Check those SKILLS! Complete focus on the moosh in the one pan, flairing the other pan out like a tiny Jamie Oliver. Awesome technique Jimbo.
Could a father be prouder? This little guy is our son James Ian Armstrong. Watch this space. He is showing serious skills with pots and pans. Move over Gordon Ramsay!
This past weekend got off to a full on cracker, out at Backsberg, for the inaugral Vino Varsity challenge. It was a hyped up inter varsity affair, well organised by Simon Back, and Emile Joubert. I did post up a bit of pre-event gees here. It turned out to be a very civilised afternoon. Apart from the two Varsities cheerleaders making every effort to look the part, there was some serious wine stuff going on. I tucked into a corner and got stuck into Backsberg’s Chenin, good stuff as a warm up.
Every serious athlete will tell you how important it is to warm up properly before a big game. This was no different. I got chatting to a few of the students, catching up on the late night scenes, finding out about the old haunts, Cool Runnings and the budget roll guy, the usual campus banter. Before long it was game time. I relenquished the Chenin and moved onto Pinotage, also from Backsberg, and while usually not a fan of our national cultivar, since the debate was raging over the 350 years of our industry I felt it was only fair to charge my glass with a surprisingly good Pinotage.
The first competition event up was a general knowledge multiple choice, learnt a bit about the beloved pinotage from that… then the debate, which was a hotly contested battle, with the Mighty Matie Magnums taking an evident lead straight out of the gates. The final most thrilling installment, apart from Emiles running gun battle with Simon on the mics, turned out to be the silent tasting. Now I am not judging here, but when I was a student, spitting was a big no no. Plus it was a Friday. Mind you there was the varsities pride at stake….this was a really close call and turned out to be a tied event. Over some more wine and very decent Lamb Roll, while we waited anxiously for the audited results, got chatting to a few of the guys, turns out the Maties have a seriously large and well organised wine society. Back in my day, at UCT, the wine-soc was the most popular to sign up to in O week, for the free glass of wine you got after signing up. I signed up once a day for good measure. The results were announced to cheers from the Maties, and cheers from the Ikeys, as they won a 3 litre bottle of Oom Tas. Pretty decent consolation prize I thought. I wonder if it lasted in the bus back to campus?
Heres a snap of Simon pouring out the winnings to the Mighty Matie Magnums:
All in all it was a fantastic way to spend a Friday, I am seriously looking forward to next years Vino Varsity. Thanks to Simon and Emile, I thoroughly enjoyed the event. And congrats to the Matie Magnums, and the Ikey Ice Buckets.
Here are some articles posted about the event: