I recently wrote an article on my BFF and how lame it is that she has moved away from Cape Town. Life is just too dull without her and we would like to have the sparkle back in our lives!

I went through some pictures on my trusted Blackberry and came across some errr pictures. Let’s just say, we  make the chicks in this video look like amateurs!

ha!

Ok maybe not quite as dirty as this but you would pretty much have to go wash your eyes our with bleach…

As you know  The LooseWheel was our ambasador for National Unibrow day, and like me, she liked to braai and talk kak. But she is gone and I think this is why the weather has been so KAK in Cape Town Lately.

So this article is for her to remember all the crazy people who love her down here. Mahpicky the Side Kicky and I really miss her and we think it’s time she comes back. Bring back your sunshine, bring back your laughter , bring back your crude and twisted sense of humour and bring back our mountain!

You have teased us long enough dear…Joke’s over!

TripAdvisor, the worlds Largest Travel Website, has Cape Town listed as their Travelers choice number 1 travel destination for the year 2011. Beat that. No world cup needed thank you very much.

That works just fine for me. You see I often spout off about Cape Town and mates of mine like my mate Jez in London (yes that’s right Jez) think I’m just being a patriotic dick, but this proves that it’s not just me! Billions of people… ok maybe not billions, but LOTS of people like Cape Town and that’s that.

Winna Winna Number One!

Makes me very proud truth be told.

We worked hard on that mountain. I was up all night making that Lions Head section…

With the Japan Tsunami fresh in everyone’s minds the K.O.T.M.R.T decided to make their new shirt look something like this.

Knights Of The missing Round Table II

This might seem like a big joke and I suppose it is a little bit, but this is why they are on Tsunami watch…

Doodles Beachfront View

If a Tsunami happens to hit, at least we know the Knights of the Missing Round Table has our backs…

Please join us to make a statement…

A peaceful, imaginative and fun protest against oil dependency and car culture. A celebration of the bicycle and also a celebration of the power and individuality of the human body. A symbol of the vulnerability of the cyclist in traffic. The world’s biggest naked protest: 50+ cities and thousands of r…iders participate worldwide.

More info:
The general message of The World Naked Bike Ride is a protest against oil dependency and body shame. WNBR advocates and celebrates sustainable energy, environmentally-responsible living, human-powered transport and body-positive values.

Since 2004, cities across the world have experienced the joy of the world’s largest naked event promoting cycling in the history of humanity.

What to wear? Do not fear! The World Naked Bike Ride dress code is “As Bare As You Dare”… How bare is that? How dare is that? It’s all up to you. You decide what you are comfortable with. No one is excluded or discriminated against based on levels of clothing, bodypaint, or anything else for that matter!

Engage the public! We paint our bodies and decorate our bikes with political messages or beautiful designs to complement our forms. Please be creative and colorful in expressing yourself!

It’s time to put a stop to the indecent exposure of people and the planet to cars and the pollution they create. We face automobile traffic with our naked bodies as the best way of defending our dignity and exposing the vulnerability faced by cyclists and pedestrians on our streets as well as the negative consequences we all face due to dependence on oil, and other forms of non-renewable energy.

Cycle Route:
Start at Prestwich Memorial <http://www.truthcoffee.com/find-us/>
Cycle down fan walk towards Green Point Stadium, loop and back into Waterkant Street.
Turn Right into Long Street then,
Turn Right into Buiten Street (corner Lola’s) and then,
Turn Right into Loop Street, then
Turn Left into Bloem Street, and finally
Right into Bree Left into Waterkant

http://www.wnbr.co.za/
http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/
http://wiki.worldnakedbikeride.org/index.php?title=Cape_Town

Those of you that know me know that I like anything to do with space (not just commercial space) and space travel so reading this morning that a South African based travel agent is now offering trips into space for just over the small amount of R600 000, is something awesome for me!

Howzit Bru, you mind giving me a lift to sub orbital space please? Shot man...

The times reports…

A Durban company, Orbital Horizon, owned by Brad Inggs, 30, has become the first African space tourism agent to offer tickets for travel aboard a new suborbital spaceship.

