10 Points behind...

To start off, I stumbled upon one of the greatest websites ever!!! It's a parody of 80's culture, done in a really neat way...

www.homestarrunner.com

Everyone loves the Homestar Runner... He is a terrific athlete!

It's the first week of the exams, I've only had to write one subject so far, and it was by far the most annoying thing I've had to endure the entire week - Somewhere between condescendingly easy and soul-numbingly boring (I think I just made up those two words, but oh well...). However, as of tomorrow, the exams start heating up... So, for the sake of every living thing in this world and Betelgeuse, I will not talk about academics...

By far the most interesting thing that happened this week was due to, yet again, pub quiz. It seems my life (and my blog, damn it all...) is starting to fall into this quagmire of routine - drink, play pub quiz, drink some more, study for tests, (you guessed it...) drink again, hand in assignments, yadda yadda yadda... Mind you, at least it's not a completely monotonous schedule, as I have a lot of opportunities (the ones involving drinking, mostly) where I get to meet new people and have weird little adventures, so I'm okay at least.

For the past four weeks, our performance at pub quiz has been average, according to our standards at least. Halfway through the grand championship, we remain squarely in fourth position on the league, ten points behind the current top team, and it's starting to get annoying. If we don't manage to pull a rabbit out of a hat soon, I'll have to resort to much more dirty tactics... After pub quiz, we all decided to go out for a spot of dancing and a (twenty-third) quiet drink to end off the day. Strangely enough, with our luck being as it is, we walked into a bar (good ol' Springbok Pub) which was hosting some guy's birthday party. This particular individual had also had the good nature to subsidise the entire bar, meaning that EVERYTHING was half-price... Needless to say, a fun time was had by all! Later that night, I happened to be introduced to the birthday boy, who freaked out when he heard my name (maybe he knew me in a previous life, or maybe my name just has that effect on people who come from the old Transvaal...) and subsequently bought me drinks for the entire night... Was it not for the fact that he ALSO introduced me to his girlfriend, I would have been seriously worried...

After waking up feeling thoroughly unperky the next day, I proceeded to study for the last part of that damned test. After writing on saturday morning, the entire population of Simonsrust 33 (our flat) went into hibernation, only to wake up for the occasional meal and beverage... A fun, though somewhat lethargic, time was had by all!

Today was one of those particularly weird days, and for which you all need a bit of history in order to fully understand the context. My father was a politician for almost 20 years. In that time, he was on the verge of bankruptcy at least twice, was involved in several landmark court cases (luckily, he never got sued), was the adviser to a former president (and also met several others from abroad), walked next to Nelson Mandela and Tokyo Sexwale on the day they were freed, served in a provincial cabinet, and also managed to score a try on both ends of the field at Rugby School in Wales (the spiritual birthplace of rugby, for those of who are not that familiar to the sport...). Needless to say, he's done a lot of interesting things, and met even more interesting people, through the course of his life. Hell, if he decides to write a book one day, I might even read it (well, definitely the first draft, despite everything the man's grammar and spelling has never been the best)!

One of my father's more interesting friends, Jorrie, is a self-made multi-millionaire whom he met while studying at university. This is a guy who was failing his accounting degree, and who was being kicked out of university, who then promptly walked into the Vice-chancellor's office and refused to leave until he was allowed to state his case. As a sign of the man's tenacity, not only was he let back to finish his degree, but he also attained it Cum Laude the second time around! Also, on his 47th birthday, he rented an entire wine farm for a weekend, along with several chefs and a philharmonic orchestra, so that he could amuse his friends with Frank Sinatra and Elvis Costello covers while they ate 5-course meals! A truly, truly unique individual...

So, now that we've given more than enough context, back to the story. When I woke up this morning to drive through to the folks' place, I was called and given orders to go to Jorrie's place, as we were invited for lunch. On my arrival there (at just before noon), a glass of Moët & Chandon was thrusted into my hand, and the party kicked off properly. After imbibing several bottles of wine (the cost of which I never want to calculate), and eating at least 2 endangered species (PETA supporters, I beg you not to lynch me), we were treated to the musical stylings of one Rocco de Villiers (a South African pianist, essentially our answer to Elton John, though not nearly as famous, for obvious reasons) as he debuted his new album in the living room... A truly fun, truly surreal, day.

Right, I'm off, need to actually do some studying today, unfortunately... Until next time, I leave you with the following:

Music Lyric of the day: "Daar's fokken baie fokkol in Suid-Afrika!" (Koos Kombuis, Fokkol) - Thought it's about time I put an Afrikaans lyric up on the blog... For the people who don't speak Afrikaans, the song (which is brand new, and can be downloaded free on his blog...) is essentially a satire of the state of the nation.

Arb 80's Trivia of the day: In 1982, the United States Center for Disease Control officially renames GRIDS (Gay-related Immuno-deficiency Syndrome) to AIDS, and recognises it as a serious health problem for the world.

Suggestion of the day: Always read the book before seeing the movie.

Quote of the day: "Without wearing any mask we are conscious of, we have a special face for each friend." - Oliver Wendell Holmes (Makes you think...)