The things we do for Rock...

Its a little known fact but planning and practising are an essential part of becoming a rock star. One has to plan your practices and then your gigs and then one has to plan your planning which generally involves getting together and talking about everything and then ten minutes before leaving planning is discussed, world domination agreed on and everyone leaves. In the interest of making it big the band decided to get together on Monday night. Why Monday well it seems to work for everyone and at least there is something to look forward to after a weekend we generally do it every second Monday. Anyway we had discussed getting together on the  Saturday after a particularly rocking practise during which a guide track was recorded for the upcoming album and several new ideas, leapt out of the wood work. Needless to say we were keen to play the new ideas.

  I phoned Francois to ask him what the story with practise was and he asked if I could pick him up and then we could drive through to Johannesburg on my bike for what I assumed was a planning session. It may have escaped your notice, but these days it’s pretty cold being as it is the middle of winter. Anyway I picked him up and we headed out to Johannesburg, dodging traffic concentrating hard thinking about food, .trying to avoid road works and generally just stay alive on a Monday night.

  We arrived at Sholto’s Johannesburg flat in pretty good time with only a few minor moments on the bike. I parked the bike outside the main gate while we waited for admission.

Francois:  “It looks kinda dark up there.” (We both look up at Sholto's flat on the second floor.)

” So are you gonna give him a call?” I ask while i beat my hands against the exhaust to restore circulation and feeling to them after the 45 minute ride from Pretoria. Francois whips out his new Nokia 7110 with, GPS tracking, voice dialling and infrared night vision motion detecting.

Francois:”hang on a second let me dial.”

(I make small talk) Me: ”Maybe he’s on his way.”

Francois: (Dials and then talks) “Hey Bro, Wazzup?”  

(Several successive and increasingly lengthy Wazzups later)

Francois: “Where you at?”

Me: “Where’s he at?”

Francois: “Uh Hu, Uh hu, CAMELLIA..?”

(for those who don’t know Pretoria East, Camellia is about two minutes away from where I live in Pretoria. Which means while we had been merrily riding to Johannesburg he had been merrily driving to Pretoria.)

Me: “I thought you knuckleheads sorted this out...”

Francois: “SMS,... blah blah, Meeting, blah blah blah, SMS, meeting, SMS,... blah blah... Meeting.”

  In the interests of preserving sanity we agreed to meet at the Ocean basket, down the road from me.  I would attempt to get us back to Pretoria record time on my trusty Fireblade.

Francois: “Hang on a second”

>(I watch as Francois dances on tippy toes around the corner to where there is an open park. He returns a short time later.)

Me: “Do you mean to tell me we drove all the way to Joburg so you could take a leak?”

Francois: ”Seems that way...”

And so ended my shortest ever time in Johannesburg. Fortunately Ocean basket provided a much needed nourishment and sanity to an otherwise crazy Monday. In addition and we were able to have another Cracking practise. The things we do for Rock... music....

A phodie of us making our way to JoBurg... :) the bike on the right is my Blade