tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68820525415954069432024-02-20T11:04:49.902-08:00I watch monkeys for a living!I really do...it's fun!Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.comBlogger261125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-82789195406193925842011-04-09T02:40:00.000-07:002011-04-09T02:40:59.744-07:00Audience...Participate!Given the overwhelming response of my readers (Thanks Kath and EEbEE!) I've decided to post the music for you to use to write/sing lyrics to! It's a very short loop, and it's not a great quality for now as it's just easier to upload and stuff this way. It's the little mp3 player on the side bar under the subtle heading of 'Competition Music!'.<br />
<br />
The piece is a very chilled lounge piece. I did this because I figured that it's appealing to a wider range of audience (compared to, say, industrial...?) and because if the music is slower, it might make it a little easier to write/sing to. If you'd like me to mail you the loop itself for you to listen to over and over, please drop an email in my inbox (see previous post for address) and I'll happily send it your way.<br />
<br />
PS. Let me know what you guys think!<br />
<br />
PPS. For the record, it's an absolute bitch to find an mp3 player add-on that actually plays music <em>you</em> want to play and not the 'Top 20' from some arbitrary Russian site...Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-68459608324492028242011-04-05T06:34:00.000-07:002011-04-05T06:39:38.249-07:00Audience participation!I have had an idea, but I'd like to gauge it's potential success. So here goes.<br />
<br />
I would like to collaborate with one of <em>you</em> on a piece of music! So, what I'm thinking of doing is compiling a loop sample that I will upload onto this, here blog for your auditory enjoyment. There is a catch: I'd like you to try and write/record lyrics for a song to this! Now, I know that not everyone has the most sing-worthy voices, but if you feel confident enough to do so, please do record and email me the recordings! Otherwise, strap a friend/family member to a chair and force them to sing for you! If possible, please make sure the recordings are of relatively high quality and are in a *.wav format. But this isn't crucial...<br />
<br />
I royally <strong><em>suck</em></strong> at writing lyrics of my own, so I'm sure you will do far better than I can!<br />
<br />
If you think you'd be up for it, please mail me at <a href="mailto:watchmonkeysblogsong@gmail.com">watchmonkeysblogsong@gmail.com</a> with 'I wanna write your song!' as the subject line and I will then know how many of you are interested! Fill the contents of the mail with whatever you want (provided it isn't offensive...or viral in nature).<br />
<br />
It's also a neat way to see how many of you are still avid readers here...Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-35719578861850932452011-04-04T04:59:00.000-07:002011-04-04T04:59:16.906-07:00Post? But I'm too scared!I may, or may not, have mentioned this at some stage, but I am...a bedroom DJ. Yes, I confess, I am a closet music producer whose works never reach the public domain! I can feel your damning glares spearing at me over the internet burning little glare-shaped holes in my mind!<br />
<br />
So, on Friday, someone made a comment along the lines of '...you should post the music [my own music] onto the net somewhere and let other people enjoy and critique it! Otherwise the whole process is tantamount to [self-gratification] and nothing else!' He used less child-friendly terms but you get the jist of the message.<br />
<br />
And now I am completely torn. I do want to release my work onto the vastness of the internet for all of you to partake in, but at the same time, I'm paranoid about copyright infringement and people stealing my work! What do I do? To post or not to post, that is the question...Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-51302152788951377292011-04-04T02:19:00.000-07:002011-04-04T02:20:13.379-07:00Long weekend! Alas, not long enough...[I must apologise upfront; this post was written about a week and a half ago, but thanks to blogger's misbehaviour, none of my pictures would upload. Thus it has been <em>maturing</em> in my drafts folder until blogger cooperated...]<br />
<br />
So, for those of you who read from abroad, this last Monday was a public holiday in SA: Human Rights Day! I personally find it rather ironic as the university made me work on the Monday, especially on Human Rights Day of all the public holidays, but moving swiftly along...<br />
<br />
I was away this weekend, on a field-trip for one of the university's second year courses. The job was not particularly exciting; drive the students to the university's farm east of Nelspruit, help them identify some bugs and plants for their insect and plant collection projects, drive them home again and do all of the above without getting anyone hurt/killed. Apart from nearly crashing one of the rental vehicles into a wall (Toyota recalled their cars for a brake malfunction, right? Well obviously not <em>all</em> the cars...) and one of the lecturers almost running a student over (same brake malfunction...) it went off without any major hiccups.<br />
<br />
The problem is that now, I am absolutely drained! I have SO much work to do and I just can't muster the energy to do it! So instead I'm blogging and posting some pics from the trip:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHRliNwN3-K4X0S3vOg9z456X8qaIU8qU2gKC-lneUYjcfdr74m9SVzc3ZrFwlv3cLgfV-BMfMlNk5yRAjd9Bq2ht-5FeqBbudcysfWWe9L9asuoBALA5H7jWc7XL7Q6PRDcJj4KFalw/s1600/IMG_0987.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHRliNwN3-K4X0S3vOg9z456X8qaIU8qU2gKC-lneUYjcfdr74m9SVzc3ZrFwlv3cLgfV-BMfMlNk5yRAjd9Bq2ht-5FeqBbudcysfWWe9L9asuoBALA5H7jWc7XL7Q6PRDcJj4KFalw/s320/IMG_0987.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A fishing spider! These guys are pretty big (about 8cm diameter legtip-legtip) and hunt fish! They can actually go underwater for short periods of time. The hairs on their bodies trap a layer of air around them which acts like mini scuba gear so that they can hunt underwater.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSbMLlVgADCtBi7elh6t-JJGlOpuX2gDYLB4AjtQbvpHBvLTxDkwS-g1ph0rpZAEz26fZdRZcXo2MOQQyHSfmwOVanJ4QyBumZN-nivGTFn-yeRl_MsJV0gN6-MZeKKO-hGl2hT5xS6PQ/s1600/IMG_0953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSbMLlVgADCtBi7elh6t-JJGlOpuX2gDYLB4AjtQbvpHBvLTxDkwS-g1ph0rpZAEz26fZdRZcXo2MOQQyHSfmwOVanJ4QyBumZN-nivGTFn-yeRl_MsJV0gN6-MZeKKO-hGl2hT5xS6PQ/s320/IMG_0953.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here we see one of our lecturers performing the trademark (not really) 'zoologist crouch'. He's actually looking for water scorpions amongst the leaf litter in a rather disgusting pool of water.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVFgYbqNT7v3hzKTx9KhNzb_kL6JYvOZcmPYRW7Ryc4Nj7SY-g1xHit6lkoGLgxpaEUhI_VSySexbs_mdUpAo2BN67Qi9BgSo7AyzT0KzP8VLmCLrHOaRYtR4y2ER6wBuLJyOkeEycsE0/s1600/IMG_0994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVFgYbqNT7v3hzKTx9KhNzb_kL6JYvOZcmPYRW7Ryc4Nj7SY-g1xHit6lkoGLgxpaEUhI_VSySexbs_mdUpAo2BN67Qi9BgSo7AyzT0KzP8VLmCLrHOaRYtR4y2ER6wBuLJyOkeEycsE0/s320/IMG_0994.