My Inner Lester Bangs: Common People

As we head out on R&R tonight, I decided I'd do one last MILB to finish the week off right.  In doing so, I chose a song from seminal BritPop band, Pulp.  The logical connection on this being that Pulp is from Sheffield, as is Lovely English Lass.  We'll be going to Sheffield on this trip... I think you can see where I'm going with this.  Of course it could have been Joe Cocker or Def Leppard if it was only by Sheffield.  Or the Arctic Monkeys for that matter.

Anyways, I chose Pulp because of two main reasons: 1) Most of my American Friends probably never heard this song or of this band, and 2) they really should have if they haven't.  Talk about an eclectic band!  They have an electric violinist, a keyboardist, drummer, bass and two guitars along with the lead singer.  Jarvis Cocker is probably one of the best front men you'll ever see in rock music.  If you've seen the "Harry Potter" movies, he plays the lead singer for the Weird Sisters band.  String bean thin, and constant energy throughout the entire show, you can't help but watch him move around.  Even nearing 50 he's a blur of motion.  The origins of the band start in 1978, and they played continually until 2001.  They then took a break and reunited in 2011.  They have staying power, and a great sound to boot.

Now, onto the song.  During his performance at the Reading Festival in 2011, Jarvis talked about "Common People" before playing it.  Bands with one huge hit sometimes have a love/hate relationship with their song.  Kurt Cobain felt that way about "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and I know Chesney Hawkes feels that way about "The One and Only" because a friend of mine sat next to him at a concert and started singing it and he told her to shut up.  Jarvis said, basically, if Pulp were only known for this one song he'd be ok with that, because it's a good song.  He then makes a joke about how Black Lace are only known for Agadoo, so it could be worse.

The background of the song is that in the late 80s early 90s in London there was a set of people that were upper-middle to upper class that wanted to pretend they were poor.  It wasn't anything really new, to be honest.  (As much as I love Joe Strummer and The Clash, he was still the son of a British Diplomat.  He had a fake cockney accent.  I think Chelsea footballer Frank Lampard also fits into this as well.)  But there was a sudden interest in this during this time period.  Even Blur's song, "Parklife" was a bit like this.  A feeling of the real salt of the earth people being the lower classes.  Basically people wanted to do an anthropological study of the lower classes.

So the song actually starts autobiographically, as Jarvis is approached by a rich Greek girl studying at St. Martins College about wanting to live like common people.  That actually happened.  She told him she wanted to live in Hackney like the common people. The narrator of the song then takes her places where "common people" go and shows her that it's not all it's cracked up to be.  But he also tells her that even if she  gets a place where "Roaches climb the walls" that she'll never be a common person, because all she'll have to do is call her rich father and he can take her out of all of it.

Jarvis is pointing out some things here that needed to be said at the time.  What he's saying is, "Look, it's all nice and good that you want to be like us, but this is our life, and you're just doing this to be fashionable."  The bridge of this song is just awesome:

Sing along with the common people,
sing along and it might just get you through,
laugh along with the common people,
laugh along even though they're laughing at you,
and the stupid things that you do.
Because you think that poor is cool.

Brilliant, and spot on.  No one wants to think they've had the piss taken out of them by imitation.  They mock those people who try to act less than what they are in life.  It's a certainty.  Some people can actually pull this off.  The best politicians can do it.  Think: Roosevelt was a man that was extremely rich, but made the majority of the country feel like he felt their pain. Kennedy was the same way.  George W. Bush was the son of a President, born in Connecticut and went to an Ivy League school, but people considered him someone they'd like to have a beer with.  Al Gore had a lot of the same pedigree as GWB, but he's still mocked for being uptight and wooden.  Same with John Kerry.  It's difficult to do.

