Wrecked

I feel beyond tired right now…in fact I feel down right violated. In my mission to lean down a bit I thought I’d take my training programme to another level. So for every second cardio session I’ve decided to add some interval training to speed up my metabolism.

The concept is easy I’ll pick four machines: two that focus on the lower body for example the elliptical and bicycle and two that focuses more on the upper body for example the rower and the hand bicycle thingy (does anyone actually know what that thing is called?). The gist of it is pretty simple you do one minute at a very leisurely pace, and the next minute as fast as you can, and you alternate like that until you have completed ten minutes for each machine.

Easy enough right? Wrong! Forty minutes of pure hell! After the third machine I felt like I was going to vomit…I’m not sure how I pushed through… but thank goodness I did. The worst is, because I met up with a friend in Moulle Point after work, I trained at the Point Gym…where all the beautiful people hang out.

So you have a whole bunch of good looking schmodels…and me, mister rent-a-wreck sweating, huffing and looking like I was about to keel over and die at any second.

Relish

Getting too much of a good thing can’t be bad for you can it? I haven’t been to Relish in quite a while, at least over a year, and all of a sudden, in a single week, two engagements have popped up there.

The first which happened tonight, was held courtesy of the company I work for called DVT. I’m beginning to sense that these little soirees occur on quite a frequent basis - its quite refreshing that a company genuinely wants to get to know its people. Just as an aside DVT specialises in the analysis, development and delivering of custom software solutions, so if anyone is looking for some software developed why not give us a call? Tell them that Benny sent you…they’ll take special care of you, if you do.

The second engagement at Relish is Raenne’s Birthday bash which is going to be held this Friday evening. A little dinner! Awesome! Although afterwards I’ve been warned to drink plenty of Red Bull’s to have enough energy to keep up.

To be honest I forget why I don’t frequent that place more often, as Relish is a great restaurant with some pretty decent chow, it also has an amazing lounge area above, with some spectacular views for chilling out and having a couple of cocktails with friends.

You Snooze! You lose!

Hitting the Snooze button can be pretty troublesome! Is it just me or does one have to set the alarm 30 minutes back to compensate for snooze time?

I remember back in the day when alarms didn’t have this function and when the alarm sounded…I was up! These days I’ll hit the snooze button at least twice before actually crawling out of bed, each hit of the Snooze is 8 minutes wasted, never to be relived again.

I believe that the snooze button has a physiological effect on ones brain. Somewhere lurking in the deep recesses of the mind is the false sense of “I don’t have to get up, quite just yet; as the snooze function will give me some extra-needed rest”. Now that’s all good and well, on the proviso that you’ve buffered in additional time of course. But once in a while, on the odd occasion your reflexes tend to switch the alarm off completely…then my friend, you are screwed.

It happened to me earlier…luckily I’ve learnt from past digressions that I can no longer trust my alarm, so as a backup, I borrowed a little trick from the old Native Americans. Before going to bed, I drink loads of water; so in the morning…how can I put this euphemistically… “nature will call” and you’ll wake up naturally.

Low and behold it works! No tardiness for me! Me, one: Alarm Clock, zero!
Although I certainly wouldn’t recommend the above trick should you…you know…have ermm poor bladder control.

Why So Serious?

I was sceptical at first and with murmurings of an Academy Award for Best Actor on the horizon, I thought that perhaps the critics were just trying to stir some sympathy for the tragic death of Heath Ledger.

After watching the aptly titled, The Dark Knight, the darkest of the Batman franchise thus far, all signs of scepticism disappeared as Heath delivered in my opinion the performance of a life time. Playing the crazed, villainous Joker it was sometimes difficult to tell whether he was acting or actually living the part of the psychotic clown.

Seeing as how Heath is a method actor (method acting is a technique of living the character which you play), and seeing as how I have an above avergae fear for clowns (probably because of that damn, clown movie, IT; I can’t imagine that he was the most pleasant person to be around during the shooting of the film.

Whatever the case, Heath’s passing is a massive loss to the film and entertainment industry. I reckon he definitely has the Golden Statue in the bag, and will perhaps be only the second person in history, other than Peter Finch to be awarded a posthumus Oscar.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice-Cream!

Anyone who has an ear, let them hear! I found a Gelateria on Somerset Road in Green Point, called Gelato Mania that is so amazing that I not only visited it once yesterday but twice!

Gelato for you gourmet heathens is technically not ice-cream at all (so in retrospect the title of today’s entry is incorrect), and contains way less fat; the reasoning behind this is that fat sticks to your palette which would obscure the notes or flavours of the frozen desserts. So when you are looking for a good gelato you should notice that it is more flavourful and it isn’t quite as “sticky” in your mouth as full cream ice-cream. In relative terms Gelato is a healthier product but of course this is in moderation…Should you have had 8 scoops in one day, like me, then the previous statement, obviously holds less relevance…

In my honest opinion; Gelato Mania has some of the best Gelato I’ve ever had in South Africa, and trust me I’ve eaten a lot of Gelato in my day. I spoke to the store owner and they have apparently taken great care in sourcing their ingredients, ensuring that the correct temperatures are met and they have even studied at the finest Gelato Universities in Italy (yes you heard correct) to bring you an outstanding product. The Gelato at Gelato Mania is made fresh and kept no longer than a couple of days to ensure it’s consistent quality.

