Visit to Durban, Christmas, and a Goodbye to 2012

To say the last few weeks have been crazy would be a terrible understatement.  I've seen Black Friday sales that were less hectic.

Our trip to Durban didn't turn out the way we wanted it to when we planned it.  About 30 miles from our destination (as the GPS says) a loud screeching noise made me a little worried, as did the smoke from our tailpipe, that quickly disappeared.  The A/C stopped working, and the car was making a weird noise.  Sadly, however, this was late Saturday and everything was already closed.  Nothing is open on a Sunday, and Monday was a holiday, so it looked like we were going to have an issue with fixing the car.  The hotel was nice, and not too far to the beach.  So the first couple days were OK.  We spent time at the pool and went to Gateway Shopping Mall (the largest supposedly in the Southern Hemisphere).  On Monday we met family Friends D and A, and their son who is also on the spectrum.  He's much older than Lovely Little Girl but a sweet boy that very much took to Lovely English Lass.  A called around and found that the Mazda dealer was in fact open on Monday, and took me to see if they could fix it.  Turns out they couldn't.  He then called his mechanic who recommended someone who would  come fix the car for us.  Problem was, no one had the part we needed.  Our car is a 2 liter engine, and all of the ones in country were 1.6 liters, which is a problem.  So while he looked around for the part, we rented a car and went looking for Rhino at a Nature Preserve.

While there we had lunch near a herd of Zebra, saw numerous monkeys, and saw the beautiful dam built by LEL's people.  (Not enough concrete to be from mine.)  In many of these nature parks they have paved roads, but also unpaved roads to travel on to see animals.  We saw an unpaved road that looked like it had been used, and decided to give it a try.  Low clearance + No 4wd = stuck car.  I had to walk back to the info center to ask for help.  The woman asked me why we went down this road, and I told her that if they'd have given us a map, I wouldn't have in the first place.  She called for help, which is where I heard the Zulu word for idiot.  (It's yejane in case you're wondering.)  A man came up with a Land Cruiser, and off we went to our stuck vehicle.  He looks at it, says, "Stuck", makes a motion like backing up, and leaves.  We sit for almost 10 minutes, and just when I'm about to go back to the center, the man arrives with a large red tractor.  He hooks us up, pulls us out, and we're on our way.

The car got fixed on Thursday, but by then we'd had enough.  We packed up and left Friday.  It wasn't that busy, but apparently the road we traveled (the N3) was very dangerous.  About 15 minutes after we passed an area a HUGE accident occurred an 6 people died.  That happened a lot here.  You always have large casualties in accidents, sadly.

Christmas was brilliant.  The kids loved the gifts Santa brought, I got an ice cream maker, a book on ice cream recipes from Ben & Jerry's, a Batman Belt Buckle, a Batman DVD, a Batman Comic book, a Batman t-shirt, 2 different Captain America t-shirts, and Spider man cuff-links.  Yeah, I'm a geek.  LEL got a tri-pod for her video camera, the entire series of Buffy, last season from How I met Your mother, tea mugs from Ali Miller (which were featured on the TV show "Sherlock") and a Jane Eyre t-shirt, which she adores.

However, Christmas was cut short by news that a very dear friend of LEL had died the day after Christmas. It happened quickly, and was a shock for everyone.  So, Saturday LEL and the kids flew back to England for the funeral, and for LEL to help with the arrangements.  Very sad way to end the year indeed.

It's been a quick year.  Time always moves faster when you live oversees in the Foreign Service.  I'm now almost 1/2 way through my tour here in Johannesburg, and this summer we'll be looking to bid for our next job.  Seems difficult to believe we've been here so long.  It's been a good year with some difficult times.  However, LLG is growing more and more sure of herself.  She loves the new main-stream school she's in, and has even made some friends.  Crazy Little Man is becoming his own little person, and definitely has his own personality.  (He's larger than life in his mind.)  LEL started a new job, and is getting rave reviews for it. Me?  I got promoted, we're all relatively healthy and happy.  Hopefully it continues into the new year.

Thank you reader for letting my random brain droppings entertain you this year.  I've had over 2000 views since I started this new blog in June, which boggles my mind.  I just can't imagine people wanting to read my thoughts, or even to read my attempts at music reviews, but apparently they do.  So thank you.  May the New Year bring you happiness, health and joy to you and yours.

My Inner Lester Bangs: "Woman's a Devil" by Goldfish

I know I should be talking about our trip to Durban and Christmas and everything, but frankly I can't be bothered at the moment.  It's been a draining couple of days, and I think I'd rather talk about something else right now.  Later I'll discuss the trip, Christmas and everything else.

However, today I want to talk about another South African group, Goldfish.  Their new song, "Woman's a  Devil" has been playing constantly all over the country, and it is very catchy.

