The World Still Awaits What The World Is Waiting For

hey everyone

well, there was never really much chance of yesterday's attention grabbing story being true. if, and it remains an unlikely if, two things would be certain - it wouldn't be for money, and it wouldn't be announced in The Daily Mirror of all places.





i think someone has generated the story in an effort to get the band back in the press in advance of the 20th Anniversary "Legacy Edition" of The Stone Roses being issued this year. a publicity stunt, in other words. one thing is for sure - the band wouldn't have had much to do with the story. it is, though, quite a testament to the stature of a band that twenty years after the fact the world cannot forget the majesty and breathtaking ways of their astonishing, "proper" debut.





anyway, here's the obligatory denial story :


The Stone Roses WON'T reform for summer tour 13 years after their split

Reports that Ian Brown is to rejoin his former group The Stone Roses for a summer tour have been denied by the singer's publicist today.

It was claimed that the band would be reuniting after convincing lead singer Brown to return.

However a spokesperson for the 46-year-old said today, 'We know nothing about a reunion. Ian is working on his new studio album which is due out later this year.'



A national newspaper had reported that the band were lined up to play 21 UK gigs and there was even talk of a US date, with the Coachella Festival in California a possibility.


The Mirror said the tour would coincide with the release of a remastered 20th anniversary edition of the band's debut album The Stone Roses in June.

Brown, who went on to have a successful solo career after the group split in 1996, was said to have been originally unsure about reuniting with his former bandmates but the paper reported he had been persuaded by drummer Alan 'Reni' Wren, bassist Gary 'Mani' Mounfield and guitarist John Squire.

‘It's taken a lot of time and effort to get Ian to agree, but he's finally signed on the dotted line.

'The rest of the band were really up for it, especially when they realised the amount of money on the table,' a source is quoted as telling The Mirror.




However, it seems that Brown is as certain now as ever that the band won't reform. Last summer Brown told journalists that there was 'no chance ... not in the next three lifetimes' of his former band reuniting, leaving many sceptical of the alleged reunion.


The Stone Roses first album, which was released in 1989, has been voted one of the best of all time.

However the group split just seven years later after Squire, who designed the album's iconic cover, quit amid rows with Brown.


The pair are rumoured never to have spoken since.

Reni left the year before and Mani now plays bass for Primal Scream.

The Stone Roses were at the centre of the ‘Madchester’ phenomenon in the late 1980s and early 1990s when Manchester was the focus for a lot of the new musical talent hitting the UK indie music scene



never mind, use this as an excuse to play the album again. and again and again!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Newspaper claims The Stone Roses are reuniting

i would suggest that this is highly unlikely, but you never know!

for certain, though, is an excellent sounding Legacy edition of their debut album coming out this year to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of The Stone Roses.





Reports are claiming this morning (March 17) that the The Stone Roses are planning to reform later this year.

The Mirror is claiming that the original members of the Manchester band will reunite for 21 UK gigs this summer.

According to the paper a "source" claimed that: "it's taken a lot of time to get [frontman] Ian [Brown] to agree but he's finally signed on the dotted line. The rest of the band were really up for it, especially when they realised the amount of money on the table."

It also suggests that the band may play the Coachella Festival, although the group are not listed in the line-up for this year's event, which kicks off in 31 days time (April 17-19).

2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the release of band's debut album 'The Stone Roses', which was released in May 1989.

Although rumours of a reunion have circulated for a while, it was believed Ian Brown would complete and release the solo album he is currently working on before any alternative project could be considered.

The timing of a summer tour would also prove problematic, with guitarist John Squire staging a major art exhibition this summer.

The show, Squire's biggest to date, kicks off in July 5 at the Gallery Oldham and in January the guitarist told NME.COM he would be concentrating on his art career this year.

"I've got a big show in Oldham and one in Austria and one at the end of the year in Tokyo," he said. "The Oldham show is in a major public gallery so it's a lot of work. It's the biggest show I've done."

Squire added that he didn't play guitar much these days as he was concentrating on art more.

Star Wars Storm Troopers ‘suffering mental health issues’

A recent poll of Imperial Storm troopers has revealed that as many as 20% are suffering from psychological issues due to the fact that they have had to switch from fighting for the good of the Universe to joining the Dark Side.



