My old man has very little interest in his own birthday and has maybe remembered about 10% of my birthdays, and those with the old lady’s prodding. He also has remembered ZERO percent of my kids’ birthdays (they’re both 11 December, he’s 15 December).
So for his latest birthday I was away out of cellphone comms with Jessie at a game reserve. Then I needed to phone Tom and went to where I found signal and did so. I had remembered the old man’s birthday so for the old lady’s sake, I phoned. It was the day after the actual date.
“I’m most upset and disappointed with you. You forgot!” he says as she hands him the phone (he’s joking of course).
So I said “Hell, I remembered 93 of them. I thought to hell with the 94th.”
She passed her matric, so got to choose her holiday. A Safari, Dad! And I want you to come along.
Well, wasn’t Dad pleased!
We went to Nambiti outside Ladysmith, KwaZulu Natal. To Springbok Lodge. Jess loved the accommodation and the food and the big beasts.
There were also wonderful little beasts and blommy cheese.
Then this! The best sighting: I had been polite about birding all along – it was Jessies’s trip and she wanted big furry smelly creatures. Also we had Poms on board. But when a quail flushed and Tascha drove on saying ‘Common Quail,’ I said ‘Whoa! Let’s have a look, please.’ Luckily it obligingly came out of the grass and back onto the track where we could see it was special. I got a reasonable picture, but Tascha got a better one with a better camera. Here it is: A Harlequin Quail!
The food was really special, the chefs and servers took great pride in their work; The chalet was comfy; Jess and our Ranger/Guide Tascha the Pom, took to each other and so Jess loved the drives.
Here the two of them watch three male lions threatening to attack hippos in a dam. The hippos were having none of it, so there was a standoff. Lots of bared teeth in the distance. Threats, splashes and bad language.
On the other end of the scale I watched a tiny green mantid nymph (half the size of a matchstick) rock and sway, trying to look like a leaf, then dart forward on his four legs – holding his boxing gloves up in front of his nose; no wings yet; then he’d sway and mimic a leaf in a breeze. Amazing feisty little fella was stalking ants and challenging them to a duel, it seemed. I stared in awesome wonder and clean forgot to take a picture!
Well done, Jess! And thanks for sharing a lovely celebratory trip, my star!
Gail & Sean Robinson invited us along to join them and friends Len and Ann on their Salt Rock getaway. Brave souls! They probly thought “Let’s ask Pete, Jess and Tom”. They got Pete, Jess, Tom, Lungelo, Ryan and Andile!!
Luckily the boys slotted in smoothly, eating, sleeping and fishing like Vaalies-by-die-see. And even getting a bit of exercise walking to Tiffany’s centre a few km’s away when they ran out of bait.
The girls did much the same except for the exercise and fishing parts. They did swim, and they rescued tiny toadlets from the pool – so the birds could eat them.
Whatta lovely weekend, with the weather doing all its things: Rain, wind, sun, quiet and cool. Everything but hot. Wonderful.
I walked to Chaka’s Rock a kilometre or so South where we had enjoyed our first by-die-see as Vrystaters in 1963! It has changed somewhat!
On Saturday, January 18, 2014, I wrote reasonably:
Subject: A PBH solution
for the PHBrauers of the world
I’ve been very worried
about people driving Audis into school walls, but I feel a bit better
now, as a Pretoria Boys High (PBH) boykie has put his mind to a
solution for the big Audi / Brauer problem and here’s what he has
come up with:
Google is not the only company that thinks auto-piloted cars are the future. Tesla has estimated that their time frame for having automated cars on the road is ‘within the next 3 years.’ So Elon Musk says we could be seeing cars running on auto-pilot as soon as 2016.
And none too soon!!
This way we could have inebriation AND safety . . among certain
elderly drivers.
~~oo0oo~~
Steve Reed wrote enquiringly:
Regarding Audis getting
driven into school walls, I need to be updated in this regard.
~~oo0oo~~
Brauer quickly jumped
in and wrote defensively:
Would you like an accurate version or will you settle for Koos’ ‘Clive Nel’-ified version?
~~oo0oo~~
I calmly wrote the
simple truth:
All I’m saying is,
The ingredients were:
– Golf;
– Beer;
– an Audi sedan;
– a school
wall.
The results
were:
– Damage to two of the above (the elderly greying culprit / suspect escaped largely unharmed due to being limp at point of impact).
