Kerry-Anne and I went along to a gathering of freelance writers, designers, photographers and programmers tonight, organised by Freelancentral. While taking a moment away from the buzz of all those creative people, I came across this rather intriguing wheel. Can you guess what it might be?

Kerry-Anne and I attended a wedding on Saturday at the beautiful La Provence wine farm on the Polkadraai road, between Kuils River and Stellenbosch. Located on a hill, it's an absolutely awesome venue looking out over vineyards, the Boland mountains and False Bay. We spent the evening enjoying good wine, great food and plenty of dancing - an awesome evening it was.

Remember this post? Construction work to Green Point's new football stadium is said to be well on track. We have no way of knowing for sure, but it sure looks like a lot is happening!

Take a look at this blog for more photos and information on the various stadiums being built around the country.

So I discovered today, when we took part in the Blisters for Bread event in Green Point. 10km is in fact a really, really long way to walk!

I last took part in Blisters for Bread when I was 7 years old; back then I did the 5km route, and as I recall, it was easy-peasy. Paul pointed out sympathetically that many things were easy-peasy when I was 7, lugging around a total body-weight of about 20 kilograms. I won't tell you what I'm lugging around now, but let's just say that it's a tad more than that.

Blisters for Bread is held to raise funds for the Peninsula School Feeding Association, a non-profit organisation that has been providing meals to under-privileged children at their schools for almost 50 years. Sadly, there are many children in our city who don't get sufficient nutrition at home, because their parents are unemployed, sick, or simply don't earn enough to provide proper meals for their family. You can imagine that it's very hard for a hungry child to pay attention in class and succeed at their schoolwork. If you're interested in supporting this cause, you can read more about how to donate money to them here.

We went to a rather unusual birthday party last night. This is our very talented friend Matthew, who plays guitar for a local band called These Three Words. For his birthday, a couple of his friends blindfolded him and drove him to a farm, where about 50 of us were waiting to surprise him. The rest of the band members were already there too, with all their equipment set up, ready to play. Matthew was led up onto the stage, his blindfold was taken off, and his guitar was handed to him. Can you imagine his surprise at finding out that not only were ALL his friends there for his birthday, but that he was the entertainment at his own party?! :)

We went to watch Air Supply live in concert last night, and I have to say, the years have been kind to these guys. They performed with absolute energy and charisma, and looked as though they were having as much fun as I imagine they had when they were just starting out 30 years ago. That's Graham Russell on the left (you'll notice that his feet aren't actually touching the ground...) and Russell Hitchcock on the right.

The best part of the evening? Right at the end, after the encore, Graham tossed his guitar pick to Paul. Both of us play guitar, and we've wanted to start a band for ages - maybe now that we have a "lucky pick" we'll actually be inspired enough to do something about that. Watch this space... :)

No, not that kind of snowflake - in fact, I can't remember it ever snowing in Cape Town - except for the little bit that very, very rarely falls on the top of Table Mountain.

The Snowflake buildings that you see in front of Lion's Head are likely to be full of flour. Snowflake, with its tag-line "Too fresh to flop", is a flour manufacturer dating back to 1877. Here it's more or less a household name in flour, so much so that if you'd ask me to name another brand of flour, I doubt I could.

Auric Auto in Claremont loaned Kerry-Anne and I a Mini Cooper for the day yesterday. This photo was taken from the Mini as we sped past these guys digging a hole (or perhaps a trench) alongside the N1, one of our national highways.

From our vantage point it looked as though only one of the six was working. Perhaps the guy wielding the pick-axe had lost a bet, or maybe he was just really committed to his job and decided to give his tea-break a miss. Who knows...?

Men at work #1

It's difficult to see from the cropped photograph that the tin-shack houses depicted in the foreground of this 430x140x16mm chipboard painting have a 3D appearance. They're actually made from discarded aluminium soda cans!

We bought this piece of art today for R100 (approximately 10 Euros); the artist was selling his work at traffic lights on the Newlands part of the M3, at the foot of Table Mountain. Framed it'll look absolutely stunning.

