Movie: RED

Although the cast was promising, I wasn't expecting much from this movie - just a standard shoot-em-up action movie. Instead, it was possibly one of the best written and well acted action movie I have seen.

The plot is fairly simple - Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), a retired (and extremely dangerous, hence RED) black ops CIA agent manages to thwart an assassination attempt; and then assembles a team to get to the bottom of who is trying to kill him (and why). His elite team is played by acting royalty - Helen Miren, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman - all retired, all itching to "kill people again".

It is a fast paced story, very well acted and very enjoyable. Certainly worth watching, especially for entertainment.

ITWeb's Misleading Reporting on Mobile Data Charges

ITWeb's comparison on mobile data charges is so misleading, I wonder how it even got through editorial review. And to top it off, the calculations are also wrong!



Lets start with the calculation error - Cell C's 2 GB rate is R149 per month, which translates to R0.07 per MB and not R0.08. It seems the journalist divided by R1000 and not 1024! The price per MB for 5GB bundle is actually 5.6c so 6c is forgivable, but the same mistake was made. I didn't make sure of the other calculations, but I assume they are equally wrong (and when you calculate it back, it makes sense too).

But the misleading part of the article is to focus only on out of bundle rates. Sure Cell C and 8ta have higher out of bundle rates, but the key question with out of bundle rates, is what was the total cost. Thus, it only makes sense to compare out of bundle charges if the total bundle cost is considered.



And then, if you consider the effective per Mb price, the real value will be shown, with Cell C and 8-ta coming out ahead.

Lastly, Cell C's pricing includes the modem which, as far as I know is not included in the other offers (I can confirm Vodacom, since I have used it). Once you take account of that, the pricing is even more competitive from Cell C!

I wonder who paid the journalist to write such crap ...

The Beatles ...

With Apple finally releasing The Beatles catalogue on iTunes, they have also released the first US concert free for streaming. What stands out from the concert, is it seems that almost the entire audience was screaming women. Which does not make it roo different to Justin Bieber or the Jonas Brothers etc ... I doubt however that any of the modern day equivalents will last as long as The Beatles.

Music: To Hire a Nurse, Doe and Zaire

The Bo was packed last night, and for good reason. Unfortunately, I arrived after the first band, To Hire a Nurse, had already started (they started on time it seems); and of the three bands, it was certainly the most interesting! Apart from the usual guitars, bass and drums, the band also features an electric violin which certainly gives the band a very different sound. Of what I did see, the violin fitted in perfectly; and the sound is somewhat similar to what Apocalyptica manages with its cellos. A very cool effect, and I now really want to see a full show of theirs!

The second band, Doe, was nice but not very interesting. The song writing was very good, but while the lead singer does sing well, I don't think her voice was always suitable. The mixing may also be to blame.

Zaire, is an indie-rock/brit rock type band with great songs, with great beats. A four piece band, they really threw a good party. I can't seem to find much about them online, besides this, and their Facebook page, but they seem to have quite a big following. They had the whole club dancing, and their music is very easy to get into. Another Parlatones in the making?

The 6 Month iPad review

It has been just over 6 months since I got my iPad. When I bought it, I did not really have too many ideas on what I would use it for. 6 months later it has become an essential tool, which although not irreplaceable, is certainly useful. And surprisingly, I use it most often at work. And over the last few months a number of colleagues phase joined me with their own iPads and there seems to be a corporate move to approve it for all.

The biggest use in a work setting, is taking notes in meetings, and the calendar and email functionality. The email application on the iPad is stunning, and integrates very well with Microsoft Exchange. The setup is quick, and in fact it can be argued that it is faster to set it up on the pad than it is on Windows! Likewise, the calendar function also integrates well and easy to use. One gripe, is that it does not seem to work well with proxies, or specifically proxies that have domain based authentication. It's not that much of an issue, but it does limit the functionality of certain applications and uses in the work environment.

Other than that, it is great for reading PDF documents, and the great battery life means that it is great on long flights. I have flown Boston to Berlin, via Frankfurt on a single charge, and spent most of the flight watching Ted videos or reading ebooks. I have a number of mini games, which are also entertaining, although some of them do seem to drain the battery life very quickly.