Inggs said yesterday that his company was open for business and ready to sell a ticket to the “individual who wants more”.

In December, Inggs signed a deal with US company Xcor Aerospace that allows him to sell tickets in Africa to people who want to travel aboard Xcor’s two-seater Lynx spaceship.

That’s just fucken awesome man… I’ve been folowing Virgin Galactic and all that but these guys are a bit of a bolter.

Well I found a really cool timelapse of Cape Town thats along the same line of thought, well to me anyway! Check it out this is pretty cool, its a Trailer by Silver Bullet Productions for the year 2011 for the city Cape town…

Seriously Beautiful Cape Town – Timelapses from Silver Bullet Productions on Vimeo.

Now it’s really important to have a good balance in life, something not too easy when it’s chucking down in Winter all the time. So when you get a chance to go for Sundowners you need to grab it!

It’s been such a fantastic day and work has been bearable, I bought myself some new clothing too, so all round its good. So while I was contemplating the thought of gym versus Doodles Beachfront for Sundowners, I glanced sidways out of my office window and got this snap…

A Cape Town Winters Day - Big Sky Over Table Mountain

It’s a no brainer really.

After all it is Tuesday and it is happy hour and they do have winter specials on the go.

Just to really double check if it is winter I cast a glance all ’round, not a cloud in sight…

Go for sundowners Joe go for Sundowners NOW!!

Yes my Sun.

Now you’ll probably remember Larger from such awesome events as the Human Factor Wrap Party (Clint Eastwoods latest flick about Mandela and The 1995 World Cup) and Thrill 3.4 [more here]

His rousing renditions of most of the old favourites have to be heard, and now you can book him through his website.

When asked to comment on it he said nothing, instead opting to send me this pic…

How BIG can you actually be in Entertainment?

How fucken cool is THAT?

I must warn you however that he has his followers so it may be pretty damn near impossible to get to him, in person that is. CLint Eastwood even struggled to get close when signing an autograph for the man. As for women… well these girls have the inside edge on that one. When asked to comment, they said…

We like a bit of Larger Larger Laaaaaarger!! Uhuh, aa yeahhhh!!

A few people have been known to utter such profound utterings such as..

“Adrian is a true professional and a talented singer as well.  He was a pleasure to work with, he has a fantastic music library for Karaoke which is pleasing for young and old alike, plus his rate is highly competitive  - we will definitely use him again in the future.”

and a little bit of…

“Dear Adrian. Thank you so much for a lovely evening with your charm and great songs. Thanks to you we had such a great night. Thanks again.”

a little bit more of the…

“Just a quick note to say “thank you” for making our year end function such a success. All our staff had a fantastic time and it would not have been possible without you. Have a great festive season.”

and some more of…

“Our venue is in the middle of nowhere. All we have is 220 Volt plug point and enthusiastic party animals. Adrian rocked the house and read our guests perfectly, not to mention playing to our pre planned theme. A big thank you and see you at the next New Years Party.”

So clearly the dude is legendary in skill and in stature. I felt i needed to… no was COMPELLED to tell you this. If you have’nt yet been to his already famous gig at the Bronx action bar and grill on Monday nights then you haven’t lived.

Yes, the FANNY pack. Unbeknownst to them maybe, but FANNY mean’s something completely different outside of the US of A. Something I’m not going to go into right now. They’re gonna have to change that slogan if they ever bring this moonbag for your head to South Africa..

You have got to be kidding me.

This my friends must rate as one of the silliest things I have seen in a long time.

Cap SAC - It's like wearing a fanny pack on your head

It’s a cap sac, geddit?

Yes your eyes are not deceiving you, that is a zip pouch on the front of a cap. I mean DUH it’s so logical man! Now you can walk around Cape Town city centre with all your money and valuables on your forehead where EVERYONE CAN SEE IT.

All the okes on Long Streets eyes must light up big time when they see someone wearing something like this. It’s like… you guys from outta town? Whooop Cap Gone!

