Radio for backup!

So on Thursday last week, I bit the bullet! (I can’t imagine that would taste so nice in real life, but it’s quiet invigorating in metaphor). I steeled my nerves, reached into the dark cranky nook of a dark cranny nook and removed, in my trembling hand, an ancient cassette playing radio! Indiana Jones never felt more heady a sense of triumph!

See, I’ve decided that since I’m a divorced woman of the world (it’s been over a month, it counts!); I should at the very least have some connection to it, however vicariously! I remember someone asked me if I had tickets to Joburg day and I had to ask what Joburg day was? Apparently it’s one of those things everyone but myself seems to know right off the bat. And what if a giant fruit festival was coming to town and I missed it?
It could happen!

But now I’ve managed to even the score a little! That was my thought as I washed what seemed like a century of dust off the radio. I noticed the plug was a bit rusty but I was assured by Ursh that it would still work fine. I was a bit dubious at first but decided that she’s the one who’ll have to remove my crisped body if the current backfires on me, and then she’ll be sorry, so there!



The plug went in okay and no one died. < - - very grateful for this.

Now came the fun bit. Jovvi hunting around the radio trying to find the ‘on’ switch! I mean there has to be one right? How else do you get the noise to come out? *shakes radio hopefully*
But I just couldn’t find it!
Eventually I realized the little tab saying ‘Tape _____Radio’ should probably be on Radio! I moved it with hopeful expectation and TADA, it worked!! (I’m not sure if I was more grateful for that or for the fact that no one got to see my red face, how obvious!)

But now the radio was blaring out the fuzzy sounds of what seemed to be a very angry black man, talking Xhosa or Zulu or Martian and getting mighty worked up over something. Appealing as that was I decided to change the station. I moved the knobby backwards and forwards but all it did was GRRRRR and SSSSSH and go back to the dark dude in danger of having a stroke.
I checked the switch; yes it’s on FM, so where’s all the other stations?
Once again inspiration tapped me lightly on the shoulder and whispered that my hunt might go easier if I moved the actual dial switch and not the volume switch…

Oh good grief!

I’m happy to say that when I started doing things the right way, my oh my, it actually worked! Isn’t it funny how that goes?

Now of course I just have to use it. Silly as it seems it sort of feels like cheating. There’s a sort of interestingly happy feeling in not knowing what Lady Gaga sounds like, or what’s going on in the world (The news is never puppies and rainbows).

Still Hudson, put your backbone front and forward! (Alright that doesn’t make sense but it sounds good…).
*Turns radio on*
And so it begins!

Foot Where?

Let’s talk about socks baby!!

Anyone who knows me, knows I have a sweet and girlish, (My description and I’m sticking with it), love for socks. Some call it a ‘Sock Fetish’ but you’d not believe the sort of things people start thinking when they hear that! Like I wine and dine them, or go to a seedy motel with a bag full of footwear! Sorry for the pervs out there but my love, though deep and abiding, is strictly platonic!
Sickos.



I will also admit that it has been so many years since I have worn matching socks on purpose, that I actually can’t remember when last I did! I do remember the first time I tried mismatched socks. It was just for a laugh, one black, one white. But my eyes were so enchanted by the colour movement when I walked, and my feet so purring and happy that from that day I never looked back! (A big plus side is that you never have to worry about socks going missing in the wash, as long as they don’t match, why worry? ^_^)



If I borrow any of Ursh’s socks I will wear matching ones but only because all of hers are pretty much black and that defeats the purpose. (Sometimes I wear a small black on one foot and a large one on the other to appease the rebel within me…)

My fascination for socks started with the fact that I have fussy feet with two big quirks:-

Firstly and basically, my feet pretty much hate each other.
Don’t scoff it’s entirely true! When my feet touch each other sockless, all naked and vulnerable, they are so repulsed that they leap apart instantly, which tends to wake me up if it happens at two in the morning! For me the worst feeling I can have on my foot is the feeling of the other foot! (Okay not the worst, worst ever - poop, dead rat guts, putrid meat, those would be a bit more revolting, but I’m trying for effect!)
By putting socks on I effectively cut off that sensation and restore a sense of Pedi -peace and love!