Surprisingly, I have found browsing on the iPad to be fairly annoying. This probably has to do with the way browse the web, and the iPad still lacking multitasking functionality. I per to open a number of windows and tabs and then switch between them,usually reading one tab while waiting for another to load. On the iPad, pages seem to reload every time I switch tabs, so it becomes quite annoying. The lack of flash is usually not an issue, except for sites like Ster-Kinekor and Computicket.

The iPad's keyboard is not awesome for very long periods, but it is usable and surprisingly accurate, even with moderately good typing speeds. This post was written on the iPad, but this is probably the longest single typing piece I have done.

Movie: Half a Confession

The Japanese Film Festival is one of the older film festivals on the Sterkinekor circuit; and this year it was showing in Pretoria last weekend, Cape Town this weekend and Johannesburg the following weekend. The selection of movies is small (5 movies) across 2 days; and the Pretoria/Jo'burg screening opportunity allows the possibility of seeing a few without spending the whole weekend at the cinema.

Half a Confession, revolves around the story of a decorated and well respected detective, who hands himself in after killing his wife. However, this is really euthanasia (or mercy killing) as opposed to murder - so it apparently is a fairly easy case; except that the detective does not wish to reveal what he did for 2 days between killing his wife and handing himself over; and is seemingly trying to protect someone.

Ultimately, while the storyline play itself out; the reason why the detective refuses to reveal his secret (or rather admit to it) becomes confusing - unless there is a cultral reference that just does not translate. It is a great drama - but was the drama actually meaningful and even necessary is somewhat lost in translation.

The movies focus on euthanasia, organ donation, trauma etc. is also a powerful angle; and is certainly a stand out point. However, even this is due to (comparative) cultural acceptance of mercy killing and suicide - I doubt a movie made in the US would eve dare to take on the subject in a similar fashion.

The movie is well acted, and if you are in CT or Jo'burg - it is worth watching.

The Girl in the Yellow Dress

It has been a long time since I went to a proper theatre production, although this fact is more due to laziness than a lack of opportunity. In fact, I think this is the first proper theatre production I have been to since I left Cape Town! So, I was looking for something different to do, and the Market Theatre's current production looked very interesting.

The play has a rich history of collaboration and past success (according to the blurbs posted on the Market Theatre's site at least) - debuted in the Grahamstown Festival, sold out shows in the Edinburgh Festival, it is certainly loud in its self promotion. This nicely ties into the overall theme of the story itself, which claims that the play was "originally inspired by Ovid's story Echo and Narcissus and psychoanalytic writings on narcissism".

It is a two person play, set in Paris, featuring Celia (and English, English teacher with some sort of a dark secret) and Pierre (a Congolese-French student, with an equally mysterious past). The humour is often driven by the complexities of the English language (I don't recall my English teachers dwelling on the complexities of past passive participles), while the drama is driven by the character's respective past histories and the complex stories they weave.

It is a very slick production, and highly enjoyable. The entire play takes place in Celia's living room, and the intimate confines of the Market Theatre's Laager Theatre, makes it a perfect venue for this production.

Market Theatre Blurb:

The Girl in the Yellow Dress premiered at the National Grahamstown Arts Festival followed by sold-out seasons at both the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town and the Traverse Theatre for the duration of the Edinburgh Festival. It then transferred to Live Theatre in Newcastle, the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow and the Stockholms Stadsteater before coming home to the Market Theatre. Craig Higginson's second original play, The Girl in the Yellow Dress, is an exciting collaboration between the Market Theatre and two of the UK's most prestigious theatres. ..more info
Originally inspired by Ovid's story Echo and Narcissus and psychoanalytic writings on narcissism, The Girl in the Yellow Dress is set in contemporary Paris and deals with the exchanges between Celia, a beautiful English teacher in her late twenties, and Pierre, her younger French-Congolese pupil.
Brimming with humour, rage and longing, this celebrated new South African play provides a minute exploration of an increasingly hazardous romantic entanglement and an insight into some of the tensions between the 'first' and 'third' worlds. Part psychological thriller and part a State of the Nation analysis, it tackles issues such as language, power, identity, sex, past trauma, class, exile and refugees - tensions that run through South African society and beyond.
Malcolm Purkey, Artistic Director of the Market Theatre and best known for his international hit Sophiatown, directs leading UK actress Marianne Oldham (nominated for the prestigious Stage Award for this production) in the role of Celia, and emerging South African talent Nat Ramabulana as Pierre.
Reviews from the Edinburgh Festival
"Higginson . is clearly gifted. He not only filters pressing concerns about race, prejudice and power through a highly charged two-hander, but he wraps it all up in a witty discourse about language itself." - Daily Telegraph
"..it is unusual and fascinating to see a play investigate the extent to which words can shape our thoughts and feelings as much as vice versa." - Financial Times
"exposes some painfully ugly truths about race and class, wealth and victimhood . written and directed with great skill." - Scotsman (Pick of the Festival)
"Higginson's slick, precise dialogue builds the tension . There is, quite plainly, a formidable intellect at play.This piece challenges our received assumptions about ideology, language and sexuality to strong effect and comes recommended to thoughtful audiences." - The List
"a spell-binding two-hander.You'd be hard pressed to find a sexier scene this festival than the shared naked foot stroking that turns nasty, then violent. Marianne Oldham is the new Maggie Smith." - What's On Stage
"..this gripping two-hander is a highlight of the Traverse programme." - Evening Standard