– Lo-ong boring tales
of walls ambushing unsuspecting cars in the depths of Gramadoelas
suburb in Tswanie at the dead of night; * yawn *
~~oo0oo~~
Culprit / Suspect Brauer wrote:
Total distortion of facts. ‘Twasn’t beer. . . . whiskey, mate.
~~oo0oo~~
I fretted:
That’s a worrying
development. I get worried when people start drinking stuff that
slides down easily and stinks less when belched up. I feel that beer
and red wine allow your companions to know more about your drinking
habits, and give earlier warnings about ‘when’s enough’. Just by
looking at his white flokati rug one night Mike Lello knew a lot
about Milk Stout and the Rainbow Club.
~~oo0oo~~
Interloper Bruce Soutar
now jumps in with his tuppence worth:
At the RAINBOW Jazz Club in the Pinetown taxi rank they serve their beers in ‘quart’ bottles (750ml). One special and memorable night The African Jazz Pioneers were playing, and Swanepoel ordered a Castle. He noticed the guys next door were drinking Black Label and saw theirs was 5,5% alcohol while Castle was only 5%, so he ordered a Black Label next. Then he saw some okes drinking Milk Stout and noticed that was 6% alcohol so he smoothly oozed over to Milk Stout and then stuck with it. All the while the African Jazz Pioneers were playing their seductive swinging special jazz. Many, many milk stouts later we decided to gate crash Mike Lello for a ‘last drink’ on the way home.
They were sitting down
to supper when we staggered in. Pete S was feeling hungry, sat in
Mike’s chair and polished off his supper. Then had an urge to burp? .
. . but did not quite make the toilet bowl. Hence the
flocked–up-carti rug.
~~oo0oo~~
Public Service Notice: This hugely exaggerated story is to be taken with a large pinch of salt. But as interesting aside, you can see what it MIGHT have looked like under a microscope.
~~oo0oo~~
I objected:
TMI !! As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted: Self-driving cars for the elderly – that’s what we need.
Trader Horn spoke of a fellow down-and-out in the Joburg doss house – a traveller who “made good money but couldn’t stand prosperity,” Whenever he made a commission, he’d go out, spend lavishly and get boisterously inebriated.
My TomTom has a problem with prosperity. Jess will hoard her pocket money but Tom must spend his with urgency. But how lucky am I that his idea of a splurge is to take his Monday pocket money and walk to the shops and return with a thick steak, fresh herbs and rocket, a brick of butter and coarse salt? He’ll hurry home with his loot, cook up a storm and sit down and eat it happily. He may not finish it and he definitely won’t eat our supper after that, but he’s as happy as larry.
This time it was pasta with a freshly-made herb and tomato sauce.
I couldn’t believe they wanted R40 000! Forty Thousand! NO WAY!
So I sought advice from someone who really knows cars.
Hi Alan
My VW kombi is a 2005 1,9TDi T5 8-seater – 166 000km.
Repairs needed:
Clutch (R12 800); Brakes (R3 000); Driveshaft (R10 100)
Sliding door not opening; plus 165 000 km service.
I have been quoted R40 537 for the above by Alpine Motors VW.
As a trade-in on a second-hand vehicle (around R250k) they offer me R30 000.
I think I’m ready for a double cab bakkie now. Needn’t be 4X4.
Please tell me what you think. Thanks a lot. Cheers. Pete
(this was in 2012)
~~~oo0oo~~~
Hi Pete.
My value for your kombi: R105 000 less 15 for high kms = 90. Less repairs. So worst case scenario on a trade-in = R50 000.
So their R30 000 offer is taking a chance. You don’t need to give it away, these kombis are very sought-after.
If Alpine sells you another they will do the repairs for half that. Tell them to work a deal and you want 70 as-is on another Kombi. If not, rather keep it and fix it yourself as the repairs it needs are all wear and tear being the driveshaft, clutch and brakes – not unusual at this mileage.
My advice:
Fix it. That is the cheaper way round. This is not so expensive in comparison to other cars.
Regards, Alan
~~~oo0oo~~~
So: Did I take his advice and spend R40k to get exactly what I wanted?
No, I spent R140k and got a bakkie. Which I didn’t really want. And which I still have and I still don’t really want.
I’m rich. I have an early Willie Bester, complete with crushed Mainstay Cane spirits bottle top and torn-off piece of an Omo packet, framed in cheap SA pine, painted with pink primer.
Read this from Smithsonian Libraries and weep:
Contemporary African art from the Jean Pigozzi collection / foreword by Mark Gibourne; [day of sale, June 24, 1999]. London: Sotheby’s, 1999. 132pp., 57 lots. illus. (color).
