The Baron of Caffeine Hotspot

So, its time for us to move our blog – the new blog address is http://caffeinehotspot.wordpress.com .

Please come and visit us for more entertaining and enthralling stories of our encounters!

Come on,,,, you know you want to!

Some say that life is a series of lessons. I agree,to a point,however, sometimes I think that we get too serious about finding the lesson – learning – seeking, you know? We focus so much on Yin Yang, and Zen, half full vs half empty. The planets are aligned.. Is that really what its all about? I mean REALLY??**

Nah! Seek and ye shall not find.

Allow me to explain…

This morning I woke up to the most magnificent day. The perfect Highveld morning.. It inspired me to dust off my bicycle (which is used almost as much as those surfboards which were bolted onto the ND cars used to be***.) and don my sponsored (not**) cycling kit, and hit the road!

Suffice to say-I learnt some lessons.

1. Human beings can only survive on "natural fitness" until their early thirties.After this, one needs to train to survive. The lactic acid pumping through my thighs by the time I reached the end of my road were testament to this fact.
2. Living in a valley has advantages and disadvantages. The ride out is so incredibly difficult, but coming home..Well now – that's a totally different story!
3. On arriving home, hearing the "go away bird" calling in your tree stirs mixed emotions. Ah the sounds of Africa, vs – go away?? What do you mean?? This is MY home!

Viva lessons, Viva.

BOOM**

index:

** – young peoples talk.

*** – Older generation chat..

I get to choose which gigs I do, and which I don't. So when the call for me to travel to Durban to wow a crowd of Debben-ites with my offerings, I needed to weigh up the pro's and cons. Cons = distance… Pro's = endless… Not a hard decision.. Plus……The event management company, Fine Events (www.finehealthcare.co.za) sounded SO on the ball. Paula Davis the Ops Director was VERY clear in what she expected, so I thought – "Baron, this is one event you cannot miss". So off we went..

Forgetting momentarily that the event was held on the same night as COP17…. And that there was ZERO accomodation in Durbs…

But,, being the Baron, and the tough person of tough people, this didn't bother me much – I had slept in a car before -

Forgetting momentarily that the last time I slept in a car, I was in my twenties, and that I am no longer in my twenties..

Anyway……. The event was fabulous! I got to show off my newly dressed cappuccino bar…

I realised that the fabulous ladies from Fine Events were clever… They surrounded themselves with excellent service providers. The guys in charge of sound and lighting were phenomenal! Justin Le Roux from Keystone (www.keystonegear.co.za) was quite possibly THE most composed and unflappable dude around, and the results were excellent. His prowess, fused with Paula Davis' attention to detail made for a slick,,, and fun filled event..

ps: if you are looking for a slickbricktrick of an event – you should use these guys – they rock!

www.finehealthcare.co.za – Paula Davis

www.keystonegear.co.za- Justin Le Roux

Ok ok ok – I know – The title song is Suspicious Minds – but being suspicious has nothing to do with this post-it's about superstition.. And I couldn't think of a song about superstition.. Anyhow, I digress… The story goes thus:

Sitting in The Baron Villa the other day, I received some unannounced visitors. As calm as could be, a gorgeous pair of swallows flew into the reception area. I marveled at the  way they completely ignored me,and were clearly infatuated with each other.. But then….. I remembered…… There was some significance about swallows flying into your home. Cue scary music – da da da da daaaaaa…. Delving into my infinitely complex mind (aka Google) I found the information… There it was.."Symbolically it means that a swallow flying into a house means that death is coming." Calm as anything,I called my broker and updated my baron life policy(ies). Then I scrolled down through my infinitely complex mind,and saw another key note "Symbolically, when swallows nest under the eaves of your home it means luck and prosperity". And suddenly all was clear! These are just superstitions.. And The Baron would NEVER be superstitious! EVER!!!

"Shoo Shoo little swallows – get out of the Villa – Go nest under the eaves."

Touch wood.

I often rave about the fabulosity of being The Baron. There are so many great reasons for this. Some of those reasons are the sights and sounds that I encounter during my travels. The random-ness of a comment – the fantastic sunrises at the start of an event, marking the beginning of a new day. And then there is the occasional dog… Who just happens to catch my eye..

Nice! And the owner ordered a Chococcino prepared with a mixture of white and brown chocolate……. Just to match her canines tummy! Sweet!…….

So,,,, We always bragged that we were the mobile fabulosity providers, not so? Well,, the call came in.. From "Not-so-Dull-Stroom"! From a lady who should, from now on, be known as "the-most-tenacious-coffee-sourcer-on-the-planet" AKA Lauren.

