The Army days, Part 3 - The new South Africa

Part 2 of this series ended with my training in riot control and our preparations for South Africa's first multi-racial elections in April of 1994. Times were changing on this side of the world. Millions of people would get a chance to cast their votes, previously unable to do so. As an 18 year old man, I would get my first chance to do the same. It was something new for all of us.

Just prior to the elections we were sent to the homeland of KwaNdebele, just north of Pretoria to ensure a smooth and trouble free process. It is a rural area, so we were unable to keep in touch with events in the rest of the country. Two by two we were posted at various voting stations to guarantee everyone the chance to cast their votes safely. The entire process was trouble-free and over soon.
Upon our return to Pretoria, passing by the Union Buildings, I noticed an unfamiliar flag waving where the national flag used to be. I learnt later that week that a new flag was designed to incorporate the full spectrum of our country's demographic.

Union Buildings in Pretoria - Image from Wikipedia

Old and new flags (Wikimedia)

As soon as we returned, we prepared for the inauguration of newly-elected State President, Nelson Mandela. On the evening of 9 May 1994, we were deployed around the Union Buildings where his inauguration speech would be delivered. My squad stood guard down Church Street for the entire night and the following day, and I was positioned at the southern entrance of Blackwood Street on the eastern border of the Union Buildings. My orders were explicit: Behind me, the German Consulate... No one enters!

It was a long and tiring night as we stood watch over the location of one of the most famous events in human history. On the late morning of 10 May, I watched as a procession of limousines passed in front of me towards the grounds. I noticed the familiar face of Minister of foreign affairs, Pik Botha, along with some gentlemen wearing Muslim Agal. The long line of cars soon passed and I went about my daily routine of staring into the distance, day-dreaming about something. I was caught up in thought when out of the corner of my eye I saw some movement. As I looked over to my right, I saw the line of cars starting to turn into Blackwood road, and coming right towards me. That is when I reacted, as we were taught. I challenged the leading car, stomping my left foot hard into the ground and raising my rifle towards the target, the left front tire of the first vehicle. I gave it my best Clint Eastwood stare-down, unmoved, standing firm on my orders. Over the deafening sound of the silence of that moment I heard the stampeding sound of approaching army boots, followed by the thundering voice of an embarrassed and agitated sergeant: "Bouwer jou doos, kom uit die f@kken pad uit!" Translation - "Bouwer you (expletive, starting with 'c' and rhymes with runt), get out of the f@cking way!"

I realized then that orders were meant to be filtered through some discretion. I got out of the way, letting the motorcade pass. Later on I found out that the man I was looking at through the barrel of my rifle was none other than Yasser Arafat. Some special Police observers were standing there with me, enjoying the moment with a good laugh. They ridiculed me every now and then. That is certainly a day I will never forget. Did I almost start WW3?

Terry the lion

In the post entitled 'Ze Lion, Ze German and the heavily buttered sandwich' I brought you the funny story of a camper's encounter with lions. Here is the story of Terry the lion I promised in that post.

During the Border war, Special forces operations were run from Fort Doppies in Namibia. The Fort got its name from a vervet monkey they named 'Doppies' who had the habit of stealing spent cartridges to chew on. (Doppies means catrridges in Afrikaans)
A lion cub found its way onto the base and was raised by the Operators stationed there. He was named Terry. Here are two stories about him from the SA Special Forces League's website, along with a few pics. You can see more at http://www.recce.co.za/  Enjoy.

One night, one of the Operators was tasked to give Terry some food, as he was occasionally fed while at FortDoppies. This particular Operator did not appreciate being tasked to do this job in his free time, and was quite annoyed. Taking the meat for Terry, he went to look for him, and found him not far outside the front gate of Fort Doppies.

 It appeared to the Operator that Terry was in an uncharacteristically bad mood, as he growled at the Operator, and made striking movements with his front paws. Terry also didn’t look in good shape. The Operator was also not in a good mood at having been tasked to feed Terry, and this unusual and annoying behaviour towards him by the Lion further annoyed him.

