The Tri-Annual Check In

I'm not gonna promise to blog more. It won't happen. I have been really busy the last few months and it doesn't look like changing, so no empty promises.

I'm home alone at the moment. Hayley is away with Dale and Kerri. We bought an awesome weekend away through Wicount at Bushmans Hide, unfortunately I have been so busy at work that I had to cancel. So I'm the Macauley Culkin of Farrarmere until Tuesday.

I joked earlier that it's gonna be Summer Camp for the dogs and me for the next 2 days. It's not Summer Camp. I'm just sitting here sulking. This house is Hayley. With her not here, it just isn't the same.



I said on Twitter earlier that I'm the worst bachelor in the world and I am. I always have these big ideas about how much I'm gonna do and how much fun it's gonna be. It never works out like that. Never. I just sit and pine for my wife as soon as she's gone. Pathetic, I know.

The worst is that she's in an area with NO cellphone reception. Nothing, nada. So I can't even chat to her. It sucks.

So thank you for hearing me out. I know it's not fun listening to an emotional man on a Sunday night, just before Carte Blacnhe nogal. I apologise.

Please listen to My favourite song at the moment.. It is amazeballs.

Need you now - Lady Antebellum

I know it`s been a while so I thought I`d pop in and share my favourite song of the moment. I adore this band. I`m not the biggest country fan but these guys are AWESOME.

Enjoy everybody!

Chris Daughtry - Poker Face

First heard about this on Twitter, from the man himself. I obviously had to go check it out.

This is absolutely brilliant stuff! Just shows what a great musician Chris Daughtry really is.

By the way, things are still good. Been back in Joburg for almost 5 months. Can you believe it`s been that long? Somerset West and the Cape are just happy memories. Sometimes it feels like it never happened and that is was all just a dream. Albeit a dream swinging from the nightmarish to the absolutely sublime.

We will be back in Somerset West for a 5 day holiday at the beginning of August and I am so excited. Cannot believe how quickly the last almost 5 months have flown by. It will be awesome sleeping in our old house again. It is now a holiday home for the whole family. We are really fortunate that my Father-in-Law saw the potential in the place and decided to buy it from us. Now we`ll still get to spend time there every now and again.

I haven`t had a run in quite a while. Too busy working. I have picked up a lot of the weight I lost last year and feel horrible for it. Hayley reckons I look GOOOOOOD but I think she`s just making me feel better!

Anyways, I`m sitting at work at the moment and need to get a few things done. I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do cos he really made it awesome!

Refuse to be denied

I absolutely adore this song and found it by accident.

One of the main radio stations here in SA is 5FM. Now it`s aimed at the younger market, so I obviously don`t listen to it very often. Not too keen on the dj`s or most of the music. Having said that I own many of the cd`s by the artists featured on that station. I know, I`m strange. It`s ok, I`ve made peace.

I have always liked one of the dj`s though. Her name is Koula. I suppose I started liking her when I read how she had taken up running and she even did the Comrades Ultra Marathon which is the best known race in South Africa. It is a murderous 90km and takes place between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. Thousands of runners from all over the world take part every year and it is massive. Probably the best known Ultra-Marathon in the world.

So she has always been the one 5FM dj that I have "followed" and enjoyed. We do tend to follow those people that we have something in common with.

One Saturday night, while Hayley was away, I was flicking tv channels and came upon a late night South African talk show. Koula was the guest, so I decided to check it out. She was chatting about her running and her job and it was the usual stuff. Then she started talking about her new tv show which was gonna air the next morning, called Psalted. It is a Music Show, featuring the best in Christian music. The host of the show was kinda shocked and said "Christian music?". Koula then went on and explained that she was a devoted Christian. She even joked and called herself a "happy clappy". Respect. I for one love it when people stand up for their beliefs at the risk of being mocked. Especially on live tv. Mind you, I don`t think this specific talk show has more than 50 viewers.

I digress.

So the next morning I made a point of watching the show. This song, Refuse to be denied by the Desperation Band was on. I had never heard of the group but immediately loved it. I`m sure you guys will too.

Let me know what you think.

South African Music - Chapter 1

I have decided to share some South African music with all my overseas friends. I think we are pretty lucky to have some really talented people in this country and what a great way to show them off, here on this blog, which has had almost 6000 hits!! 6000 hits! Ok, I`m still 10, 000 behind David and I`ll never catch him but that`s another story for another time...

So, as I was saying. There are a lot of good SA bands / artists and I`ll try to give you a little glimpse into what we offer.

