20 Years of Cricinfo

Cricinfo (or now, known as ESPN Cricinfo) is one of the oldest websites, still operational. It started as a community driven initiative, and as far as I know, it is the largest dedicated single-sports website on the net. It has become the defacto repository for cricket knowledge, opinion and journalism. I blogged previously on the facinating history, and as it celebrates 20 years, some of the back story is now being published online.

10 years ago, a lecturer at UCT posed the question - would anyone pay for news content, when there are so many alternative sources for free. I replied then, that I would pay for Cricinfo and Autosport.com. My Autosport subscription has since lapsed - more due to my waning interest in F1 than the content; and Cricinfo has never asked for subscriptions - but yes, I would still pay for Cricinfo. And there is really, no alternative out there.

Movie: Seven Psychopaths

It has been on the Ster-Kinekor Nouveau circuit for a while, so I was quite glad that I finally got round to actually watching it. It is a movie featuring great acting and a hilarious script - that pokes fun at both established Hollywood story narratives and for that fact what the movie is supposed to be about. 

It is a movie about an alcoholic Irish scriptwriter (played by Colin Farrel), wanting to write a more complex story about seven psychopaths - but without the classic shootouts and standard Hollywood fare. The movie is both about the struggle for him to write the story and the plot that he writes, which is intertwined in the movie - featuring a Buddhist monk, a Quaker, a mafia boss amongst other characters. 

It's a comedic gem that manages to combine insane characters and plot lines.

Song for Sekoto @ WITS Arts Museum

Gerard Sekoto is one of the most prominent South African painters, and would have turned 100 this year. In commemoration, the WITS Arts Museum is hosting an exhibition covering his full career - from Sophiatown, to District Six, back to Gauteng and finally exile to Paris in 1947.

Covering art that is held by museum collections across the country, corporates and private individuals, it is an amazing exhibition that covers all his famous paintings, and other aspects of his life, including letters, books, photos and a whole lot more. I don't frequent art galleries often, and it is quite amazing to see such an extensive collection and showcase of a single artist.

I particularly liked the vibrant oil paintings that seem to shine even from a distance, but the exhibition has everything, including drawings on seemingly scrap paper, charcoal, and water colours. It is an amazing collection, and the exhibition is on until only next weekend (2 June).

Last Night of the Proms

It is an annual event in Jo'burg, hosted and conducted by Richard Cock, with the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra and the Symphony Choir of Johannesburg; to raise funds for Lifeline. Unlike most classical concerts, there was a lot of colour and general fun (with balloons, streamers, clanging keys from the audience as part of the performance etc), and the general demographics of the concert attendees was younger also.

There was a good mix of popular classical pieces, though my personal favorites were the less well known/often played pieces - Popper's Hungarian Rhapsody (which showed that the cello can actually make lively music) and the Highland Cathedral (where the bagpiper was awesome).

It was a fun evening for a great cause. There is one more concert this afternoon, but it may be sold out.

The Music of Korngold

For the past month, Classic FM has been inundated with adverts for a chamber concert featuring the music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold - and the ads were annoyingly bad too. As noted in the program (and for that matter in the Wikipedia article also), although he had very notable success with film scores, his work is largely forgotten, and not often performed. South African based pianist,  Luis Magalhães together with Priya Mitchell (Violin from UK), Daniel Rowland (Violin from UK/Netherlands) and Julian Arp (Cello from Germany) have started the Korngold Project - to record (and perform) the music of Korngold. The first performance was in Johannesburg last night, and will be followed by performances in Cape Town and Stellenbosch this weekend.

The show was supposed to start with Schubert's String Trio in B Flat Major, but that was scrapped as the musicians felt that they were not prepared enough. Given the overall length of the concert, it was not exactly being short-changed. The concert started instead with Mahler's (unfinished, as narrated by Daniel Rowland) Piano Quartet in A Minor. It is a sad, but beautiful piece - of something lost that was greatly treasured - something unexpected from a teenage composer; and to be honest, it didn't feel unfinished.

