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| Contents |
Issue No. 298 -- 2 August 2004 |
Editor's Message
Quote/s of the Week
Ad Hoc Article/s of the Week
Bits and Bobs
The Legal Beagle
Help Desk
Where are they now?
Club and Other News
Humour
Recipes
Sports News
Credits and Contact Info
Subscribing and Unsubscribing
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We are now on ADSL!! Thanks not to Telkom but to my dear youngest son and my dear husband Captain Ken. They got us up and running on their line as a temporary measure and now we feel we are back in the land of ‘normal’ surfing!
Still no skiing! Apparently our boat is not yet insured and for those of you who know the sad saga of our ‘accident’ on December 16 last year when we were almost totalled (as was our boat), you will understand that we do not want the boat to set foot out of where it is now safely stored until it is fully insured. Even though the boat was not insured with Mutual and Federal, the company bakkie was and M&F have taken up the case as they are convinced that if the Mercedes that hit us was actually travelling at 80 kph (the speed limit and the speed the driver claims to have been travelling when he hit us) then it would not have been able to lift a boat weighing over a ton up into the air and have it fly down the road, smash up the boat trailer into three pieces and have them strewn over the road in three different places, tear out an overhead traffic pole from its ‘roots’ and completely write itself off!
The weather on Sunday was overcast and windy so perhaps not skiing weather! Watch this space for hopefully pics next week!
These from me...
Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
A life lived in fear is a life half lived - Tara Morice as Fran, from the movie "Strictly Ballroom"
No matter what you've done for yourself or for humanity, if you can't look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished? - Lee Iacocca
Send in any quotes you love... that have some special meaning for you... and I will use at least one every week. Usual address! saw@thos.co.za
| Ad Hoc Article/s of the Week |
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Whales – Bravo South Africa, close vote though!
This from the NSPCA
Monday 02 August 2004
Resolution on the suffering of whales was passed at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Sorrento, Italy. International agreement was reached on the need to address the inherent cruelty of whaling at the 56th annual meeting of the IWC. South Africa was one of 16 countries co-sponsoring the Resolution put forward by New Zealand, calling for action to stop the suffering involved in modern-day whaling activities – and reconfirming the IWC’s mandate to address animal welfare issues.
The Resolution was passed by a simple majority of 29 votes to 22 against.
The Resolution on whale killing issues: -
• Recognises that the welfare of hunted whales is an issue of international concern
• Reconfirms the IWC’s mandate to address welfare issues
• Recognises that current whaling methods do not guarantee death without pain, stress or distress
• Calls on the IWC to reconvene its regular Working Group on “Whale Killing Methods and associated Welfare Issues” which was dramatically dropped from this year’s agenda, in what was seen by many animal welfare organisations as a clear sign that the IWC was not taking welfare seriously.
“This is a real victory for whale welfare. For too long, the inherent cruelty of whaling has been ignored, despite the IWC’s mandate to address welfare issues,” said Major general Peter Davies, coordinator of WhaleWatch, an unprecedented coalition of over 140 animal welfare societies in more than 55 countries led by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA). “Far too many whales have suffered and continue to suffer agonising deaths from the whalers’ harpoon. We are delighted that the IWC has agreed that cruelty can no longer be tolerated and that committed action should be taken to stop it.”
Information source: - World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA)
Please refer to www.wspa-international.org
Please note that the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) is a full member of WSPA. NSPCA Executive Director, Marcelle Meredith is a full director of WSPA
The Good News – SA’s environmental protection gets international recognition
This from Guy Lundy guy@centric.co.za
The work that South Africa has been doing to further its environmental protection has been recognised and commended by two international agencies – the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
The WWF awarded the South African government with its highest honour by bestowing the Gift to the Earth award upon it in recognition of its commitment to making 20% of our coastline into marine protected areas. The WWF’s director-general, Claude Martin, presented the award to Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk at a ceremony at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town.
The award follows the government’s declaration of four new marine protected areas, bringing around 15% of South Africa’s 3000km of coastline under protection. This has ensured that South Africa is one of the first countries in the world to come close to meeting the international goal of protecting 20% of the world’s coastlines by 2012. The government is looking at various other areas as possibilities for bringing under protection.
The UNESCO recognition came at the meeting in China of its World Heritage Committee. They commended the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park Authority for the work done on protecting Lake St Lucia, the first of South Africa’s World Heritage sites. This includes the project to remove all alien plantations from the lake’s eastern shores by the end of this year, dramatically improving hydrology and ecosystems, as well as inclusion of land claimants and local communities as partners in the success of the park.
South Africa continues to work at ensuring that our rich biological diversity, which, apart from their enormous international significance, also has important implications for the success of tourism. Biodiversity is the sum of all a country’s species of animals and plants, and South Africa is ranked as the third most biologically important nation in the world, after Brazil and Indonesia.
As a result, earlier this year President Thabo Mbeki signed into law the Biodiversity Act, aimed at providing the highest possible legal protection to this biodiversity. The Act is considered by many to be the most important piece of environmental legislation passed in decades, ensuring amongst other things that any development that takes place is done so in accordance with strict environmental guidelines.
For more interesting and exciting news about developments in South Africa, subscribe to the International Marketing Council's regular BrandSA newsletter by visiting www.imc.org.za/goodstuff.htm or www.imc.org.za/subscribe.asp. You can also visit the South African gateway website at www.southafrica.info.
South African films in Toronto, Canada
This from Anne Lehmkuhl rsa2can@sympatico.ca
South African films in Toronto, Canada
09-18 September 2004
South Africa is the spotlight country at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. It includes a premiere of Red Dust, a film about the TRC hearings, starring Oscar-winner Hilary Swank.