If you are a big fan of frozen desserts I would highly recommend…NO, I insist that you try out Gelato Mania. Now if only I could convince my coffee club to have a coffee meet at the gelateria next Saturday morning... they may complain about breakfast not being served there, but c'mon coffee and gelato! What an incredible combination!

Bustin Down the Door

Watched a surf documentary last night titled Bustin Down the Door, which explains how a bunch of young Australians and South Africans (Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholamew, Shaun Tomson, Mark Richards and co) single handedly turned the surfing world on it’s head and helped to start what is now a billion dollar surf industry.

The film depicts how these brave, young colonial surf warriors circa 1975, traveled to Hawaii; with only the bare necessities and began their quest to make a living out of the thing that they loved most, surfing. Professional surfing at the time was non-existent and the competitions that were held in those days, only gave away a can of spam as the final prize!

For me Rabbit, now the ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) president, for some reason, was the standout of that generation. I think that it is perhaps because of his brazen approach and the confidence that he had that “this is what he was meant to do”, which was even described in a self worded analogy, comparable to that of Muhammad Ali .

I had the chance to meet Rabbit when I was a bit younger. When the ASP used to roll into town, Billabong would often organize a meet and greet for the groms (young surfers) to meet their surf heroes; and while the other kids would line up to meet the heroes of our time; guys like Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Andy Irons and the Hobgood brothers etc, I seemed to be the odd one out and the only one to recognize him in the crowd.

Rabbit at this point was the Billabong contest director; it had been over 20 years since he had been in the lime light and seemed quite flattered that I recognized him. Because I was the only who had gone up to chat to him, I had the opportunity to find out first hand what contest surfing was like back in the day.

What I really took away from this movie and from talking to Rabbit was that; these guys, didn’t let the fact that people thought they were ridiculous stop them. Because professional surfing was not yet a tangible concept they paved their own destinies by doing everything to make it a tangible concept.

Even if you're not that into surfing, the underlying message to break the norms, live ones dreams and to become the master of ones own destiny, makes it a must see.

GWB! The Phenomenon Strikes Again

What would comedians do if we didn't have good ol' Geoge W. In his latest statement President Bush provided an insightful thought into his views with regards to the US housing market, saying that he believes that "Wall Street got drunk."

Oh my word! WHAT AN AMAZINGLY ACCURATE ANALOGY! I suppose having GWB (George W Bush...in case you were wondering) comment on the economy is like me commenting on my thoughts with regards to open-heart surgery: Un-informative, inappropriate and completely misguided.

You'd think after a couple of terms in the Oval Office that he'd be better at his job...but as time goes by and with his term coming to a close, the chances seem less and less likely. My biggest concern however is, who on earth, will comedians the world over, have to pick on once he's done.

A Week Gone By

Can’t believe it’s already Thursday evening…that means tomorrows Friday! Woot! Bring on the weekend. Is it just me or did it seem like the week just completely flew by? It’s definitely not a bad thing, I mean, at least that’s indication that I’ve been keeping busy…better busy than bored I always say. Although there’s a fine line…you want to keep occupied but you don’t want to be frantically busy; cos that’s no good either, as it just causes stress induced ulcers…and trust me those aren’t fun!

Had a chance to take a quick walk along the promenade at Moulle Point, before a meet and greet! Hmmm as soon as all this rain stops, I might include some running into my exercise routine as the view is magnificent. I suppose the one upside I’ll give all this rain, is that everything is lush and green now. Has anyone checked out signal hill lately? The vegetation is this deep green colur...but even so, enough with the cold already bring on summer!

Haiku

Thought I’d try something a little different and show the extent to which my literary errr...wizardry (see how I did that! and just came up with a word…pure magic) has transformed since my first entry by summarizing my evening into a little but apt haiku:

The Kyoto Garden
Authentic Japanese food
Awesome company

(Again, you see how I did that? I used a Japanese style poem to describe a Japanese themed evening… absoloute genius! Shakespeare eat you heart out there’s a new wordsmith in town!)

Prawn Star

Woohoo, there’s a Prawn special at Bravo this evening, I think the special is a kilogram of prawns for just under R50 or something crazy. Those bottom, filter-feeding cockroaches of the sea sure are ugly-looking; but goodness are they delicious?! High cholesterol aside, Prawns are high in protein and low in carbs...and did I mention they are darn tasty!

The reason why they are so high in cholesterol though is apparently due to their feeding habits. There’s a massive prawn farm that has recently been established just outside Port Elizabeth, called Sea Ark which will do away with the cholesterol by feeding their prawns very… errr scientifically (unfortunately I don’t really know the details). My digs mate in Jozi’s, family has a massive stake in the farm, so while I was living up there we got to sample some scrumptious batch prawns.