Top of Africa

I have been to Carlton Centre a number of times (mostly related to work), and the boardrooms and offices on floor 46 have stunning views of Johannesburg. Yesterday afternoon, a colleague and I decided to stay a bit longer while the traffic died down, and went over to the 50th floor. It is named "Top of Africa" since it is the tallest building in Africa, and the views were absolutely stunning - especially as it was a pretty clear day.

While the view is stunning, I would think that a little more effort would be made to spruce it up more - and make it more visitor friendly. That said, there is a lot of floor space up there, and it is a lot more than other panoramas I have been to, making it easy to move around etc. Some effort is also needed to get some more recent information, and mark up land marks especially "new" places such as Soccer City.

More Interesting Phishing Emails

After the phishing email supposedly from Standard Bank, two weeks back, I got another two this morning, supposedly from FNB. This email was even more sophisticated - the from address made sense (at first glance): info@fnb.co.za, the dates were reasonable and the language; as well as the disclaimers etc. were all spot on. In fact, Google didn't even pick it up as a phishing email! And like the Standard Bank email, this email also asks the user to download a real life, proper anti-phishing/security product.



So why is it a phishing email? Firstly, the link that will supposedly allow you to download this file has nothing to do with FNB. Doing some digging, it seems that the site (seems like a personal site) has been compromised and is probably going to redirect the user to the malware or compromised application.

Secondly, as the headers of the email clearly show, the email from address has been spoofed, and it has nothing to do with FNB. The reputation check, as per below suggests that this is a new spam host, and one of the reasons it did not get picked up by the anti-spam engine.

Received: by 10.216.55.139 with SMTP id k11cs1749wec;
Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:31:40 -0700 (PDT)
Received: by 10.213.13.80 with SMTP id b16mr216811eba.89.1288157499734;
Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:31:39 -0700 (PDT)
Return-Path:
Received: from linux14.unoeuro.com ([94.231.101.70])
by mx.google.com with ESMTP id w3si18982624eeh.36.2010.10.26.22.31.39;
Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:31:39 -0700 (PDT)
Received-SPF: neutral (google.com: 94.231.101.70 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of minami.dk@linux14.unoeuro.com) client-ip=94.231.101.70;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=neutral (google.com: 94.231.101.70 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of minami.dk@linux14.unoeuro.com) smtp.mail=minami.dk@linux14.unoeuro.com
Received: from linux14.unoeuro.com (localhost [127.0.0.1])
by linux14.unoeuro.com (8.13.8/8.13.8) with ESMTP id o9R5VdDS015687
for ; Wed, 27 Oct 2010 07:31:39 +0200
Received: (from minami.dk@localhost)
by linux14.unoeuro.com (8.13.8/8.13.8/Submit) id o9R5VdFS015686;
Wed, 27 Oct 2010 07:31:39 +0200
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 07:31:39 +0200
Message-Id: <201010270531.o9R5VdFS015686@linux14.unoeuro.com>

The new types of phishing are impressive in how well they masquerade as legitimate emails, and most Internet users will be fooled. If this persists, the next question really is - what should the banks do next? Go back to post?