Korngold's Piano Trio in D Major, was the first Korngold piece of the evening. It is a fairly long piece (over 45 minutes IIRC), and quite a fun piece - in complete contrast to the Mahler. It was also written by a young prodigy (program notes state, Korngold was 13 years old), and it does have the childlike enthusiasm and energy. Korngold's Suite for Two Violins, Cello and Piano Left Hand, was at least as long as the Piano Trio, performed after the interval. It was a collection of 5 pieces, with contrasting styles. The last two pieces of the suit were particularly impressive and my favourite of the Korngold pieces. 

I have been to many classical concerts, but they generally tend to be large productions. A chamber concert, with four performers at times looked lonely in the large Linder stage. But the concert was somehow more intimate than the orchestral performances, and each musician was more expressive and more energetic than even most soloists in orchestral performances. As to the composer - the music is certainly interesting; and having heard some of the film scores (on radio) this week - I think a larger Korngold project encompassing the various styles of music he created would certainly be worthwhile.

Body Worlds - The Cycle of Life

I have seen the Body Worlds display before in Barcelona, and the display is now in Johannesburg. The displays were not all the same, but the overall theme and content was. Starting with conception, ending with death, well actually the act of conception; it is a celebration of the complex machine of the human body. In a short span of time and space, the exhibition manages to teach the visitor a lot about the human body, with some jaw dropping displays, and some not so pleasant displays (that still gets the point across).

In the section on lungs, there was a display on the differences between a non-smoker and a smoker's lung - what I found interesting, was a number of models used, especially in the athletic poses, seemed to have been smokers!

Even though M and I went in the afternoon, it was very busy, and it took us a good 2 hours to go through the full exhibition. There were a lot of kids, and at least one parent was a doctor, giving her kids a more detailed discussion on the various displays. There is only one "adult" section, featuring a couple in coitus, and most of it is rather medical in nature - just a lot more accessible than a cadaver in medschool.

Mind Games @ SciBono

Most of the exhibits at SciBono are geared for kids; with a lot of hands-on exhibits demonstrating concepts of electricity, physics etc. 

Mindball is different; reading the alpha-brainwaves from the participants, the object is to relax more than the other player, and the person with the lower value moves the ball. It is quite eerie in how it works; especially as the only way to win, is not to think of winning ...

House of Baobab

Located in the Maboneng precinct, House of Baobab is an African restaurant featuring food from across Africa. On Sundays, they have a buffet with some absolutely delicious food. At R80 a person, it is great value too!

Movie: Stoker

It starts of slowly, with a big emphasis on style, almost over substance. India, looses her father on her 18th birthday, and a mysterious uncle appears during the funeral, and stays a while. Set on the grounds of a large mansion, the movie seamlessly incorporates the beautiful house and gardens in a very sinister plot. The cinematography is very stylish, and although it is clear that the family is very wealthy - wealth itself is not a central plot component, except perhaps for the scene with "Aunt Julie".

The movie spans a few days, and the plot unravels slowly; but the movie is strangely gripping. It has shades of "The Talented Mr Ripley", but the plot is not as complex with regards to motive and means. 

The Chester Missing Roadshow

Conrad Koch has taken Chester Missing as a standalone act - together with two new puppets, Hillary and Ronnie, in a 90 minute set. Unfortunately, most of the Chester Missing act is the same material as presented at Blacks Only (with some passing commentary on the Guptas); which is a great pity, since there was so much potential for more fresh, topical political satire (perhaps a more South African Daily Show style?)

The addition of new puppets to the show certainly adds more dimension, and the final act, of converting an audience member into a puppet was not only fun, but has incredible potential in political commentary.

The show runs at the Market Theatre until the end of the month, before moving to Baxter Theatre in Cape Town.