If they are indeed as healthy as they claim, I may just change to an all prawn diet! It kinda reminds me of the good old days when Joe and I would go to Jimmy's Killer Prawns in Kloof Street and decimate the all you can eat prawn special. I think the most I had in one sitting was 80 prawns, and Joe had somewhere in the vicinity of 70, only problem was he made use of the special way too much and has now developed an allergy toward them. Poor bastard.

Also since I’ve crashed my vehicle so many times, I know of an awesome panel beater, called Ludski and Sons that used to give me a kilogram of prawns every time I had my car repaired there…I fear that subconsciously, this freebie could be the root of my crashing cars so often….

First Impressions

Came across a clip of Ernst on the internet that aired on Seattle television recently, it was about the Microsoft MVP summit that recently went down in Redmond this year. After much anticipation, at 7 minutes and 28 seconds I caught Mister Kuschke deliver a couple of insightful words.

Ernst is like a superstar in the software industry and has a massive fan base on the net space; I was told by his girlfriend Lauren that when they arrived in Seattle he was apparently greeted by a fan club!

On meeting Ernst, with a modest and friendly approach, you would never tell that he’s a Mensan and one of South Africa’s longest running Microsoft MVPs.

I’m not usually one to get angry; as a matter of fact most people don’t believe that I’m capable of getting angry. But on the odd occasion that I do, I can be a bit of a hard ass, and rather unreasonable. The circumstances in which Ernst was introduced to me were under these conditions.

Now in my defense I believe my reason for being angry was justified. Besides having a number of prior incidents with the purchasing of my flat and in particular my parking bay, which I won’t go into detail right now… I had just landed from a tiring business trip and was already in a bit of an irritable mood as I found that my brother’s car battery had died. This meant that he couldn’t pick me up from the airport, which meant that I had to pay a taxi and rush home only to rush back out to pick him up from somewhere as well.

As I approached my car to give him a lift, I found that the security in my complex had clamped the wheel of my car…in my own parking. At first I was quite calm and approached the security desk to find out why my car had been clamped. Apparently it was because I had parked in the wrong bay, which is fair enough if it were the case. But after I went to my files to fetch the documents and show mister security guard that the parking indeed did belong to me. He still claimed that he could not unclamp my vehicle, unless I paid him a R400 release fee. At this point I snapped and began a barrage of scathing words.

Enter Ernst. Ernst’s car had also been clamped and as he got to security, to find out why. He recalls me shouting at the security guard and saying stuff like “I don’t want to hear your excuses! Just sort this s&%^ out or I’ll have you fired!” Not the most pleasant of first impressions.

On top of that, for some reason when he introduced himself to me; I heard “Harris”, (although his name is pronounced like the Afrikaans word “Ernstig”, so “Harris” is probably more phonetically correct than “Urnst” which many people call him) and I proceeded to call him this for close to a month…until one day I found out from someone else, that his name was actually “Ernst”. To be honest I have no idea how we actually became friends, but the fact that we are; kind of gives you an indication of what an awesome laid back person he is.

Finding Balance

I often forget how Table Mountain can affect the weather in Cape Town. The weather is beautiful today…at least it is in town. I decided that I’d tried to soak up some rays in the Camps Bay area and perhaps catch a surf at Glen Beach, but turned out that not only were the waves manky but the weather was too, even though it is literally a few kilometres from town to Camps.

Seems like the mountain was blocking the clouds and bad weather… in any case I was determined to make use of the sun and ended up at the top of Kloof Street at Café Paridiso, I usually hang out near the bottom of the street and often forget about the cool deli’s and cafes along the top stretch. I don’t do it intentionally but there are so many good spots along that road that sometimes you get distracted by all the ones at the bottom that you never make it all the way up.

At Café Paridiso I had an awesome seafood salad called the Salade De La Mer which was actually, extremely tasty. I chose a salad because I’m on a bit of a mission to lean down again. The weather today reminded me that summer is right around the corner, and it was probably a good idea to lose the spare tyre that I’ve gained over the winter.

Call it what you will, vanity or even me just being plain pedantic, but previously having been involved in a nutrition company; I’ve become a lot more conscious of my health and what type of shape I’m in. Besides, I’ve done the overweight thing, and it’s not really all that pleasant. I never intend on being back in that position so I like to try keep things in check.

One of the biggest fallacies about trying to lose weight is that you should starve yourself. Being a food lover like myself, as I’m sure you have realized if you’ve been following my posts, I can honestly say you can still enjoy food and keep in shape, in fact you can still enjoy eating out and keep in shape. It’s all about choosing the right things off the menu and creating a balance; living an active lifestyle and not overindulging in certain things…

Writer's Block

Hmm… What can I write about? What can I write about? I’m starting to learn that it’s pretty difficult to come up with something to write about every day. Usually I’ll just write about anything that pops into mind, but seeing as how I’m slightly brain dead right now nothing's really jumping out or grabbing my attention.

