Mickeys

Hi all:

Just want to wish you a Merry Festive Season! Hope you’ll have a great time in whatever you do!

Let us know what you’ve been doing.

Regards

Mickey

Hi guys and girls!

Mickeys, is taking it slow, well let’s say the body’s still going, but the mind is dead! I will check in regularly as I’m not going away on holiday, so I’ll be around.

Drop us a note to say what you’re planning for Christmas and New Year!

If you’re going away, please drive safely and look after yourself and your family, we want you ready Mickeys in one piece!

See you around!

Regards

Mickey

Halloween (also written Hallowe’en, literally “holy evening”), also known as All Hallows’ Eve or All Saints’ Eve, is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and gets its name from being the evening (e’en) before the Western Christian holy day of All Saints (the Eastern Orthodox celebrate All Saints’ Day in June). It is largely a secular celebration but some have expressed strong feelings about perceived religious overtones.

The colours black and orange have become associated with the celebrations, perhaps because of the darkness of night and the colour of fire or of pumpkins, and maybe because of the vivid contrast this presents for merchandising. Another association is with the jack-o’-lantern. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, ghost tours, bonfires, visiting haunted attractions, pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

Origin of name

The term Halloween (also spelled Hallowe’en) is shortened from All Hallows’ Even – e’en is a shortening of even, which is the origin of the words “evening” and “eve”. This is ultimately derived from the Old English Eallra H?lgena ?fen.  It is now known as “Eve of” All Saints’ Day,[citation needed] which is November 1st.

In the 800s, the Church measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the Florentine calendar. Although All Saints’ Day is now considered to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were once celebrated on the same day.

get more info on Halloween at Wikipedia

Heritage Day, September 24, is a Public Holiday on which South Africans across the spectrum are encouraged to celebrate their cultural heritage and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions, in the wider context of a nation that belongs to all its people.

Background

In KwaZulu-Natal, the 24th of September was known as Shaka Day, in commemoration of the Zulu King, Shaka. Shaka was the legendary Zulu King that played an important role in uniting disparate zulu clans into a cohesive nation. Contrary to western discourse Shaka was not a ‘chief’.

The Public Holidays Bill presented to the Parliament of South Africa at the time did not have the 24th of September included on the list of proposed public holidays. As a result of this exclusion, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), a South African political party with a large Zulu membership, objected to the bill. Parliament and the IFP reached a compromise and the day was given its present title and seen as a day

Celebration of Heritage Day

South Africans celebrate Heritage Day by remembering the cultural heritage of the many cultures that make up the population of South Africa. Various events are staged throughout the country to commemorate this day.

Former Western Cape Provincial Premier Ebrahim Rasool addressed the public at a Heritage Day celebration at the Gugulethu Heritage trail in 2007 in Gugulethu.

In Hout Bay, there is an army procession and a recreation of the battle fought there.

Controversy

In 2005, a media campaign sought to “re-brand” the holiday as National Braai Day, in recognition of the South African culinary tradition of holding informal backyard barbecues, or braais.

On September 5, 2007, Archbishop Desmond Tutu celebrated his appointment as patron of South Africa’s Barbecue (Braai) Day, affirming it to be a unifying force in a divided country (by donning an apron and tucking into a boerewors sausage). At the end of 2007 National Braai Day changed its name to Braai4Heritage and the initiative received the endorsement of South Africa’s National Heritage Council (NHC).

Organiser Jan Scannell announced that the aim is not to have a mass braai, but smaller ones with friends and family.

info from Wikipedia

Sydney – How about some UFOs with your holiday? An Australian photographer and self-styled alien hunter believes the country’s north is a hotspot for unexplained aerial activity, and the tourism association is not discouraging him.

Alan Ferguson believes the vast Northern Territory state has more than its share of unidentified flying objects that could one day rival more established tourist attractions at Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks.

“All these years I’ve been sitting watching these things and thought: 200 000 people a year go to Roswell in the US to see a museum, why wouldn’t you entice people to come here, to see the real thing,” Ferguson told Reuters.

Roswell, in New Mexico, is home to the Roswell UFO Museum, which is dedicated to the July 1947 crash of a flying object northwest of the city.

UFO proponents believe that object was an alien ship but the US military says materials recovered near the site were from an experimental surveillance craft.

Ferguson has been taking photographs in the Northern Territory for years and says he has seen many UFOs over the last 5 years.

While he acknowledges 80% of these sightings are likely due to military exercises at nearby bases, he says the rest cannot be accounted for.

“I’ve seen hundreds of these vehicles. They’re a very, very light grey and have a black centre and when they stop they wobble from side to side, no way do the come from here,” he said.

Ferguson recently provided a video, aired on national television, which he says proves his case. The segment is now posted on the internet.

Ferguson suggested his idea of promoting UFO-watching holidays to Tourism Top End, the region’s tourist association, which provides a link to his website without actually endorsing it.

“It’s been amazing, there’s a huge amount of interest,” Top End Tourism President Sylvia Wolf told Reuters.

“But the thing is, with UFOs, you don’t know when they’re going to be there, so if you take a busload of people out there and then nothing, what do you say to the tourists? Have another drink, you might see something?”

story from News24

As promised here’s a update on my week of ding nothing, yeah right!

There wasn’t much of sleeping late, as the cat wants his food at 07:00 in the morning and the dogs wanting to go out for their morning stroll, lying in was not something to consider!

Unfortunately chores around the house does not stop either,just because you need some time out! The garden needed some weeds removed, the garage cleaned and old junk thrown out, and spring cleaning the house.

At least we did a couple of fun things as well like going to the cinema and watching the latest Harry Potter movie, taking a drive up the coast and visiting a small town called Darling, the place Evita Bezuidenhout made famous with Evita Se Perron! We also did some catch up with friends we have not seen in ages.

All in all it was a good week, a little short to my liking, but at least a bit of relaxation!

Hi guys:

I’ve decided to take a couple of days off. Things has been a bit hectic around here and a couple of days of doing nothing is what Dr. Mickey has prescribed, so what can I say?

Will be back later in next week, hopefully with lots of news and interesting stuff.

Enjoy your weekend, and the week ahead.

Regards

Mickey

My dad and his wife went for a holiday in Mozambique, here’s some photographs to show they were there!