China plans 'most luxurious train in the world' to Tibet: report

BEIJING (AFP) - China will launch "the most luxurious train in the world" to ply the route from Beijing to Tibet's capital Lhasa, state media reported Sunday.

However, a ride on the train, which will begin operations on September 1, will be about 20 times more expensive than the ordinary fare of about 2,000 yuan (280 dollars), Xinhua news agency said.

"The interior of the train will be decorated according to the standards of a five-star hotel, making it the most luxurious train in the world," said Zhu Mingrui, general manager of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corporation.

"Such a train can only seat 96 passengers. The fare would be about 20 times the normal price and also much more than an airline ticket," he said.

There will be three trains, which will head from Beijing to Lhasa every eight days. The luxury journey will take five days.
More.

NVDL: Train tickets more expensive than airplane tickets. Wonder how long that will last 2 years from now?

Finance Markets: There Will Be (Much More) Blood Soon and Later

Right now brent Crude is $104.38 - Up 1.95%
Rand - $8.0318 Up 0.22%

I predicted a few weeks ago that by June/July Crude will be about $105-120. That prediction remains in place.

More: Rand continues to tread water
Pain on petrol, rand may ease

Postcards From the Photographer's Precipice: Trash The Wedding Dress

Apparently it's big in...no, not Japan, Britain... Couples get married, do the whole stereotypical lovey dovey shoot, go on honeymoon and then when they get back, the bride hauls the humongously expensive (and post honeymoon barely fitting dress) out of storage, stuffs her boobs and hips back into it, and with photographer in tow, they do another shoot. You can either go for it 110% and wallow in mud, or play paintball with each other, or do the sanitised version: burst open bottles of bubbly, spill generous dollops over your partner and then...dry clean.

It's a dress you'll wear once in your life. Why not get twice your money's worth, and have some fun while you're at it...?

Kunstler: Going...Going...

The feigned cluelessness in Paul Krugman's Sunday New York Times column ("The Face-Slap Theory") about the meltdown in finance is a good index of the cringing mendacity now emanating from those in service to the centers of power. I doubt an editor, or the publisher, Mr. Sulzberger, had to whisper in his ear to soft-pedal the situation. I don't even believe anything like his job depends on it. Krugman's glossing-over the truth is just social cowardice. He doesn't want to be called out dissing fellow members of his club.

Krugman avers to the Federal Reserve's two previous big efforts since August to bail out the insolvent banks, insurers, and hedge funds with cheap loans as "slaps in the faces" of these wobbling corporations -- "yo, wake the fuck up!" -- as if narcolepsy was their only problem. (Try that with a wino on the sidewalk outside the Port Authority bus terminal and see if he immediately signs up for rehab and a high school equivalency program.) Krugman calls the club's latest plan -- for the Fed to just suck up their impaired and worthless collateral in exchange for more cheap loans -- as a "third slap," saying, with all the panache of a midwestern Rotary Club secretary, that "the third time could be the charm." Had the monkeys already flown out of his butt as he wrote that, I wonder.

The line in Krugman's column I love best, though is this one: "Last month another market you’ve never heard of, the $300 billion market for auction-rate securities (don’t ask), suffered the equivalent of a bank run." His presumes that his readers go along with his pretense of innocence. We've never heard of the municipal bond market and it's too complicated to explain so "don't ask." Is he writing for the "newspaper of record" or Highlights For Children? Maybe it would be a good thing if readers of The New York Times asked what the fuck was going on in these markets so they could yank their depreciating dollars out and deploy them elsewhere or convert them into something of value.

Well it was a bad week on the money scene in what is sure to be a worsening year. Paul Krugman and his fellow club members can pretend that the hallucinated finance economy is not really flying to pieces. After all, he / they are trying to avert panic. But, as noted previously in this space, the only thing we have to fear is not fear itself. We have to fear the consequences of actions by a banking leadership that has shown the grossest irresponsibility (and an American public that has been conditioned to expect a steady diet of getting something for nothing).

The US faces a pretty stark choice right now: it can let the losers take their losses -- both the big institutions who created and traded in fraudulent securities, and all the "little guys" who borrowed too much money trying to get rich quick, or trying to live like the millionaires they see on TV. We can let them go down, and suffer the consequences of their bad choices (and maybe prosecute some of the culpable bankers and corporate executives), OR, in an effort to let these losers off the hook we can wreck the whole machinery of capital by making our medium-of-exchange worthless.

The people in charge -- both in and out of government -- can't face the losses, so for now they've apparently decided to wreck the currency. The dollar has lost two percent of its value against the Euro just in recent weeks, as cheap loans from the Fed pour into the black hole on Wall Street (never to be seen again). Other soft-pedalers in the media claim that the financial markets have "already priced in" yet another expected .75-point interest rate drop by the Fed this week, but I'm confident that such a move will only accelerate the dollar's vanishing act.

I'll admit, it's hard to believe what's going on in the American finance sector. But incredulity in the face of a rare catastrophe isn't the same as pretending that it's not happening. A whole flock of black swans is flying in front of the sun. Don't expect to work on your tan this month.

From www.kunstler.com

The Argus Jitter

I had a horrific sleep in Three Anchor Bay (about 2km from the start) the night before the race. It was hot and humid, so covered flesh wasn't an option. Flesh eating mozzies feasted on me, so much so it felt like I'd been jogging through ankle deep nettles. At different times in the night I turned on the lamp and waited for these monsters. These are also not regular mozzies. Most mozzies languish on your skin and are easy to squish. These guys were small and stealthy. Turn on a light and they disappear. Move, just a slight shift, and they're gone. Even so, I persisted and managed to assassinate 5. Yet more remained to pester me throughout the sweaty wee hours.


But let's get on to the race itself.

The Cape Times today reports about 65 crashes and just 3 serious injuries in yesterday's race. I was in group E. I'm guessing 61 of those crashes were in our group; the guys got spooked quickly and often. The first bodies and bicycles to use the tar road as an urban tanning pad happened before Hospital Bend, but they kept up the "WHOOOOAH" alerts at regular intervals right up until the finish line. Ja, a guy decided to get off his bike and sit in the road with about 300m to go.

So I did a 3:05:50. I'm happy with the effort I put in. Heart rate averaged a high 158, and after Suikerbossie my muscles were on the edge of cramping. I climbed happily and steadily. My biggest booboo was arriving latish and so slotting into the back of E. Thus when the first guys decided to lounge on the tar, I found myself in the second bunch. I made a break and caught them as we entered Muizenberg, but was caught napping at Smitswinkel. As I summit ted the front bunch had drifted on ahead and I'd assumed we'd stick together.

First 39km in 1hour. Halfway at 1h28min. I was tired when I arrived at the bottom of Chapman's peak, at about 2:10. I ate and hydrated very well, which was important after Carnival City, and in the heat. Suikerbossie was hot, and I started easy, getting into a rhythm. Got stronger and faster near the top, pushing my heart rate to it's maximum (171). The temperature of Suikerbossie was pretty hot, 28 C for us at around 9:45am.