Red Dust is a BBC production starring Swank as a lawyer who tries to find a missing man during the hearings for South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Another film, Forgiveness, sees Mummy actor Arnold Vosloo playing a policeman who is given amnesty by the commission, but tries to find one of his victim's family to ask forgiveness.
The festival will also include a screening of the South African film Yesterday - the first film to be shot in the Zulu language. It is about a woman's struggle to come to terms with AIDS.
Based on a true story, Zola Mesko's Drum centres around Henry Nxumalo, a fun-loving, hard-drinking writer of the magazine Drum, in 1950s Johannesburg. With the onset of apartheid, he finds it difficult to ignore the increasing tales of injustice. Slowly, Henry begins to claim a new identity as Mr. Drum, the intrepid and fearless political reporter.
In Ian Gabriel's film Forgiveness, an ex-cop (Arnold Vosloo), granted Amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, seeks out the family of one of his apartheid-era victims to ask them for forgiveness. Inclined at first to drive the cop away, the victim's sister and her family become involved in a plot to instead keep the ex-cop in the small West Coast town of Paternoster in order to avenge her brother's murder. As former colleagues gather for revenge, the victim's sister uncovers a long-hidden secret.
In Teddy Matterra's comedy Max and Mona, a 19-year-old village boy Max has an extraordinary talent. He is a professional mourner who can bring tears to the eyes of a killer. A rising star in the farm community of Zwartruggen, like his legendary grandfather before him, Max can melt a heart of stone. Max's natural talent, however, conflicts with his dreams of a becoming a doctor.
In Ramadan Suleyman's Zulu Love letter, Thandeka's life is severely altered when she and her friend Mike are arrested after witnessing the murder of a young female activist. Mike, a photographer, is also killed, and Thandeka, pregnant at the time, is beaten so badly that her daughter is born deaf and mute. Years later, Thandeka is a journalist with writer's block who can't shake her personal demons, nor the gnawing sense of guilt that alienates her from her family.
Tony Strasborg's documentary, A South African Love Story Walter and Albertina Sisulu, profiles the couple. Walter was a leader in the African National Congress (ANC) and Nelson Mandela's mentor. His wife, Albertina, was leader of the now-defunct United Democratic Front (UDF), and nurtured many young women in the ANC. The Sisulu partnership became a force to be reckoned with, and their household a sanctuary for their four children and the myriad of rising political voices in the ANC.
Mark Bamford's film, Cape of Good Hope, explores themes of love, xenophobia, abandonment, race and justice. Kate is the founder of an animal rescue centre that also houses some wounded souls, including a local vet who recently lost his wife to cancer, and Jean-Claude, a distinguished refugee astronomer forced into menial labour.
In Mickey Dube's short, Mozart - The music of the violin, a 12-year-old boy is tyrannized by an overachieving mother intent on seeing her son become a violin virtuoso. As the day of his recital nears, the tension in his household, and out on the tough Sowetan streets, builds. Beautifully composed by veteran music video director Dube.
For the Francophobe and others...
This from Michael Reiss michael.reiss@icfonline.com
I just love reading the Ramblings of a Francophobe. Living in Basel right in the triangle of Switzerland, Germany and the Alsace region of France, obviously we have many French too working in Basel. Reading Mike's stories, makes me sometimes think he works in the same company. The stories and attitude of these guys are so well described.
Anyhow I want to tell you a really funny strory of what happeend to me in Hamburg recently.
I recently spent some days in Hamburg on a business trip. During my stay I per coincidence saw a longboard (a 130 cm long skateboard) in a sports shop and decided this could be a nice present for my nephew. So I purchased the board thinking nothing about it until I checked in at Hamburg airport on Sunday night bound home for Basel. Check in went OK and I told the lady at the counter that I intended to take the longboard on basis “deliver to aircraft” and not to check it in with my other luggage as this board could “get lost”. This was accepted.
When I came to security for screening a very rude lady asked me where I thought I was going. Being asked in such a rude way I told her where did she think I could be going standing in front of the X-ray machine and only one direction to go in. This upset her of course and she told me I could not take that “thing” with me and would have to check it in. I told her I would not as the lady at check-in had accepted it as “deliver to aircraft” luggage and what the problem was. She again repeated saying that “thing” cannot go onto the aircraft. I told her I would deliver it outside of the aircraft as I too considered it to be too bulky to take it inside the aircraft. But she insisted on me checking it in. I told her she could x-ray that the longboard as often as she liked there was nothing hidden inside which could be a hazard for anybody involved. But she was adamant and one word gave another and she then went on to say that that “weapon” would not be allowed to accompany me.
Eventually a gentleman of the federal border guard came along and before the lady could even get a word in I told him that perhaps I could find a reasonable solution with him as his lady colleague probably hah had a very bad day as she was extremely rude to me. He was quite relaxed and understood my part that I was concerned checking in the longboard and that it may disappear in some dark channels and how would I would explain this to my nephew on his birthday that his present just went missing. In any case he eventually agreed than that 2 !!! border guards would escort me to the departure gate. But of course first I had to go through the scanner. I don’t know why but every time I pass through these things they beep. Probably even if I went in the nude. A friend of mine who saw me off at the airport was standing a few metres behind me at the security gate and I looked at him as if to say “bet you it will beep”. So I took off my watch, my belt, took out my wallet, my fountain pen and everything that could make a beep. And guess what? It beeped. So I stood there arms and legs apart in the typical crucified Jesus position and let the procedure run over me, but of course having eye contact with my friend I just burst out laughing and this of course upset the security guys even more. So next I had to take my boots off and they were x-rayed.