 The Operator therefore unceremoniously threw the meat towards Terry instead of taking it right up to him, and stood there shouting at the Lion for a few minutes.  He then went back into Fort Doppies and walked into the pub – where he saw Terry sitting at the feet of the other Operators.

 The Operator had found, fed and shouted at a wild lion.

In later times, Terry used to like walking into the Operators sleeping quarters during the night or early hours of the morning, and would jump on top of them in their beds and try to go to sleep there – while crushing them.  Terry’s sudden appearance would also terrify the few visitors who occasionally entered Fort Doppies. As a result of this, some anti-Terry barriers were erected around the housing during period when visitors were going to visit, or when the Operators needed a good night’s sleep. Visitors coming to Fort Doppies who had not been there before were also informed about Terry when they arrived.

 At one stage, a group of cabinet ministers arrived for a visit to Fort Doppies. This visit was not looked forward to by the Operators due to their apolitical mentality, and the fact that some of the statements that had previously been made by one of these cabinet ministers in South Africa did not conform with the Operators view of human relations in our country.

 Therefore, when the group arrived, it was neglected to inform them of the existence of Terry, and it was also neglected to inform them that the toilets at Fort Doppies were situated well outside the anti-Terry barriers. To this day, no-one can figure out how we actually forgot to tell them, or how we forgot to task anyone to tell them.

 Consequently, and possibly through a stroke of grace, the very person who had made the unwelcome statements decided to go to the toilet first, which he did.  Having completed what he went to do, he opened the door of his toilet cubicle to leave, and found himself face-to-face with a huge male lion, sitting on its haunches right outside his toilet cubicle, looking him right in the eyes.

 Although some of the Operators in retrospect thought that they heard the screams as they started, this just happened to coincidentally coincide with the volume of the radio in the lounge being turned up substantially so that nothing more could be heard, and so it was not until several hours later that the person’s disappearance was noted, and a rescue party was launched – which strangely enough started searching on the opposite side of the base to the toilets, and arrived only much later at the last point of search – the toilets – where a very peaceful Terry had fallen asleep outside the only closed and bolted cubicle.

Fort Doppies was never visited by these people again.

Terry was awarded Honorary Operator status by the SA Special Forces. It's amazing how animals find their way into history.

Liverpool vs Man City - Wow! What a match!

What a match it was. Liverpool ran onto the field knowing that the ultimate prize was well within reach. They left City for dead with two quick goals and attacking play that kept the guests wondering for most of the first half. Sterling showed immense composure and scored the opening goal of the match, selling the hugest dummy to centre field turning and, having caught the City defenders and goal keeper off guard, fired it in with ease. 20 minutes later a Gerrard corner kick found Skrtel's head and in went number 2. Liverpool dominated the first half with purposed and swift attacking play, while smothering City's every move. Half-time score, 2-0 to Liverpool.

The second half saw a complete reversal of roles as Manchester City started attacking with ferocity, seeking retribution for the first half and trying to keep their title hopes afloat. 2 goals just 6 minutes apart from a fired-up David Silva saw the scores tied with half an hour to go. Man City looked the better team at that moment as Liverpool seemed to have come out to defend their lead rather than build on it. City dominated a large part of the second half, making one wonder if Liverpool would be able to regroup after the onslaught. Great leadership from Gerrard saw the hosts find their rhythm again and on the attack they went once more. Coutinho, who looked brilliant the entire game, scored after City's failed attempt at clearing their goal. 3-2 Liverpool. This is how it stayed until the end time whistle.

It was an emotional day at Ansfield, remembering the Hillsborough tragedy of 25 years ago when 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives. The atmosphere was electric and the air filled with the songs and chants of the fans. Even the commentators were in awe. The fans played their part. The players added theirs. Sturridge was fantastic, Sakho was immovable in defense. Sterling and Coutinho were brilliant, as was Flanagan. Skrtel was fired up and looked like a hungry vampire, Mignolet showed the surety of an Oliver Kahn and Steven Gerrard seemed to have transcended his own greatness. One writer asked if Gerrard had super powers, such was the intensity out on the pitch.

