March 2007

The aerial photo I posted last year of the Reading festival comes up right at the top of a google image search for “Reading festival aerial photo”. Consequently a lot of people have been pilfering my bandwidth!

Somebody has finally scanned the newspaper clip sky photo of Reading 2006 which shows just how big it was! We were right at the back in the Camper Van section. Its one massive festival.

PS: Looks like Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Razorlight are headlining this year!

Herewith an email transcript (slightly edited) between old friends (both atheists). I thought I’d share it because a) I think its interesting and b) I am too busy to post anything else at the moment:

This is brilliant. I was watching a political debate involving Peter Hitchens on TV so I looked up his bio on Wikipedia. I dunno if you know who he is, you have probably heard of his slightly more famous - certainly in the context of the US - brother Christopher. I think Christopher is normally pretty spot on and I remember reading ages ago about how the two brothers didn’t get on. This was the first time I had researched what Peter was all about. I set about reading his bio which I found myself agreeing with most of his thinking when I got to the part about his religious belief:

Hitchens sees evolution as a speculative and unfalsifiable theory
which cannot be observed in progress. He reasons that if it took place
in the past it did so before there were any human witnesses, and that
if it is taking place now it is operating so slowly that our
civilisation is likely to perish long before it has been able to
record it in action.

Read the rest of this entry »

Think about your web presence, think about how much you can actually squeeze into your day and where best to spend your time online. Thats what I’m doing right now.

Firstly there’s your own personal blog, something that lets you track what your thoughts are and provides a platform to the world for your opinions. Jon Cherry mentioned, on both Amplitude and his TV interview, the need to find your blog niche and then stick to that topic, something he does really well with CherryFlava. My blog is not about that, rather its a platform to discuss whatever it is I feel like talking about, I am not one dimensional in life and my blog reflects that. Being active in the SA blogosphere has resulted in my exposure to many new forms of social blog related activity. I have found myself embracing and enjoying each new thing as it comes along, I am an avid Muti fan and I’m already addicted to the brand spanking new Amatomu.

So what about Facebook, MyBlogLog, MySpace, Twitter etc. Well, Facebook is probably the next generation of MySpace, and yes I also have a MySpace account but I don’t really use it. Facebook still has its problems and can be very frustrating but its miles ahead of MySpace.

MyBlogLog irritates me, why is it so difficult to use properly, I shouldn’t have to use the back button to get around a social interface site! I don’t really use it ‘cos I don’t want to waste my time fiddling around a user unfriendly site.

I get Twitter, I really do, its fun knowing “what people are doing” but some things have to be sacrificed for others and I guess I am making a decision that the best way to keep people informed about my life and my opinions is through my Blog.

So let it be known, tomorrow I am flying to Prague to run a half-marathon, next week Wednesday I am playing golf at the Grove, the course Tiger introduced himself to me at before going on to win the World Golf Championship last year, you jealous yet? In about 2 weeks time I am flying to Washington DC and then onto Dallas and then in less than a month I embark on my round the world trip, taking in Durban, Joburg, Melbourne, LA, San Diego, Las Vegas, Dallas, Chicago and then home.

Now I ask you, given what you’ve read above, if you’ve bothered reading this far, are you not surprised I haven’t discussed online dating. Fortunately I have enough game not to need it.

“You’re so money baby!”

Last night on the Gadget Show I saw a review of a great little software add-on for Skype. Its a lie-detector by KishKish, and according to the test they did on the show it actually works. Download it, call somebody on Skype and check whether or not they’re lying. Nifty!

Kevin is gathering some amazing photos of the crazy scenes on Durban beaches, go check them out.

I remember this happening back in 1998/99 (?) . 

You gotta be slightly crazy to go out surfing in those waves. Come to think of it I know exactly who is…….

I was quoted in the Sunday Times this weekend in an article about the Blog Awards controversy. I feel like I need to clarify my position on the awards because when only one line is quoted from an entire post with 50 + comments things can sometimes get lost in translation. It may appear from this one quote that I am against the awards, but this is certainly not the case.

I fully support the awards, the way it is being run and I think it is far better than in previous years. I don’t however agree with the whole “can’t we just all get along” brigade who try and stifle debate and contructive criticism. The organisers have called it a “democracy” and have encouraged those with ideas on improving the awards sytem for next year to come forward. So discussing it like adults is what we should be doing rather than “flaming” each other by referring to people as “whiney bastards” or calling the awards a sham.

The awards are not a sham, they were created to expose the local blogosphere ahead of their secondary function which is to acknowledge the winners of each category. As I have said before the awards should be considered frivolous fun, prizes and acknowledgement should be seen as a positive spin-off. What certainly isn’t frivolous though is the work that has gone into the awards and I’m sure the people putting all their hard work into it would like to see it improved as much as possible given the amount of “free time” actually available.