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A personal life-ambition fulfilled! See a live vine snake in the wild: Check! These guys are ridiculously venomous but are apparently relatively docile. They're part of a family of snakes that actually have their fangs at the back of their mouths, instead of having the hinged sabres in the front, like vipers, that we think of when we think of snake fangs. Hard to spot against the branches of a bush too...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigaFYAvbn6KaUBkd1qjQDusWGGpiE5Fy3oStoomEfFxMUyE29mAUE00rDW1CMZeVvjGjomNJCGD9dHbHG6FTcIDTk-MiV5uPQb-oaxmMAPa6PaW6A2xlj62JwHP9LVaWfwC1zMSmRjMBo/s1600/IMG_0747.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigaFYAvbn6KaUBkd1qjQDusWGGpiE5Fy3oStoomEfFxMUyE29mAUE00rDW1CMZeVvjGjomNJCGD9dHbHG6FTcIDTk-MiV5uPQb-oaxmMAPa6PaW6A2xlj62JwHP9LVaWfwC1zMSmRjMBo/s320/IMG_0747.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A little piece of froggie paradise. The pond behind the house in which we stayed. We checked it out one night for frogs; they were <em>everywhere!</em> And there were so many different kinds! It was awesome!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTIBD3ZU1f7vlt0klaAySdl85RlIUn9LIGVmxxmODINcI0Zf5bH4S0ONprqBkG52BQNVw6oMfg7Y0mIUfMcQhvzf1GSmOashQi3rvEz5FGf4zi3hN8kOjgS7T0o-U-p4ijHI4zv98HIX0/s1600/IMG_0925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTIBD3ZU1f7vlt0klaAySdl85RlIUn9LIGVmxxmODINcI0Zf5bH4S0ONprqBkG52BQNVw6oMfg7Y0mIUfMcQhvzf1GSmOashQi3rvEz5FGf4zi3hN8kOjgS7T0o-U-p4ijHI4zv98HIX0/s320/IMG_0925.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A stunning view from 'sundowner rock' where, oddly enough, we have sundowners! Unfortunately, it was cloudy almost all weekend, but the view is much more spectacular when the suns out!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqDVWeyHfzZyhMfLKTJqj0nF5Bfm25lQQlTJCthIpN-X-CAYYdnAkBTEgIzdjuUBDNzb4FVRUuSiBJeLN8YPecSrBRNfCYnndiCUshyTs6I7F5JaJHznGwsYRRocMuAinmY167-8tWt8c/s1600/IMG_0828.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqDVWeyHfzZyhMfLKTJqj0nF5Bfm25lQQlTJCthIpN-X-CAYYdnAkBTEgIzdjuUBDNzb4FVRUuSiBJeLN8YPecSrBRNfCYnndiCUshyTs6I7F5JaJHznGwsYRRocMuAinmY167-8tWt8c/s320/IMG_0828.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A local amphibian resident. Very well camouflaged and very cute!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRHJnK47ViHaCi1yekg68avmJ-aevEmIV2JIBB5QR2PIeymyD0w81pP45Wo2Eph4qBjp7VKJ5gxH8jhkNdpI_67i60aYx0SeMZS4HokB0BzYE2mB8Z9tvr2liwJBfQbA4HHaPf92VKR4w/s1600/IMG_0778.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRHJnK47ViHaCi1yekg68avmJ-aevEmIV2JIBB5QR2PIeymyD0w81pP45Wo2Eph4qBjp7VKJ5gxH8jhkNdpI_67i60aYx0SeMZS4HokB0BzYE2mB8Z9tvr2liwJBfQbA4HHaPf92VKR4w/s320/IMG_0778.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg25ix28rk3cCxEkvHgaafhcvwHwn-pIUHLqMAp5c_E0lJaZZlTkhDk_ijkppAgi_uRWkKiDFaMrWB38ZRug0JGqOfMkQQqHqduiUroDXo7aIfFf1nkqBQ0m2yTwcUyTuJY3NKz9pyUpXo/s1600/IMG_0916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg25ix28rk3cCxEkvHgaafhcvwHwn-pIUHLqMAp5c_E0lJaZZlTkhDk_ijkppAgi_uRWkKiDFaMrWB38ZRug0JGqOfMkQQqHqduiUroDXo7aIfFf1nkqBQ0m2yTwcUyTuJY3NKz9pyUpXo/s320/IMG_0916.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Some local flowers. Unfortunately, I suck at plants and so I can't really tell you what they're called. :(</div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-13971122171627603042011-03-04T06:07:00.001-08:002011-03-04T06:07:29.362-08:00Great MigrationsHere it is folks! Looks awfully familiar, no? ;)Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-79574327032775852742011-03-01T00:29:00.000-08:002011-03-04T06:05:00.787-08:00A history of our ownLast night I was invited to attend the screening of a whole bunch of old 8mm home movies shot by my grandfather and grandmother of their family at various stages of their lives. It was an amazing opportunity to see what my father and his family were like, growing up, as teens, getting married etc. And it was AWESOME! And freaky at the same time...<br /><br />It's hard to imagine that the people you've only ever known of as adults were once children and teens. I'd seen photos of them, but it's somehow difficult to imagine those still images of someone that you don't recognise as being of real people or even as the 'little' versions of the people you know now. One of the things that really struck me was seeing my father as a child, playing around on a beach. He looked just like in the photos, but he was alive, running around and obviously having a good time. And that kid, was my dad!<br /><br />I realise how silly it sounds, but it's a difficult experience to put into words.<br /><br />The other amazing thing was seeing how people's behaviour doesn't change over time! So many of the mannerisms of my fathers family in the films, as little kids, persist to this day! Small things like their posture or how they held their arms are identical and unchanged!<br /><br />The other thing that I found very interesting was seeing how much my cousin looked like his father when they were both young! He and I were the only ones that agreed on this, but just because nobody else thinks so, doesn't make it not true!<br /><br />Oh, and a lesson to all would-be home movie makers: When on holiday, don't bother filming the surroundings. In 50 years, nobody will care! Film the <em>people!</em> That's what we all want to see!<br /><br />Some pictures from the night:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLqJx7nsODHynLiC5KsXyX-ZLMJ0N0-IG670kgtUeP_AOUyZ8EawW_EdIlWgmDy_oGth_2YdWpI51KuL4NMliVxNtZLgVZ5YhE13Vzr4gphMo_9MP6xLDcVYdFZ8S0eRnGAnbVTIe5pI/s1600/Image0534.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLqJx7nsODHynLiC5KsXyX-ZLMJ0N0-IG670kgtUeP_AOUyZ8EawW_EdIlWgmDy_oGth_2YdWpI51KuL4NMliVxNtZLgVZ5YhE13Vzr4gphMo_9MP6xLDcVYdFZ8S0eRnGAnbVTIe5pI/s320/Image0534.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The 'cinema' complete with rows of seats and a screen! I'm not sure why my cousin looks so unimpressed...</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLzMjxygWHhVnTsf7cmHU7hmDxOAujO_aYvAMabrYWm6ffo8oFNwR4MkT6HOehyphenhyphenakcawLqMFLR2xdn0KGeW2UDQh4x2MZ1aCEkAus2Wzqj61PTL_FtwnxrcpTPfyWGGTg7k3d7sSyjKw/s1600/Image0535.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLzMjxygWHhVnTsf7cmHU7hmDxOAujO_aYvAMabrYWm6ffo8oFNwR4MkT6HOehyphenhyphenakcawLqMFLR2xdn0KGeW2UDQh4x2MZ1aCEkAus2Wzqj61PTL_FtwnxrcpTPfyWGGTg7k3d7sSyjKw/s320/Image0535.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Deciphering 50+ year old labels with obscure titles like 'Number 2'</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD31g4Umo2mbogWYRN3VVjqjrD3_oDyvyPiZpdNSteCz2wusGXjS49pPtPM48fIUyP79cOvD7IfsU1njzKZsZxWBG4qIGlCvsvLFxrWjaOavGGluHcrHVAwlRMTUpN8OtMMQI0st31kUI/s1600/Image0541.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD31g4Umo2mbogWYRN3VVjqjrD3_oDyvyPiZpdNSteCz2wusGXjS49pPtPM48fIUyP79cOvD7IfsU1njzKZsZxWBG4qIGlCvsvLFxrWjaOavGGluHcrHVAwlRMTUpN8OtMMQI0st31kUI/s320/Image0541.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A shot from the footage of my parent's wedding. Unfotunately phone camera's don't cope well with capturing the flickering images off 8mm film. You can just make out the shapes of some people in this one</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimrLgb7fsgPUyf4Udpw9As0vEx_Yfhsjl-LIS52Xy7hqF-tPFW1f9eK_Nj_A2NreetTitxdwXCA5nLNYqXeRqnyA8leXpIihd3h-F5D6bnRVdjjGwSLy3KKLCIphLAB8p5DL6ImEDMPMU/s1600/Image0542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimrLgb7fsgPUyf4Udpw9As0vEx_Yfhsjl-LIS52Xy7hqF-tPFW1f9eK_Nj_A2NreetTitxdwXCA5nLNYqXeRqnyA8leXpIihd3h-F5D6bnRVdjjGwSLy3KKLCIphLAB8p5DL6ImEDMPMU/s320/Image0542.