I was absolutely thrilled at how this match turned out. My first game of soccer in many years, and I was not disappointed. Liverpool all the way!

Ze Lion, Ze German and the heavily buttered sandwich

I found this funny story on www.4x4community.co.za, told by forum member Botsboy:


Sorry, this isn’t a typical trip report, but rather a recounting of a recent experience I had in the *CKGR which I thought I’d share with my fellow forumites.

Feeling all intrepid and bush wise I set off on a 4 night completely solo trip around the *Central Kalahari Game Reserve. I had a great time, there had been a lot of rain so game and predators were prolific. I’d seen cheetah, lion and had a leopard around my camp for two nights (Sunday Pan 03). This alone was pretty interesting as he was the most vocal leopard I’ve ever known. All night and into the mornings this leopard was continually coughing and sawing around camp. Judging from the sound he kept on doing circuits around the site and was probably no more than 50 – 100m away at any given time. Also special was that I was completely alone, the nearest occupied campsite being 20km away. When I asked about this behaviour with a couple of guides when I got home, they told me the likely reason for this behaviour was that he was annoyed by me being in his territory! Whoops. Oh and I say “He” because the tracks through and around camp were very, very large. 
Fast forward to my last day... after packing up early to avoid being caught by a storm I left camp around 6am and drove down to Deception Valley proper where my plan was to stop and make tea and a sandwich before leaving the reserve. Driving down I saw lots of lion tracks but little else, a brief circuit of the pan showed up nothing, and after having had such good game viewing previously I wasn't particularly searching for anything. I pulled into an unoccupied campsite (Kgori 2), leapt out of the car, stretched, had a pee, completely un stressed about anything. Then I strolled round to the back of the bakkie (truck), opened the tailgate and started pulling out gas bottles, tuck boxes etc and busied myself making tea and a sandwich. 
At some point something made me look up and coming towards the front of the bakkie was a full grown male Kalahari lion. Okay, he saw me, I saw him, I just stayed calm. He stopped and sat down a few metres from the driver’s door. No worries I thought knowing that if he caused trouble, I’d simply slip round to the left of the car and jump in the passenger side. So, having sorted out my retreat and with one eye on Mr Lion I carried on making my tea. At this time I heard a vehicle approach from behind me and turned slightly to see it was a game viewing vehicle from one of the lodges. Paying them little attention I carried on with my task when all of a sudden a piercing high pitched (male) German scream of “Lion, Ze Lion ist HERE!!!” broke the silence. Figuring “ze German” had just spotted “my lion” I carried on spreading my bread, checking my tea (cool collected bush savvy AFRIKA MAN that I am), only to be disturbed by an even HIGHER pitched screech from self same German man. “Ze lion ZE LION, watch out ZE LION!!!” which I found vaguely annoying until.... I suddenly realised that Mr German was not pointing at “my lion”. He was in fact pointing at another Mr Lion who was casually approaching me from the passenger side of my car...it was at this point that perhaps a little bit of pooh came out...
So stuck between a Lion on the right and an approaching lion on the left, blocking my retreat, I no longer felt like Mr cool, calm collected bush savvy AFRIKA MAN. However I somehow remained cool calm and collected, spreading my sandwich (for about the 100th time) knowing that - no matter how tempting it seemed right then - running and screaming like a little girl was not the solution to this particular problem. Fortunately for me at the very last moment the lion on the left turned and ambled past the front of the vehicle, brushing it hard enough to make it sway, joined his companion and off the two went, leaving behind a somewhat rattled camper, an astonished German, and a heavily buttered sandwich. 
Moral of the story? Never let your guard down in the bush, listen to German tourists (might battle with this one), keep calm and most importantly, feel privileged to be able to have these experiences. Oh yes and always carry your camera with you, I’d left mine on the front seat hence no pics. Now if only I could trace the German, he must have some interesting ones...!



What to do when neither flight nor fight is an option... This reminds me of the story of Terry the Lion which I will tell in a next post.

Take care.

