Believe us..... NOTHING is trivial - 08 November

Once again we had an intimate gathering of only 16 members (and for the first time in a long time, no guests) – the pressures of year end are beginning to bite, clearly.
Some business...
Join us on 22 November for a club bring and share (and a little bit of Christmas cheer) – to
celebrate the joys and growth of the year. Trivial pursuit has been postponed.
We will aim to get together early in the new yr to bond – before we become so berserkly busy

We are soon going to have to bid a sad farewell
to a loyal, involved member of Algoa: Chenielle
Jeffries- Badenhorst. Chenielle has opted to
relocate to the big smoke, Johannesburg. We’ll miss you, friend. Would that all members were carved from your stock. Don’t forget us – we won’t forget you!

Quinton is considering starting a web page to facilitate meeting organisation – WATCH THIS SPACE! He’s planning to pitch the proposal as part of his AC programme. Prepare to be there so you can be part of the discussion.

As her theme for the evening, Colleen Love chose a Trivial Pursuit montage. So here goes –
Did you know that coke was originally green in colour (eeugh!), and that the word TIPS was an acronym for “To insure prompt service” (and yes, the Americans strike again, because we who speak English know that it should be “Ensure”, and therefore TEPS...); The names of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with Asia, America, Australia, Europe, Antarctica. Each KING in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades – King David; Clubs – Alexander the Great; Hearts – Charlemagne; Diamonds – Julius Caesar.

It is impossible to lick your elbow.


Wearing HEADPHONES for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.


ELEPHANTS are the only animals that can't jump.
RATS multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.

Time Keeper was Reinhardt Botha who had even more fun with the new-tech gadget.
Um and ah counter was Belita von Steiger who described those nasty little bugs as “bridges” in speech – a good metaphor, because they certainly help us to get from here to there.
Again we showed an improvement: Belita said that she only detected 2!
There is some interesting stuff on the net at the moment, which suggests that the odd um or ah adds an undeniable humanity to our speech – just putting it out there...
Grammarian was Alison Immelman and the word of the day was Berserk, stemming from the Viking marauders of Hagar’s ilk. It describes behaviour that is violently or destructively frenzied; wild; crazed; deranged. Seven people used the word, Marianah thrice.
Table Topics were conducted by Jessamy Kromhout, who, I thought, used title of her favourite books as a prompt. Being far too honest, she admitted that it was actually “famous” books and that she hadn’t actually read Crime and Punishment or War and Peace!!! (has anyone?). Speakers had a whale of a time, describing a Brave New World as some staggering IT development, while Death in the Afternoon must be the graveyard session when exam candidates have to pretend to be creative in the heat of high summer

The Prepared Speeches

Rosemary Sampson presented her CC2 (organise your speech) entitled “Of baubles, Bells and Christmas trees” in which she offered some interesting ideas about our behaviour at Christmas, including politically correct Christmas (or holiday) trees! She maintains that no-one should apologetic about their beliefs, and that there are surely more pressing issues. Amen sister!

Rhona Murchie presented her CC7 (research your topic), “Wearing a Green Belt”, which was a moving tribute to the Kenyan tree lady Professor Wangari Maathai. This Virtue in Action lady had to face the prejudice that it was totally unacceptable in her traditional culture for a woman to have a mind of her own, and proved it by winning a Nobel Peace Prize!

Marianah Lourens reminded usof the TMI motto, “Where leaders learn”, in her Educational on the CL manual.
Really easy, guys! Just remember to bring your manual on your off weeks and get evaluated on your other roles. Watch this space for pointers for the various roles (otherwise Google Toastmasters International – or a most useful website called “6 Minutes” – I guess because that’s how long you get to make your impression through speech-making. – you can also get a regular post sent to your mailbox)
No more excuses!!
Remember to tell programme organiser so you can be scheduled in one of your roles.

All the continents end in the same letter that they start with!!

Glenis – area report – madiba bay – meet once a month on a Monday – a most moving experience.

Toast of the day: Marianah
Single moms – 9 of the 16 women
Wearing headphones for an hr incrs the bacteria in your ear by 700%
TIPS to ensure prompt service
Don’t even try and lick you elbow.

Some useful advice
Evaluators: denise - slow down and enjoy speaking – will ensure that you will fill your allotted time.
Catchy opening – gets the audience’s attention.
Quinton -

GE – mimi makapula

Um and ah – we’re getting better – especially our 2 prep speakers who didn’t use any

2 1 1 1 1 1 7
marianah plax mimi louise s deborah jessamy alison
the collective SA - how deep are the footprints of Nelson Mandela

how wonderful that we share the ability to deep and lasting friendship in SA