This song is just brilliant, as I've stated before.  Pulp came of age in Sheffield right during the time when the factories were starting to close, so they saw hardship and prosperous areas losing everything.  The 1980s were not kind to the north of England, and as I know full well, the North is filled with some very proud people.  (Especially Yorkshire but also Merseyside and Lancashire.)  Southern Football fans would come North to play teams like Sheffield United, Man U or Liverpool and wave wads of cash at the opposing fans.  So I can see how he would have been offended by the people of the "Soft South" making sport about being "common."

Needless to say, the song sounds just as great today as when it was released back in the 90s.  Youtube has the video of them from Reading in 2011, and I think you should watch it.  Pulp should be remembered for more than just this song.  But as he says, it's ok if they are, because it's a great song.

Sickness before R&R

One of the most cherished things given to people working overseas is, depending on the post you are at, you get an R&R.  We didn't get one in Luxembourg, and I didn't get one in London, but we get two here in Johannesburg.  (It's because of the crime and other issues.  I won't go into it, but if you want more info email me and I'll sort it out for you.)

Anyways, since we've been here a year, it's time for us to head out on our R&R.  So to the UK we head.  London to Blackpool to Sheffield to Gateshead to Edinburgh to Devon to Bath to Cornwall to London.  It's going to be AWESOME.  Crazy Little Man has never been to the UK outside of the womb, and we haven't been back to visit friends and family there since early 2009.  So, it'll be an adventure.  Or disaster. It's about 50/50 right now.  I'll keep you informed.

One of the things you don't want, though, is to get sick while on R&R.  You want to be able to enjoy it.  The best thing is to get sick right before you go or right after you get home.  Since the weather here has been crazy, it looks like we're going to do the before.  And probably the after as well.

Since Lovely English Lass is on the clock, and hasn't worked long enough to earn sick or annual leave, I had to work from home a bit last week to take care of CLM as he was ill.  Temp kept at a low grade, but was persistent.  Then on Thursday LEL got ill as well.  The Doctor at the Consulate sent her home, saying she needed some rest.  Friday she was doing a bit better and went into work in the afternoon as I worked from home again.  Then, I started to feel bad as well.  So Sunday and into Monday I got the sickness.

We're just waiting to see if Lovely Little Girl comes down with it as well.  The problem with her is she doesn't get down and sad like CLM.  She gets hyper.  She'll never admit to being sick, and is ADAMENT that she's fine.  Meanwhile she'll have a temp and a runny nose and will obviously need to be in bed.  Hopefully it's passed her by and she'll be fine.

So Friday night we have to go to the airport for our 8 pm flight to London.  Hopefully the kids will sleep and we'll get a full nights rest out of them.  When we get there we have about a 3 1/2 hour drive ahead of us, so no rest for the wicked.  But we will have a great time, and I'm certainly looking forward to it.  England has just always felt right to me.  And it's time for the kids to see the other side of where they are from.

My Inner Lester Bangs: "I'd Die Without You" by P.M. Dawn

So while the early 1990s are probably best remembered for Grunge and Gangster Rap, in reality one of the largest exports from the US in terms of music was the R&B love song.  There were TONS of groups out there making songs about love, hurt, loss and pain.  If you were a lovelorn teenager during that time period (and I think we've already established that in fact I was) then this area was ripe for you to be sitting in your room listening to sad music pining for the girl that just broke your heart.  (And since that happened to me about once a month, according to some, then I listened to a lot of sad songs about love and loss.)

In the movie and the book, High Fidelity, Nick Hornby wrote the following:

“What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"

Brilliant, eh?  Hornby is one of my favorite writers, and not just because his stories remind me a lot of my friends.  He also wrote an entire book where he donated the proceeds for the school where his child on the spectrum goes.  So... lots of overlap.

Anyways, back to the music.  In the early 1990s there were a slew of R&B groups that came out and made very sad songs.  Boyz II Men of course were the kings with, "On Bended Knee", "End of the Road" and basically any other song off either the Boomerang Soundtrack or their second album.  All 4 One came in with "I Swear" which they ripped off of a country singer.  Jodeci had, "Forever My Lady" and "Lately."  There was even a group called Shai that had one hit called, "Comforter."  It wasn't about a duvet, people.