Remebering the great Ayrton Senna

Born on this day in 1960 in Sao Paulo, the World received arguably the greatest and most famous racing driver of all time. Most F1 drivers list him as the best in their view and he is still held in the highest esteem 20 years after his untimely death. Though racing was his life, there was much more to this master than just that.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Ayrton Senna

21 March 1960 - 1 May 1994

To be able to deliver the results he did means that a driver has to possess great mental capacity added to a number of great physical attributes. Most in professional sports have this, but some remain a cut above the rest. We see this in many sports today, with one athlete who stands above the others. Think of Tiger Woods, Carl Fogarty and Mick Doohan. Few people are aware of his lack of motor coordination as a child, making his accomplishments all the more legendary. He showed good athletic ability and possessed a good understanding of mechanics, as his ability to change motor gears without the use of a clutch showed.

His involvement in motor racing started at age 4, when he was introduced to karting by his father who built him his first kart. He progressed to open-wheeled cars and progressed through the various formulas on his way to F1. He made his F1 debut in front of his home crowd in Rio. Senna was known for his tremendous car control, especially on a wet track. He seemed fearless as he attacked corners and took risks others wouldn't. He knew the limits of the car and he was well aware of his own, but he never backed off, relying instead on instinct than consciousness. It was as though the car had become an extension of himself. He mastered his art in the same way a warrior would master his, making the weapon an extended limb rather than a tool in the hand. Watch the video below to see his control and reflexes:

Racing, of course is what Senna was most famous for, but he became a Brazilian national hero for more reasons than that. Poverty is as great in Brazil as it is anywhere else in the World, and children often suffer the most. Brazil has a large number of homeless children living on the streets. Senna had great compassion in general, on and off the track, none more so than for the masses of poverty stricken children. In 1994 he discussed helping the many children in his home country with his sister. He was in Europe at the time and they were to make work of it upon his return. His sister started the Senna foundation in his honour, as he never returned home. He died in Imola on 1 May in a horrific crash, a day after Roland Ratzenberger passed away in the same manner. As he passed the F1 baton to Michael Schumacher, so he passed the baton of compassion to his sister and as a result around two million children today benefit from his dream.

1 million people attended his funeral. His coffin bearers were some of the Motorsport Greats. His name is carried on by the many companies who promote it, including Honda, Ducati, TAG Heuer and Hublot, but it is in the hearts and minds of the millions of fans that Ayrton Senna da Silva will live on.

He would have turned 54 today.

The Army days, Part 2 - Preparing for the future

In my last post I wrote about the first year of voluntary Military service after conscription into the South African Armed Forces had ended. These were changing times as Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were released, Apartheid had ended and the country was gearing up for its first democratic elections. The war in Angola had ended and all Military personnel called back. The war was over, but the threats were still real as the political situation was volatile at that time. We had to adapt to new methods as the threat moved from the fighter in the jungle to the 'destabilizer' in the crowd.
This was the purpose of the counter-insurgency training we received, named COIN Urban.

We were taught the principle of minimum force, allowing people the freedom to express their views and feelings in protest while keeping them and others safe from those who wished to bring chaos and violence, hidden in the crowds. It was not specialized training, but merely the very basics of crowd control and dispersion in case of incidents. We relied more on a show of force than anything else, presenting a united front of likeminded soldiers in complete control of the situation. We used the R4 rifle again, but the amount of ammunition was severely limited as to not let any situation get out of control and turn into something regrettable, like the Marikana incident proved. Our marksmanship had to be near perfect and we practiced hitting moving targets on the rifle range. We were presented with a number of unmarked moving targets, and these were never to receive any hits. There would then appear a marked target and it would be moved amongst the others. The target was then identified by the instructor in charge and we would fire away as per his command. The targets were then inspected for wounds and the necessary corrective training implemented (Running, crawling, puking).
We had to be perfect. The elections were to be held in April of '94 and there was no time for playing around. They were about to release us to our duty and we could not afford to be lacking in any areas.
Teargas is heavily relied on in governing the behavior of the masses and so we were trained in the use of them. This was much less fun then the work done on the range.
The first time we encountered teargas was when our instructors told us that we had to know what the effects of the gas had on the human body. This meant one thing and one thing only, we had to be gassed! And so we were. The trick with a filtered gas mask is to make sure it fits tight and then, and most importantly, to stay calm. Air is sucked into the mask through its filtration device and cleared of pollutants so that one can breathe. But wearing them is quite a hassle as they do make breathing more of an effort, as our PT sessions showed. Basically, if you don't suck hard enough you can't breathe, if you suck too hard you suck all that nasty gas right into the mask and can not breathe.
The first time was hectic. We were made to sit down together and subsequently pelted with gas grenades. It was total chaos. Guys were running in all directions, trying to get the masks off their faces. It burnt like fire! We had to sit down again for another run, as we obviously and miserably failed the first. This time I stayed calm. I closed my eyes, tried to discard the sounds of chaos all around me and just sat there breathing easy. It got so calm, in fact, that at one stage I heard Sgt. Pedro yelling at me from a distance: "Bouwer, are you going to join us at some stage!?" I looked up and saw that the squad had formed up, ready to move out. I had gotten so quiet and relaxed I didn't even realize we were done. I aced it!

