30.1.10

FIFA 2010 World Cup on my Doorstep in Cape Town

As promised, here is the second World Cup Stadium.  The Cape Town Stadium is the most beautiful of the stadiums for the 2010 World Cup as far as I am concerned but then again, I am bias as I also believe that Cape Town is the most beautiful city in the world.

More years back than I care to remember, I spent many weekends in one of the blocks of flats (apartments) in the background of this photo of the old Green Point Stadium. At the time, this was home to one of the two major professional soccer teams based in Cape Town.  In fact it is so long ago, I cannot remember which one...
In 2007 this stadium was demolished and in a short 33 months, at a cost of R4,4-billion (approximately US$600-million) the new Cape Town Stadium arose.  On 14 December 2009, Cape Town Executive Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato, received the keys to the stadium officially confirming the opening of Cape Town Stadium.
Cape Town Stadium is beautifully situated on the Green Point Common between the Atlantic Ocean and Signal Hill with Table Mountain and Devil's Peak as a backdrop.  It has a seating capacity of 68 000 spectators and has noise-reducing cladding.  The rainwater from the roof will be collected into ponds in the 60 hectare urban park surrounding it.
The very popular Victoria & Alfred Waterfront is quite near it and I could not resist this night photo of the stadium towering over this tourist attraction.
PS:  Thank you so much to all the wonderful photographers for their wonderful photographs.  I have no idea who you are and I hope you will forgive me for using your work in this blog.

24.1.10

Recognition at last!

Things are really looking up at work.  The bosses decided that us general dogsbodies deserve to get our own toilet and I am so excited, I just had to post a photo.


Received this in an E-Mail from a friend and thought I'd pass it along to see who else identifies with what it says.

22.1.10

Over a Thousand Hills... Lambs to the Slaughter?

Little Jeanne d'Arc Umubyeyi lived happily with her parents, brother and little sister.  Her mother was a teacher and her father a Professor and they lived in a comfortable house with a beautiful tiled roof.  She happily fought with her little sister and teased her brother.  She visited her grandmother over school holidays and lived her life like any other little girl of eight, anywhere in the world... carefree and secure!


Then came that horrible day in April 1994, when her life was irrevocably changed forever.  In a few short days, every thing, and every one who made up her world, were taken from her... simply because she was a Tutsi and the Hutus hated them.


Jeanne lost her whole family.  She watched her mother being tortured to death, she saw her brother being hacked to death, she heard how her father was driven along for days while his capturers humiliated him and she never again heard from, or what happened to her little sister.  She was left alone in a hostile world.


I have recently read the book "Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You" by Hanna Jansen.  It is Jeanne's story penned down by her adoptive mother.  It is an excellent, but very disturbing book.  However, I thing it should be read by as many people as possible because in essence it is a book about Africa... and about the people of Africa.


One thing that I do not understand is the fact that the Tutsis did nothing to defend themselves.  I am not talking about the rebels that were already involved in the fighting, I am specifically speaking about the normal citizen who were staring death in the face and yet, did not lift a finger to defend himself.  I am sure that some of the victims were killed by bullets, yet the description in the book mainly involves, hoes, machetes and beatings.  Did the Tutsis not have these things?  They gathered in large numbers on more than one occassion, yet at no time in the book is there any indication that they planned a defence.  I do not understand this, as surely it is a basic human trait to defend yourself.  Why did they not... or is it just not mentioned in this particular book?

19.1.10

Evita Bezuidenhout - Phenomenal Woman

Recently I wrote a post about Princess Grace of Monaco and I feel honour bound to balance it with a post about our own royalty.  Now as you know, SA is a Democracy so we do not have a royal family but the closest we will ever get to it, is a phenomenal woman, Evita Bezuidenhout, or Tannie Evita as she is affectionately known over here.  She is loved by many, and hated by many, but nobody can deny or ignore her.  She has lived a rich and rewarding life and played a major role in the recent history of our country.


Tannie Evita was born as Evangelie Poggenpoel on 28 September 1935 in the little Orange Free State town of Bethlehem. In the 1950's she became almost famous as an actress for her roles in such Afrikaans epic movies as Meisie van my Drome (Girl of my Dreams) and Duiwelsvallei (Devil's Valley).