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Repairing the projector. This happened several times throughout the evening. Amazingly enough, none of the film burned out! I was under the impression that the 'burnout' was a common feature of screening such as this, and yet, not so much as a puff of smoke all evening! Our projectionist must have been a reel pro...(pun intended <img goomoji="329" height="12" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/329" style="margin: 0px 0.2ex; vertical-align: middle;" width="12" /> )</div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-75034934554757259102011-02-26T02:11:00.000-08:002011-03-04T06:05:00.827-08:00I'll miss you SO much!<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Given that I will be leaving my <em>alma mater,</em> Wits, in the not-too-distant future, I have been thinking a lot about how much it has meant to me to be part of it. The other day, while on the hunt for food, I was reminded of one of the more fun aspects of Wits' charm: The quirky promotions that seem to happen on campus on a regular basis. Luckily, I had the presence of mind to snap a few on my phone, before the promo broke up!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Where else in the world am I likely to encounter giant walking fruit on my lunch break?!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-roIlJoBb6WAmhAeupFpaGfEmNU6HiRfeFllpPhRGoesJwZf2cpGb_5VEIenyfH1vTOBoP87d0eVUY9x68UNTh84QTUZF6pVtJmdQTIM7asquSAASQhOOi0dLc99xVhXONOIkPx-z6e4/s1600/Image0531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-roIlJoBb6WAmhAeupFpaGfEmNU6HiRfeFllpPhRGoesJwZf2cpGb_5VEIenyfH1vTOBoP87d0eVUY9x68UNTh84QTUZF6pVtJmdQTIM7asquSAASQhOOi0dLc99xVhXONOIkPx-z6e4/s320/Image0531.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">I'm not entirely sure why the giant fruit were hiding under black sheets, especially seeing as it is the middle of summer in Johannesburg (usually around 30 degrees centigrade in the shade at this time of day...). The one on the left is a giant lichi, in case you're wondering...</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPwWP4vbKk-a6zeT9FR8D8Z7etIOY5OMgH7FAdkGu98bSNv-teg-Kfil49d5ZSLzKqBAP1N2J8DGm8hobr9IJFePgLeiE97XdSZS8s87rsYgJG-D80Tp_81nQFB607qsTWio4H5qaPdgI/s1600/Image0530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPwWP4vbKk-a6zeT9FR8D8Z7etIOY5OMgH7FAdkGu98bSNv-teg-Kfil49d5ZSLzKqBAP1N2J8DGm8hobr9IJFePgLeiE97XdSZS8s87rsYgJG-D80Tp_81nQFB607qsTWio4H5qaPdgI/s320/Image0530.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Behold, the giant granadilla! You can also make out the giant mango behind him and what appears to be an orange too...what the other one is...I have no idea.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfWSESDYtGO0quNEUYcqCWm2Xm0NjjRAEf-s5k3WvBAoa4W2hc2nFwkg2gHNkMTLTL-tCc_v_4DYTgJX5bA6fmt2f8GHnlp5n7xCppUuuJwcYzX_f68hKLeZru4r6EW5nit42_bZyn_u0/s1600/Image0532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfWSESDYtGO0quNEUYcqCWm2Xm0NjjRAEf-s5k3WvBAoa4W2hc2nFwkg2gHNkMTLTL-tCc_v_4DYTgJX5bA6fmt2f8GHnlp5n7xCppUuuJwcYzX_f68hKLeZru4r6EW5nit42_bZyn_u0/s320/Image0532.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Even giant fruit get tired! Here they are, parking off on the grass for a well-deserved break.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div>This, amongst other things, I will really miss when I'm gone.Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-31214807050054852192011-02-09T01:36:00.000-08:002011-03-04T06:05:00.854-08:00What's in a name...?I don't understand it really. But it's just the way I am. I do all my best thinking either in the shower, or when brushing my teeth. When I say 'best thinking' I don't mean that I come up with solutions to food security or world peace, but rather that this is when my brain tends to really get it's hands dirty, regardless of the idea in question.<br /><br />Last night, standing in front of my bathroom mirror still dripping and wrapped in a towel after a shower, the topic of choice was names. I began to think about all the people that I'd met in my life and how so many of them seemed to display traits that were common to all the other people I'd met with the same names. Take, for example, Tyron (or any variant thereof, such as Tyrone...).<br /><br />To this day, I have never met a single individual by that name that was even vaguely pleasant. Parents, if you have a boy and you don't particularly want to spend a good part of your sons life in the principles office at school being read the riot act and waxing his growing list of misdemeanours, don't name your child Tyron! It's strange, but true. My mother was a nursery school teacher and my aunt, a primary school teacher, for many years and both confirmed for me that there is indeed a hex on that name; all who bear it are nothing but trouble.<br /><br />This is not to say that I believe that Tyrons the world over are evil. Far from it! I just have yet to meet one that wasn't.<br /><br />This all got me thinking about how no matter what the name in question is, it is forever associated with that first person that we met who had it. Another example: I remember in primary school (elementary school for our American readers) having a girl in my class by the name of Angelique. While a tad on the naughty side, what really set her apart from the rest of us was that she had been born with a physical impairment. Her left leg had not fully developed and thus was permanently about 15cm shorter than her right leg. She wore a prosthetic leg extension all the time except for when we had to do PE (physical education - an excuse for teachers to park off and bark orders at children already burnt out from a hard day's work in the classroom).<br /><br />The truly amazing thing about this girl was not her leg, but rather her approach to life. Angelique was, in spite of all that her biology had thrown at her, unstoppable! I remember that she was always very friendly, but took no nonsense from anyone. She always stood up for the underdog (with the added advantage that few people would argue with a metal reinforced plasticised leg extension...) and even when doing PE, she strove as hard as, if not harder than, all the other kids to do well. As such, this name has a number of connotations for me: scallywag, virtuous and unbeatable.<br /><br />Another example from primary school was a girl by the name of Catherine. Actually, more than one by that name. And, true to form, both Catherines had equally unpleasant personalities. The first left our school shortly after entering the second grade, much to our unanimous relief. This child, in hindsight probably a deeply troubled individual, would frequently erupt into fully fledged temper tantrums in the classroom. I remember one in particular when she trashed the reading corner, tossing books willy-nilly and overturning the bookshelf, a feat I at the time marvelled at, unable to budge the bookshelf under my own strength. Obviously, rage provided a fuel unmatched by any amount of sugar and tartrezine.