Juvenile Gannet

To his Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell

Had we but world enough, and time,

This coyness, lady, were no crime.

We would sit down and think which way

To walk,and pass our long love's day;

Thou by the Indian Ganges'side

Shouldst rubies find;

I by the tide Of Humber would complain.

I would Love you ten years before the Flood;

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews.

My vegetable love should grow

Vaster than empires, and more slow.

An hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;

Two hundred to adore each breast,

But thirty thousand to the rest;

An age at least to every part,

And the last age should show your heart.

For, lady, you deserve this state,

Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear 

Time's winged chariot hurrying near;

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity.

Thy beauty shall no more be found,

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound

My echoing song; then worms shall try

That long preserv'd virginity,

And your quaint honour turn to dust,

And into ashes all my lust.

The grave's a fine and private place,

But none I think do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,

And while thy willing soul transpires

At every pore with instant fires,

Now let us sport us while we may;

And now, like am'rous birds of prey,

Rather at once our time devour,

Than languish in his slow-chapp'd power.

Let us roll all our strength, and all

Our sweetness, up into one ball;

And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Thorough the iron gates of life.

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run.

We really are a strange species, us humans. That we can stoop so low as to perpetuate the despicable acts you will see in this video is alarming. Don’t avoid the video – watch it right through to the end and then decide what you are going to do about it. It’s up to each and every one of us to live in harmony in this world we share with plants and animals. It’s up to us.

Sofia, Bulgaria, signposts

Courtesy of my friend Michael, I had the good fortune to visit Sofia, Bulgaria recently. Yes, Sofia Bulgaria which, I discovered at the local MacDonald’s, is some 9 760 kilometres from Cape Town…. or should that be Cape Tawn?

Sofia reminds me very much of my hometown Johannesburg. It is a city in flux, changing, adapting to a first world economy all the while trying to find its own identity.

I took this brief introduction to Sofia from Wikipedia.org and you can read more here.

Sofia is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city by population in the European Union, with 1.4 million people living in the Capital Municipality. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha, and is the administrative, cultural, economic, and educational centre of the country.

One of the oldest cities in Europe, the history of Serdica-Sredets-Sofia can be traced back some 7000 years; prehistoric settlements were excavated in the centre of the present city, near the royal palace, as well as in outer districts such as Slatina and Obelia. The well preserved town walls (especially their substructures) from antiquity date back before the 7th century BC, when Thracians established their city next to the most important and highly respected mineral spring, still functioning today. Sofia has had several names in the different periods of its existence, and remnants of the city’s millenary history can still be seen today alongside modern landmarks.

Right, history/Geography lesson over then, back to my trip. It really was a whistle stop tour of Athens airport, Sofia airport and Sofia itself – 6 days all in all. My friend Michael is in property development and luckily (or unluckily) he was experiencing a quiet patch at work – thank you worldwide banking crisis – and was able to spend quality time with me showing me the city.

Notwithstanding the history lesson above, recent history can be summarised as: Sofia – conquered by the Ottoman empire, saved by the Russians, incorporated into the USSR and then liberated with the fall of the USSR in 1990. These conquering influences can be seen all round the city and if you have the time and inclination you can find influences from the Romans too.

I was less interested in the historical stuff on this trip – which is probably a reflection of my state of mind at the time – and more interested in the people I met and walking around clearing my head.

I was amazed at how little attention is given to general maintenance and infrastructure upkeep. Apart from the main roads (and there were not that many) most roads are pot-holed and curbs are home to many weeds and grasses. Coming from Africa this was an anathema to me – after all this is Europe for goodness sake. Feral dogs roam the streets and parks and I think this will become a problem sometime in the near future. One night, a pack of 6 dogs chased our car down a main street. And I did hear about one of Michael’s friends who was harassed by a pack of dogs when he was walking home one night from a party…. He was a little drunk so I guess the story should be taken with a pinch of salt.

But weeds, grass, feral dogs and potholes aside Sofia is a wonderful city to visit. The people are very friendly and accommodating. English is not widely spoken but more and more people are learning the language. Equipped with a few words and using sign language I managed to communicate very effectively when necessary.  I walked the city in safety at all times of the day and night and never once felt unsafe.