Goldfish are an electronic band (like Basement Jaxx whom they opened for previously) from Cape Town made up of Dominic Peters and David Poole.  They've been around since 2006 and have release 8 albums in that time.  (Of course some of those albums were re-mixes, but when you do electronic music that can be an entire new album anyway.)

This song starts off with a little bit of 1930s sound influence to it, but also a little bit of Jamiroquai.  Song starts with a breathless female voice talking about how she's just being nice to this person, but that they really don't have a thing going on.  ("No secret wink/no just a drink/it's coffee all the way.")  The chorus is the man's response.  "Woman's a devil/That devil stole my heart./and now she's gone forever/we'll always be apart.")  The music continues on with this for the entire song.  Very cool, and great music to listen to on a hot day in Johannesburg.  I wouldn't be surprised if this song crossed over to the states, as it has that pop flavor to it that begs for mass radio saturation.

Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Holiday Party and introducing Mexican Food to South Africans

Since everyone in Johannesburg leaves town after the 14th, I decided to buy my entire section lunch today.  All 30+ of them.  The entire Management section.  Yeah, it was going to get expensive.

But they deserved it.  It's been a long and busy year here in Jozi, and my team had done one hell of a good job.  It's not easy being short-handed and still being able to do a superb job.  I'm very proud of them and wanted to show my appreciation.  So catered lunch it was.

In Johannesburg, unlike in Pretoria or pretty much anywhere in South Africa, they actually have ok Mexican restaurants.  One of them is called Mexican Fresh.  The chef is from Mexico, and the owner's father lives in LA.  So, they at least get the basic idea of what Mexican is supposed to be, and what it should do.  So I contacted them about catering for me.  Burritos, tacos, quesedillas, chimichangas, guac and salsa. Good stuff.  He was very happy because he's been trying to get people to order from him for a long time, but it just hasn't worked.  So, give em a taste, and see what happens.

Well, the entire section, that is in town, came by for lunch.  Everyone had a good time, many of them ate their weight in quesedillas, and many of them were surprised that they enjoyed Mexican food.  (Guacamole was a popular thing, which isn't strange because Avocado is huge here.)  Needless to say, I enjoyed being an emissary for Tex-Mex, and they enjoyed free food and being recognized for the work they do.  Win-Win for everyone involved.

So next year maybe I'll do it again.  It'll be my last Christmas in Jozi, and by then we should know what we'll be doing in 2014.  Still, it was nice to be sitting with my staff, enjoying ourselves before the new year begins with a vengeance.

In other news, Saturday the family goes on vacation for a week to Durban.  Just like the rest of South Africa.  (It's either Durban or Cape Town for summer break here.)  So Indian Ocean here we come!  We'll drive down Saturday morning, which takes anywhere from 6-8 hours.  Send good thoughts our way, as the kids will be in the back and they'll be a bit cranky, I'm sure.  Photos when we get back!

When a Parent Gets Sick

You know, it's a lot easier for Parents to be sick on weekends, when the other one is there to help out with the kids.  However, if it bleeds into the week, and school is out for one of the kids, it becomes a bit more daunting of a task.

As I've said previously, when school breaks hit here in South Africa, lots of stuff close down.  December especially.  Everyone leaves town, and Johannesburg becomes a virtual ghost town.  Since Crazy Little Man goes to a local day care, they closed down for December last Friday.  Lovely Little Girl is off after school on Friday for 3 weeks.  We're off for a week to Durban starting on Saturday.  So of course Lovely English Lass got sick this weekend.

To be honest, I'm not shocked.  We've got a history of being ill before trips, so this was bound to happen.  Better now than when I'm driving the N3 to Durban and we've just passed the "No petrol for 100 km" sign, right?  Anyways, it could be worse.

Poor LEL.  She was aching, and her head hurt, and it hit quite quickly.  In the 7 years we've been married, I've never seen her that miserable over a virus.  (I've seen her more miserable, but it had to do with child birth and that's not something to discuss, ok?)

We went to the doctor's office, and the doctor was a bit flummoxed by it all but gave her some stuff to make it better.  Meanwhile, out in the outer office, I was dealing with CLM and his frequent temper tantrums.  Let's just say he's lucky he's my child and not that of my grandmother or mother.  You did NOT act out like that in public with any of those ladies.  (Like most good southern boys, I love my momma, but I'm also still scared of her.  I was once asked when I would stop being scared of my mother, and I replied, "Two days after I'm dead.  Jesus may not find me the first day, but she would.")

So Daddy was left alone with the two kids this weekend while mummy was upstairs in our room asking what she had done to deserve this.  To be honest, I have always very much appreciated my wife for what she has given up to be with me, and what she does to keep the family moving.  But I appreciate her now more than ever.  With my kids for 2 days trying to keep them away from mummy so she can get some rest, trying to keep them from beating each other while I'm in the bathroom, or even trying to get them to eat something healthy is a chore in and of itself.  All weekend long, all I heard was: "Where's mummy?"  "Mummy is NOT sick!"  (That's LLG.  She can't stand to have someone ill in the family.)  (crying): "I want MUMMY!"  (That's CLM.)