Alex did a 2:46 and came 10th in the vets, Helmut who lost a minute to me last year came in 2:53 (wow), and my brother did what I could not, he slipped in just under 3 hours (2:59).
In the Standard Bank Hospitality tent afterwards we heard some horrific stories. One guy hit a small child at full tilt, someone else smashed into a pram that wondered into the road. Someone else had derailleur problems and had to have it sawed off and 'MacGuyvered' to get going again. A lot of people in different groups said that there were a lot of riders who wanted to know what it felt like to put their bumps on the tar beach. I'm guessing it wasn't much fun.

I'm happy with how I rode given my fitness; I improved over 2 minutes on 2007's time. But I feel a bit disappointed in the sense that I want to be riding better and performing better; riding with better riders. This means I need to do more races in Joburg and solve the Saturday ride dilemma. I don't think I rode on a single Saturday. Alex does MTB that day and I haven't demonstrated initiative to go and ride somewhere else. So need to make a plan there. But I am motivated and keen to shatter 3:05 next year - jitters or not.

The 1:14 Effect

By the time you read this I will probably have been airborne and back on Earth again. In a few hours (as I write this) I will be 1500km from my present location, luxuyriating in plentiful oxygen and sea vistas. Meanwhile, tomorrow, hard work and toil is on the cards. Will I go under 3hours?

So I was swimming in the open air pool at Old Eds and I said to myself: "If you can swim 100m faster than 1:15, then you're gonna break 3hours in the Argus. The background to this is my first swim was 1:21, second one 1:17 (and gasping painfully). I allowed myself a dive, but not off the blocks. So I did a 1:14.

I then went to weigh myself: 84.3kg. Alex predicts a 3:10. I'm predicting 3:03-3:05. Time will tell.

Milla (Photography)

Pick 'n Pay Rocks

About a week ago I went to the Norwood Pick 'n Pay and amongst other things bought a massive bag of toilet paper - quite a bargain for R24.99. The person packing my groceries hung the bag on the front outside of my trolley. So when I'd unpacked everything into the boot of my car, I didn't see the toilet paper. I realised my dof mistake when I arrived home, but I couldn't be bothered to drive back...

So yesterday I went to buy two day's worth of pre-Argus grub. I went to the customer service section and explained what had happened...in the back of my mind I saw a little scenario of car guards smuggling their booty to a corner of the parking lot. And then...the lady asked: "Do you have a till slip?" No. "Do you remember when you bought the toilet rolls?"
I said I wasn't sure. Probably a Saturday, but I did remember what the product looked like and the price.

She opened a log book, and started scanning. I glanced at the list too, looking for R24.99. We quickly spotted it. I signed for it and was allowed to pick up a replacement. That's awesome service guys, thanks!

Marriage Jokes

Getting married is like going to a restaurant. When you see what everyone else has ordered you wish you were having what they're having.

Married life is very frustrating.
In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens.
In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens.
In the third year, they both speak and the neighbours listen.

I haven't spoken to my Mother-In-Law for eighteen months....I don't like to interrupt her

Please put my face in the middle of this picture (PHOTOGRAPHY)

Rand above R8/$, Oil moving to $103

"Global equities are in a rout as a result and even with fresh USD losses all global risky currencies faced large losses," said the analysts.

More from Business Day.

New Climate records

Highest Daily Rain 9.5 1971-03-17 10.0 2008-03-06
Hondeklipbaai
Highest Daily Rain 13.8 1997-03-18 27.4 2008-03-06
Vioolsdrif - Aws

Crash - nearly, and then again!

Before work this morning I took back a Resident Evil DVD and on my way back down African Road a black Fiat impatient at the intersection almost plowed into me. I had to slow down at the dog's leg to turn right and so anticipating I wouldn't, lurched forwward. I watch the car swimming in my rearview mirror, noticing a young blonde in it. Then on Glenhove Road in the Houghton area I hopped across an intersection and then had to stop because of a traffic jam on the other side. So I see the black Fiat growing very large in my rear view mirror and then lurching left and right as she tried to stop in time. I allowed my bumper to drift half a metre further, which is why we managed to stop in time.

I reiterate: drivers in Joburg can't drive. There's this obsession with speedy manuoevre's and the sheer number of crumpled bumpers smashed rear and and front lights demonstrates that there's signal failture between reality and the driving daydream. You can't drive like this in a congested setting like Johannesburg. And being on the road is not a motorised fashion-ramp (see how fast I go). Mondoza and Ashley Callie have proved that haven't they? Do you want to prove it too?

Horton (ANIMATION)

Mars Attacks...itself! Spacecraft Photographs Mars Avalanche

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — A robotic spacecraft circling Mars has snapped the first image of a series of active avalanches near the planet's north pole, scientists said Monday.
The image, taken last month, reveals at least four avalanches of fine ice and dust breaking off from a steep cliff and settling on the slope below. The cascade kicked up massive debris clouds, with some measuring more than 590 feet across.
The landslides were spied by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter during a routine tracking of seasonal changes. The probe arrived at the planet in 2006.

More.

Patrick Swayze diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

Ironically enough on Oprah last night Randy Pausch gave an on-television version of the 'dead guy' speech he gave (downloaded a gazillion times). Basically pancreatic cancer is the last cancer you want. Your chances are surviving it are very slim.

So if you could choose from a list, Pancreatic cancer would be the last one you'd choose. Only 5% of Americans diagnosed live longer than 5 years. Death itself is also pretty unpleasant, as more and more systems of the body shutdown, including the digesting, liver and lung function. Essentially your body then becomes poisoned, you're unable to use the toilet or metabolise food you eat, and then your lungs stop working. This is what makes Randy Pausch's upbeat speech so amazing. The question is, will Swayze survive? What are his chances? Apparently not terrible. Read here for more.

Watch Randy Pausch on You Tube here.

Brent Crude Oil Now $102.84 (Up 1.18%)

They are already talking about R8.50pl and R9. Alex Jay was saying it cost him an extra R70 to fill up his tank. Double that, and then add half of what you're paying for food to your grocery bill and it starts to hurt.

We were joking about this whilst cycling this morning. One of the solutions, we said, was to quit eating junk food - a major expense for many - altogether.

Right now the Rand is R7.80 to the Dollar.

Fuel levy also fuels high prices

Hopes that 2008 will bring a respite from soaring international food and energy prices have been dashed in the past few weeks. The oil price refuses to retreat markedly from its US$100 level and international market prices for wheat, maize and dozens of other commodities continue to surge. On Monday alone the price of wheat futures rose by 22%.

The consequences for SA consumers are severe. Bread prices look set to increase by at least 50% over the next few months while motorists will pay around R8,50 a litre - an increase of about R1/litre - when the fuel price changes next month.

More.

