Author Archives: Paul

Shout against crime

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Fan photo
This picture reminds me of the SHOUT SA campaign launched earlier this year. If you're not in the country then you may have missed what it's about, so allow me quickly to explain:

Two notable South African musicians established a trust fund, called SHOUT, with the idea that monies collected by the fund would be donated to anti-crime organisations, like Crime Line and Business Against Crime. They then got together with a few more notable musicians to record a modern version of the Tears for Fears track called Shout. The track is currently for sale at several prices from R20 to R1000 - the amount that you pay is at your discretion. Visit the SHOUT SA website to hear the track and for more information on how to donate.

A barber for ethnic hair

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African Barber
Traditional African hair, I believe, can be a tough job to style. From what I've noticed, ethnic hair tends to be tougher and more resiliant to styling than than European hair... and I guess that it stands to reason that this is the case - back in the day, tough African hair was needed to withstand the tough African sun. :)

I found this barber that focuses mostly on ethnic hair, in the Picbel Parkade shopping mall - only a little way from the Pick 'n Pay food store. A few years ago the Picbel Parkade was one of the dodgy areas that I would have avoided, but upon my last visit I noticed that it appears to have been cleaned up nicely.

Surrounded by mountains

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The mountains of Stellenbosch
I mentioned in my previous post about the gorgeous view that one has from Stellenbosch Lodge Country Hotel's Blaauwklippen conference room. Well, this would be it. And, as I said, can you imagine the view during summer when the vineyards are green and laden with huge juicy grapes? :) It must be absolutely beautiful!

Conferencing in Stellenbosch

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Stellenbosch Lodge Country Hotel
Kerry-Anne and I were invited to breakfast at Stellenbosch Lodge Country Hotel - just outside of the Stellenbosch's busy town centre a little way off the R44 to Somerset West (directions). As you may expect from a lodge, we enjoyed a hearty full English buffet breakfast - not to mention some of the best coffee that I've had in the area.

Besides for being a regular lodge, catering mostly for business travel, the lodge has a couple of large conference rooms, with the one in the photo above (Blaauwklippen Room) opening up onto a veranda that overlooks vineyards and the gorgeous mountains surrounding Stellenbosch.

While the vines were leafless on our visit, I can imagine it to be a most spectacular and relaxing view in the summer months.

Springbok rugby

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Springbok rugby
After our provincial sides, the Bulls and Stormers respectively finished first and second in the Super 14 rugby, our national squad (for some inexplicable reason) performed perfectly poorly in the recent series of Tri-Nations games.

This poster stating "White will Bokke weer vat" translated means that Jake White (Springbok coach when South Africa won the 2007 world cup) has indicated that he'd like his old job as coach back. Given that the current coach, Peter de Villiers, has come under some heavy criticism lately for tactics and statements made to the media, I'd be mightily surprised if he ends up being the Springbok coach next year again!

Inside the Crowbar

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Inside the Crowbar
As the title suggests, I took this photo inside the Crowbar on Waterkant Street. This particular section is the smoking section, evident by the windows and glass door that (more or less) seals it from the the rest of the establishment.

What's not so nice about this arrangement is that the smoking section has this awesome long bar counter to sit at whereas the non-smoking section has the 2 meter long space that you see in the top right half of the photo. This time around, or smoking buddies got the better end of the deal. ;)

Crowbar

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Crowbar
While studying and in my early years of working in Cape Town I had a few friends who I often heard talking of their nights out in Cape Town's clubs and bars. It's sounded like huge amounts of fun, but for whatever reason I rarely (which means perhaps once) joined them. In retrospect I regret this.

While walking down the World Cup Fan Walk in Cape Town recently I came across one of their old haunts in Waterkant Street - Crowbar. For some reason I'd always had a picture of an actual crowbar in my mind when listening to the stories of the previous nights fun.

I found it strange that the bar was open late on a Sunday morning, and I guess wasn't surprised when I stepped inside to find that I was their only patron. In case you're curious about how it looks inside, the barman was kind enough to allow me to snap a few photos - one of which I'll share with you in my next post.

Tow-away zone!

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Tow-away zone
This is the garage door of a building in Cape Town's CBD, and I think they mean it. It use to be difficult to tow away illegally parked vehicles because it's not always easy to get a tow-truck in position to remove the offending vehicle.

However, a few years back we started to see flatbed trucks donning special car-lifting cranes roaming the city streets. Operators pull up to the side of an illegally parked vehicle, slide large jacks underneath the vehicle and lift it up onto the back of the truck.

Park illegally, give them 5 minutes, and your car will be on route to the police impound. Just don't do it! :)

Inflation

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High prices
I'll often hear people comment on how expensive food is becoming, but when reflecting I'm sure that I've heard this each year for most of my life... so I wonder if it's not just like the passing of time - each year we comment on how fast the year has flown past, but in reality nothing's changed - the year hasn't progressed faster.

