FWC 2010: Brazil v Côte d'Ivoire

Soccer City is an amazing stadium - not only beautiful at night, but also really good organisation (even with the inevitable disorganised South African queues at the security check points). Very spacious, it really defines what sport stadiums should be like! And with a near full house (over 95% attendance), it was an absolutely amazing atmosphere.



The Brazilians truly dress up for the occasion, and while Zakumi draped in a Brazilian flag was a stuffed doll, there were people dressed in various animal costumes, a fan dressed as a Mexican wrestler cum super-hero and a whole lot more. And there were plenty of replica world cup trophies; leaving no doubt on the expectations that the fans have of their team.



The game itself was high scoring, and with the red card for Kaka, featured a bit of everything. But the Ivorians were mostly outclassed - not in their ability to stand up to the Brazilians, but in two crucial areas: bad defending (and communication at defence) and even worse passing. Countless opportunities were lost where the pass was just too strong, and the striker or wing just not being able to get to it in time. There was also some rather bad decision making in terms of passing to the wrong player or not striking or passing the ball when there seemed to be an opportunity.





This is the only Category 1 ticket I bought for my games, and had an amazing view of the game; which also allowed to take some nice pics. I really enjoyed the Soccer City experience, and look forward to my next two matches there.

FWC 2010: Cameroon v Denmark

Ultimately, this ended up being a fairly depressing night for African football, as one of the best African teams on paper, became the first team to crash out, without scoring a point. It had started so well, but Cameroon fluffed so many chances, they trully did not deserve to win.

It was a great game from the Danish perspective, and the Danish fans were a great bunch (I was surrounded by them). They played better football overall, and had some very fast counter attacks.

Loftus, was once more, not full - and yet again it seems mostly to be the hospitality sections. Maybe Loftus, being the stronghold of the Bulls, just has too many hospitality suites and not enough standard seats; but empty seats are not good signs regardless.

Fan Diplomacy

On Saturday, I sat next to C, a temporary dimplomat working in the German Embassy. The German embassy has created a fan embassy, travelling around with the German team. The intention is to expedite any issues German visitors may encounter in SA - typical German efficiency! That said, C, did think that it was just an excuse to travel around SA watching football. C, the temporary dimplomat was in SA to staff the normal embassy operations - and he didn't mind as he is taking the opportunity to watch as many games as he can!

What was most interesting however, was his comments on the world cup so far. In his knowledge, there have only been two incidences that have been dealt with the fan embassy - lost passports in Durban. On that basis, this has been a very much trouble free WC - and that is great news to hear!

He did think that PE was not a good choice for game venue - it was simply too far from other venues; and that is his rationalle on why the games haven't been well atteneded. PE is too far to drive from Gauteng for a day trip (unlike Nelspruit, Polokwane and Rustenburg) or in fact from Durban and CT. In many respects I agree - but I also think the Arts Fest etc. did not advertise well enough of the merits and could have made it work better.

Supporter Clubs

One of the impressive aspects of the FWC, is the "Supporter Clubs". The temporary dimplomat from Saturday explained, that there are a number of supporter clubs in Europe, especially Germany, who go round the world watching football matches. The supporter clubs rank up "points" on the games they show their banners at - although he was unsure of what the points entailed.

Grosblie, is one of those prominent clubs - but there are a lot more - and they certainly lend an interesting dimension to the experience.

FIFA Fan Park

I decided to go watch the Spain v Switzerland match at one of the FIFA Fan parks; and had initially decided on Innesfree Park in Sandton. However, the parking arrangements for the fan park is convoluted, and not exactly welcoming - so decided to head to the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown instead; where parking is literally round the corner.

The Fan parks are well set up, with plenty of food and beverage stalls; as well as various other smaller stalls selling clothing, DVDs (bliksem DVD is an awesome concept), crafts etc. The atmosphere was festive, and despite the bitter cold; people were thoroughly enjoying themselves. There was also some DJs and dancing during the half time break on the stage.

FWC 2010: Serbia v Ghana

Match 8, Serbia v Ghana, is the first of my 5 FIFA World Cup Games, and took place at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. One of the standout achievements of the World Cup so far, has been the organisation - which has run almost like clockwork. And it was evident at Loftus. I used the park and walk and not only was it easy to find and navigate to; but getting out was a comparative breeze. From getting into the car, to reaching home (about 35 Km away), it took just over an hour - and about 30 minutes of that was in the parking lot. As a comparison, it took over an hour, just to get out of the parking lot at Carnival City! Even then, suggestions can be made - like starting to fill the parking lot from the front; so first arrivals get better spots.

The game was rowdy - as can be expected. Not only was there the buzzing vuvuzelas, but also a range of drums and trumpets - mostly from the Ghanaian supporters, who easily outnumbered the Serbian supporters. And the team showed appreciation - not only greeting the fans after the match around the stadium; but also before the beginning of the match.

Ghana played the better football throughout the match - they seemed to be a lot faster, a lot more skilled and more hungrier to win. That said, this only seemed to apply to the 80% of the pitch - the moment they came to the 20% near the Serbian goalpost, their passing strayed, their shots were wide and the headers were off mark. That said, Ghana was quite unlucky(or Serbia was very lucky) in having two attempts bouncing off the goalposts. The score of 1-0 reflected correctly that the better side was Ghana, but while both sides had plenty of chances, neither actually got to scoring in the field of play.

