Choot Choot !!!!!

And so on the weekend of the 10th and 11th of August we celebrated Andy's Bulls Party. All I can say is that we did the tradition of a Bulls Party full justice and there were more than a couple occasions where I thought I might die from laughing so hard. We did of course lose a few soldiers along the way, breakages were rife, which was to be expected considering the amount of straight cane that was consumed and we duly gave the groom an incredibly hard time.The house we stayed at was colossal. It boasted in the region of 6 bedrooms, all en-suite and all comfortably sleeping between 2 and 3 madmen. Without exaggerating I would say that if everyone brought themselves a mattress to sleep on this mansion could have slept around 50 people. While maneuvering yourself between the winding corridors you would often pass a random plasma varying in size from 24 inch to 42 inch. There was a bar area, a rooftop sundowner area, a pool, braai facilities, 3 levels of living space, a games room which included table tennis, pool table and dart board and enough room in the drive way to hold 10 Hummers.

The first night was incredibly hilarious and a little siff all at the same time. For those of you who have had the pleasure of witnessing Borat in his now infamous luminous green mankini, you'll appreciate how hard it was to not gag when Andy made his first appearance in a replica of said onesy. As he casually strutted down the flight of stairs to Elton John's "The Bitch is Back" the rest of us rolled around on the floor uncontrollably and I thought I was actually going to have a black-out and die right there from lack of breathing. This kicked the night off on a good note and things generally went downhill from there. Lots of drinking, lots of laughing and plenty of pool and table tennis. Shots of cane were being issued for such minor offences as losing a random ching or coming off second best at a table tennis dual. Shooter pool also made an appearance on the first night and once again shots of cane were in abundance.Closer to midnight we decided to head into the budding metropolis of Ballito. Being the responsible adults that we are, we phoned a taxi to come and fetch us. Being the irresponsible children that we are, we hijacked the taxi as it arrived to come and fetch us and drove it down the road. The look on the cab driver's fave was priceless. We later learned that his name was Johan or Johannes, but Jimmy seemed to suit him better. Jimmy was to be our very tolerant chauffeur for most of the weekend. Saturday morning was a tough one. Slowly but surely we all managed to rise and the slightly annoying bright and smiling faces of the "new guys" who had arrived didn't seem to make many of us feel any better. 18 holes of golf were looming and the thought of another ride on the cane train encouraged a few dry barks around the place.

We played Maidstone which is a 9 hole golf course with a bit of soul. It's dirt cheap to play but most of the holes are actually damn entertaining. The fairways were in good nick and the driver was out on most holes. Pity the standard of golf was so terrible. After golf we all headed back for another crazy night at the castle. Memories of the previous night had faded and we were all very thirsty. Saturday was much the same as the night before, which was unfortunate, because we all had to endure another night of looking at Andy in his mankini. Although at one point it was decided to end the pain so we went outside and tied Andy to the light pole and skipped back inside for another beer and another game of table tennis. The thing that made this Bulls Party so enjoyable was Andy's sporting behaviour of passing out on both nights and due to the depth of his sleep we were afforded the opportunity of abusing him to the max. Certain guys took things to a whole new level, you know who you are, and it was warmly welcomed if the cheers of laughter were anything to go by.

I don't think the memories of this weekend will fade fast and unfortunately for some of us Andy has taken full stock of all abuse and is storing it deep in his memory bank for future Bulls parties. Although I'm not too stressed, all I have to do is outlast Andy and I can be in line to abuse him all over again. Aaaahhhh.....good times.

29 - Almost and Adult

Saturday the 28th of July I celebrated my 29th birthday in fine style. The idea was to have a braai and then a bonfire....a bronfire some might say (thank you Robyn). As far as I could tell it was a raging success. The picture above actually doesn't do the bonfire fair justice. IT WAS HUGE!!!!! The creosote covered fencing had something to do with this I feel. The toxic fumes didn't seem to bother anyone either, so that was good.

At one stage Bronny started to panic a little bit. Her son was out for the count and his friends were in the garden throwing wood onto the fire like their lives depended on it. Cries of "Make it bigger !!!!!!! Make it bigger !!!!!!" didn't seem to ease her concern. The neighbours probably thought some form of sacrifice was in motion.

That was the end of the night. The middle of the evening was spent quite calmly amongst friends, music, laughter and ultimately "Good Times" could be heard.

Shot guys for coming round it was a great evening. For those of you who weren't there I might need to explain certain pictures that follow below. This is the explanation.....3 shots cane, 1 shot gin, 1 shot brandy and topped up with white wine. Thanks Lenny for the down down, it was like I was 21 all over again.

Durban July - 07.07.07

It was the first time since around 2001 that I had been to the Durban July. There had been a few changes around the place but generally it still is the same great day out that I remember. It always helps when you have the right mix of friends / gamblers surrounding you. In attendance was Tont, Jane, Billy, Courtney, Brendogg, Laura, Verve, Shane and Kerry, as well as a few others at various spots around the race course.

We had absolutely perfect weather. For those who might not know we’re actually in the grips of Winter here at the moment. And yet somehow you find yourself grappling for another beer to try and cool yourself down. Everyone arrived with the same idea and our little spot on the grandstand looked more like a shebeen than a high class horse racing event.

Like I said there had been a few changes at the July this year which included the following. There weren’t any Harley Davidson’s riding on display or any entertainment on the track between races at all really. Gold Circle encouraged everyone to vacate the premises at 9 bells and there wasn’t the usual pyrotechnics display at the end of the evening.

Some things still stayed the same though. I still lost all my money, there were still girls parading themselves around with barely any clothes on at all, and there was still a 13th race. In fact there was even some female representation in the 13th race this year, which was nice to see (http://www.durbanscouts.za.net/drupal/durban_july_13th_race)

Here’s a round-up of the day:

Lowlights

- Losing all my money
- Watching Mike win R650 on the winning horse in the main race (after a tip from Courtney)
- Having to leave the race course early cos of the new rules
- Losing the rugby against the Wobblies
- Losing my camera

Highlights

- Realising the next day that I had given my camera to my Mom
- Watching Billy get bummed because Courtney gave everyone the tip about the horse in the main race except her own boyfriend
- Having a jol back in Durban with all the maties
- Grazing a Johnny’s roti at the end of the night

Here’s a few action photos from the day.

Who needs enemies hey