Telkom: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Ever since I moved to my new place (almost 2 months ago now), I have been trying to get ADSL to be installed. In fact, one of the key criteria when looking for a new place was - does this place have a Telkom line? I first logged a request with Telkom, online, a week before moving in - and that order was lost. The help desk did take my details down - but that order was also lost. I tried the Internet route again - I got a callback to confirm all the details; and yet the order was lost! So I tried again - at the help desk; and this time it went through! It truly says a lot about a company when it looses track of customer orders!

All said, the actual help desk people are very friendly (most of the times) and wanting to help - and my order was finally processed and the line was installed two days back. And yet again a debacle - I was called on Tuesday, and informed of the installation. When I enquired on the time; I was told to call the help desk on Wednesday morning to find out. When I asked if I could choose another day - I was told it would have to be handled as a new order!

So on Wednesday morning, I called the help desk and I was told they have been specifically told not schedule installations, and they cannot help me. They suggested "I wait around" waiting for the installer; and was surprised when I told them I don't have anyone at home who would wait for them. Of all the service problems I encountered with Telkom, this has to rank as the worst.

During the morning, the installer called me, and we made arrangement for the installer. And this is again, where Telkom really did claw back - the guy was professional, and very motivated to getting things done correctly. When the line was first activated, he realised that there was interference, which he proceeded to fix. After that, he still could not get the ADSL router to stabilise, and after some investigation, he established some of the causes (some bad wiring) and a fault on the DSLAM setting at the Telkom exchange. He promised to sort it out, before he signed off the job - and when I came back home that afternoon - it was fully sorted.

So, John (who did not give his surname) - thank you very much - I just wish your colleagues were as efficient and motivated!

Thoughts on 8.ta

Telkom's recently launched mobile phone service (and South Africa's 4th) - 8.ta, has not exactly created the market buzz one might expect. In some respects, their offering does have some real value - specifically in the call charges; but my personal opinion is that Telkom has missed the boat (or perhaps are still waiting to really launch their boat). And that is, Telkom is the only South African telecommunications provider that can provide real fixed-mobile convergence services; something that could really make them different to other telcos in the market.

South Africa's lack of a viable competitor to Telkom can be blamed on many things; including foot dragging by the regulators and/or the Department of Communications (which incidentally has a conflict of interest, being the majority shareholder in Telkom). But since last year, there are over 600 licensed operations in South Africa - with more than 10 operators providing various levels of fibre based services to business in South Africa. Yet, none of them - including the established mobile operators in Vodacom and MTN as well as Neotel have really taken the leap into providing large scale residential and SME fixed line services. Furthermore, considering the large number of security estates and business parks in South Africa; this is strange given the relative high density in potential subscribers for fixed line services.

And enter Telkom in the mobile market. The one trick that Telkom can really play is a fully converged telecommunication offering. Take data service - Telkom can potentially merge their capped ADSL, 3G roaming and WiFi hotspot offering to one seamless data service offering; that provides a single data offering regardless of what medium is used. Yes, Vodacom has something similar - but Telkom would be the only service provider that can provide the seamless service since they also own effectively all the access paths. Likewise, a fully converged voice service could allow seamless transition between mobile and fixed telephony; something similar to what corporate telephony offerings from unified communications vendors such as Cisco. And the one interesting impact of such a service could potentially be no difference in call charges on "on-net" calls; as long as the calls are to Telkom.

Convergence strategies would also require Telkom to relook at its current fixed line offerings - something it has so far shown no interest in really pursuing. Furthermore, by setting up 8.ta as a separate service with minimal Telkom branding; it is questionable how much converged services it is really considering offering.

Music: Hell and High Water, My/Epic/Vice and The City is the Desert (In Disguise)

The Bohemian (The Bo) is apparently the third oldest (still operational) pub in Jo'burg. It's surprising, since it is only 27 years old, and not longer in a country that ranks very high up in alcohol consumption. I have seen a number of gigs advertised at The Bo, but Saturday night was my first time there. The neighborhood is on the dark and dingy side; but it is a welcoming venue; and has a fairly laid back atmosphere. There was not much of a crowd though.