<br /><br />The second Catherine was with us for longer than the first. But, while physical violence wasn't her thing, her skill lay in her unmatched ability to be very unpleasant. She was one of those kids that just never had anything nice to say about or to anyone. Somehow she had friends, but I certainly didn't count myself in their number. In both cases, I learned very quickly that the one thing common to the name was the tactic you used when dealing with them: don't! Just avoid them completely!<br /><br />So prospective parents, think long and hard about the names that haunt and colour your past. Consult with others about the names that shaped them and give much consideration to the idea, before frivolously applying a label to your offspring!Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-54343918346990030332011-02-07T06:10:00.000-08:002011-03-04T06:05:00.874-08:00Calling all the FaithfulI am certain that a vast number of my readers will be almost entirely unable to connect with this post. It's one of the hazards of being one of those odd people that actually <em>like</em> listening to electronic music outside of Holland (sue me! I'm hooked!). However, I'm using this blog to chronicle my life and it's highs (and lows) so this is definitely material that deserves to go on here.<br /><br />Saturday was the day I've been waiting for for months now. I first heard about their visit to Johannesburg through a friend on Facebook who somehow had come across this information prematurely and, knowing that I was a fan, decided to share it with me. Indeed, with a little internet effort, I confirmed; <a href="http://faithless.co.uk/">Faithless</a> were coming to South Africa!<br /><br />I remember the last time they were here. I think I was 17 at the time. It was my first big live performance event. I remember being so excited and nervous at not knowing what to expect. I remember that my cousin and her then boyfriend drove us there and acted as general chaperons for the evening while I, and my two mates chattered away excitedly, awestruck by the whole experience. I remember the opening act was a horrific South African group called 'TK-Zee' who would do best to be forgotten entirely. The crowd came very close to booing them off stage, but luckily for the performers, their performance 'playlist' waned before the crowd got upset enough. Then they came on...<br /><br />This time round we were due to be entertained by the Cape Town based dance duo 'Goldfish' as the entr<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">é</span>e before THE band blew our minds with their performance. However, the gods of music got together with the gods of lets-think-of-something-that'll-just-irritate-the-crap-outa-them and through poor organisation on the part of the hosts, nobody other than the Golden Circle ticket holders actually got to see Goldfish (i.e. we plebs were forced to miss them because the organisers failed to let normal ticket holders into the venue before Goldfish were finished; a gripe for another day).<br /><br />However, once inside, everything would change! Once Faithless came on stage, things elevated to a level of experience yet unmatched. I cannot put into words what an amazing experience it was, but I'll try.<br /><br />The concert started with a little known track, followed by one of their latest releases, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MMlzxz7hk4">'Sun to Me'</a> which was amazing. People were dancing, vigorously abandoning themselves to the music, worshipping the sound that buffeted their senses. I, somewhat reserved, danced along, relishing the moment. However, for me, things only got started with the next song.<br /><br />As they began the intro to the song, I recognised it immediately. I watched as the music built up, a crescendo heralding the start of something awe-inspiring and bordering on spiritual. As the chorus broke, the crowd went berserk. What had been a black maw behind the stage emerged as a massive screen, a golden light drawing out the outline of a church behind the musicians as they desperately performed their hearts out for us. The song could not have been more apt: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyjcqGy-h6s&feature=related">'God is a DJ'</a><br /><br />The evening progressed with inspiring performance after performance. Each time the screen behind displaying a colourful assortment of images, visualizations and patterns that accentuated the beauty of the music tearing through us. All around people were jumping, throwing themselves, fighting gravity and all their inhibitions. Involuntarily, I found myself doing the same, literally out of control, caught in an elated fit of sheer movement. We were all one writhing, joyous entity.<br /><br />The evening ran away from us. Two hours turned into ten minutes. Before we knew we'd arrived, it was over. The lights dimmed, the band left the stage, and a truly unsatisfied audience. The crowd began to chant. Their appetite wasn't satiated. They wanted more. And once again, Faithless failed to disappoint.<br /><br />The band reemerged, stepping out of the darkness to hit us one last time. Issuing instructions to the crowd, MaxiJazz began one of the most awesome musical experiences of my life. The final song that we would be privileged with would be one of their most profound: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3UAVBjUwfQ">'We Come One'</a>. Reinvigorated, we began to move again, a giant rising. The tide grew, pulling any reluctant dancers under it's powerful tow. As the chorus hit, our tumultuous action reached it's peak. I was merely an element of a whole. Part of something bigger. An entity that reserved judgement, asked for nothing and offered elation in return. We truly had come one.<br /><br />I will always remember that evening. Nothing parallels that feeling of amazing unity, bliss and excitement all in one. I suffered for it (head-banging isn't too great for your neck...). In fact, I continue to pay. I've been trying to work all day but I can think of nothing else! But it was well worth the price pay!Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-12018666435268379272011-01-26T02:31:00.000-08:002011-03-04T06:05:00.891-08:00Life-long To-do list Item 32: Check!Before I begin, I must point out that I don't <em>really</em> have a Life-long To-do list. Not in the formal sense, anyway. I rather have a kinda space in my brain that holds all the stuff that looks cool to do and I'll get to later...<br /><br />Avid followers of my blog will remember me once writing a <a href="http://thelifeofa20something.blogspot.com/2007/01/internet-is-wonderful-thing.html">post</a> about my lifelong quest to partake of all the exotic fruit wonders that our world has to offer. Well, I am now one step closer to that goal! I have finally sampled the amazing flappy-purple-orb that is DRAGONFRUIT!<br /><br />This is all thanks to my mother, who somehow managed to track down one at our local supermarket (not usually the place for edible rareties of nature...).<br /><br />Behold! The amazing dragonfruit!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyRbUgtxmIrQn3XWvMQB1GoIEueUSE40sLnU7PnC7MHHqkFSzimvmBEhJKkcwzu1w1R8FYiLOkZVVEZIbtXWxLs_g7-bie-ewgcoqyfDM4bKvmgGlx1B5jYPFMpD1w35Xl_9gB4tv9Jic/s1600/IMG_0512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyRbUgtxmIrQn3XWvMQB1GoIEueUSE40sLnU7PnC7MHHqkFSzimvmBEhJKkcwzu1w1R8FYiLOkZVVEZIbtXWxLs_g7-bie-ewgcoqyfDM4bKvmgGlx1B5jYPFMpD1w35Xl_9gB4tv9Jic/s320/IMG_0512.