"renew your justified lack of faith in our company"

Last month I rented a car from FirstCarRental, when my car went in for an unscheduled electrical check. I chose them simply because they were the closest to my office, hence easy to get to. The rental itself was painless; but after returning, I was charged for additional damages. Upon further investigation, I found that they had charged another client's damages to my account - and it took almost 4 weeks (!) to get my money refunded; and that was after a particularly nasty email was sent since polite emails, phone calls and even rocking up at the office twice didn't have any effect.

In the last email, which was very appologetic (though they didn't even pay me my interest on the overcharge), I came across the following line:

"I trust that you will allow us to be of service to you again in the future so that we may have the opportunity to renew your justified lack of faith in our company."

Really? I should try them again, so that they can renew my already low opinion of their services?

FWC 2010: Uruguay v Ghana

As Gyan stepped to take the penalty on the last minute of extra time, the ground was in ruptures; willing for him to convert, and "make history". It was a well deserved place to be in - except for the first 20 odd minutes, where Uruguay definitely had control; Ghana played really well, and looked the better team. They seemed to be running harder, trying harder, and playing better.

It would have been well deserved - Ghana were the best African team this year. And it's not only because they got to the quarter finals. They played better than the Nigerians and Cameroonians - and they handled the loss of their star player better than Ivory Coast. They did scrape by in the group stages, but played each match to win.

Sadly it was not to be - and despite the consolation from his team mates; I think everyone knew it was not going to be Ghana's night after his miss. Gyan was devastated after the penalty shootout, so much that he was almost carried off the field by his teammates afterwards. And the Uruguaians carrying Suaraz (who deliberately handled the ball to stop a certain goal) in celebrations after the penalty shootout rubbed salt into the wounds of the near 80 000 Ghanaian supporters (there were about 85 000 people in the ground, and except for a small section of Uruguay supporters, everyone else spotted red, black and yellow).

The world cup in South Africa, has been a great success in most respects. Every one of the visitors I have spoken to have loved their experiences. A Canadian family I met on the bus to the stadium was gushing about how much they have enjoyed their travels in South Africa; a traveller from, I think Malta (or one of the mediteranean Island countries) was looking forward to his first game drive in the Kruger on Sunday while the Australians on the bus to Sandton were very complimentary about the service they had recieved in their hotels and guesthouses (although they thought the Metrobus system could have been done better in terms of ticketing).

And the fans, have been very colourful - as per the photo below. I had great seats yesterday, 8 rows (actually 6 since, the first 2 were blocked out) from the corner flag - allowing me to get some really cool pictures of the game.

FWC 2010: Argentina v Mexico

Sunday's match was the most competetive and most exciting match I have attended at the World Cup so far. This time, I went with a friend and his family using the park and ride at Gold Reef (allowing us to see Germany's thrashing of England) - though I think this was a lot less effecient when compared to the bus system I used for the previous game.

One of the great things about the World Cup, is the array of colourful fans that attend the event. There are off course the supporter clubs, this one being from Argentina, but there are also the stunning sombreros etc. Certain footbal traditions such as the toilet paper rolls being thrown on to the field have also been transported to South Africa - although they were cleaned up pretty quickly. So it is not only the export of the vuvuzela to the wider world - but also the import of various fan regalia.






Drums and celebration using drums are nothing new in football, and the Argentians were in high spirits after the game (and apparently it carried on inside!). Though I think the medley of drums and vuvuzelas at the Ghana v Serbia game was a lot more interesting!



Maradona has been criticised a lot, although he has succeeded well so far. But no one can really criticise his involvement at training. In the warm up before the game, he was very much involved in training with the players - instead of standing back and barking instructions. Maybe that is one of the factors behind his success?





Tevez's first goal was clearly offside from where I was perched - but that didn't stop any celebrations from the Argentians around me once the goal was given by the referee - although they did seem to accept it was offside once it was inadvertantly shown on the big screen; leading to the players' protests. But this also showed how easy it would be to deploy television replays as part of the game in large tournaments. The entire process took less than a minute; and big screens ensured that it was fair and easy for every one to judge.