‘Every day is a living nightmare’ said clone Storm trooper A4815162342 who has been diagnosed as suffering from ‘Star Wars Syndrome’. ‘When we were first created we were best mates with the Jedi, followed them into battle, went to the Cantina after work with them for a few jars, and looked after their Padawan. Then all of a sudden the Emperor sends out this order 66 and we kill the Jedi. After that Darth Vader and the Emperor took control and we were suddenly the baddies.’ The storm trooper went on to explain how he was wracked with guilt, was unable to sleep, started drinking, and finally ended up being kicked out of the corps and living on the streets.


Jenny Spinner from the charity ‘Storm troopers need friends’ says that this story is an all too common one. ‘Every day, we have Storm troopers coming to us with the same stories, of feeling a terrible sense of betrayal. If they feel like this, then imagine the psychological issues that Darth Vader has to confront; one minute he is the unconventional Jedi Anakin Skywalker, then in the space of a couple of minutes he gives in to the Dark Side, kills all the younglings and becomes the second most evil man in the Galaxy after the Emperor himself. That’s going to take a lot of counselling.’

Jenny’s charity tries to help ex-Storm troopers by giving their lives meaning and structure again. ‘We provide them with work in a local donkey sanctuary to get them back on the road to recovery’. Asked if it worked, Jenny said ‘Not really, no. They usually shoot the donkeys and burn down the stables.’

Star Wars : The Clone Wars

hey everyone

well, with some reluctance i picked up the DVD of this Star Wars : The Clone Wars film last Friday. i say with reluctance as it seems to have had some fairly mediocre and bad reviews.

i should have known better. once again, the mediocre to bad reviews would appear to be the work of those rather sad cases that hate any and all "new" Star Wars films simply because they are not the original ones, whilst even then moaning and groaning about all things to do with the original trilogy. to them i would say get over it, get on with enjoying the films for what they are!





i picked it up mostly to entertain James, but partially because i was rather curious myself. it's billed as "Episode II.5", and rightly so, really. it takes but a few moments to adjust to this being animation rather than "real people", but once you do, off you go with a rather wild adventure / crusade of a film. as James has had us play it about six times this weekend he clearly loves it, and we are quite taken with it too!





the big plus for this film was the one and only major plot fault with the "prequel trilogy" - Anakin and Obi-Wan are actually seen to be the best of friends in this one. the trilogy seemed to show them doing nothing but disagree and quibble when they were supposed to be good friends. until the obvious, dramatic end to their friendship. not showing them even getting along most of the time robbed the gravity of the tragedy of Anakin in Episode III, as stunning as it was.

Star Wars is at heart a simple, magical telling of good vs evil, ideal for children and adults alike. this continues with that trend. if you are an actual proper fan, and not a misguided "fan boy" that has no life beyond attacking things like this instead of just allowing yourself to be swept away and entertained, see it as soon as you can if you haven't already!!!



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

confusion and incompetence

hi everyone

well, this would be one of those "moans and groans" updates here, so you have been warned! for starters here, for those of you who will indulge me, are how we have got on with that mystical, magical beast known as electricity for the last two weekends....


Sunday March 8 : wake up to find no electricity supply. nothing on the news on the radio, no announcements, call the 24-7 telephone number, they are not at all sure what's going on or when it will be fixed. we thus engage in a mad scramble to get our gas braai going to heat some water and cook a rather splendid breakfast.


Sunday March 15 : after every news bulletin in Saturday March 14 advising us that our area will be without power from 8am to 5pm the next day. their website, which helpfully advises you that they will deny that anything on the site is true so do not believe it, confirms this. their "help" line confirms this. we get all prepared - boil water and fill flasks, get some food that's easy to cook on an outdoor barbecue thing, have lots of things ready to keep James entertained. i get up at 6am on Sunday to shower and make sure we are covered for a day without electricity. surprise! we instead had bucket fulls of electricity the whole day, without a blip.

no doubt the power companies here, City Power and their incompetent leash holders, Eskom, will be of the view that we should be grateful that the power didn't in fact go off. not really, not really, no would be the response to that. why get everyone to be prepared for a switch off that they take the time to announce and then have nothing? this no doubt means that we can expect the power to go off at random over the next few days / weeks / months / years.

the radio station which didn't report that the power was off and then actively did announce that it would go off when it didn't was of course the station that certainly isn't getting any better and daring to get worse, 702. they claim that they are the "number one news station". it's hard to understand this, much like it's hard to understand how they get away with claiming that their news bulletins are "independent" when they are all sponsored by one Company or another.