I could potentially write about the rugby game (Springboks vs Wallabies) I watched earlier this morning, but seeing as I wrote a little bit about rugby last week and how we lost today I’m not really in the mood to delve too much into the match. I could also potentially write about how I've been successful in my two week break from coffee; and how today I was euphoric to sip on a good Rwandan Musasa from the Origin, the real stuff, with caffeine in - not that fake decaf crap that I've been using as a substitute; but for some reason that’s not really inspiring me either.

I could go into my views with regards to that guy from the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema and his talk about “eliminating” the opposition and how it completely freaks me out, but I don’t really want to tackle a depressing issue, particularly on a chill out day such as this one.

What I really need is something to stir up my creative juices, some sort of inspiration… a muse even; just to break the doldrums of my writer’s block, so that I can actually get going and put some words out there. There’s simply nothing worse than when you can’ think of anything. It’s like driving a car that won’t get out of first gear...

Gosh darn it, I’m just not feeling it. Think Benny, think! What on earth could I write about? I wonder if the great writers of our time such as Ernest Hemingway or Oscar Wilde ever suffered from such lackluster days?

At this rate I’ll be sitting here till tomorrow with absolutely nothing to post…

Happy Birthday Ta Ya!

Just came home from a friends Birthday celebration! Ya…that’s right! Me and Madiba are tight, yo. Okay okay, so you caught me…it wasn’t Madiba but it was someone just as cool, Lauren Devine (Happy Birthday darlin’ hope you had an awesome one). I had an awesome time out, since Joe was driving I was the fall guy…you do the interpretation.

Anyhoo it’s Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday (actually yesterday in South African time, but in some parts of the world still today), which is friggin’ amazing. Being the symbol of our nation he deserves a lot of respect, so it annoys me how much everyone seems to be milking his birthday, trying to sell tons of merch…unless of course it’s going to charity…in which case I better shut up and just go to bed!

Catching a Panda

Today’s lesson will be on: "How to Catch a Panda in a Coffee Bar". Now you may be wondering why on earth you would want to catch yourself a Panda - But a "Panda" is a term that Ernst and I came up with for an elusive beauty. I’m not a hundred percent certain why we chose a Panda but perhaps it’s because Pandas are rare, and should ever you see one; if single you are by nature compelled to make a move, as they are rather scarce and you may not have another opportunity for quite some time.

Yesterday I saw such a Panda at one of my favourite local coffee stores. Now should I have employed these next four fail-proof, but imperative steps I may no longer be single…serious:

Step 1. Send over a shot of espresso
Step 2. Grin
Step 3. Wink
Step 4. Send over a soppy note with your name and number

With the exception of the last 8 or 9 times it has worked for me every time! But the important thing is that you get the order correct! I somehow always manage to get Steps 2 and 3 mixed up…No need to thank me guys, if it doesn’t work for you and you’re not completely satisfied with this advice, you’ve obviously done something wrong.

PS It looks like my little prediction came true. Kelly Slater won Billabong Pro J-Bay 2008.

Pass the Ball

Seems like the pessimism train is never late in South Africa, the latest statistics apparently show that most South Africans are pessimistic about hosting the Soccer World Cup.

If I've learnt anything from Economics it's that negative sentiments exacerbate poor economic situations, if not cause them. This is caused based on the actions performed by the people in light of the negative sentiments. This is what economists like to call a self fulfilling prophecy. For example often times when people start thinking that a recession is on its way; they start gearing themselves towards a recession, the trend starts to spread until it reaches a tipping point; then WHAM before you know it the economy is actually in the middle of a recession, due to their actions.

What we need is a little more optimism and confidence; that this country can pull off the World Cup. If we were Aussies right now, statistics would probably show that we were at least 99.9% optimistic of our hosting success. Say what you want of our arrogant, sheep-loving friends from down under but if it’s one thing that they have going for them, it’s their abundance (too much at times) of confidence and patriotism.

While others may be bleak in outlook; I remain pretty positive. In fact I’ve just assigned myself to the position of World Cup Optimism Custodian; to try and convert naysayers; if my logical arguments fail to convince you. I might just have to resort to blowing one of those irritating vuvuzelas in your face; until you see otherwise…

When Food Goes Bad

Never drink milk that has been standing for too long; even if it is “long life”! That’s the lesson I learnt yesterday evening. I had my usual, before bed protein shake, but instead of using water there was some milk left that I thought I should finish before it went to waste (with an increase in food prices, wastage is a big faux pas)…all I can say is that it reacted violently in the middle of the night; and I was not a happy camper this morning.

Thankfully I’m feeling better already, but you can’t be too careful; I’ve heard of some really bad food poisoning cases. Someone who I met once used to be in the military and has been shot before, on multiple occasions. He has also suffered from a severe bout of food poisoning, and told me that if he had to rather receive food poisoning or be shot again he would choose the latter; as he was feeling so bad he started hallucinating and thought he was going to die. Perhaps the next time you find that mystery meat in the back of the fridge, you should reconsider before consuming it?

