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

Around 20 000 motorcyclists made their way to Nasrec as part of the annual Gauteng Toy Run.

The last Sunday in November sees bikers from various parts of Johannesburg meeting at the Expo Centre to collect toys for under-privileged children ahead of Christmas.

Forty thousand more people were expected at the centre to do their part for children in need.

The Toy Run’s Shaun Fine said Sunday was going to be one of the biggest Toy Runs.

“From the looks of it we might be going for a record. Last year we collected 55 000 toys and I do believe this year we will be beating it,” said Fine.

Cape Town also held a Toy Run on Sunday with thousands gathering at Ratanga Junction.

taken from EWN

all photographs from http://greenpointstadium-and-capetown.blogspot.com/ taken by Joanne.

Police have foiled their fourth armed robbery in greater Cape Town in just one week – after an elite police unit yesterday snared an eight-man gang in Kuilsriver, killing one.

This follows police action in which suspected robbers were foiled in Long Street, Milnerton and Khayelitsha last week. Yesterday’s incident had one Kuilsriver resident praying for his life. “It was like a war zone. I was too scared to even look outside.”

Metro Police chief Robert Young said there was a definite shift in the public’s mindset and attitude towards law enforcement officials.

Community Safety MEC Lennit Max, said he was “very excited” at the increase in “pro-active information”, which meant police could act swiftly to stop criminals.

story from IOL

The last surviving British soldier of the First World War is being laid to rest during a funeral attended by family and friends, generals and royals.

Mr Patch

At 111, Harry Patch was the last of a generation of men who fought and died in the trenches of what was meant to be the war to end all wars.

Thousands of people lined the path of the veteran’s final journey from Fletcher House, the care home where he spent his final years, through the streets of Wells in Somerset.

Soldiers of the 1st Battalion The Rifles – the modern-day equivalent of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, with whom he served – carried his coffin into Wells Cathedral.

Alongside Mr Patch’s family and friends at the service are the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Gloucester.

Men from each of the French, Belgian and German armed forces were also present in recognition of his lifelong desire for peace and reconciliation.

Before giving the service the Dean of Wells, the Very Reverend John Clarke, said: “I hope he’d think we did something that respected his own private life, both his family and his friendships, but also was a due recognition of how his life had expanded to a much wider audience, and how he’d become a representative of a generation.

“We’re doing this funeral primarily for Harry, but also with the recognition that behind him stood millions of others.”

Mr Patch’s close friend Jim Ross told Sky News he felt he had a duty to speak out about the futility of war and that he would have been flattered and overwhelmed by the events planned for today.

“He would have been humbled, he would have been utterly knocked out by the number of people who’d turned out to see him off, but he was a modest man and he would have felt that this was not just for him, but for the generation he represents – for all the men who didn’t make it back,” he said.

Funeral will remember war dead

An apprentice plumber from Somerset, Henry John Patch, “Harry” as he was known, was conscripted into the army at the age of 18.

“I didn’t want to sign up,” he wrote in his memoir The Last Fighting Tommy.

“I didn’t want to go and fight anyone, but it was a case of having to. I went and did what was asked of me and no more.”

He was posted to the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, where he served in the trenches as part of a machine-gun crew and fought in the Battle of Passchendaele.

On September 22, 1917, his war came to an end.

Returning from four days on the front line, he and his crew were shelled, killing three of his close friends and leaving him seriously wounded.

Those deaths tormented Mr Patch for the rest of his life. It was to be 80 years before he would talk about what happened.

After his 100th birthday, with his increasing age and status propelling him into the public spotlight, he finally broke his silence.

“He decided he was going to speak out against war and in favour of peace and reconciliation,” Mr Ross said.

“It was a decision that cost him a lot of pain and grief, but he made that decision and to me that was true heroism.”

story from SkyNews

We’ve just found the world’s smallest Ferrari key. What’s it ignite? How about one of the world’s most excruciatingly detailed 1/8-scale miniature hand-built Ferrari F40s? Check out the mega-gallery of master craftsmanship below.

A highly trained model enthusiast member of the Model Brouwers.nl forum has managed to make us feel like smaller, weaker men than we actually are by carefully assembling this 515 piece Pocher 1/8 scale miniature Ferrari F40. Not content with realism that the Pocher kit provides, he cranked the dial to eleven by including a 1500 piece photo-etched Autograph transkit into the mix.For a nice cross reference to an actual, full-scale Ferrari F40 build, check out  Supercar Teardown where we get a sneak peek at the rebuild of a Ferrari F40 LM racer.