Welcome to Cap Gone we hope you enjoy your stay.

I can imagine tourist number two saying to a random Long Street ‘Vendor’  “Hey buddy can you help us someone just stole my mates cap… ” and whoooop cap gone again. haha, I can see the headlines

Cap Nap on Long Street.

This has to be the lamest, and downright disturbing thing I have seen all year! If one of my friends had to wear one of those things I’d smack them.

Actually it’s maybe not a bad idea. Imagine telling your mates… “Sorry guys no more cash can’t get the next round… ” until dooof you klap them in the forehead and they start jingling. Fuck imagine you’re the unlucky one in the group with smokes and a lighter, you’ll get smoke raped and you’ll constantly have to get your lighter out of your head… errr forehead.

Don’t even CONSIDER trying to chat up chicks in one of these.

As is common knowledge, we have been doing this for years here in Africa, but we know how to do it.

Cos we cool like that.

This is how we like to roll

Coming soon to a Pep Stores near you. Not.

If you REALLY want one, head on over to www.cap-sac.com

I took this picture today, and while the actual functionality of the camera itself is great, I don’t see the value of having a Panaromic function that is so limited in pixels?

Confusing.

What do you think?

Click Image to Enlarge

Actually you must click the resulting page again to get the final pic.

Confusing I know.

That’s from my flat. I know I have such a terrible view.

Now you can call me absolutely completely biased if you wish, as I live in Cape Town (or you can call me goddamn lucky). That, and this song and accompanying music video has already helped me through two tequila hangovers, so kudos to it. (No I’m not a knobface, I’m saying ‘kudos’ as I know how to use the word correctly, like I explained in this article here) Unlike, say, the Americans for example.

Talking of Americans they also feature in this single… but not the The Americans as we know them here on the Cape Flats. Well not ‘we’ but you get the idea.

I’m from Big Bay.

Talking of Big Bay did you know I got first place for my article about KFC  / Kentucky Fried Chicken Big Bay in Google? Check the article here. Now I have nothing against KFC Big Bay at all. In fact it’s one of the best KFC outlets I have ever been to with its spotless interior and super friendly staff, but KFC USA or whatever you call it has just missed the spot completely.

I DARE you to go to KFC.com and face the awful music.

I couldn’t.

Do the google thing here. KFC Big Bay.

Getting back to the video, I dunno what he is actually DOING in the video, looks a little bit like some new kind of Yoga to me, that or it’s the early onset of a muscular spasm condition. Either one of those two or he is simply thrilled to be in Cape Town. I vote number three.

I dunno what you guys think but he seems to really seize up and get all weird on us everytime he is in the Bo Kaap?!?! I mean what’s that all about bru?

I love the way the Mountain forms around the city like a bowl. I think I’m going to call the Cape Town City area the ‘The City Bowl‘ from now on.

Enjoy.

Oh, if you enjoyed this view of Cape Town you might want to go stay there on holiday. Check this site out for travel accommodation in Cape Town.

The way I feel has absolutely nothing to do with Phil the Thrills 3.4 birthday party last night which ended up at my mates club at the Old Biscuit Mill, decoDance.

Incidentally people there are like a hundred million roadblocks out there so be reponsible and work with the authorities on this one. Don’t be a chop about it basically.

Anyway… I digress… where where we? Oh yes, we were here…

What a Shite view

Click the image for a larger version. I was only kidding, seriously, it’s not that shite. What was REALLY KAK was when there was a Jacob Zuma picture adorning the lamp post that Tamryn very cleverly did not get into her picture. Something I can’t do.

‘Cos I have a piece of shit camera.. and I NEVER blame my tools.

So we looked over a little and this jumped out at us.

Sunset over Robben Island

Click to go big.

Anyway there are tons of these vendor dudes that show off their wares along the strip and this guy was a most undustrious dude. Not only did he make a flippen massive wire motorbike, he also CHARGED for the picture, before telling us his dream was to make a wire Mandela in the Waterfront. So my obvious first thought was… ummm youre making wire motorbikes at the Blouberg Beachfront, what exactly is stopping you from making wire Mandelas at the Waterfront?

