.: K&G Online :.

A New Home

2009-11-11T21:36:00.003+02:00

For my posts that is. Yes, I have finally managed to setup a blog that I am using for posts that are more relevant to my line of work. K and I will still keep this blog in place, for the family, travel and life related posts (although we have been very quiet of late), but please head on over to www.graemecumming.com for posts that are related to my day-to-day projects and working experience. In the meantime, I will try and get K to contribute to this space more actively :-)

Another Trip to Cape Town

2008-06-16T12:36:00.000+02:00

So it was just over a month ago that K and I came down to Cape Town for a long weekend. This weekend, I find myself in Cape Town again - mostly for business, but with a long weekend in between, some relaxation too.

Came down on Thursday evening, in time for busy Friday, with back-to-back meeting from 8:30am until around 4pm. We met with various people, including the social networking team from 24.com, the New Media Head from Touchline Media, editor of Kick-Off, and finally the guys who run myvideo.co.za. A pretty good day actually - gained some good insight into what these people are doing, and also affirmed some of our thinking on what we should and should not be focusing on.

Tuesday we meet with Grapevine Interactive, Blueworld and MXIT. Much the same objectives as Friday - touch base with these teams, let them know what we are up to, see where we can work together.

In between the meeting though, a long weekend. We used to opportunity to fly K down for a bit of break. Saturday saw us catching up with some old work colleagues at Forrester's Arms in Newlands to watch the rugga. On Sat evening, we went for dinner with Lance and Cath, who are recently engaged and have just moved into their house in Wynberg. Had a fantastic home cooked dinner with them over a glass or three of wine.

Sunday was pretty much spent in the car - the weather was pretty crappy, but perfect for a slow drive along the coastline from Cape Town, up through Strand, around to Gordon's bay, then through Pringle Bay, onto Betty's Bay and finally past Arabella and into Hermanus. Beautiful part of the country, and a stretch of road that K and I have not driven before, so that was a bonus. We usually take the N2 to Hermanus, but the coastal road was a refreshing change.

Today was meant to be the golf day - but the weather is a bit temperamental at the moment - quite cold and windy. Not the sort of climate that makes golf pleasant. So instead, its been a bit of inner city exploring, cappuccino's and breakfast's at the hidden deli's along the way, and hopefully some catching up on a bit of reading this afternoon.

Exciting times

2008-05-11T20:03:00.003+02:00

Ok so its been just over a month since the last post, and there is much to tell.
On the home front, things are looking good. We've finished painting the interior and its all looking nice a clean. The colour is a bit deceiving at times - depending on the natural light and the light bulb in various areas - the tones range from a sandy colour, to a pinky one. Not sure I'm wild on it in the lounge area - as it shines up with too much pink - but we'll give it a bit of time to see how it works out.

Things are going well on the work front for K and I. She remains very busy and involved with her team - with some nice opportunities for growth in the next year or so. I have my hands full with some exciting new media projects at the moment and am enjoying every day of it.

We also have some exciting news - we have recently invested in a new restaurant (we're silent partners, so no need for us to be hands on in any way, which suits me fine). Yup, between the property and stock market volatility at the moment, we decided that it would probably be quite an adventure to throw some money at something different - so we did. There are a bunch of us that have been working towards opening a new restaurant/bar in the Rivonia area over the past 2 months - something that finally happened this weekend. We called it 'Juniper', after the Juniper berry, which is the ingredient that gives Gin its distinguishing flavour. I would never have believed it about a month ago, as the place that we had picked was barely more than an empty shell in a new centre on the corner of Rivonia and Witkoppen - but it was quite exciting to see it all come together on the night of the opening. Just to give you an idea of what I am talking about, I took this video about 5 hours before the first customer walked through the door for the opening event.

So that's the news of the past month. I've been a bit slack with some pictures of the house, but as soon as I get around to taking a few, I'll be sure to put them up. Will also get some pics of the restaurant up in the next couple of days.

Another weekend of DIY

2008-03-30T21:21:00.002+02:00

Sitting at home after a productive weekend - watching 'Snakes On a Plane'. I mean really, who thought of that? And worse still, why did it do so well?

Anyway, I finally got around to sorting out the TV lounge. I had a friend of mine make a cabinet for me - its custom designed to fit my AMP, DVD player and MVIX, and looks awesome in the lounge. He fitted the doors with those anti-slam goodies - I think I have open and closed the doors at least 30 times this weekend - in awe each time I do it. Also put up some trunking to hide all the cables and wires leading up the LCD that is mounted on the wall. Gave the trunking a painting so it all looks pretty good and neat now. Also managed to fix a tap, tidy up the herb garden, shuffle some furniture and put a mirror in the shower.

K is on her way back from Dubai - she was supposed to land about 20 minutes ago, but I have just checked out the Emirates site and see that the new time is 9:36pm - so anytime now.

BTW, have finally yielded to the phenomenon that is twitter. If you want to follow: http://twitter.com/graemecumming

Champagne Castle

2008-03-13T19:53:00.009+02:00

K and I were fortunate enough to spend a couple of days in the Drakensberg this past weekend. We stayed at the Champagne Castle Hotel, which is tucked up against some of the most spectacular mountains in the country. Played a round of golf at the magnificent Champagne Sports Resort, did a bit of walking, some reading, and plenty of relaxing. Here are some of the pics:

February - the month that was...

2008-02-26T14:11:00.003+02:00

Ever had one of those days where everything seems to go wrong? How about a month of that? That's what February felt like for me. Yup - its been a month of endless problems and disappointments.

Lets be honest - moving into a new place sounds fantastic at first. Bigger rooms, bigger garden, loads of ideas on how you are going to fill the new spaces. This was tee'd up to be the month of painting, decorating and settling into a cozy new environment. It was destined to be month where it all came together and we could kick back, soak it all up, and get back onto the golf course.

Instead, what we ended up with was one (i would refer to them as 'earth-shattering', but for fear of being labeled a dramatist by the readers of this blog, i'll settle for 'major') disaster after another.

In no particular order of importance, lets start with the alarm. I had an alarm put into the house during the last week of Jan, and after surviving two days of installation and having my paving ripped up to make way for the outdoor beams, I was told that all was in working order. "Here's the technical manual sir - you'll have to program the LCD keypads yourself - its after 5pm on a Friday, and we're out of here". In retrospect, it was probably a good thing they did leave the manual with me, as I bet you that I could now program that system better than any of their technicians could. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that the system wasn't working properly. After a bit of testing, I discovered that none of the 'panic' buttons placed throughout the house actually worked. Two aggressive phone calls to the alarm company later, and a technician rocks up at the door. He proceeds to cut through a bunch a wire in the roof, and reconnect some new ones, and promptly leaves. Then we discover that the door mag and passive in the lounge don't work. Another phone call threatening cancellation of the contract, and two days later, another technician pitches up to fix this latest problem. So far so good, but I have to say that along with tow truck drivers, I now consider alarm company salespeople to be absolute bottom feeders.

Following the alarm theatrics, I wake up last Saturday morning ready to take on all the action and excitement that the kick-off of the Super 14 has to throw at me. Its been a while since the world cup, and I'm having rugga withdrawal. Proceed to tv room with cup of milo in hand, ready to take my seat, and get my weekly dose of Rugby Build Up. Switch on the tv - no signal. Reboot the decoder - no signal. Get onto the roof to check the LNB - no signal. Spent half the morning dismantling the dish and reassembling - no signal. Eventually I get into my car and drive to the nearest audio shop to get them to do a Saturday call out (which they at first refuse to do). After another 2 hour wait, a new LNB and R550 later I have a signal. Rugby is all over for the morning, and but that time, it was the last thing I felt like.

Incident number three is a real treat though. Last Tuesday morning I drive down the driveway and off i got to work. I get about 1km down the road and my power steering goes. K calls me to say that there is hydraulic fluid all over the garage floor. I pull into the nearest garage to top up - no stock. I go to the next garage, and I kid you not - no stock. THIRD garage later - I buy 2 bottles of hydraulic fluid, thinking that this will sort it out. I get another 1 km down the road and run out of fluid. Anyway, regardless to say, I limp the car to the nearest Audi dealership, and dump it there. 2 days later I get a call from the workshop manager - advising me that the damage amounts to around R40k! Not exactly what I'm going to do to solve this little dilemma.

Oh yeah - its been a fun month and I haven't even mentioned the countless other issues - trenches being dug up for sewerage pipes, irrigation pipes that have had garden forks put through them, water pumps that stopped working, the electric fencing that I had to have repaired, and the disappointment of not having K's folks come and stay with us.

Let's look on the bright side though - only 3 days left in Feb. Then we're into March...the month where things come together, we get to kick back, relax, and take up golf again :-)

Well done Telkom

2008-01-24T20:43:00.000+02:00

So whilst Eskom has leapt its way up the ladder to position itself as public enemy number one, at the same time, Telkom has slid down a rung or two - and not without good reason. I am happy to report that my most recent Telkom experience has been a very pleasant one.
As you may have gathered, K and I moved house - mostly last Friday. In fact, tonight marks the seventh night in the new house. Anyway, back to the point. About a week ago, we gave Telkom a call - notifying them that we would need a telephone number, and ADSL line installed into our place. This morning I got a call from a very pleasant guy, who came over within 1 hour of calling, tested the exchange around the corner, installed the necessary wiring, enabled it for ADSL, tested the line, and left me with a phone (as ours is still in some box down the passage, and after 20 minutes of looking, I gave up). I was blown away by how efficient and fast the whole process was. I've heard the horror stories about people waiting up to 6 weeks for phones and connectivity - so was very grateful for my 4-day turnaround experience.
Well done Telkom. I'm just grateful that I have electricity at the moment, so that I am able to make this post. Hold thumbs.