interestingly, 702 once upon a time used to say that they were the "number one information" station, too. obviously on the above this is incorrect, so it is no surprise that they have dropped that claim. just as well, really. today they broadcast a "classic chart" from 1966, and populated the airspace with news from that year.

one of the announcements they made was that, in April 1966, apparently Janis Joplin died, aged 24.





alas, sadly, the great Janis Joplin died in October 1970, aged 27. that's some interesting research they clearly did, and i wasted effort mentioning to them that they looked foolish using words like "protagonist" and "unique" incorrectly.



ho hum, be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

happy birthday mother-in-law......

hey everyone

well, irrespective on any power queries (refer to the moans and groans post!) today, we had a fabulous afternoon celebrating my (ahem) "dear" Mother-In-Law's birthday. one day early.

how old is she? well, it would be impolite to tell you that, and if i put the age that she wants me to say she is, i dare say some law enforcement agency somewhere would wish to have a word with me about my ten years and counting glorious relationship with Michele! well, i'm not Bill Wyman or Jimmy Page, i am just a normal person who would never do that and wouldn't get away with it!

OK, after that diversion, on with some pics! the (soon to be) birthday girl herself was somewhat elusive when the camera was about, but i am reasonably sure all anyone reading this site wishes to see is James playing away anyway! first up is one where Sklya, Jade, James and their Mummies are almost all looking at the camera!





as you can get a hint of in the above, James was wearing a class, purple psychedelia like shirt with Retro written on it in big letters on the front. alas, after he dropped and sort of broke the camera (nothing a good yank on the lens couldn't fix), he was less interested than usual in posing for pictures, but here's one i managed to get!




as well as seeing Skyla and Jade, James was of course thrilled to see his rather young Uncle Dylan (long story, don't ask) and play away. the two of them seem to be on different phases at the moment. as the picture below shows, James is still very much a Jedi in training (Padawan, if you will) and is thus trying to make some sort of KFC toy into a light saber, whilst Dylan is re-enacting what is presumably one of his favourite bits from something called Ben 10.





Dylan very kindly and slowly explained to me exactly what Ben 10 is, but i must confess something got lost in translation. the video he showed me kind of helped me understand it a bit, or at least let me know that you get some very cool toys with that name on!

anyway, here's as close as i got to a picture of Monica on her (almost) big day!





it's easy not to notice Monica in the above picture, isn't it? your attention is drawn somewhat to the concerned look on Michele's face. and you have to say it's a rather justified look of concern, since a newly crafted light saber appears to be about to connect with her head!!


and finally, the three of them did their best not to pose together for a picture, but eventually i did manage to catch one snap (out of 200) of Jade, Skyla and James together!





many thanks as ever for the hospitality, and the rather fine braai that was done for the most part by Brandon!

hope you all had a fun filled weekend too, and i bet you didn't get to watch Star Wars The Clone Wars quite as many times as we did......



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

for my mate Spiros

hey everyone


my good friend Spiros, who has just kindly handed me a copy of his debut novel, is rather excited about this picture.





nice one Sprios, hope you appreciate the gesture of it appearing here for your pleasure!!!



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Butterfly Creek, New Zealand

hey everyone

well, as part of some sort of meditation ritual before the arrival of a pyjama wearing, five in the morning kitchen botherer (see previous posts for identity, as if you didn't know), Gillian, Daniel, Katie and of course Grant went off to a rather splendid sounding place called Butterfly Creek. Grant, being the deft cameraman that he is, decided not to send pictures of either the Creek or the butterflies that one presumes inhabit the place. he did, however, send on some great pics of everyone having fun!

first up is an unknown young lady, Katie, Daniel and Gillian giving some nice stuff to eat to the goats. well, i assume it's nice. i mean, why would Gillian give them something that they didn't like? further, i would take a guess that it is the same stuff that Grant gives them before he [TEXT OBSCURED ON LEGAL ADVICE], which would explain why young Daniel is a bit hesitant, really.





they do seem to have some rather relaxed traffic laws over there in New Zealand, as it appears that Katie has been allowed to have a whirl at driving a tractor!





