Bit of a Looker

Now I know the Poms are loopy, while I am not saying that we need to degenerate women and make fun of them on national TV I do think that this news article regards this very thing shows that political and gender correctness is getting out of hand, especially in first world countries like England.

London - A third member of the Sky Sports' commentary team has been temporarily taken off air for making sexist remarks about a female match official. Pitch-side reporter Andy Burton described lineswoman Sian Massey as a "bit of a looker" in leaked taped remarks made before Saturday's Premier League match between Wolverhampton and Liverpool, in which she was officiating. Burton was scheduled to work on Wednesday in the League Cup semifinal match between Birmingham and West Ham, but Sky Sports says he's been removed from duty. Richard Keys and Andy Gray, the broadcaster's leading football commentators, were reprimanded and temporarily suspended Monday for making sexist comments about Massey, another female referee and West Ham executive Karren Brady. Most of the Pommie girls that I have seen are not that great, in fact that is probably why they welcome so many expats onto the island it’s to try and fill up the gene pool. Lets face it South African ladies are the best looking in the world.

My dad as you may remember from those that were concentrating last week competed in his first riding competition with his horse Flash, they came 2^nd and 8^th in the two disciplines they competed in not bad for a 28 year old horse and a 63 year old man. They even made the local papers about what an inspiration they are. Better yet the asshole that used to train my dad……….and said he would never get anywhere in the comp was beaten by my dad…………………... Now that has to hurt.

Learnt that 120 kilometers from PE in a area called Alexandria and that it’s the second largest producer of Chicory in the world and that the processing factory is also the second biggest in the world, driving through the town and area you would not think that. Just goes to show you looks can be deceiving.

Ryan is going to Mozambique next week….Lucky would love to go to Maputo and get photo of Radio Club building as well as other places that I could use for the book. If Ryan has a chance hopefully he will be able to take some photos for me.

While most of SA is flooding PE is still in the grips of a drought, although the dam levels went up this week from 31 – 34 % fullest dam is 66% and the lowest 25% . The Jordaan River in Bethlehem flooded this week, was a happening in that part of the world. Here the dams are now at 34.2%

Imran Tahir is like Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction – you hear a lot about him, but never see anything. After much hype about the new spinner in the South African cricket team when he was picked for the one-day series against India – captain Graeme Smith even described him as a player he has always dreamed of having at his disposal – nothing came of it. He did not even play in one of the five one-day internationals. Now the 31-year-old former Pakistani will be thrown in at the deep end of the biggest stage possible – the World Cup, which starts on 19 February in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh…………….Good luck Bro.

The Madiba saga escalated this week with Madiba being taken to hospital and than family arriving to see him, the question was if he I just having routine tests why are family rushing to the hospital, thankfully our worst fears did not come true and Madiba is at home recovering.

Of course all the “We love South Africa but not enough to contribute” brigade…………..got into the act regards Madiba they were planning a gathering in Trafalgar square this weekend to mourn his passing away, but with his recovery they are now going to have a party instead to celebrate that he is well and that their icon will still be around for a while………….One expat said “he is our grandfather and we will miss him if he dies and I could not think of life without him”………………Ho Hum.

I still await the info from my Brother in law who lives on the island about why its so much better to live there than in SA and how people who go there from SA can seem to get jobs that they would not normally have in SA and why if you live there you need to have a British or European passport. So far my Blog has just given a single opinion (mine) as to why the island is so kak and why I believe that people who go there are running away from this awesome country. So this is his opportunity to advise all 3 of you why that is not true and to give counter argument/s.

Had a Picnic on the beach at Sea view on Saturday and saw a number of Dolphins frolicking in the surf. Ryan and I then went to watch The Eastern Province Kings play the Blue Bulls, 30 000 people the stadium and we saw the Bulls get a hiding 23-7. Rather embarrassing for the Blue Bulls.

Well that’s about it for this week, hopefully get some training in this week, had 3 days last week.

Ciao

SPAD

Mods vs Rockers

A friend on the island (you know that little piece of rock that juts out in the North sea/ Atlantic) did not seem to like the romanticised Blog on the history of the scooter, he reminded me that I had not really done the era of the Mods and the Rockers any justice, so to make his life a little happier ( I mean how happy can you be living on an island that is dreary and boring, my friend seems to get of as often as he can as he is always in Spain, bet his Spanish is better than his English)

Mods and Rockers were two conflicting British youth subcultures of the early-mid 1960s. Gangs of Mods and Rockers fighting in 1964 sparked a moral panic about British youths, and the two groups were seen as folk devils. The rockers adopted a macho biker gang image image, wearing clothes such as the traditional black leather jacket and riding heavy motorcycles. The Mods adopted a pose of scooter-driving sophistication, wearing suits and other clean cut outfits. By late 1966, the two subcultures had faded from public view and media attention turned to two new emerging youth subcultures — the hippies and the skinheads

Rockers, scorned the Mods, who often wore suits and rode scooters. The rockers considered Mods to be weedy, effeminate snobs, and Mods saw rockers as out of touch, oafish and grubby. Musically, there was not much common ground. Rockers listened to 1950s rock and roll, mostly by white American artists such as Elvis, and Eddie Cochran. Mods generally favoured 1960s rhythm and blues, soul and ska by black American musicians, as well as British R&B/beat groups such as The Who and the Yardbirds

In the United Kingdom, rockers were often engaged in brawls with mods. BBC news stories from May 1964 stated that mods and rockers were jailed after riots in seaside resort towns on the south coast of England, such as Margate, Brighton and Bournemouth (The Pommie Riviera). Fights occurred where territories overlapped or rival factions happened upon each other. As noted above, there was an urban–rural split, meaning that the groups could only fight if brought together for some reason – most often the seaside during summer. The film Quadrophenia, on the other hand, depicts some violence within London, although the majority of the violence in the film occurs within Brighton. Mods sometimes sewed fish hooks or razor blades into the backs of their lapels to shred the fingers of assailants. Weapons were often in evidence; bike chains and flick knives being favoured.