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As you can see, my sister takes these things very seriously. Her carpophobia really got away with her... </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBXKiUu4f2dmkaeWs5o4lT-DjnRn1bWsMqHjdv7Hl1X5cqr3pV_dW8XSBBOYIVMA15omPJczY5sjvHOUQzIbNY7iyZ2GObFJ_m4tl5KAM3YLvhF-M5oZJZ3es4L1uBPdXE94nDZ2jE3A/s1600/IMG_0514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBXKiUu4f2dmkaeWs5o4lT-DjnRn1bWsMqHjdv7Hl1X5cqr3pV_dW8XSBBOYIVMA15omPJczY5sjvHOUQzIbNY7iyZ2GObFJ_m4tl5KAM3YLvhF-M5oZJZ3es4L1uBPdXE94nDZ2jE3A/s320/IMG_0514.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The innards of a dragonfruit: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjXxaxOdBTXsVDE_K8QXbtKUJjnvQzrufVpDbdT6Ya_FZHQu9Xdf7yZhsjw6Reabbdtoiy8U8Z8foriuzdc2gsehZKyTP8bgb8micgpDOP8T25drc0BJ69da2ItIyOUxIyStlhcixE7qI/s1600/IMG_0518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjXxaxOdBTXsVDE_K8QXbtKUJjnvQzrufVpDbdT6Ya_FZHQu9Xdf7yZhsjw6Reabbdtoiy8U8Z8foriuzdc2gsehZKyTP8bgb8micgpDOP8T25drc0BJ69da2ItIyOUxIyStlhcixE7qI/s320/IMG_0518.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Giving the fruit a try: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJmrnzwhM8F_kW1Q2jX4naoG0tZfvcJp9K7ql6v46sS1lDvKKb3tsQr-ncM5i2ZyO4hB-yYngg-ortW-qfs0RsAyN0rK-4YLgpiohPRDy8Q87M6pVzK-Ow72eUGwfVrfhUlmq7pfzTLFY/s1600/IMG_0527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJmrnzwhM8F_kW1Q2jX4naoG0tZfvcJp9K7ql6v46sS1lDvKKb3tsQr-ncM5i2ZyO4hB-yYngg-ortW-qfs0RsAyN0rK-4YLgpiohPRDy8Q87M6pVzK-Ow72eUGwfVrfhUlmq7pfzTLFY/s320/IMG_0527.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Look at the amazing colour!! Visually, a stunning piece of food: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRS9z3ceOrWjjTSDKZqfwLM2HFPerEMnw_h8TU3JgnTyRX_MxdBf4G8cW9ndF3O6PzpR2z3DhxGpl6bDwRsUiO0PEzy_fx0ktb_Z5UlLJ2WLuQGghguRCJoG5OqcAIDHqaArgrPG4vN8/s1600/IMG_0529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRS9z3ceOrWjjTSDKZqfwLM2HFPerEMnw_h8TU3JgnTyRX_MxdBf4G8cW9ndF3O6PzpR2z3DhxGpl6bDwRsUiO0PEzy_fx0ktb_Z5UlLJ2WLuQGghguRCJoG5OqcAIDHqaArgrPG4vN8/s320/IMG_0529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>It's a very odd fruit. It doesn't really have much flavour. It's very delicate. It has a consistancy that lies somewhere between a persimon and a kiwi fruit. Very odd. The seeds are like those of a kiwi too. But the colour is <em>amazing</em>! It's really beautiful! It also stains your hands like beetroot does, which was kinda cool. I would totally recommend it for anyone to try!Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-39023852542186691102011-01-06T02:14:00.000-08:002011-03-04T06:05:00.907-08:00Movies that changed the way I watch movies...and other stuff...The idea for this post came to me after a rather unproductive day, watching a film off YouTube in little bits. It was the movie 'Airborne', a 1993 teen comedy (sorta). There I was, nostalgically remeniscing about the hours as a child spent watching the movie and wishing that I too could surf and have an earing and hair to make a wooly mammoth jealous. I then went off to take a bathroom break, and it occurred to me while washing my hands (hygene first!); What other movies have had this kind of impact on my life?<br /><br />Thus I present a list of some of the movies that changed how I view the world (or at least movies, anyway...):<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Entertainment/Images/Jaws-Movie-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Entertainment/Images/Jaws-Movie-poster.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />I remember watching this as a kid and being completely ignorant (and blissfully so) of the fact that the shark itself was clearly made of rubber-latex. Even today, this film still gets me. It is dated, promotes a message with disasterous ecological consequences and discourages recreational swimming, but has you on the edge of your seat to the very end! Well worth the watch. I actually liked the film so much I bought the book (not bad, actually!) from a second-hand book store! The film offers everything a growing boy needs: hot beach-goers, a menacing animal that cannot be stopped, loads of blood and a little something (read: fear) that lingers with you once the film has ended.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.moviepostershop.com/whale-rider-movie-poster-1020190289.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://www.moviepostershop.com/whale-rider-movie-poster-1020190289.jpg" width="217" /></a></div><br />Another oceanic story, but this time, of a much gentler kind. This film blew me away with its honest storytelling and characters that everyone could relate to. The tragedy of the story, the bleak beauty of the setting and the hauntingly memorable soundtrack left me yearning to make a movie like this one.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.wonderfulworldofmovies.com/rolled_posters/jurassicpark_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://www.wonderfulworldofmovies.com/rolled_posters/jurassicpark_lg.jpg" width="217" /></a></div><br />Steve did it again! Okay, on this one, I am completely biased, having been an avid dinosaur fan from age 3. However, even for those entirely clueless about dinosaurs, the suspense of this film is enthralling. To this day, I still feel my body ready itself for that innate flight response when Lex's leg is narrowly missed by a ravenous Velociraptor as she scrambles through the ceiling. A must see that, as with 'Jaws', provides everything a growing boy needs (although, minus the hotties...).<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/241649.1020.A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/241649.1020.A.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><br />As an African, it is very difficult to not become ambivalent to the many civil disruptions that happen on our continent. Colonialism has left a bloody legacy which is so ubiquitous across our land that for most, it is really par for the course. However, this film told a story that made me sit up and think. This films heart-felt portrayal of the destructive process of revolution and genocide, and the bravery of one in light of certain death really hit home. It made me realise that regardless of ones genetic or cultural history, Africans, and indeed I suspect all peoples, are united by something unpalpable, but powerful.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xlr8ing.com/blade_ver2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://xlr8ing.com/blade_ver2.jpg" width="237" /></a></div><br />On a substantially less deep note, this movie became a staple for me after watching the preview on MTV at age 14. The openning club scene of the movie is probably one of the most memorable scenes of all time, for me anyway. The amazing music and the mix of awe and horror as the fire system errupts with blood followed by a kick-ass fight scene made for a perfect hook. This film, released prior to 'The Matrix' featured a form of bullet-time (not of the same quality, but the idea was there!) which wowed me and the film was the epitome of what made the vampire genre awesome. And then...<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://captainhangover.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/twilight-movie-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://captainhangover.