Probably the most interesting of these groups was P.M. Dawn.  Two brothers, Prince Be and JC the Eternal, burst onto the scene with "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss," a song buoyed by the sampling of "True" by Spandau Ballet and their looks.  One was very heavy, one very tall and thin, and both wore a lot of paisley and small glasses.  Great look, and one that seemed to work well for them.

Then came "I'd Die Without You" from 1992.  It was on the Boomerang Soundtrack, and it was overshadowed on that soundtrack by Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" which was the longest serving #1 on the charts at that time.  But I think "I'd Die Without You" was a better song.  Heresy, I know.

Go and listen to them again.  "End of the Road" is a bit over drawn out with a larger sound.  Even the spoken part is a bit much.  Meanwhile, "I'd Die Without You" is a piano based song that is based off more the emotion, rather than the feeling.  You can feel "End of the Road."  "I'd Die Without You" is deeper.  It hits you in the gut because of its simplicity, and the never release of the piano in the background.  The walking bass is a nice touch as well.  The finger snaps at the beginning and end also add a simplicity that was missing at the time from R&B.  And at the end when one of the snaps isn't in synch it makes you pay more attention than you would normally to it.

The lyrics are also just brilliant.  I always saw it as a guy losing his girl that he's wronged in the past, and trying to keep her around, but not being able to do it.  "Is it my turn to hold you by the hands, tell you I love you and you not hear me?  Is it my turn to totally understand to watch you walk out of my life and not do a damn thing?" Or: "Is it my turn to be the one to cry?  Isn't it amazing how somethings just completely turn around."  These are fantastic lyrics.

Listen to this song and tell me it doesn't give you a reaction in some way.  I mean I heard it fit pretty well within the context of the movie, but man does it hit you even without the movie!  You can picture me probably as a 16 year old in 1992 hurting because the girl I liked didn't like me.  (And before I get a bunch of, "You Wuss" comments, guys do think like that too.  If you don't believe me, go back and listen to some of the songs from the 50s and 60s.  They had that same reaction back then.  It's universal.)

I'm sad that kids these days have no idea probably of P.M. Dawn.  JC the Eternal left the group and Prince Be had  two strokes and lost his leg to diabetes.  Still, I hope they have a revival some day.  This song is WAY better than Justin Bieber trying to be Justin Timerlake in his last video, and it'd be nice to have people appreciate it for what it was: a great song that made itself unique in a time when it could have just blended in.  Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Words Can't describe

So I've been having a pretty bad day at work.  It's been very rough, and Crazy Little Man is at home sick, and everyone is feeling a bit ill.  And then I get an email from Lovely Little Girl's teacher in her school.  The main stream one.  The one that we figured wasn't going to happen, after being rejected by the remedial schools in the area because we needed to lower our expecations.  She talked about how much she loves having LLG in her class, and then attached this picture:

Yeah, my girl with fine and gross motorskill delays wrote this.

You know, that almost made me cry at work.  I mean, my little girl is obsessed with Hello Kitty (as you can tell) but she draws pretty well, and I could read that without the subtitles.

So, schools that told us she wouldn't cut it in your school because she wasn't ready, let me just say this once again: You suck!  My little girl is going to succeed, and you've lost your chance to have an amazing child in your classes.  Next time, actually get to know the child before you pass judgement.  My girl is going to be fine.

My Inner Lester Bangs Friday: Ho Hey

Sometimes I miss discovering a random song some place, because it was always so satisfying finding something new and then trying to actually buy it.  The last time I heard a song while out and about that wasn't on the radio that I had to buy was "Soul Meets Body" from Death Cab for Cutie.  Nowadays, to find new music can be something neigh on impossible unless radio picks it up.  And I'm sorry, but Crazy Little Man's favorite song, "Payphone" doesn't do it for me.  (Although this mashup of "Payphone" and "Call Me Maybe" is quite good.)  Sadly musicians now use their songs for ads to get it out there, which can kill great songs because you hear it too often.