Further training focused on vehicle movement. The Buffel armoured personnel carrier was used for rapid debussing and movement. This was a tricky fellow, as it was not meant for this type of application, but was still very useful due to its height. This made getting in and out somewhat difficult with a rifle and a mask, but it was a necessary skill to master.

Buffel APC (Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Our training complete, we were deemed ready for the election process. We would be posted into several rural communities ensuring trouble-free elections, and after that we would be called into service again during the inauguration of the new President. More about that in Part 3.

Take care...

The Army days, Part 1 - Basics

I was driving home after work and passed through Military Headquarters in Pretoria when I saw the truck and gun carriage used with Nelson Mandela's funeral. I drove through the area of my old Unit and enjoyed reminiscing the old Army days. I thought back to my days as a young 'Private' in the SADF.

I grew up during a very hostile time in South Africa. A war was being fought and the threat of terrorism saw our schools at times surrounded by police officers and soldiers watching over us. Some of our teachers were called up to active duty during this time.
During the South African Border War, conscription was introduced whereby all white young men had to enlist for military service. Once you turned 16 years of age you received your first Identity Document and were assigned to a Military Unit. I can not for the life of me remember which unit I was assigned to, but in 1993 conscription was done away with. That was my last year of school and all my class mates were stoked at not having to enlist. I on the other hand envisioned myself as a professional soldier, so I applied for acceptance into the Armed Forces and received my 'call-up' to the Personnel Services School close to home. Personnell Services is responsible for the administration and financial oversight of the SA Army. This is where Arnold Vosloo acted in his first movie, Boetie gaan Border toe. (Little Brother goes to Border - according to Wikipedia's translation) That is my claim to fame, that I slept in the same barracks as Arnold Vosloo did.

Call-up orders were to gather at the Voortrekkerhoogte City Hall where all recruits were dispatched to their training units. This was February of 1994, 20 years ago. We were rounded up by a 6'7 monster of a man with the voice of a volcanic eruption and we soon realized that the road ahead was going to be an unpleasant one. He marched us across the road to our barracks where we were issued with kit and bedding and told to get settled in. We were excited as ours were the first intake of men of black, white and brown orientation. We quickly made friends and settled in nicely, though we found it extremely difficult later on to fit in with each other's cultures and traditions. Those were the early days of Democracy in South Africa, so we had to feel it out.

The first order of business was to be taught the Military disciplines of marching, parade-ground drills, guard duty as well as lectures on warfare, riflery and combat maneuvers. We were taught the different basic infantry weapons like the R4 assault rifle, Light Machine Gun (FN MAG) and the Multiple Grenade Launcher. These were still classroom activities up to this point. Physical training and discipline were areas of focus, which meant that we had regular inspections of our living quarters and our kit. Inspections mostly took place at 05:00, an hour before breakfast, giving our instructors a good 60 minutes to start the day with a thorough PT session. Then there were the surprise inspections that could come at any time, but were mostly conducted between 21:00 and 04:00. These were always failed and ended up in what is known in Military terms as 'corrective training', also known in civilian circles as 'severe punishment'. This was when irritable instructors got to take out their frustrations on us and it always followed the same pattern... running, crawling, puking. There were also the dreaded shower parades where our levels of hygiene could be monitored. For these we had to stand to attention, towel draped over the left shoulder and shower bag in the left hand, wearing nothing but the standard issue Army undies. Unfortunately our bathrooms were adjacent to the perimeter fence that was across the main road and in full public view.

