north beach

for all you folks who grew up in durban you have to watch this. goddamit... i have no clue as to how to upload these youtube vids onto my blog.

this vid shows life on north beach, durban from 1995 - 1997. this is pretty much the generation i grew up (i was approx 1 or 2 years behind). the sun, surf, sand, and long hair all point to the north beach grommit culture that was huge in the late 90's (not sure if this is still going on).

we used to catch a train from pinetown or queensburgh down to durban station near the cricket stadium and then cruise down to the beach from there. most of us were bodyboarders. some of us were surfers. i was bad. some were really good. didn't realise the swells used to get that big!!! some of those waves are huge!!! i only used to go out in swells less than 4 foot. i sure do love the warm indian ocean though - it is a great remedy for the soul.

the images of the wimpy, the lifesaving club, north pier, steers, and the stairs below joe kools shown here are so strong i can almost taste the chip sandwiches, the polony sandwiches, the bottled coke (with 20c deposits), the chappies, the tropica, the R3 rave burgers... i can almost breathe the salty air and touch the recklessness of youth.

these dudes in this vid seem cool... i know one or two of them. it's almost a shame that they are chiltern boys and us escombe boys used to smack them about 7 - 0 every season!!! they sure were animals though - i have never taken so much abuse on a pitch ever.

the first track is by a saffer dude living in london - jamie king. he is a really nice guy and the song is very apt.

thank god i grew up under the blazing sun of south africa and spent my life on the sand, and in the waves, and playing cricket in the park, and riding bicycles in the road, and camping at the dam, and having braais on the beach, and not playing games on my x-box 360 in a cramped front room in london.

don't think about what you've left behind. everything is written in the soul of the world, and there it will stay forever.