Secondly, my feet are individuals. They may be mirror images to the average person but to themselves they are happy, unique, individuals and the idea of dressing in twin outfits? Oh my! What an outrage!!!



My left foot is the buff one. It’s adventurous and quiet frankly, murder on my socks. It always gets the sock that’s in the worst condition because chances are it made it that way in the first place! It is the one most likely to make a bee-line for your crotch if you sneak up on me when I’m out walking. It likes bright colours and black.

My right foot is more lady-like. It likes pastels and white socks. It never tests bath or swimming pool water and is the more ticklish of the two.

See? Individuals!

And aren’t socks themselves interesting? Ankle socks! Toe socks! Knee socks! Invisible socks! (Luckily they aren’t really invisible otherwise they’d be awfully hard to find in the wash…).



I have a pair of socks from Amsterdam, London and Germany (The German ones are mismatched!!).

I have a pair of socks my sister gave me two years ago that I’ve never worn but that I like to cuddle and squeeze because they are so, so soft! I call them “Pet socks” and Ursh just shows me “The look” once more.

I have a sock puppet, Le Sock, made out of one of my socks with mismatched button eyes. I’ve made a few videos of him but the sound quality is generally bad. Sob sob.

I have… to probably best shut up now.

So if you ever want to buy me some socks, as a birthday gift, Christmas gift or just out of random generosity, I will gladly accept them and heartily thank you once I stop rolling on the floor in happiness! They will be well loved!!
(The only downside being that I will remember you gave me them and the look of eternal hope on my face each time I see you might start to make you feel uncomfortable…)

Have a great day and hey, nice footwear you got there!
^_^

KER BOOM!!!

On Wednesday we got a most intriguing phone call from our partners in Pandemonium. We were invited to see something we’d never get to see again.

Only we weren’t told what! Isn’t that awfully infuriating yet delectably interesting? We spent the rest of the week wondering and happy didn’t guess it or come even close! (For which I was most glad as some of our ideas where starting to get a bit out there… No I’m not telling you!)

So Saturday dawned and off the lot of us went. (5 in total, our pairing, their paring, and one Dad added for seasoning!).

We finally got to the place we were going which didn’t give away a single sign as to what was going on! We entered a gate and drove. And drove and drove and drove, down long windy, narrow roads, looking out for buck but seeing only burnt ground and listening to stories of what happens around the area, which helped us guess what was going on about 10 minutes before we’d have found out anyway. (It still counts damn it!)

[[Our main view on the way to parking. Don't these things fry your brain or something? Well it didn't effect me cause I am....*drool*]]

So what were we up to? We were going to watch Explosions!!!

See they make bombs and explosive goodies around there, and any that are old and fastly approaching their expiry dates are taken out back and blown up! (Aren’t you glad we don’t do the same with people? Mind funeral expenses would be cut in half….)

[[It's really a humongous crater! Tells you of some fun times with Explosions Past!]]

We stood in a crowd of mostly male specimens and got told what bomb was going off where and when to cover our ears.

[[Bits of leftover bomb bits by Ursh's feet. A bit nerve twitching as you can't help but wonder how they managed to get where we are standing and if, today, there would be a repeat performance?]]

We got to see how fast the buggers burn, how hot and how LOUDLY they go off! We even got to see a tree get blown up!
And appreciate my photos hey! The explosions were not only fast but I had to makeshift-cover my ears as well as try timing when to photo! (I put tissue paper in my ears, surprisingly effective!)

[[Perdy! And HOT!]]

[[The fact I got the smoke at all is an achievement, praise me! The explosives that ran along the fence went so fast you barely saw anything and suddenly smoke! Spooky]]

[[And some of the bombs were even set to go off in a musical pattern! Bom-a-bombom-BOM! It was better then half the stuff on the radio at the moment!]]

