Author: 6000

Very shiny thing coming

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It’s just over 17 months until C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) reaches perihelion, but I’m already quite excited.

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is a comet, and if you can recall just how much I enjoyed getting a photo of C/2021 A1 (Leonard), and then you realise that this one could be many orders of magnitude brighter, then maybe you can understand my excitement.

There are always a lot of unknowns and maybes with comets, because we don’t really understand them completely, and they can behave unpredictable, but we should be able to start seeing C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in about a year from now, and it should actually be quite difficult to miss in September and October next year. Again, nothing set in stone yet, but there are predictions of it having an apparent visual magnitude (brightness) of up to -5 (bright). That’s brighter than Venus in the night sky. And Venus is second only in magnitude to the moon.

There’s always that chance that C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) doesn’t make it: it could fall apart before it gets here. But if everything goes well, in comet terms, we could get quite a show next year.

Ok, fair enough

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I spotted this clip on the internet earlier today, and I really like it.

I guess it appeals to me especially today because it’s Tuesday, which means it’s football day. And whether it’s watching United or playing against whomever, like anyone who’s into sport, I can get pretty riled up and opinionated – even to the point of irrationality.

A moment here to remind you that it’s absolutely fine to be irrational as long as you know that you are being irrational.

That said, I’m at an age now where I don’t get dragged into arguments on the football pitch anymore. That’s not to say that I don’t get too irritated by lazy referees or those who make up rules while we’re playing. But I’ll have my say and then I’ll get on with it. Not much point in carrying on – we’re there to play footy, not to debate just how poor the refereeing is.

Save that for the beers afterwards.

The same with watching football. I can clearly see when something is wrong, and I get annoyed by it, but there’s always the realisation that I can’t do anything about it.

I might seeth quietly for a while, but that will be all.

Usually, anyway.

And if I’m not right, then I’ll admit it. Just like this bloke.

Because in the heat of the moment, referees do get things wrong. But then, often, so do players.
I love the sudden understanding when he watches the replay.

Ok. Fair enough. Good call.

Oops.

What a day

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Bit of a weird one, actually. A public holiday in the UK, but a normal working day here. Such is the South African appetite for taking time off, that this usually only happens once a year. And now it’s happening twice this month. Madness!

This extra Coronation celebration meant that United’s last game of the season began just after I’d got the kids home from school, and ended just before I had to get the boy to Dodgeball. And I had to fit a meal and painting a wall into the intervening period.

Too much to do in too little time, hence the mad dash to the usual spot in my dark car park.

And yet things started so well.

Having not really slept at all last night, I decided that the best way to try and get the day going was a 7½ km run. And that went well, with much speed despite the many metres of ascent included. The day continued on a positive note as I finally found some gas, which has been in short supply in Cape Town of late.

What a morning!

But then I got marooned in a very dark Pick n Pay when their generator ran out of diesel, and all the tills died. This is unusual. Normally, everything else dies, but their means of taking your money somehow survives. So this was a big one.

Once the power was restored (which took a good while), we all discovered that their POS (you can choose which abbreviation that is; either works) devices take fourteen minutes to reboot. Some shoppers threw their toys and abandoned their trollies mid-aisle. I decided to be courteous and respectful, allowing the anger to pass me by, not least because I needed to take some food home for dinner, and I wasn’t about to risk going round the shop again.

Anyway, all’s well that ends well. United won, and celebrated in style:

And the boy made it to Dodgeball on time.

I’m going to sleep so well tonight.

20 months later…

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Around 20 months on from mid September 2021 – whose events surely none of us could ever forget – how incredible is it that we are all still here?

Of course, we’ll likely never get over the memories of the cars parked sideways in the middle of the street, the screaming people in the grocery stores (oh God, the old guy wailing in the pickle aisle at Checkers) or the family members shooting each other.

Absolutely awful.

On the more positive side of things, it is always nice to have these sort of screenshots so that we can see who accurately predicted those horrendous times.

And who didn’t.

New National

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I’ve been slowing down and enjoying the new album by The National, First Two Pages of Frankenstein.

Here’s Eucalyptus.

It’s all very melancholy, but with a weird twinge of hope as well. And some really interesting guest collaborations as well from the likes of Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens, and Phoebe Bridgers.

I think that even the Tall Accountant might like this one.

Go enjoy: Spotify link.