The south coast of England, where Londoners head for seaside resorts on Bank holidays was the scene for one of the biggest battles between the mods and the rockers. Over the Whitsun weekend (Spring break used to be 1^st Monday after Pentecost). On May 18 and 19, 1964, thousands of mods descended upon Margate, Broadstairs and Brighton to find that an inordinately large number of rockers had made the same holiday plans. Within a short time, marauding gangs of mods and rockers were openly fighting, often using pieces of deckchairs. The worst violence was at Brighton, where fights lasted two days and moved along the coast to Hastings and back; hence the Second Battle of Hastings tag was born (the first battle was in 1066 with the Rockers from France beating King Alfred and his Mods at Hastings)

The newspapers fanned the flames of hysteria and many Poms believed that the mods and the rockers would bring about the disintegration of the “nations” character (that was lost after WW11) due to their lack of respect for law and order .

Eventually, when the media ran out of real fights to report, they would publish deceptive headlines, such as using a subheading "Violence", even when the article reported that there was no violence at all. Newspaper writers also began to use "free association" to link mods and rockers with various social issues, such as teen pregnancy, contraceptives, amphetamines, and violence.

Well that’s it a short history of the Mods and Rockers

S.P.A.D.

The British Isles

For a while now I have given the old island a bit of a bashing and this has as times caused strained relations between family that live there (and love it I may add) and myself. So I thought what the hell I will write a Blog and list all the positive qualities of Old Blighty that come to mind…………………………….

The End

Enjoy your week

SPAD

The Scooter Gang

I ride a Scooter……………There I have said it. We moved to PE at the end of 2009 and after a couple of months came to the conclusion that Port Elizabeth is probably the Scooter capital of South Africa, Cape Town may dispute this, but until I see proof I will stand behind my statement. There are definitely more scooters on the streets these days and those riding them are young and old.

I suppose Port Elizabeth blends itself to the scooter, it’s mainly flat and most places you need to get to are within a 15km radius. The Big Boy scooter that we own was bought for Tania, but after a week of riding it to see how it performed I decide that it was mine. While I South Africa the scooter phenomenon is fairly new in countries like Italy and France it’s a culture.

So who invented the Scooter, well I suppose that depends whet you define as a scooter, the first pedal driven machine was invented in 1840 by Kirkpatrick McMillan who came up with the idea when he was working as a blacksmith when he was asked to repair a hobby horse, which had wheels and was propelled along by pushing it with your foot. The first bicycle was born (or.velocipede as it was known in those days), it had two wheels and pedals where used to get it to move. After the idea caught on the race was on to find a faster way to get around………….”The need for speed was born”

1868, in France, Michaux-Perraux attached a small commercial steam engine to a bicycle. There were other attempts to use gas engines on a bicycle to speed it up. Gottlieb Daimler, known as the “Father of the Motorcycle”, was successful with the gas engine/bicycle combination. It was called a “motocyclette”, and used aeronautical design principles, but were they the first scooter? Many will disagree and throw this counter argument at you. The first real “scooter”, or 2-wheeled vehicle, that was mass-produced, was developed by Hildebrand & Wolfmueller. This wasn’t just a bicycle with a motor attached it was a distinct unique entity in itself. However until after world war 11 the scooter industry basically stagnated then the VESPA arrived. The Vespa is today the Rolls Royce of the scooter fraternity.

The company called Piaggio (in Italy) had been in the manufacturing business for years, eventually relying on aircraft as their main product. But the decision to make bombs made them a strategic target during the War and thanks to the allies and bombs made in England, their factory was totally destroyed. In fact, all of Italy was in bad shape, especially their roads and transportation systems.

Enrico Piaggio, the founder’s son, saw a gap in the market and realised the need for an affordable transportation method for the Italian people, something that could be easily maneuvered around the war-torn streets and roads. Corradino D’Ascanio, one of Piaggio’s aeronautical engineers (credited with inventing the first helicopter) was given the task coming up with a prototype.

He came up with a vehicle with a single steel chassis. He called it a monocoque, a French word meaning single shell. It also shared the airplane’s front wheel principles, using a fork design, so that the wheel could be easily changed. When he showed it to his boss he looked at it and said, ”Sembra una vespa!”, which is Italian for “It looks like a wasp!” The Vespa was born.

The Vespa was a two-wheeled vehicle, much like but completely diferent from a motorbike The front of the steel frame was wide, stopping dirt and dust from flying up on the rider. So it not only catered to the Italian desire to always look good, but it also provided a reliable form of transportation. And true to Italian style, they loved the scooter’s sleek, elegant and classy look, with it’s bright colors, like pastel green or, if you preferred, jet black.

The first Vespa was built in 1946, and in its first 3 years of production, it sold about 35,000 scooters, so it was obviously very popular. By the mid-fifties, Vespas were being exported to other countries, like Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain. No matter what country you lived in, zipping around on a scooter gave the rider a sense of freedom and independence, feeling that they weren’t a part of the traffic, but somehow “above” it. My friend in Clarens Dave Green owns a few Vespa’s , even a rare 3 wheeler. I must say I rode the one on a number of occassions and always got stares from pedestrians.

Another Italian, Ferdinando Innocenti, who Just like Piaggio, after the War, Innocenti saw the need for an affordable, reliable form of transportation, like a motorcycle, but less expensive, and with a little more weather protection for the rider. Expense had to be a factor in the solution – both to manufacture and to run. And the solution came in the form of a scooter called the Lambretta “A”. It used a single-cylinder, 2-stroke, 123 cc engine – a fair amount of power. One of its biggest selling features was it’s gas mileage – it could go about 120 miles on a gallon of gas, and that was pretty important because there was a real gas shortage following the War. The Lambretta was basically the same design as the Vespa, with a step-through steel frame, and seating for a rider and passenger. The rider’s feet rested on the floorboards, with the front frame protecting his lower body from the weather. There was also a windshield to protect the upper body.

The Scooter just about sold itself, but due to its use in movies such as “Roman Holiday” and Quadrophenia that came out in the 1960’s and featured scooters. Scooters also started to be used in many forms of advertising, including posters and commercials. The commercials weren’t actually for the scooters, but they were very noticeable in the ads. Scooters were always portrayed as a fun vehicle, light and maneuverable, easy to ride and easy to handle. And as it is with most ads, they’re designed for people to remember them. Scooter sales proved that they did just that.