Our next training phase was a method known as COIN Urban. As the war had ended and the focus moved to internal stability, the requirement of the Army changed and we had to be skilled likewise. This was right before the Democratic Elections of  '94, when everything in South Africa changed. More about this in Part 2.

Greetings.

Destroy the mind, destroy the body, but you can not destroy the heart!

I just read on Facebook of a neglected dog in Taiwan, so neglected and diseased that they could not even establish his breed.

He was taken in and nursed back to health. To everybody's amazement, he was not a Mastiff as first thought, but a very sweet and beautiful Rottweiler. His new owner named him Tiny and after he had made a full recovery he was entered into a dog show and won. The transformation is simply unbelievable.

You can read the full story here. This displays an incredible will to live and makes for a true heart warming story. We need more of these.

A tribute to comedian Mitch Hedberg

Last week would have seen the Birthday of Mitch Hedberg, one of the best comedians I have ever seen. It is accustomary to remember a person on the day he or she passed away, but I will do things somewhat differently. I will commemorate some of my most favourite people on the day they were given to us, rather then the day they left us. That being said, here is my tribute to Mitchell Lee Hedberg.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Mitch Hedberg
24 February 1968 - 29 March 2005

He would have been 46 on 24 February this year, but he sadly passed away in 2005 at age 37 of a drug overdose.
I have grown quite fond of him in recent times, the Kurt Cobain look-alike with the blue shades and timid personality. Shy and reserved by nature, he would often hide behind the microphone or have his hair cover his face in front of an audience. At times his eyes darted across the room in an attempt to not make eye contact with the crowd, but he always delivered the goods. He made it ok to be shy and still be successful, even if that meant standing in front of thousands and be laughed at. His personality is what drew people to like him. He sometimes laughed at himself and that made people love him more. He had somewhat of a cult following, seeing that he was not arrogant in any way but still managed to produce some of the most provocative and thought provoking ideas in comedy.

He delivered his comedy in mostly one-liners, much like Stephen Wright does. He noticed certain things that most others see and do in everyday life, but don't take notice of. He certainly had a very fine eye for the usually unusual.
~The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I will never be as good as a wall.
An escalator can never break. It can only become stairs.
I wanted to buy a candle holder but the store didn't have one, so I got a cake.
People tell me how hard it is to stop smoking. It's as hard as it is to start flossing.
I was standing by a casino door when the security guard came to me and said: "you've gotta move, you're blocking the fire exit", as though if their was a fire I wasn't going to run. If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit.
When someone hands me a flyer, it's like they're saying: "here, you throw this away".~

Sometimes he said things that made sense in such a way that they made sense even more... or even less, depending on how quick you could think on your feet.
~I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too.
I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long.
I got an ant farm. Those fellows didn't grow sh*t.
I was going to get my teeth whitened, but then I said: "f*ck that, I'll get a tan instead".
One time this guy handed me a picture of him and he said: "here's a picture of me when I was younger." Every picture is of you when you were younger.
Alcoholism is a disease, but it's the only disease you can get yelled at for having.~

His stage presence was very laid back and his manner of speech slow and drawn out. He sounded like someone who had had a couple of drinks, which I suppose is why people liked him so much. It was like every other Friday night at the club, sitting around, chatting to your friends over a cold beer. He had a certain familiarity about him, like the guy next door. People could identify with him.
There aren't too many comedians with his style around, Stephen Wright being the only other one that comes to mind, and there aren't that many with his presence and personality. He will be remembered for a long time to come by the many who adored him.

