Monday, June 30, 2008

Well Blow Me Over With A Feather

I tell you I just smaak this bloody internet - lately - thanx to SA Reunited and Friends Reunited giving free membership now - so now I don't have to just nudge people I can actually email them and also thanx to Facebook - I have managed to get in touch with people way way back into my past.

I have to say I was absolutely delighted and blown away to get hold of this oak...


When I was 4 years old my sister (pictured in the pic) took a bet with me saying that I would never marry - apparently as fondly told by both parents - I called this good look'n fella up and announced my intentions and asked if he would marry me and he replied Jaaaaa Alison hahahahah - well over the years life took over and that oakie and this chickie took their separate paths - until yesterday when I got the most delightful email in my inbox after doing a search and inquiring about whether he is or isn't the one I asked to marry me when I was 4 years old.

Isn't the world a small place - he is married to a lovely lady - they make such a handsome couple and their daughter and her hubby look like a happy family. He is a grand pappie too, to boot as well as a serious biker - not sure what type of bike he has but I sure will find out hahahah JAYNE WITH A WHY - I'm thinking of you here. Rev that Harley baby!!!!

Here are some more pics of us toddlers...

This is my mom, the oak and moi in the kiddies pool taken in Zambia I am not sure if it was Kalulushi or Kitwe or if Kalulushi was a suburb of Kitwe but anyway ...


I remember my mom having a fond smile when wandering down memory lane with this one of N's mom complaining that she couldn't get him to get out of nappies, so my mother asked if she could give it a try and well - he did the deed and she put him in the bath with his shitty nappy and said "nou was dit" (now wash is)  and locked the door - jaaa Bee was a kwaai tannie - and she said about 10 min later she heard this voice shouting, Beeeee Beeeeee Beeeeee hierdie kak stink!!!!!! (this shit stinks) She giggled when telling this story and said he learned very quickly after that and shortly afterwards wasn't wearing nappies any longer.


This one was taken at my birthday party I have no idea how old I was on this day, the Oakie pokie hahaha is in the background checking out the booty!


This was taken sometime later as you can see - a little older but still big cannonies...



I think the last time I saw him I was about 10 or 11 years old - I will never forget - as embarrassing as this was - I still remember rolling on the floor laughing. My folks and I went visiting one time and him, his sister and I were playing hide and seek. Well the sister was counting and him and I hid under his mothers dressing table on our haunches - well I nearly platzed - we were as quiet a mice, we saw the sis walk in and he said shhhhh not a word and we were quiet.... you could hear a pin drop and the next thing I farted KLIP HARD well I nearly died - and he said "Agggg Neee Alison het jy get poep" well I laughed, he laughed and of course our secret hiding place was compromised. Needless to say the game was over - but I will never forget that because I was knapping hey and I thought I would just slip it out quietly and it wouldn't make a noise well shoooot fire - never mind noise it sang by going up a few octaves and then down hahahahahahah - I know I was also very embarrassed  - funny what one remembers hey.

Anyway its just wonderful to be in contact with him and his family again - and N if you are reading this I am so chuffed - you look well and so does your family - but folks I just had to share that with y'all - isn't technology just blerrrrry marvelous hey - I am just so happy. Spot ja later China's!!!

The Blue Angels Graced Our Local Skies



This past weekend we had the phenominal Blue Angels grace our skies in Huntsville. On Saturday the hubby and I went out for lunch with my darling outlaws and afterwards we drove out the the airport to see if we could see the Blue Angels Airshow. We thought that we could park on the side of the interstate and see the show instead.
First let me give you a little history on the Blue Angels:

At the end of World War II, Chester W. Nimitz, then the Chief of Naval Operations, ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team to keep the public interested in naval aviation. The Blue Angels performed their first flight demonstration less than a year later in June 1946 at their home base, Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida. Flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat, they were led by Lt. Cmdr. Roy “Butch” Voris.

Only two months later on August 25, 1946, the Blue Angels transitioned to the Grumman F8F Bearcat. One year later, the 1947 team, led by Lt. Cmdr. Robert Clarke, introduced the now famous “Diamond Formation.”