ModelBrouwers.nl, Jalopnik

Former president Nelson Mandela on Tuesday called on people to dedicate their time and effort to serving their communities, as his life is celebrated on July 18.

“We are humbled by the call for an annual Mandela Day in our honour. Our struggle for freedom and justice was a collective effort. Mandela Day is no different,” said Mandela in a video message recorded for Mandela Day on Saturday.

“It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it.”

Mandela Day will not be a holiday but a day devoted to community service.

“It is our hope that people will dedicate their time and effort to improve the conditions within their own communities. We thank you for participating in Mandela Day,” he said.

Nelson Mandela Day was instituted at the urging of the Nelson Mandela Foundation to celebrate his 67 years in politics, from his pivotal role in the anti-apartheid struggle, to his presidency and finally his work as mediator in peace talks and as an Aids activist.

President Jacob Zuma outlined plans to commemorate the political life of the Nobel Prize laureate in his State of the Nation address earlier this year.

His call was for all South Africans to dedicate 67 minutes of their time in service of others on Mandela’s birthday. Each minute represents a year of Mandela’s life spent fighting for freedom and justice in South Africa.

“We can best honour our icon, Madiba, through attempting in our own small ways to do what he would be proud of. Nothing would please him more than to see all South Africans, black and white, active in the service of humanity,” Zuma said.

“Madiba contributed his entire adult life to this country and its people. This is the least we can do to honour him and take forward his legacy,” said Zuma.

The president will be spending his 67 minutes with the elderly in Ivory Park. Ministers and ANC MPs will also devote 67 minutes to community service on July 18 to mark the first Nelson Mandela Day.

taken from News24

Riga – Several hundred blondes marched through the Latvian capital Riga on Sunday in a bid cheer up the crisis-hit Baltic nation, suffering the worst recession in the 27-member EU.

Led by an orchestra, the first-ever blonde parade featured women dressed in pink and white, some accompanied by lapdogs, in a charity fund-raising event that organisers hope will become an annual event.

“I’m not stupid. I’m beautiful and I’ll prove it,” blonde participant high school student Ilona Zigure told AFP.

Organisers said they were determined to bring positive energy to their country, expected to see its economy contract by 16% this year.

The parade is part of the what they are calling Blonde Weekend, which will also features a blonde golf tournament, a little lady fashion show, an evening ball, and a children’s drawing competition.

“It’s a great time to spend in the parade and contribute to a charity,” said Ieva, one blonde spectator.

“Finally something different, something positive because I’m tired of hearing about the crisis,” said another, 70-year old Ausma.

The event attracted many locals and puzzled tourists.

Following the parade, blondes climbed into open-topped cars and drove to the local shopping centre to go shopping.

The money collected during the event will be donated to support children’s safety and playgrounds for disabled children in Riga and across Latvia.

The organisers want to make May 31 official Blondes’ Day in Latvia.

Latvia, a small Baltic nation with the population of 2.3 million people has been going through the deepest recession in the European Union, which it joined in 2004.

story from News24

Happy Anniversary To The Lategans!

It’s been 21 years, hope there’s another 21 to come with lots of more love and understanding!

Copenhagen – Some 700 children from 29 countries are taking part this weekend in an international contest in Copenhagen to find local and global solutions to climate warming, organisers said on Friday.

The Children’s Climate Call gathers kids aged nine to 16 who won national tournaments in order to get the chance to travel to Denmark for the event co-sponsored by Danish toymaker Lego and non-profit organisation First Scandinavia.

Children will compete to build a robot to solve a series of missions on an obstacle course related to an environmental topic. They will also have to solve a theoretical task researching a topic and preparing and sharing a presentation.

The children will work in teams with experts from universities, consultant companies and industry to produce an implementation plan for their research projects.

The winning project “will be implemented in real-life,” said Lego vice president Lisbeth Valther Pallesen, adding that she hoped the winners could present their idea at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December.

Lego spokesperson Flemming Gammelgaard said the May 2-3 event was a “competition of creativity and team spirit” aimed at fostering children’s interest in research.

Danish Crown Prince Frederik will on Sunday visit the Children’s Climate Call, described as the world’s biggest science and technology tournament for children.

story from News24

Make your life count!!! Carve out a magnificent existence!  I Know you only live once,,, BUT IF YOU ROCK IT RIGHT!! THAT’S ALL YOU’LL NEED!!!   Lets go!!!