She's getting large folks.
Who needs a coffee mug rest huh?
Monday, June 22, 2009
Getting colder now
Nothing like a logfire in the house and a hot cup of hot choc to beat the cold away... But it is getting to winter now... phew.
A quick walk around Cape Town and the Waterfront
assss Cath was going to some tax workshop in town the other day so we caught the train through and I went to kill some time at the Waterfront after I dropped her off.
I've never really done the whole 'tourist with a camera' thing in CT so it was quite cool to try and think 'If I was in another country what would I take photos of'.
What I found is that there are TONS of things to take photos of. We live in such a beautiful city. There are a few places in Germany that I thought 'wow, this is stunning' but generally, nothing from our travels compares to Cape Town.
This isn't anything special - I just thought it looked nice. It's as you're entering the Waterfront.
And looking the other way.
An ad on the side of a building. Noite house roof in foreground for scale.
Just outand about, Waterfront approach.
Signal hill and Lions head.
And then at the Waterfront itself - tourist hotspot.
And again - the boat cruises, etc.
A few more random ones.
This one I took for Courts. The sign shows how far apart CT and various cities are - and she's in Boston - only ......km away.
The clock tower - a famous Waterfront monument but I don't know why.
Our revolving bridge that opens and closes when ships and boats need to come through. Not bad engineering for a third-world country huh?
I popped into a random supermarket and thought I should take a piccie of the meat section. Well, a part of the meat section. We take our meat seriously here.
And just a shot of a part of the mall.
adasd
I've never really done the whole 'tourist with a camera' thing in CT so it was quite cool to try and think 'If I was in another country what would I take photos of'.
What I found is that there are TONS of things to take photos of. We live in such a beautiful city. There are a few places in Germany that I thought 'wow, this is stunning' but generally, nothing from our travels compares to Cape Town.
This isn't anything special - I just thought it looked nice. It's as you're entering the Waterfront.
And looking the other way.
An ad on the side of a building. Noite house roof in foreground for scale.
Just outand about, Waterfront approach.
Signal hill and Lions head.
And then at the Waterfront itself - tourist hotspot.
And again - the boat cruises, etc.
A few more random ones.
This one I took for Courts. The sign shows how far apart CT and various cities are - and she's in Boston - only ......km away.
The clock tower - a famous Waterfront monument but I don't know why.
Our revolving bridge that opens and closes when ships and boats need to come through. Not bad engineering for a third-world country huh?
I popped into a random supermarket and thought I should take a piccie of the meat section. Well, a part of the meat section. We take our meat seriously here.
And just a shot of a part of the mall.
adasd
Letter to the paper:
This was a letter by some bloke who was pissed off by the portrayal of SA's president as some sort of 'black man from the bush'. His argument seems quite valid to me. I know from living in Ireland that when SA does make the news, we are portrayed as backwards, led by corrupt politicians and on the verge of total chaos.
From my time overseas, where I was asked on more than one occasion 'how is it that I speak English so well?' or 'How is it that I come from South Africa and yet I'm not black?', I have realised we are not any more backward, our politicians no more corrupt and economically, no closer to chaos than Ireland, at least.
This was the letter. I'm a bit behind with my publishing but I wanted to put it up here, no matter how late:
On the eve of President elect Jacob Zuma’s inauguration, I call on South Africans to give the man a fair chance to achieve his mandate.
I think most reasonable South Africans are now totally, (to borrow a very apt Afrikaans word) “Gatvol” with the over-zealous denigration of our incoming president by cartoonists and commentators, with the shower above Jacob Zuma’s head cartoons being the most abhorent. Frankly, it has become a stale inane joke. Also totally out of order to his dignity now as “Msholozi” assumes the highest office in the land.
There is a stereotypical pandering in South Africa to overseas European values with the colonial “one foot in Europe” attitude. That mindset has it that Africans must accept the prescription and over-the-top criticisms of biased international media like CNN, BBC, and Sky as our lifestyle Bibles.
These hypocritical, biased media houses would want the whole world to be fashioned in the Western likeness as meek clones in pin striped suits, blindly following Western political dictates.
I am tired of reading racist dogma from rightwing extremist journalists like Simon Jenkins who recently wrote in the British Guardian newspaper that Mr Zuma “is a polygamous leopard skin-draped Zulu ‘boss’ who is just another African crony politician”. That hurts me, as it should offend all people who claim loyalty to this country.
Jacob Zuma’s pride in his culture is what has played such a large part in his hyper-popularity in this country. Although you wouldn’t think so with the excessive bias of European place names which abound, we live in Africa and not in a British colonial outpost on the southern tip of the continent.
Being a student of European history has helped me to understand other foreign cultures and appreciate my own African identity.
Fiercely partisan Scottish patriots love nothing better than dancing at every opportunity, their centuries-old tribal Scottish fling, and proudly appearing at official functions in their ancient tribal dress kilt which resembles a skirt.