One of these songs, "Ho Hey" from The Lumineers, really caught my attention.  Here in South Africa, Lovely English Lass and I like to watch Hulu so we can keep up to date with our TV shows in the US. (Parks and Recreation being the main one.)  For about a month, one of the commercials on Hulu was for Bing.  The song was "Ho Hey" and the commercial was about a guy taking a trip to Hawaii.  Oddly enough, it actually fit the song quite well.

The Lumineers are a folk-rock trio from Denver.  It includes a guitar, a mandolin and a cello.  How can you not dig this?  The entire album sounds like it was recorded in a coffee shop somewhere.  The lead singer's voice is fantastic for folk music, and I'm sure it could move into other genres too.  However he has the vibe you look for in folk, like the lead singer from Mumford and Son.  

Now, onto the song "Ho Hey".  I'll try to describe what I thought of the first time I heard the song, so bear with me.  The sound of the song evokes a campfire on the beach, with friends sitting around singing a song together in the night.  Hokey I know, but seriously that's what I got.  Or a popular local band playing a small club with a lot of fans who know all the songs by heart, and probably party with the band after the gigs.  This intimacy gives you a feeling of being there.  You can feel the bass drum when it starts off the song, and hear the people chanting, "Ho......Hey.....Ho..."

Most of all, it's a song of longing and want.  The singer tells of the girl he loves, and is obviously not his.  Everyone knows the pain you have felt when the person you think you're supposed to be with is with someone else.  It almost feels like you're bleeding, the pain and drain is so much.  So he writes a song about this hurt telling the girl of his dreams that she's not with the right guy.  How can you not get with that?  I mean, that's universal right there.  Heck I had to talk my own wife into dating me, so I understand being put off by women.

In short you should give this a chance.  Maybe it'll spawn more music that's not emo or "Payphone" and we can have another good music revolution.

One last thought.  Songs should take you to a place when you hear them.  Whether it's the beat, the lyrics or even just the chorus, you hopefully feel something when you hear it.  The very first time I heard this song, I was immediately transported to the front lawn of a house in Suriname, sitting under the stars while three of my Peace Corps friends played guitar and all of us sang along.  The song was "Wish You Were Here", but this song evoked that time for me.  It's a happy memory, and one that I cherish.  So I think that the song did what it was supposed to do for me.  Give it a listen.

Bully

“No matter how nice you are to your superiors, you aren’t a nice person if you treat the help like crap.”

This is what I posted on my facebook page yesterday.  It dealt not with the trip from last week, which was great, but from someone treating one of my staff poorly.  As you can tell from the wording in my post, I don’t exactly like that.  You see, I detest bullies in the workplace, and I’ve worked very hard to ensure that my staff aren’t bullied.  The reason why is because early in my career in the Foreign Service, I was almost bullied into quitting.

When I arrived at my first post, I was a 24 year old General Services officer at a very small mission in South America.  My boss was an FS-03 Management-coned Officer.  The DCM was an FS01 Management-coned officer, and the Ambassador was a Senior Service Management-coned officer.  So, lots of people to learn from.  However, the Management officer was what one might call detail oriented.  He and I didn’t (and still don’t) get along at all.  He would berate me in front of my staff, and basically made my life for the first year there a living hell.

The DCM didn’t do anything to stop it either.  In fact, she would go out of her way to give me even more tasks to do, and then get angry when she thought I hadn’t done them to her satisfaction.  (Didn’t give me any guidance on how to do the tasks either.)  In fact, every time I saw her after I left that post, she would always greet me with, “Are you still in the Foreign Service?”  I always wanted to answer, “Yes, no thanks to you!”

