“The things you see when you don’t
have a gun”, was and still is a favourite saying of my mom and the trip to
London brought that saying to mind. I am not saying that there are
not “strange” people in South Africa,
but London, like I am sure most Major cities in Europe, seems to attract the vibrant and different people.
I have to say that in general
South African women are much better looking than their Pommie counterparts and
if anything those ladies that were walking around where usually speaking a
foreign language. In fact the way you can tell if a lady is a Pom is usually
because she is wearing a tight fitting outfit or a short skirt and usually with
Blonde hair (and extensions) and has an orange hue from the overdose of self
tan lotion or spray on tans that are so popular in the UK, probably due to the
lack of sun. Gabby also commented on how many of the girls or women showed their stomach (and clearly many
should not have)
So while you get to see some odd
sights while you walk around central London and surrounds , it’s probably
Cambden and the market (especially on a Sunday) that attracts the “out there” and more “unusual” residents that the island
has to offer and has the shops to cater for those “varied” tastes. Cambden is a
little like “what not to wear” meets Mad Max “beyond the Thunderdome”
We took the drive on a overcast
(how strange) Sunday morning, with two cars, as the police are very strict as
well as active in the UK and amber (4) is not allowed to be in a vehicle unless
strapped into a European Union approved car seat, in fact up until the age of 12
a child may not be in a vehicle (unless it’s a bus, train, boat, ferry, ) and
not be strapped into their own car seats, Hell in SA kids at 12 are already
driving the car. While they care about the safety in a car a child can ride a
bicycle on a busy street with double decker buses hurtling down the narrow roads without a helmet, but I digress.
We arrived in Cambden after a 10
minute drive but a 30 minute search for parking that is not going to cost an
arm and a leg or have the vehicle/s on bricks when you get back from the market
. it’s a pretty vibrant and cosmopolitan community and with a multitude of foreign gawkers (much like us) the place
was busy. We saw a cast off from the punk rock era that was looking to get
people tattooed and pieced I suppose, he (as you can see a pretty good advert). as you can see he looks like a rooster. 
Doug had told us about a lady
that worked at a place called Cyberdog at Cambden market itself that had surgically enhanced her ears to look
like a pixie or elf, but on previous trips he had never seen her, so it was
perhaps just a local legend. On the way out of the market we passed Cyberdog,
that is a double story shop that sells “alternate” clothing and rave clothing,
the music is deafening and they obviously don’t believe in aircons, I think
most of the people in their where like us and looking for the pixie girl or to
gawp at the customers or other weird staff. We found her on the way out at the
door, greeting customers and while we didn't really want to stare it was a bit
difficult with her blue and yellow dreads, wearing pink hot pants with her ass hanging out (which seems
to be one of the “cool” ways to dress for the people that should not this
season in the UK), as well as what looked like ears that had been operated on
to look like a pixie or elf, here is the photo, (not great but perhaps you can
make your own mind up) 
The tube manages to attract some
strange people as well, however you can’t take photos on the train, cause if
your caught the “crazies” with throw you off. in Soho/Piccadilly circus there where a few unusual people, mostly like this guy at the "Cool Britania" store trying to attract foreign tourists into the store to buy buy buy, unless your SOUTH AFRICAN OF COURSE (exchange rate was 15,75 to 1) AND WE JUST LOOKED LOOKED LOOKED.
One day in a local supermarkets parking area a lady got out of a BMW 5
series and was setting up the pram for the kid when I realized that I could see
her knickers thru her stockings of ski pants that are all the rage at the moment, at first I thought that perhaps she had
Alzheimer’s and had forgotten to put on
a skirt or a very long top. Nope according to Doug this is a normal occurrence with Pommie women and according to Doug, I was lucky she had been wearing underwear at all, as Doug had seen a lady
who was wearing the stockings but no underwear………………… "The sights you see when u
don’t have a gun”. I mean don’t people look in the mirror before they go out in
public ?
In London at a Tesco’s while grabbing a sandwich, Gabby pointed out to
me a lady that had on the power
suit of an executive but obviously lived or at the very least spent a lot of time in Cambden as not only did she have funky hair and a number or face piercings that looked she had been the target for a pellet gun competition, she also had hoops in her ears (let me re-phrase that - her ears where the
hoops) that you could have driven a new "Boris Bus" through. and while we saw of strange characters, on a walk along the Chelsea Embankment, we got to see this gent (well it was a close vote ,but 3 or us said it was a guy and 2 said a woman and their was one abstention), make up your own mind.
I Have to say the Poms seem to be
having a great run the last couple of weeks, the weather is hot, Andrew Murray
won Wimbledon (although I still think he is Scottish), the British and Irish
Lions beat Australia to win their 3 test match series, the Poms are giving the
Aussies a cricket lesson (albeit with a number of South African assisting) and
a Kenyan born, South African raised who left SA at 19 “he is now one of our
own” cyclist called Chris Froome is winning the Tour de France…………………So they
must be feeling invincible at the moment, “hope they don’t declare war on the
Germans again” J .
Had training in Uitenhage from
Monday to Wednesday at Transnet rail engineering and took the Harley for a
little run, on the way back on Monday afternoon I must have ridden over a
grandmother as by the time I got back to PE, the bike was rattling and shaking like a MOFO? ( ask your teenager) and I realized
that I had a flat tyre. To cut a long story short when I eventually got home I pulled
what I thought was a small nail out only to fine it was the size of a Knitting
needle (see picture), that’s why I think there may be a really pissed off
Granny in the Uitenhage/Despatch area. Had the tube replaced on Saturday, so
that was a job for NOSA that actually cost me
money……… …… “Suck”s.
Ex president Mandela celebrated
his 95th birthday on Thursday (18th) and it would seem
that he is much better with a good
chance (according to Dr’s Zuma or Mbeki) that he could be going home soon.
The Protea’s got a comprehensive
Snotklap (hiding) from the Sri Lankans on Saturday in a one day international,
the Sri Lankans scored 320/5 in their 50 over’s and the Proteas managed 140 all out in 31.5 over’s …………one word “KAK”.
The Cheetahs played the Brumbies this morning
(Sunday 19th) for a place in the Super 15 semi –finals and came up
short losing 13/15 with the conversion of the try they scored glancing off the
bar. It’s the best season the Cheetahs have had in Super Rugby so at least they
have that I suppose...................All in all though a not so great weekend for SA sport.
Well that’s about it for this
week, I am presenting SAMTRAC for the next two weeks, so gonna be busy.
Ciao
SPAD.
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