Which district

 assumed the leadership role in the build up to this weekends wild saturday night.  At the best of times, picking a dvd is a taxing affair - taking into account your own preferences and those of your friends pretty much zeros your options.  However, peer-preference taken into account, it was either District 9 or something with that dude from The Fast and the Furious in it, Paul Walker, so District 9 it was.  Sidebar: don't expect to find much at the video store at 19:20.

I was blown away by the movie - even though I felt a little violated... not sure what that was about.  The movie was epic - best South African film Ive seen, Tsotsi included.  Big up to Peter Blomkamp.  People wouldn't hate on trekkies if sci-fi was always this good.

I told someone I had watched District 9 on the weekend, and enjoyed it even though its pretty brutal.  They replied "Ja, ja... with the kids growing up in Cape Town... Ive seen that one, it was great". "No, that was District 6...".  Which is uncanny - considering those are two of the internationally best known South African productions (says me).

Car Wash

My car is filthy - since we lost our Friday car wash at work its gotten a lot harder to organise a vehicle-hygiene session.  That said, Ive been trying to work out where Im getting the mud splashes behind my wheel arches, because even though I live in the valley, its tar all the way home.

Then it hit me... as I hit it, as it were.  I ramped over a squishy cow pat yesterday, heard it squelch under the tire, and the penny dropped.

Great progress on the bike - I made the most of quiet Sunday afternoon traffic and crossed into the neighbouring city of Beacon Bay.  Owing to the epic 30km/l fuel efficiency I can now afford to visit on that side of the river.

car vs. bike

After some time on the bike I felt it was apt to do a basic comparison between the two transport options:

Cars:
don't fall over when you let them go
don't fall over when you hit a pothole
don't fall over in the wind
don't fall over on gravel roads
don't fall over on wet roads
don't fall over during hard braking
don't fall over during hard acceleration
don't fall over during quick turns
don't fall over when you stall

Bikes:
allow you to wear racing helmets with glittery gold wing decals
negate the need for aircon
cost less to run
go faster than cars
are cheaper to buy

Glooomp, kasssshhhh...

Couple of points:

Spent a weekend in Hamburg this last, had to retrieve the old sleeping bag for the trip - hadn't used it in ages.  In fact, hadn't used it since the Great Bed Bug debacle of 2009... which was a little worrying.  Crippled by paranoia, I decided not to use it after I spotted about 3 small, spec-sized creatures manouvering across the not-cotton.  Fortunately we were within reach of the sea and so pajamas could carry the load.

Going away with a group you only sort of know is pretty sweet too.  United by Ultimate.

Points left to ponder include: Does the presence of an internet connection corrupt the spirit of scrabble?  Which of the 9 intelligences do you have? and is the ability to differentiate between an udder and a reproductive organ a sign of Naturalist Intelligence? Does your name share its phonetic spelling with a contraceptive device?

Roll on

People write songs when they're in tough times - I've tried. Unfortunately, my real musical talent lies in reminding people that we're supposed to make a joyful noise.

Tough times are relative; I'm not having as much fun as I suspect I could be enjoying - which is tough.  I have been enjoying adrenalin rush, after rush, after sore ankle, after replacement rear-view mirror.  Riding a bike is not as simple as it looks - its probably not as complicated as Ive made it either, but its significant.

Salvation lies in knowing that millions of Asians rolls on two wheels everyday.  At very least, I am able to keep an eye out for all of the corners littered with Vuka fairings and rear-view mirrors to identify the accident hot spots - and avoid them.