Week in Summary

Been a relatively easy going week for me. Monday and Tuesday were their usual challenging selves, but was then on training from Wed to Friday. Also managed to sneak in a teambuilding session on Thursday afternoon - which was fantastic. It involved cooking zucchini as part of a 3 course meal. The idea is that everyone takes a bottle of wine, and an apron, and then gets stuck into making a 3 course meal during the afternoon - in the most amazing old style kitchen. One group made the pasta (yes, made it, let it dry, and then cooked it), another made the pasta sauce - we made the zucchini, tomato, herb and mozzarella side dish. There was also roast fillet of beef, covered in layers of parma ham, and a nut filled phyllo pastry pudding.
Going to try and get the dinner club to do a 3 week course with K and I - should be a blast.

Site worthy of a visit...

Every once in a while, you come across a website that blows your mind away. If you haven't ever visited Pandora, you've been seriously missing out.

It really is one of the cleverest uses of technology and music (my two big passions) that I have ever seen. Basically, the guys at Pandora have been working on something called the "Music Genome Project" for the past few years. They've taken thousands of songs, and stripped them down into what they sound like - not who they are sung by or what genre they belong to - but the actual sound of the song. They've then tagged these songs with the categories that they have defined, and provided a tool that allows you to listen to a song, say whether you like it or not, and then based on your decision, they will recommend another song, and another, and another...

The whole point of the project, is to allow the user to build up a "station" of the type of music they like, and then go out and buy the albums (or buy them online if you want). Pure genius.

This site...as a graph!

This image represents the structure of the blog that you are reading (well, technically it has changed since uploading this image, and this blog entry). Confused...? Let me explain. Some guy has written an algorithm that reads the source code of your website, and translates it into an image (check out the site here). The image depicted (click image to enlarge), represents the source code of our blog. In terms of a key, this is what the colours mean:

blue: for links (the A tag)
red: for tables (TABLE, TR and TD tags)
green: for the DIV tag
violet: for images (the IMG tag)
yellow: for forms (FORM, INPUT, TEXTAREA, SELECT and OPTION tags)
orange: for linebreaks and blockquotes (BR, P, and BLOCKQUOTE tags)
black: the HTML tag, the root node
gray: all other tags

Lightning Crashes...

Came across this photograph, taken by some guy whilst on holiday in Moscow, and thought it quite appropriate seeing as we're having a bit of an electrical storm at the moment. Woke up this morning and it was windy and rainy, and here we sit this evening whilst the rain lashes down in intermittent waves, and the sky is alive with currents of lightning.

From one rainy, cloudy city to another!

Went to CT yesterday for another round of meetings. Got up at 4:30am to make sure that I made the flight at 6:00am.
Trip wasn't too bad actually - bit of turbulence out of Jhb, and some more into CT.
Didn't get to see the mountain this time, as it was covered in clouds.
Three quick meetings, an even quicker lunch, and then back to the airport to make the 4pm flight back to Jhb.

Apart from the early rise (after an evening out celebrating my 30th birthday), it was a pretty good day.

Over that hill...

Yup - hit the magical Three O this week.
As far as birthdays go, it was a pretty average day to be honest - although I was treated to a cooked breakfast by K, and showered in gifts, which was really special. There is so much hype around reaching 30, and you see it coming for months, with big expectations. Next thing you know, you've been so busy and wrapped up in other things that it springs upon you and you're not quite prepared. At least thats how I felt.
Went to work, had a 4 hour meeting...took some cakes and ordered pizza for the office, another set of meetings in the afternoon...rush home for dinner with the family...and next thing you know, its all over.

Having said that, I was spoilt, and we did have a great dinner. Went to a place called Jungle Sushi and Tepanyaki. Sat around the Tepanyaki bar with the family...and had some great food. I had some Salmon Nigiri, a salmon hand roll, and a beef fillet tepanyaki - delicious.

Still intending on having a bit of a celebration - but because of other commitments, friends away, other friends only arriving - it'll only take place in September sometime.

How does it feel? Not too shabby...I'm at the beginning of my next decade in life, with another 10 years of thirties to look forward too. I'm told that this is the decade in which things 'really' happen in life. I guess one can justify anything really.

The Epic Cycle...

Managed to get out on Sunday afternoon, for what turned out to be quite an epic cycle as far as K and I are concerned. We headed off towards the Klipriviersburg Nature Reserve, with Brett (the neighbour), to meet up with Frank. Getting there was tough, but not too bad in the end. Anyway, we met up with Frank, and cycled through the reserve, and back in about 90 minutes. Frank had the luxury of getting back into his beetle, and not having to tackle what must be classified as a Category 1 climb (I know there are no Cat.1 climbs in SA, but whoever made that claim has clearly never cycled back up Columbine road in Winchester Hills). It was a pretty intense climb at that point (which marked about 3 hours in the saddle), but nothing that an Mp3 player belting out the consistent beat of the Foo Fighters could'nt sort out. K and I made it to the top of Columbine, and back onto the long downhill of Klipriver - whilst Brett had to be rescued by Frank, and driven home.