Daniel seems rather confident in his sister's ability to drive it OK, as he has no hesitation whatsoever in catching a lift in the trailer hooked up to it!





and it's 10 out of 10 for bravery for the young lad sat on top of the tractor that Katie's driving in this next picture, as Katie seems to be having a crack at that holy grail of driving activities - seeing how fast and how far you can go with your eyes covered up.





i must say i am rather jealous of Katie. every time i try and have a go at driving blindfolded, or just without my glasses on, everyone gets so excited, saying "oh, no, you mustn't do that" and "you are bad enough when you can see properly". well, good luck to you Katie, have fun with it! in a worst case, remember, it's always nature's fault for growing the tree there.

now then, wither Grant? i can see no sight of sheep at this fine place, which is no bad thing really, as Grant would probably just wish to [TEXT OBSCURED ON LEGAL ADVICE], leaving a set of circumstances where ice creams would be late and probably less enjoyable. oh well, it seems that Grant is just as happy paying some attention to the goats!





i quite like the brave chicken (or possibly hen, but i doubt that Grant would [TEXT OBSCURED ON LEGAL ADVICE]. at least not in daylight) which seems to be clucking ever closer to Grant. i also note that the goat is getting rather friendly with Grant in the next pic. i have little doubt that the goat sees licking Grant's hand as an act of friendship, or a thank you for the food. one can only hope that Grant has the good decency and, as it were, taste to see it as such, instead of interpreting it as [TEXT OBSCURED ON LEGAL ADVICE], especially as it is unlikely that the goat would be able to say otherwise in a court of law or even to the proprietors of Butterfly Creek.





well, there you have it. from the interwebnet thingie it does sound like Butterfly Creek is a fascinating place to go and visit. i am sure that on the next visit Grant will indulge us with some images of the butterflies, the Creek and other sights there, rather than just [TEXT OBSCURED ON LEGAL ADVICE].

by the way, New Zealand - if you still wish to receive items in the post (the SA Post Office willing, bless them), you may wish to consider giving me at least a clue as to your new address.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

face painting with James

hi everyone

well, today we went off and had a fantastic time at Aryan's 4th birthday party. James and Aryan are great friends at school, and so it was to be expected that they would all have a wild afternoon running around playing today!

of the many things to do today, James was rather interested in the face painting, but wasn't all that keen on having his own face painted. it was not too long, then, before he found someone willing to have their face painted by him.....





yep, your humble narrator was once again cast in the role of guinea pig for one of James' class ideas. well, Mummy had a few ideas too, which would explain the nice little love heart on one of my cheeks!!





the concentration and enthusiasm in his eyes and across his brow as he busied himself drawing all over my face was something else! i suppose that for James having your face painted is no fun since you can't see for yourself what it looks like. i see, he knows what he likes and he is rather determined to be in control. and he's three. oh great, roll on those teen years....





as i mentioned above, we had a fantastic time today - many thanks to Aryan's parents for a wonderful party and hospitality second to none! we certainly look forward to seeing them all again real soon!

hope that you all had a fun filled saturday too!!!!!!!!!!!!



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

construction time again...

hey everyone

well, i have a suspicion that at some point i have used the title for this post before. never mind, my dearly beloved Michele and good friend Maria will no doubt appreciate the reference to one of their mutual favourite albums!

James has been to spend some time with Grandma and Grandad again. as Grandad is a master of using resources to their best, and James loves following Grandad around, helping him wherever he can, it looks like the two of them had a most splendid time unleashing Grandad's latest building venture onto the garden.

so enthusiastic to help was James, and presumably so keen were Grandma and Grandad to let him have fun with helping, that it seems the moment the soil (and a healthy amount of manure) arrived for the garden project, off James went in his Wall-E pyjamas and Batman slippers to get stuck in!





i really do not want to know the state of the slippers and pyjamas, i have however noticed that they haven't returned with him as such. note Grandad and Marmite "observing" James doing his thing! well, he gets so focused and determined to do something that he really doesn't like it when you try and help him with it!





a-ha, it would seem that Grandma and Grandad noticed that he was still in his pyjamas eventually, and so soon after he got changed into some clothes more suited to the work ahead. getting changed must have caused something of a delay to the schedule he had in his head, and i think in this next pic James is saying "Grandma, this would go a bit quicker if i didn't have to stop after every shovel load for a picture"!




well, i have received just under one hundred pictures of his day helping Grandad building. as it's usually tricky to get him to pose for just one, i admire Grandma's patience and skill!

i believe the caption for the next one goes along the lines of "Hi hoooooooooooooo! Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go...."!!





so what exactly were they building? a rather splendid, excellent looking vegetable patch, that's what! Grandad grows some fantastic tomatoes, and he's going to have a crack at a variety of other crops in the new area set up for them.

here they are busy getting the soil ready for planting!