While inflation takes it's toll on peoples budgets it seems to be something that will never be escaped and something that we'll always survive. Now with this in mind, can someone please explain to me exactly why we have inflation. It seems like year on year prices increase, and salaries increase to follow suit - so why not keep prices constant and salaries the same? There must be a reason that I'm failing to understand - please will someone educate me?

Strange things

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Green wool
Every now and again I come across the strangest scenes. These two dirty green balls of exceptionally thick wool were just lying on a wall as though they'd been there for years - while in the background stood an old hot water urn, not hooked up to electricity and containing what appeared to be only rain water. How very odd.

Farmlands and wine-country

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Farmlands
Wheat and dairy farms are fine, but there's something special about wine farms. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that wheat and dairy are essential foods whereas wine is a luxury - an indulgence. Walking among the vineyards of a wine farm brings a sense of style, sophistication and an appreciation for the finer extravagances in life that in many ways makes us human.

Of course, the alternative is that it's too late at night and I've started rambling nonsensical nonsense! You be the judge. :)

Cape Town’s flame for the 2020 Olympics

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Flame
Perhaps you don't know, but it looks as though Cape Town may bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics! There's been some talk around the topic, but it would seem as though it's early-days and the city still has to analyse what it would need in order to successfully host such a large event. Only then would we be in a position to consider entering in a bid.

Let's see how it all turns out - perhaps we'll be seeing the Olympic flame being lit in Cape Town 10 years from now!

Bridge at the Clock Tower

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Foot Bridge
I have to assume that everyone who's ever been to the Waterfront has certainly crossed this footbridge at least twice. If you cross it once and choose not do go back the same way, the only way to get back is to catch a boat ride, or walk a heck of a long way around back to the side from whence you came.

So if you've crossed this bridge you'll also know that it's a swinging bridge - which means that it detaches from the one side and swings open every so often to open the channel, thereby letting boats pass in and out of the yacht basin.

Now you may recall that in my previous post I mentioned that I'd been late and was rushing to meet Kerry-Anne here, near the Clock Tower. As I arrived this bridge had just closed and started to swing open to allow boats to pass. This would have been fine normally, but as I stood there this day I was on the one side and Kerry-Anne was on the other. I'm sure you can imagine how long the five minutes that the bridge was unavailable for felt as her mildly irritated eyes glared from across the channel. :D

The BoE Building at the Waterfront

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A narrow walkway
Isn't this a typical architecture that you'd expect from a bank? I took this picture while walking under the BoE building on my way to meet Kerry-Anne near the Clock Tower. Even though I was already late to meet her I loved the straight lines and globe-like lights too much to miss this opportunity! :)

I found this awesome photo taken of the building at night. Wow!

Sunset horse

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Sunset horse
Whereas one would normally take photos with your back to the sun, I've developed a bit of a fetish for taking photos directly into the sun. The subject of this photo was locked up in the fenced-off area that you see in the background and seemed particularly happy for me to come down from where Kerry-Anne and I were sitting to take his photo.

While I did pat him on the head a little and rub the bridge of his nose, I can't say that I wasn't nervous that he'd have a snap at my fingers. I mean, can you see the mad look in his eye!? I never knew that they could be so, but this friendly horsie seemed just a little loony.

Cheese scones and rooibos tea

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A lovely little sugar dish
After driving up and down various arterial roads that surround Stellenbosch, the only place that we found able to help fill our tummies a little on a Sunday afternoon was Mamma Jone's at Delvera.

It was lovely sitting outside in the sun on a warm Winter's afternoon munching on scones and sipping rooibos tea. I'd recommend it highly. :)

Children’s theater

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Barrels of wine
In my previous post I mentioned that we'd been to Delvera - a farm on the R44 between Stellenbosch and Paarl.

While visiting I noticed that they're busy running a series of fairytale theater performances for kids at a cost of R40 per person (big or small). Visit the "Kids @ Delvera" section on their site for a list of the up and coming shows.

In case you don't read Afrikaans - the writing on the barrel reads "Children's theater, Sunday 12:00, Rapunzel"... but you guessed that, didn't you? :)

Fields, farms, and fountains

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Fields and Mountains
Okay, you're right, there aren't any fountains in this photo - only a beautiful array of mountains - but you have to agree that "Fields, farms and mountains" just doesn't have the same ring!

We drove out into the Stellenbosch farm areas in search of a place to enjoy a mid-afternoon snack. I however to say that I'm astonished as to how few farms Ithat are open the rest of the week) either close early on a Sunday, or aren't open at all. We ended up driving through to Delvera (on the R44 between Stellenbosch and Paarl) where we were too late for real food and had to settle for tea and scones!