Then the guys did another search on me and this started to irritate me so I told the guy how much I was enjoying this rub-off and if perhaps he could not search a bit more exactly on the left hand bottom side. He bluntly returned that he could also “do otherwise” and take me into a cabin for a full body search to which I replied that I did not know whether he was gay and I would only accompany him with a witness. He then decided to let me go. I then took my longboard off the table after it had been x-rayed numerous times and promptly had 1 border guard to the left and 1 to the right of me. Of course everybody of the passengers looked at me and I told them to stay far aback as I has a very dangerous weapon with me which is rather unpredictable and that I could guarantee for absolutely nothing at all. In any case everybody stayed far back, the 2 accompanying gentlemen just shook their heads in disbelief and then we went to the gate.
En route I told them I would go to the duty free shop to get some cigarettes for my wife and they said this would be OK if it did not take too long. I told them if they were reasonable would buy them some chocolate too. Afterwards I needed to go to the toilets and I asked them whether I would be allowed for me to pee on my own or whether somebody would stand left and somebody to the right of me. They even allowed me to pee on my own with my longboard. Wow, I really could have whacked somebody with the board in the loo had I wanted to.
We then passed passport control where they took my passport went to the front and then escorted me past the long queue. Man, did this make me feel important. I then asked the guys one we arrived at the gate if they did not consider this whole exercise to me a bit ridiculous, I mean escorting a guy in a suit with a briefcase and a longboard and an umbrella. Standard response of course was that they were merely doing their job. I told them if I really had bad intentions to harm anybody then I would rather use my umbrella or perhaps my fountain pen but certainly not swing this big 130 cm board around. I also asked them whether I looked like a terrorist and whether I had any resemblance at all to Bush or Sharon. They told me that they did not want to hear all my comments and I told them they were wasting their time standing here with an ordinary citizen just wanting to fly home with his nephew’s present and that they should rather go and chase drug traffickers or illegal immigrants or whatever. In any case, to cut a long story short: after these 2 border guards had accompanied me for 40 minutes (= 80 man minutes) I was after handing over my boarding ticket allowed to go down the stairs to the bus on my own and even ride the bus to the aircraft on my own, with my longboard.
Hasn’t the world become so bloody ridiculous with all of us being totally paranoid about some apparent phantom known as “international terrorism”. Besides the fact that one should ask one selves why there is such a thing as terror in the world, i.e., to find and fight the cause and not just cure the symptoms, I firmly believe that the “terror” in this world is counter-terror and is merely the counter-action for the totalitarian “terrorist” politics of 2 states in this world; one across the Atlantic and the other one in the Middle East which has occupied that place for 56 years. Measure with the same ruler, combat the cause of terrorists who are greedy for oil, power and stolen land and I’m sure it will all be a lot more peaceful. Because of them 2 we now all suffer with ridiculous suppression to combat “global terror” which is in fact initiated by them.
When I arrived at the airport in Basel I told the customs officer that I wanted to declare a weapon for import. He asked me where it was and I said it was the board under my arm. When I told him the story of what had happened in Hamburg we both burst out laughing heartily. How nice it was to be home again in civilised Switzerland, which is not part of such conspiracy organisations like EU and NATO.
How did the British “Tears for Fears” put it in the 80’s: “MAD WORLD”. Indeed guys, you were right – the little handful is mad, and we are all suffering just because of them.
Brgds Mike Reiss
Hummingbird birth
This from Captain Ken waterski@flatwater.com
This is a neat website a friend sent me.
Give the pictures time to load...
A lady in California found a humming bird nest and got pictures all the way from the egg to leaving the nest. Took 24 days from birth to flight! Very neat and good pictures.
http://community-2.webtv.net/hotmail.com/verle33/HummingBirdNest/
Bounce This Around
This from Errol Errolimpala@wmconnect.com
And all this time you've just been putting Bounce in the dryer!
It will chase ants away when you lay a sheet near them.
It also repels mice... spread them around foundation areas, or in trailers or cars that are sitting and it keeps mice from entering your vehicle.
It takes the odor out of books and photo albums that don't get opened too often.
Repels mosquitoes. Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season.
Eliminates static electricity from your television (or computer) screen. Since Bounce is designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television screen with a used sheet of Bounce to keep dust from resettling.
Dissolve soap scum from shower doors. Clean with a sheet of Bounce.
Freshen the air in your home. Place an individual sheet of Bounce in a drawer or hang in the closet. Put A Bounce sheet in your vacuum cleaner.
Prevent thread from tangling. Run a threaded needle through sheet of Bounce before beginning to sew.
Prevent musty suitcases. Place an individual sheet of Bounce inside empty luggage before storing.
Freshen the air in your car. Place a sheet of Bounce under the front seat.
Clean baked-on foods from a cooking pan. Put a sheet in a pan, fill with water, let sit overnight, and sponge clean. The anti- static agent apparently weakens the bond between the food.
Eliminate odors in wastebaskets. Place a sheet of Bounce at the bottom of the wastebasket.
Collect cat hair. Rubbing the area with a sheet of Bounce will magnetically attract all the loose hairs.
Eliminate static electricity from venetian blinds. Wipe the blinds with a sheet of Bounce to prevent dust from resettling.
Wipe up sawdust from drilling or sand papering. A used sheet of Bounce will collect sawdust like a tack cloth.
Eliminate odors in dirty laundry. Place an individual sheet of Bounce at the bottom of a laundry bag or hamper.
Deodorize shoes or sneakers. Place a sheet of Bounce in your shoes or sneakers overnight.
Golfers put a Bounce sheet in their back pocket to keep the bees away.
Put a Bounce sheet in your sleeping bag and tent before folding and storing them. Keeps them smelling fresh.