[[No one under 18 allowed in? Sort of makes it sound like if you're over 18 come on in and get vapourized, and if you're an employee, well that's just a bonus!]]

The explosions themselves don’t look nearly as flashy as ones on TV, but then again you don’t get to feel the shockwaves slam into your chest from the movie ones either! Or the wash of heat as flames fly up into the sky and you are bathed in a bunch of super heated, toasty molecules!

IT was all over too quickly! Sadly they won’t be blasting in that area any more, but I’m hoping they’re still going to do it somewhere open to the public! Want to come with next time? Bring ear plugs!!

Below is a video of the BLASTING! The squeaky, over-enthusiastic person in the background would be me! ^_^

Bunny Parking

So what do two girls, low on funds but not up to a bout of Cabin Fever, do on Sunday?
Why go to the Bunny Park of course!
(Why does not one ever guess that? ) :P

The Bunny Park is a grand place to go to stretch your legs, chase small furry things, smell smells you wouldn’t think possible and pay not a cent to get in! It’s not extremely huge but enough to get the wiggles out your legs and trick you into thinking you actually did some exercise!

Here is my photo blog of the Bunny Park in Winter!!


Actually they're just running away from us, but this way it's not such a slap in the face! ^_^



What can I say my main Bun, they're killer! And no, I still don't have any goodies to give you!



The bridges at the bunny park are pretty wobbly and some have collapsed. Take a look at the water you can see, who wants to fall into that? (You'd probably float, like the dead sea, there's enough...chunks... in there to keep you up!)



Ducks, swans, geese, plovers and seagulls, the bunny park has them all... pooping in the water! And you wonder why it ends up all icky looking!



I always want a peacock feather when I see them. No idea why. Maybe just the urge to rugby tackle them?



Butting into our business. The goats and sheep also approve heartily of some fine tasty carrot!



I want to live in the magical castle of fruit, veg and small squeaking things! (Course it means living in a small, dark, dank cage like a wild animal...tough choice!)



Look at the pigs, the water, the mud! Hard to wrap your mind around that being your next bacon breakfast!



I can't really say anything more...



You give sticky kids with wet pants rides all day and see how you feel!



Cause one day I will hunt you down!! :P

Football Snowball

If, a month ago, someone had told me I’d be neck deep in soccer enthusiasm, cheering on teams and actually having blown a vuvuzela (badly), I’d have wondered if they’d been held underwater too long and suffered irredeemable brain damage!

[[Spooky nutters! We're not like them are we Ursh? Let's do our two man Mexican wave!!]]

But to be fair, the soccer bug was totally unexpected! Sure we were excited for South Africa, host nation and all, Hello, but we’d decided we’d try watch SA games and if we made them - good, and if not, ah well too bad, so sad.

[Japan is our other country; we support them because a country that gives us such fine anime and manga gets it without question!]
(We choose fav teams not based on silly things like how well they play…)

We watched the second South Africa game, SA vs. Uruguay, with Ursh’s parents. It was a late night game and SA lost 3-0 (as every patriotic S-African can tell you in teary voices…) and I think her folks didn’t relish having us come tootling in at odd hours to see bits and pieces of “must see” games. (It’s hard to sleep with two women squeaking excitedly at the foot of the bed, or so I’m told) So they lent us their other TV.
And all hope of a normal life was lost.



But come on, its such fun! We peek on the net to see who’s playing when and then chose a team to support. Often by small things, like we like their attitude, or their manga, or the fact that we don’t know them but hey, they have a spunky vibe. Or we hate them because they got into the tournament through cheating (France), have bad human rights (Ghana) or pick on the teams we do like (Netherlands).

It’s glorious to watch a well played game! Those jocks sure do know how to dance about with a ball! (When they play well that is, some countries play like lost sheep… *cough cough* ENGLAND *cough cough*)

We’ve cheered the underdog, scorned near blind referees, howled joyfully when “our” team scored, screamed at the TV because they can hear us dammit and chatted away half the night, rehashing everything!

