February 15, 2008

the upside down tree that is also going a bit astray








the lightning is a true story, that is what it looks like in real life, of course it is more dramatic at night, thats whey they took the photo at night. usually the thunderstorms and the lightening happen at about 15.30pm until about max 16.15pm(but it can also happen at other times) so its in the middle of paper rounds, so iether you can deliver the papers before hand and risk getting shouted at cos the papers get full of rain, or you can put the papers in plastic and try to ride really fast and miss the storm and if it arrives hide in someone's garage during the storm and then carry on after the storm, that way you dont get shouted at. Also you miss the dogs because they go inside when it rains cos their owners really care about them. But there are lots of things a kids gotta do other than do a paper round which is why its not always an option to put all the papers into plastic it takes a long time.
the pictures are not about paper rounds at all, thats why there is some writing, it just reminded me. Like for example, if you live in a house made of corrugated iron then the hail would make a lot of noise and also probably the sand that the corrugated iron is in, would get quite full of rain and the corrugated iron might tilt a little.

February 2, 2008

South Africa Fights

this is the last book left for sale on Amazon at the moment by my grandfather, who was called James Stewart Machonicy (I dont know how that word is spelt) Simpson.
The one that is still left was printed in 1947. I bought the other one that was printed in 1941. I probably need to find out if he changed it for the (possibly) 2nd edition, but probably no one will know or say and the person who would know is dead.
he also apparently wrote another book which revealed the Afrikaner tribe, and how they were actually a very mixed race tribe, ironically, but it never really got to print partly because it was too subversive, obviously, it would have debased the entire (Arian) Apartheid concept. Maybe also it never got finished, I dont really know. So basically I cant buy it off Amazon which is a bit of a pity but not the end of the world. It is interresting that James, who was called Grandpa Pop, even though I dont remember him, was actually from Scotland and moved to SA when he was about 16, and he never wrote books about Scotland. I have to see if, in the book, he writes about Scottish imegrants or something, or at least a hint at Scottland, just out of interrest, not that it is necessary.


The UK Amazon link
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B0007J0SQU/ref=sr_1_olp_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201982528&sr=1-3

The Australian link
http://www.antiqbook.com/boox/oldc/42147.shtml



there is stuff about General Jun Smuts, he was the Prime Minister at the time, and he was friends with my grandpa pop (we had to call him that because my dad had to call him pop because he liked Italy and Greece and so that was more his style, excepet he only met 3 of 6 of us because he died) and I heard he wrote the intro to the book, so i will soon be able to read that. Luckily Jun Smuts won the election at the time, because it was between him and Hertzog, and if Hertzog had won South Africa would have been on the side of the Nazi's in the 2nd world war, because SA was supplying weapons to the Germans at one stage, apparently. Jan Smuts was considered liberal at the time. Also his daughter was my English teacher in JHB and she let us read banned poetry during Apartheid which I remember thinking was very brave of her. Except I never told her about my Granpa as it might not have been appropriate.


the title of the book is like a family motto.

also here you can see one of J.S.M's sons on this web page:

http://www.news.uct.ac.za/mondaypaper/archives/?id=2903