Friday, May 18, 2007

A little bit of this and that

The Dutch have four public holidays (outside of the standard Easter, Christmas and New Year). And all four public holidays fall within a month of each other - in May. So while I'm unemployed, I'm getting all my days off in one whack. Awesome.

Yesterday was Ascension Day and Mills played his first cricket match. I popped down for as long as I could stand to be in the cold wind... which was just long enough to see Mills bending his fingers back as he landed on them and then taking a knock to his face. Then I went home, curled up in the sun on the bed and fell asleep. It's a cat's life. A good day all round.

End.
... and now for something completely different.

A few recent conversations got me thinking about strengths and weaknesses in general knowledge. Mills knows everything and just about anything there is to know about sport. I don't know how or why, but he saps up this random stuff like a square spongy dude in pants.

Take last weekend, when I said something about the Bulls 'coach' on the Super14 sidelines.
"That's not the coach," Mills scoffed. "That's the kit manager."
Well, how the hell am I supposed to know that... and why the hell do YOU know that??

Another time, playing 30seconds (a favourite game for name calling and relationship testing):

Me: "How was I supposed to describe the word Bliksem?"
Mills: "Aagh! That's the name of Danie Craven's dog! Everybody knows that."
Me: "Um, no. Not everybody knows that. Besides, Danie Craven died ages ago... where do you learn this random crap?"

And so on.

On the other hand, Mills and I were discussing Dutch artists and museums in the Netherlands.

Mills: "Every town's got a Van Gogh museum in this place."
Me: "I know. Chop off one ear and everyone wants a piece. Hahaha. I kill me."
Mills: "What else did he paint. I know there was a vase of flowers. And the Mona Lisa isn't even kept in the Netherlands..."
Me: "Uuuuum, Van Gogh didn't paint the Mona Lisa."
Mills: "Yes, he did... Didn't he? Who painted that then?"
Me: "You're kidding right? Leonardo Da Vinci."
Mills: "Are you sure?"
Me: "Wow. Yes."

See, strengths and weaknesses.

14 comments:

Peaches said...

Mini domestics. Bless.

Who is Danie Craven?

Koekie said...

See! Not everybody knows these things! Although, Peaches... you should recognise the name from Danie Craven Week? Rugby dude. Big name in SA.

Anonymous said...

I think we can all agree that knowing stuff about sport is more important than random crap about old artists, although the Mona Lisa thing is slightly embarrassing *blush* I was hit in the head with a cricket ball a few hours befor p.s. Koekies sympathetic reaction was muffled laughter from the side lines

Koekie said...

Any ball to the face is cause for amusement, as long as it's not my face on the receiving end. And you're fine, besides the lump on your eyebrow.

I could've rushed onto the field, crying, "I'm coming, shnooky-wooky-pookidums!" But that would've been far too much effort.

Peaches said...

Lightbulb on: Craven Week Rugby. Yes. Know what that is but still dont know who its namesake Danie is.

Some rugby hero with cauliflower ears right?

Peaches said...

Koekie the mad dash to the field would have been so unhandsome!

Once played 30s with The Eunuch (remember him) and he made us lose cos he couldnt describe Amazing Grace properly!!

Koekie said...

A question for Mills, me thinks..

Koekie said...

Aaaah... the Eunuch. Not always the brightest chicken in the coup, but good entertainment. It be his birthday tomorrow, I think.

Corporate Slave #45793 said...

PErsonally I prefer to have a wide and shallow knowledge of everything.

A jack of all trades. A master of none.

If I where to place myself on a bell curve for everything I would be just to the right of the mean.

Anonymous said...

I read all those comments, and only saw "balls to the face"! Niiiiiice!

Koekie said...

Somebody had to go there...

Peaches said...

And it all goes down hill into Smut-ville from there.

Balls to face - unhandsome!

ChewTheCud said...

At least you cant be disqualified from being male from a sheer ignorance of sports (you have to stuff up a bit more than that). I would have been kicked out long ago ;)

Koekie said...

haha Chews! A few more of my 30-second sporting pearlers: I thought Nick Farr-Jones was a golfer (he was NZ rugby captain, I think); I thought Bruce Grobler was a boxer (he was an SA soccer goalkeeper... I think)