Monday, November 29, 2010

The sun isn't free anymore!

I thought I'd heard it all until I came across this little snippet.

She claims to be the owner of the sun, she wants to charge everyone on the planet for using her product.

I wonder how long it will be until someone sues her for the damage her product is causing to the human race as far as cancer is concerned.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Mortality

I volunteered to caption photos on the eGGSA database gravestone website, a huge tool for genealogists. My first cemetery is the memorial wall in Hermanus.

If you have ever been in Hermanus, you'd know that the community itself is largely made up of old people. Grandparents. With the younger family members usually joining their parents and grandparents during school holidays and over weekends. (Disclaimer : As the older people die or move to a retirement village, younger people are buying up the properties so the community age is slowly changing, and of course developers are buying up parcels of land all over the area and building multi level blocks of apartments.)

A few things I have noticed :

1 - When you are married for a very long time (45 years and more) and you die, your partner usually follows within 2 to 3 months.

2 - Sometimes age doesn't matter, especially if you are a woman and born in the first 15 years of the 1900s. You can be older than your husband.

3 - Our grandparents' generation has probably lived longer than we will. Even with a low life expectancy in the first few years of the 1900s.

4 - People my age are starting to die.

I've never really thought about the type of funeral I want or the epitaph, if I want one. I would not like to be buried, that I do know. A memorial stone in a garden of rememberance....I don't know if I want that either. For now, I've put it in my will that my ashes be scattered, that is if J&C or Himself end up honouring my wishes. Basically I don't want my body to rot in a grave.

I still like the idea of a Viking funeral though, no fuss, no mess, just a blaze of flames and it's done.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Time to let go?

Photobucket

In January of 2002, when J was 11 months old, Himself and I flew to London and then on to Australia with J.

This was just after 9/11, things were crazy mad at airports. You couldn't take anything with you on the plane. When it came to food for J, it was a nightmare to comply. While in London, we spent a morning walking around the Tower of London complex and had lunch in their caffeteria. I bought a couple of jars of baby food, firstly because it was organic and secondly because I think by then J was a bit tired of the oatmeal I'd packed in.

When we finally came back home a month later, I found a jar of food in the nappy bag so put it away fully intending to feed it to him at some point.

Today, 9 years later almost, I finally tossed it. I think it was time, don't you? :D

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Knight and Day

Don't waste your money.

I think it is time Tom Cruise hangs up his (un)skillful acting hat and becomes a permanent spokesperson for Scientology. He'd do better selling their cheesy imitation religion than he does selling himself as a secret agent.

I kept expecting the cast from Debbie Does Dallas to jump out kaalgat and do their thing because the soundtrack sounded so damn cheesy. I would have fallen asleep watching it but the toilet break and shower I had in the first half revived me too much. And Himself would have been offended that, yet again, I did not enjoy a movie he chose.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

I've won the blueberry battle!

I posted a long while back about how J is a vegetarian and how C is a carnivore. For the longest time I have found myself back at the dinner table struggle with C. J is quite content to eat mostly vegetables (he's slowly abandoning the idea that meat is all bad but still loves a plate piled high with just veg) and enjoys all kinds of fruits. C however, fights me tooth and nail to eat healthy and more diverse. She'd live on a diet of meat, meat, meat, sweet carrots, meat, cheese and bananas, strawberries with ice cream and peanut butter. Every once in a while I buy blueberries, hoping to tempt her into at least trying one berry. But no, she pulls away in disgust every single time.

So you can imagine the horror on her face yesterday when I showed her what I'd bought besides all the meat. A punnet of fresh blueberries. No biggie I told her, she didn't have to eat it. J and I would.

This morning while making their school lunches, I cut up some fresh strawberries with pieces of pineapple for her and added a handful of blueberries to J's. She stood watching me eat a handful myself and when I held one out to her, she ate it. Absolute disgust all over her face. Then I held out two more. She took those and ate them too, same look of horror and disgust combined. Then a few more, still with the disgust. When I started to close the punnet, she came round the counter and very politely asked if I would put a few in for her too. I nearly passed out.

The little container has about 30 blueberries in it....I wonder how many will be eaten and how many will find their way back home. Actually I don't care if any make it back home, just the fact that she ate a few this morning and asked for more must surely mean I'm slowly getting through to her?

Friday, November 12, 2010

The Gatsby

I was cruising on my favourite mommy website when a thread about food porn from your particular neck of the woods came up. One of the items I shared was the Gatsby. Now if you've ever lived in or near Cape Town you will instantly know what I am talking about....that rather intimidatingly large roll filled with everything under the sun including slap chips, dripping sauce everywhere. Usually shared between a few office mates for lunch over a bottle of coke.

While searching for pictures to post on the thread to show what a Gatsby is, I came across this lesson in how to eat a Gatsby from funnymail.co.za. It is spot on from what I remember.