43km round trip, 4 hours in the saddle, and a whole lot of energy burnt up. My idea of a great Sunday afternoon.

Latest from Sony

Ok, so I know I'm a bit of a gadget freak, but how cool is this...
Its the new Sony Mylo handheld music, video, photo, Instant Messaging, Browsing and Skype all-in-one gadget. Check out the clip.

Women's Day...

Another public holiday today - gotta love this country.
K and I took a drive to Midrand today, with the intention of spending the morning at Decorex - an annual interior design / lifestyle exhibition. That was until we spent 30 minutes trying to get a parking, and saw the queues of people outside waiting to get in. No thanks.
So we went through to the Design Quarter at Fourways - similiar sort of centre, had a great lunch and looked around.
Intend to go through and do a spinning class at 4:30 this afternoon - and then a quiet evening, maybe a dvd and a light dinner.
Pretty relaxing day - what a treat.

Not looking pretty for Landis.

The results of the B sample have come back as positive, and it looks like Floyd Landis is going to have a hard time proving his innocence now. The tests show signs of synthetic testosterone - which rules out the possibility of the testosterone being produced naturally by Floyd's body. Even so, Floyd flat out denies taking any testosterone, and is putting the high levels found in both the A and B samples down to "natural" causes. He also states that the possibility of whiskey and beer taken the night before his 17th stage comeback could have resulted in increased levels of testosterone. Also, the medication that he is taking for his hip disability may have something to do with the increased level. Nevertheless, this assumed that the testosterone may be elevated, but naturally so, as opposed to ingested - which the tests seem to indicate.

So where does that leave Landis? In a pretty tricky predicament I'd have to say. In his defence though, he did have 8 other tests conducted throughout the Tour, and all other tests remain negative. It is only the 17th stage win test that seems to incriminate him.

I still maintain that he'd be pretty stupid to take something, go out and win a stage like he did knowing full well that he'd be tested, and hope to get away with it.

According to Floyd's blog, he is encouraging supporters to "Keep the Faith".

You make up your own mind.

High performance driving experience

I had the opportunity this week, of doing a High Performance Driving course with Audi.

Actually, it was a customer function that we organised for some of our premier customers - and what better way to spend a Thursday afternoon, than driving around Kyalami race track, at speeds that are illegal anywhere else :-)

I was assigned to a driver and a silver Audi 3.0 TDI Quattro. It helped that my driver was a former driver of Formula Ford cars, and encouraged high speed above all else. Actually, it was quite unreal to see what these cars are capable of doing. There is nothing special about them - in that they have not been modified for racing. They are your standard commercial out the showroom spec A4's, and what beautiful cars they are.

We got to practice straight line braking, avoiding obstacles in the path whilst braking at high speed, cornering and acceleration. The highlight for me was definitely the 12 laps of high speed, controlled driving around the 4.7km odd kyalami track.

Definitely a course that I recommend doing if you get the opportunity. The course is run by a 4rings, based at Kyalami.

Baby Nicholas...

K's good friend, Tsvet, and her husband Graham started their family last week. Tsvet gave birth to Nicholas Graham Kort on Thursday morning.

We went to visit them on Thursday evening - everyone looking happy and healthy. Its amazing how factory-like maternity wards are these days...go in, have your baby at the scheduled time, spend two days in bed, visitors between 19:30 and 20:30, and out you get. Truly amazing stuff.

Now the fun begins Graham... :-)

30th Birthday...

As August rapidly approaches, I'm racking my brain to think of something to do for my 30th birthday. I guess the expectation is that it should be celebrated with some kind of bash, but the question is, what?

Richard's 30th comes up this week (3rd August), and he's planned a "Vegas" evening. Sounds good, and I look forward to pitching up, and cleaning up at the tables. At least that's the idea I have in my mind. Will have to wait and see - takes place this coming weekend.

Pat celebrated his in London, with the UK clan. Frank and the SA clan went out for Sushi. Hmm, and I'm out of ideas for mine.

Will have to give it some thought and planning over the next few weeks. Any ideas or suggestions, please leave a comment. I could use the help...

The first "gig"...