Blackberry

I got a Blackberry Curve for work - and have been using it for about 3 weeks. As a smartphone it is horrible - screen is small, navigation within the screen is horrid, and in general doesn't have much going for it. And the famed keyboard - I find it too small, and tend to make a lot more mistakes than with my iPhone while typing. 

But it's not all bad - the battery life is amazing; it is quite responsive, and the enterprise integration for email and contacts work very well; and viewing office documents is easy. That doesn't mean that the iPhone doesn't do these things well (except for the battery life); but the Blackberry does show what focused purpose devices can do.

Regardless, I am not giving up my iPhone - maybe the Z10 would have changed my mind - the iPhone remains the superior platform.

Winter Sculpture Fair

I saw the advert for the Winter Sculpture Fair, by accident on a billboard at Hyde Park Corner - accident, because I took a wrong turn. I was intrigued enough to Google for it, when I got out of the car - and the attraction of good food in an interesting location was too good to pass up.

Unfortunately the good food part didn't turn up completely. By the time, M and I got there (about 1pm), most of the food was sold out - and the remaining stalls had long lines waiting for food. There was also a lack of parking - since all parking was on the side of the road, outside the venue - and the parking easily stretched 1.5 km! This is the first such event, and should there be future events, it could do with a bit more organisation in these regards.

All that said, the Nirox Foundation's Sculpture Park is an amazing venue. Rolling green lawns, with amazing landscaped gardens and ponds, make perfect spot for picnics - although picnics are usually not allowed! There is a warning regarding a stray hippopotamus, on the outside fence - but that was nowhere to be seen. 

It is a large park, which takes quite a while to walk around. Unfortunately, there are no labels as to the title of the work, the artist or any other information. Some sculptures - such as the bakkie made of plastic clothes hangars were easy to identify - the more abstract pieces less so.

One of the cool things about sculptures, is that is very tactile - and whether allowed or note - some of the larger installations led young children to use them as their playground. That alone brought some extra life to installations.

Some of the abstract pieces were at least cool to look at - such as the fractal heads - I counted 8 - but perhaps there were more I couldn't see.

The hunter and her dogs was my favourite installation - it is quite simple in some respects - but at the same time, the complexity of balancing the dogs on one or two legs is more impressive - and the level of detail up close is amazing!

The head of a doll, in a mattress (stripped of all the foam) was weird (and there are a line of such doll heads). Quite a few of the installations featured skulls (human and animal) - and it seemed to be strong theme.

There were a few installations which leveraged off the water features. I particularly liked the reflection of the dog in the pond water.

Noam Chomsky on Worker's Rights

Dave's Worker's Day post had a link to a very interesting (but dated) video of Noam Chomsky speaking about worker's rights, specifically related to the contribution of trade union movement to human rights - and the suppression of trade unions in the US; and its impact on human rights. You need to skip about 30 minutes for the Noam Chomsky part of the presentation (which is actually the only bit I watched).

The part that stood out for me was the discussion on trade unions contribution to human rights - specifically in the context of keeping the government honest, and businesses focused on things other than profit.

In the South African context, the contribution of the trade union movement in challenging apartheid is well known, and acknowledged. But post-1994, apart from Vavi, the trade union movement - specifically COSATU  - has often faded into the background. In fact, as demonstrated last year at Marikana, it seems that COSATU has specifically shirked its responsibility regarding human rights. Vavi actually stands out like a sore thumb - continually asking questions about corruption, and whether you like his economic positions - he has held principled stance.

Even if you don't agree with Noam Chomsky's positions on worker rights - the discussion itself is enlightening; especially with regards to the "non business world" view. That alone is a reason to watch it - and it certainly makes one think - should worker's movements (like COSATU) even consider joining political movements in the first place?

Amazing Phishing Email

I got this email, this morning - perfectly formed and almost indistinguisable (click for a larger size). Pity, I am not a customer ...

The headers, and specifically Gmail's processing makes interesting reading (highlight my own). I wonder why it is a classified as a "Softfail" when the rule is clearly violated ...