ROFL

The title of today's blog for the acronym challenged, stands for Rolling on the Floor Laughing. Courtesy of Raenne and Paul, I attended the 4th Annual Vodacom Comedy Festival. I joked with Paul, and told him that if I didn’t laugh at the show, that I would beat him up and proceed to laugh afterwards. Of course I only kid, as he was quite safe since the show featured a remarkable list of local and international talent.

The awesome thing about attending a live comedy show is the interaction between comedians and audience, however this can also cause for some anxiety and stress...everyone loves to watch and laugh but no one ever wants to be the poor sod that gets shredded to pieces! The analogy is much like a colonoscopy, great to be the observer seriously unpleasant being the victim…although I’m not sure that colonoscopies are great to watch in the first place.

As an audience member you try to fly under the radar and to not stand out too much; less you attract the wrath of the comedians and become their object of ridicule. Last night one of the guys who was picked to perform in one of the acts, a ballet performance by the way, was so against being part of the show he literally kicked and screamed while being dragged on to the stage.

The fear of becoming a potential participant is all worth it though, especially if one of your posse gets picked on. I remember at Russel Peters(a famous Indian-Canadian comedian), when my friend, Katy was picked on for being American. I can't explicitly remember what all the ragging was about, but I can remember that it was really funny and I was sitting next to her in tears, crying with laughter. The fact that I knew the person whom Russell was poking fun of made it even funnier.

Today the French celebrate Bastille Day; the anniversary which symbolizes the uprising of the modern French nation. Unfortunately I didn't go to the Bastille Day festivities held in Franschhoek, but from what I've heard it was a really enjoyable event and is sure not to be missed next year.

Hey Coach! Pick Me!

Day 2 and the sun is shining on strong, forgot to mention that it was because a friend of mine Maria who used her extra special super powers, to bring the sun out in the first place ; by performing a sun dance.

Also forgot to mention that I caught the last half of the rugby yesterday; I can’t believe we actually won! Sure being the World Champions is a big deal and all, but the All Blacks are ranked the top team at the moment and to beat them on one of their home grounds in Dunedin, dubbed the “House of Pain”. Where the Springbok’s have never won in the long, rich, 80 odd year old history since their rivalry began. That's quite an achievement.

I’m not sure if anyone has tried to listen to the new Springbok coach, Pieter de Villiers in a post-match interview but I can’t understand a word that guy say;, when he talks he kinda just mumbles. But whatever he is doing or telling (or trying to tell) the team it seems to be working, and with a rather impressive resume, taking our juniors to becoming World Champs. I hope he continues winning us games. As the Aussie commentators would say “You go you good thing!”

On Location

This is the first time I’ve actually ventured out and written an entry on location. Have some work to do, but instead of sitting at home cooped up inside, I figured it would be a cool idea to take my work outside with me. I’m currently sitting in Camps Bay and enjoying the sun’s surprise visit, with not a cloud in sight. Although the wind and the air are still rather fresh; this is the closest we’ve gotten to summer in a while…

Just an observation but while driving around today, the streets of Cape Town seem rather quiet. I then realized that it’s probably due to the fact that there are so many festivals going around in the country at the moment. Besides the Billabong Pro in J-Bay, the Knysna Oyster Festival and the Grahamstown Arts festival are both going down as well.

After having travelled around the country as much as I did last year, I’m pretty happy to just relax and stay home in good ol’ Cape Town. Strangely enough; all three towns that I mentioned earlier are in some way, very much associated with hippies.

J-Bay back in the day was a hippie commune, and the first communities which started there, consisted a bunch of hippie surfers. Back in those days girls would apparently run away from their homes to hook up and live with the hippie surfers to experience the “Only a surfer knows the feeling” lifestyle.

Without going into too much explanation; the over abundant, presence of tie-dyed t-shirts and a strange aroma that lurks in the streets of G-Town and Kynsna, these clearly are evidence enough that there is some sordid history of hippism in these towns too. Not that I have anything against hippies of course and am all for the “Make love! Not war!” mentality.

Actually I just realized that the Grahams Arts Festival finished last week...ummm but I guess it doesn't break my theory of quiet streets seeing as how "the air" there makes people a lot slower and somehow manages to stop time. Err rranyways where was I...ummm whatever...Peace.

Natural Wonders

I've been complaining about the cold a lot lately... and all with good reason. This last week has been the coldest week in Cape Town for the winter thus far, with average temperatures barely hitting double digits. However cold I think it may be though, I always seem to forget that we're still really lucky, and how some places in Europe like Denmark for example get frightfully cold. I used Denmark as an example because I was briefly chatting to Josephine, a Danish girl whom I met two summers back. And she simply laughed as I tried to tell her how it was freezing here, with temperatures reaching only a balmy 12 degrees maximum. I felt rather embarrassed later when she told me that their temperatures in winter go as far down as the minus 15 region.

Kinda took the wind out of my sails a bit. But winters in Cape Town are also always coupled with torrential down pours, which is the part that I really, really hate. Although on the flipside you then get a chance to see a spectacular, natural wonder, get even more spectacular. Table Mountain in all it's majesty, develops some incredible but seasonal waterfalls.

