Ka-Boom! by Gareth Crocker

I am a recent fan of all things Gareth Crocker. I enjoyed Never Let Go, even with the quirk that I can’t reveal to you, because it’s a spoiler, I fell in love with Jack when he wrote about finding him, and The Last Road Trip has forever changed my perceptions of navigating our beautiful country, with all its colourful characters, astounding natural beauty and unique landscapes.

It was probably a matter of time before the man wrote a (sort of) memoir. And, I have to say, I’d much rather have that than a(nother) book on how to write.

Gareth is not old, but he does have an interesting collection of stranger-than-fiction facts to tell us about. Consider the summary from the review on Books Live:

“Crocker has published half a dozen novels, made a horror film, run a 90 kilometre race in which he bled through his shoes, successfully failed to play right-wing for Manchester United, attempted the Olympics at 38, wrestled a ghost, been the spokesperson for a company whose head office exploded, been run over by a Honda, survived two almost plane crashes and is currently filming a superhero TV show.”

And as you can tell from this excerpt, he writes in his inimitable, wry, “slap myself over the head with a dead fish” deadpan humor. It will have you chuckling, or at the very least shaking your head and smiling. A lot.

It’s a fabulous read. Just two gripes. It isn’t – as the cover says - for men and boys (and the women who want to know why). Everyone will enjoy this. And it is way too short. Easily read in an afternoon, you will wish you hadn’t got through so quickly.

ISBN: 9781928257127

You may also enjoy Finding Jack, by Gareth Crocker or The Last Road Trip by the same.

If you're into memoirs, try KARMA, Deception and a pair of Red Ferraris by Elaine Taylor.

Good old Favourites #3

We had this one for dinner last night, and it ticks all the boxes – my family enjoys it, I can actually cook it and it is healthy.

Beef Stroganoff (low sodium)

Ingredients

Beef steak – I use a half fillet, you can use rump or sirloin too, sliced into chunks

625 ml low sodium beef broth (make your own, or buy a low sodium version)

2 Tablespoons tomato sauce (make your own, it’s so easy)

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, sliced

1 cup sour cream/crème fraiche/ yoghurt

1 Tablespoon butter

Method

In a heavy based pan, fry the beef in a little olive oil until browned. Add broth (reserving 1/3^rd of a cup), tomato sauce and garlic  and simmer until beef is tender. Stir in mushrooms and onion and simmer for 5 minutes.

Shake remaining broth and flour in a tightly sealed container, and stir in slowly. Heat till boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and stir in sour cream.

Serve over cooked linguine (carb-free version) and together with a green salad.

More Good Old Favourites - #1 (Butternut and mushroom lasagne), and #2 (Chicken Pie)

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

A Spool of Blue Thread may be Anne Tyler's last novel - so she has been reported to say. At 74, she has mastered the craft of storytelling. This, her 20th book was nominated for a Booker prize, and Anne has previously won the Pulitzer.

So you can relax, when you sit down to read this. There are no errors to spot, the characterization is excellent. We come to know the Whitshanks, how Abby fell in love with Red, the back story of their children - black sheep Denny, perfect Amanda, Stem and Jeannie, and so the thread unwinds.

The writing is beautiful, there is nothing to jar. The story moves at a lovely pace, and there is crisply revealed family history that relates to the siblings and the plot, and makes you smile at its warm roast chicken familiarity.

There is even conflict - between the children of this generation, and we hear of some scandals and surprises from the last generation, which have their impact in this one.

I hate it when readers say "It wasn't you, it was me," when they didn't love a book. but this is that case. There is nothing to criticize in this book, except the degree of enjoyment I experienced reading it. It just never hit any spots, or high notes for me.

This is a lovely read, highly recommended for all who enjoy Jane Smiley and the rambling all-American generational tales. And it's better than most.