So I survived, but with my head bowed and bloodied from the whole experience.  Goodness me is it hard being a parent.  Kind of wished I'd known this earlier.  I would have read more before the kids came.  Then again, knowing my kids, they would read it and done the opposite, so there's that.

My Inner Lester Bangs: "Take Five" from Dave Brubeck Quartet

Just heard the sad news that Dave Brubeck died yesterday.  What a legend.  Here's this nerdy looking guy that completely changed how Jazz could be listened to by everyone.  He was one of the biggest proponents of West Coast Jazz.  But he was so much more.  He also wrote for the Charlie Brown specials, which alone would make him a legend.  However, what makes him a legend is actually one album.

Time Out is an album that shouldn't have happened.  Jazz was always based on the improvisation, and not on strict time signatures.  Pretty much everyone used normal time for Jazz, and that's the way it was.    Brubeck comes along and records an entire album of music consisting of pieces with rare and difficult to play, time signatures.  9/8 and 5/4 are not something you hear a lot of in Western Music.  And as a musician, adding that 5th beat to a measure is tricky on 5/4.  You just can't understand how huge this was, and the chance that Columbia Records took at the time in releasing it.  (They did stipulate that he release a "normal" record prior to this one, so they tried to cover themselves I suppose.

Brubeck was influenced by his time on a US Department of State sponsored trip of Eurasia.  Especially Turkish folk music, which is in 9/8.  (To get a sense of that, listen to Blue Rondo a la Turk and see how strange it sounds, but how awesome it works.)  So, I have the Department of State in common with Mr. Brubeck.  Which is nice.

Here's the deal with "Take Five": it shouldn't work.  Dave Brubeck and the alto sax player, Paul Desmond (who actually wrote "Take Five") formed a very solid West Coast Jazz power.   The drummer, Joe Morello, was fantastic and technical Jazz drummer who could play the complex time signatures.  However, the bassist, Eugene Wright, was a traditional, Kansas City-Style of bass playing, which should have been at odds with the West Coast Jazz of Brubeck and Desmond.  (Stay with me, this is important.)  None of this should have worked.

But it did.  "Take Five" is a masterpiece.  Desmond is an amazing sax player, and the percussion section of Brubeck and Morello are great.  The entire thing is held together by the strong bass line played by Wright.  All these things meld together to give you 5 minutes and 24 seconds of bliss.  Amazingly, the drum solo keeps the 5/4 time, which is unheard of in these days of drummers losing their minds and playing on for 10 minutes.  (John Bonham and Keith Moon being the people who basically invented the extended drum solo.)  But to keep it in time boggles.

This song is so amazing that I don't even really need to pimp it out to people.  If you haven't heard it, you should.  The musicianship of these 4 people playing together is a treat for the ears.  Sit in a room with the lights off, your eyes shut, and this playing.  You might have a religious experience.

Sadly, Paul Desmond died in 1977.  Joe Morello, voted best drummer 5 years running by Down Beat Magazine, died in 2011.  Dave Brubeck left us yesterday, and the only one left from that recording is Eugene Wright.  Go and do me a favor: listen to this song.  In fact, if you go to a Panera Bread, you might accidentally hear it while you sit there.  I think Dave Brubeck would have liked that.  Even though his music was difficult, he was trying to make it accessible for everyone.  He succeeded.  Thank you Dave.  RIP.

My little girl turns 6

By the time you read this, my lovely little girl will have turned 6.  She was born on December 4, 2006 at almost 2 am.  (Which means when I called my parents back home it was still December 3.  Time zones are confusing, no?)

To be honest, it's been a busy year for my lovely little girl.  She has worked very hard and is making very good progress.  We did have some low points in the year, especially when this, and this happened.  But LLG got into AISJ, a main-stream school, and her teacher has been a God-send.

Still LLG is her own little girl, and one that seems to defy everything you might think you know about her.  Just when I've about given up trying to get her to show affection for me, she runs and gives me a hug and a kiss.  Or she'll sit in my lap and get giggly.  Or the pure joy on her face when she is happy.  These are the things that make me try harder.  She is a smart little girl, with a slight mischievous side to her.  When she gets up VERY early in the mornings, she closes the door to our room so we can't see what she's doing.  (More than likely she's about to wake her brother up.)  We'll hear a door slam in the kitchen and find that she's made herself a snack.  She's learned, sadly, how to get onto the counters by using the doors for the cabinets as a step-stool.

However, I know life wouldn't be anywhere near as lovely without her.  Watching her with my wife, or with her grandmothers, or even female friends of the family, I know that is a caring child just waiting to see what life brings.  Hopefully I'm around long enough for her to find her niche, because I think that'll be an amazing thing.  Daddy loves you Lovely Little Girl.  Happy Birthday.