Needless to say, I don’t have warm fuzzies about those two people, and it almost ruined my career.  Luckily for me, my next Management Officer was awesome.  She’d come down for a smoke, and we’d greet each other with, “Good Morning Sisyphus.  How’s the rock going?”  “Up the hill as always, Sisyphus.”  She helped me learn a lot about doing my job.  I must be doing something right, cause I’m still here.

The thing is, that during that time period, you could still get ahead in the Foreign Service by being mean to your underlings.  My DCM later went on to be an Ambassador, and the Management Officer got promoted to Senior Foreign Service.  Luckily that is changing.  The Director General has said that time is over.  Belittling someone is no way to get ahead.

As Management Officer here in Jozi, I made sure when I arrived that I spoke to every American at post and explained what they could expect from me and my staff, and what I expected of them.  I also told my staff what I wanted as well.  I expected my staff to show up on time, with the tools they needed to do their job, and to be nice.  I told the Americans that when they requested things that they needed to be as specific as possible, use the on-line request tool for their requests, and to treat my staff with respect.  If I heard that someone was treating my staff (or their staff since I’m also the HR rep here) badly I would deal with it.  I don’t take to bullies.  Luckily for me, neither does my boss.  When we’ve had issues, he’s backed me up.

So remember people: If you’re a jerk to people that can’t help your career, then you’re not a nice person. 

A visit to remember, and a weird week to boot

As I'm sure you know now (or maybe you don't) the Secretary of State visited us here Sunday Night, Monday and Tuesday of last week.  Big visit, and one that will be very important for the bilateral relationship between the US and South Africa.  While very exciting, it's also very difficult on the home front due to the long hours that need to be worked to ensure that the visit is a success.  Especially as a Management Officer.  Let's walk through it, shall we?

All week we've had count-down meetings to discuss issues that have or might come up, look at the schedule, and see if anyone has problems or questions that need to be answered prior to the arrival of the Secretary.  A tentative schedule is shown, but everyone knows that's pie in the sky, so no one really pays attention to the times on the schedule.  Even the events are subject to change at the last minute.  So basically we sit around and try to get ourselves ready for the event not knowing exactly what we're going to do.

This visit is worse for us as Lovely English Lass now works at the Consulate as the Community Liaison Officer.  This means she is in charge of the Meet and Greet that is going to happen here at the Consulate.  So very busy here.  Add in that we have to keep the kids busy and it was difficult.

One of the issues is that we kept the Consulate open on Saturday and Sunday for regular business hours.  Being the Duty-Officer and the Management Officer means that for Saturday I was in charge of opening and closing the building.  So, 9-5 I'm at the office.  The day was punctuated with a walk-through of the building, a dvc meeting to discuss final issues (but no final schedule) and a lot of discussion on how things will work.  Oh yeah, and a trip to the hospital for LEL and Lovely Little Girl.  Seems she got some sauce on her fingers that had Cashew nuts, and it ended up causing quite the allergic reaction.  She's fine, but a good reminder that things can go bad very quickly.

Sunday was pick up at the airport for the Secretary.  We trooped out to Waterkloof AFB (their version of Andrews AFB) and waited.  And waited.  And Waited.  The South African Government was negotiating her arrival until about 20 minutes before she landed.  Sounds crazy, right?  Not as crazy as it actually was, I can assure you. Luckily for me, I wasn't involved in that discussion.  I was waiting to pickup one of the members on the plane, watch him get everyone cleared through Customs, and then watch the bags be unloaded and checked by security.  It was very late when we returned to the hotel, and much later still when I returned from the hotel to my home.  Where I was promptly awakened by an American Citizen checking to make sure I had her psasport details for when she arrived at the Consulate the next day.