You see, Dullstroom were holding their annual SA Gamefair! And Laurens boss-man Jono does not function without quality Java.. So, naturally, she called us. And called us. And called us, until we agreed to come. In hindsight, we shouldn't even have hesitated! The drive up / down there was spectacular! Well, from Middelburg anyway!

And then we arrived! The beautiful community of Dullstroom! Passing Mavungana Fly Fishing on our right (Jono's place of business), we saw our new place of abode. The Duck and Trout! NICE!!! Well,,,,,,,, close to the pub…… and pretty…. and nice…. and close to the pub.. oh I said that….. BUT – No-one, and I mean no-one, should expect a tiny fireplace to keep you warm, in a chalet without carpets, or other heating in Dullstroom, in mid winter….. My Afrikaans friends would exclaim "My Magtig" at this point. All I know, is that, when I woke on Saturday morning, my phone told me that it was MINUS 3! Yip – it was "THAT" hard-core!

So the purpose of this post is to recommend Dullstroom to all and sundry, as well as to introduce you to some excellent people.

So, Dullstroom, you can look up… do yourselves a favour – believe all the good stuff and just go – it rocks.

The people are world class, in a "river runs through it" kinda way. Again, all the folks from Mavungana (www.flyfishing.co.za) will make you feel right at home – check their site out – they even have a shop in Jozi! Haibo! The dude from the birds of prey rescue is a proper Crocodile Dundee type of guy,only, from England, poor boy. (Birds of prey rescue centre also VERY well worth the visit!).  And then all the others… good times!

BUT!!!!! The memorable moment has to belong to another local. *Commence picture painting*. Sitting in the Duck and Trout on the Friday, we saw a printed sign that read:

"Saturday 30th – DJ Wors @ the Duck and Trout"

We looked at each other – and laughed – I mean – huh? Who names themselves DJ Wors??? Even if you are in Dullies!!! Well,,,, the next day EVERYONE was a-buzz about the opskop, and the fact that DJ Wors was gonna be there..Needless to say the beginning of the DJ Wors spectacular was just that – Spectacular… But, the ever responsible Baron had patrons to serve the next morning so we retired to our bitterly cold cave for the night. Waking at 01h30 to strains of "Sweet Caroline" followed by bellows of "Alice,,,, who.." ok you know the rest, was testament to the fact that DJ Wors knew EXACTLY how to do it…..That, and the pink feather that we found in the bushes the next morning..

And who was this mysterious legend?? Who was the man that led an entire town to a night of total debauchery? The veritable Pied Piper?? The answer is:

The local butcher and his wife!!!!

STRUE!!!! Can you Adam and Eve??

No pictures, due to technology melt down! Eish!

Its taken me ages to find my way back to my blog, but the day finally arrived. And, whilst thinking about the theme of my story, I arrived at the startling conclusion that, despite my enthusiasm and love for the coffee business, there is just so much one can talk about in the "coffee experience" environment. So, change must take place…. How??? Welllllllll, my coffee is life, right? And life is naught without my coffee. So, I'll still talk about my coffee.. It will just now be lightly disguised as my life.

Grazie!!!!

I see that the coffee word is spreading – fast…

Oh yes! My favourite time of year has finally arrived! The culmination of the schools rowing season – SA Junior Champs! The cream of South African Schools rowers gathered to battle it out against their foes, and with them,,, all of their delightful supporters.. The banter, the smiles, the joking, the flirting. Its another world out there.. Its my world. Were there any special quotes, anecdotes or moments? All were special – from when we arrived and I could hear cries of “Baron, thank goodness you are here” and “we missed you Baron” and “Oh Baron, I wish I could convince you to bring me coffee every morning”…..

So, this was a welcome back into the world in which I revel – here are some visuals of the day!

 Notice the absolutely sensational women, waiting… in anticipppppppation……. Notice the gorgeous blue water, where the young warriors did battle….. Notice the absolutely sensational women – oh I just said that..

So,,, I wear these copper things on my wrist, as a sign of my independence from the norm. I have come to discover, that when I am unhappy, or not well,,,,, they are dull in colour. They have been EXTREMELY dull for some time now.

This weekend, I did a coffee gig for the first time in a while. Half an hour into the gig…. They were shiny.

Is it the coffee? The interaction? The crowds? Or, could it just be, that this particular type of event,draws the most gorgeous women, who are not adverse to some harmless flirting, and, indeed, who love to reciprocate.

Or could it just be, that I was back in the Land of The Baron, and out of the Baronland?