Representing…

Just over a month from now, I’ll be representing my adopted nation in some World Championships.

It’s not quite the Olympics, but it is an official World Championships and it is all for a good cause.

Bring forth – The World Tin Bath Race:

As far as I am aware, I am the only competitor from South Africa, probably the only competitor from Africa. And thus, a huge responsibility falls upon my shoulders. This is bad news, as I am not small anyway and will almost certainly sink. The event, organised by the brilliantly-named Castletown Ale Drinkers Society, has been going for longer than I’ve been around, and I’m determined to give it the best go possible.

I hope that I can rely on your support for this, and I will be checking which SuperSport channel it will be broadcast on.

Watch this space.

A Real Man

This is a difficult post, because a lot hinges upon it. After the 2009 Kids in Tow Tour and the disastrous 2010 Last Hurrah Tour, we have another trip to the UK coming up and we need a name for it. I have plenty of time to decide on suitable nomenclature ahead of our departure, but I want to post about it today. And I don’t have a name.

But I can’t let minor details distract me from this! We’ll sort something out posthumously.
Or whatever the word is.

Because while in London, I will be eating some pizza! Here.

Seriously? A Manx-themed pizza restaurant in the heart of London? I cannot wait.

The Snaefell Diabola “The Hottest Pizza in the British Isles” looks particularly attractive to me, as do the Manannan Vodka cocktails.
Mrs 6k will enjoy the Manx chocolate pizza. And the kids will eat most anything.

And they do queenies. And if you pay with Manx currency, you get a discount.

Colour me hungry.

One hundred

Amazing.

Please say hello to my Auntie Hazel, all the way from the Isle of Man.

She’s just got off that trike behind her. And here’s the scoop from local radio station 3FM:

A local woman has been sharing her birthday with the Mountain course.
TT 2011 is the centenary of the Mountain Course. Hazel Dean yesterday reached a milestone of her own celebrating her 100th birthday.
As a special treat for the lifelong TT fan, her family arranged for her to go on a parade lap of the Mountain Course, on a trike.
3FM caught up her after a 37¾ mile trip, she said it was a wonderful birthday surprise.

Which was nice to read. What was even better was when I got to hear how she felt about it as well.

[audio:http://6000.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/381955.mp3|titles=Auntie Hazel]

Sounds good for 100 years old, hey?

Thanks to Ben Sowrey and the guys at 3FM for the permission to use their stuffs.

Clarkson loses Manx court case

Much joy on the Isle of Man today as BBC Top Gear presenter and Manx resident Jeremy Clarkson will have to reopen a footpath he had fenced off on the beautiful Langness peninsular. This after the decision of a public enquiry went against him.

Jeremy and his family own the lighthouse which sits on Dreswick Point at the southernmost  tip of the Island. The area is a haven for wildlife and has some stunning views, which made it popular for evening walks long before the Clarkson clan arrived. Personally, I can remember many wonderful evenings there as a kid, kicking a football along the lighthouse road and looking for driftwood by the foghorn.
But clearly ignoring caveat emptor, Mrs Clarkson – Frances Cain – objected that people were walking around the lighthouse (as they had been since it was built 130 years ago) and looking in through her windows.
Evidently, despite Top Gear being the biggest BBC export worldwide, purchasing blinds was still an issue.

However, in October 2006, Mr Clarkson found some spare change in an old jacket and with it, put a fence across the public right of way, the erection of which upset a whole heap of local residents. Now, after a lengthy and bitter legal battle, those local residents  – led by Ian Costain – have won their case and Mr Clarkson must reinstate the footpath around his home.

…the inspector found that all the routes had indeed been used as of right for enough years for them to have become highways, and needing to be added to the Rights of Way map.

So it would seem that “the Greatest Living Briton” (as the Tall Accountant refers to him) is just another ordinary citizen on the Isle of Man. Which is exactly how it should be.

Photo credit

Late again

Home from a hectic day at work to a hectic evening at home, mainly involving a jungle gym, a yellow barrel and a golf ball.
Don’t ask.

And then dinner and a few episodes of Big Bang Theory. Yes, it’s American and therefore should be rubbish, but the science angle makes it personally relevant and therefore amusing. It concerns me that I identify with certain traits of some of the characters though. (I’m not saying which traits or characters, since the vast majority of the protagonists are completely socially dysfunctional.)
I was going to add a random photo to this post from the Flickr Explore “last 7 days of interestingness”, but they are all photographs of a certain genre – too “mucked about with” (photoshopped) and unnecessarily arty for my liking. So disappointing.

So instead I searched for something from the Isle of Man groups, where I came across this:

group

which appears to be the least successful attempt at a swingers ad ever.

I also found a misplaced sunset picture (taken in Worcestershire) which would make a lovely quota photo. It was heavily copyrighted though, so appropriate permissions have been sought – hopefully you look out for that another day.