Current Favourite...

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...

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...

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...

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...!

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...

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

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...

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

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...

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

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...

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

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

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

Facebook: Social Networking Tool, or Big Brother?

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

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

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

Brrrr

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...

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...

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.