In the Shadow of the Baobab

Skyscraper’s Delight

2012-01-25T00:58:00.007-05:00

Skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I’m tired. It pressed down on me like a wet cloak after walking in a rainstorm. Nearly too tired to be tired. Tired because I am not getting enough long stretches of sleep. Tired of dry eyes and a bad cough due to breathing stale air-conditioned air in decompressed cabins at 32,000 feet. Tired of too hot hotel rooms in Japan and icy cold (but nevertheless thankful) hotel rooms in Malaysia. But I am not too tired to be excited about the upcoming free evening and tomorrow’s exploration of Kuala Lumpur.

The Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque (The Blue Mosque) in Shah Alam, Malaysia

My taxi winds its way eastward along Persekutuan Higway from Shah Alam to Kuala Lumpur’s city center, through a jungle of highway-side billboards, high rise suburbia apartments, and industrial parks, intersperse with small tropical palm tree forests (Kuala Lumpur must be the only world city that still have stretches of “real jungle” within its city limits) here and there.

As my taxi descends more to the floor of Malaysia’s Klang valley and Kuala Lumpur’s skyscrapers are etched against a backdrop of the Titiwangsa Mountains I contemplate my itinerary for tonight and tomorrow. The taxi or teksi as it’s called in Malaysia turned onto the SMART highway and into the 6 mile long SMART tunnel (Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel) to emerge onto Jalan Tun Rezak and then left onto Jalan Ampang that runs in front of the Petronas Towers to my hotel just across from the towers. (Jalan is Malay for road.)

In Shah Alam at the Restoran Crocodile Farm Seafood Village. No, there are no crocodiles there. Only a seafood restaurant under palm trees with an excellent lake view.

It was late afternoon when I arrived at the Maya Hotel and after dropping my luggage in the room, savoring an apple and a small bottle of orange juice from the room’s fruit bar I head to the Petronas Towers to see if I can go up to the sky bridge to catch the late afternoon view of Kuala Lumpur from 40 odd stories up. But disappointment was my lot because it was closed until January 2012 for renovations. So instead I went underground to the huge Suria shopping mall underneath the towers complex to see if I can buy any souvenirs, but it was a dream world of Louis Vuitton, Prada, Dior, Gucci and Tiffany's that compete with each other to see who can have the highest prices..

The Petronas Towers: In daytime and at night.

Suddenly Kuala Lumpur's skyscraper architecture looked far more interesting than a shopping mall to me. I’m not a big fan of shopping mall exploration in any case, but I nevertheless did for fun and travel experience-sake. I eventually emerged from my underground sojourn onto Jalan P Ramlee to take a casual walk, to snap some photographs and to just take in the city’s architecture, sounds, aromas and character. I walked along Jalan Sultan Ismail in the shadow of the KL Communications Tower and beneath the monorail tracks. Kuala Lumpur is a skyscraper surprise and jewel alike. Its excellent location in Asia makes it a haven for international banking. And banks worldwide love to build upwards, to build status symbols.

When dark clouds gathered and another tropical storm threatened, it’s monsoon season in Malaysia, I ducked into the Hard Rock Café for a beer and to escape the oppressive 95 degrees heat and humidity. My feet felt like cedar logs and my throat like the Karoo on a hot dusty day. It was happy hour, buy one and get one free. So I stay for two, talking up some British expats regulars that were hanging out and eating bar side dinners and listen to some good rock and roll that was blaring from the video screens. I eventually dragged myself, reluctantly, out from the coolness of the Hard Rock into the mugginess of the early evening, but was soon drenched as I walked in a deluge of rain on my way to the hotel.

Monsoon storms don’t last long. At the hotel I dried out some and cooled off while watching the BBC World News. More riots in Egypt. Nothing new! Night has fallen so off I went into the city again looking for a place to eat. The hotel has two restaurants, a Japanese one, but I had that all last week in Japan, the other a traditional Malayan, but no spicy food for me so close to a long flight home. I got to stick to my travel rules, have learned my lesson many times on trips to Mexico.

Kuala Lumpur at night.

I ended up at the Rum Jungle under a canopy of tall trees and flashy lights where the music was nostalgic (Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot, America's Ventura Highway, Lying in the arms of Mary from a seventies band whose name I can't remember anymore and China Groove from the Doobie Brothers among other), the food Western and average, and the service lazy and they didn't served any dessert. I didn't mind. I was heading back to the hotel. The initial spurge of energy from arriving in Kuala Lumpur and the visual entertainment of its magnificent skyscraper architecture was wearing off and my earlier tiredness has returned. I was looking forward to a long, hopefully undisturbed sleep.

Left: A Chinese "Steamboat" dinner at the Restoran Crocodile Farm Seafood Village. A most interesting and delicious meal in a bowl. Starting with a lightly flavored broth, add vegetables, then seafood, eat and lastly add noodles, and eat again. Lekker kuier kos.

Right: Dessert at the Maya Hotel's Sky Lounge

But not before I stopped at the Maya’s open-aired, but under-roof Sky Lounge for deep fried bananas and vanilla ice cream with a caramel sauce and a cafe royale to send me to bed while another rain storm moved in over Kuala Lumpur covering the famous towers in misty clouds. At least the rain also brought a cool breeze as I savored my dessert and appreciated the view and enjoyed the thunder and lightning show that surrounded the open-aired lounge.

Tomorrow was going to be long day of sightseeing, airport loitering and flying back to Tokyo.

A misty Kuala Lumpur sunrise with the Titiwangsa Mountains in the background.

Photo courtesy of Jamieo53 at Flickr.

List, List, List...Everywhere

2011-12-22T14:10:00.002-05:00

It’s that time of the year again and everywhere everyone is making lists…Best of this…2011 in pictures…List of Christmas goodies you need…list of New Year resolutions, Person of the year, etc. So here’s my musical list.

Song Of The Year

Every few years a song appears on the music scene that has it all. The voice, the rhythm, the beat, the soul, the message, the words, and the production. It forces you to listen, appreciate it and inevitably, it gets tattooed into your mind. You can go back through the years and you’ll find it in Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds”, The Rolling Stones’s “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”, Simon and Garfunkell’s “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” U2’s “With or Without You”, Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone”, Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”, The Kinks’s “Lola”, Bruce Springsteen’s “Born To Run”, The Police’s “Roxanne”, just to name a few.

This year that song is Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep”. My nomination for Song of the Year.

Album Of The Year

My Album of the Year award must go to Die Heuwels Fantasties. Their second album, “Wilder as die Wildtuin”, has not only broke records and ceilings in Afrikaans music, the album is simply jaw-droppppppingly good and has raised the bar so high, very few, if any, of the current crop of Afrikaans musicians will be able to reach that high standard in quality music. And they also make excellent music videos.

Gaan kyk gerus ook na hul video van “Buitenste Ruim” op Youtube. Top kwaliteit video. Absoluut fantasties!

Zombie Boeremusiek

Om mee af te sluit. Alhoewel dit ‘n ouer produksie is, het dit impak. Sienende dat zombies en weerwolwe so prominent is deesdae in movies en boekvorm, gooi ek hierdie een in vir nostalgiese waarde, vir die wat die tyd van die jaar daar ver suid so lekker braai in die sonskyn. Die Radio Kalahari Orkes se musiek is natuurlik ook nie te versmaai nie; Basies, rou, op die man af, en tong-in-die-kies. Hiermee dan Suid-Afrika se eerste Zombie Boeremusiek film.

Die Radio Kalahari Orkes ft. Jack Parow.

In the End

“To all the girls I’ve loved before”, to that special one called M and to all the other people I still love and care for, have a Merry Christmas season and Happy New Year…Geseënde Kersfees en mag 2012 die beste jaar wees wat jy ooit gaan beleef.

And please…Don’t believe any of that 2012, end of the world B…S… from the Mayan calendar stuff. In the past the world has ended so often we are all just make believe now.

What's In A Name?

2011-12-22T00:14:00.012-05:00

Eventually we have settled in on the farm or as settled as one can be after two weeks. There are still boxes to be unpacked and many other tasks outstanding before the house is truly a home again.

I remember many years ago when we use to go to Jongensfontein near Stilbaai in South Africa for vacations at the beach and how we used to walk the streets of that tiny coastal village. (It used to be tiny then, but I am sure it is much more crowded now.) We found a lot of fun in reading the names of the houses. Some were funny while others were the obvious: Sea-esta, 2 fat ducks (whatever that implies), Eventually, “platsak” (out of money) and then there were the mundane: Huisie by die see (House at the sea), See-view, Ons huisie (our house), The Retreat, etc.

Similarly, a farm must have a name. All farms have an address, which make it identifiable for mail and other legal matters, but a farm isn’t a farm without a name. This naming tradition is worldwide and we also thought long and hard to come up with something for our little patch of land. Some of the neighboring farms around us are named One Duck Farm (what’s up with all the ducks?), The Frolicking Goat (with not a goat in sight, but a lot of geese and ducks (ducks again), or simply The Farm (so impersonal and anonymous.) Usually you consider the surrounding environment (hilly, forest, woods, etc.) or a special feature of the location or the farm (a pond, a tree, a road, mountain, etc.) or you give it a name that has special meaning or might be funny to the owners. No limits apply.

We played around with Pondview and Forest Glen (too many of them already and there is a Pond Side Farm just around the proverbial corner), and Woodhill and Woodcroft (our house is on a hill with woods around it), and a few others. An Afrikaans name (I thought of Platfontein, the name of my grandfather’s old farm in the Calvinia district of South Africa, but this is such a totally different landscape it would have spoilt my childhood memories of the Great Karoo) or an African name just did not sound right and we felt it would not fit in. The Americans would probably have had a problem pronouncing it in any case. This is not about remembering South Africa or our past; this is about our next phase in America and our future.

So where does the name Lily Rose Ranch come from?

Picture: From the Internet and not what I actually saw and described in this post.

To begin with, the land is a piece from Mother Earth, and it will eventually bring forth the food for the animals to eat and produce vegetables and fruits for us to eat and only women can “bring forth” and “produce” something from within. Not so? Therefore, it had to be a female name or a name that can be associated with a woman and Lily and Rose are both ladies names.

Next, on the very first visit to the farm there were the most beautiful bright noon-time-sunny-yellow daylilies blooming around the base of several of the White Ash trees in the back yard. A bright yellow I have never seen in daylilies before. Daylilies and in particular Asian lilies are my favorite flower.

Picture: From the Internet and not what I actually saw and described in this post.

In the same vein, near all the woody and overgrown areas on the farm there are wild rose, in our region also called pasture roses and out West they are called woods roses. Off course they are probably not really “wild” roses, just tough roses that can survive without human attention. Real truly wild roses are rare. But I am digressing. There are lots of these clusters of roses next to the dirt roads on the farm and in the woods. They are everywhere. Sometimes I think they are more a pest than anything else if I consider how many scrapes and how much pain they have caused me so far while I tried to clear some overgrown pasture land. Also, roses are M’s favorite flower. As a matter of fact, in every yard that we have ever owned I created a rose garden for M.)

Another important point was that the name had to be unique for business purposes, so no dot com had to exist already and so far I have not found any company or product with the name Lily Rose Ranch. (I have already claimed the dot com.)

Last but not least, Lily Rose Ranch rolls easily off the tongue and based on my explanation above there is a little story behind the name. And it’s always nice to tell stories. Once I have the farm entrance completed, hopefully sometime next year, there will also be an easy association between the farm and its name.

Now I am sure some folks in Texas and out West will scoff at me calling a 38-acre farm a ranch because the word ranch is usually associated with a large tract of land and the practice of raising grazing livestock for meat or wool while the word farm is usually used for smaller land areas that produce livestock and/or fruit, vegetables, wine, milk, cheese, horses and many other things that farms produce. But what the hell, those folks out West do not own the English language. Scoff and get over it! The ranch stays and Lily Rose Ranch it will be.

‘n Somberheid van Tevredenheid

2011-09-01T00:19:00.001-04:00

Die Saterdag toe die verkoper se agent terug gekom het na ons toe om te sê ons aanbod op ‘n 38 akker / 15 hektaar plasie net buite Danville, KY, is aanvaar, was daar snaaks genoeg geen hallelujah, redneck hee-haa of jubelende oomblik nie. Geen geronddansery of sjampanje oomblik nie. Ja, ek was natuurlik blyeen oorweldig, maar dit was meer asof daar ‘n salige tevredenheid oor my neergedaal het. Meer ‘n tevredenheid oor die voltooing van ‘n sirkel. ‘n Tevredenheid oor hoe ver ons gekom het sedert ons migrasie na die VSA. ‘n Saligheid oor die voortsetting van ‘n familie tradisie om te boer, om op die land te werk en vry te voel.

Dit was amper ‘n sombere Saterdag. Die aand, terwyl ek ‘n eenvoudige maar tipiese geurige Suid-Afrikaanse hoenderpotjie sonder enige tierlantyntjies of vreemde smake gemaak het, het ek baie gedink aan my oorlede pa. Nie so seer of hy baie trots of bly sou gewees het oor my aankopie nie, ek hoop hy sou as hy nog gelewe het, maar meer om dankie te sê vir wat hy oorgedra en my laat ervaar het. Dit het uiteindelik gelei tot my eie drome om ‘n stukkie landelike aarde van my eie te besit.

Ek het my die aand darem self bederf en een van my hoog aangeskewe witwyne (Wine Spectator gee dit 92 punte) wat ek spesiaal gehou het vir ‘n geleentheid soos dit, ‘n Far Niente Chardonnay 2009, oop gemaak en al by myself ge-savor. Maar selfs die komplekse aromas van soet ryp pere en spanspek, die subtiele helderheid en varsheid van die goue voggies in die glas of die lang nasmaak van vye, vanielje en eikehout kon nie my somberheid lig nie. Nie dat ek dit wou gelig gehad het nie, soos ek gesê het, dit was ‘n somberheid van tevredenheid.

Dit sou lekker gewees het as ek kon dankie gesê het vir my pa vir die plant van die saadjie om my eie plasie te besit, doerie tyd, gedurende skool vakansies, toe ek saam met hom deur die Swartland getrek het, in ‘n woonwa gebly het in die veld, terwyl hy van plaas na plaas gegaan het en om vir water te boor. Nie net is die liefde vir die oop veld en boerdery gesaai nie, maar ek het ook geleer, op die tender ouderdom van agt of nege, hoe om aandete in een pot te maak, (kosmaak: iets wat ek nog steeds lief voor is) laag op laag, die vleis op die uie, dan die groente, gegeur met wilde kruie, en laastens die rys. Of net om dankie te kon gesê het vir pikdonkeraande in die veld, soms verlig met die maan, maar meestal slegs deur die sterre, ver van stadsliggloede, maar slegs die gloed van die wapperende tonge van die kampvuur. Daar het ek geleer dat die lewe se egte plesier lê in die eenvoud van selfgeluk in die huidige oomblik. Nie in môre nie, nie in volgende week nie, maar tevredenheid met vandag.

M en ek. Cheers! Op die toekoms. Op Lily Rose Ranch en ons nuwe lewe.

Dis nie aldag dat ‘n mens ‘n plaas koop nie. Tewens, die meeste mense wat ek hier in Amerika ken dink seker ons is gek om op ons ouderdom by die “boerevereniging” aan te sluit. Maar dis gaan nie oor ouderdom nie. Dit gaan oor ‘n positiewe denkwyse. Hel, ek is nog nie dood nie! Ek glo ook daar is nog ‘n goeie twee dekades van werk oor in die lyf van my. Verder gaan dit oor ‘n anderse leefwyse. ‘n Leefwyse van, so veel as moontlik, produksie van jou eie kos, weet waar dit vandaan kom en die genot van plaasvars produkte; vleis, groente en vrugte (vrugte is eerlike waar van swak gehalte in die VSA.) In plaas van die gewone rat van net werk toe gaan en terug te kom, rondvroetel in ‘n gevestigde tuin, eet, ‘n glasie wyn te geniet en TV kyk, gaan dit ‘n hemelse verandering wees om weer uit te sien na iets nuut. En alhoewel ek nie die wêreld van beton, teer, stadslawaai en werksgejaagtheid gaan agterlaat nie is die moontlikhede van naweekboerdery en om iets anders te probeer en om anders te lewe legio. Om weer te droom oor die uitleg van ’n nuwe groetetuin, ‘n land te vorm na jou eie wense, die aanskaf en grootmaak van ‘n paar skape, bokke, beeste, hoenders (wat ook al), die oes van groete, die uithaal van eiers, selfs miskien die hand aanslaan om ons eie sponsbotter te karring en te geur met knoffel en kruie of om ons eie bokkaas gepoeier met paprika en ‘n snuf van rooi peper te maak.

Ook vir M is daar ‘n groot uitsien en opgewondenheid na die maak mooi van ‘n nuwe huis, van nuwe style wat inskakel by die plaashuis wat geleë is soos ‘n “cabin in the woods” en van die uitleef van haar eie drome en ‘n nuwe lewenwyse. Sy sien uit na die andersheid van plaaslewe, na die afgooi van die juk van elke-dag-dieselfde-patroon, na om daagliks weer iets nuuts aan te leer of te probeer.

Ons nuwe "cabin in the woods"

Nieteenstaande die opgewondenheid, sien ons nie uit na die Groot Pak en Groot Trek nie. Wie doen ooit? Maar ons albei glo “the good always follows the bad”, die son en die karooblomme verskyn altyd na die reëns.

Vandag, 5:30 namiddag Oostelike Tyd, ‘n maand na die aanbod en teenaanbod toutrekkery het ons uiteindelik besit geneem van die plaas. Die ou Afrikaanse speekwoord van plaas koop is nie perde koop nie is nogal waar. ‘n Maand van harde werk om ons huis gereed te kry vir verkoop en te struwel met die bank (‘n mens moet deesdae, na die 2008 ineenstorting van krediet en die banke, omtrent jou hele finansiele siel bloot lê; om dit in skoon Afrikaans te sê: Banke is deesdae vol kak.)

Eerste aandete op Lily Rose Ranch: Sout en asyn chips en 'n Hempies Du Toit classic. Dis amper 'n sonde om so 'n goeie wyn sommer net so te versnap, maar die geleentheid was reg.

Tyd vir blog skryf sal seker kom en gaan, soms meer gaan as kom, maar dis darem nog nie totsiens aan In the Shadow of the Baobab nie, wat altyd die eerste pioniersfase van ons koms na Amerika sal verteenwoordig, maar dis ook ‘n hartlike hallo en welkom aan die Lily Rose Ranch wat hier tussen die rollende heuwels van die Kentucky graslande gelee is en nou die volgende fase van ons lewens verteenwoordig.

Die uitsig vanaf die agterstoep met 'n perserige sonsondergang voor ons.

Ons eerste besoekers, alhoewel ek dink hulle is gereelde besoekers as ek sien hoe gemaklik hulle is op die plaas ronddwaal.

Midweek Musical Muse: Sade in Columbus

2011-07-13T09:14:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning. The thermometer is predicted to reach the high nineties. Another hot one today! Tickets have been purchased a week before. A four star hotel has been booked and an elegant French bistro has been identified for dinner before the show. An overnight bag has been loaded. Let the four and a half hour drive to Columbus, Ohio begin. Sade is in town for their first tour in more than 10 years. At this rate, the next time they may come around again I may be too old to rock and roll or too deaf that I can’t hear them anymore.

Since I first heard Smooth Operator and Hang on to Your Love and other memorable songs from Sade’s first album, Diamond Life (1984) I have been a serious lover of Sade’s music. Their repertoire of catchy jazzy rhythms, classic R&B riffs, great saxophone and guitar licks, masterful percussions and emotional ballads, all weaved together by that smoky voice of Sade Adu, has made them one of my preferred bands to listen to when I want to sit back and reflect or feel like experimenting in the kitchen.

The opening act was Grammy winner John Legend. I have to admit I have never heard of John Legend before, but I enjoyed his show and his music dovetailed well with that of Sade. During his show I thought the bass drum was too loud and it reminded me too much of those cars driving past you and you hear nothing but doof-doof-doof as it approach and long after it passes you. But in general he sang a good collection of songs and was at his best when it was just him and his piano. But the bass drum issue was absent from the Sade show.

Then, after a long intermission when the stage was totally cleared, the concert hall lights dimmed, the crowd started to cheer, and with the first strands of Soldier of Love filling the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, Sade Adu emerged in her trademark black turtleneck blouse and ponytail through a central stairway onto the pitch black stage, highlighted from beneath by a single stream of white light. The huge crowd responded overwhelmingly in great anticipation of what was to be experienced in the next two hours for their lives.

A red wave of sound and light.

The performance jumped around through the six albums she has produced, from well-known radio hits like (Smooth Operator, Is It A Crime?, and The Sweetest Taboo) to lesser-heard ballads and R&B gems. The set constantly change, from re-arranging of the equipment, to the disappearing of the equipment. Enhanced by videos in the background or drapes falling from the top of the stage, even singing from behind a see-through veil that surrounds the whole stage. The whole show was very professionally thought out and directly by Sophie Muller. Unlike most modern day female artists that try to impress their audience with fancy dance moves, crotch-clutching antics and constant barely-dressed costume changes to hide their poor singing and tinny repertoire, Sade Adu was all VOICE, passion and emotion, backed by a superb band and they only wanted to do as she herself exclaimed at the beginning of the show: “Make up for all the lost years.” The one-in-a-million smoky voice and the Sade Group succeeded brilliantly.