Amazon Kindle: The Future Minus Paper (review)

E-books are the future. Apparently there is some miscommunication going on and some are under the impression that I think e-books are not the future. I, like many others, enjoy the real thing. There’s just something comforting about having a paper book to carry around, to bunny ear, scratch notes on, highlight words/phrases and whatever else you may like to do. The refresh rates suck and you just want to pull your hair out while waiting for the next page to load. You don’t know how far along you are in the book. Those are just a couple reasons among a slew of arguments to hate e-books. Although, part of me thinks it’s a waste of resources even if it’s made from recycled paper.

Traditional books have their pros and cons, but e-books are just janky and stupid, right? Well, yes, they are, but the Kindle from Amazon is a different beast.

My initial impressions were pretty off. I just wasn’t all that impressed and sort of left it on my desk for half a day, but I always want to floss the latest in technology when traveling so I brought it along for my trip to the Bay Area for turkey day.

More.

NVDL: These gizmos will also made it easier for undiscovered Nobel prize winning candidates - er, like me - getting their fiction work published online, beyond this blog.

Homes of Gallo employees petrol-bombed

Gallo Records employees have hardly gone on strike in support of their suspended colleagues and the situation is already turning ugly.

Two Soweto homes belonging to members of Gallo management have been fire-bombed.

Thirty-one employees have been suspended by the company. They said their colleagues were planning to go on a sympathy strike in support.

By Kingdom Mabuza and Sibongile Mashaba for the Sowetan Online.

More.

NVDL: Pray that this doesn't become de rigeur in South Africa. You lay off a worker (due to a shrinking economy) and then revenge crimes follow.

Close Call! A320 Caught in Crosswinds (VIDEO)

Close Call! A320 Caught in Crosswinds - The most amazing home videos are here

Let them paint on the walls

Juno MacGuff: I think I'm, like, in love with you.
Paulie Bleeker: You mean as friends?
Juno MacGuff: No, I mean, like, for real. 'Cause you're, like, the coolest person I've ever met, and you don't even have to try, you know...
Paulie Bleeker: I try really hard, actually.

Instead of crawling back into my cave last night I ventured out. As far as - GASP - Montecasino. It was quite funny. I was really starving and so I said to L, "Shall we sit out...er (glancing up at the fake ceiling)...should we sit out inside?"

Salad was great, and the movie was an incredible breath of fresh air.

Back at the cave I had a top 500 worst sleeps in my sleep (around 2 hours, low quality), and so when the alarm went off at 4:30am I cringed, moaned, assumed the foetus position. I sent A an sms saying: "Dude, don't you want to ride tomorrow. I'm death in a blanket." (I'm paraphrasing). After two minutes I said stuff it, and kicked my sorry ass out of bed. Had a very nice ride (this time on my Trek since the Cannon is probably sitting in a hanger in Cape Town already).

Last night on Oprah I watched this professor with pancreatic cancer giving this speech on living. Are you an Eeyore or a Tigger. Oprah summed up the whole show by quoting something from his presentation. He'd said he had fantastic parents. When he was a youngster he asked permission to paint various things on the walls of his room. They felt that art (and expression) was more important than walls, so he went on to paint an elevator, rockets, equations and so forth on his bedroom walls.

We can do the same in our lives today, but the canvass is the walls we put around us, to defend our own views of the world.

Watch Randy Pausch's lecture here.

Juno: A rich, funny, happy tapestry of a teenager's life (9/10)

Paulie Bleeker: Come on, let me carry your bag.
Juno MacGuff: Oh, what's another ten pounds?

The screenplay written by Diablo Cody won best screenplay at this year's Academy Awards. Many critics believed Juno was a strong contender for Oscars in other categories too, including Best Picture and Best Actress. Whilst No Country For Old Men may mirror to some extent the reigning movie zeitgeist, Juno is exceptionally fresh, spirited and infused with vigor. All the actors do a fine job in this flick, and every frame is a valuable and colourful thread weaved into the charming tapestry that is Juno's life.

The film chronicles the seasonal and emotional flux that a 9 month pregnancy involves. It is a remarkable story in that it somehow manages to evade the heavy drama and angst and misery that usually stereotypes teenage pregnancy stories...but the movie still has its bunny slippers on the ground.

Plenty of credit goes to Ellen Page for a perfect performance as the unique and irrepresible Juno. But why Juno?

Juno MacGuff: My dad had this weird obsession with Roman or Greek mythology or something and he decided to name me after Zeus' wife.
Mark Loring: Zeus' wife?
Juno MacGuff: Yeah and I mean Zeus had tons of lays but I'm pretty sure Juno was his only wife. And apparently she was supposed to be super beautiful but really mean, like Diana Ross.

The flick has a distinct color and taste and personality, mostly imbued by Juno herself, but thoughtfully and cleverly accentuated in other characters too. Jennifer Garner and Jason Batemen are transplanted out of The Kingdom and battle fatigues into an upper class suburban setting. Bateman's performance is subdued, understated and subtle, but touching. Garner's colder desperation contrasts well, and their belongings at home (guitars and a pristine lab-like bathroom and kitchen) reflect their disparate climates towards family living.

J.K Simmons (Juno's father Mac) is one of those character actors who we easily recognise, but we never remember his name. Simmons also played J.Jonah, the news editor in Spiderman. His performance illustrates where Juno gets her spirit and sense of humor from.

Diablo Cody's screenplay is filled with ear-tickling dialogue and everyday scenes that are nevertheless remarkable. A scene at the mall where Vanessa (Garner) kneels in front of the teenage girls stomach, hoping to feel the baby move, while out of focus shopper move in the background is just one example.

It is a rare treat for a flick to have none of the ingredients of the average blockbuster. There is no violence, no car chases, no explosions, no vulgarity, no sex (well, sort've). But neither is it a contrived, too good to be true fairy tale.

Vanessa Loring: How do I look?
Bren: Like a new mom. Scared shitless.

The soundtrack is great, but the best thing about Juno is its genuineness and its unique sense of humor. You're likely to leave the cinema sensing that somehow the world is a brighter, happier place than when you went in.

Directed by Jason Reitman
Cast:

Ellen Page (Juno MacGuff)
Michael Cera (Paulie Bleeker)
Jennifer Garner (Vanessa Loring)
Jason Bateman (Mark Loring)
Allison Janney (Bren MacGuff)
J.K. Simmons (Mac MacGuff)
Olivia Thirlby (Leah)

1888 photo depicts Helen Keller, teacher

BOSTON - Researchers have uncovered a rare photograph of a young Helen Keller with her teacher Anne Sullivan, nearly 120 years after it was taken on Cape Cod. The photograph, shot in July 1888 in Brewster, shows an 8-year-old Helen sitting outside in a light-colored dress, holding Sullivan's hand and cradling one of her beloved dolls.

Experts on Keller's life believe it could be the earliest photo of the two women together and the only one showing the blind and deaf child with a doll — the first word Sullivan spelled for Keller after they met in 1887 — according to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, which now has the photo.

More.

Who was Helen Keller? Go here to find out.