They would be insulted and infuriated if the BBC or the London Guardian denigrated their customs and tribal dress.
Many local European clones get hysterical about the singing of African struggle songs like Umshin Wami by Zuma, which in no way reflects the present, but is a celebration of the pain and sacrifice of the struggle years. Scotland’s beautiful national anthem, Flower of Scotland is a similar rousing war anthem remembering how the Scots sent King Edward’s invading English army packing (even then they were colonising and making war with other countries).
I quote the chorus of the French bloodcurdling anthem, Le Marseilles: “Aux Armes citoyens, (Take arms citizens) form up your battalions, let us march, let us march, let our fields run red. That their impure blood should water our fields.” That rousing anthem had its genesis during their own revolutionary times. No one criticises the French for singing their revolutionary refrains.
We don’t have the temerity to prescribe to Europeans concerning their cultural demeanour and I hope they will accord South Africans and our President the same respect.
S Mahape
Wattville
'Hobo-sexual' - Cape Town's tabloids
It had to happen:
Crappy tabloid journalism has come to Cape Town. I'm not talking about 'The Next 48 hours' - that shitty weekend guide newspaper that no-one reads (which I used to write for and that is run by a useless, corrupt, lying, stealing arsehole). No, I'm talking about the Daily Voice and Die Son (Afrikaans for: The Sun, how co-inkydinkle).
I couldn't resist taking a photo of this story, which appeared last month on the front page:
A moffie is a term which used to mean gay, but I suppose, could also mean 'soft' or 'girlie'.
A bergie is a homeless person.
Kaal means naked but in this context means 'thoroughly'.
The story, basically, was that a homeless person came in via a back enrance and robbed a strip club. The main point was that, instead of making off with the bottles of booze that were lying around, he stole the panties and bras of the strippers which were packed away nearby.
THAT'S THE STORY. THAT'S IT. Front page.
Sigh. It makes you laugh though. I wonder how many copies that sold them?
It was handy that the paper could have models recreate what happened on pages 6 and 7, and run a handy sidebar with other famous 'mofies'.
Crappy tabloid journalism has come to Cape Town. I'm not talking about 'The Next 48 hours' - that shitty weekend guide newspaper that no-one reads (which I used to write for and that is run by a useless, corrupt, lying, stealing arsehole). No, I'm talking about the Daily Voice and Die Son (Afrikaans for: The Sun, how co-inkydinkle).
I couldn't resist taking a photo of this story, which appeared last month on the front page:
A bergie is a homeless person.
Kaal means naked but in this context means 'thoroughly'.
The story, basically, was that a homeless person came in via a back enrance and robbed a strip club. The main point was that, instead of making off with the bottles of booze that were lying around, he stole the panties and bras of the strippers which were packed away nearby.
THAT'S THE STORY. THAT'S IT. Front page.
Sigh. It makes you laugh though. I wonder how many copies that sold them?
It was handy that the paper could have models recreate what happened on pages 6 and 7, and run a handy sidebar with other famous 'mofies'.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Marriage commandments (email forward)
Got this at work, thought I'd post it:
The Ten Commandments of Marriage
The Ten Commandments of Marriage
Commandment 1. Marriages are made in heaven. But, so again, are thunder and lightning.
Commandment 2. If you want your wife to listen and pay strict attention to every word you say, talk in your sleep.
Commandment 3. Marriage is grand -- and divorce is at least 100 grand!
Commandment 4. 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.
Commandment 5. When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing: Either the car is new or the wife is.
Commandment 6. Marriage is when a man and woman become as one. The trouble starts when they try to decide which one.
Commandment 7. Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night thinking about something you say. After marriage, he will fall asleep before you finish.
Commandment 8. Every man wants a wife who is beautiful, understanding, economical, and a good cook. But the law allows only one wife.
Commandment 9. Marriage and love are purely a matter of chemistry. That is why a wife treats her husband like toxic waste.
Commandment 10. A man is incomplete until he is married. After that, he is finished.
David hockey
Went to watch the (not so) little rat play hockey the other day...
Took the camera along too.
David's the one in white in all of these...
Moving so fast he's but a blur
Alas, they lost 2-1 but next week's another chance...
Took the camera along too.
David's the one in white in all of these...
It wasn't a great day, but there were a few decent shots to be had.
Psst... when's the tuckshop open!?
Moving so fast he's but a blur
Alas, they lost 2-1 but next week's another chance...
Spelling shmelling
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/5538890/Definitely-is-most-commonly-misspelt-word.html
The BBC recently published this article:
The BBC recently published this article:
'Definitely' is the most commonly misspelt word in the English language, a study has found.
The 10-letter word came top in a study of everyday words Britons struggle to spell correctly, with most of us regularly mixing up the second 'I' with an 'A' on a regular basis.