This video of By Your Side that I recorded on M’s little red Panasonic DMZ-ZS7 digital camera (it thinks it is a video camera more than a digital camera), is not an attempt to piracy, and if it appears that way then I apologize to the Sade Group. It is more an attempt to entice people to go and see a breathtaking show.

This was one of the best shows I have seen in all my years of going to live performances. It ranks up there with the Rolling Stones and U2. Not better, but up there. And I am not saying that lightly. Visually engaging, the sound was excellent, the lighting superb and all together a great atmosphere and great performance.

After the show M and I walked back to our hotel just across the Olentangy River from the concert center and appreciated the night views of a full moon and the lights from Ohio State university buildings reflecting on the river.

The highlight of the evening was Jezebel with Stuart Matthewman on the saxophone. Although this video was done in 2002, Sunday night’s performance was nearly identical in a very black and white setting, Sade Adu sitting on the edge of the stage and the sound was just as good, although I think Matthewman was slightly more edgy, more forceful during the solo part.

The White Afrikaner: To Be Or Not To Be Ashamed.

2011-07-12T10:27:00.003-04:00

White South Africans should refrain from commenting on political events and should in general feel ashamed for their past wrong doings and their permanent state of privilege because of their whiteliness.

During a recent business trip to Mexico in early June and with time on my hands to surf the Internet I came upon a philosophical website that wrote about a paper from a lecturer at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, that is causing quite a storm in the South African teacup. I started writing a personal response for this blog but never got to finish it. Dr Samantha Vice, in her paper called “How Do I Live in This Strange Place?” say many things that are rubbing many people up the wrong way. And when a fellow Afrikaner blogger, Boer in Ballingskap, recently also commented on this paper in his post "Oor skuldgevoelens en skaamte", from a slightly different angle than what I saw it, I felt this is just a too juicy a subject to ignore and dug up my initial blog notes on this issue.

Basically, I feel there are several holes in Dr. Vice’s logic. As a philosopher she feels that she has the responsibility to strive for a higher moral for all white South Africans, but that white South Africans can never really achieve that moral state if they don’t denounce their privileged state of being born white.

Here are my issues:

“That whiteness is a problem all over the world does not however fully explain the problem that whiteness is here, nor does it fully capture the nuances of our moral experience. The problem in white South Africa is not just with being white, but being white South African.”

There are many white nationalities that never were colonial powers and will strongly object against this generalization that whiteness is a problem to them too. I am thinking here in particular of Scandinavian countries. Furthermore, this statement also implies race superiority and that is not necessarily only a white race issue. There are Asian peoples and African peoples that think they are superior to their fellow Asian and African peoples.

“I talk from a personal, but what I hope is still a fairly representative position. While I am not an Afrikaner and so have escaped the taint that identity brings with it, I am a white South African, undeniably a product of the Apartheid system and undeniably still beneﬁting from it.”

I assume, maybe incorrectly, that she is from that other privilege group called Anglo South African, people that have always seen themselves as English, from that island up north, associated their whole being as English and just happen to live in South Africa, but with the backdoor always open toward England. I may be wrong, but those kind of people don’t usually have a truly patriotic view and deep passion for South Africa and has in the past looked at white, Afrikaner South Africans with derogatory eyes, which is probably why she stated:

“One need not be especially patriotic to recognize this—in the sense of feeling pride in one’s nationality, having a personal stake in one’s country’s prestige, identifying oneself deeply with its culture or history and feeling personally harmed when it is beaten or belittled. I, for instance, am not patriotic in any of these ways.”

I am not defensive toward Dr. Vice’s writing; she certainly is making some points that are worth contemplating. After all, apartheid can only be condemned in the strongest terms. Nor am I an arrogant white South African, Afrikaner if you like, and simply reject her point of view. But she tends to ignore history and what usually happened through the millennia when one ruling group replaces another ruling group, namely, the acceptance of the rulers, but with a grudge. This grudge is sometimes forgotten over time by the generations that lived through it and the disassociation from it by generations that come after it. In this sense, three or four or five generations from now, whiteness might not be a problem in South Africans. However, it is quite perceivable that a form of blackness entitlement, very similar to her definition of whiteness might become the norm in South Africa. Therefore, replacing one unmoral state of mind with another. Furthermore, South Africa never had and still now does not have a unified culture. The Rainbow Nation is exactly that; different bands of colors that might never unite to a single color. If it does it can’t be called a rainbow anymore.

She states the problem as:

“What is it to acknowledge one’s whiteness? Is it to acknowledge that one is inherently tied to structures of domination and oppression, that one is irrevocably on the wrong side?” I think the answer to Alcoff’s question in South Africa is fairly obviously “yes.” Whites in South Africa ought to see themselves as a problem.

Should Tibetans also see themselves as the problem because the Chinese are their rulers? After all, whites willingly gave up their political power in South Africa. Furthermore, the blacks have not openly chased them away either. All three South African presidents have stated categorically that South Africa needs white South Africans to keep the country moving forward.

To say whites should see themselves as the problem and look inward and refrain from complaining or criticizing the political situation or to retreat into themselves and be shameful for what happened in the past is nothing short of mental suicide, and denying oneself to exercise ones constitutional right to freedom of speech and to become a zombisized hearing, seeing mute who walks around with downcast eyes whenever a black person is around.

As I see it, white South Africans have three options.

One, you accept Dr. Vice’s advice to a certain degree, pull back behind your physical and mental laer, become a apolitical zombie and complain if you have to in private to who ever wants to listen.
Two, you speak your mind in public about rights and wrongs when you feel the need and in that way contribute to the constructive debate to try and achieve a higher moral standard for all.
Or, three, you carefully contemplate the realities of the above two options and, if you can become a regrettable zombie or feel your single, blowing-in-the-wind voice can contribute and make a difference you stay, but if you feel this is not possible for you “jy pak jou goed en trek Ferreira.”

Therefore, a decision to be or not to be ashamed, at best, must be made on a personal level, based on personal preferences and ideals, and personal personality traits, and not on national or race or cultural level.

I am just a simple man, trying to do onto to others as I want others to do onto me and trying to find general "moral" happiness in my own (white) skin, rather than pursuing a higher moral state of mind that I feel I will never achieve in any case. It is not because I feel ashamed of my past or what my forefathers did that I will never achieve this high moral state, but it is a rather a case of knowing what I am, who I am and what I want to be and I just do not wish to ever achieve such a state. I don’t think I am much different in thinking than many other people in general or many other white South Africans. Yes there were many white on black wrongdoings under Apartheid, but there are also many wrongdoings, black on black wrongdoings, now under the ANC. Should they also not feel ashamed for their current black entitlement attitude?

You can read Dr. Vice's "How Do I Live in This Strange Place?" here.

Independence Day 2011

2011-07-05T09:09:00.000-04:00

The 4th of July is always a starry starry, bang bang night in America.

"Blond Bombshell"

"Double the Delight"

"Cascading"

"Big Bang Theory"

"Exploding Flower"

"Red, White and Blue"

Stuck in Detroit…Again.

2011-06-30T13:09:00.000-04:00

Detroit! I have never been here during daytime. Always only at night time. Always only going from the airport to an airport hotel in a hotel shuttle bus. Always because I needed to sleep over due to missing my connection flight. I am stuck again. Must be the 3rd or 4th time the past few years.

But Detroit is not the problem and nor is Cleveland, my other popular sleep over destiny. At least I have been to Cleveland in daytime, drove its highways, saw its Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and been to its beaches on Lake Erie (not that I would recommend its beaches as a romantic holiday destination.) The problem is Newark. Newark Liberty Airport to be exact. Newark is the reason why I always see Detroit only at night. I never like to fly from Newark.

Flight delays. That is what Newark is good at. If it's not the weather that's causing the delays, it is the air traffic control that cannot get planes in the air on their scheduled departure time.

"Red, Yellow and Blue"

The "space age" Tunnel of Lights at Detroit airport that link Terminal A to Terminals B and C. The lights constantly change colors.

Oh, and Newark Liberty airport is also famous at continuous building and never seem to finish what they are building. I have been coming to Newark for 12 years and back then they were building or making changes to the highways around the airport and changes to the terminals. They are still at it. The highways are now complete, at lease I think so, but everywhere you see signs that says 'Sorry for the inconvenience, but we're building you a better terminal.” I would like to ask: “Is there anything you can do about air traffic control?”

But I was not totally unprepared for this unwelcome stay over. I packed extra clothes for just in case something like this happened. I don't usually pack extra clothes for other flights, but if you are going to fly Newark to Lexington via Detroit or Cleveland it is always a good idea for just in case. And to add to another tick to Newark's bad reputation and something I WAS unprepared for was the security people taking my toothpaste. The tube was too big they told me. It wasn’t too big on Sunday night when I went through security at Lexington on my way to New York. And it wasn’t too big two weeks ago in Houston when I came back into the country from Mexico. Why suddenly now? Toothpaste tubes must be the TSA’s flavor of the week item because this morning when I went back to the airport for my flight to Lexington they took the toothpaste from the lady in front of me as we went through security. I am sure I had the same look on my face the night before she had on hers, one of total disbelief, when they said to her that her toothpaste tube was too big and that they had to remove it from her luggage.

All in all it must have been a bad day for Delta Airlines because busloads of passengers were shuttled to airport hotels due to delayed flight at Detroit. All at Delta’s expense. Just glad I am back at home again. Oh, did I mention I don’t like flying from Newark?

"Blue Moon"

Heading image courtesy: http://www.detroitunderground.com/detroit/

Midweek Musical Muse XIV - Die Langpad, Christoph Kotze

2011-05-27T01:12:00.007-04:00

Een stomende desemberaand in wellington
in breyen se huis
saam met jan en christoph

breyten se brief - jan blohm

en as ek vlug in die wind

word ek die donker se kind

en belydenis die bind my

met jou tangerine-roos tintelend.

word wakker, word wakker

met die news paper grappe

vat my ver weg van jou

en jazz cafe se omo

so wals my my lief

laat my in angels believe

ek het gesê jy is die son in breyten se brief

want hy maak ons huil maar jy maak my sien.

sunnyside se poems dryf my sweet sherry toe

het jy ‘n clue my baby blue

my rosie so true.

en as dors aan die tyd, sing die kaapse wind suid

kom lê in my arms, ek het als weggesmyt

maar wals my my lief

laat my in angels believe

ek het gesê jy is die son in breyten se brief

want hy maak ons huil maar jy maak my sien.

en ek skryf jou gedig

jakaranda in die reën

en die volmaan eers blinkend

sy’s happy jy’s nou clean.

laat my klim om die glimlag, helend wag

hierdie visions van jou

my venus se blouvrou

maar wals my my lief

laat my in angels believe

ek het gesê jy is die son in breyten se brief

want hy maak ons huil maar jy maak my sien.

so vlug vlug my kind

in die blou lug my kind

so vlug vlug my kind

in die blou lug my kind

Treasure Hunting

2011-05-20T15:24:00.001-04:00

The Bovlei Valley Retreat against a backdrop of the Haweque Mountains.

It's raining again/Oh no, my love's at an end.

Oh no, it's raining again/and you know it's hard to pretend.

Oh no, it's raining again/Too bad I'm losing a friend.

Oh no, it's raining again/Oh will my heart ever mend.

“It’s Raining Again” – Supertramp

I am not sure what rain has to do with lost love, except that grey overcast skies tend to make life seems more miserable similar to losing love. But oh yeah, it’s raining again and I am starting to think it might be a good idea to snap a picture of the sun when it eventually present itself again, blow it up to billboard size, put a spotlight on it, paste it to my patio door to remind me that the sun still exists and just to generally brighten up the weather-related “house-arrest” we are currently enduring. One could convince oneself that somehow the notorious bad English weather crossed the Atlantic pond and established itself over Kentucky.

But I have nothing to complain about. What with the Mississippi overflowing its banks, and thousands been driven from their homes and farms for weeks while they wait for flood waters to retreat. Thankfully I am on a hill, away from low lying, flood prone areas.

Looking back toward Wellington and the Limietvallei from Bain's Kloof Pass during our visit to the region in December 2010.

The Location

If you drive east along the R301 in the Western Cape, away from the town of Wellington, toward the Bain’s Kloof Pass, one is confronted by the majestic Hawequa Mountains, which rises from the Limietvallei (Limit Valley, so called because it was the limit of European settlement in the early days of the Cape of Good Hope, the outer post) like a massive barrier between civilization and the dark African continent.

Wellington, originally named Wagenmakersvallei by the Dutch or Val du Charron by the French Huguenot settlers, meaning the place where they make and repair wagons, and then renamed by the English to Wellington, after Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington and the man who defeated Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo, lies on the banks of the Kromme River and at the foot of the Groenberg (Green Mountain). The area is not known as a premier wine region in South Africa. It is more famous for its fruit farming, dried fruit industry and for being the nursery of vine rootstock. Between 80% to 90% of South Africa’s vine rootstock comes from Wellington farms.

The Hunt

A few weeks ago M and I had to go into Lexington and she wanted to stop at a specific store. I notice there was a liquor store nearby that I have never visited. After I dropped her off for her shopping I went to look if I can find any “treasures”. Now don’t think I stop at every liquor store I see, but just like some people, when they have time on their hands, go rummaging through antique stores for “treasures” or others go to nurseries to look for unique or specimen plants, I, and there are many people like me, go to a liquor store to meander through aisles and shelves and possibly find an extraordinary or interesting gem of a wine. It may be a wine that looks interesting based on the description on the label or I may have read about the terroir, but never tried a wine from there before. A Wine explorer! I don’t have a specialty, but I am always on the lookout for South African wines, especially new wines or new estates from the ever enlarging South African wine industry, and especially here in Kentucky where South African wines are not found in abundance.

I browsed through the shop’s Cabernets, Merlots and Zinfandels, their imports from France, Italy, Chili, Australia and many more and was quite surprised at the variety for such a small store. I found a Marques de Cáceres Crianza from Spain, which I wrote about in my previous post. But apart from some Graham Beck wines, nothing much from South Africa. But I didn’t see any Shiraz wines anywhere and when I asked a store worker he pointed toward the back wall, not hidden away, just away from the other wines. Why I don’t know. Maybe it was the only space they had for them.

It wasn’t a large selection, but again, I was pleasantly surprised at the variety and there I got my kick for the evening, there I found my “treasures”. I found a Fairview Goat-Roti 2007 (a Shiraz and Viognier blend), but you find Fairview’s Goats do Roam wines in all the bigger stores here. But I also found something I have never heard of or read about before, an Eventide Shiraz 2005 from the Mischa Wine Estate in Wellington. I know a little about the other more well-known Wellington estates like Diemersfontein, Doolhof, and Welbedacht, but I have never heard of the Mischa Estate before. And that, the unknown, the newly discovered, is one of the criteria for my definition of “treasure.” Of course, the unknown could and has in the past sometimes backfired, but in this case, what a pleasurable find it was.

The Treasure

This deep rich garnet colored Shiraz is all about fruitiness and was a gold winner at the International Michelangelo Wine Awards. From the first whiff to the last lingering velvety aftertaste the overall impression is one of well balanced fruit with a subtle, but valuable contribution from aging in oak barrels. The wine is complex on the palate. Juicy, leaning toward jammy, with lots of berry fruit, balanced tannins and mild spiciness from Shiraz’s usual peppery to very complementary cinnamon notes. I am not a greater lover of the spice and will rarely eat something with an overly cinnamon taste, but the hint of cinnamon gives the Eventide Shiraz a truly unique taste that makes it stand on its own rather than being just another mildly-spiced Shiraz. Which make me wonder? This is major fruit terroir. Is there a link in the soil between the valley’s many fruit trees and the fruitiness in the wines from Wellington? Probably not, it is just good soil.

South Africa produces many good wines. It does not have the consistence in quality and the history of the French, nor the market and funding of the Americans, but its wine producers have the spirit and passion to compete with the big boys. Kudus to Andrew Barns and his team at Mischa Wine Estate for injecting that passion into this very pleasurable, drinkable “treasure”.

The World In A Wineglass

2011-05-06T16:30:00.001-04:00

The blackish-gray sky is filled to the brim with fat and swollen clouds. The clattering of the rain on the windowsill and the roar of thunder might have quiet down the birds, but it nevertheless still sounds like a rainy jungle out there. Although it is beautifully green everywhere, after months of the monotonous white and grayish fare that the winter dished up, trees have blossomed and here and there the irises, columbines, clematises and dianthuses are displaying their bounty of early spring beauty. Nevertheless, in the wake of near-constant rainy days nature has taken on a solemn demure on a day like today. Everything is damp and wet and weighted down with heavy raindrops. It’s spring, the rainy season, but there is no spring in nature’s step, only heavy footfalls of storms and tornadoes and more storms and more rain.

Looking out the window I feel like humming Eddie Rabbitt’s I Love A Rainy Day, but instead Tab Benoit is bluesing in my ears about being on the Night Train from his excellent 2005 album Fever For The Bayou, true gumbo blues, swamp music.

I recently attended a wine tasting at one of the wine shops in town. V-The Market, a wine, beer and gourmet food market holds a tasting every Friday evening. Every week they offer something different, although they quite often focus on bourbons, which I can understand in their effort to promote local produce, seeing that 90% of the world’s bourbon is made in Kentucky.

I went to taste 5 reds. Cover cost $5. Cheese and snacks are free. Not bad.

Swirling through Europe

The night started off with an Italian red, Barco Reale di Carmignano 2008 from the Fattoria Ambra winery. Carmigano is a small DOCG region just west of Florence with a bit of history to it. Carmignano was one of the four wine zones cited in the 1716 decree of Grand Duke Cosimo III de’ Medici, and as such is one of the oldest wines of denominated origin in the world. In this tiny appellation, just 300 hectares, is Barco Reale, meaning “royal park” because the de’ Medici family use to hunt there.

The 2008 Barco Reale di Carmignano, made from Sangiovese (75%), Canaiolo (10%), Cabernet Sauvignon (10%) and Merlot (5%) was classic Chianti in appearance: bright, ruby red. Although fruity on the nose, the flavor was medium-bodied, slightly tannic and dry. Too dry for my taste. The Barco Reale, made from younger vines, first pressed harvest and designed to drink early, must be seen as the little brother of the Super Tuscans or Chianti's that come from the same DOCG.

From Tuscany we crossed the Alps to Austria to taste a Heinrich Red 2008. Truly a surprise to me because I didn’t know Austria can make such decent red wines. The Heinrich, made by Gernot and Heike Heinrich Winery is a blend of three quite obscure grapes – Zweigelt (60%), Blaufrankisch (35%) and St, Laurent (5%) in the Neusiedlersee Hugelland region in eastern Austria. This medium-bodied red was purplish in color, with lots of cherry fruits on the nose, and juicy, very fruity and a distinct peppery taste on the palate. Tannins were rounded and overall a very enjoyable surprise.

For the 3rd wine to be tasted we went south in location and far south in taste. It was a total let down. Maybe it is my mistake of always expecting something great from the Rhône Valley. The 2007 Chateau Sainte-Elisabeth originates from an appellation called Costiéres de Nimes, which is on the western side of the Rhône River and east of the ancient Roman city of Nimes. The wine lacked everyhing that makes Côtes du Rhône wines great. It was terrible on the nose and in taste. Made mostly from Grenache it was flat, tarish, and very minerally. I am sure this was a simple village wine, meant to sell locally, but unfortunately exported.

Then we went further southwest, cross the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain to Spain’s premier wine region, La Rioja, to taste the Marques de Cáceres Crianza 2006. Made from Tempranillo, Mazuelo and Graciano grapes, the wine was a typical Rioja in smoothness and taste, but lighter, without the usual heavy tannins. However it was still dry, but with a velvety finish. Generally I like Tempranillo for of its spicy, herby aromas and clear berry fruit flavors and this one didn’t disappoint. Good value for $16 a bottle.

Changing hemispheres

For the last tasting we crossed the Atlantic to the foothills of Argentina’s Andes Mountains, to the high-elevation vineyards of the Uco Valley in the Mendoza region, the world’s capital for Malbec production, for the best wine of the evening. The Finca El Reposo Malbec 2008 is a single-vineyard 100% Malbec, full of raspberry, black current, peppers and mocha. The Finca El Reposo ("sleeping vineyard") had a fresh taste, which could be contributed to the light use of oak aging, but a smooth finish. Fermentation is done in stainless steel tanks to preserve freshness and brightness in flavors. At $12 a bottle, it was most certainly the best-value-for-money wine of the evening. No wonder I bought a bottle or two.

Who says a short drive around the block can not be transformed into an evening of world travel through a glass of wine.

Heading picture: The Uco Valley in Argentina. Credit to Tom Bryce-Gardyne at http://www.therealargentina.com/

Midweek Musical Muse XIII - The Rolling Thunder Revue

2011-04-14T01:40:00.000-04:00

In the mid 1970s Bob Dylan’s career was back to shining as brightly as stadium floodlights after some years of candlelight flickering in the musical alleys of the time. During the second peak of his career he gave us an extravagant, theatrical musical experience: The Rolling Thunder Revue.