We're in...

2008-01-20T19:09:00.000+02:00

Its Sunday evening, and the end to what has been a long four days. K and I are physically exhausted. We've moved boxes, carted pots plants, unpacked boxes, cleaned cupboards, washed glasses, washed cars, sorted out cupboards, moved furniture, changed globes, fixed fountains, hung pictures, hooked up TV's, cleaned floors, painted cupboards, swept driveways and connected washing machines.
Yup, its been a long four days. But its over now. We're in! We have a CD playing in the background, a glass of wine in hand, and a nice cooked meal to look forward to.
Thanks to all our friends and family for offers of help and well wishes. We soon hope to have you all over for a celebratory drink and a meal.

Day 1 of the house move

2008-01-17T19:45:00.000+02:00

Ok, well not exactly day 1 as we’ve been moving boxes in the evenings, but it’s day 1 of the moving long weekend.

Things got off to an average start. Met the gardener, took him through to the nursery to get some weed killer? Yup, wedd-killer. Coming from a city slicker who’s never really had to worry about grass, my gardener is throwing bottle after bottle of the stuff into our trolley. One for rose bugs, one for broad leaf weeds, one for weeds in grass, one for weeds on paving…good thing I took him with me. Or not! Then onto Mica to buy a weed-eater. He’s insisting that he needs one (850 watt electric to be precise) if he’s going to maintain the garden to the standard of the previous owners. Into the trolley the following items, along with the weed-eater: extension cord, rake, garden broom, pressurised container to mix and spray the weed killer, extra gut for weed-eater, plastic bags, wire. I reckon he’s pretty sorted now – for at least a year anyway.

Next up, the alarm guys. They’ve delayed the installation by 2 weeks because their supplier only got back from holiday this week. Fantastic! They thought they’d come across and tell me in person. Thoughtful of them. They also pointed out the 35 metre’s of trench that I’m going to need to dig (through manicured flowerbeds, around trees, under paving), so that they can lay their cabling and whatever else they need to install. The real reason for their visit I suspect.

And finally, the fridge guys arrive. They’re a little later than I had hoped, but they arrived on the agreed day, which is always appreciated. Time to get that double door puppy into the space between the two cupboards. It’ll fit guys – I measured. Oh Shit! I didn’t cater for the height of that piece of metal protruding from the top of the fridge!

Wave the delivery guys off, and now sit down trying to figure out how I’m going to sort this one out. I could always cut some of the cupboard away. Or better yet, rip some of the tiles up and dig a trench for the fridge to sit in. It only needs to go down 5cm. I though they had adjustable legs on these things. After 30 minutes of irrational thinking, I figure that all I need to do is dismantle the cupboard above the fridge, take it out, and shave the 4-5 cm off that.

So that’s what I’m going to do. Tomorrow. With hired help!

I’m wasted. Its pizza tonight, and then we start with the next set of challenges. Getting the couches through the 1^st floor sliding door of the townhouse, into the garden below, and onto the removal truck. I’m paying for that though. I did it manually once before. This time I took the attitude of “if you throw money at the problem, it’ll eventually go away”.

Time to move on...

2008-01-15T10:22:00.000+02:00

Its difficult to leave a place that has given you so much happiness for so long.
This was the feeling that I had last night, sitting on the couch and looking at the bare kitchen and walls in our townhouse of the last 6 years. I remember the day we moved in - Dec 15th, 2001. K and I used a cooler box as a fridge for about a week whilst our fridge was in the process of being delivered. We put up some terrible pink hand-me-down curtains in the lounge whilst we hunted for fabric and waited for our new curtains to be made up.Over the years however, we accumulated, decorated and shuffled our things around, turning an echo'ey space into a comfortable home - one that we have loved since the day we took the plunge and signed our lives away. So its with a hint of sadness that we pack up our memories into cardboard boxes, and move onto a new echo'ey space - a space that will require lots of time and attention, but that will hopefully reward us with many more happy times. Its exciting. Its new. The nostalgia will quickly evaporate. Its time to move on.

New beginnings

2008-01-03T11:34:00.000+02:00

Here's a quick update on the house that K and I bought a couple of months ago. It seems like ages ago now - and whilst we'd like to get the move done as soon as possible, there is still a lot of preparation to be done before we'll be in a position to move in.
Part of the reason for the delay, is that the current owners sub-divided their property a while back, but never got clearance certificates from the council. They left it until the house was pretty much sold (to us) before applying for this clearance, only to find out that the council would not grant clearance until sewerage and electricity supply had been added to the subdivided piece of land (essentially we're buying a piece of their land - the piece with the house on it, and they are keeping the rest). We were then told that this process could take up to 4 months to get sorted.
The other part of the problem is that the deeds office, apart from being evicted from their Jhb based offices, close shop during December, so nothing gets done until early Jan.
By some small miracle, the owners managed to get clearance from the council during December. I think that they have had to put money into a trust, as a form of surety, until the council sorts out the sewerage and electricity requirements, in return for granting clearance. Either that or a decent back-hander was paid. Who knows? Besides the delay, its not my issue anyway.
We have also agreed to pay a nominal occupational rent from the 15th January, until the transfer goes through - we're hoping by 1st or 2nd week in Feb.
So, what that means is that from 15th Jan, we'll have a new house to move into. Top of the list of things to do still:
- Get quotes for outside security beams and link them up to the existing internal system
- Look at lighting options for the driveway
- Automation of the entrance gate
- Organise movers and transport for the day
- Buy a lawnmower

So much to do still - but really exciting at the same time.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T17:29:00.000+02:00

To all our friends, family and readers of K&G Online, K and I would like to wish you all the very best for 2008. We hope that you have had a happy and safe festive season, and that the year ahead is filled with health, peace and happiness.

The perfect end to a rainy weekend

2007-12-17T19:20:00.000+02:00

After a weekend of rain, it was quite exciting to step out onto the balcony and witness a magnificent sunset over a glass of single malt. Its tough in Africa!

NGC 2007

2007-12-04T18:08:00.000+02:00

So I had the opportunity to travel up to the Nedbank Golf Challenge last week - in a chopper! Well, a Bell-407 to be exact. A friend of a friend is a pilot, looking for any opportunity to rack up flying time, and this was the perfect opportunity. Six of us left from Lanseria airport at 8am Thursday morning, and 39 minutes later, touched down on the soccer fields at the main gate to Sun City.

We spent most of the day in one of the tents, catching all the action as it unfolded around us. We watched the entire field come through the 8th hole - lucky for us the weather was pretty mild. In fact, the conditions were perfect for following the guys around the magnificent Gary Player course. As for the result, well, apart from Trevor's little choke on the 18th on the final day, he looked like he was going to win from the very first tee shot on Thursday - starting off birdie, birdie, birdie - with an eagle on the 9th. Fantastic stuff.

Once the field had come in, we made our way back down to the soccer fields, buckled up, lifted, and headed back to Lanseria in just over 30 minutes - topping 260km/hour at one stage.

Here are a few pics from the ride:

The Bell-407 that was to be our ride for the day

The view of Pecanwood from the air
The parking lot at Sun City

Counting the cost

2007-11-24T11:38:00.000+02:00

Once again the weather service get it monumentally wrong (not that I ever take the weather report seriously mind you). I drove to work yesterday morning listening to the chaos that the wind and rain had caused across Gauteng the previous afternoon - low lying bridges flooded, taxi's and buses having to be evacuated due to fear of being washed away, trees being blown over, a blue gum tree being uprooted and crushing 3 cars, 2 people killed by lightening - the list goes on.
So when the weather bureau spokesman puts out a message that the storms have cleared, and that there is less than 30% chance of more rain this weekend, you think they know what they are talking about right? Oh boy, how wrong could they have been.
Traveling home last night from a year end function, I stopped in at Eastgate at around 9:15pm to collect the pizza that K had ordered. I parked in the rooftop parking area, and when I came out, was intrigued by the odd 'popping' noise as I made my way back to the car. Then it dawned on me - I looked up at the skies, and knew exactly what was coming. Quickly slid into my car, threw the pizza on the passenger seat and jumped on the accelerator. I must have broken at least 7 cardinal traffic rules in my quest to get my car under cover before the hail heavens opened up. Bear in mind that we stay within 1 km of Eastgate - I drove like a raving mad banshee to get home in time. Well, I was caught about 50 meters from the front gate in what can only be described as the-mother-of-all-storms-that-I-have-witnessed. I managed to maneuver my wheel-spinning car up the slippery driveway of our complex and into its covered parking spot, but not before being mortar bombed by cricket-ball-sized pieces of ice. Luckily for me, most of the impact was absorbed by my soft-top roof - although at times, it felt like the ice bombs were about to rip through the material. I then stepped out of my car, under the carport and waited for the storm to pass. Bad move. By that stage, I was caught in a river of water at my feet - water torrenting over my shoes, and pieces of ice shrapnel flying all around me as the ice bombs battered the ground.
It lasted all of about 6 minutes, and this morning we're counting the damage:
- 1 x smashed tail light on my car
- 2 x dents on K's bonnet (even though it was covered, lateral bombs found her car's bonnet)
- 1 x broken bathroom window
- 1 x cracked loft window
- 1 x louvre roof, riddled with hail damage
- 1 x louvre roof side cladding, blown off
- 2 x shredded rose bushes on the patio

As for the rest of the complex, well, I counted at least 7 other broken windows, 2 smashed windscreens, and the remains of countless plants, trees and leaves strewn across the road.