One of my favourite photographs (PHOTOGRAPHY)

This picture was shot whilst travelling on the subway - above ground obviously - in South Korea. I love the soft water color lines of this picture. It hasn't been enhanced or softened at all. It was taken whilst crossing the Han River. I love how delicately the colors flow when it reality the city can be grim and gritty.

This Year China Becomes the Largest Online Community and the world's largest internet market

China’s online population grew by a healthy 54 percent in 2007. In 2006, the number of Chinese online was 137 million, by the end of 2007 that figure had risen to 210 million.

In contrast, the U.S. had 216 million Internet users at the end of 2007 (Nielsen/NetRatings), only 5 million more than China. Subsequently, China is on track to become the world’s largest online community.

More.

NVDL: There are important implications. One is that non-Asian based sites that want to grow - including blogs - and remain relevant might want to push more content that talks to, or about the Asian market/condition, and our relevance to it. Why? Because right now even though China is about to become number 1, Asia is already the region with by far the most internet users. Online penetration in China is only 16% meaning the growth potential in this market is staggering.

Petrol-Porn: "Petrol price won’t choke consumers"

The petrol price goes up 30% year on year but we're told it's normal, volatility is normal, don't panic. By all means, don't panic, but by the same token it's very rational that we should be VERY worried. 61cents per litre translates to a lot more money for, say, a trip to Cape Town.
With oil prices hovering around $100 and the Rand hovering at R8.00 to the Dollar, another price hike is likely.

It's stupid at this stage of the game to be spewing the public mindset with this sort of false assurance. In reality we're likely to see a longer term shift (globally) towards higher non-renewable energy prices - for goal, oil and gas. This means higher electricity prices, higher fuel prices and higher prices for everything else.

As such we need to start implementing fairly radical lifestyle shifts. Anyone telling you these price changes are not worth being concerned about should go and work for an advertising agency, or somewhere the ongoing business currency is bullshitting the masses.

More.

Bad Weather in Canada Right Now

We had ANOTHER huge storm last night, this time ice and snow. It is still snowing but at least the wind has died down to a dull roar. We have about a foot of snow to deal with, I will help G shovel the driveway later when the snow stops. It has been the most brutal winter in all the 7 years we have been here. The skiers have loved it, lots of snow for skiing. I've talked to all three of the guys and next year they want to try skiing. - D, in Hamilton, Canada.

NVDL: If you're experiencing oddly uncomfortable or unseasonal weather, please contact me and let me know.

Opec agrees to keep oil output steady

Washington has said even a token supply increase from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would help to tame prices.

More.

NVDL: The US are getting desperate. With oil at $100 the US is taking a massive hit as the world's largest economy (and the most addicted to oil by far).

When People Drink Themselves Silly, and Why

The urge to binge mindlessly, though it can strike at any time, seems to stir in the collective unconscious during the last weeks of winter. Maybe it’s the television images from places like Fort Lauderdale and Cabo San Lucas, of communications majors’ face planting outside bars or on beaches.

Or perhaps it’s a simple a case of seasonal affective disorder in reverse. Not SAD at all, but anticipation of warmth and eagerness for a little disorder.

Either way, researchers have had a hard time understanding binge behavior. Until recently, their definition of binge drinking — five drinks or more in 24 hours — was so loose that it invited debate and ridicule from some scholars. And investigators who ventured into the field, into the spray of warm backwash and press of wet T-shirts, often returned with findings like this one from a 2006 study: “Spring break trips are a risk factor for escalated alcohol use.”

Or this, from a 1998 analysis: “The men’s reported levels of alcohol consumption, binge drinking and intoxication were significantly higher than the women’s.”

...Western societies, and certainly the United States, send multiple signals on bingeing. At times, the signals cross, as when movies show spring-break binging as sunburned, sexy fun, while health pronouncements make it look like an orgy of near-criminal behavior...

By BENEDICT CAREY

More.

What's Wrong with SA Blog Awards?

This is a very unscientific analysis, but can someone explain how this blog get's nominated for...
1) South African Weblog of the year
2) Most humorous South African blog
3) Best post on a South African blog
4) Best Original writing on a South African blog
5) Best South African Personal Blog

Reason I ask is I thought the SA Blogosphere had grown beyond 20 or so blogs. The other thing is the aforementioned blog (which is about blog-porn floating on vomit/excrement) isn't even in the top 10 in the LIFE category on Amatomu. I have a bone to pick with a blog that excels peddling drunken sexual adventures and vulgarity for a living, and the writer then parading herself as a blogging celebrity - I've experienced this ...cough...cough...phenomenon offline (but please, "I want everyone to know about my sexual preferences but at the same time [her] identity needs to be protected from stalkers"- can't think why...).
I just don't think we can afford to be filling our minds with blog-porn with all the concerns going on, but then the majority of the hoi palloi consists of tabloid obsessed soapie addicts.

I also don't understand how David Bullard's blog (defunct wasn't it) makes it on the list of political blogs. I am a great fan of David Bullard and have interviewed him for this blog. I'd also support David continuing to blog 100%, I think Blogs need every good writer they can muster. But in terms of SA Blog awards there have been 5 posts this year from David, including a three sentence observation about Sarkozy. Is this an attempt - a blogging award - an attempt to woo Mr. Bullard back into the world of blogging, maybe set it afire once again?

I guess it's all about who you know, favours, hook-ups, cover ups and blowing one's own horn. Just makes me think SA Blog Awards ain't even worth R2.08.

Rating the 3 on 3rd Degree

Did you watch 3rd Degree on etv last night? Firstly I didn't know that they broke the story? Didn't it start on a website called Coffeepot? I got a few sms' and calls immediately after. I didn't like the way Deborah had made up her mind and angrily went after what is her spin on the whole thing. I also didn't like the white Freedom Front guy's attitude to the oke next to him. He just ignored the guy while he gathered he thoughts on his next statement.

Essentially while the FF guy made some sensible statements, his arrogant attitude to the black chap talking to him really gave me the impression that actions speaking louder than words; he came across as a full on racist.

It was also interesting to watch the video in its entirety. To me the most damning aspect of the whole thing is the final 3 seconds when he refers to 'black whores'. I know Danie Grobler and have spoken to him and I actually found his performance quite measured in this video.

I was under the impression, watching him in action in particular, that they thought they were making a clever, funny, check-me-out-ek's-'n-breker skit. Ity was obviously intended to charm the specific audience it was made for, and get guys on their side and girls to go 'oooh - dit was so snaaks [that was so funny].'

I'm still a bit in the dark if the guy had a water bottle under his shirt. I suppose one needs to watch the bit just before he exists the room in slow motion. It's moot though. Even suggesting that they urinated is disgraceful enough.

Interestingly on the Sowetan website the UFS racism stories haven't dominated. Readers at Sowetan are more interested in what is happening locally: the miniskirt circus in Jozi. Read here for more.

Meanwhile let's score the performers on 3rd Degree:

1st place - goes to the black SASCO guy

and Deborah and Mr FF share last place for being dicks* on the opposite end of the spectrum. Learn have a civilised conversation, and don't pretend to be what you're not.