Second place was 'sacrilegious', which leaves people confused over whether it has an 'E' or 'I' in the middle.
'Indict', which is often misspelt as 'indite', was third.
The fourth most difficult word was 'manoeuvre' which causes problems due to the proximity of the 'O' and 'E' to each other.
'Bureaucracy', which is awkward because the inclusion of so many vowels, was fifth.
A spokesperson for market research company www.OnePoll.com, which carried out the study of 5,000 people, said: "So many of us can't seem to spell.
"Whether it is down to the structure of the word, or the frequency of use, there is no excuse not to learn how they are formed.
"And considering people judge others, yet don't like their intelligence to be judged by how well they spell, they should up their game and pick up a dictionary."
The vegetable 'broccoli' – came sixth, followed by 'phlegm' at seven and 'prejudice' at eight.
'Consensus' and 'unnecessary' completed the top ten.
Other difficult words to feature in the poll include 'supersede' at 11, 'connoisseur' at 15 and 'particularly' at 17.
Confusion over the number of Ns in 'questionnaire' meant it came twelfth, with 'entrepreneur' fourteenth and 'parallel' at 19.
The survey revealed some very odd ways the nation spells words which just failed to make the top 20.
Nearly one in 10 (nine per cent) thought 'mortgage' was spelt 'morgauge' and seven per cent often spell 'speech' as 'speach'.
Ninety per cent admit to giving up trying to spell 'diarrhoea' and a third get it so wrong their PC spellchecker can't even recognise the word they're attempting to conquer.
The research also found 57 per cent judge other people on their spelling, with 42 per cent admitting they believe people who can't spell are 'thick'.
Oddly enough, most Brits rate their spelling as 'good'.
Half of Brits admit the spell-check and auto-correcting on computers is to blame for their laziness in not checking spelling.
One in three reckon predictive text messaging and 'text speak' are to blame for terrible spelling in the real world.
Over three-quarters of the adults polled (78 per cent) said women are generally better at spelling than men.
Six out of ten said they were embarrassed by their poor spelling skills and one in ten corrected others when they spell something incorrectly and yet a third are irritated by being correct themselves.
Worryingly, a third believe the art of spelling is something 'you just learn in school'.
A spokesperson for www.OnePoll.com added: "It's clear the role technology is having on our lives is contributing to the downfall of our ability to spell.
"It often comes down to picking up bad habits earlier on in life which are difficult to shrug off.
"Computers and mobile phones which spell words for us has left us with a lazy attitude towards spelling."
TOP 20 MISSPELT WORDS
1. Definitely
2. Sacrilegious
3. Indict
4. Manoeuvre
5. Bureaucracy
6. Broccoli
7. Phlegm
8. Prejudice
9. Consensus
10. Unnecessary
11. Supersede
12. Questionnaire
13. Lieutenant
14. Entrepreneur
15. Connoisseur
16. Inoculate
17. Particularly
18. Liquify
19. Parallel
20. Conscience
Personally, I can't believe 'your' and 'you're' is not on this list - the amount of people that don't know the difference is frightening.
Anyhoo, I include this story because those that know me and my 'getting into Maties journalism' story know that this word (top of the list) is the one I struggle with the most - but I think I have it licked now. Definately in fact.
Cath at the beach...c'mon everybody...
Went down to the beach for some 'look at how big my tummy is' photos.
That's the nice thing about not working... you get to do all the things you wish you had time to do. Hey, we workrd hard enough overseas to allow ourselves a little holiday huh?
Damn I'm a good photographer.
Oh and she look nice too.
Will you just look at that cute little bump!
Okay, maybe not such a 'little' bump.
Wind was howling. Just getting a shot where she wasn't eating her hair was impressive.
Then we decided to get a few silhouette photies with a hurley.
That's the nice thing about not working... you get to do all the things you wish you had time to do. Hey, we workrd hard enough overseas to allow ourselves a little holiday huh?
Damn I'm a good photographer.Oh and she look nice too.
Will you just look at that cute little bump!
Okay, maybe not such a 'little' bump.
Wind was howling. Just getting a shot where she wasn't eating her hair was impressive.
Then we decided to get a few silhouette photies with a hurley.
Forwarding emails - an email forward
Hands up if you hate getting crappy forwarded emails - this is good information.
This is advice from a Network Administrator responsible for all the computers at a large corporation. It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY APPLIES TO all OF US WHO SEND e-MAILS.
Please read the short letter below, even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures. Do you really know how to forward emails? 50% of us do; 50% DO NOT.
Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it? Every time you forward an Email there is information left over from the people who received the message before you did, namely their Email addresses and names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and all it takes is for one person to get a virus and his computer can send that virus to every Email address that has come across his computer.
Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel. How do you stop it? Well, there are several easy steps.