3 out of 5 stars
ISBN: 9780385683425



You may also enjoy Some Luck by Jane Smiley or Lila by Marilynne Robinson

Why T.G.I. (Black) Friday has all gone wrong

My teenage daughter looked at me. “Triple the normal rate, Mom. Triple.”

I was puzzled. I knew that 19h00 on a Friday was peak time, but that did sound excessive. Reasoning that there were two of us sharing the ride, and we weren’t going far, I relented. “It’s fine. Call it.”


When the Uber arrived to fetch us for our family celebrations, we asked how busy he had been. He’d only started late, he said. But his friends had been busy all day. Huh? It is the time for year-end parties, but really, all day? What was going on in downtown Johannesburg today?


“The people are shopping,” he informed us. And it started dawning on me. My twitter feed cast further light on the situation. Bosses were outraged. People were asking for a day off. To take advantage of the sales. Because it’s Black Friday.

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving, the third Thursday in America, which had its origins in 1620. People gathered together in thanks for the harvest. Pilgrims met with native Americans to celebrate and give thanks together. This warm cosy feast was awarded public holiday status much later, when it became replete with Turkey and its many variants, pumpkin pie, family meals and watching football on TV. Some people even reach out to the less fortunate and help in many ways as part of their festivities.


Black Friday marks the start of the “silly season”. Retailers started discounting their wares in order to attract customers, and Black Friday (the day that many stores went from being “in the red” to “in the black” for the first time that year) was born.

It has evolved. Stores started opening earlier and earlier, and people started queuing. As we do. Even on Thanksgiving at 17h00. Kind of raining on the spirit of Thanksgiving’s parade, dontcha think? 

These days it is infamous for mall brawls, with strangers fighting over low-priced items. There were some bruises and war wounds proudly displayed, as people fought for the right to buy items at enormous discounts. Not exactly true Thanksgiving spirit.

But here? In South Africa? This isn’t harvest time. And the closest we get to Thanksgiving is wishing our American relatives on social media, seeing pictures of the beautiful tables, and the many things people are grateful for.

Don’t get me wrong. I think Thanksgiving is a fab tradition. And it probably should be celebrated in some form everywhere. Our Christmas tradition is akin to Thanksgiving. Everyone’s just too stuffed after lunch to even get the remote to turn the TV on afterwards, so we all end up lazing about, or in the pool – not being winter and all that. What I think is VERY VERY sad, is that we seem to adopted the Black Friday thing without the Thanksgiving Thursday thing. Kind of like putting on the weight without enjoying the meal, or having the hangover without the drunken escapades that could have preceded it. It’s all gone horribly wrong, somehow.

But what to do? I doubt that Black Friday is going away any time soon. I think we’ve imported it from our Western neighbours and it is here to stay. Those of us who don’t want to accumulate more stuff at any price will avoid it, but there will still be South Africans who will take leave or call in sick to shop. Sad but true.

So I think there is only one thing to do. Get your turkeys out people, we are gonna have us a good ole traditional Thanksgiving. We’re going to do pumpkin pie, and all the trimmings. And we’re going to say thank you for all we have, for each other and that we get to spend special time together. And hopefully I can persuade my family not to partake in the morning after that is the blackest of days, in my opinion.

Ten of the Best #23

Just as well I keep track of these posts weekly. There is no way I would remember if this was number 22 or 23 this week. It's been that bad.

But now it's time to sit back, enjoy the amazing speed that wifi on the weekend brings - first thing on a Saturday before the watch-everything-online-teenagers awake from their slumber and ruin our social media binge. The ten of the best from my social media feeds this week.

1. Why why why do people still do this? Why can women not be recognized for their abilities and achievements? I fear that we have become so used to this, that we don’t even protest anymore, and the more this becomes the norm, the worse it is. For everybody. Men too. So wrong. Click the pic for the video link.