The stadium was surprisingly not full although most of the free seats seemed to belong to boxes; which probably means that there was a huge number of hospitality seats that were not sold. I wonder if FIFA does fireside sales to drive up attendance for poorly sold matches. It was a great experience, and am looking forward to my next match on Saturday, Cameroon v Denmark, also at Loftus.

Johannesburg Philahrmonic Orchestra

The JPO's last concert for the second season was last night, and it was a trully different concert. The JPO is providing the backing music for the World Cup ceremnoies, and working with Lebo M (who is the producer). So, Lebo M performed an unscheduled song - with the full orchestra backing! The song was originally a tribute to his mom, but he changed it to a tribute to to Siphiwo Ntshebe, an opera singer who died of meningitis recently; and was intimately involved in the performance.

Schubert's unfinished symphony was the first "scheduled" performance piece; but I did not enjoy it much. And I think it was more the performance than the piece in this case :(

But the real attraction was Beethoven's 9^th Symphony, with a full choir (Gauteng Choristers), and soloists from Opera Africa. The orchestrata performance was superb, and at a high tempo - with excellent choral performance. Unfortunately, the soloists were rather poor last night, with the Soprano overwhelming the other members. But the choir and orchestra made up for their lack of performance!

It seems that next season also features similar collaborative efforts - I am looking forward to it.

Bafunny Bafunny

Went to watch super team of South African stand up comedy last night at Carnival City. Comprising of Mark Banks, Barry Hilton, Marc Lottering, Kagiso Lediga, Nik Rabinowitz, Loyiso Gola, John Flismas and Trevor Noah, it was missing only one other top comic in my books - David Kau.

Politically incorrect (to the extreme in the case of John Flismas), most comics focused on a healthy dose of politics (Zuma, Malema and Zille being the prime targets), immigration, crime and off course soccer (with a smattering of rugby and cricket). Personally Nik Rabinowitz and Trevor Noah were the best comics in the show, but each of the comics had their standout moments.

Given a show time of about 3 hours including the interval, the R200 for the tickets was well worth it. However, Carnival City as a venue, is certainly not my favourite. Not only is it far, but the traffic congestion within the parking lot was horrible (took almost an hour to get out).

Super 14 Final

Rugby in Soweto - not as novel as last week, but still an incredible experience. One of our key security suppliers invited a colleague and myself to the final, and it was an incredible experience.

It was not only the setting - but the atmosphere outside the ground was also quite impressive. The locals really took it to heart, and well, tried to make a few bucks also by offering "secure parking"; often with signs in Afrikaans to help, such as the offer of "koue biere vir Blou Bulle".

Orland Stadium is actually very impressive, with excellent view of the field. The "big screens" are rather small, but apart from that, it is an excellent stadium for sport watching; with an incredible atmosphere. And the vuvuzelas, really trumpeted; mostly blown by the rugby supporters themselves; as opposed to being blown by locals. Given this, I think it is highly hypocritical for rugby authorities to ban vuvuzelas from their stadiums!

The game itself, while good rugby, was marred by the Stormers consistently giving away penalties, within kickable distance from the posts. That more than anything else gave the Bulls the victory. And while it can be debated whether the Stormers were denied a try; Bulls did, overall, play a better game.

But the standout memory of the afternoon occurred on the way to the game. About a KM away, while waiting in traffic, one of the guys needed to go to take a leak. So he and his friend jumped out, and went to the toilet at one of the houses on the side. Later, he commented, any other suburb in predominately white communities, this would be unheard off - even if it was in the neighborhood of Loftus or Newlands! And when they came back, a French girl, also jumped in. She was a reporter for a French radio station, and spent some time interviewing us of what we thought of the event and our experiences so far. Just before the stadium, she jumped out, probably to interview more people!

Apple Standardised?

One of the people in the Super 14 party yesterday, commented that one of the nice things she likes about her new Apple iPhone is the "standardised connector". At first pass, this sounded rather wierd - but she explained that both her iPod (about 4 years old), her kids' iPod (more recent), her husband's iPod (very new) and her iPhone (also new) - all used the same connector, and for that matter same charger system. In comparison, her Nokia phones she had used previously all had different chargers; while her husband's Blackberry (he is on his third or fourth one now) has also had different chargers.

In the IT world, we think that standardisation is a globally agreed set of principles - but maybe, just consitency in usage and design within a manufacturer is enough! Maybe, the whole concept of long standardised, interoperability - which is often long winded, compromised and even more often, ineffective, would be rather better served by stadradisation and consistency within the manufaturer?

Fight Night, My Life on Fire, 40 Day Journey and Groundstar

It has been a while since I was last at Back2Basix (but nothing has really changed). There was a small crowd, mostly friends of the bands it seems. Maybe, I need to find some new venues! A general comment, with regards to the venue - their sound mixing really sucks. Except when there are high profile bands (who probably bring their own sound guy, the mixing is quite bad - with a lot more instrumentals and a lot less vocals. That, or the bands are just covering up their weak vocals :)

Fight Night
A very unremarkable band, with almost non existent stage presence, inaudible lyrics (though that could be due to the mixing) and songs that sounded alike. Nothing to like, and quite disappointing. They do have a Facebook page it seems.

