Thanks Gareth

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Each and every weekday morning, just before the 8:30 news, 5fm’s breakfast DJ Gareth Cliff plays the “Old School” (should that be “Skool”?) track of the day.
This is the part of the show which is designed to make people of my age feel much older than we actually are, by playing tracks from the mid-00’s, which people of my age consider to be “recent”, and calling them “old”.

Still, some of the stuff he plays is much better than that modern R&B rubbish that’s being released at the moment. Or at least it was, until today when he gave us the 1988 Billy Ocean “classic” Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car.
I was stuck in traffic in Rondebosch at the time (the time he played the song, not 1988) and suddenly became aware of several questioning glances coming my way. Contrary to popular belief, there are not a huge number of places to hide in a car (Mexican immigrants know this) as you are mainly surrounded by glass.
Schoolchildren were laughing and pointing. Elderly pedestrians frowned disapprovingly at the noise.

Fortunately, no-one actually tried to “get into my car” (and who can blame them with that racket going on?). But now, everyone on Campground Road thinks I am a Billy Ocean fan.
Suddenly, life has new meaning to me.

I’m making excuses…

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It’s something that I have won many awards in – or at least, I would have done if there were awards to be won for making excuses.
Which, I guess, is an excuse – I hope that you can see the dedication therein.

I still haven’t uploaded the pictures from London (including those of the pathetic and awkward Michael Jackson tribute in Trafalgar Square) onto flickr and Big Ant is not going to be happy when he finds out. This annoyance has either just begun upon him reading the last line or has already occurred when he ventured onto my flickr and failed to find the images I had promised.
Either way, you probably heard the roar of disapproval.
The excuse is that it’s been so nice and sunny here that I have just been playing outside, with the kids, with the braai and with the new camera.

My intention was to play catch up this weekend. I’ve lost touch with everything a bit: news, sport, gossip, music and everything else besides. However, with the weather being so beautiful and the kids being so… “interactive” (for want of a better word), it just hasn’t happened. So I’m sorry that there is a paucity of observations on current affairs and the like. I would say stuff, but I’m still in holiday mode and I actually don’t know what’s going on. I wonder if this is what normal people feel like most of the time?
Maybe by Thursday, when it’s pitching down with rain (as is more usual for a Cape Town winter), you’ll get the sort of incisive comment which youhave come to rely upon – and which 6000 miles… has become infamous for – on those important matters. Until then, it’s sunny. Sorry.

Right now, I have to go an “interact” with the kids some more – it’s bathtime.
After that, I have big plans to “interact” with a nice robust red wine and – quite possibly – FIFA 08 on the PlayStation 2 (Yes, I like to do things a little Old Skool).

More trivial posts will follow until precipitation arrives. Please feel free to leave trivial comments.
I deserve nothing more.  

P.S. Please note the lack of an apology for not uploading those photographs.
I would have said sorry, but I’d already published this post.

Simple

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Flying high, originally uploaded by Ballacorkish.

It’s been a taxing day in many ways and so we’re heading quota photoward again. Sorry about that.
This one could have been taken in Cape Town today (although it wasn’t): bright and sunny with stunningly clear blue skies, so we chopped down some trees in the garden and burned the wood under some meat.

It’s nice to be back home. Although the trees aren’t hugely happy about the whole return thing.

Gansey – a parenting revelation

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Behold! A picture of Gansey – the beach in the Isle of Man where I spent most of my childhood summers.


Gansey (gets bigger here)

It had everything a young boy could want: ample sand for beach football or cricket, sun, sea, rocks with the essential rock pools, a small river etc etc. It was perfect.
At the time it never really troubled me, but looking back, I wondered how come my parents were so happy to let us spend so much time on the beach each holiday? Finally, as I visited there for the first time as a parent myself, the answer came to me.
It was so bloody EASY!

Even at their young ages, my kids were completely visible, completely safe and completely happy. As parents, we didn’t have to do anything except provide the odd biscuit and relax. And it cost nothing.
This is obviously the Manx equivalent of dropping the kids off at Westlake and getting the police to bring them back.

I’m going to highlight this post to my son when he has his own kids. Because forget all that stuff you learn at parenting classes about diets and nutrition, about bathing and which soaps are best to use for baby’s skin. That pales into insignificance against this sort of information. This sort of information is invaluable. It’s gold dust. It’s priceless. (Pammie – I hope you’re listening)

And relaxed parents mean happier children. Or so I’m told.

Gansey flickr set here.

There’s nothing worse than a wet braai

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Not having a braai in the rain: that’s perfectly acceptable. When you need to braai, you need to braai and precipitation shouldn’t change that.
No – I mean having damp braai apparatus. They go rusty, they get that nasty ash-paste in the bottom and they won’t light. Hence the age old expression: You never cry when you have a dry braai.

All of which is why you need a braai cover.


Braai Covers: Essential

Note that you must buy the correct “specially shaped” cover for your braai. And that the Kettle option doesn’t protect your braai from rain or rust, but does feature the scratch protection option. Perfect.

When looking at “dated” photos from South Africa, it is important to note that one must add about 7 years from the date you think it is if you’re basing your estimate on the UK and about 4 years if you’re comparing with the US. Thus – my first guess was 1984-ish, but that was based on fashion in the UK, so I’m putting this at about 1991 in South Africa. 

All of which means that we might have decent broadband by 2016 and a great national football team by 1973. 

Hmm. 

Pic snapped up from missmoss.co.za – thx!