All of that, from a 30% chance of rain this weekend.

Update: its raining at the moment, and looks like it will be for the rest of the weekend. Well done weather boys!

The Palace...

2007-11-11T19:04:00.000+02:00

K and I have just arrived home after a weekend away at the Palace of the Lost City.

The reason for the weekend away was twofold - firstly, the company that K works for took the management team away for their efforts over the past year, spouses included, and secondly, it was our 5th wedding anniversary, so a weekend out of town was on the cards anyway. It just worked out nicely that we got to spend the weekend at the Palace. Even more of a bonus was that K was pampered with spa treatments whilst I was given the opportunity of a round of 18 holes at the Lost City golf course (see picture below, taken from atop the Kings Tower).

The food was magnificent, the decor opulent and the service world class. Great weekend!

Battered Ballito and latest Books

2007-10-29T22:05:00.000+02:00

K and I had the fortune of spending the weekend in Ballito this past week. Its the annual family getaway down to the coastal timeshare unit that the folks have had for some 18 years or so now. Not everyone could make it down, and I only went for the weekend, but it was a good break nevertheless.

One of the things that was really interesting to see this year, was just how much damage has been caused to the coastline, promenade and some property along the Ballito beach front. In fact, the damage was done the day after K and I were last in Ballito in March of this year - I blogged about the turn in weather as I was completing my second nine at Prince's Grant.
These places were lucky to escape the wrath of the tide - quite a few other places were not so lucky.

On Saturday morning we headed down to Salt Rock beach (mainly because the rest of the Ballito beaches are laden with rock, brick, pieces of wall and the odd window frame) and were lucky to stumble upon the start of the Dolphin Coast Sea Kayak challenge. The girls were quite impressed with the "Mens Health cover model" bodies on show - Grant and I tried to compete, but I think it was the lack of tight lycra pants and tops that did us in. Anyway, to say the surf conditions were rough would be the understatement of the month. We watched as the single man kayaks tried to make their way past the breakers and on towards the Durban finish, with one or two lucky guys making it, and the bulk of the teams being washed back onto the beach. Next up were the 2 man kayaks, who were just as entertaining in their quest to conquer the breakers. Some poor guys were out there, paddling their hearts out for 20-30 minutes, only to make it to the breakers and be side swiped by a monster wave, and washed back onto the beach. Ten points for perseverance though.

K has stayed on for a couple of days - she's working out of the Durban office. Me - bought myself some books at Durban International, and am thoroughly enjoying the first of the two - Freakonomics by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Daubner. Its about an economist who applies economic tools to life's daily riddles, and comes up with some bizarre truths. Very interesting read so far. You can follow their blog here

The other one, Super Crunchers by Ian Ayres follows a similiar line of thinking. Ayres takes a look at the world of data mining and how statistics and data are being used to highlight patterns all around us.

Last week also saw K's mom heading back to Perth after her surprise 3 week visit. She seemed to have had a fantastic time both here and in London, and it certainly was good seeing her in high spirits again. By the way, send our love to the rugby team down there mom :-)

This that and the other...

2007-10-18T23:38:00.000+02:00

Been a while I know.
Here's the news:
- Bought a house with K. Its in Bedfordview - close to where we stay at the moment. Didn't intend to buy it - put in a stupid offer that was accepted, got a bit of buyers remorse and tried to back out of it, but in the end, we decided that it was a good step in the right direction. There goes that ski trip next year...
- K's mom dropped in for a surprise visit two weeks ago. Was good seeing her again. She's in London at the moment visiting with K's aunt before stopping back in SA for a couple of days on her way back to Aus. Speaking of Aus - shame, being a rugby fan must be kak at the moment :-)
- Went to Moyo Melrose Arch this evening with K, her boss and some potential clients. Reason for the trip is that they are negotiating an oil and gas contract in Tanzania at the moment. Sean and Aron seemed like nice guys - hopefully K gets the contract.
- Squash is going well - killed my opponent in the summer league match on Tuesday, 9-3; 9-7; 9-1. Have my club champs match tomorrow against Keith. From past experience, I should take it comfortably. Although, that's what the All Black's thought I guess.
- Played 2 rounds of golf this past weekend. It was tough. I mean, a round of golf on the weekend is a treat, but two rounds! Managed some half decent scores of 88 and 85. Be careful Sean Morgan - this weekend is going to be deadly for you.
- On the work front - all good. Has been a bit slow for my liking over the past few weeks, but some nice ideas floating around, and some killer projects on the horizon.
- Oh, went to the AV/Sony Expo last week. Lusting over the Sony HD DV Cam's. Some great equipment on show. Pity about the purchase procedure though - what a shambles. If you buy anything, including the HDMI cable that I got from the Ellies stand for like 80 bucks, you fill out a form, go to the exit, pay for your goods and then wait for them to be delivered to the till at the exit. You do that for every purchase. I understand the security concerns, but what a joke!
- Finally, will be wearing my Bok golf shirt with pride tomorrow. Ole, Ole Ole Ole.

Work, wine and wind...

2007-09-30T21:15:00.000+02:00

Arrived back home a couple of hours ago from a little getaway weekend in Cape Town. I flew down on Friday morning for a meeting with the guys at 24.com, and another meeting with MXit. Both were pretty good meetings, and will result in some future interaction on a few of the projects that I am involved in.

Friday evening allowed me the opportunity of catching up with Lance and Cath. Haven't seen "The Hoff" in a long while, and although brief, it was good catching up with them. Although I did feel a tad guilty as they rushed down to the V&A for a drink, and on their way, some chump rear-ended them in the wet conditions.

Then rushed back to the airport to fetch K - she caught the early evening flight down for a weekend away. We booked ourselves into a nice little B&B in Camps Bay. Had dinner at my all time favourite sushi spot in Mouille Point - a place called Wakame. Awesome food.

Saturday was a fairly pleasant day - did a bit of driving around - Hout Bay, Chapman's Peak - which was closed halfway up (what's up with that anyway - its always closed), Constantia and Fish Hoek. Found ourselves in the Cape Quarter at a place called Fiesta for dinner and red wine.
Apart from the South Easter howling all night, and all of today, it was a pretty good weekend - and what would the weekend be without a sunset over the Atlantic?

Boklash...

2007-09-20T18:15:00.000+02:00

I thought that some of my English family and friends would like to see the changes made to the English rugby jersey. Its been awfully quiet from that side of the world since the start of the RWC.

Johnny Be Good

2007-09-20T18:08:00.000+02:00

So, we're sitting in a cosy little pub in Edinburgh one evening, sampling some of the excellent single malt on offer, when the topic of the Johnny Walker range of whisky's comes up (admittedly, more than a couple had been sampled by this stage):

Dad: I've decided, I'm not going to drink any more Bells when I get home. I'm splashing out on quality stuff.
Stuart: Well, I personally enjoy a little JW Black Label every now and then. The range isn't as expensive as you may think.
Dad: Oh, I'm not so sure about that. The Blue Label comes with a hefty price tag. I reckon you'll pay more than 4k for the range.
Stuart: Never dad.
Dad: Of course. The Blue is probably 2k on its own.
Stuart: Never dad.
Dad: I'm telling you.
Stuart: OK. Put your money where your mouth is dad. When we get home, you go and price the range. That's Red, Black, Green, Gold and Blue. If its more than 4k, I'll buy the range for your pub. If its less, you buy the range for my pub.
Dad: Deal. You'll cry when you see the price. I can't wait.

Listening to all of this, and spotting an opportunity as it gets presented:

G: Great deal guys. However, when the official handover takes place, in celebration of winning the range, the winner will open at least the Green Label for all present to sample.
Dad: Suits me. I've got nothing to lose - that range is coming my way.
Stuart: Fine by me too. I don't mind opening a free bottle of Green Label.
G: Lets all shake on it.

A few weeks after that great evening in Edinburgh, I attended the official "handover" ceremony. Needless to say, it was Stuart's pub that was stocked with the JW range of whisky. The Green label wasn't bad either :-)

London, Scotland and Spain

2007-09-03T19:07:00.000+02:00

Well its been just over three weeks since my last post, and not without good readon. K and I have been on the road, doing what we love most - experiencing the sites, sounds and tastes of new destinations. Here's a quick summary of the August 2007 tour of London, Scotland and Spain:

- Alan and Samantha's wedding, set in a quaint little church just outside Milton Keynes, with reception at Whittlebury Park (next door to Silverstone).

- Middlesex Sevens at Twickers (where Newcastle pipped Worcester 20-19 in the final).

- Fringe Festival at Edinburgh castle and surrounds. Went to see a few stand up comedian acts in the Underbelly, or catacombs of Edinburgh. Great setting for these types of acts, as you walk through a series of interconnected rooms, and then all of a sudden find yourself underground in what can only be described as a humid, musky tunnel. Watched a comedian called Martha Mcbrie, in a show called "So you think you think you can heckle?". Wasn't overly impressed with her, but we were blown away by the talent of a stand up comedian/musician called Rob Deering in his show called "Charmageddon". Worth a watch if you ever come across him.