Return-Path: 
Received: from dc1.DFMCASTROL.com ([58.48.109.18])
      by mx.google.com with ESMTP id iv6si3639532pac.241.2013.05.01.15.45.30
      for ;
      Wed, 01 May 2013 15:45:36 -0700 (PDT)
Received-SPF: softfail (google.com: domain of transitioning  

ibsupport@standardbank.co.za does not designate 58.48.109.18 as permitted 
sender) 
client-ip=58.48.109.18; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=softfail 

(google.com: domain of transitioning 

ibsupport@standardbank.co.za does not designate 58.48.109.18 as permitted 

sender) smtp.mail=ibsupport@standardbank.co.za
Received: from User ([74.93.82.193]) by dc1.DFMCASTROL.com with Microsoft 

SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.4675);
  Thu, 2 May 2013 06:28:03 +0800
From: "Standard Bank"

Worker's Day Irony

May 1 is celebrated as Worker's Day in South Africa, and in various other guises across the world. Worker's Day specifically is about the celebration of "the role played by trade unions, the Communist Party and other labour movements in the struggle against apartheid". Like most public holidays in South Africa, it is also used by most middle class households for shopping, and consequently the shops and shopping centres are usually full. It is therefore ironic, that a holiday that celebrates and commemorates the struggles of the working class, means that a significant port of the working class ends up working. At least they get paid more for working on a public holiday.

Muizenberg Catwalk

One of the popular walking paths in Cape Town, the Muizenberg Catwalk stretches from Surfer's Corner to St James. It offers some stunning views, and is a fairly easy and accessible path.

Movie: Oblivion

In Arthur C Clarke's Space Odyssey series, a mysterious space object ends up being the guiding force behind humanity. Oblivion is in some respects the ultimate tribute to sci-fi movies, with a number of interesting references, and a mish-mash of plots borrowed from some of the best out there.

Ultimately, it actually works; although there are some elements that doesn't make as much sense - like the seemingly inconsistent manner of earth's destruction, and the really stupid final scene. But overall, it is an interesting and entertaining concept that is worth watching.

Blue Bird Food and Goods Market

M's friend wanted to meet at a neighborhood market round the corner from the apartment in Muizenberg tonight, so we went round. It's amazingly busy, with a number of food stalls that overwhelms the senses. There is a lot more food than goods, and has a very cool vibe.

Moyo's Courtyard at the Clock Tower

I haven't been to the Clock Tower side of the V&A for a long time, so I am not sure when the Paulaner Brauhaus gave way to Moyo. On the courtyard, there is quite a cool collection of "street food" booths, an installation of hydroponics and solar panels; which is quite impressive to see. Some of the booths have interesting names, and if it wasn't for waiting staff and Moyo being emblazoned everywhere, it would even look authentic!

Metallica

When they were last in South Africa 7 years ago, James Hetfield promised that they would be back. 5 years after their last studio album, they were - better late than never I suppose. I had bought tickets in Cape Town simply because the Golden Circle tickets in Jo'burg were sold out; and the Cape Town concert was later split into two, performing at the Belville Velodrome instead of the Cape Town Stadium. Given the half full Bellville Velodrome on Thursday night, the motivation for the move was quite clear ... although the sparse crowd was still quite surprising.

The concert started with local band Van Koke Kartel. Although 50% of the band is also part of Fokofpolisiekar, I didn't find the music as catchy and energetic. That is not to say that the performance wasn't energetic; but there was something missing.

After a fairly length break (of about an hour!) Metallica finally arrived, and the venue at least didn't feel half-full. Metallica have progressed to the stage of aging rockers, a fact acknowledged by James Hetfield after playing one of their early classics. The concert however wasn't devoid of modern gizmos, with a very impressive video wall and pyrotechnic sequences. 

It was a "greatest hits" type of show, with a performance spanning about 2 hours. All the big hits were performed, with a lot of energy from both the band and the crowd. It was a great concert performance, and definitely enjoyed attending!