This revolver reminds me of a group that caused a stir some time ago. They called themselves PAGAD, People Against Gangsterism and Drugs. Ironically, they were suspected of a number of violent actions that caused many innocent people injury and even cost a few lives at times. It was a sad time in Cape Town's history.

In the past few years the South African government has been putting in place regulations to restrict the number of guns in circulation. We had an amnesty period a while back, where citizens could drop illegal weapons at police stations without the risk of being charged for having them in their possession. Many firearms were destroyed and many consider South Africa a safer place today for this.

Though I'm not a jazz fan, I'd have to admit that a trumpet in the hands of the right person has a great deal of soul.

This photo of Abie Thomas catches him at his place of work at the V&A Waterfront. He's been a street performer at the Waterfront for many years - since it first opened, in fact. If you visit the Waterfront you're sure to bump into him and his band - perhaps the smooth jazz sounds will even entice you into purchasing one or two of his CDs.

In the daylight there's really nothing special about this piece of road, but at night and through the lens of a camera it seems to have a special quality, don't you think?

(While I was taking photos here a Navy-Seal-type armed response security guard who was patrolling the area came to check that I wasn't plotting a robbery. I received rather a blank stare after telling him that I was a photographer from Cape Town Daily Photo - as if it was CNN or Sky News - expecting that he would know exactly what I was talking about.)

There are 109 blogs participating in this theme day. Use the links below to visit them, and see what street lights and signs look like around the world:

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Another rainy day in Cape Town...

I was caught unawares by today's heavy rain, but these shoppers in Claremont seemed pretty prepared, all dressed up in their raincoats.

I hope the shoes at the stall on the left didn't get damaged during the downpour.

Today, the last of the four bronze sculptures at Nobel Square - and I'm sure you'll recognise this man straight away.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 (together with FW de Klerk) in recognition of his relentless attitude of forgiveness and reconciliation despite all that had been done to him and his people.

A new 9-foot bronze sculpture of Nelson Mandela has just been unveiled at Parliament Square in London. Interestingly, both the sculpture in our picture and the new one in London depict Mandela in his famous "Madiba shirt", which has become firmly entrenched as a South African icon.

You can see our post about Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island here.

Back to Nobel Square at the V&A Waterfront for the third of the four bronze sculptures (see the first and second). This is Frederik Willem de Klerk, better known to South Africans as FW de Klerk... or even just "FW".

FW de Klerk was the President of South Africa from 1989 to 1994, during the final years of apartheid. I remember the 1989 elections well, though I was just 13 at the time; one of the opposition parties put up posters saying something along the lines of "He's just a new rider on a dead horse", implying that FW de Klerk taking over the reins of the National Party would not make a difference, since the National Party was still doing and saying the same old things.

Well, it seems that FW did in fact make a difference, unbanning the ANC, entering into negotiations with black leaders, releasing Nelson Mandela from prison and helping to end apartheid. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, and was made deputy-president under Nelson Mandela in 1994, a position he held until 1996.

I often wonder whether things would have been different if another leader had emerged in the National Party, or on the other hand, if the more liberal Democratic Party had been voted into power in the 1989 elections.

Every two months, on the 27th of the month, a whole bunch of marketing people and IT geeks (it's okay, that's what they call THEMSELVES - apparently it's no longer derogatory) get together for dinner, drinks, a few short presentations and a whole lot of chatting.

This was the first time we'd been to a 27dinner, and we found the whole environment pretty energising. There's a buzz growing in Cape Town around IT, new media and creative concepts, and I think we're in for some exciting times. It's the influence of that mountain, I tell you...

(By the way, in case you're wondering where we fit in, I'm one of the marketing people and Paul's one of the geeks. :D)

The second of four bronze sculptures at Nobel Square at the V&A Waterfront, this is Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of the Anglican Church in Cape Town.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, and was chosen to head up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the dismantling of apartheid in the 1990s. He has always remained outspoken against injustice, criticising the shortcomings of the old and new governments even-handedly.

It was Desmond Tutu who coined the now-popular term "Rainbow Nation", which I think aptly describes our diverse and oh-so-colourful country.

Unlike yesterday's "statue", today's really is made of bronze. This sculpture forms part of Nobel Square at the V&A Waterfront, a tribute to South Africa's four recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.