Here are a few more of his quirky sayings:

~I want to rob a bank with a BB gun. "Give me all your money, or I will give you a dimple. I will be rich, you will be cute. We both win."
~I saw a wino eating grapes, I said: "Dude, you've got to wait."
~I wanna hang a map of the world on my wall, then I'm gonna put pins in all the places I have travelled to. But first I have to travel to the top two corners of the map, or else it will fall down.
~You should never tell someone they have a nice dimple. Maybe they were shot in the face with a BB gun.
~I can't wear a regular T-shirt because it hurts. I especially can not wear a turtle-neck. Wearing a turtle-neck is like being strangled by a really weak guy... all day. If you were wearing a turtle-neck and a back pack, it's like a weak midget trying to bring you down.
~I know a lot about cars. I can look at a car's head lights and tell you exactly which way it's coming.
~Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2000 of something.
~I don't have a girlfriend, but I know a girl who'd get really mad if she heard me say that.
~My belt holds my pants up, but my belt loops hold my belt up. So who's the real hero down there?
~ I wrote a script and I gave it to a guy who reads scripts. He said he really liked it, but he thought I should rewrtie it. I said: "f*ck that, I'll just make a copy".

This will blow your hair back

We all love our music, but every one-in-a-while something spectacular comes along. I have added the videos for easier viewing.

Ever heard of Croatian duo 2 Cellos? They are making classical downright cool! Watch their version of Smells like teen spirit.

And then there was this audition on The Voice by Sarah Simmons, One of us. Unfortunately this video was removed by NBC.

One of my all-time favourites. Metallica performing 'One' with the San Francisco Symphony in 1999.

Wow, and that's all she wrote.

In loving memory of a remarkable woman

It is with a mixture of great sadness but also immense gratitude that I write this tribute to my dearly beloved mom-in-law. I have had the honor of sharing her life for the past 13 years, and it has been a most humbling time for me in so many ways.
In today's life it is always inspiring to meet people who are accepting and kind. People who are unafraid to love and hold dear those closest to them. She was just such a woman. The world we live in is driven by status and success, to the point where family is almost certainly left in the wake of chasing the coveted prize of glory, but she had a different set of values. Family first... always.

In the last few days since her passing away I have thought about all her qualities and character traits, trying to put words to how I knew and felt about her. I thought about all the things that made her who she was to try and summarize this remarkable woman. She was loving, accepting and understanding, devoted in all her ways and expressions. She was opinionated and straightforward, but never intrusive. Always willing to lend an ear and always with a kindhearted smile, she would listen to your thoughts and feelings.

All these attributes I will remember for as long as I live, but the one that I will hold dearest, the one that encapsulates her best, was her elegance.

The picture above is one of my favorites of her, capturing her beauty and eloquence in a peaceful moment of reflection. This picture reminds me somewhat of a young Lady Diana, blissfully serene and secure within herself. Regal yet tough, both luxurious and diligent. I could easily imagine her in high society, sipping tea with the Queen, as I could imagine her raising a family in humble homestead.

She had the golden touch, a touch of class. She would invite us for Sunday lunch and would go through painstaking effort to ensure we had the best she had to offer, and best it certainly was. Whether she was roasting veggies or cooking authentic Italian pasta, or even making just a plain old green salad, she would make it as though she was preparing it for the finest establishments in Europe. She put her heart and soul into it and made it better then what it needed to be. She made everything better.
She loved her grandchildren and they adored her. They were drawn to her, as her irresistable character and warm personality dictated. She had all the time in the world for them, and us all.
She held our family traditions dearly. She loved watching the little ones open their gifts at Christmas time, and she loved watching them have fun, as grannies do. She was happy when we were happy. I suppose it was because of her tremendous sharing heart that she felt joy when those she loved were cheerful and happy. It was that same sharing heart that caused her to be so vastly compasionate too.

We will certainly miss her in times to come, and we will never forget her. The memories we have will remain with us untill the end of time. It was an honor as a son to have known and loved her, to be reminded of those things that matter in life. Her values will be held up high by those she left behind... her mother, sisters, husband, children, grandchildren and friends.