talk about the Lord of all that he surveys! here's James taking a quick time out to check that all is going according to the plan that he clearly has in his mind and in his eyes.





the look that he has in his eyes is pretty much the same one on the go when he is trying to get Obi-Wan Older (as opposed to Obi-Wan Older, we will explain to him that they are in fact one person eventually)to batter Darth Vader in Lego Star Wars.


now, Grandad has an interesting method of acquiring bricks for his projects, and it's one that i am not prepared to discuss here, quite frankly. every now and then, mind, he "over assumes" how many bricks will be required, and thus they have to be hauled back down. as has been shown before, however, James loves his barrow work, so this isn't so much double work for him as it is a treat!





and, after all that hard work, time for a quick drink break!





it's not just Grandad and James that need a drink, of course. as all who know and love James are aware, he's rarely as happy as when he has a hose pipe in his hands, spraying water everywhere!





after a hard day's graft, there's nothing like taking a seat on the steps, taking in all the hard work, and having a proud smile about all that has been achieved.





actually there is something like it. rare is the chair that is as comfortable and pleasant to sit on as Grandad's knee....





....and very little in this world warms the heart as much as a shared joke and a giggle with Grandad.





well done on all your efforts and hard graft, James! one of these days i am sure Grandad will name part of the garden you helped build after him! oh, for the record, the pool slide you may have had a glimpse of in one of the pics was put in place by me and my Grandad, ten or so years ago!!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a haircut for a good cause

hey everyone

well, of all the many excellent things my place of verk does to contribute to the environment and the community in which we operate, one of the biggest and best is to throw a good deal of weight and support behind the annual Shavathon. this as the name suggests is a marathon effort to shave or colour as many people's hair as possible to raise funds for Cansa, the cancer association of South Africa.

needless to say, it's as good a reason as you will find for a haircut, so of course i took part in it.





the good lady who shaved my head confided in me that she had never actually used the equipment before. ever. it was rather pleasant that she let me know this after she had started, but what a magnificent job she did!!





i did briefly toy with the idea of having just my head shaved and leaving the beard on, as in the picture above. in the end, however, i decided that it would probably look a good deal better with the whole lot off. well, it would look as good as i was ever going to get!!





and so we have the finished product below! my dear friends and family last year (or perhaps the year before) decided i looked like some sort of cross between Boy George and Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz. i would say that i look forward to hearing the comparisons this year, but i am not sure that i do. more Brando, less Boy George would be nice!





i know times are tight for all wallets and purses, but i would hope that any and all readers of my site based here in South Africa will make some effort to contribute to this worthwhile cause. i know that cancer isn't a popular or trendy cause to support the fight against amongst the Hollywood crowd, but it is a killer disease which with support and funds can be beaten.


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

U2 : No Line On The Horizon

it would take a special kind of fool to argue with the view that U2 are the biggest band in the world right now. they are the only act that could (and probably do) match the all time kings, The Rolling Stones, with concert ticket sales. unlike the illustrious company in which i place them, U2 still care about what goes onto their new records. this is to say that U2 are perhaps the only act at the moment who see a tour as a good idea for showing off a new album, not an album as something to knock out as an excuse for a tour.

so, 12 albums in, is that still true? after a couple of listens to album 12, the answer would be more or less yes.



the usual fears surrounded the band making No Line On The Horizon. Bono's profile since the last studio album has been his usual (and if we are honest, sort of admirable) efforts to save the entire world. there's always a concern that his non-politician political statements will overtly creep onto an U2 record. thankfully, for the most part, the other three seem to be having none of it. what they are having, though, is more of the same from the last two studio albums, and this really isn't such a bad thing.


U2 no longer break ground. they did that a long time ago with The Joshua Tree, and very cheekily pilfered the Madchester sound of the Happy Mondays and turned it into their own thing on Achtung Baby. ever since then, it's been the sound they like making, and they are vibes that many millions like hearing them make.

the downside of the album first. there's a track called Unknown Caller which is arguably the worst thing the band has ever recorded. the instrumentation is little short of tinkering and getting in tune; the big crime is the lyrics. in 2009 we do not need to hear a middle aged Bono "being down on this technology thing" by making odd lyrics out of everyday computer technology. if this was on Pop it would have been innovative and interesting, now it's rather lame.

not quite as bad is the song White As Snow, but it's not perfect either. the fears of Pope Bono are revealed in this one. a ballad acoustic type thing, take this as a warning - this is the one they will play live when Bono wishes to share his views, worries and fears on any major incident or world event that has tickled his fancy or been mentioned by his mate George Clooney. you may wish to see The Edge taking out an acoustic guitar and a stool as a sign to head off to the facilities in the venue.

