Out and about this weekend
Friday afternoon at the A1 testing sessions was a very pleasant afternoon. Mostly we sat about chatting and enjoying the shade of the Nottingham Road Breweries tent. We did watch the cars going around the track for a while, but with the majority of the viewing stands positioned at corners and turns, we didn’t exactly watch the vehicles at exciting top speed.
And, this being Africa, a hole opened up on the track (gotta love our well-maintained roads!), damaging the suspension of the Italian car. After that, test runs were cancelled for the rest of the day as organisers began a patch-it job to hold the road together for 2 more days of intensive racing.
So, nope, I haven’t been converted to a motorsport fan.
On Saturday, Paul and I headed down to uShaka’s Wet ‘n Wild for the first time. Of course, what’s a trip to a waterpark without me injuring myself? I went to Durban’s old Waterworld only once – when I was 5, and I split my eyebrow open on a supertube.
These days my spine juts out a little, so when I went down the Plunge freefall slide, it was pretty much on that little strip of bone. The friction ripped a hole in my rash vest and skinned my back painfully. So no Jiu-Jitsu for me this week.
Of course it was still a really fun day. Mostly Paul and I floated around on tubes on the relaxing river ride, and we did every slide at least 3-5 times (except for the Plunge, which I only did once). The fantastic thing was that even though Wet ‘n Wild was busy on that sunny Saturday, the longest we waited for anything was 5 minutes. And that was for the awesome 5 lane tube race.
A 5 minute waiting time is a stark contrast to waiting times at overseas waterparks, where, in high season, you can queue over an hour for a single slide.
Agh, the sunlight-deprived, light-reflecting legs!
One thing though – I’d definitely ban alcohol from uShaka Wet ‘n Wild (as it is in waterparks overseas). We saw a drunk asshole causing a scene with his girlfriend and there really is no place for that kind of abusiveness and irresponsibility with lots of little kids and potentially dangerous water attractions around.
Anyway, my Saturday ended on a downbeat note when I was floored by a pounding headache. I don’t normally suffer from headaches, but this was a bad one. Most likely it was a combination of too much sun over 2 days, too little sleep, mild dehydration, and sinus from all the post-supertube submersion in chlorinated water.
After taking a Panado or 2, I collapsed in bed for 2 hours, surfaced for a braai with G, Shirley and Ian, and then headed back to bed for another 10 hours of sleep.
As a result Sunday was spent far away from the sun. Paul and I finished the Family Guy video game easily on Sunday. It turns out our button-pushing struggle of last weekend was due to lag caused by plugging the PS2 into my PC (we plat using the monitor) via the VCR. With the PS2 plugged directly into a TV, the response time was instantaneous, making the button-tapping challenges exceptionally easy.
We also played Titan Quest again, although the Asian leg of the game at Epic Level is frick'n hard! In the process of reaching Level 48, my battlemage died at least 12 times. After we failed to find any blue or purple items, Paul and I went on a treasure run back though Egypt and promptly unearthed 3 purple items in quick succession. All of my character, of course! You never find anything for Paul’s defensive rogue, much to his annoyance.
We ended Sunday evening by watching the Director’s Cut of Kingdom of Heaven, which includes 40 extra minutes of footage. I didn’t agree with director Ridley Scott’s inclusion of new scenes in the France-set portion of the film – they were pretty dull. However, the extended version drastically improves the Holy Land part of film. Eva Green’s character, an ambiguous sexual pawn in the original film, actually has realistic motivation now, and emerges as a far more complex and interesting character.
The Director’s Cut of Kingdom of Heaven is very good but the film is still far from a masterpiece. I do think a lot of it has to do with the casting of Orlando Bloom. While I believe in him as a skilled warrior, I can’t view him as a leader capable of motivating hundreds of troops in the face of certain death. He just seems inconsequential when compared with someone as intensely hot-blooded as Mel Gibson’s William Wallace. Then again, Bloom’s Balion is supposed to be an emotionally-balanced peacemaker, and you can’t imagine Gibson’s Wallace agreeing to treaties and asking for peace terms when he is prepared to sacrifice everything for victory. So it’s kind of a catch-22 situation for movie audiences.