Nice Bike

I think these guys are well versed in what to say to ellicit that extra buck. Incidentally brutha maaaan, while talking about extra bucks and all that, what’s under the hat? This doesn’t take away from the fact they are obviously super talented.

Then, and in final reference to my all time favourite music video (for now that is) we spotted these birds trying to get on the boat.

Birds and a Boat

Not just any boat mind you, THE boat. The one from the video… which is just out of shot… promise [video here]

Double teaming a hookah

Hot on the heels of my report on a Cape Town signs ‘suggestive’ message [article here] , insinuating we must ‘Keep off the Grass’ on the Tableview Beachfront, comes this report about Hookahs. Is this another subliminal message? I think not. Anyway the article makes for some interesting reading.

You can read it here. Below are some excerpts.

The Eastern smoking pipes known as hookahs could be potentially more dangerous than cigarettes, researchers say.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) has said that hookah smoking could be a major contributor in the transmission of diseases such as tuberculosis, viral hepatitis and oral herpes infection.

MRC president Professor Anthony Mbewu said the growing practice of using hookahs was a concern.

“The popular belief is that hookah pipe smoking is harmless, or less harmful than cigarette smoking,” he said.

“The World Health Organisation has advised that there is no evidence that the use of hookah pipes is safe, and that in some respects it may be even more harmful and hazardous to health than cigarettes.”

Apparently some parents let their kids use them. I’ve seen this in action (older kids though) so I can vouch for it, but some of the further parts of the article are just plain fucking disturbing.

Professor Angela Mathee, director of the MRC’s Environment & Health Research Unit, said a study in Johannesburg had found smoking hookahs was so widespread and accepted in some communities that children as young as six were doing it.

“I have personally witnessed a two-year-old child smoking a hookah pipe in the presence of his mother.

“I have also seen children as young as six smoking pipes they made from plastic bottles and straws.”

So is this an official study or just based on what she saw? I hope she said something about it!

Mathee went on to say the increasing use of hookahs was not restricted to South Africa. Maybe our tough anti smoking laws have something to do with it. The article continues…

Hookahs were so popular that they were now being sold in spaza shops, as well as in sweet shops in shopping malls throughout the country.

In Cape Town the practice is popular, with many night clubs and restaurants offering puffs for their patrons for as much as R40.

A popular Kurdish restaurant, Mesapotamia, offers hookah smoking in its Shisha Lounge.

Owner Baran Kalay said this form of smoking was becoming popular among patrons.

His restaurant, which used imported Shisha tobacco and marinated herbs from the Middle East, charged between R30 and R40 for puffs, depending on the flavour.

“People love it because it’s lighter, it smells good and lasts longer than a cigarette,” Kalay said. “It’s becoming a preferred way of social smoking in Cape Town. People believe it has less nicotine than cigarettes, and even non-smokers love it.”

Mbewu said that to raise awareness about the dangers of hookah smoking, the MRC had initiated a partnership with organisations and roleplayers, including the National Council Against Smoking and the national Department of Health.

With World No Tobacco Day on May 31, Mbewu called for further research into the use of hookahs in South Africa and appealed to the authorities to ensure tobacco legislation was strictly enforced.

Ummmm SWEET SHOPS? That is pushing it a bit.

You see in my day, smoking pipes meant something completely different. Ask this oke he might know… [huge rox]

Hookahs

I’ve seen many a young lady tell me they don’t smoke, only to puff the bejesus out of one of these things at our cities finest establishments. Some of this is almost too hard to believe, and my guess is that the problem isn’t the smoking of the hookah, but rather the lack of intellect or common sense of the people in charge of those smoking the hookahs.

That or shameless capitalism and a basic fuck you to the publics health.

Remember it’s not REALLY smoking if you don’t inhale. Kinda like it’s not REALLY lesbian if your knickers are on.

Puff puff pass please.

I had to wade through a bunch of IT related issues this morning and man was it irritating me!! You see all Im really wanted to do was head on over to 2oceansvibe to check out the Weather Girls!