I won’t go into all my specific reservations about the actual awards process as they’re pretty clear in my previous post. I do however agree with WiredGecko and a few others that the primary cause for controversy stems from a lack of communication. The awards site tries its best to explain a fairly tricky system but unfortunately it left a bit too much hanging. A lot more has come out recently from those working behind the scenes to suggest the system is working as best as it possibly can.

Which brings me onto the final issue I have to address. I think once and for all a decision must be made as to whether 2oceansvibe is actually a blog. It surely already qualifies as a blog by virtue of the fact it has won many awards in the past and it currently features in these awards as a nominated blog in many categories, which begs the question: If the 2oceansvibe allegations are true, then why exactly was 2oceansvibe deliberately removed from the Best Blog category nomination by the organisers? It is an extremely popular blog and surely that is what ultimately defines a good blog. In this blog awards contest the public vote only counts for 50%, but if a blog is not nominated the public vote counts for sweet FA!

Today is the last day to vote for the great South African Blog Awards, so if you haven’t cast your ballot then please do so by clicking the “vote for me” button on the left. There are some brilliant blogs out there and although there is mild “controversy” surrounding the actual process of the awards the event itself is a brilliant way to publicise and generate interest in local South African blogging.

Tomorrow is St Paddy’s day and it looks set to be a ripper, my last blow-out before the half marathon next Saturday in Prague. The Beast is in town, the Monk is back from Brazil and Hatcher is up for it big time.

When I lived in South Africa I didn’t quite appreciate how beautiful and magnificent Cape Town actually is. You see, I had only lived, worked and studied in 3 cities (Durban, Joburg , Cape Town) and had never left South Africa, so I really did not have much to compare it against. Now that I have travelled the world a bit I can say with conviction that in comparison to other famously beautiful cities Cape Town is amazing!

I had a great time in Cape Town when I was back in December, visiting some of my favourite places like Franschoek and Langebaan. Only last night did I get the chance to upload the first batch of photos from my trip back to SA, so check out some of the Cape Town photos now.

PS: I have also added photos of Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, the site where JFK was shot. I think I have said it before but if you ever get the chance do not miss the JFK museum on the 6th Floor of the Book Depository, where you can actually stand next to the window he was shot from.

Last night I stayed up to watch the opening ceremony of the Cricket World Cup in Jamaica. So far I have read reports from those who actually attended the event and they seemed to have enjoyed it. I, on the other hand, thought it was terrible. It was uncoordinated, confusing, cheap and boring, in one word - shambolic. Now I appreciate this is the West Indies and they’re hardly known for their production prowess, this really showed in the broadcast I watched, the sound quality was horrendous and the choreography was clearly not made for TV. What was with all the miming and pretend drum beating?!

Seriously, if you’re gonna put on a production the world is watching try and do it well, otherwise take the money and spend it on something worthwhile.

My gripe about the opening ceremony aside, I think this is going to be a great world cup. The atmosphere in the Caribbean will be fantastic and I think we’re gonna see some great games. I reckon Sri Lanka will win it although I hope finally South Africa win what is rightfully theirs as the number 1 team in the world!

Staying with sport, my beloved Sharks are playing some great rugby at the moment and I reckon they could go all the way. Provided of course the Auckland Blues never again play as well as they did this weekend and we get a home semi and final. A long way still to go!

This year a panel of judges have been selected to help determine the outcome of the South African Blog awards. Let me first say I think the award process is far better this year (no more ballot stuffing, more tech friendly etc) and I take my hat off to the guys who have organised it. The thing is, like legislation, once you start trying to improve something you open up other loopholes. I won’t go into the debate about the new logo, that looks like it’s been well sorted, but here are my reservations about the actual awards process.

I have no idea how or who determined the panelists but it does strike me as inappropriate that most of the panelists are also nominated for awards, as well as some obvious omissions from the panelists, I’d be intrigued to know how the judges got the nod.

I don’t quite understand what the judging criteria will be. How will a panel judge, who may never have read a certain blog, be able to objectively determine whether that blog deserves an award over another blog which the panelist has read the entire year. Are the panelists going to read the archives of all the blogs they have to judge. If they are, they’ll have a hard time doing that with bloggers like Peas and Champs who don’t allow access to their archives, at best the judges will have to assess the blogs on their last week of writing, no pressure on them next week then!
What makes certain panelists experts on the different categories, I stand to be corrected but I have not noticed a single panelist ever comment on any of the political blogs, except perhaps mine and Champs which are more social blogs than political blogs.

