Cansa Shavathon 2012

The Cansa Shavathon came to Discovery on the 2nd of March (To the building itself) and the 3rd of March (At Sandton shopping area). I volunteered for both days and this is how it all went down!

FRIDAY - AT DISCOVERY - WEST STREET:

Before 8am and we're down on the loading deck getting things ready for the big day! We're having even the big-wigs of the company come down and spray hair so everything has to be just right! Sprayers to the left, Shavers to the right! Arm yourselves with bottles and razors and tissues and let the masses come!!!

With my blue gloves on, I'm ready to get down and dirty with the spraying! (I figured I'd best do hair spraying since accidentally spritzing someone in they eye would probably be easier to fix then lopping an ear off - people don't forgive things like that...)

Co workers were treated to some colourful creations! "Dah'ling you look Da'VINE!!!"

Some even went the whole hog and got shaved AND sprayed. Later troops moved through the building giving everyone a chance to have their hair fiddled with for a worthy cause! (Or at least get talked into it by co-workers who egged each other on and then chickened out at the last moment.)
Either way it was a great success!

SATURDAY - SANDTON CITY - PROTEA COURT:

When I rocked up, bright eyed and busy tailed, to Sandton shopping centre on Saturday to help out I was part of the second wave of volunteers. The first shift having gone in the morning. I was informed that it was tons quieter than it had been earlier which was a little disappointed but there were still 2 hours yet so let's not get too blue just yet!

This time it was on with purple gloves! I liked the blue better, they gave me a mad doctor look I felt the purple just couldn't. Mind, I took off my one pair as they were extremely hot and left them on the table. When I turned round again someone had made off with them! Personally I'd rather have made off with something a little less reeking of latex but here's to hoping they found a good home and weren't used for dastardly deeds!

This brave lady decided to donate her locks to the organization. She sat on stage as volunteers put her hair into pony tails and then snipped it off. One moment on...

 The next moment gone! (And very well documented as you can see!) This guy right beside me, jumped ten feet out of his skin when my camera click went off!

 The tools of the trade! Someone wonderful had marked exactly what colours where in which bottles. The day before you often just reached blindly for a container and hoped, this way was a LOT easier. And they had so many colours to choose from!!

Everyone was having a blast, excuse the pun!

With all sorts of interesting outcomes!

While onstage various "acts" kept us entertained throughout the day, like these guys dancing to "I'm sexy and I know it" Glad someone does...

Now that's starting kids out right!

I missed whatever puppet show they had with this little guy, for which I am rather sorry for I think it would have been interesting to watch!

 Rules and regs for the shavers. Art by yours truly.

But it was really a lot of fun and some people totally got into the mood and the fun! Like this little fellow. He had his hair spray painted at least twice, and his face decorated, then had his head shaved and spray painted once more! He certainly got his money's worth!

It was really a fun event and raised a lot of money for those in need! For those who think volunteering is boring or a waste of time, now you know better! Here's to a very colourful time had by everyone at the Cansa Sahvathon 2012!!

Jovvi's Bus Ride!

The Gautrain station is known for its, well trains, kinda obvious really, but did you know they have a bus service as well? I wondered what it would be like to take one of their nifty looking buses? I haven't been on a bus in ages!! What do you suppose it would be like? Well, here's a bit of a nibble for you to find out as Jovvi does her first Gautrain bus ride!!!

The buses are kept inside the train station parking lot. A rather creepy, dismal place that has a dark and ominous feeling to it. Hey, what would happen if there was a power failure and all the lights went out? It was with a little trepidation that I set foot inside and began to scan the rows of buses for the chariot that would take me to heaven on earth, namely home and a soft bed!

Here it is!! Doesn't it look lovely?! Quite a posh little bus! But oh, 12 minutes until it leaves the station! Let's explore around a bit! For those who'd like to know, the bus station did not smell of dank and mildew and bodies long forgotten as I sort of hoped it would.

Yip this is definitely our bus! Either that or the suburb of Randburg has gotten really small lately! This is the second pic I took! The first one had the flash on and succeeded in blinding me so much that for a moment I couldn't see hair nor hide of anything and may well have wandered into the road and been mercilessly flattened! Except of course that I just stood still and the glare eventually went away! Hence why this is called Jovvi's Bus Ride and not Jovvi's Trip to The Morgue!

I think movie blokes could do an awesome chase scene down  and around these pillars! Bad guys shooting, people swearing, kids screaming and dodging between buses! It could be just like the average South African political get together!

When we entered the maw of the bus I received a nasty shock! I was told the ride is R12, which it was, IF, ah the catch, IF you'd already caught the Gautrain in the last hour. If not then it shot up to R20! Day light robbery and I wasn't even in the daylight!

Inside the bus! It was pretty empty so a choice of seats were mine for the taking! And one of these fine looking, if rather narrow and uncomfortable, seats ended up with my end up on it! The sign you see above the bus assured us that the next stop was Sandton! Brilliant! Well it would have been only we had just come from Sandton! :P

I sat opposite the seat they'd stashed the fire extinguisher under. I happily regaled stories of bursting extinguishers and tanks and what would happen to the person on the chair if it ever did go KER-BLEWY!!!! 

I then suddenly had the urge to move to another seat.

Ok the pics not great, but this shadowy hulk would be the train station. I snapped the pic as we whizzed past. Granted you can't see much of it, but aren't those clouds something?

Here we are stuck in traffic! Now it's not so fun being stuck in traffic, lordy don't we know it, but it is kinda nice if you know YOU aren't the one driving, or the one who has to pay attention. Drive forward my good man and pedestrians? Let god sort em out!! 

What is there to do on a bus? Well I:

looked out the window, 

speculated about the people on the bus, 

speculated about the people not on the bus, 

remembered previous bus rides, 

compared it to the ride I had in a truck once, 

complimented them on having nice low straps that us short people could hold onto if we had to, 

worried about the price of  petrol, 

wondered what exactly the difference between petrol and diesel is?

dissed people who used diesel,

favoured my listeners with tales of my childhood not at all related to buses,

mentioned I was hungry,

watched a lady demand to get off the bus before the stop and asked her silently if she'd like us to get her laundry at the same time?

and wondered if I could get away with dancing naked on the golf course to New Age twinkly music... 

And all the time that "Next Station: Sandton" sign flicked reassuringly above our heads.