My Life on Fire
Their warmup was already better than Fight Night, but again nothing really amazing. The singer seems to have a lot of potential, but was once again drowned by the mixing. Quite good energy on stage, though nothing really amazing. They band did give away a few T-Shirts, but they really need to learn to throw :) They do seem to have a Facebook page.

40 Day Journey
A 3-piece metal band, they were probably the best musically, with an incredible drummer and a really high energy set. Very entertaining to watch. They do seem to have a Facebook page it seems.

Groundstar
Definitely the most interesting band in the lineup, playing mostly rock (as opposed to metal), featuring a female lead singer and 2 backing male vocalist. This combination has a lot of potential, allowing for a wider range of vocal performance; which was sadly not really utilised too much. The stage performance wasn't that briliant either - but definitely a band with some potential.

Counting Crows, Police Escorts and a lot of expensive storage

I was in Boston for EMC World a very big vendor conference. EMC is largely known for its storage solutions, but there are a number of other products and services, notably VMWare and RSA. My engagement with EMC has largely been around RSA, so it was a good opportunity to learn about the other products and services offered by EMC. The big disappointment in my view was the under representation of RSA and VMWare,with a lot more focus on storage and software products.

It is quite interesting to attend an event of this size. The Counting Crows, were the entertainment for the first night,but they were really disappointing. They had no interest and their engagement with the crowd, understandable given that they have already been paid, and thus have no real stake in the performance. Another day, the shuttle bus from the hotel was given a police escort, easing the way through traffic. Being a Boston based company, EMC obviously has some clout in the city.

It was certainly a good experience, and the side discussions and networking certainly helps!

Newest Toy

My first experience of an Apple Store, was in New York on 14th Street (near Chinatown). It was the day before the US elections in 2004, and the store was revealing their 30" LCD monitors. Since then, I have bought an iPod and a Macbook, in previous trips to the US.

As a retail store, the Apple Store has always facinated me in how much more effecient and engaging the staff are when compared to other retailers. There seems to be a much higher percentage of sales staff to customers, and the sales staff really know about their products.

But what is most interesting, for me, is the whole mobile sales process; and the evloution thereof. When I bought my iPod, (2005 IIRC), the sale took place at a traditional till point, with a traditional receipt. 2 Years later, when I bought my Macbook, the sale took place with a mobile terminal right next to the area where the sale took place (and the salesperson was not too sure on how to take the sale in all cash).

So this long post, is really to gloat about my newest toy - the bottom of the range iPad (no 3G). The mobile terminal has evolved further, featuring an iPhone (or an iPod Touch) with a barcode scanner and a card reader. I had booked my iPad on Sunday, so it was really a collection together with getting an iPad case (the Apple case is better than the other cases I have seen so far) and off course payment. The receipt was emailed to me, so there was absolutely no paperwork.

The iPad is my riskiest tech purchase I think, with no International warranty coverage, and no access to official iPad apps. So, Spirit jailbreak and Cydia it will be. I am also not sure what I really want to do with it (other than surf the web from my bed), but I have been impressed with it as a device so far.

Blame it on the volcano?

My flight from Frankfurt to Boston was delayed by just over an hour. When the announcement was made in the lounge, the flight was apparently delayed "due to the volcano" - although the German version of the announcement made no such references. And seeing that the flight did take place, just over 90 minutes later; with the flight path directly over Iceland, it raises the question - are all delays for the next while going to be blamed on the volcano?

SAA Departure Lounge at ORTIA

The new SAA departure lounge at OR Tambo is absolutely stunning, in both layout and facilities (although the food section seems to be lacking a bit). There is a stunnign view of the airfield, and individual areas with TVs, business centre, kids area, etc. It is definitely one of the best lounges I have been to (although, to be honest, I haven't been to many of them).

Company Innovation

I have recently changed my responsibilities, and one of my old responsibilities was in innovation management within my company. Innovation is a tricky subject, and there was a lot of frustration, in getting the right audience to take innovative ideas seriously.

I am travelling again, and my shuttle driver, Steve, and I got on our seemingly favourite topic - the Gautrain. In my opinion, the Guatrain does not necessarily represent a threat to Steve's company - but rather a potential for new and different business models. He agreed, and we started talking about very different ways that the Gautrain could actually help his company instead of hamper the company's services.

That said, a clear fact also emerged - his company did not value input from employees - and in fact, when input was given, the credit was frequently taken up by management instead of the employees. And for that reason alone, Steve would not approach his bosses with any new ideas.

Innovation is a critical success factor for any company, but I think the integrity in how employees are treated is more important to get right first.

------------------------
Previous post about conversation with Steve.

Conversation with taxi drivers from Hamburg and Amsterdam.

Gmail Cleverness

I was writing an email in gmail, meaning to send an attachment (which I forgot to actually include). However, I did write "I have attached ...", and GMail picked it up, and asked whether I wanted to attach file to the email. Which obviosuly leads to the question - what combinations of the word attach does GMail understand? Investigation is warranted ...

Juggernaught, The Mean Streets, Half Price and Pestroy

Public holidays are good excuses to have a party, and Back 2 Basix hosted Half Price's album launch last night. Since I hadn't been to a rock gig since Thornfest, I decided to check this out.

