Obama on a pumpkin

It’s not just costumes that the American citizenry have gone crackers over, it’s also pumpkins, and there is even a website, Yes, We Carve where you can download a stencil of Barack Obama to cut into your patriotic pumpkin.

Which is exactly what Bess Hinson of Ann Arbor did (that's her in the photo to the right)

If you have ever tried to carve a pumpkin – which is not, I admit, a major thing here in South Africa – then you will know just how time consuming this is.

I am telling you, the combo of elections and Halloween has seen major lunacy and the moon isn’t even full ...

Halloween fashion alert

The Americans have gone doolally over Halloween costumes which spoof or support their election contenders – and not just masks of Obama and McCain.

Many people will be turning themselves into Sarah Palin tomorrow night just by rummaging through their wardrobe, but still, costumes like the $22,99 "Miss Alaska" kit are selling like hotcakes.


If you are brave, skip the demure fitted jacket and pencil skirt and just slap the sash on over a beauty queen bikini (Sarah was a runner up the Miss Alaska pageant in her younger days). Whatever you do, though, don’t forget the glasses.


Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan is one celeb planning to dress as Palin for her Halloween party.



On the other hand, you could go for a less revealing option with a Sarah Palin mask which sells for $18,99.


Hmm, I've got a Halloween party on tomorrow night ... let’s see what the weather does, before we decide what to wear, shall we?

A whale of a photograph

Isn't this a magnificent photograph? It’s by National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry, who has a feature on southern right whales – the kind we often see here off the Eastern Cape coast – in the October edition of the magazine.

This shot happened as Brian was standing on the ocean floor off New Zealand when a bus-sized whale came in and gently inspected his assistant, who was standing just a few feet away. "My heart was beating out of my chest," Brian said but he got the shot and the photo of that encounter has since become an Internet sensation.

Brian is more than a photographer, he’s also an ecologist and on his website, he warns that our oceans are in trouble.“There are some serious problems out there that I believe are not clear to many people. My hope is to continually find new ways of creating images and stories that both celebrate the sea yet also highlight environmental problems. Photography can be a powerful instrument for change.”

We have the real thing right here in South Africa. Only a month or so ago, we were sitting at Enrico’s in Plett, which has the most amazing views across the bay to Robberg. It was one of those clear, sunny winter Saturday afternoons and we counted close to a dozen whales swimming just a few hundred metres out to sea, truly an awe-inspiring sight.

We’ve seen whales by the busload in our region this winter but who of us ever gets the chance to get this close? It’s only thanks to professional like Brian that we know what these giants look like underwater.

He's never seen our wonderful sea life but is keen to. When I contacted him, he replied the same day via e-mail: “I have never visited South Africa, but have a great interest in doing so!”

Love can make you fat ... and thin

Women’s magazines are always telling us not to rely on a man for our happiness but did you see that story in the Sunday Times about how your happiness, or lack of happiness, in a relationship can make a difference to your weight?
That’s no news to girls who chomp chocolate when they’ve been ditched or feel sad ... According the study of 3,000 women, by a weight management firm Slendex.com there are five stages of a woman’s weight life cycle.
It shows that in a relationship stretching over several years, your body weight can swing up or down by about 10kg, which is a couple of sizes. The stages are:
1. Falling in love: she loses 2,4kg when she first falls in love
2. Comfort zone: she gains 4,5kg as the relationship settles into a groove
4. Getting married: she loses 4kg ... also known as “bridorexia”
5. Baby boom: she gains 6kg after falling pregnant and starting a family
6. Reinvention: she loses 5kg in a midlife makeover
It sounds pretty accurate to me.

Have you filed your income tax yet?

Taxing times
Do you battle to get your income tax return in on time? You might be suffering from a mysterious affliction, called “late-filing syndrome”.
At least, that’s what one American politician supposedly has, according to his lawyers. New York governor’s aide Charles J O’Byrne (who, by the way, has a university degree and earns about a million dollars a year) didn’t put in a tax return when he felt depressed – and the poor fellow felt depressed often enough to omit to pay the US government about $292 780, which is about R3-million at today’s tragic exchange rate. His lawyers have asked for the court to show mercy due to late-filing syndrome, a “condition that made it difficult for him to fill out his tax returns”.
Now, if you are anything like me, then you are probably all over the place with your own tax returns, because here in South Africa the dates and the forms change every year. Actually, I’ve lost track of this year’s date, isn’t it sometime soon? Or has it already been? It makes feel depressed just to think of it.
Anyone know where I can get in touch with Charles J O’Byrne’s lawyers?

Misleading number plates

Here is an update on the post on vanity number plates ... it's not from South Africa but by an Australian cartoonist, Tim Whyatt.

Perhaps what they say about men and sports cars is a global truth ...

Heavyweight politician breaks chair

Now you know why they are called fat cats
IN case you miss seeing the cross-reference for this on the front page of today's Herald, here is the video clip that has been whizzing round South Africa this week. It's of a politician, Nhlanhla Nene, falling off his chair while being interviewed on SABC television.
I nearly fell off my chair ...