*(UK, US, offensive, coarse slang) A highly contemptible person.

'Moses was high on hallucinogenic drug when he received Ten Commandments,' claims top academic

When Moses received the Ten Commandments from God, he was summoned right to the top of Mount Sinai.
But the man who led the Children of Israel to safety may have been even higher at the time, if an Israeli academic is to be believed.
Psychology professor Benny Shanon says it was likely Moses was hallucinating under the influence of a mind-altering drug at the time of his biblical achievements.

More.

The Weather in Cape Town on Argus Day

Predicted to be a minimum of 18, maximum 25. The wind is howling now. 4 days from now it should be blissfully calm. Enjoy.

Weather Warning - SA Coastal & Interior + New Climate Records

Gale force southeasterlies (35kts or 65km/h) are expected in places between Cape Point and Plettenberg Bay. Heavy falls of rain and showers in places over the south-eastern part of Northern Cape, southern and central Free State and the eastern part of Eastern Cape. Hot and humid conditions which may lead to dangerously high levels of discomfort are expected over the northern coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

NVDL: The rain must blow now - in the Cape - and get it over with. I've heard reports that PE and Bloem are insufferably hot, and PE is having a lot of violent stormy weather.

Records:
Highest Maximum 31.1 1992-03-11 31.3 2008-03-03
Shaleburn

Highest Minimum 25.4 2003-03-18 25.52008-03-04
Richards Bay Airport

Highest Maximum 38.2 1996-03-11 38.4 2008-03-04
Bisho

Highest Maximum 43.7 2001-03-14 44.0 2008-03-03
Uitenhage

Highest Maximum 38.5 2003-03-29 40.2 2008-03-03
Port Alfred - Airport

Highest Minimum 20.8 2004-03-18 21.3 2008-03-04
Port Alfred - Airport

Critics on Criticism

Anton Ego: In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new.

The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations, the new needs friends.

Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant.

Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.

It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more.

NVDL: For this gem and many others, Ratatouille is a brilliantly crafted, scripted and executed animation motion picture. Go see it today.

The Most Wired City in the World - who wants the story?

At the end of April I am travelling to Seoul, South Korea, as part of the Seoul Press Tour (paid for by the Seoul Metropolitan Government).

South Korea is the most wired nation on Earth, with over 90% of households connected to highspeed broadband internet. Their broadband is the fastest in the world, and for a country with a relatively small population (47 m), they have one of the largest internet populations in the world.

From Wikipedia: . South Korea is one of the world's most technologically and scientifically advanced countries such as nationwide 100Mbit/s broadband internet access, full HDTV broadcasting, DMB, WiBro and 3G HSDPA. South Korea is a global leader in electronics, computers, digital displays, semiconductor devices, mobile phones and hightech gadgets.

Asia has a lot of growth potential even though it is already the the region with the most internet users. It's penetration remains low at just 14%, only slightly ahead of Africa.

I'd been keen to write something sexy about what is it like to live in most wired country in the world. Where is Asia going, and what does that mean for the West of the WW. What is the pace like in the country? How do they watch TV, what do they do for fun, what do they (not) use the internet for. Do they suffer from information overload? What is the receptivity to Facebook, or do they have their own? How do dating sigtes fare? What do they have that we don't? What are online communities doing and what sort of communities exist? In short, where might we (the rest of the world be) be in 20 years?

Please let me know if you'd be interested in a piece for YOUR publication.

Dear Hollywood Studios: Let My Video Go

It's early December, and you've been watching DVDs of The Wire, HBO's addictive crime drama, for four hours. Now it's past midnight, and you've just finished season three. You're hooked and ready for more, but season four is nowhere to be found. The DVD set was recently released, but neither Barnes & Noble nor the local video store has it yet, and anyway, they're closed. Netflix offers it, but that would mean a three-day wait for the DVDs to come by mail. Amazon Unbox? iTunes? Netflix Watch Instantly? Not available. Only one place will deliver The Wire right now: BitTorrent.

More.
NVDL: I used to use BitTorrent in Broadband heaven - South Korea. Unfortunately I have been suffering withdrawl since my boeing touched down on South African soil...

Optimize A Fresh Ubuntu Installation (WIRED)

You've just download the latest and greatest version of Ubuntu Linux and it didn't cost you a thing. You breezed through the installation and a brand new desktop is staring you in the face -- now what?
Ubuntu's Add/Remove Programs interface makes installing free software easy
Ubuntu's Add/Remove Programs interface makes installing free software easy

There are a few things you'll need to do if you want to get the most out of your Linux desktop. But don't worry, none of this is too complicated. In fact, it's much easier than trying to do the same on Windows or a Mac.

The first thing to do is open up the Add/Remove Programs application (Click on Applications > Add/Remove...). This is a simple manager for installing and uninstalling software on your Ubuntu system. There are literally hundreds of free goodies at your disposal here -- Start with this list of essentials.

More.

NVDL: Ubuntu is one of Mark Shuttleworth's pet projects subsequent to his trip into space. I once asked him for money to start up a company called Rocketboy - a home delivery service subsidised by direct advertising/customised advertising (ie free delivery). He said some other companies had crashed and burned a lot of moolah, and so...no.

ARGUS AIR TICKET

If anyone is looking for a last minute air ticket to Cape Town and back to JHB, this seems like a pretty good deal.

Depart LANSERIA on 7/03 at 14h45, return on 10/03 at 12h30. Cost R1427-00
Contact Mark Fussell

T: +27 11 303-5655
C: 082 900 0425

mfussell@rmbpivatebank.com

Ratatouille: A Delight (8.5/10)

[Skinner has gotten Linguini drunk in the hopes of getting him to admit that he has a rat under his hat]
Linguini: Hey... Why do they call it that?
Skinner: What?
Linguini: Ratatouille. It's like a stew, right? Why do they call it that? If you're gonna name a food, you should give it a name that sounds delicious. Ratatouille doesn't sound delicious. It sounds like "rat" and "patootie." Rat-patootie, which does not sound delicious.

Remy: [observing what Emile is eating] What is that?
Emile: [pause] I don't really know.
Remy: You dunno... and you're eating it?
Emile: You know, once you muscle your way past the gag reflex, all kinds of possibilities open up.
Remy: This is what I'm talking about.

Mustafa: Someone is asking what is new!
Horst: New?
Mustafa: Yes! What do I tell them?
Horst: What did you tell them?
Mustafa: I told them I would ask!
Skinner: What are you blathering about?
Horst: Customers are asking for what is new!
Mustafa: What should I tell them?
Skinner: What did you tell them?
Mustafa: I TOLD THEM I WOULD ASK!

Gusteau: How can I describe it? Good food is like music you can taste, color you can smell. There is excellence all around you. You need only to be aware to stop and savor it.

This is a superbly crafted flick; a great story too - in short, a delight.

How to create Buzz - Winona Ryder Not Engaged

HOLLYWOOD - Winona Ryder's publicists have hit back at reports the actress is set to wed boyfriend Blake Sennett, insisting a picture caption went too far.