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/twilight-movie-poster.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><br />This should have been titled 'How to ruin an entire genre, waste time and reduce your IQ in only 121 minutes', but I guess 'Twilight' was shorter and a little more catchy. This film taught me a very valuable lesson: Even when a movie appears to be a looming cultural phenomenon, be cautious (a lesson I should have learned from 'Brokeback Mountain'...)! Kirsten Stewart cannot act to save her life, females are apparently attracted to vampires that actually look like the walking dead (perhaps it's the sparkles? Every girl likes sparklies, right?) and that the tastes of 14-16 year old girls is not something to be trusted (No offense Tes!). So, in the likely event that Stephenie Meyer reads my blog post ('cause that'll totally happen!) I have one thing to say: The world would honestly be a better place had you followed your natural urges and given up on this story with that first twinge of writers block.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://catcald.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/lost_in_translation_movie_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://catcald.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/lost_in_translation_movie_poster.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br />The first time I watched 'Lost In Translation', the only thing I liked about it was 'Alone in Kyoto', the Air song that was used at the end of the film. But somehow, absense made this heart grow fonder and I am now a fan! Bill Murray has to be one of my favourite actors, and the story told here was something that I could really connect to, having moved to a foreign country and tried to slot into a culture I didn't understand. And I really liked the song at the end...did I mention the song?<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://filmscenic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/poster-american-beauty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://filmscenic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/poster-american-beauty.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><br />Another movie that had me hooked from the beginning, but this time, with music. The film itself deserved all the acclaim it recieved and more. The story was amazing, the acting superb and the music, unforgettable. I actually baught the soundtrack for only two of the tracks, both my Thomas Newman, a musical genius. His subsequent work on 'Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events' just reinforced this for me.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.movieposterdb.com/posters/08_06/1980/78935/l_78935_eb9dee29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://www.movieposterdb.com/posters/08_06/1980/78935/l_78935_eb9dee29.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><br />The film itself was nothing worth bothering with. The shock-factor of the on-screen killing of live animals achieves what the director set out to; leaving the audience disturbed and queasy. However, it also served to completely undermine the message of the story. The lesson intended 'film-making should be ethical and truthful' means little when the story was made using the killing of live animals and the mutilation of an actual human cadaver, bought from a morgue, on screen.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.joblo.com/posters/images/full/1985-fantasia-poster1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://www.joblo.com/posters/images/full/1985-fantasia-poster1.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><br />My last addition to my list, although there are many more but I need to get some <em>actual work</em> done today, is Disney's 'Fantasia'. Growing up as a kid, whenever I or my siblings were sick and had to stay home from school, we would be entrusted to the care of my grandmother. Part of this process was that we were allowed to watch movies at her house (we didn't have a video machine) and this became a staple. From the dancing hippos to the dinosaurs (again, I'm a little biased, I confess) this film always delivered. The music was amazing and complimented the visuals perfectly. A fantastic effort on the part of all involved!Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-76584215875518950922010-11-22T12:00:00.000-08:002011-03-04T06:05:00.927-08:00I'm a dad! World, meet Greg...So, seeing as I had never attempted this in the past, I decided to give Movember a bash. Had my last shave at the end of October and have successfully grown quite the facial lawn! Behold:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoIZbLCSJ8MnOEmX8T8lQQqAiZXUZe63UXGg0eH-iXQpFKb1gjgJrbxtT0rQkjzC8w1LMcd6jaaoIGmt82epK4g4JmC5M8RMuBH5FCOKaEtaPjsxXJjP7808RRxSNMWaFb7p1FnqE1II/s1600/Greg+is+very+itchy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoIZbLCSJ8MnOEmX8T8lQQqAiZXUZe63UXGg0eH-iXQpFKb1gjgJrbxtT0rQkjzC8w1LMcd6jaaoIGmt82epK4g4JmC5M8RMuBH5FCOKaEtaPjsxXJjP7808RRxSNMWaFb7p1FnqE1II/s320/Greg+is+very+itchy.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This picture is a little outdated...Greg has grown substantially since this was taken.</span></div><br />However, two rather unpleasant things have come out of this follicle-driven endevour; My sister has fallen in love with my beard. She has decided that I am just not a whole person without it and that I should never get rid of it. Thus, she has <em>named </em>(I kid you not!) my beard: Greg. Her thoughts were that if I gave it a name, I would feel terrible when I eventually got rid of it and thus would be deterred from shaving ever again.<br /><br />Unfortunately for her, I have no qualms about slaying Greg come December! This is because Greg has become a bit of a nuisance. He has taken on personality traits and behaviour that I find less than desirable. He seems determined to make me very aware of the fact that when I talk, I do actually use my top lip. He keeps bobbing up and down along the edge of my vision as I converse with people and it drives me nuts!<br /><br />Secondly, and probably the worst of his character flaws, he has become very vexatious (I like that word...) and continuously pokes me! It's so irritating! It's a bit like a combination of having a pot scourer attached to your face and having a spider walking over your lips at the same time. And it's just that much more irritating because you know that the pot scourer is the product of your own body and that you have consciously decided to cultivate the thing!<br /><br />Having said all this, I am told I look rather dashing with my new lip-lawn and that I should strive to keep it going. Unfortunately for Greg's admirers, I alone control the razor...heh heh heh...Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-17122157864589301212010-11-04T03:20:00.000-07:002011-03-04T06:05:00.949-08:00Pelted with flowers!