- Tour of the Edinburgh castle, and views from the top.

- Gardens around Edinburgh castle.

- Boat trip out to Loch Lomond.

- Scottish Highlands.

- Tour to Stirling Castle (with William Wallace monument in the distance).

- Seeing our good mates Neil and Mandy again.

- Windsor Castle and surrounds.

- Cabopino Beach just outside Calahonda, Malaga.

- The ancient city of Antequera.

- The El Torcal mountain range, and limestone rock formations.

- The beautiful village of Mijas.

- On our way to the Picasso Museum in Malaga. Incidentally, although Picasso painted most of his work in France, he was actually born in Malaga Spain. We were also treated to works on temporary display by artists such as Matisse, Balthus and Dubuffet.

All in all a great trip with lots of good memories.

My iTunes...Apple's answer to Facebook apps

2007-08-12T20:57:00.000+02:00

Being an ardent follower of the social networking wave that is sweeping the globe at the moment, and having worked on some local social networking initiatives, I found it quite interesting to read about Apple's latest initiative - MyiTunes. They're hoping to get users to drive more traffic to the iTunes store by developing a couple of nifty widgets. From what I can make out, MyiTunes is a set of widgets that can be added to your blog, allowing you to display your latest iTunes purchases, reviews and favourite artists (in the form of an artists cloud) - based on your interaction with the iTunes website. I can see this as a big hit in countries that can actually make iTunes purchases - and a big competitor to such Facebook apps as the "iLike" app.

Speaking of iTunes - have just read that Google will be launching a competitive service called gBox. Non-DRM mp3's for 99c (US that is).

Shock Horror - The Internet Isn't Backed Up!

2007-08-07T22:30:00.000+02:00

No more blogging...You Tube'ing, Facebook'ing, Flickr'ing :-)

One down, two to go...

2007-08-06T21:57:00.000+02:00

Been a long weekend - launched the Big Brother Africa New Media platform last night, and got home at about 2am. So what exactly is "the New Media platform"? Well there's a website (www.mnetafrica.com/bigbrother), there's a social network (www.mnet.co.za/profiles/bba), there's a scrolling sms ticker across your screen (Channel 37 on DStv), there's a whole host of networks throughout Africa receiving and sending messages, an IVR line and of course the content management systems that make it all happen.
I didn't do this all myself of course, but behind every project, there's a wee bit of project management and planning needed to make it come together - that's where I fit in.

So yes, BBAII is down (or up, depending on how you see it), with Idols and Survivor to go. And then a holiday :-)

Whirlwind update

2007-07-31T18:01:00.000+02:00

So its been a while since my last past - and I'm starting to feel the guilt. Thought now would be as good a time as any to post a whirlwind update.

The Tour:
Its over - and life has returned to normal again. No more dominance over the remote control - K is free to change channels if she wants to. So what was up with the Tour de Farce anyway? Things were looking so good at the start of the third week - I thought we were in for a cracking final couple of stages - and then it all fell apart, and continues to push out a daily sport headline revealing some new scandal. On a lighter note, there has been talk amongst one or two mates of putting a "Tour holiday" together for the 2009 season.

Graft:
On the work front, things have been pretty hectic. We're busy with the development of the web, mobile and other interactive elements for the three reality shows that are about to be launched. Interesting times - exciting projects to be involved in.

Golf:
Haven't put in as many rounds as I would have liked this month - although I did manage a round with Tweedie at Obs 2 weeks ago. Had a dogdy start, but came back strongly. Also managed a round at Irene, and shot a respectable (for me) 87.

Travel:
Had the pleasure of being able to spend a couple of days in Dullstroom this past weekend. K and I went down to a place called Millstream - its a trout farm about 4 km's before the town of Dullstroom. Old style stone cottages with fire places - was really nice. We ventured out on our mountain bikes on Friday morning for a ride down to Highland Gate estate. They are busy laying the fairways and greens at the moment, and its looks like its going to be a magnificent course (and housing estate) once complete. Riding the 22km back to Millstream into gale force winds proved a little too challenging for K and I though - we hitched a ride back through the farm roads on the back of a tractor after battling for about 12 of the 22km's back. In fact, the winds were so serious, that on Monday morning, we heard that fires (aided by the strong winds) were responsible for the deaths of two people in Lydenburg, and a number of runaway fires in Dullstroom. Luckily for us though, Millstream wasn't affected.
The fishing wasn't that great either - although I did manage to land a sizable brown trout. I blame the wind for the lack of success :-)

Social:
Off to dinner club tonight - its the "cheap and cheerful" round for the next four dinner clubs. No take out, no franchise restaurants - cheapest total bill out of the four couples wins this round. We're up tonight and will be going to a place in Emmarentia called Lapa Fo. Should be good.

Hunter takes first place in Stage 11

2007-07-19T17:13:00.001+02:00

Robbie Hunter has become the first South African cyclist to win a stage on the TDF. Hunter has threatened several times in this year's tour, and today was his day.
The wild card Barloworld team are proving their worth in this years tour, with a 9th Stage win for Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez, and today's 11th stage victory for Hunter.
Tom Boonen, the leader in the green jersey classification crashed out on a sweeping right turn, with 600m to go - it would have been interesting to see the lunge for the line between Boonen and Hunter. Robbie admitted in the post race interview that Boonen is a stronger rider than himself, saying that he would try his best for as many sprint points as possible, but that chances are that Boonen would always be in front of him.
If you missed the race this afternoon, make sure you catch the delayed feed this evening - this is South African cycling history in the making...

TDF Crashes

2007-07-17T19:45:00.000+02:00

Seeing as its that time of year, and in reference to my previous post, I thought I'd find some footage on TDF crashes. This clip isn't very comprehensive, but it has a couple of classics, like Ullrich's wipe out on wet roads during the 2005 individual time trial stage.

The Tweedie's...

2007-07-17T19:25:00.000+02:00

Hooked up with Ronnie, Hazel and young Edward this past weekend - they're out from the UK for a couple of weeks visiting family and renovating their place at the coast. They arrived on Friday and stayed with us for the weekend, leaving on Monday morning for East London.
Was good seeing them again - also nice to spend a bit of time with Edward - he's a cute little guy going through some teething problems at the moment. When K and I got up on Monday morning to say cheers, we just looked at each other and smiled after our 8 hours of sleep whilst Ronnie relayed how they were up every hour during the night. Our day will come sooner or later...

Top 50 SA websites

2007-07-17T19:20:00.001+02:00

If you haven't already posted your Top 50 SA websites on Arthur Preston's Facebook Group, or Online Trek blog, get over there and do it quick.
The point is try and compile a list of the top 50 SA websites by popularity and not necessarily page impressions.
Time recently released their list - which provided the inspiration to Arthur to get an SA list going. My contributions so far include:

www.bizcommunity.com
www.moneyweb.co.za
www.keo.co.za
www.amatomu.com

The rules for submission - the site must be South African in origin, and can be personal or commercial in nature.

Vive le Tour

2007-07-12T18:08:00.000+02:00

Right, so the TDF is back, and my evenings are once again being planned around the delayed feed and highlights packages of the days racing.
Its weird - every time I mention to non-TDF junkies just how exciting a race it actually is to watch, I get this blank Icouldn'tthinkofanythingmoreboringthanwatchingcycling stare. I've given up trying to convince people now, and resorted to changing channels in the office at around 2:30pm each afternoon, with a gentle nudge on the volume control as the afternoon progresses and the peloton winds its way through some of the most magnificent fields, forests, hills and mountains, into the streets of the town that the race will finish in.

As for picking a winner this year - well its pretty wide open at this stage. Alexander Vinokourov has been labelled the favourite, and to be honest, if I had to back a rider this year, he would be the guy. He's the one who was so aggressive in the mountains during Armstrong's last three Tours, and was denied participation in last years tour due to his team pulling out at the last minute because half its riders (excluding Vino) were part of the doping scandal. After todays stage though, it'll be a tough task for him - he was involved in a nasty fall about 30km from the finish, and rode superbly to limit the damage but still ended up losing over 80 seconds. Will make things interesting in the days to come, as team mate Kloden now appears to be the best positioned rider in Vino's team (second place overall), and may take over leadership as a result. Watch Vino in the mountains though - he'll be deadly.

Yes folks, its mid-July, the evenings are long and cold, but one thing's for sure - the voices of Paul Sherwen and Phil Liggett are a familiar comfort at this time of year and the sights and sounds out of France are an exciting end to each day. Vive le tour!

Wimax trial disappointment

2007-07-05T16:26:00.000+02:00

I signed up for the MWEB wimax trials a couple of weeks ago, and the guys came around to install today. Seems like I'm not in the right area though, as they could only get a maximum of 2 bars out of ten in signal strength.
Was looking forward to some uncapped bandwidth as part of the trial, but I guess I'll have to make do with my adsl connection for the time being.

MK89 video blog now live

2007-07-02T18:12:00.000+02:00

I blogged last night about the imminent launch of the MK89 video blogging network - well, I can tell you now that its live - check it out here.
Its important to stress that its still in Beta - there are some known issues that we're working on (like translations, and styling issues), but by and large its up and working. As of 5 minutes ago, there were 25 profiles loaded - mostly bands, artists and presenters, but you have to start somewhere I guess. The newsletter went out this afternoon, so we'll see what effect that has on spreading the word.
27 and counting...

iPhone Launch problems

2007-07-01T22:50:00.000+02:00

Seems like there are a couple of glitches with activation on the new iPhone keyboards. From Adrian Kingsley-Hughes:

The iPhone keyboard issues seem to be a moot point compared to the activation hassles that early iPhone adopters are facing. A poll over at Engadget suggests that over 38% of the 9,000 respondents to the poll are suffering from activation problems and have an iBrick to show for their cash.