The concert was pretty good. There were about 7 or 8 levels of guitar players, from kids, beginners and intermediate, to advanced and classical. K went up in the first group of beginners (they split us into 2 groups, as there were about 15 of us). Her songs included Let it Be and Knocking on Heavens Door. My group went up second, and we did Stand By Me and Wonderful Tonight.
To be honest, I don't remember much about the actual playing - it was over in no time at all. Was really interesting to see the progression of skill from one course to the next, and encouraged us to seriously think about doing the next level. For me, the next level is a must - its a forced practice once a week.
The event took place at a pub called "Millhouse", up the road from Kyalami. Forgot the camera at home, so don't have any pictures, but Gillian (who also played in our group) took her camera, so will try and get some pics. Nothing glamorous...but proof of playing live nonetheless.

Landis guilty or not?

It came as quite a shock on Wednesday last week - listening to radio on the way home, news that Floyd Landis had been suspended by his team for failing a doping test. After supporting this guy for the past three weeks, you can imagine the disappointment I felt. I mean, what kind of fool takes performance enhancing substances, when he is the favourite to win the Tour de France. Given the recent events, and the scandal at the start of the Tour, you would have to be some kind of idiot to think that you could get away with something like this. The long and the short of it, is that nothing has been proven yet. There are two samples taken in the tests, and the first sample has shown signs of "elevated levels of testosterone". As the days have gone by, the allegations have dropped from "doping", to more like "cheating" - as there is no substance abuse involved from what I have been able to read. It is widely known that Floyd has a degrading hip, and has been on medication for some time now. Some even speculate that the rise is testosterone can be put down to natural reasons - especially given the physical changes that an athletes body goes through whilst riding a race like the Tour de France.
Nevertheless, there is a cloud hanging over the victory - and whether the rise on testosterone is put down to natural causes, or deliberate cheating - the Tour is once again tainted with controversy.
Check out this useful Tour blog for more detail.

Guitar Update

I mentioned a while back that K and I had started guitar lessons with a group of mates that K used to work with. We have one week of "Beginner Lessons" left.

The time has flown, and whilst we have not practiced as much as we should have (mainly because good practice involves an hour a day - I think our record is about 2 hours a week :-), we certainly have learnt a few things in the 12 weeks since starting.

We have our "gig" next weekend - all the classes from beginner to super advanced will converge on a local pub in Kyalami, and thrash it out to a live audience. Should be a real hoot - especially given the fact that all our practice has involved reading the chords directly from a book, and there will be no books on Saturday...

Amongst the songs that we'll be playing: Knocking on Heaven's Door, Let it Be, Stand By Me and Wonderful Tonight.

Will keep you posted on how well (or not) it goes.

Tour Update

Well, it may have been a farce to start off with, but this years Tour has certainly been filled with excitement and tension, right up until the penultimate day, the Individual Time Trial. This week has seen some fantastic swings at the front of the general classification. The stages on Wednesday and Thursday this week must rate as some of the most entertaining in years - with Floyd Landis losing 10 minutes in the Alps on Wednesday and being written off as a contender for this year, to fighting back in an aggressive breakaway on Thursday, and claiming back 7 of those 10 minutes. Todays time trial saw only 30 seconds between 1st and 3rd position (Oscar Pereiro in 1st, Carlos Sastre in 2nd and Landis in 3rd). Needless to say, Landis has launched himself straight back into top spot, with a 59 second lead as the riders tackle the final stage into Paris tomorrow. Unless something really dramatic happens, Landis has already won this years Tour - as there is no real attack on the final day. The yellow jersey is acknowledged, and the riders will fight it out for the glory of a win on the Champs Elysees, rather than trying to take time out of the yellow jersey.

I picked Floyd as the winner three weeks ago, and its been touch and go from the start (he lost valuable time in the prologue stage, after spotting a cut in his tire, and missing his time trial starting time). Although he wore yellow in the second week, this past week has seen him move from favourite, to write off, and back into guaranteed winner again. Even though the usual heads of state have not been present in the tour this year, it has turned out to be a fantastic spectacle once again.

Tour de Farce....