African Dispatch – Part One
27 July 2004
Dear Dispatch Friends,
Winter on the highveld is usually synonymous with cold, crisp nights and warm, sunny days, framed by a dull blue, hazy sky. The same routine, week in and week out, with the only difference being how high the frost manages to get to the top of the chimneys south of the railway line in the mornings. I have a little private fascination every morning as I watch the car's thermometer to see whether the morning will manage to beat the previous day's extreme low. It is a pretty boring game, but it tends to keep me awake and distracted from reality while I drive the 20 minutes between home and work. You sometimes need silly little diversions in order to stay away from road rage and driving like a typical Johannesburg maniac.
Once in a while, however, there are exceptions such as today. When the morning starts bright and sunny, then mysteriously converts into a dully grey sky that dribbles popcorn-sized hailstones from time to time, before exploding back into clear skies and sun as if nothing had happened. Obviously the season is slowly beginning to gear itself up for an eventual aspiration towards springhood. Like warthogs in the elephants valley when they want to cross through an electric fence. They tend to rev themselves up well before the event, hopping around on one little spot while they squeal and squeal and generally psych themselves up for the crossover.
And then they let fly—straight for the nearest hole beneath the fence. Of course, the transition would be perfectly safe if it wasn't for the famous fact that warthogs can't run without holding their tails straight up in the air, like CB antennas on a techno-
hippi's Ford Cortina in the 1970's. Seeing a warthog cross an electric fence really is funny, if you're the kind who likes to see animals act stupidly. Even more so if you like studying the Doppler effect being applied to the animal kingdom. You know? The well-known physical effect of sound as it changes pitch when, for instance, an ambulance with its siren on passes you on a long straight road. The sound keeps changing as the source nears and the sound waves are compressed. And then it becomes a long stretched-out wail as the vehicle passes and screams past you into the distance. A king of "weeu-weeu-weeu-waa-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-u-u-uh-h-h-h-h…" sound. It is the same with warthogs. They start with a high-pitched squeal which becomes a long, distorted wail, until they hit the fence. But that's where the similarity ends and the Doppler effect ceases to apply. The moment the tail hits the bottom wire and grounds the current, the steady wail turns into a brief, but most hysterical shriek. A little like when a big man has to retrieve a snagged fishing lure in a cold South African dam and suddenly slips and drop into waist-deep water so that he suffers one of those embarrassing nervous reactions. Yes. That kind of a shriek. But however terrible, the shock is brief, and a moment later the pig clears the fence and emerges on the other side in a cloud of orange dust and snorts of indignation, before dribbling away as if nothing had happened.
Now, to my mind, a warthog crossing an electric fence is not the really funny part. The truly perplexing part of the whole story is why the pigs invariably decide an hour or two later that they simply have to return to where they had original come from. And then they go through the whole charging up ritual all over again—but this time in reverse. Pigs are said to be intelligent creatures, but I have my doubts. At any rate, there will be those who will obviously doubt the truthfulness of my observation. And all I can say to them is that I respect their scepticism. A lot of things in Africa sound like pure fantasy until you've lived here a few years yourself. Only then can you start to appreciate the fact that pigs will keep crossing electric fences with their tails raised for a million years if you let them, and they won't ever learn, I don't care what Mr.
Darwin said. It is in the nature of things and it defies explanation. Africa is full of such examples.
Hail always reminds me of the terrific hailstorms we used to get in summer time back in the mountains where I grew up. Huge columns of clouds would bounce off the escarpment and come to vent their frustration and displeasure upon an unsuspecting landscape every season, which explains why you hear so little about rich grain farmers, of course. Hail and taxes clean them out regularly. Ask any farmer. This is another one of those inexplicable oddities of Africa.
You'll find that in Africa, stone throwing is a favourite pastime. If you don't like the government, you throw stones. If you don't like your neighbour, you throw stones. If you are unhappy about the rising price of petrol, you stone your school, and probably burn a teacher or two. And if the school tries to teach a language you don't happen to like, then you go down the street stoning the cars of your friends—and perhaps your own also. Nobody needs to explain it. This is Africa, and we just do these things, that's all. I could well imagine that even the heavens around here have picked up on the habit. When it hails in Africa—which seems to be every so often—it seems that even the very clouds really like taking a proper swing at the ground.
Hail always reminds me about what happened to my grandpa's older brother many decades ago. 1931 was a bad time for the Free State, and where my grandpa grew up near Lindley, the thirties were very typical of the depression years. I once asked him about it, and he said it was just one catastrophic drought after another, and in-between it hailed. Grandpa was pretty much followed by non-stop droughts and hail for all his life, which explains why nobody thought it worth squabbling about a big inheritance when he passed away. It is probably another one of those African things. Where grandpa went, hail and drought followed. It is a wonder that the other farmers allowed him to come near them at all. To anyone who had half a brain, Grandpa would have been a symbol of the most astonishingly bad luck that ever came from the Free State. But that was a long time ago, and this story started just before the Great Depression.
Grandpa was still at school at the time, and the school was only about ten kilometres from the farm. That day the weather looked particularly ominous, so the kids were sent home early. For whatever reason his older brother, Keith, dillydallied and procrastinated his departure until most of the kids were gone and he had to make the journey alone. In those years the Riemland was an incredibly large place. Vast plains of rolling landscape which seemed to go on unbroken for mile upon hazy mile. Eventually all the kids were home, but Keith didn't come. His mom wringed her hands as she scanned the horizon, but of Keith there was no sign, even though the approaching storm began to turn dark and menacingly ugly.