Surfs Up

The ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) world tour arrives in South Africa this week and kicks off at the fabled Super Tubes in Jeffrey’s Bay. The idea that surfing is a summer thing and the whole concept of an Endless Summer is a myth particularly here in South Africa, when winter actually brings the good waves. I remember my brother and I almost getting hyperthermia on one or two occasions when my mom, accidentally forgot us at the beach, in the dead middle of winter…in those cases we’d actually sit under the cold outdoor shower to keep warm, as the water from the shower would be higher than the surface temperature.

All through my teen years, I was constantly ragged on by others; about growing up surfing in Port Elizabeth and how consistently small the waves were there. (I also lived in East London which is ironically, the most consistent surf destination in South Africa…but I didn’t surf back then) While that might have been true, I’d argue that the waves in PE are right up there with the best when it does eventually get going! However most times that argument fell flat and I’d have to fall back on the “J-Bay is only a 30-minute drive away” trump card. It worked, and silenced my critics every time!

J-Bay is a world class surf break and is considered to be the best right-hand breaking wave on the planet. There were times during Uni where I had to weigh up the opportunity cost of either attending Economics lectures or catch a wave in J-Bay with some old PE surf rats like Mush and Jono Scheepers, needless to say it was a no-brainer and J-Bay won on countless occasions… In most cases it’s a sleepy town, but come competition season the place comes alive and becomes a circus of freaks entertaining us with their tricks, including one Mister Robert Kelly Slater.

I’ve followed Kelly’s career for years, way back when I was little grom (young surf dude) circa 1990, when Kelly blazed onto the scene and surfed in the Quiksilver Lacanau Pro in France, against my favourite surfer of all time Tom Curren. While Kelly might have lost in that heat it paved the way for an unbelievable career, including winning 8 world titles.

This year he is going for his 9th and chances are, if he wins Billabong Pro J-Bay he would have it sealed up. Perhaps not crowned the new world champ, but he would have accumulated such an insurmountable tally of points that it would just be a mere formality to wrap it up. As he has already won 3 of the 4 tour events, and the only person who is actually participating on tour to win an event (The other event was won by a wild card entrant). Besides Kelly I'm also cheering on young local upstart Jordy Smith who is being hailed as the new Kelly Slater!

Should you be an avid surfer, and have never been. I suggest that you take a road trip and check the event out. It’s a phenomenal spectacle. And if you’re feeling up to the challenge try catching a wave amongst the Pro’s, if ever you thought you were hot stuff, like I used to… you might be in for one humbling experience.

Township Rebellion

I read an article in the newspaper today that made my blood boil, and it wasn't even because of the lack of caffeine in my system (I think I've kicked the dependency; even woke up at the crack of dawn to go to gym and feel great!). Perhaps it's because every time there is a protest, they close all the streets around my area (I live a block away from parliament). Which causes a great inconvenience to me, and not to mention there is always the risk of frisky protesters damaging some of my property.

But none the less I feel today's nationwide (not just in KZN) protest against the "spiraling food, fuel and electricity prices and interest rates" held by Cosatu show a complete lack of understanding and utter disdain of economic and business principals. While I sympathize for the workers and the people who are being greatly affected by these price increases. The protest quite frankly makes absolutely no sense.

The increase in food, fuel and electricity prices are a result of a short supply in our economy and other external forces which cannot be controlled e.g. higher oil prices. A protest held by workers is perhaps the least useful and probably most harmful solution that one could come up with. Firstly the protest which brings businesses to a stand still; perhaps means an even shorter supply of theses necessities, thus potentially pushing prices up further. And the decrease productivity and demands of greater wages and lower selling price, would only mean a shorter lived sustainability of businesses in this country, i.e. larger expenses (increase in fuel, energy costs and wages) means less profit and hence a decrease in business sustainability. Should the protest be "successful", the benefits will only be short-lived. The ramifications of the pegging of prices could have detrimental long term effects. I hate to point out the obvious but when a business closes down, then there will be no wages for those workers involved in that business and it would not really matter what the prices were, would it?

I have no place for and am completely against the exploitation of workers; and for that reason unions such as Cosatu are good. But in my opinion, today Cosatu has completely missed the mark and fails their members by misleading them into a potentially even less favourable situation.

Fake Coffee

The last two days have been hell. I finally understand the true meaning of Vida e Caffe ("Coffee is Life") because without it I seriously feel like I'm dead (I assume this is what heroine addicts feel like when they go cold-turkey). I got home yesterday evening and was so tired and useless that I even missed the gym. I collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep. This morning when I finally woke up I was still tired, even though I got double the dosage of my normal sleep.

This morning was terrible, convulsing and foaming at the mouth (okay perhaps not that bad) but with my head pounding, I was stumbling around as if drunk. A lot of people, have been giving me moral support and telling me of similar stories of when they kicked their smoking habit or quit coffee (I think there should be a support group for people like us). I'm really appreciative of the support in this trying time. But for the record I have no intention of quitting coffee, quitting is for losers (and I ain't no loser). In fact I can't: "Coffee is Life" remember and caffeine is not the only reason that keeps me hooked. It's the taste too...that mind blowingly, bitter, chocolaty, goodness.