Lets put this in context quickly...for the last 5 years, I have been absolutely hooked, enthralled, entertained, addicted and caught up in the hype of the Tour de France. I don't watch cycling per se, but when July rolls around, and the Tour starts - the television remains fixed on the cycling, and hour upon hour of couch time gets racked up. Yes - for three weeks during the cold winter month (which also happens to perfectly coincide with K's year end) you will find me glued to the action taking place in "le tour". The commentary of Paul Sherwin and Phil Liggett are familiar voices that echo throughout the lounge each year, and provide intense and exciting accounts of the days action. There is just nothing that describes the kick that I get out of this most dramatic sporting event - claimed to be the toughest endurance sport on earth.
So...imagine my dissapointment this afternoon at reading that the two favourites this year have been suspended from racing, on the eve of the start of TDF2006, for their involvement in a doping scandal. Jan Ullrich, who has won the event only once (1997), and come runner up to Lance Armstrong on 5 occasions, and was set to give it one last stab before retiring - and Ivan Basso, who was runner up to Lance last year, and winner of the Giro de Italia by more than 9 minutes - both suspended by their teams today. Truly, truly dissapointing as this would have been an epic battle without the dominant presence of Lance in this years race.
So, with Ullrich and Basso out of contention this year, I'd have to place my money on Phonak's Floyd Landis to take the podium in Paris. Landis is a former team mate of Armstrong's, and Phonak's lead rider in this years race. South Africa's Robbie Hunter is one of the support riders who will be helping Landis to take the lead in the General Classification, so I guess that's another reason to support Landis. There is still a lot of fierce competition to contend with - so its definitely not a one horse race just yet. The likes of Cadel Evans (the Aussie), Alexander Vinokourov (not sure whether he will race either - same doping scandal has resulted in his team having their sponsorship dropped - although he is not implicated at this stage), Francisco Mancebo, Paulo Salvodelli (still with Armstrong's Discovery team) and Jose Asevedo (another Discovery rider) are all strong possibilities.
Still, my money sits with Landis. The Tour starts tomorrow...I've placed my bet. Lets see how my prediction turns out in 3 weeks time.

Whistle Stop trip to the Mother City

How's this for a great day.
Wake up at 5am on Wednesday (ok, 5am is early - and that's not the great part, but wait - it gets better), get ready and get dropped off at the airport at 6am. The mission - go down to CT for a 1 hour meeting with one of my biggest customers.
I check in with 2 minutes to spare...no queues. Go straight to the gate to board the plane - 5th last person to board. Again, no queues.
Proceed to the back of the plane - aisle seat, with nobody sitting in the middle seat, and Vanessa Carreira (ex Miss SA) sitting at the window seat.
Pleasant flight down - offered some gum by Ms Carreira after touching down. Politely refuse, but thank her anyway (I have my own gum in my top shirt pocket).
Proceed to car rental counter - get keys to car, and make my way (traffic free) to the offices of my meeting. The directions that I have been given are dead accurate.
Arrive 15 minutes early for the meeting - settle into the comfortable couch at reception, and enjoy a cup of coffee (my second of the day - which is unusual for me, as I don't normally drink coffee).
Ushered into the meeting room, and get on with the meeting. Its a big deal for me. Could potentially solve a whole lot of frustration if this customer accepts our proposal (its for a hardware upgrade - a big upgrade - which will lead to a new web application being developed - a big web application). Meeting goes better than expected. Decision is made that the upgrade will take place. Make some mental notes to update the proposal - have a 2 week deadline for this, as the IT Manager will be going on leave and will only be back to sign in 2 weeks.
Make my way to our office in CT. Pick up my CT based project manager and another colleague. Its my turn to treat them to lunch.
We head off to a place called "Wakame" in Mouille Point.
Order a bottle of Louisvale unwooded Sauvignon Blanc. Goes perfectly with our sushi platter. Get the bill, part ways with the project manager and colleague (they took their own car), and head back to the airport.
Arrive 20 minutes early - return the car, and proceed through the checkpoint (I checked in once, at Jhb - so no need to check in at CT - aisle seat again).
Head for Exclusive Books (my second favourite shop, after Musica, and before Cape Union Mart) and purchase a copy of this months Bicycling magazine. I get it becasue it has a Tour de France stage schedule, and preview of this years race. I'm a big fan.
Proceed to the British Airways lounge, help myself to a drink and watch 5 minutes of the football.
Finish my drink and start making my way to the boarding gate - again, no queue.
Make my way onto the plane and find my seat. This time, its Kobus (and not Ms Carreira) who I have the pleasure of sitting next to. I find my magazine very interesting.
Flight lands 5 minutes before schedule - all I have is my laptop, so step off the plane, walk through the terminal, and who should be waiting for me right outside the front door - my beautiful wife.

A better day I could not have asked for.

Back to nature

Our time in the bush was not only memorable, but pretty chilly too. We stayed at Kwafubesi tented camp, situated in the Mabula game reserve. Although the camp is pretty luxurious, the tents remain tents, and the nights get cold in June. Nevertheless, the days were warm and we had a pretty relaxing time.

Amongst the animals that we saw: Elephant, Lion, Rhino, Hippo, Giraffe, Impala, Kudu, Hartebeest, Blesbok, Springbok, Ostrich, Warthog, Zebra and a porcupine. Some of the birds worth mentioning - Lilac Breasted Roller; Yellow Billed Hornbill and Crimson Breasted Shrike (probably one of the most beautiful bush birds you can ever hope to see).

Below...some of the better pics.
Nice looking tree atop a hill overlooking the reserve.







The thatched lapa that we had breakfast, lunch and dinner at.







The main dam, and watering hole. Also home to the familt of eight Hippo that we saw.