By the end of the 1940’s the Blue Angels were flying their first jet aircraft, the Grumman F9F-2 Panther. In response to the demands placed on naval aviation in the Korean Conflict, the team reported to the aircraft carrier USS Princeton as the nucleus of Fighter Squadron 191 (VF-191), Satan’s Kittens, in 1950.
The team reorganized the next year and reported to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, where they began flying the newer and faster version of the Panther, the F9F-5. The Blue Angels remained in Corpus Christi until the winter of 1954 when they relocated to their present home base at NAS Pensacola, Florida. It was here that they progressed to the swept-wing Grumman F9F-8 Cougar.
The ensuing 20 years saw the Blue Angels transition to two more aircraft, the Grumman F11F-1 Tiger (1957) and the McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II (1969).
In December 1974, the Navy Flight Demonstration Team began flying the McDonnell Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II and was reorganized as the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron. This reorganization permitted the establishment of a commanding officer vice a flight leader (Cmdr. Tony Less was the squadron’s first official commanding officer), added support officers and further redefined the squadron’s mission, emphasizing the support of recruiting efforts.
On November 8, 1986, the Blue Angels completed their 40th anniversary year during ceremonies unveiling their present aircraft, the new sleek F/A-18 Hornet, the first dual-role fighter/attack aircraft now serving on the nation’s front lines of defense.
In 1992 more than one million people viewed Blue Angel’s performances during a 30-day European deployment to Sweden, Finland, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain. This was the first European deployment in 19 years.
The 2007 show season brought out more than 15 million spectators. Since 1946, the Blue Angels have performed for more than 427 million fans.

Anyway I was so blown away by their show - it is pure synchronized swimming in the skies and with machine nogal!!!! We decided to come back on the sunday with deck chairs, camera and watch the entire show. We got there around noon and well you know I love flying anyway - but don't have any aspirations of becoming a pilot - I just love being in the air and taking off and landing always have always will.

But these guys are something else - from loop de loops, upright spins, hammer splint tunnel to 9 spiral downward spins and mirror image loops and flying. I found myself saying WOW quite often - we saw the Red Eagles Air sports team from Georgia do their display as well as the A10 warthog plane - I tell you this guy - Captain Brown, did a 1400 foot turn loop and those engines roared - he also showed the power of plane when doing a strafing run - Jaaa I had to ask the Man about that one too - basically a dive to strike - and then within 30 secs after the run he is ready and able to do another - thats quite phenomenal in an aircraft I would say.
Anyway what I know about the army and air force is really slim - I am just amazing at how these amazing pilots maneuver these planes like I do my hand when listening to a beautiful piece of music. ITS WOW!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWxqZfkEElc



This is the video we took of Captain Browns show...(JUST SOME FYI HERE The husband thinks he is Stephen Spielberg and has DISABLED the embed thingy on his You Tube - copyright issues he says - I still don't see the implications of it all - net n' groot pain in die gat if you ask me but anyway - so as a result until he changes it - you will have to click on the little square link under the URL now to view it - *&^%$#@#@ jaaaa well no fine


Anyway a tragic thing happened at the show yesterday - which actually canceled the rest of the show and the Blue Angels didn't fly. As you can see from the clouds in the above mentioned video - btw it just looked like a little rain storm would hit us - we of course came FULLY prepared........NOT - me in my new dress the hubby bought the day before - real pretty I must say - well when the storm started it reared up to a micro burst and winds of 48 miles an hour - which didn't seem bad at all until the gazebo's (in the video you see them to the left of the screen) well they were blowing like tissue paper in the wind.

These were all sponsored tents or Chalets as they called them - meaning all the VIPS - as my mother would say very important poopalls - but jokes aside - they were blowing around and 12 people were injured from flying debris and when the husband saw that he said WIFIE its time to waai and we ran - at this point - pap nat en vokal titsling - here I am running after the hubby with a deck chair on my head and flip-flops on - people were running and children were screaming it was a nightmare.