Eh eh - iBrick - gotta love it.

MK89 Video Blog Network Ready To Launch

2007-07-01T20:20:00.000+02:00

Its been a slog over the past week getting the new MK89 video blog site ready for launch. Lots of late evenings and work this weekend, but its finally launch ready.

Its quite ironic actually, as the launch of this site was prompted by Uno de Waal in his post, MK89: A social network waiting to happen written on 6th June 2007. The M-Net New Media team felt the same way, and has been hard at work getting the platform together. At its basic level, it incorporates profile creation, with the ability to upload video (in mpeg, avi, 3gp, mov and mgp format) and images, create blog posts, request friendship, become fans of other users, as well as full forum functionality.

Not another Facebook, or MySpace, or Blogger site you're saying. Why create yet another profile? Well, the idea is that this network will allow its users the opportunity of getting their video and profiles on TV. There aren't many other blogging/social network platforms out there that will give its users that opportunity.

Its still early days, and the site is most definitely in Beta status still as we iron out some of the issues that we know exist, and as we get feedback over the next few weeks. Its due to launch this week when it gets a heavy punt in the M-Net newsletter, but here's a sneak preview of what the site looks like.

Current Favourite...

2007-06-23T19:03:00.001+02:00

Came across this music video on the One Lite blog for the Linkin Park song that I blogged about the other day. Rate this song as my current favourite at the moment.

Blues Room Tonight...

2007-06-23T18:59:00.000+02:00

K and I are off to the Blues Room tonight to celebrate Pat's birthday with him. Looking forward to it too. Among the lineup posted on the Blues Room site is a guy called Dean Meldau - haven't heard of him before, but looks like it could be interesting.

As for the rugga this afternoon - what a disappointment. I'm not going to go on about it, as there are hundreds more qualified blogs that could give you a breakdown of what went wrong, so all I'll say is that it was a good match to watch - lots of aggression, lots of excitement, but you have to feel like we threw it away in the last 15 minutes. My simple take on it, is that in a game of that intensity and pace, you can't bring on 4 or 5 replacements all at the same time. It takes them a couple of minutes to get a feel for the pace and the tempo of the game, and to bring 5 on at the same time, you're weakening your side for at least 5-10 minutes. That's where we lost it in my opinion.

The Good news or the Bad news...

2007-06-18T15:08:00.000+02:00

Mobile phone interrupts my trail of thought...

Alan: "Good day sir, Alan from Audi Centre"
G: "Hi Alan, is my car ready?"
Alan: "Well sir, there's good news and bad news"
G: "Ok, hit me with it"
Alan: "The good news is that we managed to get the water bottle. Its only R189"
G: "Awesome. So when can I collect?"
Alan: "Well sir, we fitted the water bottle, did a pressure test, and we need to replace the water pump as well"
G: "Ok, how much?"
Alan: "Water pump is only a couple of hundred rand sir"
G: "Awesome, when can I collect?"
Alan: "Well sir, in order to fit the water pump, we need to remove the cam - which we do again as part of the major service due in 5oookm. Can we go ahead and do the major service now? It'll save you, as we only have to remove the cam once that way"
G: "Makes sense. How much, and when can I collect?"
Alan: "Umm, thirty bucks short of ten grand sir, and you can collect on Wednesday"
G: ". Umm, I guess I don't really have many options here?"
Alan: "No sir"
G: "Go ahead Alan"
Alan: "Awesome. See you on Wednesday"

iPhone launches in 12 days...

2007-06-17T21:18:00.000+02:00

If you haven't heard yet, the iPhone launches in just under two weeks. June 29th to be exact - in the US first, and then Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. Its not very clear when the first batch will be shipped to SA yet, but you can be sure of one thing - getting your hands on one of these puppies will only happen with some serious influence over the next few months.

From what I have been able to read so far, they will retail from around 499USD, and Apple will be shipping somewhere in the region of 3 millions units for launch. So what's the big deal? Why would you want one:

- Well, its another slick looking device from apple for starters.
- Comes with contacts and calendaring functionality - much like any other new mobile phone.
- It got a built in 2 megapixel camera - still not the unique selling feature.
- It can do email. Ok, so which device released in the last few years can't?
- Its an iPod. Yes, an iPod. That's music and video. Making sense now?
- Oh, and it doesn't have any buttons. Its all driven through a revolutionary multi-touch interface.

If you still need convincing, check out these adverts on the iPhone site.

Check the oil and water please...!

2007-06-17T18:53:00.001+02:00

My mobility has been somewhat hampered over the past 2 days, and probably will be for another 2 days. Thats because my car is currently sitting in the workshop, waiting for a new water container.
It all started on Friday afternoon, on the way home from work. Rush hour traffic through the detours in Rosebank and I notice that there is steam rising from the left side of my bonnet. Thinking that I've probably run out of water, I quickly maneuver my way into a side road and turn the engine off. I wait about 45 minutes for the engine to cool down before taking the water cap off. The bottle is empty, so I figure that I caught it just in time. Luckily I have a 1.5l bottle of water in my boot - I quickly pour that into the bottle. Not enough, so I find a tap, fill the bottle, and continue to top up the level in the container. Still not enough, I go back another 3 times. Eventually the level reaches the top, and I figure that its all sorted.
I make my way home slowly, watching the gauge to make sure the temperature doesn't rocket - all looks good. I promise myself that I'll check my water more often.
Anyway, wake up on Saturday morning and figure I'll go and have the oil checked, tyre pressure checked, and give the car a good clean. When I ask the guy to check the water and oil, he starts filling up the water container once again, pours and pours and pours until its full. I then check under the car, and its leaking out all over the garage floor. Problem.
So I take the car straight to Audi, about 1 km up the road, and then do a pressure test. Sure enough, there's a leak. They remove the bottle only to find that it is quite badly cracked underneath - probably as a result of the heat, and the fact that it has seen over 100k km's in mileage now.
Long story short, they need to order a new water bottle which will take a day or two, and once received, is a 5 minute job to replace. I just hope that the damage has been limited to the water bottle, and that everything else is ok. Also means that I am car-less at the moment - so between K and I, we'll have to make a plan to get to work in the morning.

What I've Done...

2007-06-10T20:39:00.001+02:00

Bought the new Linkin Park album on Saturday, and the first thing I did was add it to iTunes and update my iPod. Some of the tracks are a little heavy, but I'm loving track 6, What I've Done. The trip into work tomorrow morning is going to be grungy and aggressive for a Monday...

Food good, service medium-to-rare

2007-06-10T14:58:00.000+02:00

There are times when you just have to shake your head and wonder about the service you get at a restaurant. Last night was one of those times.
Hooked up with Patrick, Jo, Richard and Susan for a dinner at the more upmarket steak house on the Nelson Mandela Square last night.
Having eaten there a couple of times before, and generally having been quite pleased with the food and service, I was looking forward to the evening. It didn't start off that well though. As we got the entrance, we were asked whether we had a booking, and rushed to our table. It wasn't that we were late or anything - just seemed like the reception manager was too busy to welcome us in properly and was pre-occupied with thumbing through the bookings and generally just looking flustered.
That aside, we sat down and had a bit of a wait for Richard and Susan to arrive, so had a leisurely look through the menu. Page one of the menu has about 10 rules that immediately jump out at you as if to say "hey bud, we're here to make money and that's all that counts", including:
- we didn't allow children before, but now we do if they're a certain age.
- minimum price per head is R80.
- 10% will be added to your bill.
- we close at 10pm, so hurry up and get your order in.

Ok, so nothing too serious yet. Just not your typical hospitable attitude thats all. We order some wine and eventually Richard and Susan arrive - time to take an order. Waiters all seem too busy to help out now, because we've kept them waiting for 15 minutes. Another 5 minutes and we eventually track one down. K isn't that hungry, so decides to have a salad and a starter, instead of a salad and a main. We realise that this could contravene rule number 2, so politely tell the waiter that if the salad and starter are less than R80, we'll happily put in the difference. No, can't do. You can't order a starter and have it brought to the table with the mains - house rules. More rules - just that this one wasn't on the menu with the rest of the legislation. K politely calls the manager and asks whether he could bend the unwritten rule number 11, and after a bit of hesitation, he agrees. A victory for the paying patrons - K gets to have a starter with the main meals. Not to let that put a damper on the evening, we order another bottle of the same pinotage that we've been drinking - only to have a bottle of merlot opened and put on our table. That gets sent back at the insistence that we'd like to continue with the pinotage that we so enjoyed, much to the annoyance of the waiter who neglected to actually check what the first bottle was.
Having said all this, the food was actually pretty good, but for the price you pay at a place like that, you kinda expect a little more than medium-to-rare service.

Uncovering some Cape Town gems...