Juggernaught looks like a hard core rock band; but they mumbled through a 40 minute set; with some pretty mediocre music accompanying the mumbling. The potential was there - the combination of blues and rock can be really good (like Death Valley Blues Band), but this really requires very strong vocals in both ability and clarity. Neither the vocalist, nor the backing vocalist demontstrated such ability. Maybe they were drunk; who knows - their music was rather uninspiring and, in my opinion, not very good.

The Mean Streets doesn't seem to have a website (well there is a band from Philadelphia with the same name); and while they did not look like hippie rockers, they played a lot better rock music when compared to Juggernaught (they do seem to have a facebook page). The music was not particularly memorable, but they had a good stage presence, and good rapport with the crowd. They claim to be "not afraid to take on Government and authority and proud to admit that they hate both", but their lyrics seemed to be pretty simple and not very confrontational.

Half Price is a punk band based in Cape Town, and I was very impressed with their show. The music was great, very good stage show with some decent lyrics. There is quite a bit of Ska influence, and their songs generally have a good party vibe. They seem to have a lot of supporters in Johannesburg, and the club was packed.

Pestroy was the main motivation for going to the gig, and like Thornfest, a large portion of the crowd had all left by the time they came on stage. Despite the smaller crowd, Pestroy played a great 45 minute set with quite a few older songs; and was a great gig. The fact that they have a fairly big repertoire helps, and many of the songs didn't feature on their original set list.

Bulls vs The Hurricanes

Went to see the Bulls vs The Hurricanes, courtesy of one of the vendors I deal with at work (in their shared box). I had always heard of the great atmosphere in Loftus; and even though it wasn't full house; it was a very supportive crowd. The rugby itself was rather uninspiring for most of the game - with a few flashes of individual brilliance here and there. It wasn't a great game to be honest; and the Bulls struggled a lot with basic errors throughout the game.

What was really interesting was the allowance of letting the crowd onto the field after the game (and ceremonial duties were concluded). Small games of touch rugby started all over the ground, and this is perhaps one of the reasons the Bulls have such a fanatical home support. After about 20 - 30 minutes, the security staff slowly cleared the field; and the stadium slowly emptied.

Second Test: India vs South Africa

Test cricket is apparently dead. Yet, within the last few months we have seen some matches that have been better than any 20-20 or ODI; not only in the manner of scoring runs, but in the tension and skill exhibited. There was the Pakistan-New Zealand match where Bond showed what Test cricket has missed out on and the emergence of Umar Akmal. There was Shewag's 290 odd runs in one day of battin against Sri Lanka, and then there was South Africa vs India, in the recently concluded test match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where I am currently.

Eden Gardens is trully a different atmosphere for test cricket - both to what I have seen and experienced in Durban or Cape Town. While the (current temporary) capacity of 70 000 was never reached on any of the 5 days, there was still a sizable crowd; with each day's crowd probably exceeding 5 day combined crowd numbers at most other grounds, and if nothing else Eden Gardens showed that there is a paying public willing to watch test cricket (and makes a good case for why certain cities should just not get test cricket matches). The atmosphere was electric featuring a few interesting characters - especially the man painted in the Indian flag, carrying a massive flag and blowing a conch shell (used mostly for Hindu prayers) for either showering blessings on a 4, 6 or wicket, or to usher wishes to the bowler or batsmen.

But the noise and the crowd would be meaningless without good cricket - and there was tons of it. Amla and Petersen provided great batting on Day 1. Khan and Harbhajan caused one of the biggest collapses, also on Day 1. Shewag, Tendulkar, Dhoni and Laxman showed their respective skills while Amla stole all the glory and praise for his technique and patience as he almost single handedly saw South Africa home.

I had tickets for all 5 days; but I only went to days 1, 2 and 5 - and I wished I was there for all 5. It was definitely one of the best matches in recent history; and a great showcase for test cricket.

Movie: Mou Gaan Dou (Internal Affairs)

The Departed, was based on this earlier movie; filmed entirely in Hong Kong. While there are certain differences in the storyline, it is easily recognisable. There is a subtle plot change between the Departed and Internal Affairs towards the end; and I think that, not only does Internal Affairs pull it off better, it makes the overall storyline much better than that of The Departed. The movie is engrossing and features superb acting as well as superb cintematography of Hong Kong (especially the city scapes from the rooftops).

Four Seasons

Vanessa Mae playing Vivaldi's four seasons was my first real introduction to western classical music; and it is still one of my favourite pieces. Sunday evening featured a chamber concert with Vivaldi's Four Seasons in the first half, and Piazolla's Four Seasons (inspired buy Vivaldi) in the second half. I am not too sure I like the Piazolla version, although the Bandoneon is an interesting instrument (and was put to really great effect in the very first piece of the evening - Piazolla's Buenos Aires Hora Cero).

Rock me, Amadeus

Inspired by the movie, "Rock Me, Amadeus" focussed on some modern interpretations of classics. The concert featured the Imperial College Symphony Orchestra, whose members seemed a lot younger than the average college student. But musical prodigies are often quite young; so it is not that surprising.

The first part of the concert was completely classical - two Mozart symphonies (5 and 37), and was quite short. The second part started off with Mozart's Violin Concerto no 4, with the solo played by the beautiful Lidia Baich, and it was a stunning performance. The second piece was a classical piece, Massenet's Meditation from Thais, but performed not only by the orchestra but also accompanied by a rock band (drums, guitars) and piano. An awesome performance with brilliant piano playing.

