and so it was, recently as opposed to the future, look you see, the instance of the much celebrated annual fair in a village (rather more of a town, i suppose) not so far away from us. it is a tradition, or if you like rite, to attend; one that i am strongly an advocate of.
this has been the sixth such occasion of this celebrated event since we took the choice to move home, hence the title. for family and friends reading this, yes, as of last year it was so that James is of an age where he is now totes too cool to hang around with his Mum and Dad at such a thing, opting instead to go with his mates. before long the same shall be true of William, of course, but not right now.
just a few pictures and videos, then. despite my unsolicited status as some sort of "social media influencer", at heart i really do believe moments (for the most part) should be lived, and not relentlessly recorded for the tale to tell. but yes, it is lovely to give friends and family around the globe an update on how we are, if they are of such a mind to have such an interest.
indeed, the evidence does not lie, my (considerably) better half attended once more this year. as i recall, a combination of being a trifle under the weather and tremendously busy with verk related matters meant her absence was noted last year, or if you like the year before.
what, exactly, is the fair? pretty much what it says on the box. each year those of a more nomadic lifestyle are invited to bring their fancy rides, games of chance and other such fairground attractions to a closed off big street for somewhere north of 60% of a week, so that they may earn coins of money for their displays in exchange for the provision of entertainment. a win-win model of economics, in truth.
the timing of this is, as many in the northern hemisphere shall be aware, just as summer is giving up on being a thing and autumn is winning the fight. i suppose this is timed to give all and sundry a most triumphant celebration of a successful summer, one in which the crops did not fail, one that gives all a chance to appreciate community and being outside prior to the isolar hibernation encouraged by the coming winter.
yes, a quasi but rather more sadly all too rare selfie of my (considerably) better half and i. we drift in and out, the demands and challenges of what we must attend with what time we have generally dictates not so much time together at places where selfies make sense. such is how these things go.
one of the interesting things about that is a fascinating or possibly natural change. when we went on arrival home to the first few fairs it was i who perpetually bumped in to people there that i knew, often well. at this most recent event, not one familiar made themselves known to me, whereas my (considerably) better half could not take more than a handful of steps without being stopped and approached by a friend or colleague. not really a reversal of fortune, i would think, but perhaps a circle has been completed. i took my family to the place i considered home but was in essence a new land to them; now it is well and truly a home of their own. oh.
enough sentimental hygiene, indeed, and on to the business end of the fair. well, some of it.
my (considerably) better half and William are indeed looking upwards. also, others are. this is not for reasons random, or for no apparent reason. instead they are beholding what might be considered the centrepiece of the fair, since it was the most massive ride on the grounds. well, starting on the ground but going most decidedly up to the sky.
the basic premise of any showground ride is that it should give you an adrenaline rush of such nature you feel exuberant and very much alive. for the most part this is achieved by moving or if you like throwing you around a bit, so that you feel in danger or some form of peril, with the euphoria kicking in when you are alive.
which is precisely what i would imagine anyone who braved this and walked away from it had a rather keen sense of.
no i did not go on this one, or any such similar. my physique, which is not quite as well honed or maintained as some of the images of moi may suggest, tends to make participating on such rides quite uncomfortable. as for the fear factor, well, to this moment in time it is scientific fact that i am actually immortal, since no science has proven that i can die, so it would provide little adrenaline anyway. but, yes, once i would have engaged in such entertainment.
to challenges of skill and chance, then. many, of course, believe that such booths at such fairs are nothing more than a ruse or a con, with dishonest practices by those nomadic lifestyle types making it impossible to win. perhaps, maybe, but such kind of misses the point. i would think engaging in the challenge is the entertainment and value for money. to this end, if you really wanted a massive and presumably stuffed teddy bear, then you might want to consider going to a suitable retailer and simply purchasing one, rather than resting all hope of taking ownership on your ability to twat a coconut off of a stand or a hoop off of a bottle.
here you go with the above, then, my (considerably) better half having a go at taking a hoop off of a bottle via the conduit of a rather tasty shooter, resplendent with a gas propelled cork as the projectile.
the shooter lifestyle is still relatively alien to the English way of doing things, and delightfully so. in real terms, the only people to actually have firearms here are farmers, select members of the constabulary, certain criminal types and one or two highly motivated types who harbour nationalistic ambitions. you don't see people just wandering around with them, then, and they certainly don't have, for example, gun safes for patrons at coffee shops, which has not always been the case in all the places that we have lived.
so, they are for the most part a bit unusual and exotic here, shooters are. which meant that William relished having a go with one, squeezing the trigger whilst having a curious sense of dispensing justice on some hoops placed on bottles.
i particularly like how he holds and handles the shooter very much in an 80s Schwarzenegger / Terminator style, for as far as i am aware he has not seen such splendid visual entertainment.
bringing together numerous elements of what i have written on the subject of games of chance, we could not help but notice that William had a different approach to this than was expected. rather than attempt to hit a hoop and take it from the bottle, he appeared to aim solely at the bottles themselves. perhaps this was a deft technique intended to disrupt the stand and see the hoop tumble, but we suspect it was more to do with seeing if he could cause shattered glass.
how about a nice video of William trying another game of skill? no prize in this one, so not really much chance of corruption. it was an attraction, however, that does enable one to showcase the fact that they are quite the hard man.
whilst i am no expert, his technique is interesting. in respect of how this would fare against the greatest of boxers, i would be confident that William would totally lamp Apollo, Clubber and Drago. sadly i would suspect it might fall short against Thunderlips of the piece of iron himself, Balboa.
did i go on any of the rides or similar attractions at all? yes, as it happens, i had a crack at the bumper cars, or if you like dodgems. quite reminiscent of downtown jozi driving, only with the availability of items to purchase at traffic lights and the risk of getting shot all removed, to various degrees of disappointment.
for some reason there are one or two of you who do quite like to see me here. i shall take it as a given that this is down to a really out of the ordinary sense of aesthetics, or that you simply like to refresh what you use on your dartboard, or if in a shooter friendly nation perhaps a target sheet. anyway, here you go.
indeed, i probably do need to trim my beard somewhat. and yes, as per the earlier image, i chose to wear my rather smart 70s style b-grade movie hitman or assassin glasses. just for fun.
well, anyway, that be that for another year. shall there be a seventh such post, around about this time next year? so long as the science referred to above remains true i see no reason why not. for now, though, it is maybe time to build the barricades and prepare for what could be a most unusual winter. well, barricades except for the parts where i go out, which shall be daily.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment