With that landmark reached, here’s one I like from the horribly aborted Last Hurrah 2010 tour.

I’m not quite sure how this happened, but suffice to say that the World Cup helped quite a bit. As has Katrin Müller-Hohenstein’s bottom, which – depressingly – remains my most viewed photo from the tournament. Depressingly because it’s rubbish (the photograph – her bottom is lovely). Here it is again with ex-German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn looking on.

But I digress. Often.

If you’ve ever looked at any of my photos, thanks. If you haven’t, now would be the perfect time to start as I begin my journey on the path towards 200,000 views.

As you can see, it’s been incredibly hard work.

60% of world cocoa production, 20% of global gold production and shedloads of shale gas.
What’s not to like?
(apart perhaps for that 3% of global GDP figure…)

They are monuments made of unworked stones that are used by the Inuit people for communication and survival. The traditional meaning of the Inukshuk is “Someone was here” or “You are on the right path.”

An Inukshuk is a welcome sight to a traveller on a featureless and forbidding landscape.

But the towers made by Alex and me on the beach have a far more fundamental message. They tell the South Atlantic Ocean who’s boss.

Briefly, anyway.

Remember King Cnut (“The Great”)? Allegedly, he:

…set his throne by the sea shore and commanded the tide to halt and not wet his feet and robes. Yet “continuing to rise as usual [the tide] dashed over his feet and legs without respect to his royal person. Then the king leapt backwards, saying: “Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws.” He then hung his gold crown on a crucifix, and never wore it again “to the honour of God the almighty King”. This incident is usually misrepresented by popular commentators and politicians as an example of Cnut’s arrogance.

Cnut’s parents were called Sweyn Forkbeard and Sigrid the Haughty. No wonder he had issues.

Of course, nowadays, we know that the tides are influenced not by some mythical sky goblin, but by the magnetic pull of the sun and the moon and the rotation of the earth. They’re no less powerful than they were back in the 11th Century though and our stone towers’ arrogance is usually hastily dismissed, to Alex’s repeated disappointment.

Next time, I’m going to even up the odds a little by taking some cement along…

Got to love the lights coming up on the faces of the band (0:29), revealing Mark Knopfler as some sort of rough looking Geordie version of John Travolta. And the recurring girl in the outfit fashioned (and I use the word loosely) from the contents of her Mum’s kitchen drawer – tin foil and cling wrap – is pretty special too.

Incidentally, the “Spanish City” referred to in the song:

And girl it looks so pretty to me,
Just like it always did.
Like the Spanish City to me,
When we were kids.

is not Madrid or Barcelona, but the Spanish City Amusement Park in Whitley Bay, Tyneside. Now we know.

I would have shared the video for my favourite track on the album (and possibly my favourite track by the band), Hand in Hand, but it was never released and never got a video. Still – you can have a listen to it and look at the completely unremarkable album cover for 5 minutes if you wish. Just click here.

One question that did arise, however, was around the difference between a Bistro and a Brasserie, given that Societi Brasserie is the new sister restaurant of Societi Bistro in Gardens.It turns out that aside from spelling and Scrabble scores, there are some minor, but important, differences between the two.

According to wikipedia:

A bistro, sometimes spelled bistrot, is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. Home cooking with robust earthy dishes, and slow-cooked foods like cassoulet are typical. [link]

while:

A brasserie is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed, upscale setting, which serves single dishes and other meals. The word ‘brasserie’ is also French for “brewery” and, by extension, “the brewing business”. A brasserie can be expected to have professional service, printed menus, and, traditionally, white linen — unlike a bistro which may have none of these. [link]

These definitions don’t quite fit with the similar ambience and menu at the two Cape Town Societi businesses, but with food and service like we got last night, I think we’ll happily let them off.

UPDATE: According to their website , the Brasserie I was at last night is in Constantia, not Tokai. If this is the case, Constantia is MUCH bigger than I thought. And it probably includes a golf course and a prison as well. If you stretch it still further, you might get a beach in as well.

Before and even during arrival at school, she was excited and upbeat. I captured this as she lined up for the first time, ready to go into class and, I guess, as the reality of the situation suddenly hit home. But there were no tears. She’s a tough little thing and by Wednesday, we were dropping her off at the front gate and she was making her own way through to the school yard – albeit with her big brother by her side.