Ryder and Sennett reportedly revealed their news to guests at the Valentino show, which marked the end of Paris Fashion Week in France, on Thursday--before most of the world even knew they were dating.

But Ryder's spokeswoman, Mara Buxbaum, has denied the engagement story.

From Hollywood.com. But this same site earlier posted a report saying Ryder was engaged. It's a shitty way to get traffic. Publish a rumor, get the facts, publish those, get some more facts, publish those, then apologise. It's incredibly time wasting, but those who recycle this garbage make a lot of money at our expense. Google winona ryder engaged is see how many sites have taken the bait.

Sowetan Online Now Number 1

The Sowetan website has recently surpassed The Times.co.za with over 3.2 million page impressions, making it the number one online brand (based on page impressions) in the AVUSA stable.

From Project 2010 One Year Ago:
The Sowetan launches new Web site - 15/02/2007
The Sowetan newspaper has given its Web site a fresh face, providing its readers with more features, news and opportunities for interaction. According to a Media Update report, the site was launched just over a year ago, and has been well-received, boasting 1.2m page impressions a month. The Sowetan has added several multi-media and Web extras to the site, and strives to provide its readers with the latest local and global breaking news. Readers can find out more about the 2010 world cup preparations by tuning into the brand new Podcast feature with Tim Modise.

A threefold increase in one year is impressive, particularly if one recognises the site is still in its infancy with incredible potential for even further growth.

Guava (PHOTOGRAPHY)

Since I was out of milk this morning I raided my "Canned Goods" section and poured out a glop of guavas into a plate. So I'm sitting there and I raise one of the guavas on my spoon and I suddenly see the beauty and fragility right there...in the fragile tissues...the shining fleshy eye of guava flesh. There is something immediately foetus like about it, and even alien. This is life on earth. And then I ate it, human teeth gnashing the cool soft sweet tissues, transparent yellow-tinged juice swilling like amniotic fluid in the bowl. This was a picture of the human condition, from the point of view of Nature, in all her forms.

What is news?

The nature of news is changing. And the change is at a fundamental level. What does this mean to you, and me?

At a fundamental level a tool such as the internet and a PC (or simply a cellphone) provides users with the capability to now decide what is news. That decision used to belong to someone else. If each individual determines what news is for them, they can attract more and more of the content THEY want. We are part of the process that decides what news is. In fact, we are the news.

Do you want to know?

The fundamental shift is essentially from news being a vital public service (servicing a real need for information) to a money making stream of information servicing what people want to know. There are a few ethical problems with this, but the fact remains, it has happened and is accelerating.

So is news something we want, or need? Well, that depends on you. Once upon a time editors decided what was news. Now aggregators make those decisions (online anyway) and so in a very real sense, the news is 'whatever is the most popular' or put in an even simpler way: 'what people want'.

Moral?

Once again, many are concerned about the ethical implications, but the fact remains that the internet is where the future lies, and to bet against the internet, and the rise of blogs, citizen journalism, user generated content, social media etc. is not going to be good for business.

The nature of journalism is also changing, but reporting in some sense will always stay the same. Can you find a good story and how well can you write it? Your ability to tell a good story determines your capacity to influence news (yes, as a private citizen). That's tremendously exciting. Reporting is becoming less a specialisation than it once was.

Community Cloud

As alluded to above, the role of editors in the online space is somewhat different to the traditional role. Online there is almost immediate feedback on which stories are doing well, and even this is news. People's responses to news is newsworthy, and the internet can also quickly aggregate the communities response.

The internet provides an alternative to the sort of information that has traditionally been put out there. Instead of talking at, or talking to, online merchants now have the option to talk 'with'. The question is: are we using this opportunity?

The News at the level of Citizen Journalism

How is this relevant to UGC? Well, of course it is very relevant. Users are now the creators of their own news. So whoever you are, wherever you are, you can look at a situation and provide your insight, your impression, your response. It might be your experience of drugs, teen pregnancy, higher petrol prices, your experience of racism at university, or how you're solving the dilemma of higher food prices.

To the extent that you can accurately draw a picture representing your life in your community, that's a valuable contribution. We need to know how healthy our communities are, and what is happening in them.

Bloggers - some of them - want to create our OWN news. This means not recycling what is already on the internet. It means something YOU saw or experienced, or something that happened to a friend or neighbour. It also means adding something of value - not merely posting something for the sake of it, but because your information helps someone else, it fulfills a PURPOSE.

YOU are the news, and so the responsibility is yours, mine (ours) for creating newsworthy content; a prudent mixture of news that we want and news that we need.

Now each of us gets to be part of that decision. When we realise how important that role can be, the news begins to belong to everyone, and becomes more meaningful and useful than ever before.

Scenes from an (incomplete) Airport (PHOTOGRAPHY)

Kunstler: World Made Unaffordable

The US president-elect will quickly realize that the number one problem is not that Americans can't afford health care -- it's that they can't afford anything, because their income is evaporating in terms of both lost jobs and a dollar that is racing toward worthlessness.

They'll be hard put to pay for food and gasoline, nevermind Grandma's emphysema treatments. They will be walking away from home ownership -- or yanked kicking and screaming by default-and-repo -- and any government scheme devised to abridge their mortgage contracts will only undermine basic contract law that has made mortgage lending a credible thing in the first place. And that too, of course, would redound straight to a real estate sector already in price free-fall, with no one willing or able to think about buying a house.

As Obama and McCain go at it through the next eight months, they will likely focus on our situation in Iraq. (Calling it a "war" now is imprecise.) As merely one commentator among thousands, I'm not satisfied that either one of the contenders has defined his position on this coherently. Obama is disposed to get the US military out of there as quickly as possible. He's right that the sheer awful cost of the adventure is one big factor in wrecking US finances while it erodes our standing in the world.

But with our Iraq garrison shut down, he'd better be prepared for a further breakdown in Middle East stability and the oil markets that depend on it -- meaning, the basis of American life for four generations, dependable oil imports, will sharply end. That would accelerate the disorderly abandonment of our massive misinvestment in suburban living, and also ramp up the anger and resentment of the public grieving over its lost entitlements.

McCain's contrasting hundred-year plan does not take into account the severe impoverishment and exhaustion of the military itself, not to mention the overall purpose of the adventure -- to keep suburban life and all its accessories running in the homeland -- which is an exercise in futility under any terms. McCain would have to confront the terrible paradoxes of the war, namely that thousands of legs have been blown off for the sake of WalMart, which company will be hemorrhaging customers anyway, as incomes wilt, at the same time that WalMart's own operating system -- the "warehouse on wheels" -- surrenders to the reality of five or six dollar-a-gallon diesel fuel. In any case, the implosion of the US economy during the next eight months will overshadow whatever we decide to do in Iraq, and that cratering will be laid directly at the feet of the Republican party. If the party survives that, which I doubt, it would a long time before anybody trusted it again.