In January 1975 he had just released one of the best albums of his career, Blood on the Tracks, an intimate, confessional affair, many critics believed was about his broken marriage to Sara Dylan, although Dylan himself, in his 2004 memoir, Chronicles, Vol 1, said it had nothing to do with his personal life. But being the storyteller he is could we ever take Dylan at his word? He was about to release another classic album and one of my personal Dylan favorites, Desire, in January 1976, a mix bag of various musical styles, rich folk tales, weird detours and strange characters, as only Dylan can put together. Squeezed in between these two albums he came up with one of the strangest plans for a Rock and Roll tour, an extravaganza of performances, reminiscent of days when the Ringling Bros. Circus would travel from town to town and proudly proclaim “The circus’s in town”, with many artists, a unique set, and some of the wildest and weirdest recreations and interpretations of his songs. The Rolling Thunder Revue has come to town!

He had the strangest bunch of people on the tour: A mixture of theatrical actors and backstage troupes to political wannabees and musical cling-ons, from accomplish musicians to poets and playwrights. This was typical Bob Dylan. Different, unexpected, innovative, doing his own thing, nothing perfectly organized or synchronized, off the cuff and loving it. It was a rolling, mobile circus. It seemed everyone was welcome and at times there were more than a 100 folks in the entourage. Some of the shows were between 3 to 5 hours long.

He assembled a new band and called it Guam, God know why, but maybe just because he could. He took the sessions musicians from the Desire album: Scarlet Rivera (violin), Rob Stoner (bass) and Howie Wyeth (drums) and added multi-instrumentalist David Mansfield and David Bowie’s guitarist Mick Ronson. Along came Beat poets Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, and Anne Waldman, as well as playwright Sam Shepard (as Dylan's scriptwriter), record producer Bobby Neuwirth and many more interesting characters. From time to time actor Dennis Hopper and perennial wannabee politician Kinky Friedman joined as did folk legend Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, and Canadian folkies Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell, and last, but not least, the female star of this Revue opposite Dylan, Joan Baez.

He rented Frank Zappa’s tour bus and started the tour on Halloween night 1975 (was there a specific reason behind the date?), in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The tour could well have been the most documented rock tour until that time. Two NBC television specials were taped during the tour, a professional sound team recorded everything and many hours, more than a hundred hours of the tour were caught on tape for the Dylan movie Renaldo and Clara.

The movie, which I had the pleasure(?) of seeing many years ago in Rosebank, Johannesburg, of all places, is one of those movies that, at the end of it, makes you wonder why you just wasted 4 hours of your life sitting through it. There was no real storyline or too many, I don’t know, and if there were any storylines I missed it. Maybe I was too old to understand back then, “I am younger than that now”*

Intersperse between stage footage of Dylan in a white-painted face resembling, what I thought, either an American Indian warrior wielding his guitar like an axe or theatrically imitating a mime in trance by music and smoke, but one that can sing, there were too many rambling-on-forever discussions about politics, rock and roll life, and nothing in particular in seedy bars, backstage hole-in-the-walls and bare-tabled, cheap joints eateries. There were attempts at being funny and others at being serious, nearly always badly acted. It was hard to sit through it. Nevertheless, I liked his flower-decorated hat. The only scene I can remember today was Dylan, or Renaldo, on a cold snowy day, somewhere on or near what I thought was the Canadian border, why I thought that I have no idea anymore, selling or exchanging Joan Baez, or Clara, to a farmer for a horse. Well, that was my interpretation of it. So typically Dylanesque. Reminds me of the article, as recalled by Marianne Faithfull, of an event in the Sixties, probably 1965 when Dylan was in England, when Dylan came up to her one day and told her he wrote a song for her, but he also wanted to have sex with her. She was seventeen, pregnant and about to get married and didn’t wanted to cheat on her would be husband and said no. Well, Dylan tore up the song in front of her, turned around and walked away. For all his mastery at being a lyricist and making his fans feel warm and fulfilled by the stories he told and interesting characters he created, he can be cold and calculating.

From the first leg of the tour: Tangled Up In Blue

The Rolling Thunder Revue was over two legs. The first leg took place during the fall/autumn of 1975 through mostly New England towns and some shows in Canada, ending on December 8 at Madison Square Garden in New York. During the spring of 1976 the Revue continued through the south and southwest of America with the final show on May 23, 1976 in Fort Collins, Colorado, where the show was taped for a NBC television special, broadcast in September that year. However, most critics agreed the Rolling Thunder Revue was a magical musical experience, Dylan at some of his best, but that the second leg was not as good, not as spontaneous, as the first leg. Rolling Stone magazine exclaimed "The Rolling Thunder Revue, so joyful and electrifying in its first performances, had just plain run out of steam,"**

Apart from the movie Renaldo and Clara, the tour sprouted two albums: Hard Rain, mostly recorded during the last show from the second leg of the tour and released in 1976, and The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue, which was only released in 2002, from the first leg of the tour.

Everyone will have their own opinion whether the latter album is better album than the former or vice versa. I rate both albums excellent because they both provide me with a Bob Dylan that is livelier, excited and focused on alternative interpretations of his music. I know some people don’t like that. I had a colleague that labeled At Budokan, another Dylan live album, as Dylan’s worse album ever simply because of the alternative interpretation of the song Ballad of a Thin Man. Some people always want to hear the songs like they heard it the first time. Well, life changes from time to time. Artists have mood swings. Get use to it!

Listen to Isis, from piano infused original to a guitar twanging swinger, or how he nearly reggaed It Ain’t Me, Babe, and to the toned-down, tone-changed Simple Twist of Faith on the Bootleg Series album. And how different is You’re a Big Girl Now on Hard Rain; the original being soft, tender and mellowed while the live version is cold, hard and angry, nearly like the hard rain that fell throughout that day in Fort Collins.

Hell, the man can Rock…he ain’t a rock. He is allowed to be different from day to day, from same song to same song, and many of us, I certainly do, dig it that he gave us different versions of the same musical poetry.

* From the song “My Back Pages” by Bob Dylan
** Janet Maslin (July 12, 1979). "Album Reviews: Bob Dylan: At Budokan". Rolling Stone.

From the second leg of the tour: One Too Many Mornings

Enjoy!

Die Sommelier - GP Terblanche - 'n Boek Resensie

2011-03-31T02:37:00.030-04:00

As enige skrywer ‘n boek die lig wil laat sien wat afspeel in Suid-Afrika se na-apartheid era, veral as die storie polities geinspireer is en veral as die boek ook nog in Afrikaans geskryf is, Afrikaans sal mos altyd nou gekoppel word aan apartheid, dan verwag die Afrikaanse leser sosiale kommentaar.

In sy debuutroman, Die Sommelier, stel GP Terblanche dan ook nie teleur nie, tewens hy gaan verder en soos ‘n beelhouer skep hy uitstekende en kontrasterende Suid Afrikaanse karakters wat amper uit klip gemaak is: In Oosterbeek, die tipiese sekuriteitsbewuste, werkgefokusde, diknek Afrikaner spioen wat nog glo dat blanke mans ‘n bydra kan lewer in ‘n polities gebaseerde intelligensie apparaat, en in Lev Engelbrecht, ‘n wyndrinkende, natuurliefhebbende, maar ontnugterde en marginaliseerde man wat opgegee het om binne die raamwerk van die na-apartheid, swart gedomineerde intelligensie netwerk te probeer in pas.

Die Sommelier is ‘n spioenasieriller wat af speel teen ‘n agtergrond van internasionale radikale-Moslem terrorisme, transformerende restellende aksie en Swart Ekonomiese Bemagtiging (Black Economic Empowerment). Maar dis ook ‘n verhaal van Lev Engelbrecht, ‘n man wat voorraad neem van sy lewe en probeer uitvind wat hy moet doen in die toekoms, en van Johan Oosterbeek wat wil vasklou aan wat hy het en waaraan hy gewoond was. Dan is daar nog die knoeiende Amerikaners, 'n groep tipiese Suid-Afrikaners wat op 'n wilds-oord werk, en nasionale intelligensie werkers met hul eie agendas van korrupsie en afpersing.

Die roman begin stadig, amper te stadig, met terugflitse na ‘n vorige lewe en liefde, maar die tempo neem toe soos verskillende karakters die ingewikkelde aksieteater betree. Die rol van wyn (sensueel beskryf), die beskrywing van Suid-Afrika se natuurskoon, die insig tot onbevoegheid van staatsamptenare, en die kortsigtigheid en selfverrykende aksies van die nuwe Suid-Afrikaanse politici verdiep die storielyn.

En ja, dan is daar die sosiale kommentaar oor die politiese verlede en hede van Suid-Afrika. Dit maak nie afbreek aan of trek nie die aandag van die storie nie. Soos enige Alan Furst roman verbreed die sosiale kommentaar die storie se agtergrond en skep dit atmosfeer rondom die karakters, al kom sommige van die sosiale kommentaar van die pragtige Amerikaanse spioen, Jane Turnbull, wat nie groot insig tot die Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis het nie:

“Hulle sê dis die Afrikaners wat die [Voortrekker] monument gebou het om hulle trekgeskiedenis te gedenk. Sy wonder wat hulle oorreed het om ‘n brutale stelsel soos apartheid jare later te implementeer. Hoekom was hulle so wreed? Wat was hulle motivering? Was of is hulle in werklikheid inherent slegte mense. ‘n Klomp konserwatiewe, primitiewe mense. Bybel in die een hand, voorlaaier in die ander.”

Maar dis nie net sosiale kommentaar wat van buite na binne kyk nie. Lev Engelbrecht ken Suid-Afrikaners, weet hoe dit binne hulle koppe lyk, veral in die nuwe Suid-Afrika:

“Ek stel niks meer belang nie. Ek’s lankal klaar! Hoe kan jy anyway saamleef met die middelmatigheid…Ek hou nie van die fôkken regering nie en nog minder van hoe hulle die land bestuur. Ek het geen lojaliteit nie!”

Daarteenoor is Oosterbeek nog steeds die gelowige in die nuwe stelsel:

"Nou goed! Ek werk vir die fucked-up spul! Ek sien die fôkken middelmatigheid! Dink jy ek is blind! Dink jy ek weet nie wat om my aangaan nie? Dink jy dis lekker vir my om al die kak elke dag op te vreet? …Maar, fôk! Wat as ons nou elkeen tou opgooi en wegloop! As ons nie dinge ten minste prober beter maak nie!”

Dis die eerste keer in seker 15 jaar dat ek ‘n Afrikaanse roman gelees het, en dit was beslis die moeite werd. Daar is genoeg legkaart-storielyne soos dit behoort te wees in ‘n spioenasieriller en baie byspelers om die geheel interessant te hou. Die karakters kom lewensgetrou voor en die gebeure is verteenwoordigend moontlik van die tydperk se koerant opskrifte. Ek het die boek baie geniet. Was ook lekker om weer ‘n slag Afrikaans te lees.

Lees meer oor die boek by die skrywer se blog:
http://boerinballingskap.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/binne-elkeen-van-ons-skuil-daar-n-boek/

of Rapport se review van die boek.

Die Sommelier - GP Terblanche
Uitgewer: Rosslyn-Pers Prys: R140
Die boek is verkrygbaar by Protea Boekwinkel in Stellenbosch en moontlik nou ook landwyd.

Die Sommelier omslag foto krediet: GP Terblanche

Midweek Musical Muse XII - Johnny En Die Maaiers

2011-03-30T13:28:00.001-04:00

Na aanleiding van die eer wat Die Antwoord, die Suid-Afrikaanse white-trash, zef-rap-rave musiekmakers, toegeval het die week toe die bekende kuns ondersteuners en eienaars van verskeie moderne kuns museums, die Guggenheim Foundation, aangekondig het dat Die Antwoord se video, Zef Side, een van die Internet se 25 bestes videos van die afgelope 2 jaar is, plaas ek graag ‘n alternatiewe blik en skyfies van die Afrikaanse musiek geskiedenis vanaf die sestigerjare tot en met die Voëlvry beweging.

Oor hierdie reeks videos sal ek Jamie Oliver aanhaal: “Delish”. Die Antwoord sal natuurlik sê: Geniet net die fôkken musiek doos!

Omdat ek self van agter die Boereworsgordyn kom verkies ek liewers wat Francois ~~Badenhorst~~ van Coke van Fokofpolisiekar en Van Coke Kartel-faam gesê het: “Ek laaik van Afrikaans praat” en Hunter Kennedy, ook van Fokofpolisiekar en Die Heuwels Fantasties-faam beaam het: ”Ons is Afrikaans, there is no way around that.” So praat die monde van die Bellville manne van agter die Boereworsgordyn. En dis van agter hierdie gordyn wat die Afrikaanse musiek se volgende evolusie gekom het rondom die einde van die Twintigste en gedurende die begin van die Een-en-Twintigste eeu.

Vat hom Fluffy!

Die Intro

Deel 1 - Die Sestigerjare

Deel 2 - Is Afrikaans 'n genre?

Deel 3 - Musiekfeeste

Deel 4 - Die Jare Sewentig

Deel 5 - Die Voëlvry beweging verander Afrikaanse musiek vir altyd

Talmtyd

2011-03-22T13:41:00.001-04:00

Na ‘n supermaan-Saterdagaand(*) is ons op die eerste dag van lente geseën met ‘n pragtige sonskyn-Sondag om ‘n bietjie litte los te maak in die tuin, vere reg te skuif vir die beter dae wat voorlê en die beste skemeraand in maande buite op die agterstoep deur te bring.

Aah…Talmtyd!

Terwyl die Chinaman vir my ‘n Venetia skemerdrankie en vir M ‘n glasie Chardonnay getoor met tropiese vrugte op dien, sit ons sommer net so en hard op droom oor alles wat ons graag wil doen in die tuin die somer, wêrldreise voordat ons te oud word, opkomende musiekvertonings in Louisville van Elton John and Steely Dan wat ons graag sal wil gaan kyk, (Steely Dan is ‘n no-brainer, dis ‘n moet-doen) en alles en nog wat.

Aandete was ‘n vinnige, saam gevlansde vleisbraaitjie en slaai. Wie wil nou lang ure in die kombuis deurbring terwyl die weer so lekker saamspeel. ‘n Vuurtjie dans rooiwarm en die rooster word skoon gebrand. Die skemer-son skilder die westelike lugruim geel-oranje-en-rooi soos dit agter die bome verdwyn en gereed maak om nag te sê suid van die horison. ‘n Skaaptjoppie vir elkeen, die laaste van Spekkies se lekker tuisgemaakte bees boerewors, ‘n vinnige oudtydse aartappelslaai, stroopsoet spanspek en ‘n geroosterde knoffelbotter broodjie.

Saam met aandete ‘n glasie Root:1 Cabernet Sauvignon van Chili se Colchague vallei, een van vele goedkoop maar uitstekende wyne van Chili wat deesdae in ons drankwinkels beskikbaar is. Hierdie een is definitief ‘n lekker-drink wyntjie vir min geld, slegs $10-12 per bottel. Een van daardie wyne wat wynliefhebbers by die doos koop. Ideaal vir vleisbraai aande.

Die wyn het een van die mees interessantste en innoverenste etikette wat ek in ‘n lang tyd op ‘n wyn bottel gesien het. Dit vertel die storie van oorsponklike druif wortelstamme wat nog in Chile gevind kan word in teenstelling met verente wortelstamme wat in die res van die wêrld gebruik word weens die Phylloxera plaag wat die wynbedryf lamgelê het in die laat 1800’s en vandag nog steeds verhoed dat Europese wyne, Vitus vinifera, die Cabernets, die Grenaches, die Merlots, die Viogniers, ensovoorts, nie sonder verente wortelstamme geplant kan word nie. (Nota: Selektiewe oorsponklike wortelstamme kan ook nog in Australia gevind word). Daar is sommige wynbemarkingsagente wat ons wil laat glo dat wyn gemaak van oorsponklike worterstamme vrugtiger en beter is as wyn van verente wortelstamme. (But it is nothing more than a matter of taste and palate.)

Aah…Die stadige leef lewensstyl! Maar ongelukkig net soms.

Geen beter manier om die week af te eindig of te begin, afhangende van die siening of Sondag die einde of die begin van jou week is.

(*) Weens die feit dat die maan op Saterdagaand slegs 221,567 myl vanaf die aarde was, het dit glo 14% wyer en 30% skerper vertoon as normaal. Dis is die naaste wat die maan aan die aarde was sedert Maart 1993. As if it's important!

A Silent Cry For A Decaying City

2011-03-10T19:57:00.002-05:00

Surrounded by its numerous mountain peaks, the city, apparently peaceful in its bowled cradle, is a picture of serenity and prosperity. The morning air is still crisp; the sky is still baby blue, edged gold by the rising sun, cloudless and still clear without any smog. The smog usually comes later in the morning, mixed with the white dust from the semi-desert beyond the mountains the sky then turns a dirty white-yellow. But the serene scene is a misrepresentation of what is happening in Monterrey, Mexico. Underneath the superficial beauty, seeped in through every seam and thread of this city, organized crime, kidnapping and murder, whether systematic or by random opportunity, is changing this beautiful city into a crate of rotting fruit. Slowly, the one rotten fruit is infecting another and another as the spores of decay travel from one neighborhood to another, decimating social structure after social structure, and taking its toll on the citizens of the city. Inflating all the statistics for which a city, any city, does not want to be famous for.

And it is not just narcotic gangs against other gangs, trying to establish and entrench their territories, nor is it just normal criminal gangs against the police. So many policemen have been killed or fired by the city or the state because of corruption or for working with the narcotic gangs that police presence in neighborhoods and on the highways have disappeared. This enabled petty criminals to become far bolder than they would have dared before to commit more serious crimes, especially home burglaries, car theft, holdups of restaurants and businesses, and kidnapping innocent people for small random amounts.

Monterrey from an airplane. The airport in the bottom and

in the center, in the bowl surrounded by mountains lay the city

Just yesterday the sister-in-law of one of my programmers here was in a car theft-kidnapping incident. For an hour the woman had to negotiate, successfully I must to add, with the thieves/kidnappers to take only her car and not her 5-year old boy too that was in the backseat. Imagine, a desperate woman, facing into the barrel of a gun, picking up her son from school, seeing in her minds eye how someone else in broad daylight wants to drive off with her child and then later call back for a ransom. And they had all the information to do so because they took her handbag with all the things that women usually keep in their handbags. Today, when I spoke to the lady again to ask how her family is doing she told me the adults are worried, quite naturally, because the thieves can get so much information from the things in the handbag and that the little boy is quite traumatized.

A few months ago another one of my employees’ brother was kidnapped. For 2 days near Christmas they didn’t hear anything from him, only from the kidnappers. As she told me the story, she said it was worse than death because of the uncertainty of not knowing whether you will ever see the kidnapped person again. They paid the ransom, gathered from various family members, and the kidnappers dropped the man off on an empty parking lot. They were lucky, very blessed, because many times the kidnapped persons are never returned. Their dead bodies are dumped like trash in isolated spots in the Chihuahuan desert to rot like a dead mouse and turn into dust and to blow back into the city at a future time as a fine white mist carried upon the hot Santa Ana-like winds that race through the canyons of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains or the Cerro de las Mitres (mountains of the Mitres). Car theft and kidnapping is fast becoming the new regional sport here.

South of the city lies the picturesque village of Villa Santiago. I drove there a few years ago and wrote about it in a previous post. Today a trip to Villa Santiago by a foreigner all by himself is a suicide mission. A few months ago its mayor was kidnapped and killed. Now it seems 6 policemen, working for the drug cartels, were involved in the killings. Who can you trust here?
At work I can see the effect this situation is having on the people of this city. At lunch tables the laughter is less, the decibels lower, people smile with their lips but their eyes stare vacantly ahead of them. Worrying. Is my house being burgled at this moment? Is someone in my family being robbed or kidnapped now? Will something happen to me today, tomorrow, when?

Looking out towards the Lindavista area of Monterrey

with the Cerra de la Silla (Saddle Hill) on the left

All of this is so reminiscent of what I and many others experienced so many years ago in South Africa when the escalation in crime and violence drove hundreds of thousands from their homeland to the far corners of the world. It is so reminiscent of what happened in Colombia when the cocaine cartels ruled portions of that country and caused mayhem for the population. Different time, different geography, different circumstances, but the results are always the same, innocent people, just seeking their little piece of sunshine on earth, get caught up in the middle of this murderous and criminal orgy.

Gone are the evenings I would drive into the city center in search for new restaurants to experience the local cuisine in the Barrio Antiguo or in San Pedro. Gone are the days I would go and see the latest modern or contemporary art exhibition in the MARCO galleria or take a stroll on the Macro Plaza, drift off to the narrow side streets and tiny open plazas and do people watching from alfresco restaurant tables while savoring a cold cerveza Bohemia.

Now it is just going from hotel to work and back and driving after dark is only if I really have to, an emergency, and going into the city is strictly prohibited. The bad elements roam at night; like modern day Count Draculas or evil Batmen. Now I stay in different hotels than before, in “safe” hotels, in “safe” areas, where an armed guard stands inside the lobby watching everyone that is coming and going. Now it is more eating in, in the hotel’s restaurant, which usually doesn’t have anything more but the basic fare, than eating out, except if there is a restaurant next door or in very close walking proximity of the hotel.

Monterrey is not Baghdad or Kabul. Not yet in any case. Nor is it Ciudad Jaurez, Chihuahua, yet. But how bad is it going to get before it gets better again, before normal is normal again. Because today’s Monterrey is not normal anymore. Today’s Monterrey is not the Monterrey I got to know and like the past 10 years I have coming here.