I imagine that there will be another little dip in confidence on Monday morning, but all things considered, she’s settled really quickly and we’re proud of them both.

One quick mention for Pammie-Jane who is (health willing) going to be playing with the sharks in the waters of East London (and more!) as she attempts another ridiculous Ironman. Good Luck!

We’ve all heard that the Chilis will be playing in South Africa in 2010 before the World Cup and in 2010 after the World Cup and that they also are playing in South Africa in 2011 and, of course, who could forget those several times in 2012 that the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be playing in South Africa?

However, this new information (much like all the other information), which pushes the potential concerts back still further to 2013 comes (apparently, allegedly) straight from the horse’s mouth. And the particular equine in question is Attie van Wyk, founder of Big Concerts. This demonstrates the sheer desperation of the social media music scene in getting very excited about a band whose biggest hits wowed us just 21 years ago who may or may not play a concert which may or may not be happening in South Africa in the next 23½ months.

If the tour does happen, they will be supported (ever so ably, I’m sure) by The Parlotones. Tickets - to our great surprise and annoyance - will be available from Computicket, whose website – to our great surprise and annoyance – will crash on the morning that sales open.
The concerts will be well attended, the beer will run out after 20 minutes and the sound at the Cape Town Stadium will be a bit crap.

See you there!

There are four countries in the world which end in a letter which no other country does. Can you name them?

For clarification, none of them are Canada – that’s because Canada ends in an A and other countries names also end in an A. Botswana, Algeria, India for example (and there are a lot more besides).

OK, so I’ll give you one (ooer!): Iraq.

Iraq ends in a Q and no other country’s name ends in a Q.

So now you have 1 out of 4.

1. Iraq
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Can you name the other three?

Don’t comment here (in fact, I’ll switch them off for this post), rather click here and send me an email.
No prizes, save for maybe getting your name up here if you are one of the first to get it right.

Oh – and no googling either, ok? Think, rather.

UPDATE: Answers now published if you can’t get that brain working!

Top of the list was the Moerse Farm Stall in Napier, which regularly almost entices us with its promise of “Flippen Lekker Viskoekies” & “Sexy Warm Brood”. (“Flipping Lovely Fishcakes” and “Sexy Hot Bread” to to the uninitiated…)

The actual farm stall bit of it is great, with all the traditional fare on offer: rusks, bread, milk tart, etc etc (but sadly, no FLVs, which had sold out already). The place was also filled with homemade placards of famous and inspirational quotes and quirky anecdotes as well.

This one – typical of the dry sense of humour of Manie Kriel, the owner (who also warned Alex only to pet Rosie the dachshund with his left hand, since he would need the fingers on his right hand to hold a pen when he went back to school) (Alex, not the daschsund) – caught my eye as we returned to our hectic urban existences.
But it was the nursery at the back that was so very unexpected: what an utterly amazing oasis of coolness and calmness in the 38°C heat.

    
The plants were healthy, happy (you could hear them singing), colourful and cool – awesome value too, especially when compared to Cape Town prices. Should you wish, you can sit in the sun (or the shade) and enjoy scones and coffee amongst the flowers before continuing your onward journey.

    
And – if you don’t want to miss out on the hugely popular ”Flippen Lekker Viskoekies” & “Sexy Warm Brood”, simply ring ahead (028 423 3440) and place your order on the morning of your trip.

Our next stop was Dassiesfontein, which impressed me less. It’s bizarre, completely mad, and a stop that you really must make just to experience the eclectic nature of the place - rusks, biltong, antiques, leather goods, wood-burning stoves and ovens, a small restaurant, a tiny bar, cheese, chocolates, wine, and even a large range of chandeliers.
There’s no doubt that it’s a well-run and slick operation, but if this is SA Farm Stall v2.0, then I’m not going to bother upgrading. It was soulless, commercial and dangerously expensive – a far cry from our friendly, personal experience in Napier earlier in the day. If, as Dassiesfontein claim, they “represent the spirit of true South African hospitality”, then this country is in more trouble than we thought.

That said, I’m looking forward to enjoying a glass of the local “foot stomped” port (ABV 20% *whimper*) and some of the homemade cheese we bought there. And I’m glad we popped in, but I won’t be hurrying back.

Depending on how good the port is, obviously.