MOAR deluxe edition albums!

Posted on

We’ve covered a bit of this already, but after a-ha released their recent offering Cast In Steel, they then released a Deluxe 30th Anniversary Edition of their 1985 classic Hunting High And Low. It has loads of previously unreleased stuff all over its 4 CD loveliness. That only came out last week, so I can’t imagine that it’s the widespread critical acclaim that has prompted the following announcement, but that’s unimportant. What is important is the contents of the following announcement:

A-HA CONTINUE DELUXE EDITION SERIES

Yep. Deluxe editions of Stay On These Roads, Memorial Beach and East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon are on their way. Be still my beaten wallet.

Track listings are here, and once again include demo versions, remixes and previously unreleased material. Included is the instrumental version of Angel In The Snow, special to me because it’s the song that my wife (or wife-to-be, I guess) walked up the aisle to at our wedding.

But wait, there’s more. Lots, lots more. An alternative mix of the beautiful Out Of Blue Comes Green. The soulful I’ll Never Find You In This Streetful City and a DVD release of the 1993 VHS Live In South America.

If you’re an a-ha fan (spoiler: I am), it’s going to be raining wonder for quite some time.

Just another lighthouse pic…?

Posted on

I have worked out that the Umhlanga (can you pronounce it correctly?) lighthouse is the most photographed in South Africa. That conclusion comes from looking for photos of various SA lighthouses on Flickr and the North Durban one being by far the most plentiful in the search window.

18843094303_c279cbce03_b

Yes, many lighthouses are iconic landmarks, but not all of them are quite so photogenic and convenient for a nearby conurbation. Joburg has no lighthouses. Cape Town has the Green Point lighthouse, but it’s more of a red and white Minecraft block than an actual tower. And Cape Town has so much more stuff to look at too. Cape Agulhas is certainly iconic, and geographically important, but it’s a long way from anywhere big. So in many ways, Umhlanga is the perfect balance of large local population, tower, and not too much other stuff to look at (don’t @ me).

I’ve never been to Griffiths Island in Victoria, Australia, nor do I have any desire to go there, but someone on Flickr did go there and they took this photograph:

6253539084_83781da416_b

Google tells me that Griffiths Island is near the legendary Port Fairy, where men are men and have ever such delicate wings. I don’t ever have to go there because someone went and took this beautiful image. I’m looking forward to test driving the new camera down at Agulhas this weekend, hopefully (in the nicest possible way) preventing anyone from having to go there ever again, as well.

Bran-day

Posted on

Those of you who know me, or who read this blog on a regular basis, will probably be aware that I am partial to the odd glass of brandy when and where I can slip one in.

And things over the last 24 hours have conspired to deliver not one, but three Marlon-related bottles of joy. Some 10 year old KWV Potstill brandy, some “ever so special” Courvoisier cognac and some St Rémy glass-encased deliciousness. I’m going to be kept wasted happy for several (if not more) evenings.

And then I spotted this – Brandy Homes:

Brandy-Homes-Logo-300x212

Well, I have one of those now, but these are the places that brandy is made – the local distilleries. I’ve done several of them already, but now you can visit them all with this handy new feature on the sabrandy.co.za website:

A Brandy Home is a place where you can sit back, relax and learn all there is to know about brandy.
The story of brandy is fascinating – it takes five litres of the finest wine to make one litre of spirit. And then it has to mature untouched for at least three years.
There is so much to discover – the heads, the heart, and the tails. Not to mention the Angels’ share… Plan your visit to a Brandy Home today. It’s a great outing and something completely different!

And there are maps and guides and ratings – a nice resource. SA does a lot of really good wine tourism, and with the troubles caused by the new visa regulations, it’s such a sensible idea to encourage some additional brandy visits with summer coming up (which, along with spring, autumn and winter, is my primary brandy drinking season) and  worth checking out.

Disclaimer: No brandy was exchanged for this post (yet – my contact details are here, Brandy people), I just like the idea.