Hell and High Water is a young, new 4 piece band; which played mostly covers from various rock bands - local and international. The band members are fairly accomplished musicians with a solid vocalist; so it was a good first band. They had one or two original songs - which were not very memorable - but not horrible either :)

Last time I saw My/Epic/Vice, was at Seether's concert two years back - and they were horrible. This time around, their music was actually quite good, and looking at their website, it seems that they played most of the songs out of their album. The band was suffering from the lack of drummer (broken wrist) though they got round this quite well by playing back the drum tracks through an iPod. They were also missing a guitarist - but the reason was not very clear. They delayed the start of their gig, and the missing guitarist ended up as the sound man - not sure of the rationalles there.

The last band, The City is the Desert (In Disguise), inevitably raises the question - what is the most well known band with more than 5 words in their name. The longest I could come up with on Saturday night was 4 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience; while Bob Marley and The Wailers would give 5 words - but 7? So while their name is a memory tester, their music and performance definitely makes it worthwhile to remember their name. The music genre is difficult to describe - part Jazzy, part Rock, part pop and a combination of a whole lot more - it was really just great music, good song writing and a great performance. I was pleasantly surprised, and this is certainly a band worth watching out for.

Brilliant phishing email

Phishing emails are dangerous - they are effectively misleading, fraudulent emails that aim to lure people to giving away passwords or other important data; which can then be used to defraud the associated account.

Most phishing emails are actually easy to spot - they either take advantage of the person's gullibility (419 scams that claim you can help some obscure price/businessman/politician to transfer money) to the more direct; your banking account has expired; please enter your password in this site. Modern phishing sites are even more advanced and often replicate, very closely the target website's look and feel.



This morning, I got a phishing email which was frankly amazing, not only how it is constructed; but how well it is disguised with an air of legitimacy. An email, asking you to download software, to protect you from phishing is simply brilliant!

For me it was easy to spot this as a phishing email; and I was impressed that Gmail also picked it up. The from address is suspect (Standard Bank after all is a South African company, not polish), the reported from address is not Standard bank's website; and the link in the email is not to a Standard Bank website. And lastly, I am not a Standard bank customer. But I suspect, others may fall for it - and thus this post is both a warning and at the same time an admiration for a very well directed phishing scam.

SA 'needs more PhD graduates'

I found this article on IOL this morning, and it is also featured on other news sites. The basic synopsis - to grow the economy South Africa needs more PhDs. The data seems to stem from the graduating class of 2007 - and since I belong to that club; I ought to comment :) I do however note that I do not fit the overall trend - I am not White; and I got my PhD before my 25^th birthday and not in my 30s.

The 'need more PhD graduates' needs to be contextualised; and I feel that none of the news reports trully delve into were the need stems from. But since the overall thesis is, we need PhD graduates to grow the economy, it can be assumed that PhD graduates are required by:

1. Industry, to enable it to develop competetive products and services


2. Academia, to enable a higher quality of education and research; feeding industry with higher quality university graduates, and


3. To create new industries and services, through start-ups etc

In my graduating class of 2007, there were 3 PhD graduates (in December at least, and for Computer Science only). Of us 3 - I am the only one who remained in South Africa; and all of us work in industry. Most South African companies in South Africa do not really value PhD graduates - it is clearly seen in the recruitment drives and for that matter in industry itself. This is also seen by the relative lack of R&D institutes in South Africa, that are fronted by industry. In fact, other than Sasol, I do not really know of any other South African company that has a big R&D setup in South Africa. Without viable R&D labs, are South African companies really interested in employing PhD graduates for their skills? And without a need for PhD graduates in industry, the pool of students wanting to do a PhD drops due to a lack viable job opportunities.

I agree that deploying PhD graduates within South African universities would have a significant impact on a number of factors - and not just acamedics. However, for this to successfully work out, South African universities need strong post-doctoral programs; ideally on an international exchange basis - that can be used to hone in the research skills and widen the research skill base.

Nurturing start-ups and protecting research outputs are things that South African universities and research institutes just do not seem to be good at. From my experiences at UCT, there was no drive for patents or setting up startups from the research outputs. This is a vital cog in the research process that can trully contribute to the economy. If I compare my experience at UCT with my internships at German research institutes in 2007, my actualy research output was actually higher for the time: I had one paper at ACM DRM 2008, one patent application and contributed towards 2 OMA standards for the mobile industry; all in 3 months at one research institute.