And, unlike the average wishy-washy South African fan, we are still supporting SA right to what could well be, the bitter end! (We don’t just support winners, boring! For us, we chose teams and stick with them, come win or embarrassing thrashing! It builds character don’t ya know? ^_^) < - - *feels very self righteous and shiny*

But please note two things:-
1. We’re not rabid fans! (Contrary to popular belief) We don’t know the players names (except Diego Forlan because he’s scary…) and we’d turn down tickets to a world cup game in a heartbeat! (The vuvuzela noise on our delicate ears? And no helpful commentator to tell us what’s going on? Or friendly replay for us to swear at?)


2. When the world cup is over and the TV returned we’ll be back to normal, recuperating from the Soccer Shakes happily. We most certainly won’t be watching ‘Pirates vs Swallows’ or ‘Manchester vs United’ or whatever . The world cup is awesome, the rest, meh.

Yet, for now, it’s exciting, entertaining and captivating! I mean we’re not watching all games, like this one of Australia vs. Ghana… or…Well maybe, okay more then maybe… oh dear I have to go, game to watch and all that, GO OZ!!!!

A trashy story

Today I had to do an important task upon which my future happiness depended! That’s right; I had to take out the trash!! *Dum Dum DUM!*

We have a hole on our plot, which we fill with organic material so as to make a little less trash to be taken away. It invariably gets plastics and papers in it, mostly from our neighbours in the other cottage, who are not quiet as picky about what they throw away in there. Still I like to think it does something for the environment! Or at least the wild rats and guinea fowls, but hey, we all got to eat!

The problem is the hole is quiet a few meters from our cottage. And the weather temp has just plummeted too far below Jo-sweet-loving degrees! It’s in the single digits and decreasing rapidly.
Now I’m sitting here by our little heater, gown on, fuzzy hat and socks at the ready and I’m really comfortable. The idea of taking the trash out is really not all that appealing!

Now put yourself in my shoes for the journey:-

It must be done and so you go to the kitchen, grab the bag of ex-fruity bits, and stand in front of the door, psyching yourself up! It’s like just before you jump into a swimming pool. You know it’s going to be colder then you’d like but you know you have to plunge into it sooner or later. (Though unlike a swimming pool, you don’t get used to the cold air as quickly nor do you get to float around, wondering if there will be watermelon for dessert as you blissfully soaking in the sunlight. There is no sunlight!

You open the door with only a mildly shaking hand, pulling it back fast like a Band-Aid! Those first few seconds are almost okay, the cold doesn’t hit you straight away and it’s not so bad until OMG THAT’S SO COLD!!!

You don’t stand and wait around! Go! Go! Go! While your mind is in shock your body just reacts automatically and you hurtle along to the hole as fast as your rapidly icing toes can carry you! It never seemed so far away as it does tonight! Worse, your hand is wet from being recently washed and it is feeling the cold on a whole new level! The Agony!!

But you get to the hole eventually and swing that bag into it with an unholy mirth that leaves tingles inside your mind! You turn and bolt back to the cottage, going speedily yet carefully over the slippery, grassy hillocks that will only happily take you down just for poops and giggles.

You notice how bitingly fresh the air is, and you notice the beautiful winter sky so completely clear it’s almost mind-blowing, isn’t the moon gorgeous?
Yeah whatever!!!!

You manage to get back to the cottage door without incident. Open it, slip inside so fast the sonic boom can be heard in China, and close the door with a delicious thumping finality. Your hands instinctively reach for the heater and you’re popping your gown back on, as you slide into your chair by the computer, breathing a sigh of bliss no lover could hope to pull from you by other means!

The chore is done! You’re getting warm and life is returning to your neither bits! What a champion you are!!
And so the day closes, the sun sets completely and you’re heroics warm you just that little bit extra, because you know, anyone can be a hero in a traumatic situation, but to rise to the challenge of the ordinary, everyday things that face you, with a smile and a laugh to boot, now that’s real courage!!

