Gone With The Wind, Apocalypse Now, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Silence of the Lambs – just some of the classic movies Rose and I watched over the past year. We even watched the Swedish version of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy with Noomi Rapace memorably playing Lisbeth Salander.

How, you might ask, did we find these movies? Well, there was a streaming platform My Family Cinema that offered almost every movie ever made. Many an evening was spent binge-watching our favourite flicks.

Unfortunately the big movie houses got in a huff about this infringement of their copyright and shut the whole operation down. MFC ducked and dived, changed its name a few times, but in the end it was branded “criminal” and “illegal.” I didn’t care about that, MFC allowed us to wipe the dust off long-forgotten gems and break out the popcorn. The big movies houses are just being dogs in the manger. Let the world see all those old movies, for goodness sake!

Sure, there are a lot of movies on Amazon Prime and Netflix etc but they seldom offer the ones you really want to see. And don’t get me started on DStv. I’m a news junkie and I want sport as well, but the R979 per month price tag is enough to make your toes curl.

Speaking of the news business, I’m sad to record the passing of well-known KZN journalist Graham “Frothy” Linscott, who went by the pen name of The Idler for The Mercury newspaper for the past 15 years. We were neighbours growing up in ‘Maritzburg. He was a lot older than me but was chommies with my eldest brother.

He died last week at the age of 83, writing his daily column until very recently. He was a master storyteller, a quick wit and a wordsmith of note. He worked as a journalist in 11 African countries for the Argus Africa News Service, in London’s Fleet Street and in the SA Parliament press gallery, where we crossed paths in the 70s. He covered the revolutionary wars in Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and often shared humorous anecdotes from his foreign correspondent days.

That gives me pause to look back at those days in the 50s and 60s when ‘Maritzburg was a garden city, known far and wide as Sleepy Hollow. The most noticeable landmark was the large cemetery, positioned conveniently right next to Grey’s Hospital. It was a remarkable incentive to get better!

I suppose life wasn’t easy for our parents right after the Second World War, but we kids had a ball. We rode our bikes all day long, stayed out ’til dark, had claylite fights in the veld – a broken arm here and there – and in-between went to school.

Life is more complicated now, though I have a strong feeling that life on the North Coast, even today, has a special charm. Our towns are small and manageable, where you know most everybody and the distances are not too great. The outdoors are clean and if the spirit is willing, there are opportunities for growth. I can think of worse places to live.

Speaking of Jo’burg, they’re all down here now, filling up the beaches and taking all our parking. And a damn good thing too. Welcome visitors, enjoy what we have all year round. Soak up the sun, cycle yourself silly around the cane trails, party ’til late. But be careful, don’t drink and drive or swim, have a Merry Christmas and be safe.

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