Tied into the last point, I think there is also a need to have focused research programs instead of the ad-hoc research that happens in many SA universities. It is hypocritical on my part to say this - when my own research was ad-hoc and very much removed from most other research at UCT - but if I compare my PhD experience in terms of the actual research project; to my peers in my research field around the world - formal research programs where a team of students, post-docs and academic staff work on the same research topic has a tremendous impact on the quality of the work produced. I think the outputs discussed above, with regards to my internship can also be similarly attributed - there my team was 5 persons (including me) in my specific stream and a total of 10 persons in the research program as a whole.

So yes, I agree that more PhD graduates will have an impact on economic growth - but I do not think that can happen without the supporting environment from both universities and industry. Other factors such as primary and secondary education are also important - but for PhD graduates to have meaningful impact on the economy there needs to be mechanisms for them to contribute meaningfully.

ZaCon 2

Last year, a bunch of security techies (mostly from Sensepost it seems) banded together to form a technical security group, called ZaCon. In seemingly no time, they had organised a conference/get together - which I could not attend due to work commitments. ZaCon 2 was the newer, bigger conference event. It is not really a novel concept in many respects - a bunch of people get together (on the weekend off course), organise a venue and discuss their common interest for a day - and all for next to no cost (the organisers funded some of the equipment hires; the rest was either sponsored or non existent). It is the purest form of participation really - being there because it interests you.

As with all conferences; there was the mixture of the superbly interesting to be boring - but that is to be expected. With a strong technical focus; many of the talks focused on IT vulnerabilities - how they can be exploited and/or mitigated - from Google Apps to Java JAR files.

There were a number of highlights. On the attack front, Ivan Burke's talk on the usage of Google Apps to create features similar to botnets (though, as he willing admitted, he was not a good speaker) was a great example of how cloud computing facilities not only create security challenges with regards to confidentiality of data (stored in the cloud) but also create a platform for future security exploits. Jurgens van der Merwe's talk later about the use of Selenium expanded further the potential of attacking web based systems. In fact, a potential that wasn't explored in great detail - the combination of Selenium and cloud based services such as Amazon EC2 and Google Apps could create a significant assault on data confidentiality - through exploiting gaps in web based services. Also on the attack front; Daniel Cuthbert's talk on banking website security was a sobering reminder on vulnerabilities that are created by sheer incompetence as opposed to oversight.

Ross Simpson's talk on the use of jailbroken iPhones as a means to infiltrate wireless networks did not really explore major new ground - but was a very practical walk through on the power of smartphones and a new attack vector. Like the attack vector of cell phone cameras where normal cameras are not allowed; this is yet another attack vector that is easy to deploy and hard to mitigate against.

Ollie Whitehouse discussed the forming of UnCon 10 years ago (security community in the UK, and seemingly the idea that gave rise to ZaCon) via Skype - and was impressive not only in the content of the talk (I think there is a lot of things that ZaCon can "copy") but also the fact that the technology worked. Using two different computers (one to control the screen and the other to conduct the Skype call), each with its own 3G connectivity definitely helped in this regard.

The last talk, Barry Irwin's analysis on the propagation of Conficker was quite interesting - especially the patterns on the network traffic correlated to the spread of the virus. The fact that Conficker has gone quiet is itself a worry - and the correlation of Conficker to other viruses; including Stuxnet, could be interesting research.

Overall, it was a great event - and a great learning environment. I do think, however, that there is a need to shorten the number of speakers and instead open up the floor for a lot more debate and discussion. Congratulations to the organisers for a great event!

Movie: Small Town called Descent

A new South African movie (I think it is yet to be released for general theatrical release); the movie centers around a Scorpion investigation into a xenophobic murder in a small town (called Descent). Intertwined within a fairly good crime drama, is an exploration of corruption (from the town's main mayor), police indifference/corruption, xenophobia, alcohol abuse, remnants of apartheid legacy and for some inexplicable reason, the politics of Mbeki-Zuma (I suppose the Scorpions is a link - but it has no relevance to the story).

