Today I got lost on my way home from the bank. And stumbled onto this beautiful dirt track through the forest. What luck!

So I’ve moved to a place where my door says ‘matrone’ my light is so old its come back into fashion and there is an intercom in my lounge. Which luckily (and unsurprisingly given its vintage) doesn’t work.

But it’s all good, ’cause it’s all new and no amount of new grime is as depressing as old grime. (Oh, I may not have mentioned, a certain amount of cleaning is called for, acid-stripping would get most of it off.)

Luckily the staff accommodation I’ve landed actually gets sun, so I can see the grime well enough to get rid of it, other school lessees are not so lucky.

Where we’re all lucky is the rent. By gosh, it’s cheap. It’s so cheap I can’t tell or you’d all be moving here!

And food is cheap, well, certain food, especially at the Cash ‘n’ Carry. And anything you can’t buy cheap you can grow. Just on the lane we live in there’s avo’s, lemons, and another tree we’re watching closely to see if it fruits anything nice.

I am settling happily into ESHOWE (that’s with the ‘oh’ sound not the ‘ow’ sound that the white people do). And as soon as I can figure out how to get into the forest for free, my life will be complete.

On my trek through South Africa these holidays I passed a town where the local government offices resemble nothing so much as a casino. Andrew and I decided after serious debate that the building we were looking at had to be a mall or a casino. Only to find after turning a corner that the turrets and domes before our eyes were needed by the Gert Sibanda District Municipality!

The things you see in Piet Retief!

This was my first fanwalk and my first Greenpoint Stadium experience. And it was a smashing success. We took the train in, using our concert tickets, and were serenaded by aKing’s sweet sounds as we walked down Somerset Rd. They played a gig on a roof on the way. What a great idea guys! If you’re not on the line-up, just line-up yourselves.

Then we got to the concert. Just in time to hear the end of the ShadowClub’s set. What a letdown. Especially seeing’s they were my favourite SA band on the line-up. Jon Savage subjected us to some wankerish MC-ing, all par for the course, but mercifully didn’t introduce the Kings. WHO WERE AWESOME!

I can die happy having heard On Call live. It must be unbelievable to be the source of such a huge sound. How is it possible that four tiny guys can stand up on a massive stage and sweep thousands of people up off their feet? It requires a lot of equipment and technical expertise (definitely in evidence, I was particularly impressed by the visuals on the sidescreens) but in spite of all that stuff, it is still an incredible feat to entertain on such a scale. And to do it so well.

Some pics of the turnout and the stage. We were miles away but the screens and light show meant that I didn’t even miss being up close with the band.

Found these beautiful cocoons on a top I’d left for too long on the clothes line.

I love living in Obz. Where else in Cape Town would artists be commissioned to beautify the telephone boxes in the street.

Wow, so exciting! The Art Club kids did an animation workshop where they came up with their own stories, developed story boards and animated their own short films!

Super!

Today we marched on parliament to let the South African government know that their constituents will not give up our freedom.

Here are some snaps I took on the march.

Wow, I have finally seen Boo! Terrible that it’s taken me this long.

The show was last night, 9 September, at the Mercury and despite being in love with this band for years, it was my first time!

There was a small crowd and they actually started at 10.30! Early enough to finish at 12. Is the band getting old or is that just being professional? One thing’s for sure, the punters were pretty old. I felt right at home. It was so cool to go out and not feel myself slipping into teacher mode all the time.

The sound from Hellfire was superb, good music with good sound: like lamb chops on the braai it makes you lick your fingers and beg for more.

And there were a R15 special for Sailor Jerry and mix! So lekker!

The only drawback was that the band were looking like professionals doing their best to look like they were enjoying themselves. You appreciate and respect them for it but kinda wish they were having fun too.

Maybe they were put off by all the lesbians in the front row.

Or maybe they just wanted to play new material instead of golden oldies.

OR: maybe I was the one pretending to enjoy myself and blaming it on the band!

Who knows. It was still a good show and well worth the money.

The first of September showing no sign of giving us some spring!