Up until the mid ‘80s, Vespa and Lambretta pretty well dominated the market with their cool Italian scooters. Then the Japanese entered the scene and Honda, with its Elite scooter, and Yamaha, with its Riva model, jumped into the scooter market. These new scooters had fresh modern lines, not like the Italian models at all. The Italians saw them as cheap plastic copies, but consumers loved them and they took a large chunk of the scooter market.

Another big reason for the Japanese scooter success was their ability to develop engines that were more environmentally-friendly. The old Vespas and Lambrettas gave off heavy exhaust, and with emission laws becoming a factor in the U.S., the Japanese scooters swept the market. Scooter riders also liked the convenience of the automatic transmissions on the Japanese models.

So whether you want to use the scooter as a mode of transport to get you to work and back or you just want to zip around your city or village there is a scooter just for you.

Madiba

Is this the year that Madiba will die, headlines or rumours doing the rounds from last week already have him very ill and on deaths door. At 92 he has had a good innings and I believe that the day he does die the majority of South Africans as well as many ?? will mourn his passing. The rumours have been denied but as they say “Were there is smoke there is usually a Braai”. One thing is for sure is that when Madiba does pass away this country will come to a standstill.

If you had to ask me what sports the UK are good at my answer would probably be Darts , rowing and Drinking but having watched a programme on alternate sports there are a few Poms that are exceptional at riding bicycles, skateboarding( one dude from Bristol has the record for the biggest Ollie ever 44 and a half inches…….Google it………….just to long to explain) Roller blading and bungee jumping yeah was apparently 4 crazy Pommie friends that started the extreme sports club and they jumped from a bridge in Bristol in the early 1970’s. I cant say team sports because most of the Pommie teams have ex pats from ex conquered lands playing for them

Watching the programme Cops on TV most of the arrests are drug related so that got me to thinking why don’t the Yanks just legalise drugs, surely this will relieve a number of problems ………………………But then again maybe not

Headlines on newspaper posters along the side of the road on way to work this week “Chaos at schools” …………..Wow I am shocked surely after years and years of getting it wrong you would think the dept of education as well as the teachers of those schools would know how to go about ensuring schools are ready…..but hey Xmas break is just to lekker and God forbid we as educators should come in a week early to prepare for the scholars, its time the government stated to crack down on shitty schools and provinces that don’t get schools fixed as surely education is priority number 1. Also I believe that teachers who have children should have them go to the school that they teach in and that Government ministers (especially those tasked with education portfolios) not be able to send their kids to private or good C system schools, their kids should have to attend the worst schools in their provinces, bet you the problem will soon get sorted out.

Talking about first day of school, across the country roadblocks where set up to take overloaded taxi’s bakkie’s or busses off the roads…….The winner this year was a gent from The Eastern Cape (why do they all come from the Eastern cape??) this entreaupaneur had 116 kids in a bus built for 62…………..Only in Africa

So the Protea’s have levelled the series 2-2…. And today’s match is also being rain affected, if it seems that the teams pisses me off ……..”they do”, but as Proud and Loyal Passport holding, Boerwors Braaing South African I will be shouting for them at the ICC cricket world cup to bring It home. that is due to start in 26 days. Wouldn’t it be Frikken awesome if 2011 we could win the Cricket and Rugby world cup…..will it happen………Only time will tell.

Our neighbours live in Grahams town during the week and here over weekend and holidays, when they are not here they don’t keep outside lights on but when they are here they leave the lights on………doesn’t make sense to me

Heard this week that the Golden Duck that became my local pub and closed in Early December 2009 will re-open in another venue mid February not to far from the original Location…..that’s good news but if only we could find someone that could make Chicken Strips like Friends…..this past week I have been having cravings for them. Kelvin you really need to open a Franchise this side then I can get my chicken strips.

Work has been pretty boring to be honest been back 2 weeks and done no training. Sort of feeling like the red headed stepchild as everyone else has stuff to do except me…………….hopefully this week coming I will get to train.

My dad since they moved to the plots has taken up horse riding and today (Sunday) is his first competition, he and Flash (that’s his horse) will do well I am sure, will let you know next week how he did.

Before I go let me leave you with this wisdom

“We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public”.

Have a great week

Ciao

SPAD

The long and the short of it

Find it very stressful to get a new cell phone, while others are going yippee and pouring over its new functions I have to force myself to not throw the phone through the nearest window while I am trying to figure out how to use it. I have just started to use a new cell phone and while cell phones are becoming more technologically advanced they are also getting much smaller which does not bode well for people that are getting the long arm syndrome, it takes me twice the amount of time to send an SMS because I keep pressing the wrong buttons or two at the same time. I have joined mixit and seem to have got that under my belt, but if you hear the sound of smashing glass don’t get too worried.

What I see a lot of in Port Elizabeth that you never see in Clarens are cars with a red L on the back window……learner Driver, I have learnt that if you see a car with the 12th letter of the alphabet on the back window you look for escape routes. Learner drivers usually fall into 2 categories they are either very fast or very slow…there is no in between and both the above speeds are as dangerous. The L season seems to get worse at year end with Matric students looking to drive to school with their moms or getting lessons (in peak hour traffic nogal)

News this week from Clarens is that Jeanelle is becoming a Smurf….moving to Hairysmith…..So good luck with that “friend of Spad”. Other news is that two ex residents ……not well liked by many I may add where found dead in their home in Natal…….2 stories (surprise surprise for Clarens) one is that the gent shot his wife then himself or they where murdered. Either way liked or not it’s never nice to hear that ex-Clarenites have died.

On Saturday (15/1/2011 this headline was also on the web (Fouriesburg is 35 kms from Clarens. “Nineteen people, including a two-year-old boy, were killed and 19 others were seriously injured when their bus ploughed into a shallow stream just outside Fouriesburg on Saturday, Free State police said. “One of the surviving passengers said one of the tyres of the bus burst before it lost control,"

Monday was first day at work after 3 and a bit weeks of holiday, basically got items in order and on Tuesday evening we (Ryan, Vusi and myself) flew to Gauteng for a Trainers conference, got there late but just in time for some crappy pasta and a few drinks

Stayed at a really nice guest house (Natanja) the owner was great and if you’re ever in the area (Centurion) and you need accommodation then do yourself a favour and book there. Contact info is http://www.natanja.co.za/ or 012 664 6601

Wednesday saw my folks, sister, niece, brother in law and niece’s husband, that was great, always nice to see them and it’s not often that I do, so if in Gauteng I make the effort to pay them a visit. Thursday evening we had a lekker Braai at the guesthouse with Ryan, Vusi, Leon, Xavier, Andre, Mike and Xolani and the spread was awesome. I was in the hospitality industry for many a year and have to say have seldom been to a guest house with the level of hospitality than at Natanja.