Damn I love the taste. I was determined to go the entire day without anything, just water but eventually I gave into temptation. I ran off to the closest coffee shop and even settled for a decaff Americano (fake coffee) just so I could try trick my senses into believing that I was feeding it with that sweet black nectar. Decaff coffee is to coffee drinkers what Nicotine patches are too smokers; not nearly as satisfying...but at least it takes the edge off.

The day is almost done I'm feeling more human. I think that it's because I might finally have kicked the caffeine dependency. I can't imagine it getting much worse...

A Sad Coffeeless Day

I looked at the time and completely freaked out because I thought I was late for work... but actually I wasn't. Eventually I realized what had happened. I had decided to take a power nap late in the afternoon; but the nap somehow turned into a deep slumber, and when I finally awoke; I was in a complete state of confusion. It was 8:45 in the evening and I was frantic, ; you should have seen me rushing around bumping and bruising myself trying to get in to my work attire.

I know I had some great point to this story, but I can't really remember right now...You see, I'm trying to go on a bit of a detox and have decided to go cold-turkey, without coffee. It's been nearly a day and I'm not entirely certain I'll be able to make it. I feel so lethargic and physically depleted that it takes me over 10 minutes to get what usually takes me less than 30 seconds to do. I'm not sure when I became so physically dependent on caffeine, but I'm pretty irritable and grumpy right now. Not to mention unproductive and maybe even a little bit emotional. *sniff* Why on earth have I decided to torture myself like this?

Anyways lets hope I survive, and my next entry has some more relevance.

Be on Your Guard

As far as crazy nights go, last night will go down as one for the record books. I’m not sure how it all started but for as long as I can remember, my brother and I developed this tendency to flank our friends and walk on either side of them…Although we’re not big, a joke started that being Asian we looked like bodyguards - apparently all of us know martial arts…which isn’t true by the way, just in case the stereotype has been that ingrained.

Since last night was Xav’s last weekend in Cape Town before he left for Europe and NYC; he requested that we act as his hired guns for the evening. Just as an aside we’ll be glad to let our bodyguard services to anyone, but be warned; should trouble arise we may turn and run like sissy girls…our services are not refundable.
The M.O. was supposed to be that he was the son of a powerful French ambassador, and that we were to ask anybody who came within 2 feet to politely step back and give him space.

As the night began we rounded up the troops me, Joe, Xav and Action Dan and headed out to craziness. We were to meet up with Michael Fassbender, the guy who played Stelio(“Then we shall fight in the shade.”) in the 300 movie, as he’s working with Action Dan on a British Civil War film. Ernst met up with us a little bit later in the evening as well.When ever a bunch of blokes get together you know a good time is to be had, but It was even more fun last night as we were playing the fool and acting out our roles.

At the end of a big evening in Cape Town, it’s customary to get a pie form the 24 hour Engen in Orange Street. There’s always some interesting folk at the store in the wee hours of the morning; and it always surprises me who you’re going to meet . We starting chatting and made friends with two British girls, one of them, by chance happened to come from the same place Dan is from in Leeds.

The taxi that had dropped them off had told them that it was fine to walk back to their backpackers… in the middle of the night…although I’m sure they would have been fine; it’s perhaps not the best idea to walk alone in the dark, just two girls; and being ever chivalrous we figured we’d drop them off on our way home.

Done like true body guards; at the end of the evening, we did actually get to do our fair share of protecting! For those of you who are not from South Africa, it is a pretty safe place…so long as you use a little common sense and not open yourself up to potentially dangerous situations, just like in any other country that you might happen to be visiting.

If Its Too Hot; Get Out of the...Sauna!

I had my first sauna experience at the gym today. Damn it’s hot in there. Seeing as how I’m always at the gym I thought I should try it out and see if I like it; everyone always tells me how good it is after a heavy gym session. However after only being in there for about 5 minutes, I started feeling a bit faint and needed to escape ASAP. I’ll definitely do it again as your muscles certainly feel more relaxed…but I reckon you need to build up a tolerance for that heat.

Hmmm hadn’t hopped on the scale in a while either so when I jumped on, I was a little surprised to see how much excess winter weight I had put on… and not the good kind of weight either (yes ladies, for us guys there is a good type of weight too i.e. muscle). Looks like I better start stepping up on the cardio…and laying off the pies! ("Don't look at me! I feel so fat Naomi!")

Crazy Mad Science

My friend Ryan sidetracked me quite a bit today when he sent me a link (with regards to some Quantum Mechanics stuff) about these physicists who (for god knows what reason) decided to shoot a particle beam through these two holes or slits with this back wall. The theory goes that if they were shooting particles through the slits the particles would then make a mark in the form of two bands on the wall. However if they were not particles they would create an interference wave pattern.