She married Dr J.J. de V. Bezuidenhout (affectionately known as Oom Hasie), the Member of Parliament for Laagerfontein, in 1958 and three children, De Kock, Izan and Billie-Jeanne were born from this union. Of course, as Oom Hasie's wife, Evita met and became involved with many politicians, even Prime Ministers, Presidents and other various Cabinet Ministers. Eventually, she completely overshadowed Oom Hasie in his political career and was appointed as SA Ambassador to the Independent Black homeland, Republic of Bapetikosweti.

For many years, Evita has been the conscience of the Afrikaner, whether he likes or admits it, or not.  She took this nation through all the changes since the 70's and is currently assisting the present government to keep its feet firmly planted on Mother Earth.  Such is her influence that they relied on her to help to educate the "masses" on the intricasies of voting in National Elections. 

At present, Evita is an Ambassador without Portfolio and living at Evita se Perron (railway station) in the little town of Darling in the Western Cape. She is the grandmother of Billie-Jeanne and Leroy Makoeloeli's three children. Her son Izan is an active member of the AWB (radical rightwing movement) and De Kock is a member of the Gay Liberation Movement. Oom Fasie is retired and working on his memoirs.

Evita is known and loved as a truly phenomenal woman, not only in her own country, but worldwide. She was awarded the Living Legacy 2000 Award in San Diego by the Woman's International Centre for "Her contribution to the place of women in the last century". Both Mother Theresa and Hilary Clinton are past honourees of this award and while they received it for their own uniqueness, Tannie Evita received it for the laughter and positive energy that her presence evokes.

Perhaps the most remarkable fact about Evita Bezuidenhout is that she is not a real person.  She is the brainchild of South African playwright and satirist, Pieter Dirk Uys.  If you remove the wig, the eyelashes and the lipstick, you will see the resemblance!



I will allow Pieter Dirk (himself a phenomenal person) to tell you about Evita in his own words:

"Toward the end of the 1970's, I was writing a weekly column for the Sunday Express in Johannesburg. It was during the time of the Information Scandal, which led to the eventual fall of John Vorster and the rise of PW Botha. The land was abuzz with rumours of embezzlements, thefts, even murder - but because of the ever-increasing paranoia about press control and censorship, it was not possible to write about these things.

So I created a character in my column out of whose mouth these rumours / facts dripped like warm honey. She was the wife of a Nationalist NW, someone on the fringes of power but elbow-deep in the catering, so she knew all the ins and outs. For 3 years she appeared about once a month, informing the nation of the stench under the cloak of respectability and no-one stopped her (me). Someone even gave her a name: "The Evita of Pretoria".

When I started my one-man show "Adapt or Dye" in April 1982, I gave this creature a physical reality - eyelashes, high heels and handbag - and she has never looked back! Right from the start "Tannie Evita" stepped out of the chorus line and took off into folklore, leaving behind the many other characters I did in my shows.

The public wanted more of her all the time, so I created more around her - her husband Hasie and her three children. I played them all on stage in "Farce about Uys" and on film in "Skating on thin Uys".

The absurdity of the homeland system cried out for attention and so she became its most famous ambassador. Even during 2 years when I stopped performing her - fearing she would swamp me with her forcefulness - the public didn't notice. Mrs Evita Bezuidenhout was alive and living among them, in spite of me!

I introduced her to audiences in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Holland, Germany and Scandinavia. She became as confident on foreign soil as she was in her own backyard. People wrote to her, promising to support her in her legal efforts to control that "third-rate satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys" who was so cruelly making fun of her.

Politicians wrote too. Minister Pik Botha faxed her, Archbishop Desmond Tutu kissed her on the cheek and danced the toyi-toyi with her in his garden. Designers designed for her. I dieted because of her.

Originally the idea for a biography on Evita centred around a few recipes and funny pictures, but once five years of research into the fascinating detail of South African politics had passed, I realised that Evita's biography was not just the story of a woman, or the story of a nation. It was, in many cases, the story of our lives."

I have read this biography, A PART HATE A PART LOVE , and it is one of the most entertaining books I have ever read.  What amazed me the most was that this was the biography of a person who does not exist, yet her story, apart fromt he satire, could be the story of a real woman.  If you can get hold of it, read it, it is well worth it!