But it was the last piece, that was truly amazing. Vanessa Mae popularised the merger of classical and modern musical pieces; and Lidia Baich did something similar with Saint-Saëns' Rondo capriccioso. She performed the violin solo, accompanied by the orchestra and the band; and it was an amazing performance and a great arrangement; thoroughly deserving a standing ovation.

Thornfest

Thornfest, is a new rock festival, held over the past three days at a farm about 70Km south of Jo'burg. The festival was with camping facilities etc. but I only went on the Saturday; and even then only got there around 5:30.

It was a very well organised festival - lots of space, lot of food and merchandise stands and 3 stages. The only complaint is possibly the lack of rubbish bins; which made the grounds seem like a dumping ground at times. But beyond that, it was well organised, with seemingly no problems.

I think the festival tried to do too much at the same time. I think there were just too many bands and not enough people. I think in future, two big stages may make more sense than three. I am also not sure of the rationalle of smaller bands playing during the headline acts on the main stage. Unlike festivals where the bands cover different genres of music; larger bands would tend to draw most of the audience away from the smaller bands.

Second Guess'd



Apparently, Second Guess'd had got the billing after winning a battle of the bands competition. For a new band; they were quite impressive - with some humorous lyrics and generally good performance.

Knave

For me, Knave was the best band of the evening - with the best combination of great music, lyrics, stage presence and performance. I even ended up buying their latest CD. They first came into prominence last year (or year before) with their single "Taunt and Tether", but their other songs are also worth listening to. The promo girls from Jagermeister did use the opportunity to throw out a lot of freebies; but somehow dancing girls do not seem to tie to metal bands - well their type of dancing anyway.

Fuzigish


Fuzigish should have been a main stage attraction - and the Stand Firm stage was not only filled to capacity inside; it had a rather large number of people outside craning to see some of the action inside. I have seen Fuzigish a number of times, so after their first song; I decided to head outside to see the visiting band from the UK.

Seven Year Kismet

They were one of two international acts, and at first look they certainly did not fit the stereotype of a metal band. With Fuzigish drawing the large majority of the crowd; they played to a rather small audience. Dressed in white T-Shirts and shorts; they don't seem to have any visible tattoos or piercings. The vocalist had good stage presence; but to be honest they were nothing remarkable.

Agro


I had not heard of Agro before, but they have an impressive CV. Easily the oldest band on show last night, they had a really impressive stage show and their instrumental pieces were simply amazing.

I met the vocalist (Cliff) and Bass Guitarist (Robbie) and their roadie (whose name I forget) just before their show while waiting for a pizza. The conversation started around my Nightwish t-shirt; but while I simply watched them; they had played in a festival alongside Nightwish and a few other major bands.

They are also very proud of their metal music, with Cliff commenting that there were too many "jocks with long hair" who don't actually appreciate metal music. He was rather verbose about defending metal on stage too, proclaiming that agro "was not core-metal but metal to the core"; and wanting to proclaim metal as a religion (that should give the bible-belt something to talk about).

All said, although their first song was rather crap; their show just got better and better - with some really interesting lyrics and music. Definitely worth going to see again.

Cutting Jade



Cutting Jade has been one of the "big" South African rock bands; but somehow they haven't been as successful as some of their contemporaries. I am not such a big fan of Cutting Jade - they have a few good songs; and a generally good performance; but somehow I never come away really impressed with the band.

Fokofpolisiekar



Fokofpolisiekar was the biggest attraction of the festival, and attracted by far the biggest crowd of the evening. The band certainly lived up to their billing as one of the foremost South African bands; and can be enjoyed even without understanding Afrikaans. Incredible stage presence; great music and great performance. In many respects, they were the headline act of the festival.

Pestroy


Pestroy has long been South Africa's leading metal group; and they were worthy headliners, although the crowd had thinned dramatically after Fokofpolisiekar's show. Similar to Limp Bizkit, Pestry features a rapper/singer as the main vocalist, with a very energetic (almost frantic) show. I have only heard their music on radio; and I was quite impressed with both the performance and the music.

Mozart's Anniversary Concert

Wednesday (27 Jan) was Mozart's birthday, and the Mozart Anniversary Concert was held at Linder Auditorium as part of the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival, the second such festival held in Jo'burg. While the program did feature Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor K 466 (featuring Florian Uhlig, who is also the festival's artistic director), the majority of the program featured South African based/influenced composers.

The first piece "Fatse la Heso" (My Country), by Michael Moerane,started of slowly before finishing with a very impressive flourish. It is supposedly based on African traditional music - but without the drums that would accompany such music - I am not sure where the relation lies.

The final piece, which was also the longest, was "Song of Four Winds" featuring an orchestra, a soprano and a baritone. The background to the piece is quite interesting; and overall, the music itself was also quite impressive - using a variety of musical instruments to great effect. However, the singers and the song itself was rather ordinary - and in my opinion rather detracted from the music.

The festival carries on until the 9th of Feb, with a concert almost every night. However, the Linder Auditorium was hardly half full - and while there are some very interesting pieces to llok forward to (I am quite keen for at least 3 more concerts), I am not sure if the festival will be a commercial success of anysorts.