Could it be that the farmers union insists on Sunday afternoon downtime? :)

Laduma!

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Laduma!
This first time that you may have heard the word "Laduma" (pronounced laa-doo-mah) may have been after South African left-wing, Siphiwe Tshabalala, scored the first goal in the 2010 World Cup.

Translated from Zulu the word means "it thunders" and is usually used as a long, loud, and drawn out exclamation of excitement and happiness when a player scores a goal - laaaaaaaaa-doooooooo-maaaaaaaaah! :)

Spaza Shops

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A spaza shop
This was one of the informal shops located along the Fan Walk during the World Cup. Spaza shops are informal shops that often operate in peoples homes, caravans, or similar structures. According to Spazanews there are about 100,000 such shops located across the country, bringing in a combined turnover of 7 billion Rand each year!

Combined, imagine what buying power they would have!

Chalk on the ground

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Chalk drawings
I remember drawing pictures with chalk many years ago in primary school. Not on the floor of course - our teachers would have had a problem with that - but rather on large pieces of cardboard.

When I saw these guys I wondered if their time wouldn't be more well spent doing the same with some kind of super-hardy paint. The chalk will wash away with the first, or perhaps second, rains but having these kinds of paintings in appropriate places could be quite a feature. Don't you think?

Another kind of trumpet

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Blowing his own trumpet
Over the World Cup period we focused so much on vuvuzelas, but on this day along the fan walk we saw several mistral troops walking the fan walk all kitted up, beating drums, clanging symbols, and blowing not vuvuzelas, but real trumpets.

As a result of the absolutely awesome time that everyone had at the Fan Walk people have been voicing their wish to make this an annual event - a celebration of sorts. Yes, it disrupts traffic for a little while, and may inconvenience you if you're not taking part, but for the sake of the atmosphere it creates don't you think that it's just a grand idea?

Two-faced and scary in Cape Town

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Two-faced
Parents, hide your kids faces! This puppet-thingy was just plain scary.

I was there (on the fan walk in Cape Town) so it's easy for me to see, but did you notice the two faces? Yes sure, they look friendly enough, gut they remind me of an angry parent telling their kids that they have eyes in the back of their heads... which to be fair, my mother at times also had to have. :)

A boy and his vuvuzela

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A boy and his vuvuzela
This photo shows just how easy it is to blow a vuvuzela. This kid was blowing the horn like a regular pro football supporter - full of gusto.

The vuvuzela aside - doesn't this photo show the good degree of racial unification that's happened in our country over the last 15 to 20 years?

A three-headed Argentinian fan

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A three-headed Argentinian fan
When looking at photos of matches after the event it's always sad to see an optimistic fan that would have been crushed by the outcome of the match. In this one Germany thumped Argentina pretty convincingly and any die-hard fan would certainly have been utterly depressed.

I don't follow Argentinian football, so I'm unsure why he would have these heads strapped to his ears. Dalma and Gianna, as I understand, are Argentinian hero, Diego Maradona's daughters - so this does seem a little odd to me...

Our magnificent glass roof

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Cape Town Stadium
I have to admit that when I first heard that Cape Town Stadium would have a glass roof - I couldn't work out how they would construct a piece of glass to fit over such a huge expanse. I guess however I was being a little silly, and it all made sense when I saw it for the first time.

The glass roof is more of a glass trimming around the stadium's open top. The glass allows light in, makes the stadium feel more spacious, and keeps those in the stands dry in the event of rain. Players on the other hand don't have it quite as comfortable and most certainly won't benefit too much from the covering!

Jabulani means to celebrate!

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The Jabulani soccer ball
Jabulani is the name that was given to the official ball of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. As I indicated in the title of this post, the word jabulani means "to celebrate" in one of South Africa's most widely spoken native languages, Zulu.

Incidentally, this ball was also the cause of a lot of controversy during the World Cup as many football players claimed that it was too light and hence frequently behaved differently to what they were accustom to. Fortunately for us we had nothing to do with the making of the ball as I understand the making was coordinated between FIFA and Adidas. Phew! :)

Loveless Uruguay

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A Uruguaian supporter
Uruguay must have received very little love from South Africa during the World Cup after what many deemed to be extremely dubious football tactics and practices. Fortunately these things blow over fast and South African's in general don't hold grudges for very long at all. By the end of the World Cup we'd forgiven them and moved on to celebrating The Beautiful Game.

Don't you just love that people are so passionate about their team that they're prepared to go to all the effort of painting their faces like this? This guy was just one of many that went that extra mile. :)

Our beautiful stadium up close

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Outside Cape Town Stadium
After passing by the security checkpoint at Cape Town Stadium and beholding this view, I realised again how privileged we are to have such a beautiful and well designed stadium.

If you're disappointed at the lack of text in this article, don't be sad, please refer here for the background.