^_^

Mystery Dinner Party!

And so the night of the Mystery Dinner finally arrived! Hailed by a Jo and Ursh who’d all but made themselves mad on anticipation and over-excitement!

We tootled off to our friends’ place to meet up and change for the party. It was the first time any of us had seen the other in full costume!!
I was to play a snobbish English bloke whose hobby was stamp collecting, fav band the Beatles and whose secret was that he was already married! Granted not the wildest character of the lot but I think I managed to do him proud! (I did hint to the others that he’d sort of killed off his entire family to get on board the ship, but I think they missed it, which might be good, in hindsight…)

[The name's Dover. Ben Dover! And might I say that Goatee was itchy but it was the face makeup that made me feel like a transvestite oddly enough]

Ursh went as an Italian Playboy (Her card said ‘Sex Addict’ but Playboy sounds so much nicer), and boy oh boy, did she pull it off well! It was actually very creepy, but comforting to know that if she ever needed a fall back career…

[Ursh, or should I say Romeo Gold, looking so dapper, WOW!]

I couldn’t fault anyone else's costume either!

[The lovely Briyani!]

[We had everyone from an Australian pilot with a sexually transmitted disease to a bad mannered French Teacher to a snap-happy Jap! What a mix!]

We all met up and drove to the restaurant! And oh, did they ever pick the perfect place to have a mystery dinner! It was gorgeous!! An old mansion type house, De Kasteel, in Elspark. It had beautiful wooden floors and was absolutely iced with the most interesting antique furniture and décor you could ever hope to surreptitiously play with!
[Alas I only got a pic at night but I think you still get an idea of how magnificent the venue was!]

The dining room was breathtaking and you got a whole feel of sumptuousness from it! Even the food was beautifully prepared! (And enough to feed a small Foreign Legion not just 8 people! [I ate before hand so as not to be the problem child]).
[Shiny!]

Throughout dinner, prompted by the CD, we would do various things to hint at what our characters were like. You couldn’t just blurt it out; you had to be sly, which we did with more or less success!
Everything from chatting about our love lives, to attacking the person on our left (which proved harder then you’d think, especially as mine was Ursh, but she took being called “cheaper then a free condom” rather well I must say….)

We even had to sing a song from our favorite artist and I sang a “stirring”, if warped, version of Yellow Submarine, which really fit the moment, if not the date in history!
(I did find it funny that we’re supposed to be on a ship in 1912 and not one of our artists was born anytime around or before then! But then can you name me 3 artists born before 1912 anyway?)

[The boobs! Originally a prop for Briyani's Naturalist tenancies, pretty much everyone got a go at fondling them and playing with them! Sometimes they looked awfully realistic, don't you think? You can stop staring now...]

[What? I couldn't help trying out a few other people's props! ^_^]

Finally we had to nominate someone who’d acted the best of all of us. This I must say was easy! And the winner turned out to be…. “Andrew” our “Scottish” friend whose foul mouthed antics kept us in stitches most of the night! (Ironically this turned out to be the Birthday girl for whom the party was thrown; she was not too keen to have to take back the rather gaudy “Oscar” that came as the prize…)
[Andrew! Isn't the wig just that added touch? And what a hot blooded Scot he was!]

I was thrilled though that my wee character ended up being the Stow away! It was his 4.5 minutes of fame! What a cad hey?

We also went ghost hunting as one of the women there can apparently see and sense them! Creepily enough she pointed to a corner and said that was where the ghost was and, when the photos of the corner were taken, we found small glowy orbs there! Eek!
Scientific explanation or not, it just fit in perfectly with everything! Thank you kindly, Ms. Ghost!
[I think the spotlight they had over the woman's loo - the men's didn't have one, I checked - was far more spooky then any ghost! Whatever was it for? to make you feel special? Do a number 2 but feel like a number 1?]

We all left feeling very proud of ourselves! It was really wonderful to dress up and be someone who is nothing like what you are in real life! I recommend it to anyone, just hey, remember to invite me too okay?
^_^