Try the following if you haven't done it before:
1) When you forward and Emailo, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. You MUST click the "FORWARD" button first and then you will have the full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on "Forward" first, you will not be able to edit the message at all.
2) Whenever you send an Email to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: fields for adding Email addresses.Always use the BCC (blind carbon copy) field for listing ALL the Email addresses. This is the way people you send to will only see their own Email address. If you don't see your BCC: option click on where it says to: your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, so easy. When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say Undisclosed Recipients in the 'TO:' field of the people who receive it.
3) Remove any 'Fw:' in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.
4) ALWAYS hit your FORWARD button from the actual Email you are reading. (You may have had to open numerous other pages before you got to to the real forwarded message!) By forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many Emails just to see what you sent.
5) Have you ever received an Email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire Address Book. The Email can be forward on and on and collect thousands of names and Email addresses! A FACT!!
The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and Email addresses contained therein. DO NOT EVER PUT YOUR Email address on any petition! If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and Email addresses on a petition. (Don't believe the ones that say the Email is being traced; it just is not so!! DO NOT EVER put your Email address on any petition.
If you want to support a petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. ACTUAL FACT: Most Email petitions that are forwarded with just a list of names are worthless, because they do not fully identify the signer by street address, etc. Nor does it prove that the signer actually signed it. DO NOT FORWARD THEM.
Some of the other Emails to delete and not forward are:
a. The one that says something like, "Send this Email to 10 people and you'll see something great happen." IT WON't happen!!!
b. And don't let the bad luck ones scare you either, they should get trashed!
c. Before you forward an 'Amber Alert or a Virus Alert' or some ot the other Emails floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them. Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS!
Just about everything you receive in an Email that is in question can be checked out at WWW.SNOPES.COM or WWW.truthorfiction.COM or WWW.factcheck.COM
It's really easy to find out if it's real or not. If it's not true, please don't pass it on. So please in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses. Also get rid of the advertisements at the bottom of your Emails! You pay for your internet, why advertise free for them?
If they want adverisement, let them pay you to use your space! Finally, here's an idea!! Send this to all your Email friends (but strip my address off first, please.) This is something that SHOULD be forwarded to everyone you send or swap Emails with.
This is advice from a Network Administrator responsible for all the computers at a large corporation. It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY APPLIES TO all OF US WHO SEND e-MAILS.
Please read the short letter below, even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures. Do you really know how to forward emails? 50% of us do; 50% DO NOT.
Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it? Every time you forward an Email there is information left over from the people who received the message before you did, namely their Email addresses and names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and all it takes is for one person to get a virus and his computer can send that virus to every Email address that has come across his computer.
Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel. How do you stop it? Well, there are several easy steps.
Try the following if you haven't done it before:
1) When you forward and Emailo, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. You MUST click the "FORWARD" button first and then you will have the full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on "Forward" first, you will not be able to edit the message at all.
2) Whenever you send an Email to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: fields for adding Email addresses.Always use the BCC (blind carbon copy) field for listing ALL the Email addresses. This is the way people you send to will only see their own Email address. If you don't see your BCC: option click on where it says to: your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, so easy. When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say Undisclosed Recipients in the 'TO:' field of the people who receive it.
3) Remove any 'Fw:' in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.
4) ALWAYS hit your FORWARD button from the actual Email you are reading. (You may have had to open numerous other pages before you got to to the real forwarded message!) By forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many Emails just to see what you sent.
5) Have you ever received an Email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire Address Book. The Email can be forward on and on and collect thousands of names and Email addresses! A FACT!!
The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and Email addresses contained therein. DO NOT EVER PUT YOUR Email address on any petition! If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and Email addresses on a petition. (Don't believe the ones that say the Email is being traced; it just is not so!! DO NOT EVER put your Email address on any petition.
If you want to support a petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. ACTUAL FACT: Most Email petitions that are forwarded with just a list of names are worthless, because they do not fully identify the signer by street address, etc. Nor does it prove that the signer actually signed it. DO NOT FORWARD THEM.
Some of the other Emails to delete and not forward are:
a. The one that says something like, "Send this Email to 10 people and you'll see something great happen." IT WON't happen!!!
b. And don't let the bad luck ones scare you either, they should get trashed!
c. Before you forward an 'Amber Alert or a Virus Alert' or some ot the other Emails floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them. Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS!
Just about everything you receive in an Email that is in question can be checked out at WWW.SNOPES.COM or WWW.truthorfiction.COM or WWW.factcheck.COM
It's really easy to find out if it's real or not. If it's not true, please don't pass it on. So please in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses. Also get rid of the advertisements at the bottom of your Emails! You pay for your internet, why advertise free for them?
If they want adverisement, let them pay you to use your space! Finally, here's an idea!! Send this to all your Email friends (but strip my address off first, please.) This is something that SHOULD be forwarded to everyone you send or swap Emails with.