2. Another discrimination story. All the way from Santa Monica, California. 

3. Time for comic relief. It shouldn’t be funny, but it is. Hand-over-your-mouth-giggle funny. The lies we tell our children. You know you may not have said those actual words, but you’ve come close. Come on, don’t lie now…

4. Once upon a time there was a golden retriever who failed an obedience test. This dog has owner-trust issues – clearly the treats for obedience are not as good as the immediate gratification on the way! 

5. I love that Love Books is famous. It’s down the road. And its recommended by the New York Times. Come on all you guys from the US of A, time for a visit. Not just to see the wildlife.







6. Moving on neatly to the “Get your English right post”. Don’t make these mistakes – mistakes that make smart people look dumb. Heaven forbid.

7. The WSJ weighed in on what 2050 will look like. This is a series of essays and interviews. I haven’t read them all. Going to do that as soon as I’ve put this post up, but it looks fascinating:

8. The blog post of the week is from Tom Eaton. Sobering to think about Paris and compare it to SA in these terms – We’ve already been hit.

9. And while we’re contemplating, this month is World Adoption Month, and my friend wrote a gut-wrenching article. It’s called “Gone without a trace- the shocking fate of South Africa’s abandoned children.” Have a weep.

Help raise awareness – there is a major campaign on abandonment this week. Here’s the link to the petition, and a story on the campaign when you click the pic.

10. Lastly, Thanksgiving. I think all countries should abandon Black Friday and adopt just Thanksgiving instead. (I know they are linked…but I can dream). We never had Black Friday in our country, but it has hit with a vengeance. To the extent that Uber rides were triple normal prices yesterday. No people. Don’t let it happen. Thanksgiving is about being together. At home. Being thankful about what you have. And it isn’t stuff. I sense another blog post coming…Here is Anne Lamott. Count your blessings.

And on that note, thank you for being here this week. Have a great weekend.

More ten of the best.

Link to last week.

The Clasp by Sloane Crosley

Kezia, Nathaniel and Victor, close to 30, after being college friends, are reunited at another friend’s wedding. They are all somewhat dissatisfied with life, but events throw them back together ultimately in France. The short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant (which was an inspiration for this book) is cleverly incorporated.

An accomplished essayist, and published nonfiction writer, Sloane Crosley held my attention with her wit and confident character building in this debut novel. The setting, New York and later, a chateau in France, was delightful and the wry situational comedy will have movie directors rubbing their hands with glee.

Less plausible was the storyline. I was left with a feeling of discomfort about the characters’ motives. While the small interactions were edgy and realistic, the main plot direction was weak, and let the excellent prose down somewhat.

An excellent observation of how life doesn’t always turn out as planned, and yet friendship and connection with others can turn out better than we ever dreamed.

ISBN: 9780091954444

You may also enjoy Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll. 

My reviews

Good Old Favourites #2

So we have a new series, people. It’s gotta be good – i.e. healthy and ingredients mostly good for you; it’s gotta be old – I must have cooked it a number of times, with success, in my kitchen; and it’s gotta be a favourite – with two teenagers and the dad, who have much higher culinary standards than I do.

This week’s is a no-brainer. When they ask for dinner and I smile at them, because I KNOW that no one will moan – because there are NO cooked tomatoes, because its NOT fish, because it DOESN’T even look like fish, because there’s NO broccoli, and so on – it has to be CHICKEN PIE.

I don’t think I’ve met anyone who doesn’t like chicken pie. In fact, chicken pie could be a friendship decider for me. I make a huge one, so that we can have leftovers, and they never last more than a few days. There are a few recipes that I love for chicken pie (Jamie Oliver’s Chicken and leek pie being one) but this is a conglomeration of my favourite ingredients.

Flash Boys by Michael Lewis

Who would have thought that a book about high frequency traders, laying cables for high speed trading, and the fear and greed in corporate America could be interesting? Well, if Michael Lewis is writing it, it doesn’t stop at interesting, it is even quite exciting.