Thursdays have always helf a special place in my heart. I absolutely love Thursday. Thursday is when I go to Doodles Beachfront for DOUBLE HAPPY HOUR. You heard me. Everything half price, even Tequila. And Tequila and I are old mates.

If I was in charge (which I am) I’d make Thursday Friday (which I do). This means that Friday then becomes a Saturday, and well I hate to admit it but I now find myself working on Saturdays (Fridays). You get it, I know you do.

But back to the weather. From my vantage point high above Big Bay, Cape Town, I can usually see whats going down. That was until a few months ago when I stumbled upon The Weather Girls on www.2oceansvibe.tv, my new favourite TV channel, sans licence et al. (That means you dont need an annoying licence to watch it.) It’s way more relevant to me than anything SABC 2 can spit out, like the new SA’s got Talent show, which incidentally I’ve heard practically sweet fuck all about, nice marketing job bru.

This weeks weather girl is the gorgeous Donna from Maitland.

I found a pic or two of her over on M1 Management

Enjoy.

Peek a boo!

and again…

Gorgeous

Then South African President Nelson Mandela handing over the William Webb Ellis trophy to Springbok skipper Francois Pienaar at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on June 24, 1995.

It’s also recently become a little more interesting to me when my mate, cape town karaoke / general entertainer extraordinaire, Larger [read more here] did the wrap party for the movie in Cape Town this last weekend. The lucky fucker got to sing Mack The Knife on stage with none other than Morgan Freeman and he is super stoked about it. Good on you Larger. Incidentally if anyone needs a good cape town karaoke vibe going down drop me a mail at joe@socialyz.com. (he gives me free booze)

Anyway, I’ve done some digging to see who stars as whom and who does what and all that and this is what I’ve come up with. I thought I’d put together a little post with some more info all in one spot than what I had to go through to find this.

Everyone knows that Morgan Freeman is playing Mandela. I absolutely love Morgan Freeman movies, and this is a big highlight for me to finally see him playing the role he was born to play. Oscar time methinks. Well this is what it looks like…

Morgan Mandela trying to steal some chicks watch.

Our man Matt Damon does his best Francois Pienaar mini me impression and might just be able to pull it off. Incidentally, he was coached by none other than Chester Williams in the finer arts of the game (Williams being the ‘rugby coach’ to the movie). He got a real taste of what rugby is all about when he injured himself in training. He tried to kick the ball, but aimed low and sprained his ankle. In other words he fucked his foot up kicking the ground.

This is how he got on in his bok kit…

The days before shoulder pads

I’d love to see how he gets the accent on in the movie.

Talking of Chester Williams, the hero of the show for non whites (and whites) all over South Africa at the time for being the first black player selected after apartheid is being played in the movie by the SECOND black Springbok selected after apartheid, McNeil Hendricks.

Pretty good likeness I must say…

Chester Williams

MacNeil Hendricks

It’s a real shame that I could find only ONE picture of MacNeil Hendricks on the net. Well at least he will portray a Bok well, having actually been one, and a pretty decent player too.

Cant’ say I’m too excited about the actor rumoured to be playing Joel Stransky, Scott Eastwood.

Scott Eastwood

Joel Stransky

Theyre both wearing a collar and tie I guess. There’s a start. Well Scott best of luck, Stransky is pretty well liked ’round these parts, for THAT kick. Im guessing Clint would give his offspring some word time so I’m assuming this isn’t a bit part.

Talking of bit parts, one person who most certainly wouldn’t be a bit part in any story where the Rugby World Cup 1995 is mentioned, is Jonah Lomu, being played in this movie by former Samoan 8th man Isaac Feaunati. At 1.88m and 117kg he has similar stats to Lomu’s playing figures of 1.96m and 119kg.

Isaac Feaunati

Jonah Lomu

That all I could find out for now but I’m sure looking forward to this movie. I have heard various rumours of other people playing other players. I’ll update that as I hear more.