On Friday after the conference had finished we had a few hours to kill so Ryan, Vusi and myself decoded to take a trip on the Gautrain. What a great experience. In fact I think all government officials should be forced to take a trip on this awesome mode of transport……….”they already get enough free stuff” I hear you say so why let them ride the train? The answer is easy, the Gautrain and the way its run and controlled could …..No “should” be the model on which this country is run………………….confused? Ok let me explain.

Well first off the first thing you notice as you approached the parking area is that it’s neat and tidy and it’s well patrolled by metro police officers. The area is well signposted, the ticketing area is clean and tidy (not a piece of paper lying anywhere) the person selling you the ticket is competent and well mannered. Again the station has very visible policing as well as signs advising if you litter or smoke you get a R700 fine, on the platform there are metro police and if you accidentally stand over the yellow line you are firmly but politely asked to step back. The train runs on time according to the schedule and you could eat off the floor of the train itself, again there is visible policing on the train. All in all a pleasant, safe and enjoyable experience and one that you come away from feeling really proud to be a South African.

We walked around Sandton for an hour to see how the other half live……….”the verdict is that they live well”, Sandton city and Nelson Mandela square has to be the home of the Skinny African lady, In fact when I used to visit Sandton in the 80’s the rich ladies where called Kugels (Jewish ladies with the bling) well now we need to call the ladies walking around Sandton “bugels”…………Black Kugels.

The big man like most South Africans obviously has a dislike for the Aussies, as he has made it rain and then he made it rain some more flooding a part of Australia that is bigger than ?? Australians have become refugees in their own countries (suppose now they know what the boat people felt like). Fires, floods, pestilence……what’s next? Brazil have also been hit with floods and landslides……..as has a number of provinces in South Africa trains to PE from Gauteng have been affected due to the collapse of a bridge in The Eastern Cape because of flood waters. The weather patterns are changing and information out there indicates that in SA the North east of the country will get wetter over the years and the Cape areas will become drier. And they say there is no such thing as Global warning.

Tania did some work on the vegetable garden this weekend and when she was thinning out the spinach she pulled out one of the biggest beetroots I have ever seen.

The Proteas have played 2 and the series is level 1 all this due to them not being able to reach a paltry 191 runs and losing the game by 1 run, while this upsets me greatly in cricket like in rugby where we have a fair chunk of the coloured population supporting the All Blacks it seems that many South African Indians also seem to forget their loyalty when it comes to the Protea’s playing India. I mean if you want to support Sachin, Doni and the boys, then why don’t you go live in India with a population of 1.2 Billion and a life expectancy of 58.5…………pisses me off royally “n all n all n all”

Rioters burnt the Tunisian capital's main train station to the ground and sacked and looted shops in a wave of unrest after the North African nation's president was forced from power by protesters. So there is trouble that part of Africa. In our part of the world it would seem that PE has lost Blue flag status on all 3 of its beaches………….due to inadequate lifeguards, dirty ablutions as well as unacceptable behaviour on the beaches etc etc. This is not good as the city has positioned itself as a centre of water sports and relies on tourism (mainly local) to fill up its coffers over holiday periods. Let’s hope that we can get those beaches back to Blue flag status, but to be honest with the present municipality running the metropolis I feel this is not going to happen. However we cannot just blame the municipality as we the residents of PE also need to help ensure our city is kept clean and unacceptable behaviour is not tolerated. (perhaps our municipality management should take a trip on the Gautrain). I have just read that a 16 year old surfer was attacked by a shark in East London and died this weekend……..that’s the 5th shark attack at the same beach in 3 years………Condolences to the family

34 days to go (February 19) before the start of the ICC world cup cricket , lets hope SA can show us that we are not chokers when it comes to big competitions…..Any predictions ?? I don’t care who wins as long as it’s not The Aussies or the Pom’s, but if the final was to between the Pom’s and the Aussies I would be shouting for the sheep shaggers.

Well that’s about it, Gabby goes back to school on Tuesday after nearly 2 months of holiday. My two nieces Rebecca and Michaela are also going back to a normal school after a year of home schooling, Becky will be going to grade 4, std 2 (I think) and Michaela to grade 2 (not sure). Sure they will both adapt well to having school discipline and set classes and playtimes. Michaela will for the first time in her short school career be attending a school that her mom does not work at or was not teaching her, but know she will not be that daunted by this new challenge. Daniel my nephew is to young for school but sure he will be going to a playschool in the near future, like his cousin Amber on the island, I am sure that he would enjoy that immensely as he is such a gregarious kid. I can just see him now playing cricket and soccer with the other boys.

Well that’s it for this week, for me week 2 at work will hopefully see me doing some training, otherwise I need to start going out on audits and attend other training so I can increase my knowledge to be able to do better for my students and then eventually earn a better salary……….”Now that would be nice”

Ciao

SPAD

"Tie me kangaroo down sport"

Wonder how many of those self righteous ex-pats that live in Australia and love reminding us how great Australia is, especially those that skedaddled to Sydney in the eighties ………because of the National Parties racial policies and apartheid are aware of Australia’s awesome racial policies. Perhaps that’s why the emigrated there in the first place? The Aussies had the cheek to call for sanctions against SA back then which was like the pot calling the kettle black when given Australia’s historical treatment of its indigenous population - the forced orphaning of children, attempts to breed the blackness out and evictions from ancestral homelands. Up until the 1960’s you could still get a licence to go “boong hunting”. I also just became aware recently that the law to allow immigrants into Australia from non-white (read black, coloured or Chinese) countries was changed in 1973 (I am surprised that ET “no not the cute alien” did not want to emigrate there). Here is a little about the Awesome treatment the White Racist Australian people have given to and still are giving to their indigenous aboriginal population. (Google aboriginal genocide and see what comes up)

The “Aboriginal Genocide” website (Genocide in Australia….surely not) is devoted to exposing the realities of the ongoing Genocide of Indigenous Australians (Aborigines, Aboriginals, Black Australians) that avoidably kills about 9,000 Indigenous Australians each year in one of the richest countries in the World. In particular this website also provides a compendium of the views of outstanding, anti-racist Australian scholars and humanitarians who recognize and deplore the reality of the Aboriginal Genocide.