The 1999 Sotheby’s auction of works from the Jean Pigozzi collection was the first major sale of modern African art by a top auction house.
Remarkably, all the works sold. Most fetched more than the estimated prices. Realized prices ranged from £2,000 to £7,000. The top price was a Willie Bester mixed media work going for £10,000 (pre-sale estimate, £4,000-£6,000). Not bad. The sale was billed as a benefit for Unicef and to establish the Jean Pigozzi Prize for Contemporary African Art.
Confession: When Aitch bought it in Kaapstad one early holiday while we were rich and child-free, I raised my eyebrows and thought Hmmm . . .
~~~oo0oo~~~ Sent: Thursday, 17 November 2016 Subject: Willie Bester art
Aitch’s Willie Bester artwork is looking even better – again. One was sold at an auction of David Bowie’s African art collection. Admittedly there’s a “David Bowie factor” which one art dealer reckoned added 50% to the prices.
Willie Bester’s “What Happened in the Western Cape?” fetched R358,000.
~~oo0oo~~
She’d have done this if she was still around, so here goes:
“Remember how you said ‘Are you mad?’ when I bought it in Cape Town, Koos?!”
**mumble** Well, I didn't say 'mad'. I'm sure I said, "Are you sure?" **mumble**
It was January 1993 and Aitch paid R2660 on budget over six months on her credit card. She pinned the slip to the back of the painting. What an investment! Note how they used the old shook-shook credit card machine.
~~oo0oo~~
– Willie Bester –
More about Willie:
Born in Montagu, Western Cape in 1956. He began painting murals as a child, and it was also then that he first developed an interest in recycling industrial and waste materials. As an adult, Bester worked for 15 years as a dental technician’s assistant before rekindling his love for art. His first solo exhibition, held in Cavendish Square in 1982, was mounted without the assistance of a gallerist. Bester went on to study part-time at the Community Art Centre in Cape Town where he was exposed to the idea of art as a political tool.
Following this encounter he had a meteoric rise to fame in the early 1990s, exhibiting at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg before taking part in exhibitions in Dakar, Senegal, and in numerous centres in Europe, including Africa Remix, which was mounted at the Hayward Gallery in London in 2005 before travelling to the Pompidou Centre in Paris and thereafter to Johannesburg.
Bester has received numerous prestigious awards including South Africa’s Order of Ikhamangu (Silver). Most recently, Bester exhibited at the Changchun Sculpture Symposium in China where he was voted the most popular artist and honoured for his innovative use of materials.
~~oo0oo~~
Bester’s mixed media works have frequently included passages of painting that have contained strongly naturalistic elements. Continuity is also evident in Bester’s sustained preoccupation with apartheid’s legacy, and the empathy and dignity with which he represents the dispossessed.
Curriculum Vitae
Training – 1986: Community Arts Project, Cape Town.
Exhibitions – 1982–2003: Eleven solo Exhibitions in South Africa.
1988–2001: Five solo exhibitions abroad – Dakar, Senegal; Trento, Rome and Turin, Italy; and Brussels, Belgium. 1989–2004: Participation in approximately thirty group exhibitions in South Africa.
1991–2005: Participation in approximately forty-six international Exhibitions in thirty-five cities and towns in the UK, Italy, The Netherlands, France, Switzerland, USA, Cuba, Germany, Canary Islands, Spain, Austria, Senegal, Brazil, India, Malaysia, and Ireland. This includes several biennales and high profile exhibitions.
Collections
Iziko SA National Gallery, Cape Town; Johannesburg Art Gallery; Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, Port Elizabeth; Durban Art Gallery; Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg; Pretoria Art Museum; University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; University of the Western Cape, Bellville; University of South Africa Art Gallery, Pretoria; Department of National Education, Pretoria; Department of Foreign Affairs, Pretoria; South African Broadcasting Corporation, Cape Town and Johannesburg; Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town; Contemporary African Art Collection, Paris; Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC.
Awards
1991: Merit Prize, Cape Triennial.
1992: Prix De L’Aigle, 4th Grand Prix International D’Arts Plastiques de la Vlille de Nice, France.
2003: Honorary medal for promotion of Fine Arts: Suid Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns.
2004: Order of the Disa, Members Class, Government of the Republic of South Africa.
When October comes round – again, too soon – and the jacaranda blossoms lie on the road in Elston Place, it reminds me of the 76 things I should have done this last year and that I have on my to-do list.
