes; your bank will add their own spread to these wholesale market numbers. However, an independent FX provider will guarantee to undercut your bank's offer, thus delivering more currency. Please find out more here.

A bad 2013

The South African Rand has fallen 14 pct versus the British pound since the start of 2013 and has recorded losses of 18 pct versus the US dollar.

The question is why? With many blaming internal politics for the decline of the South African currency they should step back an recognise that the Rand is not alone in suffering hefty losses.

The Australian dollar has also lost significant ground; albeit to a lesser extend, with GBP-AUD gaining 5.3 pct since the start of the year and AUD-USD declining 8 pct.

The answer behind South African Rand declines can be found in global money flows

The US Federal Reserve has flooded the global money markets with cash, and now investors are worried that this flood is coming to an end.

The recent Chinse economic under-performance hasn't helped either; the demand for South African and Australian mining output is a key driver of Rand strength.

Emerging Markets, South Africa included, are thus seeing their currencies absorb the impact of capital outflows.

"The last two weeks have already seen Brazil, Indonesia and Poland intervene to defend their currencies, fearing a disorderly sell-off. This raises questions around the adequacy of FX reserves in some countries, and their ability to cope with a potential reversal in the large weight of capital inflows accumulated in the global liquidity drench," says David Petitcolin at RBS.

According to Petitcolin, "while the recent sell-off may only prove a short-term correction, the extent of 'hot money' which has poured into many markets presents a significant medium-term vulnerability."

The RBS analyst points out that for some countries the amount of hot money which has poured in since 2009 far outweighs the potentially dangerous capital outflows above.

"This means even a small outflow relative to the weight of post-crisis inflows could strain reserve adequacy ratios. MXN, TRY, PLN, ZAR, CLP and CZK look particularly vulnerable," says Petitcolin.

South Africa is said to be particularly vulnerable to these global dynamics, Petitcolin says:

"Countries where cumulative portfolio inflows post-crisis dwarf our dangerous outflows estimates (MXN, TRY, PLN, ZAR, CLP and CZK) are particularly vulnerable in this regard. For instance, South Africa has seen USD46bn of portfolio inflows since Q2 2009 yet we estimate only USD9bn of capital outflows would see the country reach dangerous levels on import and short-term debt reserve cover ratios.

"Out of the main EM recipients of portfolio capital post-crisis, Mexico has run the most relaxed FX reserve policy. It would take less than half the USD175bn accumulated (predominantly in debt securities) to be unwound to push FX reserves below safe levels.
"While this is less of a concern for G4 currencies with global reserve status, other G10 currencies such as AUD, SEK, NZD and CAD may be more at risk given the extent of foreign positioning in their financial markets. Without a reserve backstop any change in sentiment would be absorbed by the exchange rate."

Cup- You're 'gonna miss me when I'm gone

I've got my ticket for the long way 'round
Two bottle whiskey for the way
And I sure would like some sweet company
And I'm leaving tomorrow what-do-ya say?

When I'm gone, When I'm gone
You're 'gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere, Oh
You're 'gonna miss me when I'm gone

I've got my ticket for the long way 'round
The one with the prettiest of views
It's got mountains, it's got rivers
It's got sights to give you shivers
But it sure would be prettier with you

When I'm gone, When I'm gone
You're 'gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're 'gonna miss me by my walk
You're gonna miss me by my talk, Oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/a/anna_kendrick/

BORN ABROAD

South Africa

Overview

In the 10 years to 2001 there was a doubling of the number of South Africa-born people living in Britain – bringing the total to some 140,000.The majority of these people are concentrated in largely affluent areas of London, the anecdotal evidence being that many are business people working in the City of London. There is, for instance, a South African-born cluster in the Canary Wharf area. University towns such as Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Bristol also show significant clusters of South Africa-born. Many young people with British family ties have come over the years to work in the UK, including the public services.

Concentrations of people born in South Africa Click to highlight key cities Map on right shows country as if areas with roughly equal populations were the same size. So, densely populated London takes up much more space than sparsely populated Scottish Highlands.