Chrome and GMail

I have had lots of problems with Chrome and Gmail in the past, especially when the earlier releases seemed to be buggy for proxies. But this error message takes the top prize! For the record, I was not using a proxy, and am on a direct connection to a Tier 1 ISP.

For those who are not inclined to click on the pic, the error states "It seems there is a problem. Please try using Gmail with a supported browser".

Music: To Bring a Gun to a Shark Fight, Sesling and Enmity

It has been a few months since I last went to a gig at a club, and Back 2 Basix was the only place I could find gigs at. I suppose, people are still recovering from the festive season. Last night's line-up was all metal bands

To Bring a Gun to a Shark Fight
They are probably the worst band I have seen in a long time. It is not only the fact that their vocals are entirely composed of screaming (there seems to be no change in tone to what they were screaming, so I assume there were no lyrics); but there was also no change in the music itself. In fact, I think there was a song in which none of the guitarists moved their hands for the entire song - they seemed to be plucking the same chords, over and over again. Now repeat that for 30 minutes. The testament to how bad they were, was how much of the audience just left (even the club) while they were still playing!

Sesling
The warm-up and sound check for Sesling was more interesting than the full set of the previous band. Sesling, a 5-piece, Afrikaans band comprising of band-members from a number of a other well known metal bands. While they sing in Afrikaans, so I cannot say much about their lyrics, they have a very interesting sound - and the two vocalists combine well on stage. It was unfortunately a very short set; but definitely enjoyable.

Enmity
A young six piece band, I think also from Cape Town, they have a really good combination of vocalists with their keyboard player Chloe providing melodic backing and their vocalist Alainite providing the usual angry screaming. Their lyrics are also interesting, although they are deffinitely the type that gets bands labeled Satanic. After-all, Alainite described every song being about serial killers. They have a great presence, and they play very well together. I think they still have to get set-up correct, as their mixing could have been a lot better - but it's a band that could do well. Their cover of the Beatle's Eleanor Rigbby, was also quite good - and different.

Fuel price regulation

South Africa has in theory, regulated fuel price. In theory, there is a set price per region - and this should have both a stabilising effect on the price of energy in the country; as well as reduce the effect of distance/low population density areas on the price of fuel. In theory at least.

The following table gives the fuel price in the towns I filled up in.

Town	Octane	Price per litre
Kempton Park	U 95	R 7.92
Vryburg	U 93	R 8.04
Pofadder	U 93	R 8.28
Lamberts Bay	U 95	R 7.79
Bellville	U 95	R 7.69
Three Sisters	U 95	R 7.90
Warrenton	U 93	R 7.97
Midrand	U 95	R 7.92

This table is skewed slightly by the fact that Unleaded 93 Octane fuel is the only fuel available in North West and Northern Cape (and unavailable in the Western Cape). That said, there is a massive difference of 59c per litre, between the fuel price in Pofadder and the price in Cape Town! What is also quite perplexing is the difference between Pofadder, Vryburg and Warrenton - especially as they are almost equidistant from each other!

I am not sure how the regions are broken up with regards to the fuel price; but there is certainly a big fluctuation in the price. I am not sure if this is the outcome of regulatory intent; or the bad policing of regulation.

All the data in a few graphs (click for a larger version):

Roadtrip: Three Sisters to Midrand, via Kimberley

Until Potchefstroom, the road to Midrand was largely uninteresting and boring. That was not unexpected, but that does not detract from the boredom. Furthermore, the horde of cars I saw at the Three Sisters Ultra City (almost all with Gauteng plates, and all seemingly heading northwards); all seemed to take the N1. Thus, this road was rather quiet on the traffic front too.

It all changed in Potchefstroom - not because the scenery got more pleasant, but because of a massive thunderstorm which reduced visibility and thus at least made the driving a lot more interesting. The storm passed, just past Carletonville, but by then it was a slow merge into the N1 and then Jo'burg traffic shortly thereafter.

Including the driving around in Cape Town, it was a fairly long trip in total - almost 4300 Km, and about R3000 in expenses such as accomodation, fuel, food etc. Not bad for what ammounted to two weekends away (since I did work during the week in Cape Town).

Kimberley

Kimberley, is one of the main towns in South Africa. In some respects, it is known only for its diamond heritage; which has not only fueled the South African economy, but had an impact on other South African life; as the plaque by the Big Hole suggests. I was surprised how big the city was, but I shouldn't have been. It is not mentioned as one of the major cities in South Africa, but it clearly is.

Kimberley has also played a major role in the history of the ANC, and was Sol Plaatjie's (one of the core founders of the ANC) home towards the end of his life. His house is apparently a museum and a national monument, but the signs in Kimberley are confusing, and do not lead anywhere (one sign says left, then the next sign makes no mention etc). I did go to another museum (McGregor Museum, which documents the siege of Kimberley); but did not get any help their either.

As it was getting late; I decided to carry on to Jo'burg instead.

The Big Hole

It is probably the world's most famous hole, and also probably the richest. The Big Hole, in Kimberley is now also a proper tourist attraction, converted to a proper museum. There is a recreation of the old town, an ampitheatre that plays a 20 minute documentary on this history of Kimberley, a fake trip down the mine (you have to experience it to understand what I mean), a display on the formation of diamonds, a display in a massive safe of real diamonds (but the main attraction - Eureka, the first diamond to be discovered was on "leave") and off course the hole itself.