Midweek Musical Muse XI - Movies of 2010

2011-03-09T23:33:00.000-05:00

This week’s Midweek Musical Muse is a tribute to the editing skills of the editors at Genrocks, the directors and actors in the movies of 2010 and some great music to back it all.

Osso Buco With Port Wine

2011-03-09T01:07:00.006-05:00

A good wine needs good food and visa versa. In a recent post I mentioned that I will not be keeping my wines for longer than 10 years anymore after what happened to a bottle of 1990 Delheim Grand Reserve that I had for 13 years. I simply do not have the perfect storage conditions and although I can created the right conditions, living in Kentucky with its Internet wine buying restrictions and being far away from good wine producing regions like California, it just doesn’t seem worth my while creating an area for aging wines. So during the past two months since coming back from South Africa I didn’t look for a specific special occasions to drink my aged wines, I simply spoilt myself whenever the mood for a good bottle of wine overcame me. Since then I have consumed a 1996 L’Ormaris Optima, 2001 Glen Carlou Grand Classique (a double gold Veritas medal winner) and a 2001 Rust en Vrede Shiraz.

Quick review:

The L'Ormarins Optima was over its best, but still drinkable. Not worth reporting on.

The Glen Carlou, is a blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 3.5% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec, 0.5% Petit Verdot. I think I opened it slightly too early. I struggled getting the cork out, kept on breaking up (I eventually had to push half the cork into the bottle and decanter it through a wine strainer), and it had a lot of “sifsels” and was slight murky. The wine was “not too bad.” I am probably being harsh, but I was put off by the fine residue. The wine was slightly complicated as can be expected from a Bordeaux style blend. It tasted much better the next day, more fruitful on the nose and palate and much smoother with less tannins than when I opened the bottle.

Digging up the Past of Rust en Vrede

The historical town of Stellenbosch has a winemaking history which stretches back to the last quarter of the 17th-century. The mountainous terrain, the cool breezes from False Bay and good rainfall, the deep well-drained soils and diversity of terroirs make this a perfect grape-growing and wine-producing region.

The detailed history of Rust en Vrede is rather vague and seems to intertwine with the neighboring farm Bonterivier. Based on my research the farm Bonterivier was granted to Willem Jansz van de Werelt in 1684 by the then Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, Simon van der Stel. In 1694 the farm Rust en Vrede was granted by Willem Adrian van der Stel, Simon’s son and successor, but to whom it was granted I cannot find any direct notice of. It seems that Bonterivier was divided in the early 1700’s into two farms and one of them became Rust en Vrede while the original farm stayed Bonterivier. Today Bonterivier houses the Bilton Wine estate.

Notes: Some sources on the Internet claims Rust en Vrede was originally granted to a Huguenot named Jacques de Savoye, but I think these websites are wrong. Historical documents show that Jacques de Savoye was granted a different farm, named Vrede en Lust in the Drakenstein (now Franchhoek) region. (The closeness of the words Lust en Rust could easily have led to the incorrect recording of history.)

See The First Fifty Years Project and My Huguenot Heritage, Huguenot's and farms in Cape, South Africa, by A.M. van Rensburg, for why I believe Jacques De Savoye was granted Vrede en Lust and not Rust en Vrede. After all, the modern day Vrede en Lust Winery sells a wine they call Jacques De Savoye Classic.

The websites that quoted this history incorrectly are A different history of Franschhoek and the Drakenstein district and the book Historic houses of South Africa by Dorothea Fairbridge, published in 1922.

Seeing that the first house on Rust en Vrede, “Rest and Peace” in Dutch, was only built in 1780, it seems the farm at the foothills of the Helderberg mountain was initially used only for planting grapes (around 1726-1730) and not for producing wine. This probably changed after 1780 because a barrel cellar was built in 1785 and is still standing. Today the cellar houses one of South Africa’s best fine dining restaurants. In 1790 a larger manor house was built, but in 1823 a fire destroy the gable of the manor house and it was rebuilt in 1825, hence the date of 1825 on the current gable.

Rust en Vrede views

Photo from Virtual Tourist.com (Off the beaten path)

A Wine Needs To Stand Up To The Food

Because I planned to open the 2001 Rust en Vrede Shiraz I thought a good osso buco made with beef shanks instead of veal would be the ideal. The food and the wine have to standup to each other. I had a bottle of Rooiberg Winery port which was on its last legs so to speak and I used 1 cup of that, together with some onion, garlic and black pepper to marinade the meat for a few hours. Overnight will be even better. The Rooiberg was beyond drinking but still good enough for the marinade. I was not going to use my Boplaas port for the marinade and then throw it away again. It was bad enough that I had to use some Boplaas in the stew. I am always stingy to use a good wine in food preparation.

Making Modern Classics

The modern history of Rust en Vrede and the production of top quality wines on this estate starts in 1977 when Jannie Engelbrecht, a well known Springbok rugby player purchase the farm. Apart from restoring all the old buildings, he also replanted the vineyard and decided to focus just on one type of wine, namely red wines.

This specialization and concentration on just red wines would be further refined when his son, Jean Engelbrecht took over the management of the farm. Jean Engelbrecht, who worked for several years in the United States, would base his vision for a future Rust en Vrede on the way they produce quality top class wines in Napa Valley, California. In an interview with George M. Taber during the research for his book, In Search of Bacchus, Wanderings in the Wonderful World of Wine Tourism, Engelbrecht said: “I just stole what the Californians did and brought it over here and made it fit with what we do.” Especially from the Silver Oak Cellars, which then produced only one type of wine, Cabernet Sauvignon, which is high-quality and low volume.

Another issue that Rust en Vrede had to overcome was to make a wine that would satisfy both the European and the American palates. This was very important because Rust en Vrede exports most of their wine to Europe and America. They had to find a middle way seeing that these two palates differ in taste preference. Today Rust en Vrede has achieved that middle way.

Entrance to Rust en Vrede in Stellenbosch

Photo from Trip Advisor

On the twisting road that takes you to Rust en Vrede wine estate you get the distinct impression of quality from the smoothly paved road, the immaculately maintained vineyards, and the well manicured patches of flowers that enhance the views of the surroundings. The impression of quality is not surprising if one consider that the wines of Rust en Vrede have won the highest accolades in South Africa, was the first wine estate in South Africa to produce a wine that scored 90+ points by the Wine Spectator magazine, are now ranked in the top 100 best wines in the world and their wines were selected to be served at a special dinner in Oslo when Nelson Mandele received his Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. In 2010 Rust en Vrede’s restaurant won all the major top awards at the annual Eat Out Awards ceremony when it was named the Restaurant of the Year, and received the Service Excellence award. Its chef, David Higgs, was named Chef of the Year.

Here is the recipe I used.

Osso Buco with Port Wine

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 large beef shanks on the bone (about 300g each, marinated)
2 onions, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, trimmed and finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and shopped
410 g tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 cup red wine (I used a Vidal Fleury Cotes-du-Rhone)
1 cup port wine
2 bay leaves
1½ teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1½ teaspoon South Africa Braai (Barbeque) spices
(I used Robertson Steak and Chops spices, but any good steak spices can be used)
Salt and black pepper to taste
3 cups of beef stock

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven, heat EVOO over high heat. Remove meat from marinade, season with the spices, and transfer to Dutch oven and cook until browned on both sides, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. I didn’t dry the meat but left the marinade and some of the onions on them. Remove shanks to a plate and set aside.

Now make the soffritto, the Italian version of the famous flavor trinity that is the basis for so many dished, especially stews; onions, carrots & celery. (If you use butter instead of olive oil you would be making a mirepoix, the French version of this flavor base.) Add a little more EVOO to the Dutch oven, if needed, then add the onion, celery, carrots and cook, stirring regularly, until vegetables are soft and caramelized, about 7-8 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Add the red wine and the port and stir well with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any bits. Add tomato paste, the tin of tomatoes, the beef stock, and salt and black pepper if desired. Stir well to combine.

Return shanks to the Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally, or until shanks are tender. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning if necessary. The sauce must be rich in taste and have a smooth, gelatinous texture. I usually remove the bones, scrape out the marrow and add it to the sauce, if it makes it past my taste test.

I let it stand for a while because stews are always better if the flavors have time “to get to know each other better” in the “afterplay” process.” It also gave me time to prepare the rice, steak fries and spinach that I served up with the osso buco.

And the Wine?

And what a wine it was!

In the glass the Rust en Vrede 2001 Shiraz was a deep and very dark burgundy in color with blackish purples on the rim. On the nose the aromas were strong and distinct and it was a mixture of plums, black currents and leather with hints for mocha, dark bitter chocolate and smoke. All of those were transferred from nose to palate with the addition of the typical Shiraz pepperiness… very distinctly peppery and spicy. But it was very smooth with a long full body after taste.

I feel the wine was opened at a perfect time. The tannins had just the right length of time to do their mellowing, of course, helped on by the 18 months it spent in the barrel, 50% in new American oak barrels and the rest in second fill oak barrels, before the different batches were blended and then matured a further 20 months in the bottle. Thereafter it spent another 6 years in my wine rack. It certainly had time to mellow and get melodious.

From start to finish the wine was a seamless balance between fruit, wood and tannins. It was truly complex in taste and, being from South Africa I might be a bit biased here, but it was one of the best wines that I ever tasted. Now that doesn’t necessarily say much, because I am not a sommelier, but I have drunk enough bottles of wine to know the difference between a good wine and a bottle what I call glug-glug wine.

If I consider that the 2004 and especially the 2006 vintage of Rust en Vrede Shiraz are rated even higher than the 2001 I will be on a shopping spree to look out for these.

What Do You Know?

2011-03-08T22:19:00.001-05:00

Got this magazine last week in my inbox and was pretty surprised to see a South African passport on top of what look like a heap of Japanese passports regarding an article about immigration. The article did not actually mentioned anything about South Africa. It exclusively discuss the immigration situation in Japan.

Abuse or simply convenient?

Midweek Musical Muse X - Hypnotic Hindi Rhythm

2011-03-02T00:15:00.000-05:00

One of the most enchanted Hindi songs and a true adrenaline pumper with a hypnotic rhythm and beat.

Composed by A.R. Rahman and sung by Sukhwinder Singh and Sapna Awasthi, this well choreographed version is from the 1999 Indian movie Dil Se. The dancers on the train in this video are the highly successful Indian actor Shahrukh Khan and Malaika Arora Kahn. Personally I prefer the hip-hop remixed of this song by Panjabi MC, called 'Chaiyya Chaiyya Bollywood Joint', which was used as the closing credits of the 2006 film by Spike Lee, 'Inside Man'.

The Summer of 2010

2011-02-14T13:08:00.000-05:00

While last week’s snow has been melted by a few sunshiny and slightly warmer days what better way to remember there are brighter, sunnier and much warmer days ahead than to look back at photos of the garden during 2010. This must be the snowiest winter in the last 10 years and if you consider that I missed nearly a month of it while in South Africa, I can only imagine how long this winter would have felt. And looking at bright and colorful photos of summer is so much nicer than experiencing the supposedly “sprokieswereld” of frozen car windows and slip-sliding driving on icy roads outside.

Strawberries

After the hard work of 2008 and 2009 of redesigning and replanting nearly the whole backyard, 2010 was a relative quiet year in the garden for me. With so many other work-related projects on my plate the 3rd year of a 3 year plan did not materialized as planned. Although I did a bit of work, as things stand now I will hopefully complete the rest of the garden plans this year. But why put a date on the completion at all? It could be n open project. In 2011 I would like to complete the stonework edging of all the beds, recreate the vegetable garden in a sunnier location and do all the transplanting that goes with than, and build a small “deck” or cozy sitting area in the shade of some big trees in the very back of the yard for picnics or just to go and sit for quiet moments in the backyard.

Visitors to the backyard

Also, because we felled a huge white pine tree, which became a real gluey pest, I now have an added section of garden available near the woodlands area that can be used for plants that like morning sun. I still need to remove the stump and then prepare the soil for something special. Probably a few specimen low shrubs because the removal of the pine will allow the Weeping Snow Fountain Cherry tree next door to expand and truly blossom (excuse the pun) into a show piece in spring with its clusters of white flowers. Up to the felling of the pine the cherry tree was rather boxed in and her spring exhibition was limited.

Lastly, in the front garden I transplanted some roses and add more, while M had some Korean boxwoods removed and replaced them with various kinds of hydrangeas. It will eventually be more colorful than the monotonous green of the boxwoods

A flowery fence
Slowly but surely all available open spaces are being filled.

Preserves from the garden.

From left: Marinara with garden vegetables, Pickled cherry tomatoes, Curried green beans, Marinara with red wine and basil

Windowbox and hydrangea

A Fiery Begonia boliviensis 'Bonfire', a tropical plant that loves full sun

Yellow is the color...

From my favorite rocking chair on the back porch

Midweek Musical Muse IX - Johnny K

2011-02-10T00:02:00.004-05:00

Die lied spreek vanself.

Bales of Hay

2011-02-09T13:28:00.000-05:00

For months now I wanted to take a few photos of bales of hay lying in a field on the edge of town. So yesterday, snuggled between two snowy days, we had a sunny, but bitterly cold day, and with frozen fingers, but a warm spirit, I was out in the country at sunset snapping away.

Sticks and balls

Like dead soldiers in a battlefield

Last rays

RIP Gary Moore

2011-02-07T00:58:00.002-05:00

Gary Moore (born William Gary), x-Thin Lizzy guitarist and who had a string of solo hits like Parisienne Walkways, Still Got The Blues, and Empty Rooms, has died Sunday in his sleep in a Spanish hotel at age 58. Cause of dead is still unknown.

The guitarist who had the ability to express his deepest and most sensitive emotions in the strings of his guitar will be sorely missed.

It is guitar play like this on Empty Rooms that made him an axe-man legend in the blues and rock genre.

Do You Want Your Own Castle?

2011-02-03T16:00:00.002-05:00

(Photo by Donnie Shackleford)

As you turn left coming out of Blue Grass Airport, in Lexington, KY, and then left again onto US60, also called the Versailles Road, you drive in front of Keaneland, one of two of Kentucky’s famous race courses, (the other being Churchill Downs in Louisville where they run the well-known Kentucky Derby.) Continuing along the US60 leaving Fayette County and entering Woodford county you suddenly come upon an unusually site. A castle where you least expect it.

In the United States there are many castles, all of them, no doubt, inspired by and copied from European castles, but nevertheless castles of some sort. The website, Castles of the United States, list more than 300 “castles”. Of course most of them are nothing more than fancy residential houses.

It was rumored that Lexington’s Martin Castle even caught the attention of Queen Elizabeth and her entourage on her last visit to Lexington a few years ago and that her secretary made a rather unflattering remark by calling it "an Americanized Mickey Mouse castle." He is probably not too far off the mark.

Nevertheless, Martin Castle, for many years fondly known as “Woodford Castle” may not have the rich history of intrigue or scandal as say Hampton Court Castle in England or Versailles outside Paris, France, but it does have a history. A rather mysterious history. (Interestingly in Kentucky there is a town called Versailles, just 10 minutes drive from the castle and there is also a town called Paris not too far away.)

After an extensive trip to the Continent, visiting many castles, especially German castles, Rex Martin, a wealthy land developer in Lexington, KY, in 1968 bought about 50 acres along US60 to build a castle for his wife Caroline. The next year he dug foundations and started to build his castle, but by the mid 70’s it was still not completed. At this stage Martin and his wife divorced and for the next 30 years or more nothing happened. The half built shell just sat there. It seemed that just like old European castles this one would also take decades if not lifetimes to be completed. Whether he ran out of money or the split from his wife stopped any further progress in the building is unknown. In the meantime the wooded gates with gold-foiled lion heads kept visitors at bay and it created many country rumors and legends about the place. But no one really knew what was to happen with the property.

Martin Castle on fire in May 2004 (Photos by Robert Taylor)

At several times during the three decades the place was up for sale but no one purchased it until after Mr. Martin’s death, when a lawyer from Florida, Thomas R. Post bought it in 2003 for $1.8 million. Mr. Post immediately started to rebuild the inside of the castle, but as the work neared completion in May 2004 it burned down. Arson was suspected but no one was ever charged. Post then spent millions of Dollars more and many years to rebuild and enlarge the original castle with the aim to turn it into an upscale, unique bed and breakfast inn. This was completed in 2009 and the castle, now known as The CastlePost has 50 rooms including a library, sitting room, game room and a dining room for 40 guests. Outdoors there is a 20-by-50 foot pool, tennis courts, formal garden and a large Chinese dragon fountain spouting water.

The castle after the fire.

But in November 2010 it was reported that if owner Thomas Post can get the right price, the castle will be sold again. The asking price is $30 million, negotiable.

So if you are in the market for your own castle and you want to relocate to the rolling hills and green pastures of Kentucky, make your offer. It comes with its own mysterious history. No ghosts though.

After restoration it is called The CastlePost.

Midweek Musical Muse VIII - Messrs. Cool and Slowhand

2011-02-02T16:01:00.001-05:00

The Crossroads Guitar Festival is a music festival and benefit concert first held in 2004 and again in 2007 and 2010. The festivals benefit the Crossroads Centre founded by Eric Clapton, a drug treatment center located in Antigua. The concerts are also intended to be a showcase for a variety of guitarists. All were hand-picked by Eric Clapton himself. The 2004 concert included guitar greats like Pat Metheny, Carlos Santana, John Mayer, Robert Cray, BB King, Steve Vai, ZZ Top, Joe Walsh, Jimmy Vaughn, and Bo Diddley, and many more.

The 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival was held at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois on July 28, 2007. 28,000 tickets were sold out 22 minutes. Artists included Tab Benoit, Sonny Landreth, John McLaughlin, Vince Gill, John Mayer and many more.

The 2010 Crossroads festival was again held at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois on June 26, 2010. Artists included Clapton, ZZ Top, BB King, Jeff Beck, Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, Buddy Guy, John Mayer, and many more.

Here is the original Mr. Cool, JJ Cale with “Slow Hand” Clapton.

A Little Bit Of Africa In The Bluegrass

2011-01-30T15:38:00.000-05:00

At last the sun is shining again and the snow has melted. For now at least. The land is grey and the breeze is cool, but 57 degrees Fahrenheit is not to be ignored. One could be fooled spring is coming.

Went to some South African friends on their farm close by to get out of the house, shake off the claustrophobia of the four walls, get some fresh air and feel the expanse of space again.

Header photo: An Ankole Watusi cow from East Africa with its long horns. Often called the cattle of kings. In Uganda the Bahima tribe, traditional herdsmen just like Kenya's Maasai tribe, still owns large herds of these longhorn cattle.

A Texas Longhorn

Roughing it.

Good Buddies.

The grey trees and cold creek still very much scream WINTER.

The sun setting behind the barn

Chicken with Blue Cheese and Feta Sauce

2011-01-28T01:14:00.000-05:00

Fresh from South Africa, we brought back the latest Huisgenoot Wenresepte #8. I was contemplating something hot for tonight. I browsed through some potjiekos books for a Mexican/Southwestern style, picante chicken with pasta and cheese potjie, but then my daughter-in-law phoned, she likes Mexican style food, and said she was not going to bring the grandchildren over because the roads are too bad and it is too cold. I can understand that, it is freezing outside. So out came the new Huisgenoot Wenresepte #8 for a first look to see if there was something different, something new to make for dinner. I was pleasantly surprised by the latest version in this very popular series.

[Oh, this was going to be a potjie inside. There was no way I was not going to make the potjie outside in weather like we have had the past few days and weeks.]

Very quickly the decision was made. A Chicken with Blue Cheese Sauce. The recipe is on page 90, which I served, as suggested, with boiled baby potatoes still in their jackets and a green salad with romaine lettuce, green onions, grapes and crumbled feta cheese. I cannot republish the recipe because I will have the Huisgenoot agents in my email inbox before you can say “You are committing an intellectual property crime and if you do not remove the recipe from your blog at once our lawyers will be contacting the authorities demanding that you do so immediately or face the consequences.”

I made slight alterations to the recipe (who doesn’t) because I didn’t have enough blue cheese so I added a little feta cheese, and because I had chicken thighs, which I wanted to cook whole and not breasts cut into bite size pieces, as called for by the recipe, I had to add more liquid to compensate for the longer cooking time, and I increased the chicken stock by 50 ml and the white wine by 50 ml.

It came out lovely and it is something I will make again. The slightly sour, but creamy taste of the Greek yogurt and the tarty taste of the blue and feta cheeses were nicely balanced by the kick from the garlic and the acidity from the white wine that was among the ingredients. The sweetness of the grapes and sweet creaminess of the salad’s Kraft Poppyseed dressing balanced out the cheeses nicely. Although I hinted in a previous post that the Rondolino 2008 Vernaccia Di San Gimignano I had in the kitchen wine cooler might not be a good companion for yogurt, its citrus flavors of lemon and lime and hints of green apple actually rounded off the complex flavors of the sauce very nicely because this sauce was not a plain yogurt sauce like tzatziki. The additions of the white wine, the garlic and rosemary to the sauce mellowed out the yogurt and cheeses.

Looking through the whole book I must admit this could be one of the best Wenresepte books ever produced. The simple reason is that the book contains a mere 21 out of 250 pages for recipes of desserts and sweet dishes for after dinner. Usually half the book was dedicated to puddings, dessert, cakes and any form of sweetness until you felt you are being turned into a triple-textured, death by chocolate Bar One. Huisgenoot either received millions of complaints from readers and home cooks to change their chokingly sweet ways or the recipes sent to Huisgenoot is for more food and less sweets.