Whoever wakes up as the next president on November 5 will have to preside over the comprehensive reorganization of American life. The big question is whether he can persuade the public to let go of its sunk costs, and all the sheer stuff that represents, and move ahead in a unified way that doesn't end up tearing the nation apart. The danger is that the public will want to mount a kind of last stand effort to defend a way of life that has no future under any circumstances, and they will ask the president to lead that last stand.

To avoid that deadly outcome, the new president will have to be equipped with a realistic vision of what this society can actually do to survive the discontinuities that circumstances present.

This will require him to confront the prevailing delusion that the US can become "energy independent" in the sense that we can run WalMart on something other than oil from foreign lands. The new president would have to carefully restate American expectations and goals -- for instance, not to keep all the cars running at all costs, but to get us living in places where driving is not mandatory. I'm concerned that the American people will hate the new president if he tells them the truth: that an old way of life is over and a new one has to begin now. We're about to find out how much "change" the public can really stand.

NVDL: Imagine this. Obama becomes president, sagely withdraws troops from Iraq and then the Middle East - destablised (apparently) goes to hell. China jump in, Europe jump in - seizing oil wells (or deals - whichever is the more practical). Oil prices - especially in the US - treble. Americans accuse Obama of stabbing Americans in the back as the world's most addicted-to-oil economy takes hit after economic hit. As Wal-Mart shuts down and hotdogs become as expensive as Texas T-Bone steaks, Anti-Muslim sentiment surges. Obama is forced out after half a term...and so plays out the last chapter of a once great nation...as civil unrest escalates to all out civil war...

Kunstler Cast (AUDIO)

Newspapers will outlive Blogs by 25-30 years (CHART)

By 2050 Google will be dead (or have no futher use). Copyright (outside of China) disappears by around 2020. Right now we're experiencing the extinction/obsolence of dial-up, email (in its place blogs, facebook, sms, filesharing and twitter) newspaper delivery, video rental stores, 'getting lost' and... RETIREMENT will no longer be an alternative lifestyle. DVDs, Post offices, butchers and WW1 survivors go immediately after that...

More.

Thanks V for supplying this info...

Rand and Oil Worsen

Crude now $101.62 up 1.52%
Rand - $ 7.8325 down 0.64%

Amazingly the JSE just pretends this isn't happening. A delusional economic system disconnected from reality cannot remain disconnected from reality indefinitely. Reality will return in three clattering decibels: CRASH BUST BANG.

The Most Son-Of-A-Bitch Pothole in Johannesburg (photography)

They have been patching up this mother for weeks. It's not even an impact crater. It's a small jacuzzi on one half of the road. Now they are using graders and tip-trucks. Water is the enemy here, and they just can't plug the leaks... The poor people who live in this house, because the hole - the Dusi - is right in front of their front door...

Jozi: This city is nuts!

During my lunch break I 'quickly' went to drop my bike off at the airport. It had to go to a special tent a week before Argus fly time on Kulula.com. It took me about 2 hours to figure where this rotting piece of turf was situated, and I only found it after three hundred and seven u-turns, dead ends and 12.4 calls.

I also saw the under carriage of my car floating down the highway in front of me as I passed Jet Park. I sat for a while in a pothole the size of a small moon crater, with the body of my car protecting me from cars racing by.

On the upside, booking even as late as a week before the time I got a return flight, Johannesburg to Cape Town, for R1300. That's amazing value. Also, they pack your bike for you in a sturdy box, with bubble wrap, so i was able to just drop it off. I have a nice bike bag, but it's in Bloem right now.

No Country For Old Men - Closing Arguments

Ed Tom Bell: I was sheriff of this county when I was 25 years old. Hard to believe. My grandfather was a law man, father too. Me and him was sheriffs at the same time, him up Plano and me out here. I think he's pretty proud of that. I know I was. Some of the old time sheriffs never even wore a gun. A lotta folks find that hard to believe. Jim Scarborough'd never carry one, that's the younger Jim. Gaston Borkins wouldn't wear one up in Camanche County. I always liked to hear about the oldtimers. Never missed a chance to do somethin. You can't help but compare yourself gainst the oldtimers. Can't help but wonder how theyd've operated these times. There was this boy I sent to the 'lectric chair at Huntsville here a while back. My arrest and my testimony. He killt a fourteen-year-old girl. Papers said it was a crime of passion but he told me there wasn't any passion to it. Told me that he'd been planning to kill somebody for about as long as he could remember. Said that if they turned him out he'd do it again. Said he knew he was going to hell. Be there in about fifteen minutes. I don't know what to make of that. I surely don't. The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its measure. It's not that I'm afraid of it. I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job. But, I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He'd have to say, "O.K., I'll be part of this world."

Rand nears key R8,00/$ level

THE RAND came under intense selling pressure overnight and in early trade today as poor global markets and a flight to safe havens dictated direction. It may also have suffered a bit more than it should have as investors "picked the tops", said one dealer.

It was bid at R7,9725 to the dollar from its previous close of R7,8831.
More.

NVDL: Prepare for a lot more pain. Brent Crude Oil now $100.40 (up 0.30%). Expect another big petrol price increase in a few weeks. OPEC is also cutting output... Even though we've been predicting this 'unfolding' for some time, it is so sad to watch. It's going to hurt everyone in many ways. We are going to pay an immense price for our common complacency.

OPEC CUT IN OUTPUT EXPECTED

UK Earthquake: Quake Clean-Up 'Will Cost Millions'

The largest earthquake to have struck England and Wales in 25 years has caused millions of pounds of damage.

The Association of British Insurers said the cost to businesses and householders is "likely to run into the low tens of millions of pounds".

The clear-up is continuing as buildings are checked for structural damage.

The quake struck at 12.56am, triggering hundreds of calls to emergency services across the country.

Measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale, its epicentre was recorded five miles east of Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, and 14 miles south-west of Grimsby.

More.

Earthquake shakes parts of Kent
Earthquake Shakes Southern England
Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake Felt Across England

Movie Review: Mr. Woodcock 7/10

Billy Bob Thornton, Seann William Scott, Susan Sarandon
Director: Craig Gillespie

Before taking out the DVD I had my reservations about watching this flick. More than one reviewer gave it a paltry 5.5/10. Why bother? Well, having seen it, I think it’s worth the bother if you still have a bone to pick with one (or more) of your teachers.

When I was in High school I had a mathematics teacher; we called him Flash Venter. He was almost always red-faced, sweating and smoked like a chimney. Flash was feared by all, despised by some, and universally respected for his ruthless mathematical precision.

I remember his opening speech on our first day in his class. We were so frightened the class was covered in frost on that January day. We were ordered to keep our eyes fixed on him at all times. No daydreaming. No distractions. I glanced down at my pencil tip 30 minutes later and suddenly found myself hanging by my own tie (literally). He said: “Van der Leek, what did I just say?” “Sir, do you expect us to look at you the entire time, every single day?” And so the scene was set for mortal conflict between us over the next 5 years. I would later have my school case emptied out the window for packing up a moment too soon.