The plot itself is quite good; but the script wasn't polished enough; and often features over-acting/posing/theatrics that end up ruining perfectly good storylines. Added to this, the dialogue also sometimes does not seem to fit the characters. And finally, the movie finishes without completing all the story arcs - and unlike good stories where this technique is usually a mechanism for the reader/viewer to make their own conclusions - this just leads to confusion. For example, the corruption angle is never finalised and thus the exact reasons and collusions behind the corruption activities or the end impact on the participants are just not explored - even though it is the driving force behind the movie.


Overall, from a plot and cinematography point of view; it is a great movie. However, the acting and the script writing detract from the positives; and does not really make it worth watching.

Movie: The Red Chapel

I stumbled across the Tri-Contentinent Human Rights Festival, now in its 8^th year, at Rosebank while waiting for the traffic to subside on Friday afternoon.

The Red Chapel is a documentary made by a Danish reported, posing as a theatrical director, who takes two Danish comedians (of Korean descent) to North Korea on the pretext of a cultural exchange program. One of the comedians, Jacob, suffers from Cerebral Palsy; which creates two contrasting points in the documentary - firstly his speech impediment allows Jacob to truly express his feelings in Danish without anyone else understanding; and secondly, it contrasts with the rest of North Korea where there does not seem to be any other handicapped person around.

While the documentary's aim is to expose the dark evilness of North Korea, I found that, in many respects the movie fails and it is largely due to the director, Mads Brügger. Mads comments in the film, that he has no moral qualms about anything to do with North Korea - and thus forces both comedians (Jacob and Simon) to do things they are clearly not in favour of doing. Furthermore, while Mads comments on various claims (which are most likely to be true), such as death camps and starving children; the documentary has no supporting evidence to back up its claims. Another problem with Mads' thesis, is that, he gives no credit to the actual talent on show from North Korea - especially children that ends up participating with the team; and instead seems to brush it off as simply a product of the evil regime.

All said, the documentary still provides a fascinating insight into North Korea - and a great example of media and propaganda management. There are many touching moments within the movie - especially the interaction between Jacob and the translator/minder from North Korea; but in my opinion, it does not really serve as documentary evidence of North Korea's evilness.

Jo'burg Street Market

I have always been facinated by street/village markets. Supermarkets, while providing the luxury of aircon and variety have taken the fun out of bargaining and just the experience of the market. Some weeks ago, I took photos of street markets around Jo'burg as part of a photo walk; and I think I have photos of other markets from around the world too (I have also previously posted about, though not exclusively, on markets in Helsinki, Hamburg and Huaraz).



Jo'burg street markets bring in elements that are only really found in the developing world - cut price soccer shirts at a fraction of the real cost; fresh produce sold at very attractive prices but somewhat unappetising locations, ready made street food that does not have the complicated hygine rules of the west and off course the seemingly ubiquitos pirate DVDs and CDs.









Not many suburbanites venture into Jo'burg during the weekends, and they are missing out a vibrant, colourful and interesting part of the city.

Rose Boats & Toy Museum

The road to Bedarsdorp passes through the town of Napier; which would most likely not warrant a stop; except for two things: the absurdly amazingly large chruch that stands tall, and the Rose Boats & Toy Museum.




The museum is run out of a house, by its owner; focuses mostly on toys from the early 1900's to 1970's; and its standout attraction are the Rose Boats. The boats are handmade (and available for sale) out of tin; and feature cyclic flush steam engines; powered by a candle. The concept is simple, and the results are amazing; and there a number of articles and awards hung around the museum to support how well the boats are engineered. See this wikipedia article for more.



Apart from the boats, there are a number of other attractions, such as trains and cars; and although the collection is not particularly large; it is certainly a very worthwhile stop.

L'Agulhas

Cape Agulhas is the southernmost point of Africa, and a place Jay and I have been trying to get to for a number of years (and for one reason or another postponing). The nearby town, L'Agulhas naturally has a number of "southernmost" - restaurants, hotels, B&B's; although the parking lot prize goes to the Cape itself (with a parking lot, 150m from the point).



It is a fairly scenic place; but not as spectacular as Cape Point. It is a lot more laid back, and there is a great view from the viewpoint on a nearby hill. The lighthouse is the second oldest in South Africa; which is itself a small tourist attraction (which was closed by the time we got there). I found it somewhat strange that it was not built earlier given the notorius storms that frequent the Western Cape; and that at one stage there was even consideration given to demolishing it completely.