2007-06-09T13:09:00.001+02:00

Had the fortunate opportunity of travelling down to Cape Town this week on a business trip. The purpose of the trip was to meet and greet a mobile solutions provider that will probably play an important role in some of the projects that I'm working on at the moment. Went down with a good colleague of mine, and despite the cold and rainy weather, we managed to uncover a few of Cape Town's gems.
First up was a little pub/restaurant in Steenberg called Jakes. What a great atmosphere - tucked away at the back of a little shopping centre called the village, nicely styled with log fire, it had a great cosy feel about it. They also make the best beef, onion and ale pie I've ever had.
On our way back to our hotel, we stopped in at a great little joint in Long street called Cafe Royale. Typical Cape Town joint, trendy and alternative, with that UCT design student feel about it - not that it was very busy at 8pm on a Thursday night. The place is located in what is obviously a very old, narrow building. On the street level you'll find the main restaurant/cafe. Two doors down, but still part of the same place, you find another level of the same cafe. Up another level you'll find a retro lounge and bar area, with yet another level above that playing host to private functions. Nothing is expensive or snobby about the place, and you might get the picture that its a big place given all the levels I've described, but its actually another small and cosy place, playing funky new age tunes. They also serve some of the biggest and tastiest burgers I've ever come across.
The last place that made an impact on me, was the West Lake golf club. Managed to sneak in a few holes on Friday before heading back to the airport, even though it rained. We had a look at Steenberg gold club, but they had closed the course due to all the rain they received the previous night. West Lake, just down the road, was open for play, so we indulged. What a delightful course it was too.

Hole-In-One

2007-06-03T16:08:00.000+02:00

I have been playing the game of golf for about 15 years now, on and off. Today I join the Hole-In-One society for my efforts at Killarney Golf Club.
Didn't have the best start to my round, but the Par 3 sixth hole will remain one of the sweetest golfing memories I have to date.
My caddy told me that we had 165 meters to the pin, into a slight breeze. In my books, that's a six iron. Anyway, struck the ball well, starting it out on the right hand side of the green, high approach shot that drew nicely towards the hole in the center of the green.
I didn't actually see it roll into the cup, and there was doubt on my part, but the caddies in our four-ball were quietly confident that it had gone in.
Sure enough, as we made our way to the green, my ball was not on the green, but in the cup.
What a sweet feeling.

The Madness Continues...

2007-06-02T18:37:00.000+02:00

If you haven't had the pleasure of reading John van de Ruit's Spud, do yourself a favour and get your hands on a copy. I finished reading 'The Madness Continues...' this week, and only have good things to say about it.
The first book introduces Spud Milton and the rest of the characters that play a role in his Grade 8 year at an exclusive South African boarding school. The diary style entries are a laugh a minute, and cover all facets of Spud's adolescent life, from his sporting and cultural skills, to his dorm mates and introduction to girls.
The second book finds Spud a little more "mature" than his Grade 8 year. He's in Grade 9 now, and is looking forward to finally losing his "spud" status. I'll leave it up to you to read the book to find out what a "spud" is.
K is currently working her way through the second book, and a regular chortle from the couch next to me tells me she's enjoying it as much as I did.

Rock, paper, scissors

2007-06-02T12:04:00.000+02:00

Right, so we've all played the game growing up, but would you believe that there is a Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS) World Championship? Yup - takes place in Toronto on 13th October of this year. In fact, there is a RPS society that sanctions tournaments all over the world.
For those of you who don't know what RPS is, or how it is played, Wikipedia has an article explaining all you will need to know.
The reason I'm so interested in sharing this little piece of trivia with you, is that once a year, we tend to have an RPS stand-off. It takes place on our golf tour when trying to decide who gets the main bedroom with en-suite bathroom in the place that we have rented for the duration of the tour. The beauty about it is that it can be played on the spot, no equipment needed, and is probably the fairest way of deciding on an outcome.
Quick overview of how it is played:
- It is played using one's hands - closed fist represents "Rock", open hand represents "Paper" and extended index and middle finger represent "Scissors"
- Hand is placed behind one's back or head, and on the count of three, it is pulled out with one of the gestures made.
Game is resolved according to the following rules:
- Rock breaks scissors, result is that rock wins
- Paper covers rock, result is that paper wins
- Scissors cut paper, result is that scissors wins
- Same gesture results in a re-match

Gotta love the simplicity in it.

Next trip...

2007-06-01T18:22:00.000+02:00

Picked up the tickets for our August trip yesterday - all is in place now.
Here's how it will play out:
- Leave for London on August 14th
- Al and Sam's wedding on August 19th
- Couple of days in Edinburgh. Planning on doing the touristy thing and checking out the Castle, Royal Mile and would like to do a distillery or two. Also discovered that the Boks are playing at Murrayfield that week, so who knows :-)
- Then back to London for 3 days. Will hook up with mates and family.
- Off to Spain for a week in Malaga after that. Plan on lots of sunshine and beach, and hopefully some golf before returning to SA in the first week of September.

K and I have been to London three times and Edinburgh once, but never in summer, so this should be a great change. Also, have never been to Spain before - really looking forward to that.

5 minutes of fame

2007-05-31T23:02:00.000+02:00

So, for those of you who read our blog regularly, you will notice the new look. I'm not convinced its there yet, but it was definitely time for a change, and given the fact that I'm relying on Blogger templates at this stage, this is about as much flexibility as I can get away with.
Have also taken the decision to list the blog on Amatomu - a South African blog aggregator. In doing so, I have been listed as the newest blog to be added, as seen in this picture of the homepage. Quick, check it out, before someone else lists...

Battle At Kruger

2007-05-31T17:40:00.000+02:00

Amazing footage of a battle between Lion, Buffalo and Crocodile.

Facebook: Social Networking Tool, or Big Brother?

2007-05-29T20:48:00.000+02:00

Came across an interesting video, originally found in an article posted on Groogle, but available on YouTube now, on what Facebook is potentially capable of, given the amount of information that they are collecting. Conspiracy theory? You decide.

27Dinner-Jozi, May 2007

2007-05-28T20:50:00.000+02:00

Attended my first 27dinner event last night. Wanted to attend the March event, but already had made plans by that stage. Anyway, so what is a 27dinner event you're asking? Well, its kinda like First Tuesday, but its a dinner event. Held on the 27th of each month, alternating between Cape Town and Jozi, the event is open to anyone who wants to attend, but has a special focus on New Media, blogging, marketing, and other tech related trends and topics. The idea is to get like minded people in the same space to discuss ideas and network over food and wine.
The 27May-Jozi event took place at Primi Piatti, The Zone in Rosebank, and whilst I wasn't blown away with the speakers, it was definitely worthwhile attending.
Colin Daniels spoke about the hype surrounding Bullardgate before turning everyone's attention to The Times, the daily paper that will be made available to Sunday Times subscribers from June (or was that July?) of this year. Colin looks after the online strategy for The Times, so he shared some of his vision for how The Times would like to engage their readers in the online space, and then use that to feed back into the paper. We'll see how successful that turns out to be in the coming months.
Next up was Erik Hersman from White African. He spoke about mashups and taking existing widgets/gadgets and other interesting pieces of code, and putting them to good use in web and mobile driven applications.
Finally, Vinny Lingham who runs Incubeta in Cape Town, spoke about some of his new projects, which include setting up a small Venture Capital firm that will fund startups in SA, as well as a product that he has been working on called Synthasite. The interesting thing about Vinny, is that he sits on the Yahoo advisory board, so he's a big deal in the online space in SA at the moment.
I'll definitely be attending the July dinner.

Mr and Mrs Pretorius

2007-05-24T21:29:00.000+02:00

Couple: Sandra and Wikus
Venue: Harrison's on 12th
Married at: St Mungo's Bryanston
Date: 19 May 2007

Brrrr

2007-05-23T22:03:00.000+02:00

So just when we thought it was going to be a mild winter and would have nothing to worry about, the coldest of cold fronts just pulled in. From nowhere. It just decided to sneak up on us on Monday morning, and without warning, has blanketed the country in icy weather. Snow from Stellenbosch in the Cape, all the way up the coast to the Drakensberg. The highveld has also had its fair share of ice - as this picture from an office park in Woodmead shows.

Spoon/Fork bending...

2007-05-10T17:59:00.000+02:00

You have to check this out...
Two days ago, we had a meeting with the guys from MXIT - they have built a messaging platform for mobile phones. Anyway, thats not what this post is about. You're not going to believe it, and I kick myself everytime I think about it as I was in another meeting at the time, but one of the MXIT guys has the ability to bend spoons/forks with his mind (that's what he says anyway). I've seen it on magic shows before, and in The Matrix, but have been quite sceptical...until now.
Even though I wasn't actually in the room at the time, one of the guys managed to get it all on his mobile phone, and has uploaded it to YouTube. Incredible...

And now for the bad news...

2007-05-10T17:50:00.000+02:00

So I undertook the project365 thing in October last year. The point of the project - to post a Photo Of The Day (POTD) every day for a year.
Well, the bad news is that I have decided to narrow it down from P365, to P182. A six month project. Which ran from November 2006 until April 2007.
There were pictures of sunsets, pictures of holidays, pictures of friends and family. There were others of trees and plants and wooden puzzles, and even some on meals and breakfasts that were cooked by K and I.
But alas, the project has reached the point where it is becoming a daily burden on me. It has lost its appeal and excitement. It has become more a case of 'what can i find to snap today', than a case of 'cool, i'll put that on the blog'.
It was a big undertaking - a bold challenge that I rose to at first, but then came to ask myself 'what have i done?'.
Its not all doom and gloom however. The 6 months of pics will remain on this blog for K and I to look back upon. Lots of visual memories that will always be here. Besides which, there will be other pics that go up from time to time. They will still be posted under the POTD tag - but it will also give me more time to blog about other issues - rather than spending half an hour downloading, resizing and uploading pictures, I can tell you more about more. If anything, the quality of posts should actually improve.
So thank you for logging on each day and checking out the daily picture. It has been good to take a look at my Google Analytics map, and see little dots sprawled across the globe - from Perth, Manning, Adelaide and Melbourne, to Parow, Jhb, Midrand, Parkmore and Pretoria to Oslo, Bucharest, Milton Keynes, Brentford, Salt Lake and Statten Island.
BTW, the final POTD's have been uploaded. See below - 28-30 April.