Soon a black and blue storm swept down upon the open landscape, and started beating and tearing at the veld in anger and fury. When large hailstones began to fall, the parents became frantic. For a while the old wagon road remained empty, and then the heavens came down solid and white as a sheet, drumming on the old tin roof until you couldn't even hear yourself think. Every now and then lightning would crash through the ocean of water that was suspended above the lonely Riemland, and send it pouring down with even greater intensity. The storm went on and on, until the clouds ran out of stones and the heavens started using snow in order to cover up the shame of the violent destruction below. By that time out of their minds with distress, Grandpa's parents did not know what to expect anymore. Keith didn't come home that day, and he didn't come home all night. The search that followed revealed nothing, and no sign was to be found no matter where they looked. The storm turned into a historical disaster that kept the entire landscape covered beneath snow and ice for several days. Only when the icy fury began to melt, did they discover ten-year-old Keith's little frozen figure beside that of his horse. They had fallen exactly where the lightning had struck them, dying together instantly, while their frozen bodies would be covered for days. Grandpa was barely six years old when it happened, but he never forgot what happened to his brother that day. I never asked him about it, but I wonder today whether he didn't perhaps feel guilty about it all his life. After all, why didn't he and the girls wait for their older brother to join them? It is hard to say. All I know is that Grandpa taught his children great respect for the weather, and his children taught my generation the same. Many years later, Grandpa named his only son after the only brother he ever had—the one he had lost in the great storm of 1931.
Part two next week.
Mind Massage – Surfing For A Connection
What do you do to maximize your mindfulness?
Which activity gets you truly connected to the present moment?
This week, we're taking a look at surfing.
Hang ten!
Maya ;-)
Big Wave Mindfulness: Surfing For A Connection
Surfing is mindfulness in action. Riding the biggest waves is an all-out, fully-present-or-die-trying proposition.
Thanks to a persistent case of aquaphobia, I've never tried surfing. However, I've done my share of snowboarding, and I am trying to imagine what it would be like to carve the slopes with several tons of avalanche chasing me down the mountain. First of all, I would have to hike to the top and wait to catch the biggest avalanche, getting pummeled by several in the process. Oh, and then try not to think too much about the abominable snowman poised to take a hunk out of my leg when I least expect it.
Yeah. I'm stoked.
I don't really "get" surfing, but I stand in awe of it. It's impossible to avoid acknowledging the strength, timing, grace and heart-blazing courage required just to catch those enormous waves, let alone ride them smoothly without wiping out.
Whether or not you're into water, "Riding Giants" is a breathtaking film guaranteed to raise your pulse rate. Following the rise of big wave surfing from its ragtag roots in the fifties to the jet-ski boosted endorsement deals of today, "Riding Giants" offers a fascinating look at surf culture in all its guts and glory--not to mention its sun-bleached hair, wave- toned bodies, and plenty of pre-cancerous skin cells.
Although several world-class surfers are profiled, the one I find most amazing is Jeff Clark, a 43-year-old native of Half Moon Bay, California who is credited with discovering Mavericks, a notoriously gnarly big wave mecca twenty miles south of San Francisco.
Clark spotted the monstrous waves from the cliffs of Half Moon Bay as a teenager. One day, he decided to paddle the half-mile in chilly ocean water to check it out. Never mind that he was too far out for his worried friend--or anyone else--to save him. Forget that these waves would turn out to be so huge that, years later, seasoned pros from Waimea would find them jaw-dropping. Disregard the razor-sharp rocks waiting to chew up anyone unfortunate enough to be slammed to the shore.
Clark had his first of many ride-of-your-life experiences that day. He couldn't believe the power of it, the magic, the unimaginable thrill.
He went out to surf that incredible vortex every day. Alone. For fifteen years.
I'm guessing that his parents were either a) clueless about where he was, or b) powerless to prevent him from returning. He couldn't find anyone insane enough to join him.
He wasn't doing it for the attention, for the chicks, for the cameras, or for the money. He was out there getting pounded for the sake of that big ol' grin on his face and the unfathomable sense of connection to something larger than himself.
Clark was like some modern day ascetic, putting himself through tortuous rites and death defying acts of faith while living in seclusion. He became one with the water on a daily basis through rigorous attention and exhaustive exploration.
I am humbled. I envy him. And I can't stop thinking about how most of us will never have this all-consuming passion or such a magnificent opportunity to experience oneness with anything.
Jeff Clark may be crazy. He may be obsessed. But he is a man whose mindfulness has inspired and elevated him--and saved his skin on numerous occasions.
We should all be so lucky to discover such a wondrous wave.
Speaking of Surfing...
Regular readers know that my 16-year-old daughter left last week for a year-long exchange in Brazil. She sent a breezy email, letting us know that she has purchased a Brazilian bikini (they come in convenient sandwich-sized zip-lock bags), got a Brazilian bikini wax, met some "very cute" surfers, and has already had two private surfing lessons.
Yikes.
Breathe in....breathe out....
Something In The Water?
For more surfing inspiration, check out this website for the 2001 film, "Surfing For Life", featuring folks in their 70s, 80s and even 90s. Take a look at what fifty years of surfing can do for you!
http://www.surfingforlife.com/surfers.html
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Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse. Her work has inspired thinkers in over 80 countries. This article appeared in the Friday Mind Massage, a free weekly ezine serving up a satisfying blend of clarity, comfort and comic relief. To subscribe, visit http://www.massageyourmind.com.
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©Copyright 2004, Maya Talisman Frost
52 Best Stories – Personal Trainer from Hell
Good Morning Maureen,
There have been enough heavy thoughts and comments for a couple of weeks. Time to put a smile on our face.
With Kind Regards, Sandy
Dear Diary...
For New Year's this year, my wife (the dear) purchased a week of personal training at the local health club for me. Although I am still in great shape since playing on my college football team 25 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.
Called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Belinda, who identified herself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear. My wife seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress...
Monday:
Started my day at 6:00am. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Belinda waiting for me. She is something of a Greek goddess-with blonde hair, dancing eyes and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!!
Belinda gave me a tour and showed me the machines. She took my pulse after five minutes on the treadmill. She was alarmed that my pulse was so fast, but I attribute it to standing next to her in her Lycra aerobic outfit.