[By now you sense I don’t have a sweet tooth even though I will, on the rare occasion, indulge in a malva pudding, a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream, a good tiramisu, a piece of baklava or my favorite, a nice cheese cake. But usually, no thank you.]

Congratulations Huisgenoot it seems like a worthy addition to my ever growing collection of cookbooks, and thank you Sonett for the Christmas present that will surely be used on a regular basis. This way we will always think of you. This will also prompt me to take a new look at the 5th, 6th and 7th versions of this popular series because I gave up after #4.

Makieties, Reflections and Observations

2011-01-27T15:11:00.006-05:00

The old Post Office in Philadelphia

The last weekend of our near four week excursion to Cape Town was one of great makieties (parties) and why not, it was New Year’s weekend, and moments of reflection (sometimes in the midst of parties), and a last swing through the Swartland and the hustling of packing luggage and the reality that all good times always comes to an end.

Reflections of Goodbye

As always the time and the accompanied emotions of departure are such a blur of mental images and such a momentary feeling of finality. You know it was coming, but it still felt like it crept up on you too fast. That moment you stand at the gate to the security entrance and the last hug you give each person that came to the airport to say goodbye, you expressing your appreciation for the good times you were able to share with them and meant it and holding on to the hug for as long as you feel you can. That last turnaround after you have gone through security and gave a final wave and saw how they all stand in a small group waving back, and you experienced that fleeting moment of loneliness (them on the outside, you on the inside, the feeling of separation so irreversible by the narrow security tunnel.) And finally, while some had tears in their eyes and others had lumps in their throats, the thought that it could be years before you see some of these people again (or never – life is so unpredictable and oh so fragile). But then you turn away, hearing a final announcement for your flight, head for the departure gate, reach for your boarding pass and passport, and you know it is not a final goodbye, you are hopeful, it is just arrivederci, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, tot ons mekaar weer sien.

Herondekte, Afrikaanse woord wat ons jare laas gehoor het:
Jammerlappie
Nuwe Afrikaanse woord wat ek nog nooit voorheen gehoor het nie:
Vloermoer

Riebeek-Kasteel Dutch Reformed Church. Built on a hill it towers over the town.

A Last Swing Through the Swartland

I don’t know why the Swartland, and for that matter the Karoo too, is so enchanting to me. After all it doesn’t have the natural beauty of the Boland with its mountains and green valleys. The Swartland is mostly gently slopping, rolling fields and meadows, wheat-brown with patches of grey and black. However, these days it is getting greener with more farmers planting vines and fruits. Maybe because it is there that my family genes come from or because I spent so much time in the Swartland and the Karoo as a child. (But that’s for another post.)

The last Sunday several family members and we drove to Riebeek-Kasteel for lunch at the Royal Hotel. The town is about an hour's drive from Cape Town, just past Malmesbury. Before lunch most of them sauntered through the few small shops down the road from the hotel that sold anything from preserves, biltong, antique furniture, vintage clothing, homemade springbok and curry meat pies, rusted wrought-iron garden furniture, and cacti plants, while I was snapping photos of the Dutch Reformed Church nearby (the architectural beauty of churches is fascinating to me) and watching colored kids hassling people for money as they came to park their cars.

Riebeek-Kasteel: The ladies returning from shopping in the few small shops that were open on Sunday.

Observation: There seem to be “parking attendants” everywhere, hand reaching out for money to supposedly “have found you the parking spot” and “watch” over your car.

After lunch we drove through the few streets of the tiny town, marveled at how the town has grown and changed and drove by the house my father once lived in for many years about 20 years or so ago. That jogged my memory because I can still remember how we use to come here on Sundays and braai soutribbetjie under the massive oak tree in the back yard and after lunch fell asleep on blankets in its shade.

The restored old Post Office in Philadelphia is now transformed to the StoepSit Kafee

Returning to Cape Town we stopped for a few moments in the quaint little town of Philadelphia. Only 20 minutes from Cape Town on the N7, it amazes me that this little town has not yet been snapped up and changed by development. Most of it is still like it was in the 1950s or before. Sure there is some new development in a small pocket of the town and cleverly kept away from the old town area, which is untouched except for the restored buildings. New uses were found for these restored buildings. The old post office was turned into a café and the old flour mill into a restaurant, only open on Sundays and serves traditional South African dishes. I hope the little town stay like it is, but I doubt that it will survive the onslaught of an ever increasing Cape Town.

Signs from various towns we traveled.

Observation: Cape Town hasn’t changed much in the last 7 years. Yes, there are more suburbs and houses and shopping centers on its outskirts, especially beyond Blouberstrand and the Plattekloof area, but the old familiar places and roads of the southern suburbs still look the same. In general, the place actually looks cleaner, less rubbish along the roads, etc. since I was there last in 2003. Of all the bad press you sometimes read overseas about South Africa, I never felt I was endanger of being mugged or robbed at anytime, but then I purposefully didn’t travel to “frontier line” areas, where, in similar areas in many other large world cities you also stand the chance of being mugged or attacked.

A collage of Riebeek-Kasteel.

Afrikaners Bly Plesierig (Afrikaners like partying)

The day before, the Saturday, was a classic “the day after the night before.” Quiet and placid and I spent some part of the day watching northern hemisphere rugby en highlights of the 2nd cricket test between South Africa and India on the TV. However it was more a case of the day after the day before instead of the night before. Because on the Friday, the day before New Year’s Day and traditionally big party night in South Africa like everywhere across the world, the partying started late morning already. A very good and dear friend of ours, who is at the same time my brother-in-law’s neighbor, had a big makietie (party) for his 70th birthday. They combined/opened up, whatever, the two backyards with the bar in one yard and the lunch tables in the other and smack in the middle they barbequed a whole lamb on a rotisserie for lunch. ‘n Lekker spitbraai. Lunch was done by 2 pm, but few people left. While some used the swimming pool, others baked in the sun or found shade under the gazebos, talking, drinking and just enjoyed the company. The partying continued through the afternoon into the evening until we counted down the seconds to midnight and the start of a new year. Along the way, in mid-evening, a fire was restarted and more lamb chops and boerwors appeared and were barbequed and we ate again. No wonder the Saturday was spent quietly. Until the evening when we went to another braai and the eating and all that goes with it started all over again.

Now you know why I said in the very first sentence of the first blog post about this vacation I needed a rest, another vacation after a vacation. The hospitality of Afrikaners is immense and legendary. Hence the old song: Afrikaners is plesierig.

The Aitsa Cafe in Riebeek-Kasteel.

Observation: I spoke to several people about local politics and the state of South Africa and there seem to be some level of anger if your scratch the surface. Mostly though it was directed at the levels of corruption in the government and Black Economic Empowerment society in general. One person so aptly described it, and Afrikaans can be such a beautiful descriptive language, as the “skilpadstertsindroom”, the turtle tail syndrome, with every business deal there is the cupped hand in the back, just like a turtle's tail, to collect their personal, under the table, commission.

Ceiling art in the Canal Walk shopping mall.

Observation: How can one live a normal life in an abnormal environment? Here every house has an alarm system. It’s voluntary confinement behind high walls, burglar proofing and safety doors with dogs as additional safety devices. Each man in its own castle with its safety moat. I suppose I forgot how I use to live. It was natural then. It just doesn’t feel natural anymore.

Finally…The flight back was more or less uneventful. Thank God! We did miss our connection flight from Washington, DC to Atlanta, Georgia due to a delay in Dakar, Senegal and a very long and detoured approach into Dulles airport in Washington, DC, which meant we also missed our planned connection from Atlanta to Lexington, KY. But Delta Airline was very helpful to arranged new flights. Luckily the wait was not that long and we only arrived home about 3 hours later than the original plan. Tired, dehydrated and with clogged sinuses from the airplanes air conditioning, seriously in need of a nice shower, a warm bed and a long sleep. Jetlag would only come the next day, but no one care about it then.

Although I tremendously enjoyed the vacation in Cape Town it was also good to be back home. No matter where home might be. Until the next trip…

Notes: Of the major tourist attractions of Cape Town, the so called “big six”, we visited only one, Groot Constantia. Although we have been there on a previous occasion we would have like to go to Kirstenbosch, but we ran out of time. Of the others, the Table Mountain Cableway, the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, and Cape Point: been there before and had no plans to go there this time. Robben Island: never been there and have no desire to ever go there.

Regrets: None really. I would have like to visit more wine farms, because I like traveling the typical winelands countryside, the camaraderie of tasting wines and the ambiance of wine estates, but it is probably a good thing I didn’t get to more farms. I then would have had to have a liver transplant upon my return.

Churches in the Western Cape

Table Mountain from Signal Hill

Moon reflecting on the sea at St. Helena Bay

Die Gestowe Oor Aandete

2011-01-24T22:03:00.005-05:00

Buite lê die sneeu nog sentimeters dik. Die wit kak soos iemand dit onlangs genoem het. Gelukkig gaan ons soms ‘n bietjie son sien vandag. Dis touch and go vir moontlik meer sneeu. Dis altyd lekkerder om die wereld te sien met son-geraakte, geel-getinte brille in plaas van daai two-tone, grys en wit, dae.
Ek doen nie vaal nie!

Skaap stowe vleis is uit die vrieskas gehaal vir aandete. Wat sal ek tog daarmee maak? Vir die gewoonlike verdagtes, tamatiebredie of groenbootjiebredie is ek nie lus nie. Waterblommetjies is soos die weer daar buite, ‘n gevriesde droom. Nog minder is ek lus vir skaapkerrie of ‘n Franse Ragout D'Agneau of ‘n Daube d’Agneau van Aix-en-Provence en vir ‘n Toskaanse Agnello Stufato met wit bootjies sien ek nie kans nie. Miskien is ek net vol kak. Gooi die damn vleis in ‘n pot, moer groete by en wha lah. Dien bo-op instant rice. Done. Duh, waarvoor wag jy?

Winter wek mos altyd die drang op vir stadigkokende geregte wat dan verslind word saam met rooiwyn by die kaggel. Ek sal maar tevrede moet wees met central heating. How romantic?

‘n Turkse Lamb Ankara klink lekker, maar Griekse yogurt en rooi wyn gaan nie goed saam nie. Maar dan weer, ek drink rooiwyn saam met enige iets. En ek het nog daardie bottel Rondolino in die wynkoelkas. Die Vernaccia Di San Gimignano versnitting sal miskien…vergeet dit. Yogurt is een van daardie problem kosse as dit kom by wyn. Dit gaan saam met amper niks nie behalwe ‘n Griekse Retsina, daardie witwyn wat met Denneboom harpuis ge-infuse word. Bless their Greek souls, hulle het eeue van trail and error agter die blad om te weet watter wyn goed gaan saam met hulle baie kosse wat yogurt bevat. Ek gaan ook maar wegbly van die harpuis af. Kan nie dink dis lekker nie. Die Turke gee natuurlik glad nie om vir wyn nie, want meeste van hulle is Moslems wat nie mag or wil drink nie.

Laat my dink aan ‘n situasie toe iemand onlangs ‘n Suid Afrikaanse braai wou reël vir 11 uur op ‘n Saterdag oggend op ‘n plek waar daar nie drank toegelaat word nie. Niemand het belangstelling getoon nie. Doodse stilte. Almal het net by hulself gesit en wonder…

Iemand anders het gesê “Dis te vroeg en die mense wil drink by ‘n vleis gebraaiery.”

“Maar hoekom moét hulle drink?” druk die voorsteller heel verbaas uit.
Stel jou voor: Suid Afrikaners, ‘n braaivleis, geen drank…doodse stilte…klink soos ‘n begrafnis…seker vir skaapie wat gebraai word.

In elk geval moet ek miskien wegbly van die yogurt af. Gekookte melk produkte, yogurt, room, etc. is geneig om ‘n mens te laat voel jy’s opgeblaas en ek sit reeds met ‘n klomp steke in my maag. Na só ‘n ete sal ek my moet anker aan ‘n rusbank anders styg ek dalk op.
Imagine, maag staan doér, opgeblaas soos ‘n lugballon, daar vlieg ekke in my lay-z-boy, dun haartjies wapper in die wind, wil iets skreeu maar my stem klink helium-gevul soos Peter De Villiers, en Pink Floyd se Pigs on The Wing blêr in my ore. A sight to behold.

Op die ou end het ek my gat gelig en gaan kyk wat ons in die spens het. Dit help tog nie ek sit hier voor die rekenaar en wonder wat om te maak terwyl ek nie weet wat ons het nie. Ek maak myself net honger.

And the honor to be tonight’s dinner goes to…Drum roll please…

‘n Maroccan Tagine met lemoessap, gedroogde appelkose en pruime, en my weergawe van die bekende Marokkaanse kruiemengsel, Ras El Hanout. Die stowegereg gaan ek op dis saam met ‘n mengsel van wit, bruin, wilde en rooi Texmati rys, maar couscous of gewone wit rys is net so goed. ‘n Dik sny lekker tuisgebakte brood om al die souse mee op te vee sal net so goed werk. Miskien beter!

En die wyn? What do you drink with Maroccan food? Eerstens, die Marokkaners drink nie alkohol nie (sommige miskien skelmpies) so daar is nie juis ‘n tradisionele wyn wat goed saam met hul kos gaan nie. Tweedens, gaan die kos ‘n unieke, kontrasterende, maar geurige smaak van vrugte, suur, soet en kruierig wees. (Nes daai movie It's Complicated.) ‘n Riesling of ‘n a Gewurtztraminer kom dadelik by my op. Maar ek het geen daarvan tans in my wynrak nie en ek is nie lus vir ‘n witte nie. ‘n Fruity Zinfandel kan dalk werk maar die St Francis Zinfandel wat ek in die wynrak het gaan te bold wees. (Sien ook ‘n vorige artikel wat ek oor St Francis geskryf het.) Omdat ek tans geen Amerikaanse Pinot Noir of enige Beaujolais in die huis het nie, (enige een van daardie twee sou goed gepair het) het my keuse geval op ‘n Château de Ségriès 2008 Cotes-du-Rhône, ‘n wyn waaroor ek ook onlangs geskryf het. Dis ‘n lekker ligte en maklike drink wyn wat al die eienskappe van ‘n Cotes-du-Rhône het sonder die sterk pepperige nasmaak, en wat ek dink sal goed gaan saam met die Tagine. Gewoonlik is ek mal oor die pepperige smaak van Cotes-du-Rhônes, maar nie vanaand nie. Nie saam met die Tagine nie.

Bon Appetite!

Follow up: The dish tasted as planned, very fruity with lots of complicated flavors and not spicy at all. If you want spicy then add a touch of cayenne pepper to the spice mix. Although the Château de Ségriès 2008 Cotes-du-Rhône paired well with the Tagine, I think an American Pinot Noir or a French Beaujolais will be even better.

Hier is my weergawe van dié tradisionele gereg.

Maroccan Tagine (lamb stew) – Marokkaanse Lamsgereg

Preparation time: What’s the urgency?

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes, of so lank as wat jy drinktyd wil hê.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 lbs / 1 kg lean lamb, diced
Flour to coat the meat
1 cup orange juice
14 fl oz / 1½ cup chicken or beef stock
1 medium onion, chopped
4 oz / 100 g pitted prunes
4 oz / 100 g dried apricots
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 teaspoons Ras El Hanout spice blend
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

For the Ras El Hanout spice blend

¾ teaspoon ground garlic
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Mix all the spices together. It seems a lot but its only about 3 teaspoons of spices.

Preparation:

Put all the ingredients for the spice blend together.
Season the meat with salt and pepper, and then coat with the flour.
Heat the oil on a medium heat in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add half the meat and cook until brown. Remove from the pan and place on kitchen towel or plate, and cook the rest of the meat. Set aside.
Add a little more oil and sauté the onions until translucent.
Put all the meat back in the pan with the onion, add all the other ingredients.
Bring gently to the boil, lower the heat and simmer with the lid on for about 1½ hours or until the meat is tender. Stir often to prevent it burning on at the bottom. With all the fruits and flour this can easily happen.
Garnish with the cilantro when you dish up.

Culinary Delicacies and Cape Panoramas

2011-01-24T00:13:00.001-05:00

Top left: Hout Bay; Top right: Cape Town city centre;

Bottom left: Cape Town Stadium; Bottom right: Robben Island seen from Signal Hill.

The last 2 weeks of our vacation in South Africa were a series of “one night stands”, day trips from our base in Thornton. We were culinary travelers, going from one delicious destination to the next delectable destination. If we weren’t savoring the views and vistas of the Cape we were indulging ourselves in its foods and the hospitality of friends and family. We were on the go all the time.

Initially I said I was not yet sure whether I was going to buy any wine to take back home, but I don’t think anyone believed me. I didn’t even believe myself. Usually the writers of travel books will tell you not to buy wine in your travel destination. Drink it and enjoy it. The wine, they say, even if it is just an average wine, won’t usually taste the same when you bring it back. Something to do with the fact that one is relaxed, on vacation, your senses is open to new experiences, the location’s ambiance, the local food and how well it pairs with the local wine. I suppose there is some truth in that. In any case, many times you can find that same wine at your local store or order it over the Internet if you take the time to look for it. And sometimes it’s even cheaper than buying it overseas. I can attest to that when I found the exact bottle of limoncello I bought in Italy at my local liquor store and cheaper than what I paid for it in Venice. And then there is always the chance that the box of wine or a bottle of wine packed inside your luggage can break while being transferred from airplane to airplane or from airplane to the luggage pickup point. And I can attest to that too, when, on a previous trip from South Africa I had wine bottles broken when one of my boxes of wine fell from that ramp that retrieve luggage from an airplane’s hull, at the very last stop upon our arrival at Lexington airport and worst of all, while I was sitting in the airplane, waiting to disembark, I was watching it happen. It’s like everything goes into slow motion mode, just like in the movies.

Rhodes Memorial near Rondebosch in memory of Cecil John Rhodes

But, if you live in Kentucky and you know you cannot buy wine over the Internet for delivery in Kentucky (against Kentucky law), and you know the wines you can and want to buy in South Africa is not readily available in the USA, and if it is it is at a far higher price, then you do what I usually do. You ignore the travel writers and ignore the risk of broken bottles and buy it anyway and you pack it as securely as possible in newspaper and bubble wrap in a very sturdy wine box and you hope for the best.

Where goats do roam

One morning when we woke the day was cool and overcast and a misty rain was drizzling down. The original plan was to go to Groot Constantia, not so much for buying wines, because I have always consider their wines overprized, but more to culturally enrich ourselves again with the history of Groot Constantia and to relive a moment we had at the estate many years before, to go and eat delicious scones with strawberry jam and whipped cream, al fresco style, under the old oaks, outside Die Jonkershuis Restaurant.

Nederburg Manor House outside Paarl

Knowing Cape Town weather, if it was drizzling in the northern suburbs it would probably be pouring at Groot Constantia, we decided to rather go to Paarl, which could get very hot even if it was a mild day in Cape Town, and hoping that Paarl and the Boland would be cool that day. After a solid breakfast on the way, to nicely line the stomach so to speak, we went to Nederburg, one of South Africa’s premier wine estates, for a cellar tour. Very interesting and informative! I didn’t do any tasting or buying at Nederburg because their general wines (Paarl Cabernet Sauvignon, Baronne and Pinotage) are available in Lexington and my focus was to only buy wines that are worth taking back home or not available in Lexington. The other reason for not buying anything at the estate was that I purchase several bottles of wine the previous day at a big liquor market in Milnerton, among them a Nederburg 2000 Private Bin R109 (the last one on their shelf), a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend that was sold in 2010 on Nederburg’s annual, world famous wine auction. Now that was worth bringing back home. Reasonably rare and exclusive. For me in any case!

Left: Laborie Manor House; Center: Fairview Estate's goat house; Right: Grapes at Nederburg

From Nederburg we went to Fairview Estate, famous for its roaming goats. At this stage my brother-in-law (another wine appreciator) and his wife joined us and while the girls were doing what girls that don’t drink do, the boys had a proper wine tasting and sampling of their many delicious cheeses. I didn’t really care for any of their white wines, although the Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2008 did go well with some of the cheese. Speaking of cheeses, their cream cheese dusted with Chakalaka spices was excellent. From their reds, their Merlot and the Jakkalsfontein Shiraz 2005 stood out above the rest. It was my kind of Merlot; very woody on the nose and soft and complicated on the tongue. Eventually I bought something blind, a limited release 2007 Caldera. A true Cotes du Rhône style blend. They didn’t have it available for tasting, but I liked the composition. A blend made from 15 barrels of 64 year old Grenache vines, rumored to be the oldest Grenache vines in South Africa, 8 barrels of Mourvédre and 8 barrels of Shiraz. We had lunch at Fairview's Goatshed Restaurant. While M had a delicious, traditional Curried Chicken Pie, I indulged in the Springbok Stir Fried Salad with crusty bread, balsamic vinegar and basil pesto and a few glasses of the Merlot.

From Fairview we drove next door to the Seidelberg Estate with its beautiful views of the valley below and visited the Red Hot Glass shop. By now the morning’s rain from Cape Town has reached Paarl. M and I drove into the town of Paarl and visited Laborie Estate, created in 1691 and one of the oldest wine farms in the Cape, for a photo opportunity of the opstal and more tasting. I bought a bottle of their Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon blend and a bottle of their Alambic Brandy, which was in 2010 voted the best brandy in the world at an international competition in London. The brandy was really something special. Initally you get the taste of concentrated fruits before the amber liquid warms the throat as it glides down to the stomach.