Australian Aborigines suffered Genocide at the hands of the European invaders in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Indigenous population dropped from about 1 million to 0.1 million in the first century after the invasion in 1788, mainly through violence, dispossession, deprivation and introduced disease. The last massacres of Aborigines occurred in the 1920s. Throughout much of the 20th century there was a policy of forcibly removing Aboriginal children from their mothers, a systematic genocidal policy involving the removal of perhaps 0.1 million children. This practice ended in the 1970s. However the continued deliberate deprivation of Aboriginal Australians amounts to a White Australian policy of passive genocide. The “annual death rate” (2003 figures) is 2.2% (for Aboriginal Australians) and 2.4% (for Aboriginal Australians in the Northern Territory) – as compared to 2.5% (for pre-drought sheep in paddocks of Australian sheep farms) and 0.7% (for White Australians). This is happening in one of the richest countries of the world because of deliberate neglect – Australian Aboriginal health services are funded at 50% of what they should be; many Australian Aborigines live in Third World conditions; the “annual under-5 infant death rate” is over 3 times higher for Aborigines than that for White Australians; 1 in 5 Australian Aborigines have diabetes (mostly type 2 diabetes) which has huge attendant problems such as cardiovascular complications, kidney problems and blindness; and the Australian Aboriginal life expectancy is about 20 years less than that for White Australians. (We should be calling for sanctions against Australia)

Australia this week selected the first Muslim ever to play for the national team (no terrorist jibes please). Now that I think of it the Australian team has been mono cultural (read - whites only) for many many years. There have been few (if any ?) Australian cricketers of colour and definitely no Muslims. While other cricket playing nations have tapped into their ethnic gene pool the Aussies have always limited themselves to the decedents of traditional cricketing classes.

Talking about cricket check this out Doug. Your country England is so full of K@K (poo poo old chap) this is what one of their sensationalist newspapers “The Independent” said in today's edition under the heading "Strauss: It's a big year and we must keep our eye on the ball. ":Win the Fifth Test against Australia that starts tonight and they enter the pantheon of Ashes champions...................How England can top the ICC rankings this year:

1) England beat Australia 3-1 (correct)
2) South Africa beat India 2-1 (series levelled)
3) England beat Sri Lanka 3-0
4) West Indies draw with India
5) England beat India 3-1

And this how the Pom’s take over the number one ranking in test cricket this very year how pathetic can these idiots get. What are they smoking?? They say they will beat both India and Sri Lanka (with a 3-0 whitewash, nogal) They've got weird imagination these people and when it does not happen then they sob like little babies because of the sheer overwhelming feeling of failure that comes with losing test matches you've arrogantly predicted to win. Sad very very sad! The Protea’s are much better than some people give us credit for, much much better than England will ever be. If it where not for the South Africans playing for the POMs they would be 6th and not 3rd on the rankings.

So what else been happening this week

Monday: Woke up……….Yeah thrilling I know. Went to Hobie beach to see dad assist in releasing rehabilitated penguins, The one from dads crate decided that he was not going anywhere except back to SAMREC where he gets fed , washed and good medical treatment. Went to help Ryan mix cement for his new “Super Braai” ……Ryan can honestly say his is bigger than mine (braai that is, but remember its not the size the count its how you braai on it ). In the afternoon Ryan and I went back to Hobie and boogie boarded for a couple of hours, caught some great waves and had fun.

Tuesday: Surprise Surprise I woke up again , had to get 2 x new car tyres helped Ryan again to install the Braai, relaxed at home and than had a Braai at Ryan’s to inaugurate the Braai……….Braayan Brewerton has a lekker Braai…………his favourite song is that Mandoza classic ‘Braai a lambchop”

Wednesday: You got it, woke up again and basically worked on my other book and watched the A team (funny movie)

Thursday: Not much happened

Friday: Gabby and I took a trip on the scooter and took photos in the morning and then Tania, Gabby and I had a Lekker lunch at Barnacles, on the deck overlooking the sea, Awesome.

The weekend was spent at Kusega (between Kenton on Sea and Port Alfred) we where invited to overnight at a holiday home of friends of Stephens family, then on Sunday we had lunch with an old friend Jonathan from Durbs who was also staying at Port Alfred…..so not a bad weekend to end of my Summer holiday.

The holiday home we stayed in was a daub and wattle abode that was built in 1926, massive stoep that had 8 beds on it , the 3 bedrooms where full……..15 people slept over on Saturday night……Awesome place. Met with Jonathan for Sunday lunch in Port Alfred and met a friend of his, had fresh from the rock oysters……Yum yum.

Other stories that caught my eye this week

While it has rained (read light drizzle) every day since 16 December we have had only about 30mm of rain in PE over that period, in two storms alone in Gauteng they had 60 and 55 mm respectively, in fact by 16 December Gauteng had already had the most rain in December for 25 years. Floods have hit Natal with 5 towns or village being flooded and hundreds having to be evacuated. Australia is experiencing floods of biblical proportions and if the eater is not bad enough then you also have to deal with Crocs and snakes that are floating around. China has also had to evacuate thousands from flood waters.

Johannesburg - Former Springbok captain Joost van der Westhuizen sent 89 underprivileged children into a toy shop this week and told them to “choose whatever you want." A toy shop in Little Falls, west of Johannesburg, had to close its doors for three hours so that Van der Westhuizen and the children could make their purchases in private. There were tears, joy and disbelief as the children ran through the shop’s aisles filling up their baskets.

So old Joost the coke sniffing Hoer pomping and piel size lying ex scrumhalf is obviously trying to upgrade his popularity from -1 to 5 , the good thing is, is that those kids got to enjoy a lekker day out.

