The Happenings in September Omnibus

Clearly September has come and gone and we are well into October. Seeing as October has been nothing really but work I am sure you will find my long-awaited accounts of the Month of Simone (my BFF, for the uninformed) a.k.a the ninth month of the year, far better.

Music is my Radar
I may have intimated to some but, likely not all readers, that a few months back, I joined the Cape Town hip-hop collective, Stereotypes.

And guess what I do.

No, I don't spit rhymes.

No, I'm not at the turntables.

Yes, I play the flute!

There are sound samples on the MySpace page, but I haven't done any polished recordings with the group since joining. These are live tracks that were recorded at a show we headlined at Obz Cafe.

Here are some pictures of our latest lineup:

L to R: Mava (percussion), Dylan (guitar), Sean (Drums), Tanya (vocals), DJ Cavera (turntables), me (flute), Rudi (bass), and Maf (MC).

Is that a flying V on stage?

Stereotypes go nuts!

Band Photos courtesy of Catherine Konczak-Flanigan

We have done gigs at a handful of venues in Cape Town. It is such a blast playing live!


Ms. Bean bag
I participated in the one to one carnival working at the Cape Town Rotary Club's beanbag toss booth. The carnival was an event sponsored for young people who are differently abled and partnered up with a mentor who spends the day with them at the carnival going from booth to booth playing games, and racking up goodies. For most of those young people, they do not have much of a chance to leave home for recreation so this was a truly special outing just for them. My rotary counselor Pat took some pictures that day, but sadly, I don't have any of those at the moment.

Flowers: Think it over, ooh, life ain't a four leaf clover
In August and September, just a bit north of Cape Town, wildflowers burst from their buds creating a spectacle of 3D floral carpeting.

Frolicking in the meadow

Simone and I drove up to the West Coast National Park, where we witnessed a fine proliferation of blossoms by the beach. Exiting the park into the seaside town of Langebaan, we lunched there and were directed by the waitress to take the direct road to Lambert's Bay where we had booked our B &B. A drive that will likely never be repeated, but also never forgotten for some endless stretches of greenery and endless yellow blooms which seemed to be everywhere the whole month on any road we traveled. We spent sunset and mid-morning exploring the positively martian landscape of the Lambertsbaai coastline.
Lambert's Bay with potato chip factory smokestack

The next morning we headed onward to Clanwilliam, stopping for a toastie lunch. And then we found ourselves on a hellish drive through the Cederberg mountains--which was "not that long of a drive" erroneously according to our B &B host. The scenery was jam packed with mountainous views, but along with that came mountainous narrow roads, including some which were dusty and unpaved. Simone took all the pics while I struggled to keep us away from the precipice. We drove through Ceres, home of the fruit orchards and the namesake of the well-known juice, and more mountain passes. Back unscathed, but utterly exhausted, and Joan Jetta caked with dust, we grabbed some Nando's chicken and settled in for an evening of Black Books.

Who wouldn't want to spend the evening with these delightful folks after a long road trip?

The Sporting Life
September was also when I began to understand cricket thanks to the 20-20 world cup which was hosted here. After having it explained to me many times, the explanations finally started making sense after watching a match or two televised. Sadly South Africa performed quite poorly in a qualifying match against Pakistan which put a damper on the spectacle. To make up for it though, they have managed to win the Rugby World Cup this month. People went ballistic. They even had Pringles cannisters adorned with "Go Bokke!", as the team mascot is a Springbok (Bokke in Afrikaans). There was a guy standing in my local Pick n' Pay supermarket pushing these. Talk about nation building through sport. People went crazy when they won. Cars honked their horns with gusto, riotous behavior ensued, and interestingly, both in the days leading up to the final, where they trounced England, as well as after, people have been talking about the big victory's impact on nation building, a way for all South Africans to come together. Funny how that is predicated on the success of beefcake Neanderthals and the physical prowess. And yet, I recall hearing the dissent and skepticism at the same time regarding the representation of coloured and black players on the team, as Rugby has historically been the province of white Afrikaaners. The win certainly justifies for some people, scarily, that the current racial makeup of the team is acceptable in order for them to sustain victories. What a sight to see that 1/3 of the country actually followed the edict to wear green in support of the team the day before the final, including President Thabo Mbeki. But I heard from my Diversity Studies professor, that although Mbeki wore the green and gold, he also said that in the future the country must be prepared to lose a little bit for the sake of diversifying the team.


Beachy Keen

More coastal beauty: Once again, the stormy seas of the Cape of Good Hope

The arcane magic of Betty's Bay

My friends and I also had a lovely picnic at Clifton Fourth Beach:


Cat Caddy
Lulu's ginger cat gave birth to a litter of five kittens. The runty 'lion' is still battling a spate of ill health. But my, is he a fiesty lil' kitty!

photo courtesy of Simone Meltesen

Karoo 4U

A friend of mine had his film shown at a festival in Victoria West, a tiny little town in the middle of the Great Karoo, Northern Cape. While most of the films were amateur gunk, there were a few gems worth watching. The theater that hosted the festival is the only art deco style theater in South Africa. Sadly, it's really only open for the festival and an occasional conference. The road trip had its delights and mishaps (mostly thanks to my unreliable vehicle) but we made it. We also wandered around this dusty old town in the desert heat, and discovered the most amazing graveyard. It was populated many people who died in the 19th century. There were

toppled over headstones, twisted wire fences around family plots, and holes dug in the graves filled with beer cans and other midden.Treading amongst the tombstones

In the town there was a general emptiness and dust whirling about everywhere like some African spaghetti western. Hangin' in a one horse town

And one of the B &B's we stayed at was the nicest experience I've had with accommodation here. The food was so good. We had a very traditional Afrikaner meal of sweet potato, karoo lamb, snoek on the coals, steamed potato, home made bread, mushroom pate,three bean salad, finished off with pudding and coffee. And full breakfast in the morning with bottomless coffee again. Not to mention the old couple running the place was the sweetest you'd ever find.

Meatheads
We held a farewell gathering for Simone at Mzoli's. Mzoli's is a great meat joint in Gugulethu, a 15 minute drive from town. You basically go in and order a big heap of raw meat and sauce. They slap it on a tray and you carry it to where they braai (translation: BBQ). The meat emits smoke like no one's business. My sweatshirt still smells mesquite nearly a month on. And about an hour later--what a wait because its packed on weekends--you emerge with that giant platter steaming hot meatiness. There is some kind of sweet, sweet, intoxication they put in that sauce they smother the meat in. Oh, is that stuff literally finger-lickin good. Thankfully, this time I brought wet naps. Not only is it a carnivorous affair, but house music blares and the crowd is booty-shakin' everywhere. Some people arrive in their luxury cars, and everyone brings their own case of bruskies. Senses working overtime at Mzoli's on every occasion.

Emily Kenney loves her some sausage.

(Photo Courtesy of Dylan Valley)

On a final note, name that tune:

Do you remember the 21st night of September?
Love was changing the minds of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away

Our hearts were ringing
In the key that our souls were singing.
As we danced in the night,
Remember how the stars stole the night away

Ba de ya - say do you remember
Ba de ya - dancing in September
Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day

My thoughts are with you
Holding hands with your heart to see you
Only blue talk and love,
Remember how we knew love was here to stay

Now December found the love that we shared in September.
Only blue talk and love,
Remember the true love we share today

Ba de ya - say do you remember
Ba de ya - dancing in September
Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day

Ba de ya - say do you remember
Ba de ya - dancing in September
Ba de ya - golden dreams were shiny days

--Earth Wind and Fire