J.A.M.

Star gazers are in for a treat as they can catch a glimpse of the solar system’s largest planet Jupiter which has come closest to the earth after nearly 47 years this week.

Jupiter

“On the intervening night of 20th/21st September Jupiter reached closest to the earth — 594 million km away — in the last 47 years. It was this close in 1963 and the same will again happen only in 2022,” N Sri Raghunandan Kumar, General Secretary of Planetary Society Of India, told PTI.

Astronomy enthusiasts can spot the biggest planet in the eastern sky using Moon as a reference, he said, adding during this period it will also be the brightest.

“The Jovian planet can be spotted in evening skies till March 2011. Jupiter will be shining (-2.9 Magnitude) till third week of October,” Kumar said.

Generally the minimum distance of Jupiter from earth is approx 588 million km’s and the maximum nearly 967 million km.

Also in store is a glimpse of Venus.

The planet can be seen towards West for 1 ½ hour after sunset from September 23 to the second week of October.

Besides, sky gazers can spot Mercury in the east direction, close to horizon, on September 24, he said.

Two weekends back I took the plunge and auditioned in Port Elizabeth for “Top Billing”. They have a Presenter Search Competition on the go at the moment and I thought I’d go along. Now, being somewhere in my 40’s and having one of those 6-packs most of the male presenters do (although I’ve never seen the damn thing!) I didn’t hold out much hope but thought “Why not?”. If nothing else – it would be a fun experience and you never know – I may pick up a Voice Over job or two – which is kinda what I specialize in on a day to day basis for local Radio etc. Anyway, Port Elizabeth is 3 hours away from where I live in East London, so on this particular Thursday morning I duly boarded the SA Connection bus along with 6 other passengers and off we set for Port Elizabeth. PE holds many fond memories for me having spent my 2 years National Service there back in the 80’s. We did the usual “Beaver Pie” thing in Port Alfred en route and duly arrived in PE, on schedule where we were dropped off at Greenacres Shopping Centre. Now what? I needed to be at Langerry Holiday Flats on the Beachfront in Humewood where I had booked in until  Sunday (I decided to make a weekend of it largely due to the fact that SA Connection only traveled back again on Sunday). I found a bus stop after enquiring at a nearby Garage and lo and behold the first bus that arrived some 10 minutes later was headed for Summerstrand. Off we went and in no time I was standing at the reception desk at Langerry, plastic in hand, ready to pay for the 3 nights that lay ahead. I was given the room right next to the office (at a reduced price I was led to believe) and asked to please return in an hour as the cleaning lady was still busy. It was a pleasure really as there is so much to do on PE’s beachfront. I set off for McDonalds a few hundred metres away – got me some lunch and walked to a look out spot along the beach front to enjoy it while fondly thinking back to the many nights I walked up and down the beach front back when life was ‘simpler’ in the 80’s 🙂

Friday morning duly arrived and I rose early to make my way to The Boardwalk where the Auditions were to be held at 9am. I wanted to be there at about 7am in order to book my place in the queue. I opened my balcony door …… it was raining! The kind of rain that comes with wind that gusts in all directions  – as it can only do in PE. What to do? Besides – I needed to take along a full body picture of myself to the audition. Now – I had taken the photo a few nights earlier, a number of them really utilizing my camera’s timer setting, but had not yet had it developed so once dressed off I set, in the rain, to find the nearest bus stop where I duly boarded a bus headed for the Pick n Pay Centre in Summerstrand where I was sure there would be a Photo Shop where I could have the thing developed. I arrived at the Centre more than moderately wet and as expected found the Photo developing shop. While there I decided to pop into a little restaurant called “Friends” for a very reasonably priced breakfast before blowing down to the nearest bus stop under a broken umbrella which had inverted itself in the wind. I had just bought it at a hardware store in the Centre! I arrived at the bus stop and waited … and waited … and got splashed a few times by passing cars as they sped through a puddle parked right at the edge of the bus stop. I decided I was by now so wet I couldn’t really get any wetter so set off for the Boardwalk (an approximate 15 minute walk) as there were no buses in sight.

Now for those who know ‘Top Billing’ – the program is about  style, fashion and the ‘good life’ as they put it. Well – I arrived looking and feeling like a drowned rat, registered myself and took my place on the floor of the Conference Centre at the Boardwalk, like everyone else, waiting for my number to be called. It was called …. 5 hours later! It was a fun day though and while waiting I met many interesting people. It’s amazing how entertaining simply sitting and watching people can be. There were your normal “Joe Soaps”, the look-a-like wannabe’s, the Diva’s and then those who you could see were ‘the Genuine Thing’.

Top Billing Presenter Search PE

The actual audition went off a lot better than I thought it would despite the fact that the camera for some unknown reason scared the life out of me! Jeannie D (who was one of the judges) said I looked like a “Rock Star” lol and said she “loved my voice”. After the audition one of the Producers came up to me outside to congratulate me on a good audition which was rather nice to hear. However – I genuinely do not think I stand any chance of coming anywhere near the top of the Competition but the experience was a really good one and I had a lot of fun.

While in PE I managed to see an old Army friend who I had not seen in some years and won a ‘moderately substantial amount’ of money on the slot machines at The Boardwalk (Despite NOT being a gambling man) but that’s a story for another time.

Close your eyes and imagine you have a large canvas in front of you. So large that you cannot see the edges. On the canvas spread out before you are many different sized pictures painted in every conceivable color – like a collage.

As you look closer you begin to recognize the pictures painted on the canvas. They are scenes from different stages of your life. Some are from long long ago – so long ago you thought you had forgotten them. There are people there that you haven’t seen for a long time. There are people that have passed on. Your school days are there. The day you started work – look – you can even see what you were wearing. Your first love is there. As you look closer you can see some areas painted in the shadows. You never thought you’d see those again. Memories of times you would rather forget. Things you have done that you would never want anyone else to know about. Areas of your life that caused you – and others – much pain. But wait there are many bright parts as well. Happy times. Times when everything was just wonderful and life was great. It’s all there. Think of a time that stands out in your memory. Look for it on the canvas. Yes – there it is – painted just as you remember it. What has been the most important thing in your life. Yes – there it is! You can see just looking at the painting what a prominent place it has played. Who has been the most important person to you? There they are – scattered all over the canvas in different shades.

Now look closely…….look from left to right…….slowly……from top to bottom………..where is God? How is He depicted in your painting? Is Jesus there? Can you see the Cross? If you can – that’s wonderful but if you cannot see Him – why not? Could it be He has not played that much of a role in your life up to now? Maybe that’s why there are so many shadows and dark corners in your painting. Where’s The Light? Wait – maybe He’s down there in one of the areas showing yourself as a young child. What has happened since then? Why doesn’t he show in the more recent parts of your life? Could it be all the other things you see in your painting have crowded him out? …..

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