Trish and Janet’s mom Iona died this week aged 90. Their Dad Neil passed away in 2013 just short of his 88th birthday. Poor Iona was not happy after Neil’s death, having to move into a home, then earlier this year into frail care. She remained feisty, but in pain from a crumbling hip. She missed Neil’s amazing care and she missed Trish and Janet, who was her last remaining comfort, but so far away in Maun.
At the end she suffered strokes within the last few days which hastened the end. Janet got down from Botswana in time to make her last two days more comfortable.
Neither Neil nor Iona wanted any fuss – no funeral, no service, no lies. Daughter Janet instead arranged a little wake – a gathering of good friends where we celebrated them and spoke about and laughed about Trish, Neil and Iona, and drank to family, health, fun, friends, memories and dammitall. I’m so glad she did!
Some months later, Janet and Tobias saw to it that their ashes joined Trish’s (and Bella’s!) in our garden.
So I’m on Noakes’ diet – well, eating plan. OK – Trying to follow his advice, sort of.
Well, actually just trying to cut out sugar. Eating tons more bacon.
So Marc is in our garden cottage while he’s learning to be a chef at the international hotel school up the road. Lovely chap, son of canoeing friend Kelway Tanner, and already hired by Zimbali to cook for them.
When I get home he says –
Here you go – Today was “desserts” and I made this for you.
Mkhuze is dry. Very VERY dry! Nsumo Pan is empty. One little mud puddle has about twenty hippos huddling in it, caked in thick mud. Their farts probly don’t even bubble to the surface now.
At the entrance to KuMasinga hide, a chap with stunning new Swarovski binocs and a huge bazooka-like Canon telephoto lens asks, “You a birder?” Spotted my Zeiss binocs I suppose. In the next two minutes he’s told me the Swarovskis are R36 000, only Canon lenses “of course”, Mkhuze was last this dry in 1963 when he first visited, Swarovski gave him the binnies, he wouldn’t pay that much, and his name is Ian Sinclair.
“No shit?!” I said, “I’m a fan, I’ve got all your books”. “Got them here?” he asks, “I’ll sign ’em for you”. Faint Oirish accent. So he walks back to my bakkie with me and does just that in the only one I have with me.
“I’m writing another one. All of Africa’s birds. Photographic.” Where are you staying? I ask. We’re staying at Ghost Mountain Inn”. “Ah”, I said, “They’re licenced to sell beer and whisky.” He grins, “And I’m licenced to drink it! I’m Irish!”
In the hide, a bird party is sipping on the nectar of a profusion of red flowers. Fellow Irishman Tommy is photographing them with his bazooka. Ian is guiding him on his Africa trip. “What’s that tree again with those red flowers?” Ian asks of me. “Schotia” I say “Schotia brachypetala“. “Vernacular?” he asks. “Weeping Boer Bean”, I say, thinking he’s having me on. “Ah,” he says.
“I’m going to tell everyone who’ll listen that I told Ian Sinclair something he didn’t know,” I say. “Oh, I’ll deny it,” he says, quick as a flash.
Ian Sinclair! Well that was definitely the most interesting mammal I spotted on this trip. Read more about Ian here.
The feature pic shows that weeping boerbean tree at the waterhole. Ian said visit me if you come to Cape Town. I said I’ll bring whisky.
~~oo0oo~~
Enjoyable birding list:
White-backed vulture, yellow-breasted apalis, chin-spot batis, brubru, bulbul, sombre and yellow-bellied greenbul, golden-breasted bunting, orange-breasted bush shrike, camaroptera, yellow-fronted canary, long-billed crombec, pied crow, laughing, red-eyed, and cape turtle doves, emerald-spotted dove, FT drongo, blue-grey flycatcher, crested guineafowl, white helmet-shrike, African hoopoe, trumpeter, crowned and yellow-billed hornbills, YB kite, black-winged lapwing, red-faced mousebird, BH oriole, RB oxpecker, petronia, green pigeon, African pipit, 3-banded plover, puffback, fiscal shrike, bearded scrub robin, scimitarbill, grey-headed sparrow, cape glossy and black-bellied starlings, woolly-necked stork, white-bellied, scarlet-chested, purple-banded and grey sunbirds, wire-tailed swallow, blue waxbill, village and dark-backed weavers, cape white-eye.
Few animals: Tortoise, zebra, nyala, impala, waterbuck, kudu, warthog, giraffe, wildebeest, hippo, terrapin, slender mongoose, rock monitor lizard (Jess spotted these last two). Eleven big male nyala in one tight little herd.