And, this being Africa, a hole opened up on the track (gotta love our well-maintained roads!), damaging the suspension of the Italian car. After that, test runs were cancelled for the rest of the day as organisers began a patch-it job to hold the road together for 2 more days of intensive racing.
So, nope, I haven’t been converted to a motorsport fan.
On Saturday, Paul and I headed down to uShaka’s Wet ‘n Wild for the first time. Of course, what’s a trip to a waterpark without me injuring myself? I went to Durban’s old Waterworld only once – when I was 5, and I split my eyebrow open on a supertube.
These days my spine juts out a little, so when I went down the Plunge freefall slide, it was pretty much on that little strip of bone. The friction ripped a hole in my rash vest and skinned my back painfully. So no Jiu-Jitsu for me this week.
Of course it was still a really fun day. Mostly Paul and I floated around on tubes on the relaxing river ride, and we did every slide at least 3-5 times (except for the Plunge, which I only did once). The fantastic thing was that even though Wet ‘n Wild was busy on that sunny Saturday, the longest we waited for anything was 5 minutes. And that was for the awesome 5 lane tube race.
A 5 minute waiting time is a stark contrast to waiting times at overseas waterparks, where, in high season, you can queue over an hour for a single slide.
Agh, the sunlight-deprived, light-reflecting legs!
One thing though – I’d definitely ban alcohol from uShaka Wet ‘n Wild (as it is in waterparks overseas). We saw a drunk asshole causing a scene with his girlfriend and there really is no place for that kind of abusiveness and irresponsibility with lots of little kids and potentially dangerous water attractions around.
Anyway, my Saturday ended on a downbeat note when I was floored by a pounding headache. I don’t normally suffer from headaches, but this was a bad one. Most likely it was a combination of too much sun over 2 days, too little sleep, mild dehydration, and sinus from all the post-supertube submersion in chlorinated water.
After taking a Panado or 2, I collapsed in bed for 2 hours, surfaced for a braai with G, Shirley and Ian, and then headed back to bed for another 10 hours of sleep.
As a result Sunday was spent far away from the sun. Paul and I finished the Family Guy video game easily on Sunday. It turns out our button-pushing struggle of last weekend was due to lag caused by plugging the PS2 into my PC (we plat using the monitor) via the VCR. With the PS2 plugged directly into a TV, the response time was instantaneous, making the button-tapping challenges exceptionally easy.
We also played Titan Quest again, although the Asian leg of the game at Epic Level is frick'n hard! In the process of reaching Level 48, my battlemage died at least 12 times. After we failed to find any blue or purple items, Paul and I went on a treasure run back though Egypt and promptly unearthed 3 purple items in quick succession. All of my character, of course! You never find anything for Paul’s defensive rogue, much to his annoyance.
We ended Sunday evening by watching the Director’s Cut of Kingdom of Heaven, which includes 40 extra minutes of footage. I didn’t agree with director Ridley Scott’s inclusion of new scenes in the France-set portion of the film – they were pretty dull. However, the extended version drastically improves the Holy Land part of film. Eva Green’s character, an ambiguous sexual pawn in the original film, actually has realistic motivation now, and emerges as a far more complex and interesting character.
The Director’s Cut of Kingdom of Heaven is very good but the film is still far from a masterpiece. I do think a lot of it has to do with the casting of Orlando Bloom. While I believe in him as a skilled warrior, I can’t view him as a leader capable of motivating hundreds of troops in the face of certain death. He just seems inconsequential when compared with someone as intensely hot-blooded as Mel Gibson’s William Wallace. Then again, Bloom’s Balion is supposed to be an emotionally-balanced peacemaker, and you can’t imagine Gibson’s Wallace agreeing to treaties and asking for peace terms when he is prepared to sacrifice everything for victory. So it’s kind of a catch-22 situation for movie audiences.
Comments
I just have to sit very still and not slide at all in my seat.