Hopstretch

Thanks all! Had a great day. Spit-roasted a sheep (as you do) and fed a mob of old and new friends and their kids in our backyard on a really beautiful sunny Spring afternoon. Thirsty work, that was. The beer fridge took quite a dent! Today it's pissing down rain and I'm sitting in front of the fire sampling some of my loot. (Took the liberty of requesting no gifts that couldn't fit in a bottle.)

Thanks gents. I had a really lekker (nice) day. We spit braaied (rotisseried) a 30 pound sheep with potatoes and onions. Dealt with half of the beer fridge and a couple of cases of wine (um, not on my own). Was warm enough to have a few dozen kids in the pool over the course of the afternoon. Watched some rugby. Good times.

Listening to The Parlotones, going to go see them live again in a few weeks. South Africa's most histrionic band, probably. But really good live.

Picked up the keys to our new house, which has quite a nice view of the Constantiaberg. Stocked up the new basement bar fridge, which I feel also presents a fairly pleasing aspect.

Cocteau Twins -- Milk And Kisses

Happy Birthday. May your records always be clean.

Birkenhead Pride Old English Bitter. The beer is so-so, but the story is good. Walker Bay is just up the coast from (aptly named!) Danger Point, where the troopship HMS Birkenhead went down with 600 British soldiers aboard in 1852. Only one lifeboat could be launched and the men stood at attention on the deck while the women and children aboard were loaded into it and the ship sank underneath them. This was the origin of the phrase "women and children first". Those that didn't drown were eaten by sharks -- to this day, that area is crawling (swimming?) with Great Whites. The label is from an illustration of the period. Would it be disrespectful to say those two gents in the middle seem to be sharing a moment? "Carruthers, I've always loved you!" "Damn it, Fortescue. It's hard enough keeping this upper lip stiff as it is."

Brian Eno & David Byrne -- My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

A better-built, more detailed SR-Omega with smooth midrange and tight bass? Yes. Please.

The very end bit of the "Entourage" theme tune just played in my head. "Oh yeah! Oh yeeeaaahhh!"

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" -- Einstein. "Happiness is doing the same thing over and over and getting the same result" -- Mikey(notso)mad. Having some Vin De Constance after dinner. It pokes Sauternes straight up the nought. Dinkum.

Roast chicken provencal. With risotto of tomatoes, marrows, olives and asparagus and a chicken/thyme jus.

Florida looks pretty OK. I'm surprised more people don't go there on holiday.

Hey, me too!

As a Person Of Unusual Size, I LOLed.

How about they stop stuffing around and just make some more PS-1s? Pretty please.

You're wrong about Pinotage. Or maybe I am. It's unclear. Only one of us will be acquiring further data in the near future, though. Unless you PM me your address.

Hermanuspietersfontein Die Bartho 2009. Pronounce that, I dare you! Very progressive farm in a magnificent spot -- the Hemel-En-Aarde (Heaven and Earth) valley. http://www.hpf1855.co.za/index.php

I'm interested in hearing the Jack White/Insane Clown Posse arrangement of Mozart's "Leck Mich Im Arsche," due 09/13.

BenRiach 1966 Rare Reserve. This one has kind of a cool story, bro. Shared by one of the owners of the distillery, a South African guy with whom I play golf. Made his very, very considerable coin by -- among other things -- selling single-serving sachets (think McDonalds ketchup packets) of cheap booze up into more equatorial Africa. Biggest mover is kind of a Baileys-type goop of industrial moonshine whisky and ultra pasteurized dairy. Yum yum. Anyway, the Scotch Whisky Association comes to them one day in the early oughts and says something along the lines of: "It has come to our notice that you are now among the major purveyors of alleged "Scotch" on this benighted subcontinent. It might behoove you, should you not wish to encounter all sorts of trademark etc. issues, to legitimize yourselves among your peers by picking up a genuine operation -- and by the way, we just happen to have one in mothballs we can sell you. Bit of a mess, but think of the potential. You chaps already seem quite handy at marketing to the heathen, eh? Asia! Growth!" So they buy the place pretty much sight unseen for around $10 million and install some competent management, who then go through the premises and records carefully and find out that they actually own several thousand more casks of real good stuff than were ever accounted for. Total estimated value of said casks -- around $10 million. Free distillery! Good times.

World's most excited sports commentators. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCMQPzKcFqs

Ooh you are in a world of hurt now. I got into indoor rowing in a big way a few years ago and even went to the CRASH-Bs in 2009. There's nothing quite like throwing up into your waste basket after a 2K sprint test! (On consideration, this may seem quite normal for CrossFit folks.)

I've made an audio friend down here who imports the dCS range and has a slightly-used Debussy he's looking to unload at an advantageous (though still eye watering) price. Does the HC brain trust have an opinion on the dCS house sound in general or their Ring DAC topology in particular? I will have a chance to live with it in my system for a while before making any decisions. Another option is to wait for the first shipment of the new DAC from Aesthetix, who he also carries. The Pandora uses (as I understand it) roughly the same digital board as my current Ayre QB9, but with a beefed-up power supply and analog section (and toobs, obviously). Charles Hansen has been repping it pretty hard online and it's in a slightly saner price bracket. Can be ordered with an analog volume control, too, which is nice for my desktop application. Largely gratuitous pics follow. (Can also be ordered with silver faceplate, of course!) (Closest I could get to internals. This is the CD player version.)

See, you're getting a taste of married life already!

Scored a few cases of the new 2009 Shiraz from the farm just down the road from our house. As good as just about anything else made in SA, in my opinion. Lekker spot, too.