This is the late Albert Luthuli, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960. He was the president of the ANC in the 1950s, and was banned at various times during those years. Banning was similar to house arrest - banned individuals were restricted to a certain geographical area (not always their home town), and were usually not allowed to be in a room with more than one person at a time (other than family members).

The irony here is that Albert Luthuli's banning order was temporarily lifted in December 1961 so that he and his wife could attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo. How could the government of the day have failed to recognise what the rest of the world saw so clearly? It's beyond me.

This statue-man at the Cape Town waterfront reminded me of Ian Flemming's Goldfinger - remember the girl who was painted in gold?

Our bronze man stood amazingly still for ages until someone dropped some money into a box at his feet. Each time someone paid him he would change position to a new pose - no smile, no direct eye-contact, just a robot changing stance.

Sasol is a South African company which, among other things, manufactures petrol and diesel from coal and natural gas. Sasol has a huge factory in a town called Sasolburg, originaly established to house company employees. Interestingly, the initial installation was built by the Kellogg Corporation of the USA.

This bird, of the species Helicopterus maximus, was parked outside a hotel in Somerset West - a very pretty, leafy area about 40 minutes from central Cape Town. Imagine the convenience of using a helicopter to get around - no more traffic jams, no more robots (that's what we call traffic lights in South Africa), no other drivers doing silly things in front of you... and a beautiful view too!

Pay a visit to Durban Daily Photo today and see a picture of the oldest public building in the city. Durban is situated along the south-east coast of South Africa, about 1600km from Cape Town.

A mini-flock of birds taking their daily dip in the pond in front of the National Gallery... if you zoom in you'll see that they certainly aren't ducks, though.

There are seagulls all over the city, and you'll often hear their cries around the suburbs too. I absolutely love the sound they make, particularly at this time of the year; it always reminds me that the ocean is not far away.

Pay a visit to Durban Daily Photo to see photographs of another part of our lovely country, and while you're there, please give CrazyCow a warm welcome to the CDP family. :)

It was another rainy day in Cape Town today and I was rushing a little too much to stop for any photos, so it's back to the graveyard we go...

I always find cemeteries so fascinating - just think of all the stories that lie buried here. Who was Maureen Rose Lewis, for example, and what led to her death at just 34 years of age?

I guess we'd all like to leave some mark on the world, and in this digital era that's certainly a lot easier to do. Future researchers will merely have to google us or view our Facebook pages to find out what we were all about. :)

This pretty park area is in the vicinity of the houses we've shown in the last two posts. It looks like a lovely spot for a sunset walk, right in the middle of a residential area. I guess it will look quite different in ten or twenty years' time when those trees beside the path have grown up a little.

This home is one or two houses away from the one in yesterday's post. A far more modest abode, and this one definitely without a butler Mr. Lincoln ;). Far more modest, but still a lovely house that I wouldn't mind living in.

This house is located in the town of Durbanville, about 30km outside of Cape Town. The area is home to those on the upper side of middle-class. This particulare house is somewhat larger than the average middle-class home and certainly larger than ours. If we were able to afford it, Kerry-Anne would love to live in this house.

Burial is apparently still a more popular choice than cremation in South Africa, which means that our cemeteries are filling up fast. Of course, once land has been used for a cemetery, it cannot be used for any other purpose in the future, so I'd think some careful planning is needed here.

Personally, I'd prefer to be cremated anyway (well, isn't this just a morbid post?), although I believe there are environmental concerns around the pollution caused by crematoriums too... so it really seems to be a no-win situation.

What is the custom in your country or culture?

It was cold, the wind was blowing hard, and the seas were rough, but this couple seemed not to mind the stormy weather. Perhaps there's a life-lesson to be learned here...

Cape Town's CBD is small when compared to other world cities. This doesn't show the entire CBD - it stretches out to the right side of the photograph. It really is quite pretty when viewed from the harbour; stretched out across the foot of Table Mountain, Lion's Head and Signal hill.

This plane belongs to another of our domestic budget airlines, Mango - unusual name for an airline, don't you think?

I suspect that unlike Kulula, they weren't going for the camo look with this bright orange design...