~~oo0oo~~
Went with Jess and Jordi. Tom visited friends. We stayed in the safari tents. A yellow-bellied greenbul ate our crumbs right at my feet on the deck, and two thick-tailed nagapies (bushbaby / galago) raided our kitchen while we ate supper. Everything’s really hungry!
And a tiny little plant all alone in the dry dirt between the tents:
Ever-optimistic Aitch had asked to be kept alive till this day arrived, but it wasn’t to be. I’d been secretly dreading it as I just knew there was no way I’d be able to do all that would have been done – as in everything and OTT and more! – had the Aitch been the Field Marshal of Matric Dance Operations – as she would have been.
Then in stepped Dizzi, Heather and Gayle, GodMoms extraordinaire! A dress was hired, fittings were done, shoes were bought, jewellery and a handbag were loaned, hair extensions were commissioned, a make-up artist came to our home, nails were painted on all four limbs. There was more, I’m sure. In fact I can’t think what else Aitch might have done – tho’ I do suspect she might just have done more!
The good ladies at school stepped in too: “Who is Jess taking to the dance?” they asked. Haven’t a clue, I replied. Well, they thought so and they have decided she is going to ask TK to accompany her, they announced, extolling his virtues and suitability. Saved by the sisterhood – again!
One male also stepped up – Bruce loaned us his silver BMW Z4 convertible. Ideal. Other than it being strictly a two-seater, so no room for the chauffeur – yours truly. That problem was solved when Surprise Shabalala put her gaggle of girls into her car and drove son TK to the dance while I drove Jess in the BM. What a lovely, bubbly family the Shabalalas are. All girls, TK is a lucky man! Now for a bit of name-dropping: TK’s late grandfather was Joseph Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo fame! Their fame in SA was always legendary, then they cut an album with Paul Simon and became world-famous! Jess did not have Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes, though. Now if Aitch had been here . . .
At the school I started lowering the BMW Z4’s roof so we could take pictures but a loud “Dad! It’s raining! My hair!” put a stop to that.
I await the pictures from the dance. To be continued . . .
Jessie’s story:
My matric Dance was a night I will never forget!! Trent Saunders who was the photographer took all the photo’s of us and our couples.
When we arrived at the school Trent took a pic of TK and I, and the parents took pics with their child and their partners. Then the parents left and OUR MAGICAL NIGHT started YAY!!
Before we started dancing some of the grade 12s said speeches to thank the teachers for all their hard work that they did to make our night so magical and special, After their speeches our grade teacher Mrs Freeman told us what was on the menu.
The food was so delicious! Thanks to Mrs Hicks, for starters we had stuffed mushrooms, our main course was rice and chicken curry and salad ( which was so yummy! ) and for dessert we had malva pudding, ice-cream and custard, and for our drinks we had appletizers and coke. Each Grade 12 got a piece of fudge and a special glass that we could keep.
The hall was absolutely beautiful. We had two good DJ’s who played really good music they played old songs in the beginning but then they started playing music from the Now CDs.
Tokoza, Minnie and TK were the first ones on the dance floor! And then everyone started going onto the dance floor, even the teachers. Themba was a dancing machine he was hitting the floor ( literally ) and Cameron was Michael Jackson. The one song where everyone joined in was the Cha Cha slide which is a really fun dance.
The night was great fun and also a night us Grade 12s will never forget! The highlight of my night was having fun dancing with all my friends and Mrs Saunders. TK and I even had a slow dance together.
I wish we could go back to that magical night. I really loved my dress, my makeup and my beautiful hair which was all done by a very beautiful lady herself Vanessa, she also helped me pick the dress out at Cinderella’s.
And I also want to say a huge Thank you to Dizzy and Heather who helped me with everything this night would have never happened without their help!
Have you HEARD?! Michaelhouse are going co-ed! It’s true: From next year they’ll be accepting boys.
They ran up against my Tom in the mighty U/15D’s in that game you play with oval leather balls. He personally ran in three tries before half-time.
Final score Westville 52 – : : : : – Girls High Zip. Zero. 0. Nought, ek sê.
– flanker Tom (extreme left) already has two tries at this stage – the inset pic shows flanker Tom in primary school kit, kneeling in his shiny new lime-green boots.
Of course, Tom was merely following in the footsteps of his ancestors who have made a habit of whipping Michaelhouse. Also he’d probly absorbed his Dad’s sage rugby tips and advice. OK nah, probly not.
