Category: this is south africa

8%

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Approximately 14 hours* after clicking the Update and Restart button on my PC, I am the lucky recipient of this message:

Working on updates 8%
Don’t turn off your PC. This will take a while. 

Oh joy. So much for my plans to edit photos and write a blog post then. Sadly for me, the photos are very much on the PC in question, so there’s no getting at them for at least another week**.
Sadly for you, I have dug out an old laptop (running Windows XP, nogal) so I can write something on 6000.co.za. Happy days.

The headache left me after 11 hours of lovely, cosy, delicious sleep last night and so today was full of activity: science project with the boy, a couple of DIY things around the house, coffee and biscuits (and a quick drone flight) in the local park, and a last-day-of-the-school-holiday visit to the local indoor jungle gym, climbing wall and big slide in a warehouse place. You can’t do that with a blinding headache. Well, not when you first enter, anyway. You don’t really have the choice once you’re in there.

Tomorrow brings an early morning, the school run and (probably) all of the traffic that Cape Town can muster. I’m in no way prepared (mentally or otherwise) for this rude assault upon my freedom (especially the hour and a half after 6am). I can only suggest a quick glass of Marlon and an early night to begin the process.

Working on being ready for the new school term 8%
Don’t think it’s going to happen. This will take a while.

Right. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I’m off to work on the first part of my preparations now.

Wish me luck with the next 92% (on both counts).

 

* this is a huge exaggeration.
** this one is even bigger.

Rugby is laughable

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“My sport is better than your sport…”

So goes the playground-style oneup[person]ship on social media and at braais and even occasionally at the Molton Brown Curry Club.

I don’t usually get involved.

My sport is football, and I understand that it might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Additionally, I also recognise that football has its faults. I’ve been telling the authorities how to sort them out for years and years. Thankfully, it looks like they’ve finally begun to listen.

Finally, some progress being made to make football less laughable.

Meanwhile in rugby (so often the sporting bastion of the anti-footy pisstakers) they’re heading the other way.

Yep – next time some egg-chaser has a pop at my favourite sport, I might just bite back by showing them this… this… utter mess.

That’s the final Super 18 table for this season, and beagle-eyed readers will not amusing little cameos like the fourth placed Brumbies having 34 points and the fifth placed Hurricanes having 58.

That’s really not how leagues should work.

At least football is working to stamp out its problems. Local rugby bosses are compounding and exacerbating their troubles and generally trashing their sport, season by season.

It’s both sad and hilarious to watch (which is something that fewer and fewer fans are doing, unsurprisingly).

Schadenfreude isn’t just a river in Egypt.

Genius Tourism Board

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Regular readers know I love Cape Agulhas. It’s my happy place. I walk, I take photos, I fly my drone, I eat, I drink, I braai, I sit, I watch, I enjoy; I love it there. It even has its own category on here. And in my mind, it doesn’t need selling as a tourist destination. But of course, if does need selling as a tourist destination, because there are loads of other amazing places in South Africa, all vying for your visit by being sold as tourist destinations.

Generally, I have to say that the agency responsible for encouraging you to go down south – “Discover Cape Agulhas” – does a pretty good job. And while the drive through the rolling hills of the Southern Cape is usually very enjoyable, I’m really not sure what they were thinking by posting this quote over (arguably) their biggest draw card this morning:

Eish.

Let me set the record straight (if you haven’t worked it out from my first paragraph already):

Yes, the journey is great, especially if you travel well. But arriving is actually what it’s all about – we’ve been through this before. Don’t be put off by the thought of a decent journey being ruined by eventually getting to Cape Agulhas. Because when you get there, it really is very good – I promise.

Despite whatever the tourist agency are hinting at here.

Everything now!

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Gosh. I’m very demanding, aren’t I?

But no, this is the new Arcade Fire song. So:
Gosh. They’re very demanding, aren’t they?

Included here, because:
a) It’s a catchy, fun, poppy song with some piano involvement, and
b) Part (most) of the video was shot just up the road in deepest, hottest South Africa.

It’s the title track from their forthcoming album, which is out next week.
I’m quite looking forward to it.

Other international bands with videos filmed in South Africa and which we have featured include:

Coldplay’s Paradise
Kasabian’s Fire
Snow Patrol’s The Planets Bend Between Us, and
Passenger’s Setting Suns

Quick list

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It’s been a busy n hours since we were last in touch, dear reader.

A birthday, several pizzas, a walk in the park, some new (but actually rather old) brandy, a million bags of lawn dressing, a decent roast dinner,  two Star Wars films and absolutely no partridges in any pear trees.

It’s no wonder that I’m so knackered.

More tomorrow, once I have (hopefully) recovered.