At-a-glance

140,201 people born in South Africa were in Britain at the 2001 Census – a rise of 106% on 1991, representing 0.25% of the population.32% of South African-born people were recorded in London. 11 of the most affluent areas of London included populations of more than 600 South African-born people each.2,605 in the Putney area of west London make it the most popular destination for those born in South Africa.

Click column titles to sort table by that column.

Distribution of people born in South Africa
	TOTAL NUMBERS			AS % OF ALL PEOPLE
Sort by: Nation/region	1991	2001	+/- %	1991	2001	+/- %
Whole of Britain	67,918	140,201	106.43	0.12	0.25	0.13
East Midlands	3,045	6,292	106.63	0.08	0.15	0.07
East of England	6,141	13,387	117.99	0.12	0.25	0.13
London	18,644	45,507	144.08	0.28	0.63	0.35
North East	1,538	2,655	72.63	0.06	0.11	0.05
North West	4,586	7,772	69.47	0.07	0.12	0.05
Scotland	4,374	7,803	78.40	0.09	0.15	0.06
South East	15,277	31,062	103.33	0.20	0.39	0.19
South West	6,545	11,381	73.89	0.14	0.23	0.09
Wales	1,711	3,029	77.03	0.06	0.10	0.04
West Midlands	3,189	6,118	91.85	0.06	0.12	0.06
Yorks & Humber	2,868	5,195	81.14	0.06	0.10	0.04

Most popular areas
		TOTAL NUMBERS			AS % OF ALL PEOPLE
Area	Regions	1991	2001	+/- %	1991	2001	+/- %
Wimbledon N	London	314	1,493	375.48	0.78	3.23	2.45
Putney E	London	200	1,315	557.50	0.53	3.32	2.79
Putney W	London	154	1,290	737.66	0.38	3.22	2.84
Golders Green	London	565	1,006	78.05	1.34	2.09	0.75
Wimbledon S	London	133	1,005	655.64	0.31	2.16	1.85
Richmond N	London	442	967	118.78	0.67	1.41	0.74
Highgate	London	626	945	50.96	1.35	1.72	0.37
Acton	London	215	841	291.16	0.35	1.24	0.89
Fulham	London	298	811	172.15	0.63	1.42	0.79
Kensington	London	488	799	63.73	0.94	1.27	0.33

South Africa in talks to bring back visa-free UK travel

Should all go according to plan, South Africans may once again be able to visit the UK without requiring visas.

The South African government says it is sufficiently confident of the security of its passport system that it has approached British authorities to negotiate the possible reinstatement of South Africa’s visa-free status.

The Green Mamba Passport

The UK revoked this status in 2008 after rampant corruption in the Department of Home Affairs saw officials issue passports to criminals and asylum seekers, increasing the risk of suspected terrorists entering the UK via South Africa.

After a British court heard that at least 6,000 illegal Asian immigrants had been smuggled into the UK on South African passports, SA shot to the top of the British government’s visa ‘hit list’. Immigration experts said at the time that the ‘Green Mamba’ was “no longer worth the paper it’s written on”.

This change has affected thousands of South Africans, who for the last five years have had to pay for costly visas to come on business trips, holidays or to visit family here.

However, Home Affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni said on Friday that the Cabinet had decided to renegotiate visa conditions for South African travelling to the UK after expressing satisfaction that the Department of Home Affairs had taken “drastic steps” over the last five years to root out corruption, clean up the national population register and redesign the security features of passports.

“We now have one to the world’s safest passports that cannot be forged. The process of issuing passports is more credible and has stringent checks and balances to ensure applicants are genuinely South African,” Apleni told Business Day.

He said South Africa had followed best international practice to monitor travellers’ movements at all its entry and exit points. At OR Tambo International Airport the fingerprints of every traveller using a South African passport are checked against the national population register to ensure that the passport holder is a South African citizen.

The measure has led to the arrest and detention of a number of people with fraudulently acquired South African passports. Apleni said this had eliminated the problem of people leaving South African shores as South Africans and landing in Europe with a different identity, which posed “a serious challenge for immigration officials there and compromised South Africa. We also check that passengers’ names and passports correspond so that we are sure of visitors’ identity and the purpose of their visit.”