last gripe - why no vinyl release, boys? can't find anything listed on the net.





whereas there is nothing as majestic as Beautiful Day or as awestruck as City Of Blinding Lights on the album, there are plenty of great tunes. top of the list for me is the song they call Magnificent, named presumably because it is. the opening title track isn't bad, but when this second track kicks in, you after a few bars sit up and pay attention to it. nice one.

elsewhere there's the splendid Get On Your Boots, a rather mental psychedelic bass odyssey. Stand Up Comedy carries hints of The Edge listening to some classic Lenny Kravitz guitar; no bad thing since Kravitz probably borrowed from The Edge to being with. at times Moment Of Surrender sounds like they feel obliged to put an "epic" (i.e. longer than five minutes) track on each album. whereas it doesn't really work instrumentally, you resist the temptation to skip this track thanks to some inventive lyrics and a remarkable portrait of loneliness and solitude - everything that goes wrong on Unknown Caller goes right on this one. a bit of a better effort is on the last track, Cedars Of Lebanon, which has one of the best U2 lyrics in a long time, possibly ever : "this s***** world sometimes produces a rose / the scent of it lingers, and then it just goes".

on the whole, an album well worth having in your collection. much of Atomic Bomb seemed initially bland and contrived, but over the years it has proven to be a "grower" of sorts. in time i suspect that less than half of this album will be seen as "classic" U2, but the tracks that shall live on from this one will be held as equals of their greatest stuff.

OK Bono, off you go on your quests to save the world for another couple of years. cheers for the class album, looking forward to the next one!

and just what do the other three do whilst he is off on his missions?



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

toffee apples : 50% quality

hey everyone

well, James' excitement over the weekend was not limited to the joys of being a brickie for Grandad and watching Daddy change a car tyre. we also went off to go and see my dear, beloved, wonderful mother-in-law ("Ouma" to James), and young Dylan.

as a treat, i bought the pair of them a rather splendid and magnificent toffee apple each. an old fashioned sort of treat i know, but what can i say? your humble narrator has bought more stuff on vinyl than on CD over the last few years, that's the sort of chap i am.

anyway, initially the toffee apples were a roaring success, and both of the lads rather enjoyed them....





alas, the enjoyment was limited primarily to the initial 50% of a toffee apple one encounters when embarking on a most splendid quest to eat one. when the toffee elements were conquered, they were rather less enthusiastic about the second part of the deal...





ho hum, to their credit they did have a bite or two each of the actual apple part, but not long after that they remembered that they all of a sudden had to go off and play, leaving the less interesting 50% welded together in some sort of bowl!

i did try to get some pics of James with Ouma and what i think would be "groot Ouma" (oh, Ouma grootjie according to the multilingual Michele), but the batteries somehow didn't make it into the recharger thingie after Sun City. sorry, and the below is the only picture i got before the camera told me it was having none of it.





sadly, no full on shot of Michele's rather ace Batman shirt either, then. i guess it's just for me to admire!!

anyway, hope your weekend was as interest and less expensive than ours!!!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i am an architect

hey everyone


well, after an eventful trip (don't ask, just trust me that Getz tyres are not badly priced), we went to visit Grandma and Grandad this weekend. James hadn't been over for a few weeks, so he was quite excited. Grandad was equally excited, as it meant more labour on hand for his latest building project!

we do find it extraordinary and impressive that my Dad manages to keep finding places to build and do other construction work in the garden, really. just when we think he's finished his grand design, another good idea dawns upon him. in this case, a rather great idea, as the built up flower beds look rather impressive!

here's James helpfully pointing out where Marmite is, Marmite looking at Timan, the ever reliable Timan wondering what the next plan is and Grandad getting on with it!





James rather likes pushing a barrow full of soil around. thankfully, he wisely lets Grandad do the tipping out bit; i dare say James would try and end up covered in soil himself!!





oh dear! two barrows full of soil, two different directions! as much as James loves pushing a barrow full of soil around in general, i think he specifically enjoys the downhill bits more. well, it doesn't really matter that it's not exactly the right direction, it's having fun with it that counts!





as i said, the whole new renovations look rather ace, and we can't wait to see the finished product with all the flowers in! i dare say we will be getting a mail with some pictures in the near future, so i will certainly post them here when they arrive!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!