The week that was (and it aint over yet)

Sometimes you wonder. Sometimes you don't.

Rain. Painfull ankle. Liverpool wins (sometimes rare these days). And Anderlecht too through to the last 16 of the UEFA cup. Two too-early mornings. Flight delayed. Flight delayed indefinitely. Flight cancelled. Honda with automatic gear box (uh!). Very overweight lady neighbour on plane. Smooth, clean airport. Relaxed transport to and from OR. Too many emails. Some good, some less good. Some promising, some less. Maybe Polokwane. Maybe George. Maybe Cape Town. Some fine tunes on the iPod. Roof leaking. And why does DSTV show rugby on channel 101 in prime time? Aren't there sports channels for that? Great food. Wine turned into vinigar. Peroni on tap.

Ambleside

If you ever gotta stay over in the little town of George on the Garden Route, certainly do it at Ambleside.

Very nice, 4 star, guesthouse run by a welcoming chap from Manchester (UK). The guesthouse is about 4km from the airport, 1 km from the famous Fancourt golf estate / hotel (where Japan will be based during the world cup), and 2km from central George. Lovely spot. Recommended!

www.ambleside.co.za

And down the road is an appetizing restaurant called The Fifth Season.



So Supersport Utd won the title again. That's the 3rd time in a row - prett unique!! - that Supersport clinches SA's football title. The big ones like Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates are biting the dust,... once again.

Weather buro

Had some issues this morning as George airport was closed due to bad weather down there.

I remembered the SA Weather buro. Called them and checked out their site. Easy and great info. check it out! Handy tool...

www.weathersa.co.za and call on 082 2339800

Tickets

So prices for tickets for the games next June/July are coming down. Great news for the football loving masses.

It's all a bit confusing, but at least more people will be able to afford who join in the football fever. Viva.

Short step back

Just a day in Soweto. Short step back and the result is pain and a swollen left ankle. Murphy's law and all that.

Close the tab

Why is it raining so much for so long and so hard?? Why??

It's just getting a bit too much to handle. This is not global warming but global drowning. Is it El Ninjo? Somali pirates? Iranian nuke business? Alien space activities? Zuma? Angels' disputes? Atmospheric wars? Something about the moon and the sun? Mars' unhappiness? 2010? I mean what is it????

Tip for Pravin

Here's one for Pravin. The lad has to step into the shoes of Trevor Manuel and that ain't easy, especially when there is serious pressure on the budget. It's gonna be a fight with numbers tomorrow when he presents his first, national budget to the MPs and the nation at large (aka us).

Got an idea for him. Every newly built home, with a value of R800.000 or more, has to have (obligation, not an option) a solar geyser.

1. If it is an obligation by law then the architects can work the solar geyser into their drawing plans.
2. It create jobs as more solar geyser installators will be needed. And these are solid, handy jobs like plumbers and electricians.
3. The demand for solar geysers will increase and thus price will drop.
4. More solar geysers = less pressure on our stretched powergrid.
5. And we do our bit for the environment, which is good as such as well as great PR on the international scene
6. South Africa can become leaders in solar geyser installations and can export that trade to SADC.
7. In a second phase you can expand this law/plan to renovations and small business.

Only postive aspects!!!!!

Monday blues

Get that to start the week. A short but violent storm around midnight last night with the usual Joburg style lighting, thunder and heavy rain, but also really serious wind.

And then while driving to a meeting this morning, radio 702 is all about Elton John coming to play somewhere in SA some time soon. His candle in the wind would not have survived very long last night!

So bad night sleep, Elton John ads on the radio, and avoiding potholes and taxis. And a tree that fell on the road around the corner here. Luckily Monday's over at midnight.

Red carpet and all that

It's one of those days where tiredness doesn't go away. You wake up with it and you go to bed with it.

So our own JZ did his thing in parliament yesterday. Red carpet stuff. Army bands playing. Ceremonial rules. Icon in public gallery. Speech. ABSA mistake. Laughter. HIV refernces. Critical sounds from opposition benches. Promises. Plans. Demands for action. Comments afterwards from friends and foes. That young kid had to bring nationalisation in the picture again (and again).

And on it goes. Day breaks. World spins.

Car stereo blues

Musical friends from the Queens borough of NYC had reformed last year after 10 years of seperation as they were just too busy with day to day life to manage rehearsals and concerts. So Killing Time stopped being.

But then I guess the bug kept biting and old rockers never die. So they came back together and hit the stage. The energy was still there and the crowds loved it. So they went into the studio and recorded "Three Steps Back" - a new album that has just been released.

Me of course very keen to hear my old friends rocking it again. Put the cd in my car this morning enroute to an expected stressy day,.... and after 15 seconds into the opening track the car cd player decided to give up on life. Worst moment ever.

Great toast, great man

Father and daughter

Red carpet action

So District 9 got a bunch of nominations for the Oscars next month - including for best movie I think. That follows a series of nominations for the British Baftas later this month. Rollercoaster of red carpet thrill.

Eastwood's Invictus got also some, but less than expected. Freeman and the bloke who plays Bokke captain Pienaar (sorry, my memory chip in my head just went blank on the actor's name) got nominated for best actor and best supporting actor respectively.

Wondering if the aliens in District 9 knew about W.E. Henley's words from Invictus: "...I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul."

Cup to Cairo again

On 17 January 2010 I said Egypt would win the Africa Cup of Nations. On 31 January 2010 Egypt won the Africa Cup of Nations.

1-0 Against the young lads of Ghana. Third time in a row that Egypt gets the cup. It's becoming boring,... but hey, the best team wins so if Egypt remains the best footballing nation in Africa then they gotta take the cup (and keep it pollished).

The very dark spot on their winning image is that they could not qualify for the worldcup starting in June. And that is where all the attention goes now. June 11 is creeping closer and closer. In 1 month we will hit the 100 days countdown. And that will raise the fever even higher.