Monday was frantic, as we got ready for the arrival of the Secretary at the Consulate for the meet and greet. I had to make sure my staff were helping the site officer for the event, which was LEL.  The people from Pretoria had to arrive 2 hours early, since we weren't sure when she was going to arrive (see paragraph above about the schedule) and we had to find things for the kids and adults to do in the meantime.  Workstations were set up for those who wanted to work, and a movie was played in the multi-purpose room for the kids and adults who wanted to watch. ("The Muppets" in case you were wondering.)  The Locally Employed Staff Association sold drinks and snacks to make the time go fast, and everyone had a good time.

Finally the Secretary arrived, and she spoke for about 5 minutes before shaking hands.  Crazy Little Man, in a vest/tie combo, handed her flowers which was met with an, "Oh my goodness isn't he adorable" from the Secretary.  She took some photos, and then she was gone.

The event was a success, and the next day the Secretary met with the South African government.  (You may have seen the video of her dancing.)  While she was cutting a rug, I was just cutting myself with a  very sharp knife.  Accidentally.  Almost toom my finger tip off.  Didn't get stitches, because I'm an idiot like that.

Wednesday was Lovely Little Girls first day in a main-stream school.  And it couldn't have gone better.  She loved it, and her teacher is very excited to have her in class.  Even said that LLG isn't, by far, the most difficult child to handle, as there is a girl that just moved from Korea that speaks no English.  So, bonus!

Thursday was Women's Day, which is an actual holiday here in South Africa.  So, day off for us!  Very nice, but also difficult for a holiday on Thursday.  Friday was slow, as days after holidays usually are.

The weekend was busy, as we had a party to celebrate wheels up for the Secretary, and Welcomed the new comers to the Consulate.

So, busy week, and one I don't relish re-living anytime soon.  But, once in a while it's nice to get to see the head of our Department come through and say thanks for all we do.  It's the little things.  And 5 years from now, we can point to pictures at the event, and try to get CLM and LLG to remember the time they met the Secretary of State.  It probably won't be the last time, though.

Friday's My Inner Lester Bangs: "100 Yard Dash"

So I know I don't post much, but mainly that's because it's visit time here in the SA.  We've got the high level visit coming, and I'm running around like a lunatic making sure everything goes to plan.  Lovely English Lass is in charge of the Meet and Greet (being held here and NOT at the Embassy in Pretoria) and is doing a great job for someone that has only been on the job for 2 weeks.  But, MILB is back because I needed something to take my mind off the crazy.

Raphael Saadiq was the front man for Tony! Toni! Tone! which everyone who was in the US knows from the early 1990s.  Quite a fun sounding band, with New Jack Swing hits like "Feels Good" and "If I Had No Loot" making the rounds.  After the band broke up, he formed a new Super Group with Dawn Robinson from En Vogue and Ali Shaheed from A Tribe Called Quest (one of my favorite Rap groups of all time) to form Lucy Pearl.  Nice throw-back sound, but it didn't last.

Saadiq is what you'd call a traditionalist.  His album from 2008, The Way I See It takes you back to the 1960s Motown sound, and even includes a guest appearance from Stevie Wonder.  (Surprisingly, Stevie just plays the harmonica.  And of course it sounds just like a Stevie Wonder harmonica would sound.)  Saadiq is very much in tune with his music, and does the unexpected.  When everyone else is looking forward with Space-age beats, or huge drums, a la Timberland, he's moving back to the sound of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and The Four Tops.  I mean, who has the cajones to ask one of the greatest song writers/singers/performers in modern music history, and only ask him to solo on his harmonica.  The man who wrote, sang and performed every instrument on the recording for "Superstition" (still what  I think of as one of the greatest songs in Rock) comes to guest and does a harmonica solo.  That's some self-confidence.

He even presented himself as a man of that time period, wearing form-fitted suits and skinny ties with horn-rimmed glasses.  Just the kind of guy you'd see walking out of a club in 1964.