The family of Shrien Dewani fear he will not receive a fair trial in South Africa because the presiding judge has been dogged by misconduct allegations, the Telegraph in the UK reported. Akta Raja, the cousin of the British honeymoon murder accused, told the publication that Judge John Hlophe was a controversial figure and questioned whether it would be a fair trial.

Lets deflect the attention from the murdering asshole of a husband and put it on the judge………..I wonder if Shriens wife got a FAIR deal by getting shot in the head, after it had been arranged by her gay husband…………OOOOOOH Bubba is waiting for you bro and his first question is going to be with or without Vaseline………..A word of advice be very careful how you answer.

Matric Results where 7% better in the Eastern Cape which means 58.3 % of the matrics passed, there where however 18 school s that not one matric pupil passed………… the pass rate has also increased over the whole country, but for me it defies logic. 2010 saw many disruptions in the school year, SWC, Teacher strikes and many school did not even write Pre-lims so how was this improvement achieved, lowering the pass mark, making the papers easier, or adjusting marks upwards………I am sure we will find out. I would also like to see those in Government that are responsible for education in SA sending their own kids to government schools and not private ones as seems to be the case.

A friend I the UK sent me an e-mail and he was saying that there is a possible Swine flu scare in the UK, got me wondering if Muslims can also get swine flu ? Talking about the island I been watching a few programmes on TV (Top TV, cant afford mweb) and there is a channel that has loads of Pommie stuff on it, must say some of the programmes not bad, but really enjoy the shows that puts Poms and the Island in a bad light (and its Poms producing the shows.) The one show was about gangs in London and Glasgow, shit there are guns in those cities (I thought the island didn’t have any firearms I thought they had all been confiscated after than utter attacked a school and killed a number of school kids a few years back ………………..OMG) one kid “yes kid” has been shot 3 times, once in the head, once in the stomach and once in the leg

In Glasgow they call it Recreational Violence……..(Recreational according to the Thesaurus is leisure, fun, entertaining) gangs with the names Bushy, Knolly and the Young Team drink, do drugs to get brave and then do the William Wallace thing and beat the shit out of each other. Over half of the deaths in Scotland are from guns and knives and the people are usually under influence of liquor or drugs. In the projects (read slums) the life expectancy of someone living here is less than Baghdad. Another programme was about young ladies who are scared to walk around as they feel unsafe (I cant believe that I thought the UK was such a safe safe country……….again OMG) and get this some of them feel that people who play music loud from their cell phones are going to rape and molest them ………..!!!. and guess what there are housebreakings, car jacking, wilful damage to property, ATM fraud and many other petty crimes on the Island………….and no Doug its not South African exporting their expertise to the island……..the perpetrators talk “wif an akcent loik , ya know wot I mean”.

Talking about binge drinking another programme they take Poms and film them on a night out……….Wow my mates at Friends are mere amateurs against these professional drinkers……………and they don’t work…hell no wonder so many people are flocking there.

Then you get the kids that are ASBO…yeah I know my thought exactly WTF is ASBO, well my unlearned friends it stands for Anti Social Behavioural Order….have to say if Pommie youth that I have seen on the TV is indicative of the average kid on the island then I am happy that my daughter is growing up in SA

Then they have a programme called the worst towns in England that’s also not bad…..I was actually shocked at how many slums (call them projects in the good old UK) and crappy areas there are on the island, I mean it’s a 1st world country, surely this cannot be, sliding into 3rd world status.

Also see Pommie adverts during these programmes and Doug have to agree with you SA rocks when it comes to creativity in adverts………Oh there goes another 100 ex –pats.

Question: How do you get a Kleenex tissue to dance ?
Answer: Put a little Boogy in it

Yeah I know ……..weak.

Have a great week, I start work again tomorrow (Monday 10th) and fly up to Joburg on Tuesday and back home on Friday….Ah the life of a Jetsetter………I’m a Jetsetter

SPAD

The History of jousting

we were watching the movie Knights Tale and wanted to know more about the history of Jousting, so looked up this website http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/history-of-jousting.htm and this is what i came up with.

The History of jousting started with the emergence of Knights as a fighting force in Europe of the Middle Ages in the 10th century. The history of the tournament and jousting started as a means for knights to practise his horsemanship skills and his prowess with the use of a lance - a weapon used by knights during the Middle Ages.

Tournaments and Jousting has been credited to a French man named Godfrey de Preuilly. The first recorded reference of a tournament was dated in 1066 and refers to Godfrey de Preuilly, who is described as having invented the medieval tournament. In the same year the Normans conquered the English at the Battle of Hastings. The division of English lands amongst the Normans saw the emergence of the Medieval feudal system. The feudal system demanded that everyone owed allegiance to the King and their immediate superior. Every noble was expected to pay for his land by providing the trained knights to fight for the King. The tournaments were entertainments devised by rich nobles to enable knights to practise their combat skills in mock battles or as in jousting in single combat.

Mock battlesThe history of jousting also described a form of jousting which was used in the mock battles. Lines of Knights faced each other on horseback, in full armor, and tilted their lances at their opponents. This form of jousting was called a "lance charge" which began the melee. A dangerous but spectacular sight.

Tournaments were forbidden by Henry IIBy the 12th century the tournament had grown so popular in England that King Henry II (1154-1189) found it necessary to forbid the sport which gathered in one place so many knights in arms and jousting contests. This was only a temporary measure but illustrates the concern regarding unnecessary injuries to the King's fighting force of highly trained Knights.

King Richard I’s Tournament Decree (1194) King Richard I (1189-1199) relaxed his father's order, granting licences for tournaments including jousting. This order was referred to as Conflictus Gallicus in which tournaments were licensed in England in 1194 by Richard I using rules brought from France. King Richard licensed five areas in England where tournaments could be held:
Between Salisbury and Wilton
Between Warwick and Kenilworth
Between Stamford and Warinford
Brackley and Mixbury
Blyth and Tickhill
Those who wished to tourney there had to obtain a license and make a payment for the privilege. Foreign knights were banned from tourneying in England.

"The famous king Richard, observing that the extra training and instruction of the French has made them correspondingly fierce in war, wished that the knights of his kingdom should train in their own lands, so that they could learn from tourneying the art of war and so that the French could not insultthe English knights for being crude and less skilled."