Roadtrip: Bellville to Three Sisters

I deliberately decided on a short first day for the drive back to Johannesburg. Yes, I could do the whole trip in one day; but the intent was to see the country - not get from A to B. If it was the latter, I would have flown - it would be cheaper; and faster.

I started in the adternoon, and spent a considerably amount of time on Dutoitskloof pass looking at the view and taking pictures (and trying things out with my camera). The Hex River moountains, which follow directly after, were fun to drive through also. But thereafter, it was a drab drive to Three Sisters, where for the first time in the trip, I had made prior reservations.




There is no town or village called Three Sisters - it is actually a very large sheep farm, named after the three hills. Apparently there are two accounts of the name - stemming from a San tale about three naughtly sisters turned to mountains as punishment and a rival account of being named by an English lady who alighted at the station here.

The farm has been in the same family since inception, 5 generations ago - and the current family also runs a small, cosy guesthouse - set in a great garden that makes you forget that this is the middle of the desert. Dinner was an interesting experience in some respects - myself and three other couples sat around a common dining table for a three course meal of chicken soup, lamb chops and ice cream. Quite a few guesthouse apparently have this, but this is the first time I have experienced it. The conversation was mostly dominated by one old lady, who was returning from Mossel Bay; and talked about the drought and the cost of liquid beverages (of all kinds) in Mossel Bay, and the surrounding area.

Dutoitskloof Pass

Start of the pass (left), N1 to the Huguenot Tunnel entrance (right)

In the seemingly mad dash between Jo'burg and Cape Town, the Huguenot Tunnel (part of the N1), is the popular course; with few people taking the slightly longer time to travel over the mountain on the stunning Dutoitskloof Pass. Absolutely stunning views of Cape Town and a brilliant road - why would anyone travel through the tunnel?


A view of Paarl


The curving road through the hills


There's a little village up there!

Ken jy die see?

The only poem I remember from matric (now over 10 years ago!) is in Afrikaans - a subject I was not good at, and still do not comfortably converse in. Uys Krige's "Ken jy die see", for whaetver reason, sticks to my mind (I had to Google the poet's name though).

Cape Town understandably has a strong fishing community and the poem is really about the difficult work entailed by fishing - especially the small fishing enterprises making up much of the Cape coast.

Kalk bay harbour is one of the freshest sources of fish - both ready made in the surrounding restaurants and takeaways; and for sale. It is a facinating place to walk around; and great place for pictures in my opinion. And the harbour, catches a lot of the emotion and context of the poem ...

Roadtrip: Lamberts Bay to Bellville

The drive was fairly short; but impressively scenic - especially the pass around the Cederberg mountains. On one side, there is an impressive valley with vineyards; and on the other side a flat landscape with more conventional agriculture. The rest of the drive was rather boring; but short.

Roadtrip: Augrabies to Lamberts Bay

Today was the longest drive, starting with some spectacularly long and boring roads between Augrabies and Springbok; which then turned to a really spectacular road down to Lamberts Bay.

The first part of the road from Springbok, to around the town of Bitterfontein meanders through rocky mountain passes, with some fairly spectacular colours of Fynbos (imagine all that in full bloom!).

The second section, around the Olifants river valley, from about Klaver to Clanwilliams is spectacular due to the contrast of the green vineyards, the river below and the irrigation scheme on the hillside. All contrasted with the rest of the rocky landscape! And the twisted roads make a spectacular combination!

Muisbosskerm: A Seafood Experience

A colleague told me of this restaurant at Lamberts Bay, but he did not give me any details. I only decided to come through to Lamberts Bay after passing Springbok, and struggled to find a place to stay - until I got hold of the owner of a brand new campsite directly opposite Muisbosskerm (they are the same family).

The restaurant holds a spectacular position - on the beach, about 3 Km from town, so quite secluded. And it seems very popular, such that most people book in advance to get in.

Basically, it is a buffet style restaurant, and you pay either for the option with Crayfish, or without Crayfish. You are adviced to pace yourself, because the food keeps on coming; and it keeps on getting better. It starts with some roasted mealies (corn/maize), fruits, smoked fish etc; then the mains start - variety of fish grilled, then hot bread, variety of potatoes, salads etc, then the meat before more fruit, coffee and koeksusters. The food is basic, but very good - very hearty and homely. The atmosphere is amazing and the scenery stunning.

Need to come again, and bring a party!

Pofadder

Forever the butt of jokes, Pofadder is not really remote nor is it that small. The people (or those that were hanging out by the petrol station anyway) are very friendly too.

Where can one get such a permit?

Where does one get such a permit, and what are the requirement for such a permit. The long straight road between the Augrabies turn off and Pofadder is calling.

Augrabies National Park

One needs more than a few hours to really explore Augrabies National Park. The main attraction, the waterfall is created by the Orange river being pushed into a narrow gorge - and while it is a spectacle, it cannot really be compared to a falls like the Victoria Falls (not that I was expecting that). Once it is in the gorge, the river seems a lot calmer. But the highlight for me was the really alien like landscape of the park itself - lots of rocks with some greenery by the water.


There is some wildlife, but I didn't see much more than birds, a gemsbok and a lot of dassies.