Untill we meet again... mom.

Back again, after going AWOL for a while

It has been a while since I've had something to say, as January was somewhat of a frantic month. As a husband and father with a full-time job, my free time is somewhat limited and it is only once all house chores have been done, homework checked and kids put through bath and bed that I have time to myself. As mentioned in my last post, I have set out to accomplish a number of things this year, under which I resolved to compile a mobile app. This has occupied most of my time, as I have been collecting data, building a web page and planning the operational aspects of the app itself. I am pleased to announce that it might just be ready for release in time to meat the deadline I set for it. I have to set deadlines for myself, and drastic ones at that, else procrastination creeps in and sucks the life right out of my ventures. (Rule number one for breaking into a skate park... throw your skateboard over the fence)

That has also only been the half of it. Tragedy struck our family recently with the passing away of my mother-in-law. She suddenly and very unexpectedly passed away, leaving us somewhat bewildered and very sad at the same time. This has been an incredibly harsh time for us. Most of my family live close to us and we see each other regularly. This if course means that her passing will leave us with an immense void that simply can not be filled. My next post will be a tribute to my mother-in-law. She was a woman close to my heart and I will gladly share some of my thoughts and emotions regarding this remarkable lady.

There has also been some good news. Friends of mine who have been struggling to fall pregnant have finally received the good news that they will be parents soon. Life is just full of surprises. There is sweet with the bitter.

As you can see, the first part of 2014 was hectic, to say the least, but more about that later. This is then where I leave this post.

God bless.

Here's to a great 2014, New Year's resolutions and all

Well, here we are again at the beginning of a new year. 2013 left me with so much I still wanted to do and so much unaccomplished, yet it wasn't at all a bad year. I had hoped for more, but then again, you only get what you aim for and actively pursue.

So here we are at the beginning of 2014. Like every other year, I made some resolutions. I know many people do not make them knowing that they don't last anyway, but for me they have been good. I'm not one to often repeat myself, but you do get what you aim for. I make mine fun and relevant, and I give myself time to achieve my goals. Many people make resolutions and put so much pressure on themselves that if they slip up once, they give up altogether. Sometimes our goals are small and easily reached, other times slightly larger and need more time to fulfill. New Year's resolutions could be a great way to motivate you to do the things you always wanted to do, so I approach New Year's resolutions with serious intent, but also with a fair bit of woosa. I do not make more than a few, but I do see them through.
A few years ago I wanted to get a taste for some of life's finer things, so my resolution was to become a wannabe-connoisseur. I built a collection of fine whiskies and became familiar with the processes involved. I quite enjoyed that one. Another year wanted to become more 'real' with myself and those close to me, so I deepened my friendships. As someone who keeps mostly to myself, this was a particularly challenging one and to be honest, I am still working on it years later.
This year, as all the other years, I have made some resolutions that will help me achieve some of the serious as well as the exciting goals in life.

• Fishing - I realized that I share a common interest in the Great Outdoors with some of my friends. We have been fishing and camping together, but this year I want to do more of that. I have set my goals to catch at least 4 species of local freshwater fish and set personal bests for them. This means more time next to the waters, of course.
• Compile an App - I want to compile an App. This will be my first venture of this kind. I want this done by March.
• Be more focused - I discovered my need to be more focused in life. I don't take too many things seriously as I do like the fun side of life, but I really need to spend much more time and energy on the things that really matter. This will hopefully overflow into all areas of my life.
• Business - I need my business to take off.

So there you go. A bit of fun and also some serious goals in life. Don't make New Year's resolutions more or less than what they are. Sometimes we need to set more goals than we normally do, especially if we do not take life seriously enough. Other times we need to set fewer goals as we tend to become too busy to really live life.

But sometimes we just need to add enough of a mix into our goal setting process to allow us enough time to reach the important ones, but also allow ourselves enough time to relax, enjoy the life we have been given and get ticking away on those bucket lists.

Happy New Year! May 2014 be filled with joy and happiness, close moments with loved ones and enough time and space to do those things we watch other people do on Facebook. God bless.