Apleni said the department believes these international standards will satisfy their British counterparts and that they will view the request for the restoration of the visa-free status for South Africa favourably.

Origin of the Name- CALUM

The nationality of Calum is often difficult to determine in cases which country boundaries change over time, making the nation of origin indeterminate. The original ethnicity of Calum may be difficult to determine as result of whether the family name originated naturally and independently in multiple locales; for example, in the case of surnames that come from a craft, which can come into being in multiple places independently (such as the surname "Carpenter" which was given to woodworkers).

The meaning of Calum come may come from a craft, such as the name "Miller" which referred to the profession of working in a mill. Some of these profession-based family names can be a profession in a different language. Because of this it is important to know the country of origin of a name, and the languages spoken by its progenitors. Many modern names like Calum originate from religious texts like the Bhagavadgītā, the Bible, the Quran, and so forth. Commonly these names relate to a religious expression such as "Grace of God".

In early history when few people could write, names such as Calum were transcribed based on how they were heard by a scribe when people's names were recorded in government records. This could have led to misspellings of Calum. Last names like Calum transform in how they're written as theytravel across villages, family unions, and eras across time. Understanding misspellings and spelling variations of the Calum surname are important to understanding the possible origins of the name.

Last names similar to Calum

Caluma, Calumachus, Calumag, Calumaya, Calumba, Calumbo, Calumet, Calumn, Calumno,Calumpang, Calumpiano, Calumpit, Calumpong, Calums, Calumus, Calunas, Caluncagin, Calunda,Calundan, Calundann

Who should be on the British £10 note?

Jane Austen is to be the new female face on the £10 note. But what other women could us Brits have picked?

   

Ten pounds ... Jane Austen on the new bank notes.

 

ONLY two women have ever been the face of a British banknote, but that’s set to change from 2017. The Bank of England has announced that the much-loved 19th century novelist Jane Austen will join the likes of English prison reformer Elizabeth Fry and founder of modern nursing Florence Nightingale as the third non-royal to appear on our country's currency. 

 

She will replace scientist Charles Darwin after widespread protests came from feminist campaigners who argued that if former Prime Minister Winston Churchill was picked, the only other woman to be depicted on a banknote would be the Queen. 

Lauded as both a literary and feminist icon, Austen was a front runner in the selection process. Some Brits, however, are sceptical of the decision, saying she was also the safest option. Here are some other females the GB Mag office thinks could have chosen:

 

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)
A close second to Austen, Wollstonecraft was the author of ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’ in 1792 which argued that British women needed equal opportunities in education. She is frequently seen as a founding feminist philosopher for her wide breadth of work and even gave birth to another famous author, Mary Shelley, who wrote the horror story Frankenstein. Not many know that Wollstonecraft also took part in the French Revolution.

 

Mary Seacole (1805-1881)
A Jamaican nurse of Scottish and Creole descent, Seacole is often seen as a Crimean War heroine whose reputation rivals that of Florence Nightingale. Armed with a knowledge of Caribbean herbal medicine, Seacole set up her own hotel to help the wounded soldiers. She was voted the greatest black Briton back in 2004, finally gaining the recognition she deserved. 

 

Aphra Behn (1640-1689)
A writer and dramatist, Aphra Behn is often left out of the history books. Her most famous work, 1688's ‘Oroonoko’, was a story about an enslaved African that laid the foundations for the modern English novel. She also translated many poems and fiction from French and Latin into English, and was even employed by King Charles II as a spy for the English court. Pretty awesome if you ask us. 

 

Katie Price (1978-present)
No, we're only joking. Price, best known as her glamour model name Jordan, rose to fame in the 1990s and remained into the celebrity spotlight with a career in fashion, beauty, television and as a pop singer. 

 

Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013)
A controversial political figure, many are divided on whether Thatcher was a force for good or bad. Regardless, she was Britain's first female Prime Minister and her sweeping reforms certainly left an impression on the British public. Her recent death sent shockwaves around the world but her legacy will not be forgotten any time soon.