The gist is that they have some pretty funky machinery out there that measures these things and records the results in a database. All great! The weird thing though, was that every time they viewed a record of the result on the computer the particle that they fired made a mark on the wall, however every time they didn’t view it and instead deleted the record, they only saw interference…

Pretty much what it means is that only if you “observed” the particle would it exist! Kind of like the whole philosophical debate “If a tree falls in a forest but no one is around to hear it, does it actually make a sound?” Except now there was kind of proof for the case, that if you weren’t there to hear the falling tree, then it actually did not make a sound.

When I was younger, in primary school, my friend Jonathan’s dad, Prof Leitch who is a Professor in Physics used to conduct all these crazy experiments. He’d often try to explain these crazy theories to us. But barely being able to grasp the basics of Newton’s Laws. Quantum physics completely made our brains explode! Strangely not much has changed since then.

In my limited understanding of Quantum Physic I gave the link to Ernst, (who really digs the stuff)… in return he sent me a reference about Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle which kept me happily occupied, and further distracted me from my real work. Heisenberg describes some pretty interesting stuff with regards to particles; and how if you try to locate a particle, its velocity becomes uncertain; also how if you determine the velocity of a particle, its position then becomes uncertain…

Besides having my brain blasted, I came across a really new and cool coffee place on Kloof Street, in fact it’s so new that it doesn’t even have signage outside yet (perhaps it's because noone had observed the sign yet...). The place is called Java Lounge, Origin one of my favourite coffee spots, supply their beans and train their baristas. Best of all they had a coffee special (I think it ends soon though). R5 for a cappuccino…freakin’ score!

Crash Boom Bang

It's official I'm a bad driver...I can't hide from this fact, no matter which way I try to spin it...it's totally me, not the car, not the rain...I take the blame. (Wow that rhymes!)

I could try say that it was the alcohol...but that wouldn't be true, since every time I've dinged my vehicle I've been dead sober. I could blame the car that I drive, but I've driven many...and successfully dinged them all. From my mom's car, my dad's car, to my old V-Dub Mini-bus...

I even traded in my V-dub (my dream car, the ultimate surf vehicle), thinking that perhaps it was because the cars I was driving were too big. Man! I miss that car, so many good memories (it was affectionately nicknamed the Shanghai Wagon or the Yen-Bang bus). The only two downsides to it was the amount of petrol it used to guzzle, and how everyone always expected me to drive on road trips...in retrospect the latter reason probably exacerbated the first.

But noooooo! The smaller car didn’t help either, somehow I still manage to scrape on by. I've fixed, I've dinged, I fixed, I’ve crashed and I've fixed again...Today; I somehow did it again. This giant yellow pillar, came out of nowhere (I swear!) as I tastefully "painted" yellow racing stripes (if anybody asks I did it on purpose) across the right rear door.

I figure may as well just accumulate as many mishaps as I can before I take it into the panel shop...again. Seeing as how the fuel prices keep going up in any case, I might as well just swop my ride for a motorbike. The motorbike would not only help me save some cash but also help me improve on my bad boy image; everyone loves a guy on a motorbike. Although seeing as how bad I am in a car; perhaps a motorbike isn't such a good idea after all....

Blame Canada

For those of us who live outside of Canada, we will never know what it's like to chug a bottle of maple syrup or ride meese (I assume that this is the plural for Moose seeing as how the plural for goose is geese). Some of us only know of the country through the Academy Award nominated, South Park song "Blame Canada".

Yesteday marked the annual celebration of Canada's Birthday, the day Canada declared its independance... well at least sort of... but not really.

I've met quiet a few Canadians, and I must admit that the lyrics from the song, describing Canadians to have "beady little eyes" and "flapping heads so full of lies" seem to be pretty inaccurate...hmmm perhaps I shouldn't be taking things from South Park as gospel anymore; although... I'm still pretty convinced that ManBearPig is going to get us.

To all my Canadian friends: "Happy belated Canada Day".

Benny's Day Out

Today marks the first time I've ventured pass Kloof Street (the area that I work) for lunch! This may sound pretty insignificant to most people, but for us poor saps who hold an office job marred with time restrictions and strict controls it's a pretty big friggin' deal...

I ventured out toward the Foundry, situated in Green Point which is actually not that far...probably less than a 5 minute drive; but just the thought of escaping the confines of the office were more satisfying than if I were to have flown to Europe. "On that side of the world" (the Foundry...not Europe): the sky seemed bluer, the grass greener, and the coffee all the more sweeter.

I met up with some mates at the old family favourite, Ecco Il Cafe and tucked into a pretty sweet Thai Chicken burger, and a cappuccino made with love (the barista even made a heart in my coffee...although I'm pretty certain that this didn't mean anything as they did this for everyone else in the store too). Which reminds me, tomorrow evening is Latte art evening at Origin, where you get to practice and learn how to make some cool latte art...hopefully by the end I'll be able to pour a Mona Lisa!

My first escape to freedom (lets hope it's not the last) however exciting, was short lived, and I had to rush back to the office...in which time I almost drove over two pedestrians; seems like walking in the middle of the street is some sort of new crazy, adrenaline filled fad in the city center.