13.1.10

Her Serene Highness Princess Grace - A name that says it all!

I have always been intrigued by royalty.  Their lives, their personalities, their reputations, their looks, their... well actually, about everything about them.  I have not always agreed with the world at large about the qualities of certain royals, and I have never had the urge to elevate any royal to near-sainthood, but they still fascinate me.

One of my favourites was, and still is the late Princess Grace of Monaco.  Apart from the fairytale love story that surrounded her courtship and subsequest marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco, Grace Kelly holds a very special place in my admiration.  She was everything a princess should be.  Beautiful and graceful. 


Young Grace Kelly - the actress

Grace Kelly - the bride

Grace Kelly - the mother

Grace Kelly - the princess

Grace Kelly - the beautiful

At the funeral of Princess Grace, James Stewart said:  "You know, I just love Grace Kelly.  Not because she was a princess, not because she was an acrss, not because he was my friend, but because she was just about the nicest lady I ever met."


9.1.10

Ain't they beautiful... and so delicious!

A while ago I posted some photos of the bees pollenating the litches (lychees) on our tree. (http://justiandmyself.blogspot.com/2009/10/when-i-left-my-house-this-morning-on-my.html)  Now it is about three months later and they are ready to eat.  Delicious, and so pretty!



Litchees are not indigenous to South Africa.  It originally came from the southern provinces in China, but is now cultivated as far afield as The USA and South Africa.  It is very high in Vitamin C and carries more heart-healthy polyphenols than grapes.



  Good to look at, delicious to eat and healthy on top of it!

6.1.10

Lina Medina - Unbelieveable

I was surfing the net for information about a specific subject for a post when I came across this story and although I am not easily shocked, I could not believe what I was reading, so I immediately decided to rather do a post on this.  First I confirmed that it was not an urban legend as originally it was thought to be a hoax, but the case has been well documented and confirmed by medical evidence.

Little Lina lived with her father, mother and eight siblings in Antacancha, 450 kilometres east of Lima, the capital of Peru.  The shamans in the village became concerned about her belly getting bigger and bigger and asked her father, Tiburcio's permission to perform an exorcism to get rid of "the snake under her belly".  Permission was granted and the ritual was performed.  However this did not have the desired effect and her parents started believing that she was gravely ill with a tumor growing in her stomach.

They then travelled the 70 kilometres to the town of Pisco to Dr Gerardo Lozada who took charge of Lina's preliminary tests.  He immediately noticed the size of her stomach and also thought that it might be a tumor.  However, after evaluating her clinical tests many times and with the scientific thoroughness required by the circumstances, he declared Lina to be 8 months pregnant.  He immediately informed the police who in turn immediately arrested her father, as the prime suspect of having sired the baby.  He was soon released though as no there was no evidence against him. One of Lina's siblings, a mentally disabled, 9 year old, brother was then suspected of fathering the baby but this also could not be proven.

Lina Medina (5 years old and 8 months pregnant)
Dr Lozada admitted the pregnant girl to a clinic in Lima and sent someone to Antacancha to investigate the situation and circumstances there.  He came back with the information that family members confirmed that even before Lina was 4 years old, her breasts had already started developing, she had pubic hair and she had started menstruating.

There was nothing to be done at such a late stage in the pregnancy but to prepare for the imminent birth of the baby.  On 14 May 1939, fittingly on Mother's Day, Lina's 2,7 kg, 48 cm tall, baby was born by cesarean section.  Dr Busalleu was the surgeon and Dr Colretta the anaesthesiologist. The baby boy was named Gerardo after Dr Lozada.


The news of this unprecedented medical event spread like wildfire and it even minimised the relevance of preparations for World War II for a couple of days.  Lina and her baby stayed in the maternity clinic for a period of 11 months during which time she learned to read and write.  The story has it that her family refused all offers of using the girl and her baby for financial gain, but was willing to sign an agreement with the Seltzer Compamy to study the case.  However, Oscar Benavides, president of Peru at the time, enacted a law on the tutelage of Lina and her son under the promise of a grant for life for both.  They never received on penny of this grant.