1292 Statute of ArmsIn 1292 the "Statute of Arms for Tournaments" was ordained by King Edward I (1272-1307). The 1292 Statute of Arms provided new laws for tournaments which included jousting. The Statute of Arms ordained that no pointed weapons should be used - they should be blunted. New types of lances were developed called the 'lance of peace'. The tip of this type of lance had either been rebated (blunted) or replaced by a metal crown-shaped head called a coronel, which was designed to disperse the impact of the blow during the jousting contest.
In 1299 life and limb were declared to be forfeit in the case of those who should arrange a tournament and jousting events without the royal licence which had been initiated by Richard the Lionheart. Offenders were to be seized with 'horse and harness'.

Judicial CombatJousting was used in a judicial combat. Disputes were settled according to the outcome of such jousts - the victor was seen to have God on his side, therefore not guilty, and the dispute was settled in his favour. The most skilled and accomplished knight in the realm was referred to as the King's champion. He would fight in jousting combat for his King. Edward III (1327-1377) challenged the King of France to combat between either two champions or 100 knights per side, in a combat "au outrance" meaning 'to the limits'. Jousting "au Outrance" was typically performed during wartime on battlefields and was performed "to the death" using sharpened lance tips.

The development of the Tilt After 1400 the tilt was invented to reduce the injuries due to jousting. A cloth stretched along the length of the lists. The cloth soon became a strong barrier of timber. The knight in full armor would charge along one side of the barrier jousting with his opponent.

The invention of the musketThe decline in jousting started with the invention of the musket firearm in 1520. The skills required in Tournaments and jousting were changing as technology advanced and new weapons were introduced.

The Death of a KingA Jousting event resulted in the death of the French King Henry II (1519 - 1599). Henry II was an avid participant in jousting tournaments. A jousting tournament had been arranged by the King to celebrate the Peace Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis and to celebrate the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth of Valois to King Philip II of Spain. On July 1, 1559 King Henry participated in a jousting contest against Gabriel Montgomery, captain of the King's Scottish Guard. The eye of King Henry was pierced by a sliver that penetrated the brain, from the shattered lance of Montgomery. The injury was terrible and he died an agonising death despite the efforts of the royal surgeon Ambroise Pare on July 10, 1559. Earlier fatalities at Jousting Tournaments included the death of Geoffrey, Count of Brittany, Son on Henry II, who was killed in 1186 and Leopold, Duke of Austria, who was slain by a fallen horse in 1194.

Pageants and JoustingTournaments and jousting were merged with magnificent pageants and state occasions. A great tournament and jousting events was arranged following the marriage of King Henry VIII and his new Queen, Katherine of Aragon. The arrest of Henry Norris occurred following a tournament attended by King Henry VIII and his second Queen, Anne Boleyn. Sir Henry Norris was accused of being a lover of Anne Boleyn, was found guilty with several other men and like Anne Boleyn herself was beheaded. Pageants and Jousting were still popular in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Sir Henry Lee was Queen Elizabeth's first champion in the tilt-yard of Whitehall and was followed in this role by the Earl of Cumberland who wore the Queen's glove pinned to the flap of his hat.

The decline of JoustingThe decline in jousting had started with the invention of the musket in 1520. The history of jousting moved an as forms of lavish entertainment and a venue where courtiers could show their skills in jousting and their horsemanship. Tastes in entertainment changed. The period of the Renaissance with new ideas in art and literature was developing. Renaissance men such as William Shakespeare emerged and the Theatre was born. The theatre and the lavish costumes, surroundings and plays were the new form of entertainment and contributed to the decline of jousting.

The CarouselThe decline of jousting in England occurred at a faster rate than the rest of Europe - due to the development of the new entertainment offered in the theatre. In France the notions of Chivalry continued tournaments and jousting into the seventeenth century - these were also referred to as Carrousels. The word Carousel is derived from the words "garosello" (Italian) and "carosella" (Spanish), both of which mean "little war". The origins dated back to the time of the crusades when a carousel was a horseman's game in which cavaliers pelted each other with balls. The "carrousel" was a ring-spearing tournament in which expert riders used their lances to spear small rings suspended between two posts at full gallop. Young French princes trained for this type of tournament by sitting on wooden horses which were attached to a center pole. The young nobles would attempt to spear small rings dangled along the outer edge of the device. To make this more difficult the device was powered round and round by a horse or a servant. The device was soon referred to as a carousel. This history of Jousting remains with us today at fairgrounds in the form of the Carousels!

"Wooooooooosh"

Just like a Cell C data bundle this year has gone “Wooooosh”, blinked my eyes and its 2011, I thought it would be interesting to recall what had happened over this year regards South Africa, Internationally as well as in the Dunkley household.

Well 2010 was “feel it in the air, it is here”, “Ayoba” 2010 Soccer world cup that many assholes both locally as well as overseas said we would never pull off that it would be a unmitigated flop and that would see all the visitors being mugged, murdered robed raped etc etc (perhaps if that dick Dewani had arranged it). Many of these detractors where South Africans living abroad who where just waiting for the country to “F#%k up big time. Guess what we didn’t, in fact the 2010 Soccer world cup (The first in Africa) was one of the best tournaments ever hosted. I attended matches watched games at the fan park and will never ever forget the month long tournament, that seemed to pass so quickly…………. “Whooooosh” so to those who said we could not do it, especially those condescending ex-pats who always keep telling us why the left SA and why we are stupid to still live here….”Byte me” I know that many South Africans living overseas felt left out and tried their best to be part of it by blowing Vuvuzela;’s flying the flag and wearing Bafana Bafana shirts………But it just was not the same …………”YOU HAD TO BE HERE. Oh” well all of you that live in London can regale us with the stories of the Olympics in 2012………Boring.