The song I like best from that album is called "100 Yard Dash".  Amazing throw-back, and one that stays with you when you hear it.  It's got the mono sound going, the bass walking up and down the register, and the tinny sound from an early Motown record, with the breathless background singers working too.  Musicianship is all over this work, and the horns and saxaphones hit the right era as well.  When he sings: "You're Love is Stronger/ and it feels like every day it's getting longer/I feel your love like a monkey on my back" you actually can see this man struggle with the girl.  It's evocative of another time, when soul music was an expression.  Songs like "Night and Day" and "How Sweet it is (to be loved by you)" always gave you a certain feeling, and "100 Yard Dash" does the same.  It's meant to be both forward looking and a tribute at the same time.  The fact that he succeeded is amazing.

I always feel like music is supposed to make you feel something.  Disposable stuff that's always been around gives certain people a thrill, I suppose.  I'm sure that right now a girl (or boy, I'm not generalizing) who grew up with NKOTB or Backstreet Boys will tell you that when she hears a certain song, then it takes them back to where they were and how they felt as a 13 year old.  The differences is, with certain styles of music, even if you don't like it you can tell it's very good.  People that don't like classical music can listen to something by Liszt can probably tell it's good.  Even people that don't like soul music will be able to tell that this is a great recording.

Go on, listen to it.  It may not be your cup of tea, but you'll definitely be able to tell that it's a great piece or music.  And who knows, maybe you'll like even like it.  Me, I'm going to listen to it again, and then get on with my day.  I need my happy space for this visit, and for some reason this song puts a smile on my face.

One year and counting...

Today is August 1.  One year ago today (in fact, in 2 hours it'll be exactly one year) we arrived in South Africa after a 17 hour flight from Atlanta.  It wasn't a bad flight (certainly it could have been a lot worse) and we were excited to be there.  Also, wary of our arrival in what is billed as a "Critical Crime Threat" of a country.

After going through passport control, a man that looked like a porter grabbed a cart and said he'd help us out.  (After going to grab another cart with me, he asked me for a few hundred rands which is something they do to shake down new arrivals.)   When i didn't give him any more money to "help us" through Customs, he left our cart in the middle of the walkway and left.

Interesting start, don't you think?  Since then, though, it has been a pretty darn good tour.  1/3rd of the way through, we've had some good times, some bad times, some great weather and met some great people.  Lovely Little Girl has started to really thrive at her school, and next week she starts at the International School, something we never thought would happen.  Crazy Little Man started soccer, and stopped just as fast.  He's also started conversing better, and enjoys being a pest to his big sister.  He makes us laugh and drives us crazy with his antics.

South Africa has given us an opportunity to actually go out with our kids for dinner in places other than Wimpy's and McDonalds.  The country is very kid friendly, and very happy to be around kids.  Yeah there's crime, but we've been terribly lucky so far.  (knock wood.)

Lovely English Lass got involved in a charity, and then started work here at the Consulate.  She's doing a bang up job, which those of us who know her knew she would do.  I've overseen a large conference of Management Officers, a gathering of Ambassadors, a soon to be big visit, and a large move of people to our mission that will double our size in less than 2 months.

We've bought a lemon of a car, gotten into a large argument with a Customer Service Representative from our Bank, traded in the lemon for a good car, and moved forward.

LLG started swimming and hasn't wanted to stop since then.  She's definitely got her own style in swimming, but is very graceful in the water.  Swimming is one of the things that makes her feel right, and we'll continue to let her do it no matter the cost.

Last December we went and stayed at Sun City, made famous by Little Steven from the E Street Band.  Interesting place.  I also got to play golf at 3 different golf-courses and enjoyed every minute of it.

Johannesburg is stuck in the 1990s musically, but Kwa-Zulu Natal is stuck in the 1980s music wise.  I kind of dig that about this place.

This time next year I'll be searching for a new job.  I already have someone reaching out to me to ask about my job, which I don't leave until 2014.  When you're on assignment overseas, time can move very fast.  Hopefully it doesn't move too fast, as we kind of like it here.