There is a mafia of sorts in Sofia/Bulgaria and I had to laugh to myself often when I saw mafia “big men” being escorted by burley bodyguards. Why do they always drive black cars and wear bling jewellery and what’s with those darn Cuban cigars? From what I can gather, hiring a bodyguard will cost around 300€ a month and so it’s become a bit of a status symbol. C’est la vie.

Here is a selection of photographs I took over the course of my visit. The two churches are: The Russian Church or the Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Maker, built in 1914 and dedicated to the patron-saint of the Russian Tsar at the time, Nicholas II and the gold-domed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral built in the early 20th century in memory of the 200,000 Russian soldiers, who died in the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878. It is one of the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in the world. The cathedral’s gold-plated dome is 45 m high, with the bell tower reaching 50.52 m.

Click here to enjoy the photographs.

Traffic lights

In South Africa we call traffic lights, robots. It’s a peculiar South African habit but it’s descriptive and I like it. Green, orange then red and then green again. Day in, day out, 24-7, they run through the cycle of colours determining how we behave.

I feel sorry for robots because no-one cares about them. We ignore them, take them for granted and occasionally we abuse them by plunging our vehicles into them and completely wrecking them.

I found this particular robot in Rocky Street, Yoeville. Rocky Street has become an amazing fusion of street life, energy, commerce, and of course, more seedy stuff. And in all this energy and chaos, this robot just gets on with what it has to do.

The man on the corner

The gentleman in the foreground took time out to simply stand in the comforting predictability of the robot. And I particularly like the effort someone took to pay homage and leave a collection of plastic bags at the foot of the robot.

The man in the passage

He walks the corridors
pacing, mumbling, confused.

Like a tree
not past its prime
yet withered, bent and broken
a victim of the winds that blew
and starved of water and light.

Followed by his shadow
which stretches long behind him
and glides over all it passes
he paces, and paces and paces

He is his shadow now
untoucheable and not to be held
just passing through

I sit with him sometimes
sit in silence, sit and wait
sit and hold on to my thoughts
the thoughts that know, that know the truth
but cannot be said

Once he was a man
once a Dad, a husband, a person
now he is all that but not

He waits too
waits for thoughts and words and images to come
but they don’t,
they pass through him
and fall on his shadow
which touches me as he passes
again and again

We wait together
He and I
we wait for death, for it looms

My first live Springbok match

Okay so I enjoy watching rugby. Super 14, Tri-Nations, Vodacom Cup; you name it I watch it. But I’ve never been to a live Springbok game, preferring to watch on TV.  This weekend, however, I was in Durban and my friends there all had tickets for the Lions/Bokke 1st test to be played at the Shark Tank – did I say I am an avid Sharks supporter? Anyway, I was quite prepared and ready to watch the game on TV but my friends procured a ticket for me. Joy!!!! Read more

The buggers even decorated my car

wedding photography, cormac mccreesh

Dori wrote a brilliant piece on Bruce and Alyson’s wedding in her blog. And there wasn’t much I could add to what she’d already said. You can read what Dori had to say and see her images here.

In the meantime, here is a sneak preview of my photos from Bruce and Alyson’s wedding at Thaba Ya. I’m not sure which of Bruce or Alyson has the most infectious laugh but boy did they make us laugh and enjoy their wedding. To see more pictures from Bruce and Alyson’s wedding click here.

All the lights out

Here’s a copy of a photo I’m hoping to take on 28 March,  somewhere between the hours of 830pm and 930pm (local time). What’s this all about you ask? Well, the folk at WWF are behind this little intiative and their aim is to have everyone in the world switch off their lights at the same time – together, taking a stand against climate change. They have managed to get unbelievable support from all over the world, including major landmarks such as Times Square and the Sydney Opera House, and many others.

All you have to do, is follow suit and switch off your lights at the designated hour for an hour. Check out www.earthhour.org for exact times at your location and other initiatives you can take/follow/get involved in. Oh, and sign up to show your support.

It’s going to be amazing to go out on Saturday night at 830pm and see the stars again. Come on, go for it!!!

Earth Hour

wedding photography, cormac mccreesh

So here are Dimitri and Marcelle outside the church celebrating their Catholic wedding ceremony. They went on to celebrate it again with a Greek ceremony before partying the night away. A great couple, two great wedding ceremonies and a fantastic party. Read more.