In die skadu van Papegaaiberg

‘n Paar dae na ons besoek aan die Paarl het ons in een van my gunsteling dorpe, Stellenbosch, gaan kuier. Stellenbosch was soos altyd kokend warm. Daar het ons die dorp platgeloop, stegie op en straatjie af; die baie ou geboue en argitektuur bewonder; op die dorpsplein deur die Afrika kunsmark gedrentel; by oom Samie se winkel ingeloer en gevind alles is te toeristies (?) en belaglig oorprys; ‘n heerlike gerookte salm, feta and aarbeie slaai saam met ‘n glasie (of twee) yskoue Sauvignon Blanc vir middagete geniet by Jan Cats se bistro op die stoep van die Stellenbosch Hotel terwyl ‘n groep lokale manne met min tande and ‘n vals kitaar almal ge-serenade het vir ‘n paar los muntstukke.

Oom Samie se Winkel in Stellenbosch. 'n Regte nagosie winkel waar 'n mens van die spreekwoordelike naald tot 'n kameelperd kan koop.

Later die middag, na ‘n bietjie van ‘n gesoek, want daar was geen aanwysingsbord nie en ek het nie ‘n kaart by my gehad nie en ek het moed opgegee met Google Maps se stadige responsietyd, het ek my “onwillekeurig” gevind op die pad na een van my gunsteling en een van Suid Afrika se beste wynplase, Jean Engelbrecht se Rust en Vrede. Terwyl M en haar suster in die koelte van nog jong, maar statige akker bome die landgoed besigtig het, het ek in die koel proelokaal hul rooiwyne gesnuif, geproe, gerol en gesluk. Ek het ‘n bottel 2009 Shiraz en ‘n bottel 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon gekoop om my 2002 Cabernet en 2001 Shiraz aan te vul wat ek reeds by die huis het van ‘n vorige besoek aan Suid Afrika in 2003. Laasgenoemde twee bottels sal ek aanstoots moet drink want hulle is nou gereed. Wil nie te lank wag tot hulle dalk oor hul beste is nie. Dis wat oor Thanksgiving met my gebeur het met ‘n bottel 1990 Delheim Grand Reserve. Te lank gewag, ondrinkbaar geword en ek moes dit net so omkeer en in die riool afgooi. Gelukkig was die 1991 Delheim nog drinkbaar maar ook reeds oor sy beste. Daarna het ek besluit ek hou wyn op die langste 10 jaar.

Ongelukkig het ‘n tegnologiese gogga of iets soortgelyk amper al my fotos van Stellenbosch uitgeroei. Iets moes met my kamera gebeur het die volgende dag of daar was dalk swak skakels op my kamera se SD kaart, want toe ek die volgende aand ‘n foto wou neem toe raak 75 van my fotos bedorwe. Dit gebeur soms met jpegs. Dit was baie teleurstellend want ek het ‘n groot versameling fotos geneem van Stellenbosch se deure.

The Hottentots Hollands Mountains as seen from Rhodes Memorial

Crisscrossing the peninsula

Eventually we got to Groot Constantia one day. After a visit to the stately manor house, now a museum, and the wine cellar, we tried out several of their wines. The Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon were the best of the bunch, of which last-mentioned I bought one bottle, although the Merlot was not too bad either. The rest of their reds where too heavy with too much tannins. We never got to eat the scones with jam because the day we went there it was cloudy and windy and the Jonkershuis Restaurant was fully booked at lunch time. But we drove down to Constantia Village and at the Cattle Baron Grill House we ate of the best beef curry I had in many years.

A collage of Groot Constantia, the mother of all wine estates (the oldest) in South Africa.

Eendag het ons ‘n draai gery Swartland toe, by familie in Malmesbury lekker gaan gesels tot laataand en gesmul aan egte boerekos; gebraaide skaapboud en vele ander lekker bykosses. Op ‘n ander dag het ons eers by Rhodes Memorial gestop en daarna verby Kirstenbosch, oor Constantia Nek na Houtbaai toe. Daar was die Suidooste wind brutaal en ons weggewaai en ons is gou vort Llandudno se kant toe, al langs die see verby die Twaalf Apostels, by Kampsbaai weggedraai oor Kloofnek en met Seinheuwel op vir pragtige vistas oor Kaapstad se middestad, Seepunt, Groenpunt and Robbeneiland.

Snoek op die kole.

Tussendeur al die gereis was daar altyd tyd vir braai. Een aand vis, dan weer gesoute skaapribbes met roosmaryn, 'n ander aand hoender in tamatiesous en Mrs. Ball's Chutney, en nog 'n aand 'n skaapskenkel potjie.

In the end I returned home with 14 bottles of wine, some purchased some I got as presents, and 3 bottles of brandy, among them a 15 year old KWV I got as a present. Most of the wines are young and will need a few years mellowing out in the bottom of my wine rack while some of the older ones currently in the rack will move up for drinking. Among those I brought home: Meerlust, a 2005 and a 2006 Rubicon, a Raka 2006 Quinary, a Rustenberg 2008 John X Merriman and two wines from Thelema, a Shiraz and a Cabernet Sauvignon, and the others I mentioned above.

I would have liked to bring back more wine, but was restricted by tight luggage regulations both from South African Airlines and Delta Airlines here in the USA. The amount you have to pay extra if you go over the weight limits makes it not worth the while to bring more wines.

The rest of the time I did what the travel authors tell you to do: Eat and drink and enjoy while on location.

Part of the collection that made it home.

Wegbreek Weskus Vakansie

2011-01-22T01:37:00.002-05:00

Skemertyd op St. Helenabaai

Just south of Piketberg we took Route 399 west towards Velddrif and the Atlantic Ocean. Two months prior to our visit we rented a house on the beach in St. Helena Bay where we met up with M’s brother and sister and their spouses for a 4 day family reunion. It was lazy days and long evenings of sightseeing, braais (BBQs) goods eats, tasting local wines, walks on the beach and exploring the peninsula. En gesels en gesels… catching up after not seeing each other for many years. It has been 7 years since I last visited South Africa.

Club Mykonos

Ah, just to be next to the sea again. For most of the time the bay was unusually calm, protected by dolosse and the lay of the land. You could hardly hear and seldom saw breaking waves. Only after the 3rd day, late in the evening, long after midnight, after everyone already went to bed, while I was sitting outside, alone, sipping on a brandy, smoking a cigarette and making notes on my Blackberry, did I hear the breaking of the waves, sometimes accompanied by the squealing of sea birds. It was spring tide that night and every now and then I would see a flashlight from someone out on the beach trying to secure his small boat against the rising high tide. On this stretch of beach, known as Hannasbaai, between the fisherman’s harbor in the northwest and some ruined buildings and the stone foundations of a long-gone jetty in the southeast the beach was sort of secured so people left their small dingies and kayaks on the beach, just outside the reaches of the high water level. But that night, with high tide moving in, more secured measures were required to tie them down.

Die Winkel op Paternoster

One of the days we traveled to Club Mykonos near Langebaan, blew some money at the casino and I had an excellent lunch of mussels in a garlic and white wine sauce in a restaurant at the waterfront. On another day we visited the quaint fisherman’s village of Paternoster with its tiny white houses and colorful boats on the beach for a light lunch in the local hotel. This is lobster country and there we purchased 40 Cape lobster tails and that evening we braaied them, and together with garlic bread and several salads we ate like kings and drank Graca Rosé and although I am not a great lover of Rosé wines, I must admit the wine was a perfect pairing for the rich seafood, not sweet, no hint of heavy acidity, just a perfect balance. I contributed by making a pre-dinner guacamole dip and a Middle Eastern inspired couscous salad.

Koningskos - Kaapse Kreefsterte en Knoffelbrood

During the trip through the Boland we never visited any wine estates, that was still to come, but while we were in St. Helena Bay with all the braaing and eating taking place there were ample opportunities to savor some of the local wines and I especially enjoyed the slightly wooded Chardonnays from Darling Cellars and Durbanville Hills and the Shiraz from Thelema.

Maar alle goeie dinge kom tot ‘n einde en ons moes weer terug keer Kaapstad toe. Die wegbreek vakansie binne ‘n vakansie en die familie reunie was baie lekker en genotvol. Dit het goed gevoel om weer my kop te kon lig en die Suiderkruis te sien, om weer die Suidooster gevul met seelug te kon voel en proe op jou lippe, om weer die klemtone en die grappe uniek aan Afrikaans al rondom jou te kon hoor eggo. Dit was heeerlik om weer te kon smul aan Karoo skaaptjops en Grabouw boerewors gebraai op hout kole, en om weer kreef te kon eet (snoek was nêrens te vinde). Saans soos dit skemer geword het en die son agter die horison verdwyn het, en die vuur in die braaiplek sy kole begin maak het, en die flou branders op die strand uitgespoel het, was dit heerlik om te kon uitkyk oor die baai, te sit en sip aan ‘n Kaapse wyntjie en die dorpsliggies van Velddrif en Dwarskersbos in die verte te sien en die kaleidoskoop van die Weskus in my geheue te versteen.

Kreef bote op Paternoster Strand

Paternoster se kenmerkende huisies

St. Helenabaai - Die paadjie see toe

Recharging in Cape Town

2011-01-17T00:48:00.001-05:00

I needed a rest after a vacation in South Africa. I always feel I need another vacation after a vacation in South Africa. On the flight back to the USA it seems everyone else was in the same frame of mind.

After a hectic and busy 2010 we felt we needed a recharge of our battteries and in December we went on a vacation to Cape Town, South Africa. At times during the 28 hour trip (it felt like 36 hours) to Cape Town, Murphy, from Murphy's Law fame threaten to intervene. At Atlanta airport our flight to Washington’s Dulles was delayed for nearly 90 minutes when maintenance workers did a “scheduled maintenance”, as reported by the captain, to replace all the smoke detectors in the lavatories. I had to wonder how Delta organizes their operations because how can they possibly do a scheduled maintenance while the plane was fully loaded with passengers at the gate, ready to go. Don’t they give a shit about passengers having to make connection flights in other airports? This delay left us scrambling, running and racing against time when we got to Dulles airport to make our flight to Johannesburg. And we barely made it.

At Johannesburg airport general chaos reigned. No one from South African Airways seemed to be quite sure how the new computer system worked; lines (queues) were very long everywhere, passengers were naturally aggravated, and it took forever and a lot of running around to reload our luggage and get boarding passes for our flight to Cape Town. In the end I jumped the long lines by playing ignorant and booked in through the business class counter. The stormy weather around Johannesburg at the time also delayed our flight by more than an hour and we eventually had enough time to board the flight to Cape Town.

Rediscovery of the Overberg and the Boland

One of the objectives we hoped to achieve during our three and a half week vacation to Cape Town and the surrounding regions were to explore and reconnect with the areas we traveled often in the past when we lived there. We wanted to rediscover and appreciate the Cape’s beauty again, but we also wanted to be tourists and explore some new area that we never been to before.

On top of Sir Lowry's Pass looking back towards False Bay and Cape Town.

Two days after our arrival we started a little tour through the Overberg, Boland and Swartland regions of the Western Cape. Our first stop after crossing Sir Lowry’s Pass was Grabouw in the Elgin region of the Cape. In Grabouw we had a long talk with the butcher that makes the famous Grabouw boerewors (South Africa farmer’s sausage.) We stopped there with the specific intention to see if we can buy his spices for the sausage, but he didn’t want to hear anything about that. Initially! We told him we make our own homemade boerewors here in the States and we are not interested in ripping him off or stealing his recipe. We even showed him our American driver’s licenses and he eventually gave in and sold us about three quarter of a kilogram of spices. Spice Gold! He also gave me some tips on how to make the best boerewors and as close as one can get to a complete recipe of his famous sausage. Everything, except the ratios of the spices. Thank you, Johan.

Cape Dutch style architecture in Swellendam - The Rothman Manor House (1834)

Next we had breakfast at Peregrine padstal (a roadside stall) on koeksisters and meat pies and then we drove to Swellendam. This brought back many memories, because we stayed in Swellendam for 4 years during the 1980’s. It was here where I owned my first home and where my kids were born. After a walk through the town and appreciating the Cape Dutch style architecture and a light lunch we visited the Drostdy museum and had an enlightening talk with the curator of the museum.

In Swellendam's Old Drostdy Museum, an old, still working water mill, milling wheat to flour.

From Swellendam we drove to Montagu where we stayed at the 7 Church Street Guesthouse. The original plan was to drive from Swellendam to Barrydale via Suurbraak and the Tredouw Pass, and from there along the famous Route 62 to Montagu, but it was getting late in the afternoon and dark rain clouds have formed over the Langeberg mountains so we opted for plan B, a shorter drive directly to Montagu. The 7 Church Street Guesthouse proprietors were friendly people, it has a fantastic garden with nice rooms and nicely decorated too, but when nighttime came the noisy frogs were unwelcome. The overpowering sound of nature may be great to city dwellers, but it spoilt a goodnight sleep and we needed sleep. After the long flight and a hectic weekend we were still trying to recuperate from jetlag.

7 Church Street Guesthouse, Montagu - Manor house and garden

The next morning’s breakfast was top notch and it was the first time since 2006 that I ate British/South African style bacon again. The last time was in a small eatery around the corner from Kensington Palace in London. South African style bacon taste just soooo much better than the fatty bacon streaks we get in the USA.

From a lovely Montagu, which is surrounded by the dramatic towering mountain peaks of the Langeberg Mountains, we drove to McGregor, one of the few places in the world to lie directly on ley lines, and is considered a sacred place. I have read so much about McGregor in magazines and so many writers have raved about the little “jewel”, so I expected a lot, but it was a total waste of time. The place was windblown, dusty and dead, certainly not much to write about. Maybe I just didn’t feel the “natural energy” or the “spirituality” of the place. We drove back to Robertson after less than an hour, where we spent a while sightseeing and then we took the long drive to Paarl via Worcester and the Du Toitskloof tunnel.

We overnight at the Goedemoed Country Inn just outside Paarl. The historic Cape Dutch house and adjacent garden rooms is situated on a working wine farm and it was marvelous to take an afternoon stroll through the vineyard. We also drove into Paarl to visit some old buildings like the Strooidak church. The church, built in the form of a Greek cross was completed in 1805 and is one of the oldest churches still in use in the Cape.

Rocking in Die Bôrdienghuis

The evening was one of the highlights of our vacation to the Cape. After our afternoon visit to Paarl and a walk through the vineyard we drove to Wellington, about 10 kilometers from Paarl for dinner and a live show of Jan Blohm, one of South Africa’s premier Rock singer/songwriters, and one of my favorite Afrikaans artists, in the Bôrdienghuis Teaterkafee in the Breytenbach Sentrum. The Sentrum is located in the house where the very famous South African author/poet/painter Breyten Breytenbach grew up. The dinner before the show was excellent, one of the best meals we would have in South Africa. Simple, rustic, and very flavorful; chicken pasta with basil pesto, sun dried tomatoes, zucchini and red peppers, great bread, and dessert was as traditional South African as you can get; Melktert with a fig dressing and pomegranate seeds. Koningskos for M, but I am not a great lover of melktert. Initially Blohm accompanied, as a backup guitarist, a new act on the Afrikaans music scene, Christoph Kotze, before he took the stage alone to rip through most of his well-known songs and many staaltjies (stories) about his life. At the midway break, it was very hot the evening and Blohm requested a break from the hot stage lights, when we stood in the gravel courtyard of the Sentrum and drank crisp Sauvignon Blanc white wine at tables made from old wine casks, I went “backstage” and introduced myself to Blohm and we had a nice chat about music, Bruce Springsteen, and living in America. Nice chap, very approachable.

The next morning after another fantastic South African breakfast at Goedemoed Inn we headed north through Wellington along Route 43 toward Bainskloof Pass. Bainskloof Pass, built by Andrew Bain in 1853, is regarded as one of the most beautiful and most rugged passes in South Africa. Although Paarl was getting ready for another hot sunny day, as we got closer to the Limiet Mountains the sky got cloudier, it became windier and eventually as we climbed higher into the mountain it started to rain. Certainly not the best weather for driving along a rugged mountain pass or for stopping at the few places that allow stopping along the very narrow and twisting road. That was really unfortunate because part of my plan to rather cross the Bainskloof Pass instead of taking the easier and faster Route 44 to Tulbagh was to see the unspoilt nature of fynbos and proteas in the higher elevations and in there, apart from the fact that Bainskloof Pass is the magnus opus of Bain’s several passes that he built around Cape Town, lies part of the area’s charm; the fact that so little has changed there since the mid-1800s.

After the Pass we continue on with Route 43 until it split off to Route 46, through the tiny hamlet of Wolsley until we got to Tulbagh, a most beautiful town lying in a bowl of the Winterhoek Mountain. I have never been to the 300-year old town of Tulbagh before and part of the appreciation of everything Cape Dutch, Tulbagh’s restored architecture in Church Street is an absolute must see. Especially if you visit the museum and see what it looked like after the great earthquake of 1969 and how it was restored now? It must have been a mammoth task to restore not only one of the Boland’s but also one of South Africa’s most beautiful and most historic streets. Strolling along Church Street is like walking through history.

Tulbagh's Church Street Collage:

Top left: An old wagon; Top right: De Oude Church (1743);

Bottom left: Old Parsonage (1765) The oldest parsonage in South Africa still in use as a parsonage; Bottom Right: House #14 (1892)

Lite is not always light

It was also in Tulbach at the Bravo café that we had one of our worse lunches. The service was terrible and M’s milkshake was nothing but flavored milk, no thickness and probably no ice cream. I ordered a “lite”, low alcohol beer but their idea of a light beer is a regular lager with ice cubes. We had to order our sandwiches three times because the girl kept on forgetting what we ordered. We did try to get lunch at other restaurants before we decided on the Bravo, but they were either fully booked or the establishment was not open for lunch and it was raining and we weren’t in the mood to run around in the rain. Also it was getting late and we still had to drive all the way to Citrusdal in the Olifants (Elephants) River valley where we would sleep over the night.

All I remembered of Citrusdal is the terrible state of the main street; full of potholes the size of sinkholes, and the rain. We arrived there early evening and it rained, all evening, all night, and it was still raining the next morning when we left again. Nevertheless, the hospitality at our family where we stayed was fantastic and very welcoming. The next morning we had to cross the Piekenierskloof in very thick mist and constant rain on our way to Piketberg. I shouldn’t really call it mist, we actual drove through rain-filled clouds that hugged the mountain like new lovers do when they embrace one another. At Piketberg we stopped to do some groceries shopping for the next 4 days at the beach in St. Helena Bay.

The impressive Dutch Reform Church in Swellendam

From Piketberg we would leave behind the green landscape of vineyards, olive trees, fruit farms and old Cape Dutch style houses of the Boland, and the golden brown landscape of freshly harvested wheat fields of the Overberg and the Swartland for a total different experience in the West Coast peninsula.

The past 3 days brought back many memories of places we’ve been before and created new memories of places we never saw before. We saw delightful vistas and spectacular panoramas along the country roads we traveled and stayed in historic houses that now serve as classic bed and breakfast establishments. We appreciated the architecture of the white Cape Dutch houses, and the Victorian and Edwardian style buildings where ever we went. We had lunch under old oak trees in Swellendam, dined on local delicacies like bobotie in Montagu and drank local wines where we could. We thoroughly enjoyed drinking green cream sodas and appletiser and grapetisers again, and eating koeksisters, biltong, curry pies and melktert. A trip well worth taking that left us with many happy memories.

Next post: The West Coast and its unique character.

Under the vineyard canopy at Goedemoed Country Inn in Paarl.

Blog Time Out

2010-10-19T22:39:00.001-04:00

persists...

Midweek Musical Muse: Neil Young Solo

2010-05-27T23:40:00.001-04:00

Going to a Neil Young concert is similar to buying a new Neil Young album. Unpredictable! You may or may not get what you expect. After attending one of his concerts this week I can say I mostly got what I thought I would get. It rocked OK!

Neil Young has produced nearly 50 albums stretching back to 1966 when he joined Buffalo Springfield and his catalog is wide, varied and unparalleled. Very few other rock ‘n’ roll artists can match him in output and the use of wide-ranging styles. The only one that comes to mind is Bob Dylan.

Young is mainly known for an acoustic folk and country rock, or a hard rock artist with the band Crazy Horse. But he has dabbled in blues, swing, rockabilly, electronic rock, alternative rock and grunge to mention a few.

Most people love music, but a small percentage will travel far and wide and, these days, pay large sums to see specific artists in concert.

My love for live performances developed when I lived for a while in a commune on a small farm in the northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, when places like Honeydew and Randpark Ridge were still sparsely populated and a place like the White Horse Inn was an out-of-the-way but very cool joint to spend Saturday afternoons listening to one-man bands in the bar.

Palace Theatre entrance. Check on the right who's coming in September.