At one point I found myself playing for the men’s second hockey team, but he was the coach, so I made sure I played badly enough to get dropped from the pressure-cooker so I could go back to playing for the third team. The kickers came in matric though. Just before an important swimming race, as I was about to mount the blocks, he said something like: “You may be useless at maths van der Leek, but you can swim all right.”
And after a matric exam a bunch of us were talking and from the front of the hall, and it was a big hall, he said: “Van der Leek, shutup, get up, and go to the office.”

Mr. Woodcock is basically about your mom hooking up with a teacher like Flash. Not something you would wish on your mom, or worse, yourself. John Farley (Seann William Scott) a young author of a successful self-help book (called Letting Go) find himself in exactly this position when he returns home to find mom (Susan Sarandon) getting cosy with none other than Mr. Woodcock (Thornton). There’s a classical scene in a diner when John informs his mates that their ex-teacher is going out with his mother.

The flick is hilarious and, it must be said, somewhat contrived. The worst thing about Mr. Woodcock is the title, but Woodcock isn’t called Woodcock for nothing either. The poster could have been better too – it makes one wonder: “Is this a movie about basketball?” It’s not.

Essentially it’s another brilliant comedy performance by Seann William Scott (Stiffler in American Pie, and opposite Keanu reeves in Dude Where’s My Car). Craig Gillespie directs with rib poking precision. If you have some awful memories of High school (I sure do) you will enjoy this film enormously, and learn to lighten up at the same time.

Escalator Art (Photography)

These images were shot at Rosebank Mall.

Photos of Free State University

Scenes from a Rosebank Mall (Photography)

n

Clinton accused of being ‘turbanator’

Hillary Clinton has been accused of playing dirty, after a photograph of Barack Obama in a turban was circulated on the Internet.
US reports speculate that the picture, of Obama in traditional Somali garments during a 2006 visit to northern Kenya, near the Somali border, was leaked by “Clinton staffers”.

More.

NVDL: Is Clinton also a spurned girlfriend I wonder...

UFS students receive death threats

Students from the Reitz men's residence at the Bloemfontein campus of the Free State University (UFS) have received death threats. Four students from that residence allegedly made a video in which five black workers were subjected to racial abuse.

More.

Racist video masterminds to face criminal charges
Lawyers instructed to charge students after video
Racist student video sparks outrage
Cops keep watch at UFS

NVDL: Now a second racist video - same thing (Reitz students urinating...) - has emerged. This isn't going to blow over.

Mandoza in crash - two die

Mandoza's Chrysler Crossfire hit a VW Jetta along the N1 near the 14th avenue offramp at 01:23.

"He hit it from the back, the Jetta lost control and overturned trapping the two occupants inside and they died on the scene," she said.

More.

Markets Fall on Drumbeat of Grim Reports (NYT)

An outpouring of negative economic and financial reports soured the mood on Wall
Street Friday as banks and other lenders further tightened credit in their
struggle to contain damage from losses on mortgages, business loans and related
debt.

Shares sank, and investors fled to the
safety of Treasuries as the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 2.71
percent and the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 315.79 points, or 2.51
percent, to 12,266.39. Both indexes capped their worst four months since 2002.

More.

NVDL: The world is changing for the long term and it will affect YOU.

Like the good old apartheid times

Forced to eat meat mixed with garlic and urine, cleaners at a South African university are going through their "initiation" process. Participating in beer-downing competitions, races and mock rugby games, if the black workers are sufficiently entertaining, they go away at the end of the day with a bottle of whisky.

This is what happened at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein in central South Africa last September, when five elderly black cleaners were filmed completing the humiliating tasks. On Tuesday (26. Feb) the video of the events surfaced on the internet, causing outrage across the country. Now, the four victimisers are facing criminal charges, and mass protests are taking the country by storm.

This is what the friend are saying on an international (english) website. Go here for details.

Mr. Vanderleek
Submitted by Ingrid Stofleth (not verified) on Thu, 02/28/2008 - 18:59.
Having read Mr. Vanderleek's comments, I now have a better idea why racism lives on, loud and proud, in South Africa. If a university educated young man (the so-called "future of the country") considers these incidents as merely a manifestation of a "sick sense of humour", and the ensuing protests as "white black bullshit", then: good luck, South Africa.

NVDL: Amazing, am I the so called future of South Africa also a so called racist now? Quite a few assumptions there. Amazing how words are construed to justify what you - IS -desperately seem to want to believe. It's a sick sense of wanting to believe the worst in people isn't it? To want what they mean to be the worst that they might mean. I never said these incidents were 'merely' a manifestation, but it does point to a particular sort of attitude, and it's accurate to say that the attitude behind the making of the video shows a sick sense of humor. Not 'merely'.

If you ever lived in South Africa you would know how all South Africans feel about the Apartheid past. We're sick of it. We want to move forward. International news only refers to SA when there is a racists element to the story. The brand CNN and other news-creators want for SA is 'the country where whites are backward and give blacks a hard time'. It's great news. It's more: "see, we told you' reporting". Such obvious racism (as seen on the video) is taboo today, hence 'bullshit'. I'm not saying it never happens, I mean most good South Africans, the majority in other words, have absolute disdain for this sort of base behaviour. Stofleth's remarks reflect just as nasty a failure to try to understand as is the basis of racism.

Thanks for your good luck wishes though. We'll be needing them.

The 3-Times Rule

I was on the phone to an ex-girlfriend, asking her if she wanted to watch NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN with me today, and she said: "Definitely not." Not because of me (I think it's safe to say), but because she's not into that particular OSCAR WINNING movie at all. Fair enough. I reminded her about an invitation to JUNO and she said: "I've already told you I'm going with you." "But if you change your mind, tell me, I don't want to have to call you and find out that way." "But I won't change my mind." "But if you do, and if you do it's no problem at all. Just let me know."

We got onto talking about something else and she eventually stopped me and said: you broke the '3-Times' rule. What is that?
It means if you contact a new person, where friend, colleague, potential shag whatever, you can contact them only three times (in total, adding all mediums) after which, the law states, you may never contact them again.

I said I would do that, as follows:
"Hi, this is Nick. By the way this is phone call number 1 of 3 in total. The trial period is about to expire. How about a movie? Oh I know it's short notice, okay so you can't come, okay no probs. Just a reminder though, this is phone call number 1..."

A few days later.
"Hi, me again. I know this is email but it is total message number 2 (of 3). Feel like getting a quick bite to eat. Oh, you have a deadline. That's cool. No problemo. But before I end this email, just so you know, this is message 2 of 3. Have a great day."

At the end of the week, via sms:
"Feel like going for coffee. (btw this is message 3 of 3)."

Sms back: "Can't sorry. Am at a braai but I might be free on Sunday."

Communications Ends.

Red Dawn (PHOTOGRAPHY)

Cycling This Weekend

Going to decide this weekend whether the the Argus is on the cards or not. Would be good to go, whatever is the case. Watch this space.