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9On8yrDFKUKPABV5d2XFXmiL4M08M0uH6CHOSuaaeSIO3qU7l4TB4yF9LkTyATXfWvZzgjnZkwnqydRFesujSONvWCeX5z5itFtDD_wn78XcybFXQ8rq2fZUyBh8qQUwWC_OWsOmdjY/s1600/Wits+Jacarandas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9On8yrDFKUKPABV5d2XFXmiL4M08M0uH6CHOSuaaeSIO3qU7l4TB4yF9LkTyATXfWvZzgjnZkwnqydRFesujSONvWCeX5z5itFtDD_wn78XcybFXQ8rq2fZUyBh8qQUwWC_OWsOmdjY/s320/Wits+Jacarandas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Now, anyone that knows me will tell you, I am by no means a superstitious person. I will happily smash mirrors, hang around black cats (although my cousin's one is <em>genuinely evil</em>) and scoot under open ladders. But for some reason, this year I was overcome with worry regarding a local superstition and it's implications for me.<br /><br />Okay, so maybe that's a minor exaggeration; I wasn't exactly <em>overcome</em> with worry, but it had occurred to me...<br /><br />So at our university, there is an urban legend that, come the end of the year and the advent of spring, there is only one sure way to know that you will pass your exams (or the year, if exams are not something you have to do anymore): be hit by a falling Jacaranda flower on campus.<br /><br />Every spring, the jacarandas of Johannesburg bloom, transforming the landscape from a hollow tan that personifies the dead highveld winters, into a lush forest of deep greens, offset by the lilac-blue explosions that are the jacarandas. Jacarandas produce an exhaustive display of flowers at the start of spring, before they produce any leaves, resulting in huge purple trees scattered across the city, and campus. Johannesburg isn't really known for the jacarandas and dwindles to insignificance when compared to our sister-city, <a href="http://www.southafrica.info/travel/cities/pretoria.htm">Pretoria</a> (Tourists apparently go there just to see the jacarandas!), but you still feel the transformation in Joburg all the same.<br /><br />So I was a little concerned when, almost half-way through the university exam month, I had yet to be hit by a flower. Then, yesterday, I was loading stuff into my car, exhausted, mind abuzz with statistics nonsense that I'd been doing all day. I felt a breeze picking up and noticed that my car was awash with little purple flowers, almost adding insult to injury. I looked up at the jacaranda above my car and sighed.<br /><br />A flower drifted down and bounced playfully off my shoulder and at that moment I knew I was okay. I was going to make it this year.Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-47466754361277572722010-11-02T02:21:00.000-07:002011-03-04T06:05:00.966-08:00Look to the sundog!Yesterday morning, Johannesburg was privy to a spectacular climatological phenomenon! The sundog, or parhelion! It's a corona (ring) that forms around the sun, creating a glowing, rainbow-halo type of effect. The result: A beautiful coloured ring that encircles the sun. The effect is apparently created by the presence of tiny ice crystals floating around in the upper atmosphere in the form of cirrus clouds. By the sounds of things, the light from the sun is bent at a 22 angle, resulting in the light halo. They are apparently best observed when the sun is low, but we saw it fine with the sun almost directly overhead. There's more info available here on the ever-faithful, source of all true knowledge: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_dog">wikipedia</a>!<br /><br />Here are some of the pics that I took yesterday. The dark bits are my building; I really should have been tending to the coffee machine at the time, but these climatological phenomena don't just happen everyday you know...!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZMVOuMLc7fN8cizgecUjIYpoLR69cUFw-MRk36CzPoUbc-ReZJZPMsbyyhvitk-4sZMfGR0T-VWpskNWoGVYFQoAIrhC1suSwfuJQClMjk9Qzrv0qhmrg4bnUpxRcAOoYLmSTXW3n1Cc/s1600/Image0489.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZMVOuMLc7fN8cizgecUjIYpoLR69cUFw-MRk36CzPoUbc-ReZJZPMsbyyhvitk-4sZMfGR0T-VWpskNWoGVYFQoAIrhC1suSwfuJQClMjk9Qzrv0qhmrg4bnUpxRcAOoYLmSTXW3n1Cc/s320/Image0489.jpg" width="240" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitexZgxlthpFaKfbSCzOxFbGlHq-wjVT0mFqXGPpr3YAZ7gzvCD32CawWhUXU1hNhIZPMh0-ijeEqRbC-aVzcsZ-MW-glftxaTvWFJ2JGBv9BKMi7jwr_D1RF5L30wXwaNwCTq_OI9Yzs/s1600/Image0490.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitexZgxlthpFaKfbSCzOxFbGlHq-wjVT0mFqXGPpr3YAZ7gzvCD32CawWhUXU1hNhIZPMh0-ijeEqRbC-aVzcsZ-MW-glftxaTvWFJ2JGBv9BKMi7jwr_D1RF5L30wXwaNwCTq_OI9Yzs/s320/Image0490.jpg" width="240" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQTNRkRfP2ywz_MOiE1K4xYlwr9wubBkdqTS-XtyK6HuzbUnTcsDtsstcwrZHnyP6PpJLin-YZl6XlPoItVNMaXE6qCkXwBk7IWBZnIFwmZwFqrdZgiwxtt8WpfczLue3OZwe7TL1UGE/s1600/Image0491.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQTNRkRfP2ywz_MOiE1K4xYlwr9wubBkdqTS-XtyK6HuzbUnTcsDtsstcwrZHnyP6PpJLin-YZl6XlPoItVNMaXE6qCkXwBk7IWBZnIFwmZwFqrdZgiwxtt8WpfczLue3OZwe7TL1UGE/s320/Image0491.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-85693386261799322202010-10-21T02:12:00.000-07:002011-03-04T06:05:00.982-08:00What kind of hospital is this?!Friday last week: Much of my evening was spent in one of the local government hospitals. I was fine, but the guy who I was there for was not. He's just been hit by a car while crossing an intersection on his motorbike. The whole incident happened as I arrived to fetch my father from our church. He'd been informed that one of the young men from the church had just been hit by a car and we had to get to him as soon as possible.<br /><br />At the scene, paramedics worked rapidly and diligently to stabilise him and determine the extent of his injuries. He was then transported via ambulance to a local government hospital. We followed and ended up waiting in the ER for news of his condition. While the scenario was not one that I would wish on anyone, there was one thing that emerged as the lighter side of the evening...<br /><br />I'm not sure how things are in the rest of the world, but here in South Africa, a Friday night is the night that you <em>really</em> don't want to have to go to a government hospital. Our government hospitals are pretty bad as is, but are the only health care available to people who don't have or cannot afford medical aid schemes and thus the luxury of a private hospital. The setting is made so much worse on a Friday because Friday nights are nights of revelry and drinking.<br /><br />As we sat in the ER, a man in his 40's arrived, walking very slowly and unsteadily into the ER from the main waiting area at reception. He was clearly sozzled, but as I looked around I realised that there were very few in the ER that were not, so thought nothing of it. However, this man was different; he was on a mission.<br /><br />He moved with unsteady purpose to the guy who ran the ER. I'm not sure of the job description for someone who prioritises ER cases, but I shall refer to him as Clive (I also don't know what his name was, so I can't even use that...). As the subject approached Clive, he began to speak to him in hushed tones. He spoke in English but so quietly that there was no way to understand what he was saying. Clive, having heard the full extent of his slurred story, spoke rather loudly and instructed the man to speak to the people at reception.<br /><br />The subject nodded his head slowly and did a half turn back toward reception before the penny, well, didn't so much as drop as gracefully ooze through his alcohol-laden brain. Clive had not given him the help he wanted! With the sluggish fury that only the inebriated can muster, he rotated back to Clive for a repeat performance.