Perhaps there should be a seperate award, for example, a Panelists Award and then a Public Award.

Obviously the decision to implement a judging panel was to avoid the awards becoming a simple popularity vote. But then surely this same procedure should have been applied to the nominations stage where there are clearly instances of popular blogs being nominated in categories they simply shouldn’t be. A good example is Splattermail, a very popular and brilliantly funny blog which has righly been nominated in a number of categories but has also been nominated in the category “Best Design”, a bit absurd when you consider the blog is a standard Wordpress Kubrick template with a personalised header.

Finally, there are people out there who think something sinister is behind the awards process this year (check the comments here). They believe that the SA Blogosphere is a “closed club” using words like “cliquey” and “cronyism” to describe it. In my opinion the SA blogosphere is fantastic, it is small, yes, but it is extremely interactive which is what blogging is all about. Blogging is about being social and getting involved. I have met very few fellow bloggers, but I feel like I could email any one of the blogs I read regularly and have an offline conversation about something of mutual interest. The SA blogosphere is extremely friendly, helpful and most of all inclusive. If you’re not involved, its not the fault of those who are, you just need to interACT.

Reminds me of a joke I often throw into heated discussions to confuse or difuse the situation “As an outsider, what do you think of the Human Race?”

So you you’re out for a cruise, posing in your brothers car with a mate. You steam round the corner and crash into a pregnant woman in a Vauxhall (Opel) Astra, literally smashing the UK record for the most expensive write-off!

Check out more photos of the smashed Bugatti Veyron which crashed just outside London on Sunday.

The SA Blog Awards are here and this year it’s a slick professional production put on by the team from Cherryflava and Your Group of Web AddiCT(s).

Last year I got the runner-up prize in the only category I was nominated in - Best Overseas South African blog. This year I have again been nominated, thanks friends, and again I will make the same promise if I win, I’ll stick a £1,000 on Red when I get to Vegas, if I win I will give it all to a South African charity of your choice, I guess you already know the result!

There are some new categories and loads of new blogs. So go check them out and enjoy perusing all the new stuff you find. Get voting by clicking on the button above or go straight to the voting page.

Please note that after you have made your selection you need to validate your vote by clicking on the link sent in the confirmation email!

PS: This year I was surprised to see Wozafriday nominated in an additional category - Best Political Blog. Nice one buddies, in my opinion this is the hardest category in which to pick a winner, one thing is for sure, that winner is not me and neither is it Steve Hofmeyer!!

A few people have asked me why I haven’t posted for almost an entire week. Well, there is the small matter of work, which is stacking up everyday and things are busy right now, and will remain busy for quite some time.

I am also training for this damn half-marathon in Prague in a couple of weeks time. Running every night of the week except Mondays and Thursday when I go to the gym. On Sunday I ran for an hour and a half in the cold, dark, miserable rain. The next day my knees felt like they had been beaten with a baseball bat. Did a gym session last night and thankfully they feel alright today. The primary reason I am doing all this running is because 2 years ago I had a knee operation in India and I now want to prove to myself that it is fully healed. A moot point after this weekend.

I’m also in the midst of arranging my plans for the round-the world-in-14 days trip. London to Ballito for The Boats wedding, then onto Melbourne for ANZAC day Collingwood v Essendon game at the 100,000 seater MCG and then the small matter of Trumans wedding, the primary reason for the entire trip actually. I’m looking forward to it, I really enjoyed my trip to Australia back in 2004 but I never made it down to Melbourne.

After Australia I’m off to Los Angeles. I’ll be in LA for about 3 days, I’m hiring a convertible ford mustang and hopefully going down to Orange County and doing a bit of site seeing and beach bumming.

The primary reason for hiring the car is to get to Las Vegas. The biggest boxing match in Vegas history will be fought on the 5th May and I have tickets. A few mates are flying in from London to meet up with me and although their budget extends to the Bellagio mine will only cover something a little less extravagant, although I still want to stay on the Strip.

After the fight I drive back to LA and fly onwards to Dallas for business.

I am also in the process of planning my trip to Paris for the world cup in Sep/Oct. At the moment I’m thinking along the lines of an apartment and a minibus tour for 8 of us with the possibility of squeezing in the Belgian F1 Grand Prix after the England game.

So blogging has taken a back seat recently, c’est la vie!

PS: Because the Darester has decided that his wedding is formal and I now have to drag my Tuxedo around the world for a single day in Melbourne, I am thinking of making the Tux my round-the-world theme. I might wear it in SA to the Boats wedding, then I’ll wear it at the MCG in Melbourne, then at Tru’s wedding, then at a baseball game in LA and finally the boxing match in Vegas.