I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which she conducted her aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring. Belinda was encouraging as I did my sit- ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time she was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week!!
Tuesday:
I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Belinda made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air-then she put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. Belinda's rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT!! It's a whole new life for me.
Wednesday:
The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a GEO in the club parking lot.
Belinda was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. Her voice is a little too perky for early in the morning and when she scolds, she gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying. My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Belinda put me on the stair monster. Why would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Belinda told me it would help me getting shape and enjoy life. She said some other stuff too.
Thursday:
Belinda was waiting for me with her vampire-like teeth exposed as her thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late, it took me that long to tie my shoes. Belinda took me to work out with dumbbells. When she was not looking, I ran and hid in the men's room. She sent Lars to find me, then, as punishment, put me on the rowing machine - which I sank.
Friday:
I hate that witch Belinda more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anemic little cheerleader. If there were a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat her with it. Belinda wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the *&%&**!!@*@ barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. (Which I am sure you learned in the sadist school you attended and graduated magna cum laude from.) The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?
Saturday:
Belinda left a message on my answering machine in her grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing her made me want to smash the machine. However, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel.
Sunday:
I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year my wife will choose a gift for me that is fun - like a root canal or a vasectomy.
~ Author Unknown ~
http://www.52best.com/trainer.asp
One Man’s Australia
Snow and Stradivarius
.jpg) Yes it happens here. On Sunday it snowed around Sydney. The first photograph was taken 5 km from our house and 10 kms away from where hardy souls were surfing.
So Fiona and Robert sallied forth with Gobble to show her the first snow she had ever seen and take a few photographs..jpg)
Photographs two and three commemorate the occasion. They also show that when it snows we shiver. We do not have appropriate clothes for snow. In fact, like most Australians we do not even own raincoats. But because it was another first in Gobble’s life Fiona and Robert enjoyed it.
However would-be immigrants should take note. Sydney is not all sunshine, barbequeues and surf. .jpg)
Also on Sunday I was invited round to eat leftovers from the dinner party they had the night before.
The way Fiona cooks that should NEVER be refused - and so it was on Sunday night - delicious. Plus the BONUS that I got to play with Gobble, who is signing at a great rate nowadays. It does not seem to be delaying her learning more and more intelligible words. And I have learned to sign.
There was the source of a touch of tension - one Stradivarius - who had arrived at lunch time.
He is an 8 month-old (reputed) springer spaniel, but is as large as Baby Huey in the cartoons - an adolescent that still chews furnishings and digs - and digs.
He is the baby substitute of a school friend of Fiona and her husband - who have gone skiing for a fortnight.
Robert had said "No way this year! Next year when he has settled down, Gobble is a bit bigger and we do not have contractors driving trucks in the grounds and forever leaving the gates open will be OK. Chewy knows that this is home and stays. Stradivarius will run off in whichever direction his nose is pointing and we will have a HUGE drama".
Fiona insisted on assisting her friend.
Dog feeding time was a circus. Their dog, Chewbacca, sat and watched the food being put in his bowl. He waits until you have finished and then eats. Stradivarius launched himself at the food in Fiona's hand and nearly knocked her over.
After the dogs had eaten they were sent out to pee etc but soon returned to the front door because we are surrounded by snow and it is warm inside.
Dinner was served with Gobble in her high chair at the table. Chewy, as usual, hopped onto the couch and went to sleep. Stradivarius stood on his hind legs to try to get to Gobble's food off her high chair and our food off the table.
So he was hauled to the laundry and the door into the kitchen was closed. He howled.
But that was not all that he did. Fiona went in to calm him. He had peed all over the laundry floor.
She was a trifle slow reacting and he hurtled out through the kitchen into the dining room with his paws splashing urine everywhere.
While Fiona mopped out the laundry, the kitchen and the dining room/lounge he again stood on his hind legs to try to get to Gobble's food on her high chair and our food on the table.
etc.
We agreed that he will be a very nice dog when he grows up and has basic obedience training – BUT….
Training started immediately. We train our dogs by positive re-inforcement - rewarded for getting something right. But with a dog like Stradivarius you have to get its attention first as verbal commands mean nothing.
So the first lesson for him came from grandpa. "No!" the first time and then "No!" followed by an open handed clout the second.
The poor dog was in shock.
Fiona was evidently in for quite a week. A toddler, building contractors, black mud (we are below the snow line so it is raining), and a misguided missile of a dog with soulful eyes, a waggy tail, muddy paws and a huge "I love you" attitude....
Our dogs have never been fed from the table either. They would never think of begging because it would not work.
But when we clear the plates away they always run to their bowls because they get scraps.
Stradivarius does not beg. He just assumes that any food that he can find is his - wherever it is. So he raids the kitchen work surfaces, the dining table, Gobble's high chair, wherever.
I have never known Fiona to be close to tears but she was on Monday morning after a night of chaos.
Put in the laundry Stradivarius kept howling, peeing on the floor and trying to tear the new linoleum up.
They had to take him into their bedroom to shut him up so that they and Miranda could get some sleep.
On Monday morning when I went to take Robert to work the dog had peed on the porch. Robert was bleary eyed and running VERY late.
So while he had some breakfast I hosed the porch off. Stradivarius came over, sniffed and lined up to poep on the porch yet! I yelled at him and booted him off so he lined up to poep on the front path.
I yelled at him and booted him off so he poeped in the flower bed.
Not good karma with a toddler around.
Fiona rang at lunch time. She had given up and phoned his owners after he forced his way through their new screen door and wrecked it. Other arrangements were made.
Northern Lighties
The nice part about being a criminal in Canada is that you are dealt with far more leniently than your victims ever were or will be.
