TV in South Africa - 1976

I was looking at the Stat's on my Blog, to see which posts have attracted the most attention, and it seems it is all the one's in which I reminisce about the old days.   

I think a lot of us look over those days with fond memories, and by reading about someone else's memories, they think of their own and where they were and what they were doing at the time.

This reminds me of a post in a blog SA IN THE OLD DAYS from 2011, which triggered so many memories for me.  So, I thought I would write something similar about my own memories. 

1976 - TV was introduced to South Africa with the first Broadcast on the 5th of January 1976, we did not get our TV set until much later that year or the following year. 

However, to start the programs were short, I think they only broadcast for a few hours every evening. 

My Aunt and Uncle who lived on a small farm in Roodepoort had TV, we would go visit them on a Saturday with my mom and swim in the dam when it was hot, it was like a round reservoir with corrugated iron sides and it was slimy with all kinds of stuff floating in it.  But we did not care it was wet and cooling.   
Then when they got their TV, we were allowed to watch re-runs of "The Brady Bunch" that were aired on a Saturday at 1 PM. 
We didn't even realise that the show was almost 10 years old at that stage.   But we didn't care, we were actually watching a box with moving pictures, in someone's house without having to go to the Cinema. 

There was only 1 Channel to start and if I remember correctly each alternate day it would start with a different language, so for instance on a Monday you would have English from 6 - 8 and the news in Afrikaans, and then Afrikaans for the rest of the broadcast.   
On Tues you would start with Afrikaans and go onto English with the news in English. 
I destinctly remember Tuesday, as my mother would make us watch the programme "The World at War" which started at about 9 PM and had some horrific scenes of Hitler and how he killed the Jews.  They even showed someone being shot in the head and the brains splattering on Hitler's shoes. 

The sad thing about getting TV was that we no longer listened to our favourite stories on Springbok Radio.   This was the start of the end of Springbok Radio and the many shows we would listen to in the evening, like "Squad Cars" & "The men from the Ministry", so many different ones. Wikipedia has a list of all the different shows here.  But I think Springbok Radio probably deserves a post of its own, so watch this space. Oh, actually I did one previously ... Springbok Radio.

Mostly we listened to the Springbok top 20 which was late on a Friday night with David Gresham and then repeated on a Saturday.   They eventually made Pop Shop which was shown on TV on a Friday evening with the latest top hits and music videos. 

My best friend's brother "Alex Jay" (name dropping) eventually took over Pop Shop and hosted it for many years. Although now that I googled it, I think Alex's show was called "Fast Forward" and not Pop Shop.  Check it out ... 

That was also the start of all the shows that we became hooked on e.g. Dynasty, Rich Man Poor Man, Dallas, and I could go on and on for 40 years, but I will leave that post here and we can reminisce about something else tomorrow. 

Keep your feet on the ground and reach for the start until next time.  Adios Amigos

How i wish for Simpler days ... Happy New Year 2025

Happy New Year to you all! 2025

There are moments when I find myself deeply nostalgic for the world before we had information—and each other—at our fingertips. Lately, I’ve realized that much of our modern mental stress stems from the constant "ping" of social media.

This past New Year’s Eve was a perfect example. As the clock struck midnight in both South Africa and Ireland, my phone became an ongoing alarm clock. WhatsApp messages flooded in from people I hadn’t heard from since the last New Year. It makes you wonder: without the ease of a "copy-paste" broadcast, would these people reach out at all? Next time, I’m turning off the Wi-Fi. It’s not about being grumpy; it’s about valuing real connection over digital noise. If you’re truly thinking of me, call or email. Otherwise, a Facebook post covers it!

Thinking back to the 80s and 90s, life worked differently. We didn't have cell phones to check up on each other every ten minutes. We made plans, we met up, and we lived our lives.

This brings me to the modern trend of tracking apps. I know parents who monitor their children’s locations well into their 20s—even after they’ve moved to different countries. I recently visited a couple whose 22-year-old son came home at 5:00 AM; the mother knew exactly where he had been for the last twelve hours. I simply don't get it. Unless there is a genuine emergency requiring the police, why play detective?

I refuse to do that to my daughter. Relationships should be built on trust, not surveillance. My rule is simple: text us when you’re heading home so we know when to expect you. Other than that? Enjoy your life.

When I was 17, my parents had no clue what I was up to half the time (which is lucky, or I might have been sent to a convent!). We’d tell my mom to drop us at the rink, then sneak off to teen discos like "Just for Kicks" or "Club Chicago," racing back to the Carlton Centre just in time for pickup. It was innocent fun, and we learned how to navigate the world on our own. Maybe the parents who monitor their kids today are just afraid their children are doing exactly what we did!

My advice? Give the kids a break. Let them grow up and "bump their heads" a little. And as for me? If I don’t answer your WhatsApp until Monday, don’t take it personally. If it was urgent, you would have called... right?