Michael Lewis wrote The Blind Side. You know the movie about the adopted kid who becomes an Amercian Football sensation? (Sandra Bullock plays mom– there you go!). Yes, that book was written by Michael Lewis. He worked at Salomon Brothers as a bond trader, and is a financial journalist, but has also penned many books and movie scripts.

A great storyteller can take a pretty ordinary situation, and make it into a plot, seeing the bizarre and opening that door wide, and highlighting the issues with unassuming characters fighting worthy causes, crusaders for us all. This was a story well told.

But you can’t have it all. The critics will say that this is one-sided, and not as well researched as it could have been. I agree – but I’m glad that the author made the choices he did. I think it was more entertaining. I listened to the Audible version, which was well narrated.

I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. I think it would appeal to all readers, not only those interested in the world of high finance – because the story is about people and choices and outcomes. And who can’t relate to that?

4 out of 5 stars

ISBN: 9780393351590

Related: Misbehaving by Richard Thaler and Green Giants by E. Freya Williams

More reviews

No more excuses.

So here it is. Monday. The day that I start the week running. And what am I doing? Sitting in bed. Sigh.

There are always reasons not to run. Most of them are excuses, not reasons. But every now and then, there are some real reasons. And if we run anyway, we will probably be sorry later. Today is one of those.

So, to make myself feel better, because I genuinely honestly truly would rather be running than writing this post, I thought I’d write something to inspire you all to get moving. Those excuses that you’re making right now. Here’s why they’re not valid. I see you wanting to find something else to look at. Don't do it. Keep reading.

EXCUSE #1      I am so unfit/overweight. Just getting out there and walking or running is good for you. 

Stop thinking about it, get into the exercise clothes, chanting “it doesn’t matter how fast I go, or how far, I’m just going to run.”

EXCUSE #2: I don't have the time. “I have to run, I need the head space,” was what a fellow fitness fanatic said to me a few weeks ago. It’s true. Moving about has a strange way of decluttering the mind. You will see things more clearly and solve problems you didn’t think you could. The time you spend exercising will be paid back in much more effective working, whatever it is you do.

EXCUSE #3. I’m too down/sick to run. Exercise regulates and balances the multitude of chemicals and hormones in our brain that directly affect our mood, specifically depression. Chances are also good that you will want to run tomorrow. And the next day and the next. 

EXCUSE #4. I can’t face a run, it’s just too much for me. You don't have to. What about a walk? We’ve learned that any exercise is better than none. Those reasons that you can’t run? Maybe you can walk? Or start running slowly, and let yourself walk when you cannot anymore. 

EXCUSE #5: I just don’t feel like it. Take someone else with you. It helps. Whether it’s a pet, or a talking friend, use it as an opportunity to socialize. Or even plan a stop at a favourite place to get a coffee, or a water. Plan to enjoy your run, you know you’re going to. Just look at that face.

So off you go. Enjoy. And think of me, dying to run, but cooped up in bed for the day, when I'd much rather be running.

The other running rants.

More inspiration.

Ten of the Best #22

The end of the year approaches with that sense of tsunami – why does everyone wait until mid-November to decide to find things they just have to do before the end of the year, and then ask for my help? We run around like blue-arsed flies, and there is no time to do anything that we love to do. Only then, in a few weeks, we'll be completely bored, because everyone and thing has closed for the holidays, and there is now nothing to do.

Here’s an intermission in the madness that is end of November. The ten best things I saw on my social media feeds this week. Thanks friends. I couldn’t keep up. But now it’s time to put my feet up, and catch up with what’s up.

1. Anybody love Obama as much as I do? I just can’t understand why Americans criticize him so much, when he says such great nation-building, true things. I still have the sound of his anti-guns speech ringing in my head, and now he says this. Click the pic for the story.

2. And in case you were wondering why Liam Neeson looked so gaunt…I know, me neither.

3. Let's get the serious stuff over with for the weekend, shall we?