My side of the pitch featured 3 goals, and I did manage to capture Higuain catching the stray pass from Osorio, on his way to the goals.

There are not that many games left in this world cup, and my last live game is tomorrow, where I hope the Ghanaians finally beat the Uruguayans.

South Africans Supporting African Teams

While waiting for the game to start, C, the diplomat, had asked a very interesting question - are South Africans genuinely supporting African teams like Nigeria, Ghana etc. or is it a hype made up by the media? It is a very pertinent question - South Africans of late have had a history of xenophobia, and some of our fellow African brothers have less than stellar reputation (Nigerians anyone?).

In some respect, support for Ivory Coast because of Drogba, or supporting Cameroon because of Eto'o is not surprising - but would we support Ghana without Essien, and what about Algeria?

I was at the FIFA Fan Park at Mary Fitzgerald square in Newtown last night for the screening of the USA v Ghana match; and I found that there is genuine support for the Ghanaians. It did help that they played great football - but the true nature of support can be easily ascertained when fans heckle the referee for legitimate calls going against "your" team, show despair at the opposition's goals etc.

Last night was a great game, and yes, South Africans are behind Ghana. And I am looking forward to their match against Uruguay on Friday night.

Transport Blues?

Apart from security, the next biggest fear about the world cup was the transport system - or the lack thereof. In the space of 3 days last weekend, I got experience both the highs and lows of the transport system.

For the matches at Loftus in Pretoria, I used the Park and Walks. What was amazing was the efficiency - not only in the signage and policing - but also how little time (comparatively) it took to actually get in and out of the stadium. In the Denmark v Cameroon games, I got home 65 minutes after the final whistle had blown. I drove to the same area this morning for work, and it took 25 minutes. Given the volume of people leaving the stadium - that was really impressive.

For the match at Soccer City on Sunday - I decided to park at Sandton City, and then make use of the Metrobus to the City Centre, and then the Rea Vaya, bus rapid transport system to the stadium. The tickets were R50 return, and a further R9 for parking at Sandton City - not bad in my opinion. The return trip - from the end of the match to getting into my flat, took under 90 minutes, which is very respectable.

This mode seemed to be very popular, with a lot of tourists making use of it; and with a very festive atmosphere (esp with the bunch of Brazilian fans that got on the bus with us). It was not a smooth start. With tickets being needed to be bought on board; and our general lack of orderly queues, it was a bit of chaos to actually board the bus. While I have had similar experiences in many other countries (Peru, Brazil and India stand out), it could have been controlled a lot better. But then again, this is Africa.



But thereafter, it was a pleasure. The bus dropped us of at Westgate BRT station, where there were a lot more orderly queues to board the BRT buses to Soccer City. The attendants were helpful and the system really works.

It was the first time I have used public transport in Jo'burg, and I was truly impressed. And the other South Africans with us were seemingly also impressed - especially the BRT. Not all South Africans - among the people in our bus from Sandton were three teenage girls (sisters I believe), who were quite spoilt and was aghast that they were actually going into town (the standout comment - "Town, eewwww gross. Mommy - you didn't say we were going to town!"). Their parents were however quite impressed - and stated as much.

Early Monday morning however, also brought out the deficiencies in our transport system. A Mexican/American friend of mine (and his girlfriend) were wanting to travel to Rustenburg for the Uruguay v Mexico game; and there does not seem to be any transport arrangements in this regard. A number of shuttle services charge outrageous amounts of R1500+ for a return trip. While they had booked a car, his credit card had a huge block from a previous rental (when he went to Polokwane to watch the Mexico-France game). Luckily, I managed to help him out with the transport arrangements - but what about all those people who were travelling alone?

The transport arrangements at the World Cup shows that we can do this correctly, and do it well. It has also shown the areas we need to improve on - the ticketing, the queueing and the coverage. This is all good news - I just hope that we keep on implementing these. And I hope, that in future sporting events - be it cricket, rugby or football; we carry on using these arrangements.

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).