Thought this was pretty cool, found it over at Macina

If you’re keen on being in Cape Town for the 2010 Wrold Cup, click here to see accommodation in Cape Town, from our mates over at Travelfinda.com

So I thought I’d do a little digging and find some photos of the lady and post them here for general enjoyment and appreciation. She is a remarkably talented young lady. Not only that, she seems pretty lucid and humourous which is a winner in my book. So not just beauty (and shape) but she has brains too. Now thats a real Cape Town hottie for you (BTW I know she isn’t FROM Cape Town but she is here NOW which makes her a Cape Town Hottie) All hot chicks gravitate towards Cape Town, EVERYONE knows that.

Here’s the link to the post of the Weather Girls I wrote about the fox.

And here gentlemen (and some ‘ladies’) here are the pictures of Ms Genevieve Gorgeous Morton for your viweing pleasure.

Gen was begging to be let in

Working a white bikini

Just Chillin' after trying so hard to get in

I’ve been working in the Internet and more and web based business arena for close on 12 years now, so this topic always interests me. It’s even more interesting for me having worked through the ‘dot bomb’ in the UK circa 2000/2001 and having seen all the fall out from that. An article such as this is a long time coming in my mind and what a shame it has been such a wait.

Ideas postulated around desks and in bars close on a decade ago have not found their place in South Africa’s Internet community simply because connectivity and penetration wouldn’t marrry for such a long time.

To be a blogger and Internet Entrepreneur can sometimes be a daunting thing. More so in South Africa.

Not being classically trained in any way and simply working from the seat of my pants, driven by a desire to fully explore media, thrash out ideas and see where this whole Internet / communication malarchy can take us is what it’s all about for me. Naturally, driving down cost, increasing revenue methodologies and a non traditional working environment are contributing factors to the attraction of this business arena. How else, other than using blogging and social communication methods, could anyone self taught, through the weight of sheer determination realise their dreams of contributing to the most exciting thing to happen to the South African media landscape in so very long?

We hear (and feel) how South Africa is currently experiencing strong broadband adoption and Internet usage growth – something expected so many years ago, but hampered by government interference, archaic regulations and a monopolistic fixed line environment. It’s with great pleasure I can read and deseminate such information that we now can proudly talk about. South African Bloggers and News Providers are finding their feet and the ground appears solid. Yes we have a throttled environment in most respects are are still in many areas subject to restrictions of various kinds, but we have options and that’s the important thing.

According to a recent research report by World Wide Works South, and I quote from the article posted above,

“…Africa’s Internet population is expected to grow as much in the next five years as it has in the 15 years since the Internet became commercially available in South Africa.”

The article goes on to relate how this research also shows we can expect double digit figure growth going forward, and this is expected for the next 5 years.

The summary of popular websites listed in this article serve to showcase the changing face of South Africa’s online media landscape. Google still dominates but is now joined by Facebook. Wikipedia and Blogger being up there shows we are finding our voice quite beautifully thanks, both in how we learn and how we discuss what we are learning. Internet banking now is the norm. Gumtree shows us that Newspaper classifieds sections will continue to get thinner by the quarter.

Our favourite sites are increasingly South African and increasing we use them as tools. This is the local content muttering I discussed with my peers a decade ago off Tottenham Court Road while we planned our move back home and how we would make our way boldly forward with LAMP architecture lighting our way. We talked about how local would be lekker.

Our favourite sites are blogs now. We clearly want to see and hear real people doing real things. We want Internet Heroes to get the next decade underway. I’d hazard a guess you’ll find them at Afrigator where we can hear them daily, unadulterated and uncensored.

Our favourite bloggers now have followings in the thousands. Seth Rotherham at 2oceansvibe encourages us to live the holiday, has taught us ‘slap, snap, fisties’, and how to slice an Avo, and all this in glorious full colour streaming broadband with a smile. This is happening in my city not in some multiplex somewhere in California with gourmet chefs and sleeping pods. This is the beginning of the next generation. Blogs are the new TV channels and we don’t need a licence for them and that suits me just fine.

Nice work people. The Times Multimedia has this still shot, showing some kid learning bad habits.

coke zero fest