It is strange that the police go to all the trouble of apprehending the miscreants in the vast majority of cases only to see some judge or jury pass on a slap on the wrist to the offender effectively sending a message out to the rest of the underworld that they do not have to worry about the consequences of their actions.
I say this as a result of the pathetic sentences passed in at least two cases recently.
The first was a rather horrendous case involving two youths who were chained up in the basement of their foster parents home and forced to drink urine and eat faeces, they were so afraid of these animals supposedly acting as guardians to them.
Beatings and deprivation for something like 10 years was the life these two boys lived. Finally someone was alerted to this matter and they were rescued. Only to see the people responsible for these atrocities described as "doing their best under the circumstance" and "not being able to use proper judgement" and then being given a seven month sentence to be served at home because the judge didn't think that they were really able to comprehend the enormity of their actions and besides the woman had a bad back and it would be made worse in jail!!
Didn't stop her from locking up the boys in the basement I notice.
Nor for that matter did it seem to stop her acting in a reasonable manner to her own child who it was noted did not need to suffer the same fate as his cousins living under the same roof.
I would ask where the Children's Aid Society was during all those years but they of course are looking for people who smack their children or, the latest farce on their part, taking away aboriginal children from white foster parents to give to other white foster parents and trying to pretend that it is a cultural imperative. More of that later however.
So treating children is OK so long as you really didn't mean to do so.
Especially if you can find some reason, or other person, to pin your blame on. Society and parents apparently being the excuse of choice lately.
On the other hand the obvious feeling that children are a nuisance and should be treated like chattels is probably why there was such a mind boggling sentence in the other case that sprang to prominence as well.
A dentist arrested with the biggest collection of Child porn ever found in Canada was given an eighteen-month conditional sentence at his trial.
No jail time.
9 months house arrest and filters on his computer. To start with. Oh what terrible sentence that will be. How inhumane to think that a person who amassed a collection in the millions will be forced to stay at home.
Yes you did read that right.
Millions!!
Of pictures and videos of child pornography! BUT
"Dr. Griesdorf was examined by one of the foremost experts in this field ... and that doctor said he is of low risk and of no danger to society, basically."
Oh Yes. Of course. Never mind that one of the charges involved obtaining the sexual services of a person under 18. That one of the Policemen described the collection as some of the most depraved he had seen.
No of course not. Our Judges in their absolute wisdom know much better than any of us how the criminal brain works and we should not question any of their decisions. Low down scum that we are. Imagine actually wanting justice in cases like this?
Oh and I should mention that any comparisons to Michael Briere, who was the rapist/murderer of Holly Jones, is wrong on any of our parts.
Actually I wonder why it is that the Canadian public puts up with this continued assault on their sensibilities.
Then I remember that the main topic of contention during the recent election was abortion and gay rights. I also remember that the sheep in Ontario put a bunch of crooks back into Government in Ottawa and perhaps I am not that surprised.
Anyway the only good bit of news to come out of the courts recently was the utterly stupid case of the two half Squamish native children who were allowed to stay with their white foster parents at last.
Some time ago a Squamish Band female, who was a drug addict, died and her two daughters were adopted by two white families here in Ontario. The father was apparently white and a crack head as well, although I am not too sure if he is dead as well.
Both girls had severe psychological problems and with love, care and attention had moved away from their horrendous past and were growing up as normal healthy little girls.
Which is when, in time honoured Canadian tradition, the Children's Aid Society got involved. It seems that at first they were happy to let the two girls stay with their foster families. That all changed for some reason. I am not sure why and I don't think the families did either. What transpired though was that the CAS in conjunction with the Squamish Band decided to uproot these girls and take them from Ontario to British Columbia where the Band are and then put them in the care of a woman there.
Now here is the total absurdity of the whole situation.
This woman was in her 50's and white! She didn't even live on the reservation and it appears her only ties were as a result of having a Squamish boyfriend.
So take away two girls from a family where they have siblings and friends, the only families they know, fly them thousands of miles across a country to an old white woman and then tell everyone this is because it a cultural imperative! If that isn't the most hypocritical piece of absurd stupidity I don't know what is.
In the end the woman in BC moved to some other place with, I think, a new boyfriend, and the judge said enough of this stupidity. Not that that stopped the CAS who are still whining about it.
But at least the little girls will know the happiness of a continued loving family life.
Which is more than can be said for many of the victims of the current criminal element laughing at the police and the man in the street
What a crazy screwed up system of justice there is in this country sometimes.
Ramblings Of A Francophobe
Mike will be back soon.
Changing Lanes – Travel 2004
Sandra will be back soon.
Dollarmakers
New Beginnings
They arrived in Canada with high hopes and even higher spirits. They were used to living the good life in SA and Tom assured Mabel that she wouldn't have to "drop her standards" when they immigrated, so they bought a big house here. They bought the house in a beautiful area. Tom was convinced that he would be snapped up in no time for a job. After all, he was pretty high up in his career in South Africa - the Canadians would be fortunate indeed to get him. In fact, they would have to make him a pretty good offer. Their social life started off with a bang and they spent a lot of time touring around and "settling in". He didn't take any advice from South Africans who had been in Canada for years; after all, he was a "big shot", wasn't he?
Then reality struck and Tom started hearing that he needed "Canadian experience", that he was "overqualified", "too aggressive" (Tom did take the time to tell Canadians how much better the SA banking system was and how he would make changes here) and that they would definitely "get back to him". Eventually, he realized that "getting back to you" means "No" and that he wasn't going to get a job at all. He was too old and he had no chance of earning the kind of money he needed to maintain the lavish lifestyle he had established in Canada. He had starting eating into his savings in a big way to support the big house and expensive cars. Eventually, he had to sell the house, Mabel finally got a job and Tom ended up as a "Financial Planner" after taking any minimum wage job he could find. Their savings were used up. Pity he hadn't planned better himself.