But shame a tragedy happened in all this mayhem a generator fell onto a 5 year old little boy and he lost his life - some of the smaller planes were blown over too - so it was a pretty bad storm - and I tell you by the time we got to the parking lot which was about a quarter of a mile away - the storm was over but there were 10's of thousands of people - and we were ALL LOOKING FOR OUR CARS.

What a nightmare - I eventually just sat and looked after the deck chairs while the hubby searched for our car and believe me we weren't the only ones - FINALLY we got home around 5pm.

It is very sad about the death of that little boy and I want to send out our condolences his family - shame when it happened the generator also hit the little boys father but caught his hand I think they said anyway - it is very sad.

I can tell you this next year when and if the Blue Angels grace our skies I for one will most definitely be going to see that show they are awesome!!!

This is a tribute to the Blue Angels I found on You Tube - it was created by Patrick (jpcullen70) and I got it from his you tube account - I think its the best of what I could find - they are truly amazing so enjoy - the pictures of the Blue Angels above were also taken from you tube pictures - the ones we took on the sat were with a cell phone so are not good at all - when the husband finally sends them to me ill take a look see and post them but for now these are much prettier - I will write again soon Ciao for now chinabeans

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Adios Saudi Oil! - Let a Bug Poop in your Tank



I can just see the slogans now - Get a Scoop of Bug Poop / CRAP: Completely Renewable Available Petroleum or Completely Renewable Arse Petroleum hahahahaha. I think its time we all say goodbye to the Middle East's oil and the hold the oil companies (whom ever they are and all their cannonies) have on the world/people/countries - welcome to the new bug that eats waste and excretes petroleum.

Read the article ....

I just had a fantastic week - My gabba from Cape Town Di well her son Patrick came to stay with us for a week - He is a sailor does charter sailing all over the world mainly in the Med and Caribbean - he is taking some time off and just traveling the world at the mo - anyway I was sick but so excited that I didn't care - I may be coughing like a cowboy but I refused to be in bed. Van another friend of mine and myself jolled with Patrick all week - we went to the Space and Rocket centre - they went up all the rides I chickened out - I have been on that space shot once before and nearly had to go home and change my knickers so although I'm usually a bok for a joll - when I am not well its another story - we also went to Point Mallard a water park near us and it was so much fun - again they all went on the slides etc I just chilled in the wave pool which was divine as its been as hot as hell here and its only the bloody beginning of summer.

We had friends over for a braai (fish and burgers - those that don't eat fish had burgers) We were going to launch Patrick's rocket he bought from the Space and Rocket centre but we left it too late and it got too dark and we were also a bit nervous launching it around the house as there are neighbours too what if the bloody thing fell over and still launched into our HOUSE!!!! YIKES hahahahah - Anyway the evening turned out great and the food was good. We launched the rocket off later on in the week - see the video below...

We went out on Friday night to a really nice Italian restaurant and I FINALLY found some place that HAS calamari and KNOWS how to cook it too so I for one will definitely be back there - their name is Carrabbas Italian Grill - really good food and lovely atmosphere.

I really giggle here when I ask about Calamari , or kidney or oxtail and I get these looks - like eewwwww from some people and then I giggle and say you say ewwww to Calamari yet you sell pickled pigs feet or pickled eggs in a jar eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwww hahahahahaha

Funny how in different places there are so many weird things huh - like frogs legs now I will eat snails up the ying yang but don't bring frogs legs near me - or raw oysters - smoked or cooked I just love them but raw - eeeewwww gross its like snot going down your throat.

Anyway back to Patrick - Here is Patrick and Van's Space Shot...


Patrick's Rocket Launch or Rocket Man as Mark has started to call him.  You will hear my voice in this one - I didn't realize the camera had sound - hahahahah I sound drunk here and Eddie is barking at the rocket thinking its his toy hahahaha


Anyway y'all thats about it from me y'all come back now ya hear!! Hamba Kahle, Sala Kahle