The SWC gave us a glimpse of what the country could and should be run like, but after Spain won the cup and the government of FIFA had packed up as typical South Africans we went our separate ways and we have slipped back to old ways which is not great. So not all is sunshine and roses in SA but like I say we cannot complain if a) we are not there b) don’t do anything to help

ET was murdered “no not the cute alien” , Eugene Tereblanche, founder and leader of the AWB (Afrikaans resistance movement), he was murdered in his farmhouse in suspicious circumstances that may have suggested he was having sex with his workers, well as can be expected there was call for a civil war in SA and a promise that the country would be made ungovernable, perhaps they had other things to do first but as yet………………………..”Nada”

Then of course we had the year of the Monkey, not the Chinese year, this was Juju, JM or Julius “you bloody agent” Malema. Juju proved to be this years comic relief with his outbursts and 2 feet in the mouth sayings, been quiet the last couple of weeks, perhaps he is still looking for ways to close down Wiki. I would all him a tool, but a tool is useful.

With regards Sports Formula one got the youngest champion ever in Vettel, but FI motor sport is still boring, Rugby had The Blue Bulls win the super 14 that had us all drooling for the hiding we where going to be giving the All Blacks and Aussies in the Tri Nations, But were we wrong and to be honest apart from us beating the Poms at Twickenham on 27 November the Boks had a crap season.. But not to worry because 2011 is the year the World cup comes back to us…….All blacks will not win it.

So what happened on the Dunkley home front….well I think all in all generally a good year except for near the end when I had a mini mid-life crisis…….hopefully I don’t have another one. So here in no particular order

Published a book: its called Clarens Chronicles and is selling Ok. (working on the book Phantom of the Forest that I would like to try and publish for Xmas 2011)

Got a new nickname: SPAD (Stephen Published Author Dunkley) Thanks Jeanelle

Christine’s wedding: what a awesome weekend over 4-6 December was great to spend time with all the family and it was a really great wedding, not often that you get to go o a wedding and do weightlifting at the same time.

My mom had 3 operations this year on her one eye, hopefully this latest one will sort out the problem.

Got a job with NOSA, probably the highlight of the year and while 2011 will see me having to work hard again and also do plenty learning I am looking forward to the challenge. Hopefully my salary will start to match my experience and effort put in.

Tania’s mom died this year, that was not nice and she is missed,

Got to see our UK family that came over for Loi’s funeral, so that was nice, Amber my niece is getting so big and is such a cute girl. Pity we don’t get to see her grow up here, but maybe in the future ( doubt it but who knows)

Gabby passed Std 6 and is going to std 7 (grade 9) this year, proud the way she adapted and know that she will do well this year.

Gabby also ha a boyfriend his name is Stephen (so he must be nice) Great kid that has become part of the family.

2 of our cats Snowball and Pepper died this year, Snowball was killed by another cat and Pepper we had to put down due to a long illness. They say that pets are just animals. We miss our friends

We got a cat from The SPCA, we named him Mischief and he suits his name….what a terrorist he is

Visited Clarens to promote the book, was lekker, seeing old friends and having a plate of Chicken strips at Friends. A housewarming party at Robs and watching the Boks vs Australia also great . Meatbomb, Gabby and I did the infamous Horton zip line.

Called a retard by a couple of Clarenites…..really upset me “Not”

Made friends with Doug after a number of months of having differences of opinion about the Island (England) Doug Loves it and I think it’s a Crap place.

Met a great gent from Portugal/Brazil (who is helping me with Phantom of the forest) face to face when he visited SA, that was great.

Resigned from the Goromonzi Farmboys international motorcycle club

Doug , Ryan and I did the toy run this year, that was cool.

Started a Mexican wave at a SWC game in my own country, "now thats AYOBA"

And still the best restaurant and seller of Chicken strips for 2010 is the one and only FRIENDS pub and restaurant in Clarens.

Hold the Bus not only has 2010 left the building but we have also had the first decade of the 2000’s (has anyone come up with a catch name for it yet?).Wow it was just the other day we where all crapping ourselves for the Y2K bug that was going to kill anything electronically…remember that some people took it so seriously that they built bunkers in the woods and stocked up with food, candles (much like the Chicken licken add they had on TV recently). Whooooooooooosh 10 years gone in the blink of an eye so lets see if you can remember any of these events from the last decade.

· 2001 – 9/11 can you remember where you were when you saw or heard about this?

· 2004: Tsunami in Indonesia on 26 December that killed close to 250 000 people

· 2005: Hurricane Katrina that became the most expensive natural disaster in history

· 2006: Saddam Hussein is executed (was actually 30 December that this happened)

· 2007: Boks win the Rugby world cup for a second time (Second time All Black fans)

· 2007 – 2009: Global recession

· 2009: First black president of the USA is elected , Mr Barrack Obama (Doubt he will be elected for a second term)

· 2009: Pop Icon and child molester Michael Jackson died

· 2010: Haiti earthquake that killed up to 230 000 people

· 2010: SWC in South Africa……….first time the second biggest sports event in the world is held on African soil and I can say ‘I WAS THERE”

New Years Eve was quiet his year, stayed at home, watched DVD’s played X box and nearly missed midnight. Yesterday we went to play Ten pin Bowling…I won (of course) but have to say Tania gave me a good battle. Today Sunday 2 January 2011 hoping to go and have braai on the beach, last 3 -4 days has been overcast and raining/drizzling so looks like it may be ok to braai today.

But before I go there this week has seen the Rand/Pound Exchange rate go to R10.25……..hey if it keeps on dropping it wont be worth staying on a damp, cold, institutionalized island. Many people toughen it out for the great exchange rate and the fact they can say to their SA buddies we are earning big money in R compared to the actual job we do. But hey life is about ups and downs so I am sure the Soutpiele will be happy again when the exchange rate climbs in their favour.

Some of you may have noticed that over the last year or so I have been giving my Brother in law in the UK a little uphill about him living there. (It’s like having family in prison, their still part of the family, but you don’t talk about them). Doug has said he wants to be able to tell us Patriots (people that live in SA and who’s actions speak louder than words) what its like being an Ex-pat (people who used to live in SA but their words don’t quite add up to any actions) and why its better living in the UK (London to be exact) as opposed to South Africa (Port Elizabeth) ………..Should add a little much needed spice to the Blog so I am looking forward to that. Doug just remember we need to keep the %$#% levels to Defcon 2.

Well that’s about it other than to wish you all “Lekka like a krakka” “Kif” “Ayoba” and “Shweeeeet” 2011 and remember its not how many times you fall down its how you get back up again that counts. I week left of Xmas holidays, so hopefully the weather plays along.

Ciao

SPAD