Bob and Margaret arrived in Canada around the same time. They had a lot less money than Tom and Mabel, although they had been successful in SA as well. They bought a small apartment after renting for a year. After taking a good look at the Canadian job market and culture and the tax structure, Bob started his own business and was very careful which SA's he took advice from. They looked after their savings and worked hard on their business. And they bypassed Tom and Mabel like the proverbial tortoise beating the hare.
Today, Bob and Margaret are happy and successful, while Tom and Mabel are bitter and battling.
The same country affords us all the same opportunities. Some get rich and some don't. Some think this is God's country and go from strength to strength while others don't.
The moral of the story is that immigrants can achieve any level of success if they realize that their starting all over again and that their past is meaningless here. The ones that hurt the most are those who did well in SA and didn't realize that they had done well by default. Inheritance, connections and old money don't make you successful or smart, and they certainly don't make you an entrepreneur. Pride comes before the fall, as many SA immigrants find out. But those who are prepared to think and take advice from the right people (and that doesn't mean taking any job you can get) and work hard, can achieve any level of success they wish. The American dream also extends into Canada and the sky's the limit. And it's never too late to start over, even if you feel like you're Tom and Mabel.
Boetjie Worldwide
Ray will be back soon.
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Dear Editor
I have just joined SAW, and I am hoping to find an old friend Gwen Ryan (nee Dunstan) Gwen was also married to an Italian, Mario... We worked together at Diacarb (diamond factory)in Ndola Zambia until I returned to England in 1968, I think she did go to Malawi and also Johannesburg, but we lost touch, I would be grateful for any news on her. I am Lynda Fielder (nee Clark)... Gwen and I were really good friends.
Thanks for your help
Regards
Lynda
Lynda Fielder lynda.fielder@tesco.net
Australia - Victoria
This from Ray Theron raytheron @ iprimus.com.au
Hi, this is for all ex-Saffricans in Victoria and friends/family/spouses, in case you are interested!
Cheers
Ray
The Evelyn Hotel presents Songs from the Southern Hemisphere
Andrea Watson, Diana Clark, Heidi Bradburn and Vicki King with Valanga Khoza performing original songs South-African style and a special appearance from Doug de Vries.
Mesmerising vocal harmonies intertwined with percussion creates the sound that is Akasa.
This passionate quartet sings original, rhythmic music a cappella style. Influenced by the sounds, politics and cultural movements from across the Southern Hemisphere, Akasa's music is re-sensitising, relevant and empowering.
Akasa is a group with emotional and spiritual depth... intelligent, powerful, engaging compositions.
Akasa perform with outstanding talent and energy. Roger King, The Boîte (Vic) Inc., Melbourne.
Sunday 8 August 2004 4:30pm
The Evelyn Hotel
351 Brunswick St
Fitzroy, VIC 3065
Bookings (03) 9419-5500
Tickets $15/$10
Akasa formed in 1998 and has toured extensively in Australia, playing at all the major folk festivals and selected world music events. In September 2002 the group made its first overseas appearance at the "Femme Funk Festival" in New Caledonia and again at the inaugural "Femme Funk Festival" in Fiji, 2003. In April 2002, Akasa released the defining album "World Citizen" which has been highly acclaimed in Australia and abroad. This follows the award-winning debut release (self-titled) which received two international awards - "Best World Folk Album" and "Best World/Folk Song" at the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (USA) in June 2000. Akasa is touring New Zealand in October 2004 and Holland and Ireland in early 2005.
Media enquiries: Silvia Krambeck 0421 785 128 (03) 8707 0129.
11 people on a rope...
This from Errol Errolimpala@wmconnect.com
Eleven people were hanging on a rope under a helicopter, ten men and one woman. The rope was not strong enough to carry them all, so they decided that one had to leave, because otherwise they were all going to fall. They weren't able to name that person, until the woman gave a very touching speech. She said that she would voluntarily let go of the rope, because, as a woman, she was used to giving up everything for her husband and kids, or for men in general, and was used to always making sacrifices with little in return. As soon as she finished her speech, all the men started clapping their hands.......
Spicy Broccoli with Garlic from The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook
Serves 4
Simple but yummy!
1 medium bunch broccoli (about 1-1/2 pounds)
Salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes, or to taste
Bring several quarts water to boil in a large saucepan. Trim all but the last 3 inches from the broccoli stalks. Break the broccoli into fairly large spears and peel away the tough outer layer from the stalks. Add the broccoli and salt to taste to the boiling water. Cook until the broccoli is crisp-tender, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain well.
Heat the oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add the garlic and hot red pepper flakes and cook until the garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. Add the broccoli and stir to coat well with the flavored oil, cooking for 1 to 2 minutes. Add salt to taste and serve immediately.
SA's athletes look good for Athens [iafrica.com]
South African champion Hezekiel Sepeng and world indoor champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi - both Olympic medal contenders - get together in the 800 metres on Friday night in Zurich for the first time on European soil this year to feel out their opposition for the two-lap showpiece in Athens.
http://sport.iafrica.com/news/topstory/338874.htm
Jake optimistic about home leg [Super Rugby]
It's a setback that South Africa lost both their away matches in the Tri-Nations, but Bok coach Jake White is confident that the Boks can win the home tests.
http://www.superrugby.co.za/default.asp?id=12138...
Proteas play four quickies [News 24]
South Africa's unshakable faith in their pace attack will see them play four fast bowlers and one spinner on Wednesday when they take on a resurgent Sri Lanka in the first Test of the two-match series.
http://www.news24.com/News24/Sport/Cricket/0,,2-9-839_1566846,00.html
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