The Royal Hotel in Riebeek-Kasteel may not be the Royal Hotel David Kramer was singing about in his nostalgic anthem, even if the place has more queens than Greyton (and certainly better hung ones as Anton Espost, ex officio mayor of RK famously noted):

Hier sit die manne in die Royal Hotel
Ek ken mos vir almal, ek is almal se pel.
Luister ou swaer, daar agter die bar
Hoe lyk dit met nog so ‘n doppie daar.

but the place is certainly full of cultural icons. Is this the typewriter on which Harry Hadron (he’s so hard they named a colider after him), hot fave for Veritas Young Winewriter of the Year, typed his entries while living in a car parked outside? If so, then this typewriter may become more famous than the tantalizing typewriter of Alger Hiss.

For Dirty Harry may want to read a recent reptile column in Business Day and send Avusa a bill for research supplied for this feature. Once again, interesting ethics displayed by the Lizard.

The awards function on Monday 18 November at 16:30 at De Grendel may be fun as the husband of the furry lady papped by Harry at last month’s Veritas Awards dinner is so anxious to introduce himself to this Hunter S Thompson de nos jours he’s spent the last month working out at Virgin Active in Rawsonville.

You can see how much the Swartland has changed from the photos of the spirit display in the bar (above). What a fitting advertizment for next weekend’s Swartland Revolution. Not a brandy bottle in sight and Johnny Blue seems to be the most popular tipple in Riebeek-Kasteel these days. No wonder Oom Paul looks pissed off.