Lina's parents brought little Gerardo up as Lina's brother but when he was 10 years old, he learned the truth about his birth.  Unfortunately he died at the age of 40 from a bone marrow disease. (It had no connection with his unusual gestation or birth).

As a young adult, she worked as a secretary for Dr Lozada, who saw to her being educated and who also helped her to put Gerardo through high school. 
At the age of 33, Lina married Raul Jurado and spent her married life in "Chicago Chico", a very poor suburb of Lima.  In 1972 she gave birth to another son.  During the 80's her house was demolished to make way for a highway and she did not receive any compensation whatsoever. 

After almost 70 years it is still a mistery as to who fathered Gerardo.  Lina and her husband still lives in poverty and it was reported in the "El Pais" journal that she has only one ambition:  to obtain compensation from her government for the house they demolished.

Most of the information used in this post was found at the blog of Iron Queen and at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Medina

(Quoted from Wikipedia:  "Extreme precocious puberty in children 5 or under is very uncommon; pregnancy and delivery by a child this young remains extremely rare. Extreme precocious puberty is treated to suppress fertility, preserve growth potential, and reduce the social consequences of full sexual development in childhood.)

4.1.10

Back to Work

Much to tired to blog tonight.  First day back at work after 2 weeks of leave.

I must really start buying Lotto (SA's National Lottery) tickets so that I can become a millionaire very quickly and stay home.  Just think of it:  I can sit and blog, and game and surf all day long... (sigh).

Then again, if I have a couple of million in the bank, why stay put?  I can clutch my laptop under my arm, jump on a plane and visit Canada, America, England, Hawai and all those wonderful places I read about everyday.  I will, of course, pop in and say hello to each and everyone of my blogland friends... with arms full of presents!

Chocolate for some (Okay, it will have to be lots and lots of chocolate), coffee for others, red wine for a few, definitely a housemaid and babysitter for one specifically.  Oh wouldn't it be lovely?

Okay, okay, I know I am rambling, so goodnight everybody, I'm off to my bath with a book and then to bed... that is after I have washed the dishes... and put the washing in the machine... and fed the cat... and given Hubby his cup of tea...

2.1.10

FIFA 2010 World Cup on my Doorstep

At 21 minutes past noon, on 15 May 2004, excitement exploded in South Africa when FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, during a live television broadcast, opened a white envelope, and announced South Africa to be the proud host country for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.


Having already successfully hoster the IRB Rugby World Cup in 1995, the 1996 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, the IAAF Athletics World Cupin 1998, the 1999 All Africa Games and the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2003, South Africa was ready to take on a much bigger challenge, the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup.

Now we are only 159 days away from the start of the tournament and I believe we are as ready for it as any country anywhere in the world could be at this stage.  Over the past couple of years many projects have been undertaken to prepare South Africa to be ready on 11 June 2010 when the World Cup tournament kicks off.  Ten stadiums have been prepared; some upgraded and some new ones built.  The roads have been upgraded to handle the traffic load that the increase in tourism will bring.  The Gautrain Project has been launched and the first stage will be completed in time for transporting visitors from Oliver Tambo International Airport to Sandton in Johannesburg.  The airports have been enlarged and modernised to handle air traffic and passengers and even the mini bus taxi fleet has been improved by government initiative.

I hope to keep my blogger friends updated on what happens during these last 159 days before the opening ceremony at Soccer City in Johannesburg.  Both the opening ceremony and the final match will be played at this stadium and therefore it is the first of the stadium that I want to introduce to you.

The design of Soccer City was inspired by a calabash, an African pot made from a gourd and used for storage and carrying water.  The stadium is located just South West of Johannesburg and close to the soccer crazy township of SOWETO where approximately 40% of the population of Johannesburg lives.  This stadium was previously known as the FNB Stadium with a seating capacity of 80,00 but after the multi-million Rand upgrade, it is now known as Soccer City and will seat almost 95,000 spectators.

Although many South Africans, especially in one specific cultural group who seems to go through life completely blind to the bigger picture, are extremely negative about this event, I personally think it is the best thing that has come to South Africa since the release of Nelson Mandela from prison.  Whether it will bring financial prosperity to this country or whether it spells financial doom, I believe the true profits of this event will be the opportunity to show the world just what South Africa is about:  A so-called Third World country with both feet firmly planted in the First World!