Pink Floyd asked the right questions.........

Being labelled by those who see me walking down the street as a "BOER" made me think about what it is that says that, and why do I care?
What they see is a bald guy, wearing glasses, usually wearing a modern T-shirt(which my daughter picked, something Hardy or another, about which I blew a gasket when I got to know the price, and it was on sale) a neat pear of sweats (or a jean) and shoes to match.
I don't carry anything in my pockets as I don't like unnecessary bulges, my cell phone does not have De La Rey as a ringtone and I communicate in a acceptable manner.
Yes I drive a Landie (4 lt V8, what a sound!) but so does most of Sandton! But still something in my demeanor makes people label me as a "BOER".

So I thought it might be the music I listen to, its possible due to some hearing loss by spending nearly 17 years on a shooting range, I turn the music on quite load in the car.
To put my music into perspective, I have to explain that I grew up in the 80's and had (and still have) 3 very important influences in my taste of music.
Living in "M-Bay" (Mossel Bay), and with my grand parents at that, we were always a bit behind the times, but fortunately for me the "music-fashion-language-ethical-gods" would arrive every December in their family Beatle to bestow on me what is hip and happening in the world of music and fashion.
I learnt that shoes must match your belt, you can't end a sentence with "is" and to like their music, Pink Floyd, Men Without Hats, Talking Heads, UB 40, Linton Kwezi Johnston, Sex Pistols etc. Not to mention AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Rumstein, Andrea Bocelli.
Then the third influence came to me, the one angel met her husband to be, he loved Koos Kombuis, Johannes Kerkorrel and "een aand op die trein na Pretoriaaa", thus Afrikaans was added to the mix. Those were the days, songs meant something and the lyrics actually had something to say and touched your soal.
You'll notice that I didn't mention any of todays Afrikaans (although it irks me to call them that) singers. In South Africa today all you need is a 1500 bucks and then you have a CD, and if you career is struggling, throw in a gospel CD and you are back on track.
So it can't be my music because I don't do Juanita Du Plessis!

Then I thought, OK, not music, not clothing maybe its the lingo.
But again a lesson from the past came to me, meeting people in their circle of friends, I was quickly instructed to work on my pronunciation, as not to sound like a "dutch man", "its not carrrrs, but roll your r's its cars", so since then I made a point of getting the language right.

Then it dawned on me, the masses are just trying to break my balls!, because no matter what I wear, what music I listen to, what I drive or for who I vote, I will forever be judged on my skin colour, and because I live in Pretoria I must be a BOER.

Thank you guys for taking part in forming this Bloody-Oulike-Eccentric-Rascal!

Well till next time.

Days of Our Lives.....

Wow its been a long times since I spoke to the masses, so many things happened, so many dilemmas had to be solved and so many tears had to wiped, but that is all in a days work.

Skinner street became Nana Sita, Cape Town will become //Hui !Gaeb , and I moved, from *&% Duncan street to *&% Jan Shoba street without spending one sent on furniture removal! this is a wonderful country! I went for a "routine nasal operation" and came back with severe hypertension, my daughter chose her high school, and guess what...? 

I'll be going to the Olympics! 

Yes you heard me the Olympics! 

I must just clarify for those who don't know me that well, I will be a spectator not a participant, as my category, "unfit-40 something-braai (barbecue) addict-with-a disposition- for-whiskey" is not yet an Olympic event! 

Although I believe it would be one of the toughest events, standing in front of a hot fire, postponing  the actual braaiing endless times to ensure that the coals are just right, only to find that there is more meat than you anticipated, and always forgetting the "braaibroodjies", holding an ice cold glass and constantly consuming liquids without being thirsty, replaying and analysing the game endlessly until it is so burned into your memory that you can’t remember your wife's name but you can remember the exact second Bryan Habana scored that vital try that won the Bulls the Super Rugby Cup....and then being in the dog-box as "whats-her-name-again" complains that the children are hungry! 

Like I said very challenging indeed!

The name changes on the other hand, is not an issue at all, before I could actually wrap my head around it my trusty Tom-Tom already had all the names memorized! I must admit that the pronunciation is still very much a challenge, but at least the spelling is the same and I can find Lilian Ngoyi, translate it to van der Walt and know exactly not to go there as the traffic is horrible!

What is very interesting about the name changes is that the Afrikaans community embraces it more than the African community, this is evident by the fact that every single African person I spoke to over the last 4 weeks refers to the streets by their old names, and all the whites by the new name! LoL who would have thought that! I tell you this is crazy!

Embrace the changes and challenges that are coming your way, it moulds you and makes you better.

Well till next time!