Roadtrip: Delareyville to Augrabies

Vryburg was a surprisingly large town, as was Kuruman - and the only restaurant open in Upington at lunch time was the local Spur (which was pretty full). Beyond, that the road to Augrabies was pretty deserted, and except for a few places; pretty long and straight. It is no wonder that the next challenge for the land speed record will take place in the Northern Cape.

Even after a fairly early start, I arrived at the Augrabies National Park, just after 3:30pm, which I discovered was a bit too late. Due to the public holiday, visitors who had no reservations were only allowed in before 3pm, and since I had no reservation, I had to make some alternate arrangements to stay the night. The Falls Guest House, just outside the reserve is beautiful, in one of the wine farms, and quite well priced. Slight change in plans, so the falls will only be tomorrow.

Desert Wine

Upington may not be as famous as Stellenbosch, but it is the centre of the "Orange River Wine Route", which apparently specialises in sweet wines. This picture does not do the contrast of green vineyards against the surrounding semi-desert landscape justice.

Engineering Birds

Quite a few telephone and electricity poles on the N14, near Upington, is covered with humongous bird nests. This one was particularly impressive.

Long Road Ahead

The 160 Km of tarmac between Kuruman and Upington, was rather lonely with other vehicles very few, and far between. The road wasn't particularly interesting either - largely long and straight.

Cattle Country

Vryburg and Kuruman advertise a lot of cattle ranches - but this one particularly vexed me. Since "Brahman" refers to the high caste in Hinduism, the priests and scholars. Does this imply that the ranch is owned by a Hindu (an Indian rancher in Vryburg would be particularly interesting cultural mix at farm fairs I would think) or does the rancher think that his cows are particularly holy (and thereby much better than the rest). And off course, the stand out question - is the rancher ranching for beef or for milk?

Roadtrip: Morning Notes

It is easy to wake up early when camping; especially when you go to sleep a lot earlier :) I have not had so many mosquitos pestering me, since my time in the Amazon (where even heavy duty DEET had very little impact) - however, these mossies were definitely of the lower evolution chain - very slow and easy to kill - and my all natural insect repellant did work quite well (except it did nothing for the annoying buzzing noise). There is also a very strong wind this morning; and while my tent was very secure; it did make quite some noise!

The campsite/B&B is quite nice - much nicer than I would expect in a small town to be honest. The cheese maker and his wife also run a conference/wedding/function venue and it seems to be very well organised. There are also two caravans here - but these are more permanent residents - two contractors; working for about 15 months in a nearby plant (I assume it is the towering NWK mill by the road). The two contractors have gone home for Christmas; and the other two people from last night who were also looking for accommodation are not here; maybe they did find somewhere else.

Today, the intention is to drive all the way to Augrabies; and maybe have a good lunch at Upington; since it is the only big town between here and Cape Town, and it should have restaurants/takeaways open.

Roadtrip: Midrand to Delareyville

I got away later than expected; closer to 15h30 instead of the wished 13h00. Part of that was due to work commitments; and part of it due to delayed planning in packing a few minutes before leaving.

As expected; the scenery on the road was rather dull - miles and miles of farmland; although the greenery against the red soil; against a clear blue sky could be quite a contrast at times.

The traffic was quite light; so it was easy to maintain a decent speed limit; but with the amount of police coverage; I didn't try to go too fast. I counted at least 5 roadblocks in the trip, with many more patrols.

Initially I thought of stopping at Baberspan Bird Sanctuary, but there was a notice on an e-coli outbreak in the dam; so I didn't see the point in risking the area. Delareyville was only 30 Km further, so it made sense to continue - although I started regretting the decision when I couldn't find a single place to stay. The first B&B I tried was open when I got there; but the receptionist abruptly said they were closing down for Christmas. After driving around the town a bit (small, pretty unremarkable), I came to a B&B and camping site (Pigmy B&B) just outside the town. Owned by a cheese farmer and his wife; it has pretty good facilities (decided to save some money and camp) although there are a lot of mossies around.

Roadtrip

I am taking the long way to Cape Town - via the Northern Cape; visiting Augrabies, and then the west coast. It's a long weekend; and a good time to travel I think. Haven't really done much planning - booked no accomodation; though do have a tent, sleeping bag, lots of water and some snacks. Will try to post blog posts along the way ... if there is 3G coverage off course!

Movie: Avatar

Part Sci-Fi, part fantasy, part a crusade against greed and rampant destruction of the environment; Avatar is a visual feast. It is a stunning blend of CGI and live action; and the CGI is better than any other movie I have seen before; in terms of facial animation, movement and even the explosions. I watched it a 3D cinema, and while the 3D imagery was immersive; I think it actually detracted from the movie.

The storyline of the movie was however rather thin and predictable. This was a standard storyline from other movies that explored colonialism. It is a mix of "modern" people meeting a new race, not understanding them, infiltrating their ranks, falling in love, gaining acceptance, betrayal as the "modern" people try to commit genocide; and off course requiring the adopted hero to save the day. And even the alien world - while fantasticaly created in amazing level of detail; is not really that much different from Earth - the Na'vi (the intelligent alien race) has similar cultural traits to most aboriginal cultures in the world; the animals are a lot like existing or past animals on Earth (the triceratops look alikes etc).

But it does push the boundaries of movie making; and champions environmentalism and the impact of pursuing large civil projects over understanding the environmental impacts. It is a movie worth watching simply because of its scale and visual beauty.