First up is Jesse Clegg, the son of Johnny Clegg. Johnny Clegg is a South African institution and together with his bands Juluka and Savuka penned a few classic SA songs. Most notably Impi which is an anthem at all Springbok rugby matches. Scatterlings of Africa, another of his hits, was on the soundtrack to the movie Rain Man.

But back to Jesse. This is his first song and I know Hayley is a massive fan of both the song and Jesse.

So I present to you, Jesse Clegg and the song Today.

Home Alone

So as most of you know, Hayley left for Johannesburg on Sunday and I`m the Mccauley Culkin of Somerset West. Ok, maybe he has more hair but you get the picture. I`ll be here till at least end February to pack up the house and get everything ready for the big move back to Johannesburg.

Anybody who knows me, knows that I HATE being away from my wife. Hayley really is my best friend and we just get each other. We don`t have to do much to have a good time. Give us a tv and a few decent shows and we are set. I think we were meant to be together. Nobody else would put up with either of us!

So the last 3 days have been a bit of a struggle for me. I`m so used to our little routine. You really do get set in your ways as a couple, or at least we do. Most of our routine consists of tv, reading and eating. (As your can see we don`t have kids yet...). It works for us and makes us happy! Life at it`s best.

This afternoon I was watching tv and it just didn`t feel right. I missed Hayley and just didn`t feel like tv. I decided to get my Ipod, sit on the patio and watch the sunset. What an awesome idea!

I sat outside for 2 hours, watched an amazing sunset, listened to some of my favourite music and got all nostalgic. It was exactly what I needed. I had company in the shape of my 2 dogs, Elvis and Phoebe. They did not leave me alone for a second and only came inside when I decided to pack it in. They heart their Dad...

I have now decided that it`ll be a weekly thing. Even if I sit next to Hayley when she watches tv or reads but I will make an effort to listen to my music one night every week. It`s so strange that I`ve never done this before. I mean I absolutely love my music and it`s such a huge part of my life. Why do I often neglect it like I do?

So from now on, it`ll be musical Tuesday or Thursday, depending which night has the worst tv... :D

Lionel Richie

I seem to have been indulging myself a bit on this blog over the last few weeks. I have done quite a few posts on things that I absolutely adore. I suppose that`s what a blog is all about, hey? It`s my little view of the big world out there and sharing a bit of myself with my friends.

So, today is another one of those indulgent posts. I am a huge Lionel Richie fan. He is awesome and I love his music. My Ipod selection will prove this. I have about 8 of his albums on my Ipod and his songs grace all of my playlists. Even the ones named Jogging 1 and Jogging 2. Jogging 1 has a bit more upbeat tunes but I soon realised that I ran too fast and after nearly killing myself a few times I came up with Jogging 2, that has a lot more laidback music which makes for better running rhythm.

I digress. Hayley and I both grew up with Lionel`s music. Songs like Say you Say me, Three times a lady, hello were a big part of my younger years. I have held onto those songs and even today love listening to them. Stuck on you is one of my favourites. I remember when I commuted between Cape Town and Johannesburg last year, I spent many a flight listening to that song and either missing Hayley already or looking forward to seeing her in an hour or so. Just for you and My Destiny are also favourites.

A lot of Lionel`s songs form part of the soundtrack to our lives. I`m sure that`s not just true for me but for a lot of you out there.

Lionel is currently in South Africa and performed in Cape Town on Saturday night. Hayley and I unfortunately couldn`t go but by all accounts he was awesome. He gave an interview to one of our better investigative shows which was aired last night and that just made me an even bigger fan. He said something that really struck me. I actually had to rewind to listen to it again cos I really thought it was a very profound thing that was said. He spoke about his time as a student and his passion for tennis (which he was gonna make a career) and how the Commodores came about. Then he said the following:

"Failure is when your life does not go according to the path you had laid for yourself but then only does God`s plan come into play"

In other words, we see failure when our plans don`t become a reality but failure is only that, our plans did not come to fruition. For God and his ways, there are no failures. I absolutely loved this. This brought to the fore Lionel`s religious beliefs, something which I had never thought of before.

Lionel gave such a heartfelt interview and it became obvious that he has no airs or graces about him. He is just a normal guy with an awesome gift for music.

I love it when people we look up to surprise us in a good way. I always knew he was a good man but I never knew just what an awesome human being he was. That was cool, now I`ll enjoy my Lionel music even more.