There is something special about seeing and hearing music in action. Whether it is watching the Bolchoi Orchestra and Ballet Company performing Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, enjoying a casual dinner while being serenaded by Coenie De Villiers in a restaurant in Cape Town, or sitting all dressed up in evening wear at a black tie dinner watching Julio Iglesias cooing in our ears. But it is rock ‘n’ roll concerts that really tickle my fancy and over the years I have been very fortunate to see many legendary artists or bands live. Some highlights include the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, U2, Bruce Springsteen and Led Zeppelin (minus John Bonham). After Wednesday evening I can now add Neil Young to this list.

The Venue

Louisville’s Palace Theatre has been described as the “Jewel of the South” and the “finest theatre in the South”. Built in 1928 the theatre is throwback to another period in time with the ornate stone walls painted in cobalt blue, red and gold and a high vaulted ceiling covered with sculptured faces of historical persons. Inside the theatre it is quite spectacular. Built like a “Spanish courtyard” from the Baroque period, with motifs, arcades, balconies and a cobalt blue imitation nighttime skyline

Louisville Palace Theatre foyer

Louisville Palace Theatre lobby with its sculptured ceiling of historical figures

Inside the theatre with painted nighttime ceiling and many ornate features

The Show

Neil Young started off the evening on the acoustic guitar with the oldies My My Hey Hey, Tell Me Why and Helpless. Thereafter it was electric all the way and he changed instruments as regular as Lady Gaga changed outfits. One of the t-shirts for the Twisted Road Tour summed it up perfectly:

I said solo…They said acoustic

He launched into a trio of new and unreleased tunes I never heard but very much enjoyed with heavy bass pedal effects, especially Peaceful Valley, before he picked up Ol’ Black, his trusted Gibson Les Paul guitar for Hitch Hiker, Ohio and a few other tunes. Then he switched to the upright piano for Leia, to the pump organ for After The Gold Rush and to the grand piano for I Believe In You. Then it was back to electric for some more oldies like Cinnamon Girl and Cortez The Killer. For the encore he performed another new song Walk With Me. All-in-all a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable evening. Now Mr. Young, keep on rocking and don't you dare retire next year to draw social security.

Neil Young on stage with wooden Indian decoration as solitary company

(Picture by Tracy Woodward)

If I can level some criticism then it is about the length of the show, or rather how short it was. Only 90 minutes and less than 20 songs. I see on blogs some people are complaining about the ticket cost and at $175 a ticket it was an expensive night out on the town, but both M and I really wanted to see Neil Young live. Cost was never really a consideration. And hey, the place was packed to the rafters, or rather to the blue painted ceiling.

Another check on the Bucket list!

Although several videos about his current tour are already available on Youtube, including some of the new material, I'll leave you with a 1971 classic, one of my favorites and some brilliant acoustic guitar playing.

Pictures: Except where mentioned from Google and yahoo! images.

What's Up For Gordon Brown?

2010-05-24T23:39:00.004-04:00

The axe in British politics is like the executioner’s chop during the reign of Henry VIII, swift and brutal. In recent weeks we have seen this happened again tp Dr. Gordon Brown. Within 30 minutes he moved from the highest office in the land and a chance to survive as Prime Minister of a coalition to a commoner when the Liberal Democrats decided they rather want to work with David Cameron's Conservatives than with the Labour Party.

The Conservative newspaper, The Sun, never known for its high ethics in diplomacy and never shy for publicity, showed how ruthless the British press can be by running an article with a headline like this.

But what happens to ex-British Prime Ministers? In the USA, recent Republican Presidents wrote their memoirs and fade away. Ronald Reagan retired to California, George H Bush, #41, retired to spend his time between Houston, TX and his beach house in Maine and jump out of airplanes of course, and George W Bush, #43, retired to Dallas and is seldom heard off…so far...let’s hope it continue. Democrat Presidents went on to have active roles after office. Jimmy Carter became more active, and more loved, after office than when in office. He was extremely active as election observer all over the world, and charity work in many part of Africa. Bill Clinton is still going strong and has hardly left the spotlight since leaving office, being active in his foundation and being the UN ambassador for Haiti.

Gordon Brown left 10 Downing Street for his North Queensferry Home in Fife. Not too shabby.

It is not much different for British Prime Ministers. A true mixed bag. Recent Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair finds it hard to retire. He had aspirations to become the first European President, but in the end pulled out when the job description was watered down to a barely-something job. He is still very active as a Middle East peace envoy, does lectures and gives advice to investment bankers, and organizes faith-based organizations.

[Basically a nice high-paid jet-set life.]

The last Conservative PM John Major retired quietly to devote his life to his first love, cricket. His predecessor Margaret Thatcher found it harder to leave the political arena and tried for some time to direct the Conservative Party from the backseat before becoming a Baroness and taking up a seat in the House of Lords.

And although David Cameron's London home looks like a normal, average English row house, he, and his wife comes from very wealthy families.

So what’s up for Gordon Brown? At 59, he will stay on as a Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath in Scotland, but I hardly think he will want to listen to local complaints the whole day.

[Probably call them bigots.]

The Cameron's country home in Oxforshire. During the recent expense claims scandal in Britian it was announced that Dave Cameron claimed $21,000 per year from the government for mortgage payments, while he is worth an estimated $20-30 million.

Will Brown become a sulking backbencher like Edward Heath? (Heath became the “longest sulk” after he lost his party’s leadership to Margaret Thatcher.) Brown was a former university rector at Edinburgh so he can return to education and he did play a major role in world economics for 10 years as Chancellor of the Exchequer and 5 years before that as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. A top position in world economics or finance is not ruled out, although he did say he does not want to work in the business world. But it will not be the first time he said he will not do something and turn around and do exactly what he said he won’t. (He said before becoming Prime Minister that he will not use Chequers, the country estate for British PMs, for weekend retreats, and then shortly after becoming PM he started to use it extensively for the very purpose.)

[Once a politician always a politician.]

David Cameron's first cabinet. For a politician that sold himself as progressive I was rather surprised to see so few women in his cabinet. A paltry 4 out of 30 members.

[The more things change the more they stay the same]

Heading image: Executioner's axe in the London Tower

Pictorials From Around The World

2010-05-19T15:32:00.001-04:00

Mother...you left me/but I never left you - John Lennon, Mother.

Event: A Supporter from the Ivory Coast before their match against Ghana during the Afican Nations Cup.

Location: Angola.

Picture by: Reuters

They say in the East they will move anything on two wheels.

Two guys, a cell phone and a live & kicking water buffalo going to the "market"

Location: Vietnam.

Picture by: Mark Armstrong from Wales

If you follow me obediently I won't have to use this noose

Event: Emperor penguins following a researcher on sea ice

Location: McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

Picture: James Pinchin of Barnstaple, Devon, England

Oh Really! An interesting concept for men.

Location: Interstate 95 in Florida, USA

Picture by: Peter Hoyles

Just a minute boys! Hang on! I really don't like water and prefer trees.

Event: An orangutan near the village of Bukit Lawang in Sumatra being moved back to the forest from a rehabilitation centre. Sometimes orangutans who have been set free are caught sneaking back to the centre in search of human food.

Location: Sumatra

Picture by: Pete Andrew from Wirral, Merseyside, UK.

This is so applicable for the northern hemisphere winter of 2009/2010 when the weather was very unpredicable.

Location: Eastbourne

Picture by: David Lees

Alexandra Hotel: 5 star accommodation, newly renovated just in time for the Soccer World Cup in South Africa.

Location: Alexandra Township near Johannesburg, South Africa

Nearby attractions include an open air barber shop and a streetside games room for dominoes.

Location: Alexandra Township near Johannesburg, South Africa

While visiting South Africa please make time to experience the local version of a poolside BBQ.

Location: Somewhere in South Africa (certainly not everywhere)

And finally

The poster says it all!

Location: Bequia, Caribbean

Picture by: Alex Michaelis

The Mean Streets of South Africa

2010-05-16T23:51:00.001-04:00

I don't want to be cynical or break the country down (there are enough blogs doing that on a daily basis), but it is stories like these from Australia's Channel 7 that makes you wonder how successful the FIFA World Cup in South Africa will be from a gaining-in-foreign-currency point of view. I can imagine that many who watch stories like these will not be traveling to South Africa.

SuperSport Super Disdainful

2010-05-05T11:17:00.003-04:00

SuperSport.com’s weekly’s Super Wrap is probably one of the most read rugby blog posts, especially among South African expatriates. The reason is simple: It is from a South African point of view. One can read the same stuff on rugbyrugby.com or rugbyheaven.com.au or .nz, but The Wrap has always been good and, in my mind, always fair and balanced. This week’s comments though totally rubbed me up the wrong way and it seems a few others too:

Apologies to our overseas readers - the video rights only extend through Africa.
To the ex-pats - you should have stayed here...

I completely understand the issue about copyrights and that SuperSport can only show the videos in Africa and the unavailability of the videos has never been an issue to me. But to make a statement like that about the ex-pats???? Come on, you have always been better than that...

For emigrants like me, I rather live without your videos than to live in a constant state of criminal and racial war. Thank you but no thank you. But for the thousands of South Africans living and working temporary abroad, who are also ex-pats, that sentence was a smack in the face.

To the Gavin Rich’s and Brendan Nel’s of this world (it seems they are the main writers these days at SuperSport): Get out of your “laer” mentality and embrace the fact that we are all living in a big global village these days. People are living and working all over the world without denouncing their culture. And secondly, based on the comments below, make sure with your technical team that your website actually functions as advertised. To say you have videos and then it doesn’t actually works inside South Africa or your copyright area is pathetic. It seems that both the Super Wrap writers and the website personnel are getting sloppy and down right derogatory and disdainful.

Here are a few comments copied from Super Wrap about that dreaded statement.

• by Freddy May 5, 2010 07:47 GMT

Anybody else have the error message when viewing videos on SuperSports site: Cannot access the resource file?
And it''s not like I''m accessing from overseas, I''m in JHB? What should I do?

• by Neef Mytros May 5, 2010 08:08 GMT

Ag nee wraggies. Hey Supersport! Get off your arses and get the video rights. I bet 60% of your readership are based overseas. And we can''t follow the games on TV like the locals. And your sanctimonious tone is not appreciated either. It''s not as if we ever had a choice.

• by VIC May 5, 2010 09:12 GMT

Hey supersport the only people living in SA that look at this web site either have nothing to do or dont have M-Net. Its us ex pats that use this the most wake up and have a shot if the coffee doesnt work.

Now look after your ex pat support base

• by Michael May 5, 2010 09:56 GMT

Supersport stop jerking around and let us ex-pats working in Afghanistan on contract work also see the video''s!

• by @Supersport May 5, 2010 11:35 GMT

@ Supersport - Why are you guys scratching where it does not itch? Sitting in P.E. and cannot view the videos.

You guys seriously need new Web administrators. Obviously your new idea was not tested!
Govt incompetence now filtering down to the private sector! Sigh!!!

Notes: SuperSport logo is used courtesy of www.supersport.com.

Kindle Me!

2010-04-25T18:42:00.001-04:00

One the better presents I got lately was an Amazon Kindle 2. What I like about the idea of the Kindle is the fact that I don’t have a stack of books on my bedside table anymore. (Well, fewer books.) Nor do I have to travel with one or two bulky paperbacks anymore. Just a thin electronic pad.

I am one of those that use any opportunity I get to read and I can’t go to sleep without reading. Since I can remember I have always been a reader. Anything! I guess if I get bored enough I will even read the yellow pages and a dictionary. And if I was reading only one book at a time it would have been still good, but I don’t.

I mostly read fictions, biographical and subject-specific books, and periodicals (National Geographic, Time, etc.). I am currently reading the second of the trilogy of books from Stieg Larsson about Lisbeth Salander, an anorectic, tattooed girl, a computer hacker with a kick-ass attitude and a photographic memory. (The 3rd, “The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest” will be available on the Kindle in May.) But I am also reading The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli and the biography of Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman (in book form.)

Which make me wonder; why are so many of us fascinated by fiction. Why do we want to read what others write, even if we know their stories aren’t true? Or even if they are biographical in nature, why do we want to know other people’s thoughts and what they experienced? It is one the mysteries of the humanities and simultaneously the beauty of literature.

Apart from fewer books around, I also like the near instant, wireless download aspect of the Kindle. Using the cell phone network to enable ordering and downloads was an excellent idea. And so quick! Even an IT guy like me is baffled by Amazon’s ability to download a complete book in less than 5 seconds.

With e-book sales up 176% from 2008 to 2009*, I am not saying paper-based books are dead. Even with this month’s release of Apple’s iPad I don’t think books are dead. They may be dying…slowly, but it won’t be soon.

I will certainly play around and study the iPad when I get the opportunity, and even think of buying when the 2nd or 3rd release become available (first releases are always rushed to market and never that good all round), but for now, between my Kindle and my Blackberry I have nearly all of my mobile needs satisfied. I have my books, my phone, my calendar, email, SMS, a browser, even an English-Spanish translator, a calculator, a note book, an alarm clock, and many more apps that I don’t even use.

Kindle me! I love it!

* Source: Time Magazine, May 3, 2010

The Simplicity of Meat, Bread and Wine

2010-04-24T20:55:00.000-04:00

It is nearing the end of April and at last I got the chance to get out to the garden to do the usual spring cleanup. I started off a bit late this year because we were completing a kitchen renovation and a face lift for the family room (more about that and its associated frustrations in a future post) and because of business travels. Although I was stiff and sore and a little sunburned as well, it felt good to be out in the sun again after the long, cold winter months.

But after a hard day’s work there are few things as nice as a relaxing barbeque on the porch, watching the sun set and a few sips…glass or two, from a bottle of good wine.

In recent months I have increasingly focus on finding and buying French wines. The reasons are twofold: I am reading up more about France, its tourist attractions, wine regions, etc., because we are dreaming about a vacation there in the near future, and secondly, with a favorable Dollar/Euro exchange rate lately, more affordable French wines are appearing on wine shelves. Buying French and Italian wines are not always easy because of the foreign language label, the fact that they do not sell their wine by cultivar and the fact that I do not know the French terroirs that well. So I can’t always tell what exactly I am buying. But that is part of the fun, isn’t, not knowing what you will drink until you open it. And, how else will I learn about their wines without buying blind and tasting it. After all, I am not buying in the $50+ a bottle range. Well, sometimes, but when I buy to try I am a strict $20 and below guy.

I recently purchased a few bottles of French wines, mostly reds from Bordeaux (familiar style because South African blends are similar and they are more readily available here), from Burgundy 2 whites and 2 Pinot Noirs and a red each from the Côtes-du-Rhône and Languedoc-Rousillon appellations.

(Right: The clay and limestone soil of the Lirac appellation.)

[Personally I think South African winemakers during the 1960 have made a slight miscalculation on the long term to so faithfully copy, on a large scale, and to persist until today, with Bordeaux style blends. This prohibited the development of a unique South African blend that could have served them well with their re-entry into the world wine market after 1994. The Australians saw such an opportunity with their Syrah (or Shiraz) and South Africa could have promoted their unique Pinotage to the same level. I know it is being done now more often but it will take years if not decades for wine writers and drinkers to establish a Pinotage-based blend as a wine with the same reputation as a Bordeaux or a Chianti. Well…I doubt it will ever get to that standard but at least to the Syrah-based blends.]

I will readily admit that I am not very familiar with wines from the Rhône appellation. That is apart from the South African version Goats do Roam in Villages. It is my understanding that many of the Rhône reds are not always barreled and that most are associated with Syrah or Grenache or a blend thereof.

So with a few lamtjoppies on the grill and a semi-homemade Mediterranean focaccia warming up in aluminum foil I opened a Chateau de Ségriès Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge 2008 and was pleasantly impressed with this $10 wine.

The vineyard at Chateau De Segries

Chateau de Ségriès is owned and operated by Henri de Lanzac and his family since 1994. The Chateau is located in Lirac, on the western side of the Rhône River just across from the more famous Chateauneuf du Pape appellation, and northwest of the once-upon-a-time-papal-city of Avignon. The soil at Chateau de Ségriès is a mix of clay and limestone. The clay keeps the soil warm, pushing ripeness and concentration, while the limestone contributes mineral vibrancy and aroma. Mature Grenache and Syrah vines, on average 30 years old, ensure that the wine coupled with low yields account for the deep color and concentrated black cherry flavors.

2008 Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge is made from 50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 10% Cinsault and 10 % Carignan. Only 10% comes from spending a short time in barrels. The rest matured in stainless steel tanks.

The wine is dark red in the glass with lots of fruit and vanilla on the nose. In the mouth it is full and surprisingly round and smooth for a young wine. Tannins are light, and it ends off mildly peppery and spicy on the tongue. Here is the surprise for me: It doesn’t taste like a French wine, more American or Australian, certainly New World style, medium-bodied, easy to drink and it will compliments most meals, not just meat dishes. Hence, the wine was a good companion for the lamb chops but an even better companion for the rich and vibrant Mediterranean tastes of the toppings on the bread.

Now, the focaccia I used, bought at a local grocery store, is not the sometimes crispy-on-the-outside and chewy-on-the-inside kind you get in Italian restaurants and then dip in olive oil and/or balsamic vinegar, but an already baked, one inch thick flatbread topped with a little parmesan cheese and mildly flavored with either garlic, olives or jalapeno chilies. The one I use was garlic flavored, but too bland for my taste and I then topped it with the following layers:

- ½ cup of Cucina Toscana Kalamata olives bruschetta (excellent stuff), but any tomato-based bruschetta with do
- Thin slices of tomato
- Garlic and onion powder
- ¼ cup of Paesana’s exotic marinated mushrooms in oil (drained on kitchen paper and chopped) or any other marinated mushrooms
- A hand full of sliced black olives
- More shredded parmesan cheese
- And finally, lots of fresh basil strips and some dried rosemary and oregano
The bread comes in an aluminum foil pan and I just cover it with more aluminum foil made into a tent, and then put it in a lukewarm area on the grill, away from the chops, where it slowly warms and melt the cheese while I grill the chops.

Sometimes, a simple meal of meat, bread and wine is the best meal you can have.

Nuwe Toevoeging Tot Die Familie

2010-04-20T22:20:00.000-04:00

Om 7.54 vm vanoggend het die familie hier in Amerika ’n nuwe toevoeging gehad om die familienaam voort te dra. Genaamd Ian, die kleinseun het in geweeg teen 7.10 lb / 3.2 kg.

Hulle sê, ek is tans in Mexico, hy lyk glo nes die pa en oupa (net meer hare), maar dit moet seker maar die familie gelaatstrekke wees wat deur slaan. Ek self kon nog nooit die kuns aanleer om babas met grootmense se gelaatstrekke te vergelyk nie. Babas is babas. Almal lyk min of meer dieselfde.

Nietemin, Welkom Ian.

[Oupa sal hom moet leer om 'n liefde te ontwikkel vir rugby...maar net kyk...die gespeel daarvan laat te veel arthritis gebeendere as 'n legacy.]

Het sekerlik meer hare as ek.

Ousus Marley kyk verwonderend na die nuwe boetie.

Haar middagete in die agtergrond is totaal en al vergete.

(Sy het glo vroeer die week vir Ouma gesê sy het twee nuwe “blothers”...Baby Ian and baby blother)

Midweek Musical Muse VI - A Fusion of Sound

2010-04-14T14:44:00.002-04:00

Fusion, not the nuclear or computer type, but music, is when two or more genres are combined to create a new genre, often in a free-form musical improvisation style.

There are many different fusion genres. Think of the Blues-rock of Stevie Ray Vaughen and Double Trouble, or the Jazz-flavored R&B of Steely Dan, but mostly, one thinks of the many jazz-fusion music projects that was produced during the 70’s. Bands like Weather Report, Chick Corea’s Return to Forever (I was so fortunate to see them in the 80’s in the formerly known Nico Malan theater in Cape Town), John McLaughlin’s The Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Pat Metheny Group, Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and the many projects that Billy Cobham was involved with, most notably and the excellent, Alivemutherforya, with Steve Khan and Alphonso Johnson.

The pianist, Eumir Deodato was one of those fusion artists of the 70’s, although I only discovered him in the early 80’s, that had a great impact on me and my love for the fusion genre. Although his first album in 1973, Prelude, was a big success, his 1978 album, Love Island, is my favorite Deodato album. The way he mashes Latin, Caribbean and Jazz sounds always transfer me any island in the sun.

Here is the very well known Super Strut from Deodato’s second album, Deodato 2.

Just Vriet en Suip in the Cape

2010-04-08T10:22:00.000-04:00

In a recent survey done in South Africa by Discovery Vitality it found that Cape Town is the unhealthiest city in South Africa. Johannesburg was the healthiest.

This begs the questions: Does more stress due to living in Johannesburg contributes to the health of its citizens? More carjacking = less eating? More crime = faster running between car and house?

From personal experience I know that every time I go back for a vacation it is just vriet en suip in the Cape. Ko os mak a dop en a tjop. pêl.

But I have to admit, vacations in Cape Town are some of the best vacations I ever had.

Spring's Here!!!

2010-03-26T00:44:00.000-04:00

Well, the Narcissus think so!

Midweek Musical Muse V - Musiek Tussen Die Spore

2010-03-24T01:16:00.000-04:00

Elke land of taalgroup het sy veelsydige artieste. Mense was uitblink in verskeie kunsvorms soos sing, dans, teater, film, televisie, ensovoorts. Om ’n lewe daaruit te maak hang partykeer af van die aantal mense wat die taal praat en verstaan of die land se bevolkingsgroote.

[Hoe groter die taalgroup hoe groter die kans op sukses?]