1. Keep the time between purchase and consumption of the Gatsby as short as possible. Cold chips are no one’s friend.
2. Cut the Gatsby into a maximum of four pieces. Anything smaller is a gross injustice to the Gatsby because there’s no way you’ll be filled by a fifth or less.
3. Any chip falling from any given piece of the Gatsby is considered fair game. The ruling on this is final.
4. When separating the Gatsby, note the point of division: practice absolute precision here to avoid taking the bottom roll of the next person’s piece. Ask for assistance if necessary.
5. You must finish your share. Besides it being a terrible waste, you’ll be scorned by the Gatsby Fraternity for all time for being vesin.
6. Grip is critical. Cup your piece in your hand so that loose bits have nowhere to fall except back into your hands. Avoid the scenario described in Point 3.
7. NEVER leave the Gatsby unattended.
8. It’s best to accompany the Gatsby with a beverage, ie Jive, Frulati or Cabana. Hearty burping guarantees relief.
9. Observe relative silence when consuming the Gatsby. No one likes to talk and eat at the same time. See Point 1 regarding cold chips.
10. Always wash hands with soap and water at the conclusion to avoid getting a spicy finger in the eye, a condition commonly known as Gatsby Eye. The only cure is self-induced crying. No one wants to see that, so just make the trip and wash your damn hands.
11. The bra (person) that contributes the least towards the gatsby gets the smallest piece.
12. The Gatsby is not supposed to be eaten out of a plate, so make sure you ask the BB.Sc (Bra Behind Shop Counter) to doublewrap the Gatsby to ensure enough paper for everyone.
13. Avoid eye contact with anyone not eating the Gatsby for fear of them asking for a “stukkie” (piece) or shouting “kap ‘n baat” (give me a piece).
14. When sipping on the Frulati, make sure you only have 2 sips then pass… anyone attempting more than 2 sips forfeit the next round.
15. Nothing on the Gatsby is to be wasted (refer point 5), that includes any salads or sauces still remaining in the paper… lick it up!
16. When the Gatsby is finished, it’s obligatory to finish the ritual with a cigarette, beware though of anyone asking for “‘n skyf” (drag); thus make sure you get some sauce on the filter of the cigarette to avoid having to share your “entjie” (butt).
So, if like me you enjoy a ginormous sandwich with everything on it, and it is your first time, follow these simple rules and you will be fine.
/I wonder if that kaffie in Atlantis still exists...selling his Gatsbys.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Seychelles pics

I promised you all pics of the Seychelles trip. Here they are.
Part of the resort, Constance Ephelia.


The villa we stayed in, on the ground floor. Each villa has two units.

The pool at the end of the concrete walkway in the above picture.

View from the breakfast area:

The sea is about 100m from the end of the breakfast area and the pathway.
Lunch and lunch buffet. Lucina made a kick arse spaghetti!



The pool flowing throughout the main buildings, bars and restaurant areas


The beach at the resort, note the clean blue and white colours.
One of the days we took a ferry 44kms across from Mahe to Praslin Island, the only natural spot in the world where the coco de mer is grown naturally. The coco de mer is the largest seed in the world and when sailors saw the seed pod floating by in the ocean, dubbed it the coconut from the sea. The leaves of the tree are bigger than a man and until recently was used to roof buildings.

Mahe harbour, on the ferry to Praslin.

Praslin Island

The harbour

The coco de mer. As it resembles a woman's pelvic area, it was considered a fertility symbol by the islanders.

The leaves of the palm.
We had lunch at a small restaurant/gallery in Baie St Anne. Smorgasboard of curries, fresh and grilled vegetables, salads, red snapper.

Our table, about 40m - 50m from the sea.
Anse Lazio, the most famous beach on Praslin where we swam before having lunch.


We took a drive up to the hill where the Presidential Villa of the resort is to take some photos. We kept seeing what I thought were big birds but which our guide said were fruit bats, a local delicacy.

Friday, November 05, 2010

How kids rate restaurants

Hey there Mister Manager of the local Mimmos. I understand that this afternoon you were extremely busy what with having a large group of about 15 screaming girls sitting outside with about the same number of parents having a birthday party. However, it might be worth your while to take note of the following :

1. When a girl requests a drink, don't forget it.
2. When a girl's pizza has been made and handed in to be baked, don't throw it away, burn it or otherwise get rid of it.
3. When a girl requests new dough and filling for her pizza, don't ignore her request.
4. Treat your staff with a bit more dignity.
5. Don't go outside to have a smoke while you are supposed to be rebaking the remade pizza. Girls notice that sort of thing.

C was invited out to a make your own pizza party at the local Mimmos today. The waiter forgot to bring her Coke Zero three times, the manager "lost" her pizza and then remade it for her (not the point of the party so the remade pizza is now sitting in it's take out box on top of my stove). He also ignored her request for dough to remake her pizza with the toppings she wanted, choosing to suck on a cancer stick instead. Then he proceeded to chase his other waiters around ordering them to hurry up he wants to make money.

I never saw any of this as J and I were enjoying a milkshake at the Wimpy. She rated them 2 stars on their restaurant guide (out of 5 stars). A list that she and J call their "Why we hate restaurants" guide.