Facebook

2007-05-10T17:33:00.000+02:00

If you haven't yet discovered Facebook, then you'd better, quick! Its another social networking utility that allows you to quickly discover and connect with friends from all over the world, and its currently sweeping through friends and acquaintances around me. Here's a little scenario:

Wednesday: I send Phil an invite to LinkedIn (a networking utility for establishing and maintaining business connections and relationships). Phil in turn sends me an invite to Facebook. I sign up on Facebook and discover that K's sister, who lives in Perth, has also recently signed up. So i add her as a friend.
Thursday: I'm going through the functionality of the site, and stumble across a "find friends" tool. Quickly type in my school, and find that Richard has also signed up to Facebook within the last day or so. I add him as a friend. I then go through the list of companies that I have worked at, and find Dave has a profile. I add him as a friend. Bear in mind now, that these are all people that I see fairly regularly, and besides Dave, nobody has mentioned that they have recently signed up to Facebook.
Friday: I am asked by Francois to be his "friend" on facebook. I do some more searches, and come across Matthew, a guy that I did my honours with and haven't seen for 8 years. He also happens to be friends with Dave's friend Andrew. I know Andrew well, so add him as a friend. Matthew sees this through facebook and adds me as a friend. Marc, another guy from my honours course adds me, and I send Ronald an invite. Suddenly, within the space of 3 days, I have connected with people that I know, from the UK to Australia.

So the point of the post of course, is to a). make you aware of this online wave of social networking utilities that is sweeping across the globe, and b). to encourage you to get your own Facebook profile, and connect.

Flights cancelled

2007-05-10T17:29:00.000+02:00

OK, so after the previous post, and the nerves around flying, K has managed to cancel her trip to Nigeria and Ghana. Its not like she was going to add direct value to the trip anyway, so we decided that it would be pointless for her to go. Besides, its not the safest place in the world at the moment, with the kidnap-for-ransom incidents that are going down. So yes, a bit of relief.
Having said that, as everyone knows, its still statistically safer to fly to work than to drive to work.

Rugga, plane disasters and cycle challenges

2007-05-06T19:06:00.000+02:00

Well, its been a weekend with a bit of a difference. Friday night was spent at the Sound Stage in Midrand, with K's work colleagues. We went and watched a show called Girl Talk 007. The show was good I thought - we've seen it before, so it was probably a little better for those that were seeing it for the first time.
Then we got news on Saturday morning that a plane had gone down in Cameroon - and K mentioned to me that one of the guys in her team was flying back from Cameroon on Saturday morning. Anyway, by lunchtime on Saturday it was confirmed that 2 people from her company (including the guy in her team) and one or two other clients were actually on the fated plane.
The worrying thing for us, besides the fact that her team has lost a very competent manager, is that she flies up to Ghana and Nigeria in a couple of weeks time. There have also been reports of British contract workers who have been kidnapped and held for ransom in one of the towns just outside their IBOM project. Its standard procedure to send employees up with armed guards, but still, its a worry for us at the moment.
Saturday evening was spent with a couple of mates, watching Super14 history being made, as both the Sharks and Bulls secured home semi-finals - the Bulls were set an almost impossible task at the beginning of the match - beat the Reds by more than 72 points and they would have a home semi-final. Well, not only did they achieve the 72 points, they went on to score 13 tries for a total of 92 points, compared with the 3 points that the Reds managed.
Today was a pretty relaxed day. Went for a cycle around the area - managed to rack up another 20km - not huge. Have also set my eyes on a goal for next year - riding the Sani2C mountain bike race next year. Its a 3 day, 250km odd race from the Sani Pass in the Drakensberg to Scottburgh Beach on the Kwazulu Natal south coast. Hasn't been finalised yet, but I will definitely be talking to a few people about it in the next few weeks, and getting a riding team together.

POTD: 30 April 2007

2007-05-04T16:45:00.000+02:00

POTD folder on my laptop. This is where they are all downloaded to, resized and made ready for upload to blogger. This is where a great deal of my free time is spent - something that is going to change soon.

POTD: 29 April 2007

2007-05-04T16:29:00.000+02:00

Currently reading: Company Man by Joseph Finder. Fictional thriller.

POTD: 28 April 2007

2007-05-04T16:23:00.000+02:00

The new shopping mall that has opened up in Modderfontein, up the road from K and I. GreenStone Shopping centre.

Back from the black...

2007-05-03T21:56:00.000+02:00

Ahh, the little things we take for granted each day. Like the milk that hasn't gone sour, or the hot shower that you step into each morning. Hey, even the privilege of being able to charge your cellphone overnight, or the rechargeable batteries in your camera - they all need to be appreciated.

Yup, all that news you heard on 702, or read in your newspaper, about Bedfordview being plunged into darkness for just over 3 days...that was us. Our leafy suburb managed to capture national attention this week after some construction idiot managed to puncture the only working power feed into the whole of Bedfordview. Don't get me wrong - it was quite a novelty at first. I mean, you expect these things to be fixed during the day, so a little bit of inconvenience (like having iced tea for breakfast instead of hot tea, or showering at the gym near work) is not the end of the world. Even when you realise that "it will probably be back on in the morning", and you go to bed reading your latest book with a headlamp, its still quite novel. Its on about hour number 37 that it starts to get a little less novel, and a little more irritating. Like when you need to start thinking about dinner, and not having the facilities to cook anything yourself, you think about take-out. Oh hang on, all our local take-out joints are also out of action. So you get in your car, and drive up the N3, to the next 'lit' suburb - but seeing as you're now driving all that way, you might as well make a meal of it, and have a sit down dinner. Still not the end of the world.
So you set your cellphone alarm (on the cellphone that is rapidly dying now because it has not been charged in 2 days) to wake you up the following morning, and then have to pack two bags of clothes - one, your work clothes for the day, because you need to head to the gym for a shower, and the other, your squash kit for your practice that night. Oh, and don't forget the two towels, one for your morning shower at the gym, and the other for your evening shower after squash, because by now your geyser is no longer providing you with warm water.
And when you get home that night, its time to open the fridge and decide which items you need to start binning and which ones can last another day.
And once you've managed to find your way to bed with the headlamp that is starting to slowly fade, and have managed to successfully wade past the pile of washing that is building up in the bathroom, you finally let out a sigh of relief at having managed another day without electricity. Only to have that thought quickly erased at the prospect of doing it all again tomorrow morning.

Its been fun and games this week.

Bit of this and that...

2007-04-29T13:17:00.000+02:00

Here's a quick update on the happenings of the week:

Squash league has started, and although I have not won a game yet (two matches played), I captained the side last week, and the team managed a victory, despite my lack of contribution. I played a really strong (new to league) player from Wendywood. The guy was worse than a Jack Russel - just would not let anything go. Anyway, we have a team practice on Monday night, and a bye on Wednesday, so I have a good 10 days to get my game right.

As for K, she's been working quite hard getting her budgets ready for the upcoming year. Her team went away last weekend for a management conference to discuss the budgets and plans for the upcoming year. With the planning now finished, she can get back into her routine and hopefully a little less stress. She flies up to Nigeria and Ghana in May to meet the teams there and share the plans for the upcoming year with them - not a trip I'd like her to be doing, but there is a small group of her management team going, so it should be quite safe.
Went out for a couple of drinks and something to eat with Kerryn, Liam and Lauren last night. Kerryn and Liam are out for the UK for a couple of weeks - was good catching up with her again, and meeting Liam for the first time.

Am currently listening to Derek the Bandit's latest podcast - some wicked trance sounds permeating the air at the moment - awesome.

Oh, on the book front, have just finished a Dean Koontz fictional drama - Brother Odd. Was a pretty, I hate to say it - odd book. Basically about a guy who can see the dead, who moves to a monastery to save a group of monks and disabled children from impending death. He meets the ghost of Elvis and a ghost dog named Boo along the way, and helps them to cross over from this world to the next. Out of ten - i'd give it no more than about a four-and-a-half. Am about to start a new one titled The Family by Kitty Kelley. Its about the Bush Family - the story of their dynasty and its power. I hope its not another Michael Moore wannabee. Will keep you posted.

That's about it for the time being - other tnan to note that the winter seems to have arrived. Wind chill is down to about 8 degrees Celcius. Plenty of sunshine, but a (very) fresh breeze outside.

POTD: 27 April 2007

2007-04-28T10:26:00.000+02:00

Yes, that clock does read 6:02am. And you'll notice that the car is definitely not stationary either. That's because I was about 15 minutes into my journey to Carletonville for a marathon round of golf. What's a marathon you ask, and why Carletonville? Well, a marathon is two rounds of golf played in one session. That's 4.5 hours for 18 holes, and then another 4.5 hours for another 18. And as for Carletonville, thats what happens when you let some guy who lives out on the West Rand arrange the golf.