Om ’n bestaan te kan maak in Suid Afrika as ’n kustenaar in Afrikaans was nog altyd meer van ’n liefdessaak as ’n hoogs kommersieele nastrewing. Afrikaans is ‘n klein taaltjie in vergelyking met Engels of Spaans. Dis waarom veelsydigheid amper ’n vereiste is om brood op die tafel te sit. Nie dat almal arm is nie, maar geen kan kan met Cher vergelyk word, wat kommersieel hoogs suksesvol is en met ‘n Academy Award (Oscar), ‘n Grammy, ‘n Emmy en drie Golden Globe Awards en vele ander toekennings kan spog. Daardie tipe wereld wye ster status van veelsydigheid te same met kommersieele sukses is raar.

Ek weet nie wat se kommersieele sukses Richard van der Westhuizen behaal het nie, maar ek glo dat veelsydigheid bygedra het tot sy vermoë om ’n bestaan te kon maak as ’n hoogs suksesvolle en baie invloedryke Afrikaanse kunstenaar oor dertig jaar. Richard speel toneel: In teater, televisie, films en radio het hy saam met Afrikaans se grootste akteurs en aktrieses opgetree. Hy is groot in oorklanking na Afrikaans. Hy maak musiek, alleen of saam met Lochner De Kock en Andrew Roos of saam met Anton Goosen, Piet Botha en Andre Swiegers as 4. En hy is betrokke by musiekteater saam met Karen Wessels en Anneke Visagie.

Op al die gebiede het Richard van der Westhuizen tot dusver diep spore gelaat in Afrikaans en Suid Afrika.

The Feathered Hat

2010-03-18T08:11:00.000-04:00

When I saw this picture of Queen Elizabeth with all its earthy colors and the feathered hat which looked like someone squashed a big fat hairy spider on it, I wondered:

1) Was she pissed off because someone in a high pitched voice, while frantically pointing, made a remark about a spider on her hat?

2) Was she walking her beloved dogs and just realized she stepped in a pile of dog shit and is afraid to look down?

3) Is that how President Zuma dresses for a visit to England? For God’s sake it’s winter here!

4) Was that last fart a wet one?

Danville Becomes Wet

2010-03-02T23:19:00.000-05:00

Danville voted YES to become wet!!!

Prohibition in America ended in 1933 on a federal level, but the Twenty-first Amendment still allow states the right to restrict or ban the sale of alcohol and many states or towns still do. Others like Kentucky, over years of gradual repeals and loosen restrictions by area created an ugly quilt of laws that led to the creation of wet or dry or moist counties and towns across Kentucky. And in several other states across America for that matter.

In 2003 Danville voters selected to end the town’s dry status and to become “moist”, thus allowing the sale and purchase of liquor in restaurants under certain conditions.

Today the voters were back at the ballot box and voted to become wet, thus allowing liquor stores to be open and freely sell beer, wine and liquor and no restrictions on restaurants that alcohol sales must be less than 30% of their total sales.

Good ole democracy at work. Allowing responsible people their civil right of trade and not having a government law defining morality.

So being a Yes-man today I say thank you to all the other Yes voters for normalizing a perfectly accepted practice of allowing those that want to buy a perfectly legal product in their own town and not having to drive to another county or town.

Next is for the state of Kentucky to enter the 21st Century proper and repeal the restriction of alcohol sales and purchases over the Internet.

Election results: Yes vote: 57% No vote: 43%.

Related Article: Kentucky’s Archaic Alcohol Laws

Midweek Musical Muse IV - Coming Back To Life

2010-02-24T23:27:00.003-05:00

"Coming Back To Life"

Where were you when I was burned and broken

While the days slipped by from my window watching

Where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless

Because the things you say and the things you do surround me

While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words

Dying to believe in what you heard

I was staring straight into the shining sun

Lost in thought and lost in time

While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted

Outside the rain fell dark and slow

While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime

I took a heavenly ride through our silence

I knew the moment had arrived

For killing the past and coming back to life

I took a heavenly ride through our silence

I knew the waiting had begun

And headed straight..into the shining sun

Pink Floyd

A Pictorial Walk Along Paseo Santa Lucia

2010-02-20T00:05:00.118-05:00

I planned to spend all Sunday in my hotel room in Monterrey, Mexico. I had some work to do and outside it was overcast and cool, but by 1 PM the room’s 4 walls made me feel claustrophobic. I felt had to get out, so I drove to Fundidora Park for a stroll along the Paseo Santa Lucia.

The water passage snakes its way from Fundidora Park to the History Museum in the city center. It is about a 2 mile walk from the park to the city. I never planned to walk all the way, but I eventually did and back. All credit to the designers of the waterway because they keep one wondering what is around the next corner.

The Old and The New

At the entrance to the park with the Business Center in the background.

Curves and Lines

The Holiday Inn at Fundidora Park, Monterrey, Mexico.

A series of murals made with byzantine stone and marble.

Designed by Gerardo Cantu

Made by Migual Angel Cantu and David Gerstein

Top: Spring Stolen Kiss

Middle: Steeplechase

Bottom: The Little Horse

On the left: Stoneman. Artist unknown

On the right: Beatriz Del Carmen & Jose Luis Cuevas by Jose Luis Cuavas, 2008

The Spiral. Artist unknown.

I eventually ended up in the city center at the back of the Museum for Mexican History (see previous post). At the restaurant on the left, Tenerias, I had a light late lunch before I walked back to the park.

The Mexican-American War

2010-02-19T11:10:00.002-05:00

About a year or two ago the Museum for Mexican History opened a second wing across the Paseo Santa Lucia. I had a visit to the new wing in mind when I knew I was going to stay over a weekend in Monterrey, Mexico.

On Saturday I headed for the city center. After a brief walk through the old part of the museum where nothing has changed much since my last visit several years ago, I cross to the new wing via a glass-enclosed bridge. The content of the new wing is nearly totally dedicated to the history of northeast Mexico where Monterrey is located and the influence of the southern United States on this region.

Museum for Mexican History with the original musuem building on the left and the new wing on the right, which look like uneven stacked concrete blocks on top of each other.

As with nearly all museums in Mexico the taking of photos is strictly forbidden and enforced. Around just about every corner and in every nook and cranny a museum employee was lurking. The place is certainly a great employer seeing that so many people stand around to prevent damage to exhibitions and people taking photos, or they are just very protective of their content. Because I brought my camera with and no bag to put it in and had to carry it in the open, I was approached by about 5 people to tell me no picture please. Quite ridiculous!

Nevertheless, what I took from my visit was that the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 had a much bigger impact on both countries than what I previously thought. Granted, I knew about the war and about the Texas annexations of 1845, but the new wing of the museum focused a large section on this war I knew little about.

By 1846 several factors were on the mind of President James K Polk, 11th President of the USA (1845-1849). Foremost was the territorial expansion of the USA. Polk was a great supporter of the Manifest Destiny, which in the 19th century, prescribed that the USA had a right, even divinely, to expand across the whole North American continent, including Canada, Mexico and Central American territory. The 1845 Texan annexation got the ball of the war rolling. The Mexican government never recognized the Texas declaration of independence of 1836 and had always maintained that there will be war if the USA annexed Texas. But Mexico never had a chance. Small American forces quickly overtook California from the north, General Zachary Taylor cross the Rio Grande to fight Mexican forces around Monterrey and others under General Scott landed on the Mexican Gulf at Veracruz and marched from there to Mexico City, on the way they routed the Mexican forces.

Eventually, with most of its cities occupied and American forces camping out on the lawn of the Presidential palace, the Mexican government had little choice but to agree to peace and “sell” most of their territory. For a mere $18 million dollars (about half a billion in today’s money) the Mexican government signed away a whopping 55% of its country and enlarged the USA by 33%. The USA got all the modern day states of California, Utah, Nevada, and large parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. Furthermore, the USA now got complete control over Texas and established the border at the Rio Grande. Proof again, that one does not have much negotiating room with a gun to one’s head.

On the other hand, the more things change the more they stay the same, because border issues between the USA and Mexico, granted, with slightly different circumstances, are still with us today, just like 160 years ago.

After my Mexican history lesson and intellectual stimulation I played the tourist, snapping away pictures of statues, buildings and general scenery while slowly making my way back to my parked car down Dr Goss Avenue. I walked passed El Neuquen, an Argentinean restaurant that makes excellent empanadas and the best chimichurri sauce. My mouth watered, but my car was metered-parked and I had no more small coins left to extend the time limit, and it was still only 4:30 PM, not dinner time yet. Too early for dinner in Mexico!

I came cross the tiny church as I meandered my way back from the Museum to my car.

The tiny church has the loveliest name: Capilla de los Dulces Nombres (Chapel of the Sweet Names)

A view of Monterrey's Macro Plaza from the Mexican History Museum with the Justice Palace on the right, the statue of Benito Pablo Juárez García, Mexico's first Amerindian President (1858-1872) in front of the Palace and on the left, the high clock tower of the Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Roble.

Monterrey skyline with its layers of mountains surrounding it.

Midweek Musical Muse III

2010-02-17T21:17:00.000-05:00

Ter herdekking van Valiant Swart se 20ste jaar op die verhoog.

As een van dié wat vroeg met die Voëlvry beweging van die laat-tagtiger jare inklank gevind het, het Valiant nie net musikaal oorleef nie, maar ontwikkel en gegroei tot ’n welbekende naam in Afrikaanse musiek sedert daardie Dorpstraat en studentekroeë dae.

The House Of Big Reds

2010-02-04T01:05:00.002-05:00

In general, it seems that American wine drinkers have something against clarets or blended wines. That is one of the conclusions I can extract from the fact that so few blended wines are on retail shelves. It is as if they think that a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Merlot was not good enough to stand by itself as a varietal so the winemaker had to add other cultivars to improve the primary cultivar. Well yeah…that’s what it’s all about! Making it better! It is about getting the best out of the grapes. That’s what the French do when they blend their Bordeaux wines (almost all wines in Bordeaux are blended) and the Italians do when they blend Chiantis, etc.

Of course, demographics also play a part and it could be that where I usually buy my wine clarets just don’t sell well, hence the limited stocks.

A third possibility is that until 1988 most wines in America were labeled after the primary grape cultivar that it was made of, i.e. Zinfandel, Merlot, etc. Then The Meritage Association was created by a group of Californian winemakers who wanted to make wine in the old world Bordeaux style. For marketing purposes they could not use the word Bordeaux and selected Meritage that combines “merit” and “heritage” - reflecting the quality of the grapes and the ancient art of blending wine.

The Food

Outside a 5 inch layer of fresh snow has fallen through the night and now blankets the earth in a cuddly embrace. The perfect day, after some snow shoveling to clear the driveway, for a Daube de boeuf a la Provence (French beef stew with strong overtones of herbs from Provence). I didn’t use any specific recipe, but it had all the ingredients of a classic beef stew: onions, garlic, tomatoes, carrots, celery, mushrooms, potatoes and a good helping of herbs de Provence (savory, fennel seeds, basil, thyme, and lavender flowers.) However, instead of using red wine as is the custom, I used a bottle of Amstel Lager Light to provide the liquid. The beer makes the stew lighter in taste and the vegetables, especially the carrots, are slightly more prominent. Red wine usually overrides the total taste of a Provençal stew, and I wanted the herbs to be the stars of the dish. In the end I suppose it was a semi-Flemish beef stew infused with French herbs. Nevertheless, it was potjiekos and a perfect opportunity to open a recently purchased St. Francis 2005 Sonoma Claret.

The House of Big Reds

In the past 30 years St. Francis Winery has build up a reputation among the wine media as The House of Big Reds. Located in the heart of Sonoma County, California, it produces bold, full-bodied wines that over deliver on flavor while not hurting your pocket. Nearly all their wines retail for under $20 although it taste like $50 wines.

St. Francis Winery

In 1971 Joe Martin acquired the 100-acre Behler Ranch vineyard (with grapes original planted in 1910) in Sonoma County in the historic town of Kenwood, halfway between the towns of Santa Rosa and Sonoma on the Sonoma Highway/Highway 12. The winery is squeezed between the Sugarloaf Ridge State Park in the east and the Annadal State Park in the west, in the upper part of the Sonoma Valley, a region sometimes called the Valley of the Moon.

In 1972 Lloyd Canton joined Joe Martin in a partnership and they grew grapes and sold their fruit to local wineries. But in 1979 they established their own winery named after Saint Francis of Assisi. Since then they have steadily added more vineyards in the Sonoma and surrounding area and today the St. Francis winery have four vineyards: The original Behler Vineyard in the upper Sonoma Valley floor; the Wild Oak Vineyard in the Sonoma Valley; Nuns Canyon Vineyard in the Mayacamas Mountains, and Lagomarsino Vineyard just east of the Russian River Valley.

Over the years St. Francis has built up a solid reputation of producing wines of depth, complexity and elegance under the leadership of cellar master Tom Mackey. Accolades would follow: “Master of Merlot” (Wine Spectator), Tom Mackey as “International Red Winemaker of the Year” (at the 2001 London International Wine Challenge), “Number One Zinfandel in the World” (Wine Spectator), “California’s Hottest Winery” (Robert Parker), etc. Their wines are available in the best restaurants in America, and have been served at the White House by four American Presidents.

The Claret

The 2005 Claret is crafted from Cabernet Sauvignon (72%), Merlot (26%) and Cabernet Franc (2%). The color was a beautiful shiny dark red with light purple notes on top. Held against the light of the fading afternoon sun it looked like a dark ruby. On the nose the aroma was overwhelmingly fruity with faint hints of spiciness, oak, and a little smokiness from the Merlot. The taste did not disappoint. On the palate it started off smooth and fully flavored with lots of plum and berries and I also taste a little licorice. It is a medium-bodied wine with complex fruitiness, but well-balanced between the tannins and the oak. Initially the tannins were very bold with a dry-ish finish, but after a bit of air and a bit of warming up in the glass (it was stored at 55 degrees Fahrenheit) it smoothed out to a rich, semi-velvety finish with a hint of almonds in the after taste.

This is a true Bordeaux style wine and reminds me a lot of Nederburg Edelrood and the other well-blended reds from the Cape of Good Hope (among other the never-fail Chateau Libertas), but “the Rood” is usually a bit smoother and a full-bodied wine. Nevertheless, this is a classic Californian Meritage wine, which, as with many Californian wines, probably have a higher alcohol level than most Bordeaux wines and is made to drink immediately.

For the price ($17) St. Francis 2005 Claret is a well-crafted and excellent value for money wine. Highly recommended and I would also recommend to decanter 45 minutes before drinking.

BTW. I have noticed that St. Francis have a new claret on the market, simply and appropriately called RED. This wine is made in the “reverse” Bordeaux style with 48% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Syrah, 3% Zinfandel and 6 % Mixed Blacks (Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Alicante, Malbec). I can already imagine the overload on fruit flavors and spicy aromas.

Happy tasting!

Midweek Musical Muse II

2010-01-27T01:19:00.001-05:00

Everybody’s favorite Glaswegian, with his Italian name, Scottish accent and Bob Dylan look and feel.

Maximum Retro

2010-01-22T23:50:00.043-05:00

Is the innovation in car design dead? Or is retro simply something that designers have used throughout a century or more of car design.

Some will say the last decade was a golden age of design. Audi and BMW from Europe and Cadillac from America produced truly sculptured cards. Others will say the myriad of different shapes and styles we had in the late fifties and early sixties were better. Sure they were oversized gas-guzzlers, but they were all unique. In between we had the boxy cars of the seventies, eighties and the nineties. So what will the next decade’s cars look like?

Will all future cars look the same? Will brand loyalty and customer service be the only differentiators. It looks like the 3 cars below, the Opel Corsa, the Renault Clio and the Ford Fiesta could have been designed by the same team.

Is it inevitable that manufacturers will borrow ideas from each other? After all, fundamentally all cars have 4 wheels, an engine and a body with styling that is sometimes new and sometimes a through back from the past. What more can designers make out of it?

Will future cars take the aging population in consideration? The average new car buyer in the USA is 40 years old. And with predictions that future drivers will continue driving until an advance age, ergonomically designed features for boarding and seating, visual aids like side and rear-view cameras and aids to improved night and rain vision, etc. will be high on designers’ mind. At the same time more people are moving to cities and their car demands are different due to the congested driving conditions. From a design point of view these future city cars will need to focus more on how to deal with the stop-start traffic conditions, maybe even automate it. In car entertainment and information systems/Internet/Television will become strong selling points, and cars will probably be greener with near-zero emissions.

The last few years we have seen many retro designs based on cars designed many years back. Look at the new Ford Mustang (below, bottom) and compare it to the 1969 Mustang (below, top.)

One company in California, N2A Motors is now taking retro to its maximum state.

Simply known as the 789 (below), the car combines the front headlights and grill from the 1957 Corvette, the sleek side lines of the 1958 Chevy Impala and in the rear, the “bird in flight” tailfins of the 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air. Truly a unique and stunning looking retro car.

The 789 from N2A Motors

The cost of converting the 789 from a stock C6 Corvette is $80,000 and the owner has to provide the base C6 Corvette, which retails for about $60,000. A unique car for a cool $140,000.

Midweek Musical Muse I

2010-01-20T21:47:00.000-05:00

Sonsondergang

2010-01-19T16:30:00.000-05:00

Dis koud daarbuite
-6 °C to be exact
Hier binne is dit warm en gesellig
zo houd den bek
en geniet die sonsondergang

'n Afrikaanse Sondag

2010-01-18T00:45:00.000-05:00

Rainy Day At Tujagues by Alan Flattmann (giclee on paper)

Nadat ek laat oggend die rekenaar aangeskakel het, iTunes opgestart het, amper onwillekeurig Afrikaans as die genre gekies het, en die dobbelwiel van die lukraak knoppie in my brein gestop het by Coenie De Villiers se ”As” en daarna by Jan Blohm se “Laaste Wals”, het ek gewonder of dit een van daardie Afrikaanse dae gaan wees.

Die titelsnit vanaf Jan Blohm se 7 Jaar

Terwyl Jan so met Maria Magdalena gesels, wonder ek of hy al weer iets nuuts die lug laat sien het. Ek het lanklaas gekyk na wat nuut is op die Afrikaanse musiek front. Ek google toe maar en was aangenaam verras om te sien Jan Blohm het ’n nuwe CD uitgebring, 7 Jaar.

[Maar ek’t ook agtergekom ek is lekker agter die klip. Hy het dit al middel verlede uitgereik.]

Ek hou van Jan se musiek. Die subtiele licks van sy leierguitar, die realiteit van sy lirieke, en natuurlik, die blues. Hy het definitief die Afrikaanse Blues genre sy eie gemaak. Diep seun! Maar ek luister net nou en dan na hom. Anders begin hy te veel na Norah Jones klink. Too sad and depressing.

Na ‘n uur se gesoek om die 7 Jaar CD in sy geheel te kan aflaai het ek opgegee. Ek kan die CD koop op kalahari.net and Look&Listen, maar sien nêrens waar ek dit kan aflaai in mp3 formaat nie.

[As enige iemand weet waar ek dit kan aflaai, laat my asseblief weet.]

[Intussen het Karen Zoid oor gevat by Jan op iTunes.]

Die weer buite het ook seker bygedra tot daardie Afrikaanse gevoel. Na 2 weke van Noordpool weer omdat die noordelike halfrond se jetstreams ’n wobble gestrike het, soos wat dit soms gebeur, (ek het in Januarie 2008 daaroor geskryf) is dit vandag warmer, maar so ’n trieserige, grys Kaapse dag en die sagte deurdringende motreentjie laat sulke lang druppels teen die venters af hardloop. Dis ‘n dag vir sielskos.

Biltong

Boonop maak ons biltong hierdie naweek. Ons het dit nog nooit probeer self maak nie. As die lus daar was dan het ons dit altyd oor die net bestel . Die week het M besluit sy’s lus vir biltong en sy gaan dit self maak. En hoekom nie. Ek het al ’n paar keer probeer boerewors maak, nie altyd so suksesvol nie, maar ek try nog.

Ons maak die biltong in ’n elektriese verdroër wat gebruik word om jerky (Amerikaanse biltong) te maak of om vrugte droog te maak, en wat ons al baie jare het en al gebruik het om natterige bees biltong (gewoonlik daardie lugloosverpakkende pakkies) droog te maak. Sy het Internet ingevaar en soos dit gebeur met tradisionele respte, het almal verskille bestandele en metodes. Sy het die week menige bestudeer en toe besluit om verskeie bestandele van verskeie resepte saam te flans om die smaak te kry waaraan ons gewoond is.

[Kan jy glo daar is biltong resepte sonder koljander?]

Wag, ek moet gaan kos maak. Ete vanaand is ’n Spaanse affair, my gunsteling, seekos paella. Dis eintlik ’n internasionale affair, met die flounder en tuna van waar hulle ook al flounder en tuna vang, swart mossels vanaf Chile, reuse garnale vanaf die Meksikaanse Golf, Italiaanse rys en die belangrikste, speserye van Spanje. En die wyn, onkonvensioneel, ’n Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir vanaf California. Dis net ek wat vanaand drink en ek het nie ‘n witte nodig om seekos te verbeter nie. ’n Rooie doen net so ’n goeie jobbie terwyl ek kook en gedurende die ete.

Wat meer wil ’n mens hê op ’n Afrikaanse Sondag. Goeie musiek en ’n wêreld reis in jou eie kombuis.