Needless to say, there was plenty of golf played, lots of laughs, a full day outside in the fresh air, and a couple of very tired golfers by the time the round came to an end.

Awesome day out, and a great way to spend Freedom day.

POTD: 26 April 2007

2007-04-28T10:25:00.000+02:00

Some more rich afternoon colours.

POTD: 25 April 2007

2007-04-28T10:19:00.000+02:00

Semi-Final 2: How not to play a game. Once again, the SA team have progressed to a semi-final in a world cup, and exited in bizarre circumstances. This time it wasn't rain, but like the last time this happened, an element of panic crept up on the team, and managed to overcome them. A complete joke of a performance by the SA team. Australia have played consistently brilliant cricket, and deserve to go through and win the world cup.

POTD: 24 April 2007

2007-04-28T10:17:00.000+02:00

Semi-Final 1: A decent game by both sides. Entertaining to watch, professional in the way in which it was played out - pity there had to be a loser, as both were worthy of progressing to the next round.

POTD: 23 April 2007

2007-04-28T10:14:00.000+02:00

My baby - who says I need children :-)
(yet)

Turns ten years old this year...
I've only had her for what will be four years this year.

POTD: 22 April 2007

2007-04-28T10:05:00.000+02:00

The season change in full effect - the leaves on this oak tree turning a beautiful golden colour.

POTD: 21 April 2007

2007-04-28T10:03:00.000+02:00

Went to dinner with Patrick, Frank and Claire and Richard. Went to a place called Soi in Melville. Its a Vietnamese/Thai food place - part of the Orient-WangThai-Saigon group. Had a great meal - fried prawn starter, with Chicken Cashew main. Vary good.

POTD: 20 April 2007

2007-04-28T10:01:00.000+02:00

Brave cyclist - tackling the traffic through Rosebank during peak hour traffic.

POTD: 19 April 2007

2007-04-28T09:47:00.000+02:00

So, how cool are the colours in this pic? This is the picture that I woke up to the other morning. You may recall a few pics ago, I said that we're having awesome sunsets at the moment - well, this is a sunrise in fact. My theory is that as the season is changing, we're getting a different type of cloud forming (you can see the effect in the top right corner - its almost like these clouds have formed one after the other in a parallel line), much thinner than the summer variety. Due to this, the sun is having an absolute ball reflecting its rays through this delicate medium, and in doing so, is creating the most magnificent displays of colour.
I could of course be talking absolute crap, and only got to see this picture because I happened to wake up earlier than usual. Its good to have a theory though.

POTD: 18 April 2007

2007-04-28T09:45:00.000+02:00

Typical morning breakfast - bowl of muesli, cup of tea, and piece of toast (wholewheat of course).

POTD: 17 April 2007

2007-04-28T09:35:00.000+02:00

As I leave the broadcaster client that I'm working for at the moment, the satellites beam a continuous stream of news, sport, entertainment and drama to an audience that spans Africa, parts of the Middle East, the Sub-Continent and into the Far East. In fact, the satellite footprint casts a bit of a shadow over Western Australia, so technically speaking, with a satellite dish and decoder, you could be reading the Perth Daily newspaper, whilst listening to Naas Botha rounding up the weekend's games on Boots & All.

POTD: 16 April 2007

2007-04-28T09:33:00.000+02:00

The detours in Rosebank - making way for the Gautrain.

POTD: 15 April 2007

2007-04-28T09:32:00.000+02:00

The fruit bowl...looking a bit...well, fruity i guess.

POTD: 14 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:58:00.000+02:00

Just in case you thought I was bluffing - here's the handicap proof. Now I know its still nothing to get too excited about, but its come down from 18, to 17, to 16 and now 14 in the past 4 months. I knew all that time off was necessary.

Have a 6:45 tee-off tomorrow morning at Killarney, my second favourite course at the moment. Hoping that my swing will come to the game tomorrow, and that my putting is as sharp as the chirps in my fourball are likely to be. I'm still on my quest to reach a single figure handicap.
BTW, today is Angie's 25th birthday. Happy birthday Ang.

POTD: 13 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:51:00.000+02:00

In continuing with the sunset theme, here's another - taken on my way home from work last night. Its definitely Autumn here now - there's a bit of a chill in the air, and a lot of cloud activity - making it ideal for the most spectacular sunsets.

POTD: 12 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:50:00.000+02:00

Again, if you look carefully at the middle of the picture, you'll see a full (albeit small) moon.

POTD: 11 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:49:00.000+02:00

Another gorgeous sunset.

POTD: 10 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:48:00.000+02:00

Eight day old Joshua - son of Lee and Gareth.

POTD: 09 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:46:00.000+02:00

Easter Monday - this was a view of the patio at the house that we stayed at. Had a great time here - would definitely like to put it on the list of places to visit again.

POTD: 08 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:45:00.000+02:00

A Model-T-Ford, at the vintage car collection at Casterbridge farm in White River.

POTD: 07 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:43:00.000+02:00

The view from our house (well, we wish - its the house we rented for the Easter weekend) at White River Country Estate.

POTD: 06 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:41:00.000+02:00

First day and first round of our annual golf tour. This pic was taken on the Par 5 8th hole. As you can see, it was a late afternoon round. The mountains of the lowveld (sounds a bit oxymoronic that) in the background, and the Kruger park to the right of this picture. The course - Kruger Park Lodge, at the Numbi Gate.

POTD: 05 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:38:00.000+02:00

If you look carefully, and use your imagination a bit, you'll see a faint sunset in the waters of our fountain upstairs...

POTD: 04 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:37:00.000+02:00

Looking through the eye-piece of my telescope. Can't really see much, but I thought it would be cool to see what the picture looked like.

POTD: 03 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:34:00.000+02:00

Good looking bunch of roses that I bought K the other day. We had a braai at our place - Tzvet, Graham, Melanie and Andre. Bought these to brighten up the lounge a bit.

POTD: 02 April 2007

2007-04-14T19:33:00.000+02:00

The strings on my squash racquet - in need of replacement.

POTD Series

2007-04-12T13:19:00.000+02:00

Right - I know that I've been slack with the POTD over the past week or so. It's not that I don't have them - I'm definitely taking the pics, but am struggling to find the time to get them onto my PC, resize them, rename them, upload them and link to them. Its a process you see - a process that is becoming quite a mission of a process now that I'm back at work.
Yes yes, I did take the pledge to see Project365 through to the end, and its been great to look back at the Photo of the Day since 1st November last year. Some great memories too. I will endeavour to keep it up, but may not be able to guarantee a new pic each day. What seems to work for me at the moment, is a bulk posting of all the POTD's for the week. What are your thoughts? Is it about quantity of content, or quality posts on a less regular basis. Let me know.

Heading in the right direction...

2007-04-11T15:19:00.000+02:00

Ok, so all the golfing time that I have put in over the past few months is finally starting to pay off. Checked my handicap today, and I've dropped from a 17, to a 14. Still not single figures yet, which is where I wanted to be in the first quarter of this year, but its heading in the right direction. The trick is to now try and keep up the regular rounds, even though I'm working again, so that the handicap doesn't suddenly start heading in the opposite direction.

Weekend in the Lowveld

2007-04-10T13:19:00.000+02:00

Returned home yesterday from a great weekend in the Lowveld. Each and every year for the past 6 years, K and I go away with a group of mates on a "Golf Tour". The idea is to get away for the Easter weekend, spoil ourselves with a new destination, and allow the guys to splash out on some of the top courese in South Africa. The tour has taken us to Swaziland (Royal Swazi course), Sun City (Gary Player course), Zinkwazi (Prince's Grant course), Drakensberg (Champagne Sports Resort Golf Course), Cape Town (Erinvale and Clovelly courses) and this year, to White River (White River country club). We rented a house in the White River Country Estate, and had a round of nine holes (American scramble with all the wives and g/f's playing) at Kruger Park Lodge course, and then the main round on Saturday morning. The rest of the time was spent relaxing.

POTD: 01 April 2007

2007-04-01T16:37:00.000+02:00

The 18th fairway at Germiston Golf Club. First time I have played at Germiston - the course is in good condition, which is surprising considering the lack of rain. I wondered whether they watered from the lake, but apparently not. I guess boreholes on this course are pretty full though, considering all the water close by.

POTD: 31 March 2007

2007-04-01T16:35:00.000+02:00

The parking lot at Eastgate shopping center on month-end Saturday. Pretty full...

POTD: 30 March 2007

2007-04-01T16:34:00.000+02:00

Wooden statue that we have sitting in the window upstairs...

POTD: 29 March 2007

2007-04-01T16:33:00.000+02:00

The Frog - another wooden piece on our coffee table upstairs. Stroke his back with the stick and he croaks.

POTD: 28 March 2007

2007-04-01T16:32:00.000+02:00

We've had a bit more rain this week. This was another early morning drizzle on the way to work.

POTD: 27 March 2007

2007-04-01T16:30:00.000+02:00

The stairs in our apartment. Question is, are these going up, or going down?

POTD: 26 March 2007

2007-04-01T16:29:00.000+02:00

A pine tree outside office that I work in - set against a late afternoon sky.

POTD: 25 March 2007

2007-03-25T15:11:00.000+02:00

A sad week for sport - not only did the Sharks lose to the Brumbies, and SA to Australia in their world cup match, but the whole Bob Woolmer murder just goes to show how sport has become more about money and wealth, than passion and camaraderie.