<br /><br />But Clive, moving at the pace of a normal person, was not there! Obviously befuddled and annoyed, he gyrated again to shuffle to the ER help desk. Ironically, and unfortunately for Clive, Clive had moved behind the desk to collect and deposit paperwork. As Clive looked up and saw the drunkard approaching, he moved quickly, shuffling papers and trying to get things in order before the drunkard could get to him. Alas, he was too slow.<br /><br />The drunkard arrived, apparently pleased to see Clive behind the desk. He began to recount he tale to Clive again, but Clive, obviously a conscientious man, had a job to do and would not tolerate this man's ramblings much longer. He instructed the drunkard to step aside and that he would help him in a moment.<br /><br />Apparently pleased with the outcome, the drunkard obliged, standing in the centre of the chaotic ER, occasionally swaying from side to side with a look of complete incomprehension on his face. A moment later, Clive emerged and took his new chum aside. He informed the man that his wife, who he was apparently here to see, was in the Gynecology ward on the first floor and that it was well past visiting hours, but they would allow him to go up and see her. Apparently satisfied with this, the drunkard inquired as to how to get to the Gynecology ward. Clive, having given up on being civil, told him in a stiff tone to take the elevator. Apparently we had all underestimated just how much revelry our subject had engaged in because his next question must have really been the last straw for Clive.<br /><br />'But how do I get the elevator to work?'<br /><br />Clive, now stiffling chuckles, instructed him to press the number '1' button on the panel in the elevator and it would take him to the floor he wanted. The man appeared satisfied with this and slower than before rotated toward the elevator. Having performed a 180 turn, he then turned back to the space where Clive had been. This time, his wobbly anger was directed at the hospital as an institution. He began to mutter things like, 'What button? I don't see any button here!' and 'What kind of a hospital is this?!' all while pressing his thumb to random sections of the wall in the hopes that they would activate the elevator and transport him to the floor above.<br /><br />After about 5 min of observing this, one of our party took pity on the man and guided him to the elevator, put him into it and pressed the appropriate button for him. We assume he found his wife because we never saw him again. That or he collapsed somewhere and slept it off...Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-22450426252884309212010-10-04T02:36:00.000-07:002011-03-04T06:05:01.010-08:00Circus life, here I come!So on Saturday, I went with a group of my friends to <a href="http://www.jozix.co.za/">JoziX</a>, an extreme sports park up in the north of Johannesburg. It's activities are all centred around large inflatable rigs so there's no danger of hurting yourself (unless you don't listen to the instructions, but how's that any different to any other physical activities, like ironing?). If you are ever in Joburg, it's well worth the price (financial and physical; you will be in pain the next day; you WORK those muscles...). In spite of the unpleasant end to the day (for me anyway) it was one of the best things I've ever done! I plan to return and complete my trapeze training once I'm all healed up! All the stuff comes from New Zealand. Who thought we'd have something to thank the Kiwi's for? ;P<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBzqLTl5Y2mwl_aP-KzllJ3iEB0W5s9FMhGnpO4SoXILweAU1qDE7XYC-XhNDnhcsnde0BbEqVG6P3-B1n_1JPh9w8XaDRwe7Z29XEWza_Ejz8zlnor-pGhiFayCprQ8_BqsjusYSygt0/s1600/Image0445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBzqLTl5Y2mwl_aP-KzllJ3iEB0W5s9FMhGnpO4SoXILweAU1qDE7XYC-XhNDnhcsnde0BbEqVG6P3-B1n_1JPh9w8XaDRwe7Z29XEWza_Ejz8zlnor-pGhiFayCprQ8_BqsjusYSygt0/s320/Image0445.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The monkey bars! You have to swing from bar to bar and then try and sweep over the ears of the angry blue cat on the other end. I managed to land beautifully inbetween the ears and have the cat's head close on my like a pair of scissors...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4tinywI9VvJ6BwjArfE4b-80JmnBleRmdCQZnH480G-3fwwICOzuvDuQQvF7hiOvQB9MDocXFV6ZYnpBSYGhm5GiDBvFJGT_c42AXX3bbwXf6bXX6QWyY3AtLUxzqTsy-i4bMSluI44/s1600/Image0446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4tinywI9VvJ6BwjArfE4b-80JmnBleRmdCQZnH480G-3fwwICOzuvDuQQvF7hiOvQB9MDocXFV6ZYnpBSYGhm5GiDBvFJGT_c42AXX3bbwXf6bXX6QWyY3AtLUxzqTsy-i4bMSluI44/s320/Image0446.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Proper zorbing! SO much fun! Wanted to puke at the end, but adrenalin did away with the nausea!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvEieaXWM6as2SoZnTGEISftiz-C4X7ZIDRcoBcHxjFQnu0Oe5b2VtkigQ6eiVpcyMU5jcSZ9K36X7zGNjYr9kY-bMgBb5gDHYRemN9cxnEUuiU1muyI3xsRGFcW6Fssn0K_XCEzjUrQ/s1600/Image0448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvEieaXWM6as2SoZnTGEISftiz-C4X7ZIDRcoBcHxjFQnu0Oe5b2VtkigQ6eiVpcyMU5jcSZ9K36X7zGNjYr9kY-bMgBb5gDHYRemN9cxnEUuiU1muyI3xsRGFcW6Fssn0K_XCEzjUrQ/s320/Image0448.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anyone remember 'Gladiators'? Same idea, only you pummel a friend instead of a steroid-laced body-builder...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoezVT5vlYBhFT9Zeluj35mW2odvrT_m2GRtwVlnZHYtNau-7-P4RognHCNGX52mfwCJXTpudB8FbmBvP2i4t1uikTI5vjDcEOHShtvxquiyDNSuPdPIumAfAOxwSDuwq7m5GJ3TQ24Kk/s1600/Image0450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoezVT5vlYBhFT9Zeluj35mW2odvrT_m2GRtwVlnZHYtNau-7-P4RognHCNGX52mfwCJXTpudB8FbmBvP2i4t1uikTI5vjDcEOHShtvxquiyDNSuPdPIumAfAOxwSDuwq7m5GJ3TQ24Kk/s320/Image0450.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Tight rope! I managed to grab the handle on the other side and then lost my balance. Good fun though!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNJn7rIhONg6RyrDzIPlwDKmixXVQ8zsGtR9atWyzofuPu7FDvlEZlfN2PuZln0HjcE4uBfjprM0nYKYHeRNDMfAPldnbEk9pSjHZGC98sEOHPiJoqA0ORgUSeK6vLm9IbqQHIesoTyA/s1600/Image0451.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNJn7rIhONg6RyrDzIPlwDKmixXVQ8zsGtR9atWyzofuPu7FDvlEZlfN2PuZln0HjcE4uBfjprM0nYKYHeRNDMfAPldnbEk9pSjHZGC98sEOHPiJoqA0ORgUSeK6vLm9IbqQHIesoTyA/s320/Image0451.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The inflatable climbing wall! Much harder than you would think! There are four walls: Red is the easiest, yellow's the hardest. I can do red...that's all.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSR1X3nY71x8Y4nfaJdIZGRkabsG3tdTPA7qXwF4rzrCR7mp9rApByeFKgutPVksQ1Z6O1sP_2gW-kSVMkHiwDIZr_icr84s3arI09wqjVsNbAcFXbVZlJzcPofAaJJUEBgFyPvgOzSIM/s1600/Image0456.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSR1X3nY71x8Y4nfaJdIZGRkabsG3tdTPA7qXwF4rzrCR7mp9rApByeFKgutPVksQ1Z6O1sP_2gW-kSVMkHiwDIZr_icr84s3arI09wqjVsNbAcFXbVZlJzcPofAaJJUEBgFyPvgOzSIM/s320/Image0456.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The highlight of my day! Trapeze! So cool and so much fun!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18gi8Lo_E8EDgTL36Rg2DgputHcaRw9C_guXqFvBgxUD5AK-ysXFoiUbY6u3ii1u-hR-GuFpVwbd3SbZYZcIx3XGJ2_HiR_R1FDBd-k55iVHu-1O3N_L672JyHw5f7qib29dy-WPty1o/s1600/Image0460.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18gi8Lo_E8EDgTL36Rg2DgputHcaRw9C_guXqFvBgxUD5AK-ysXFoiUbY6u3ii1u-hR-GuFpVwbd3SbZYZcIx3XGJ2_HiR_R1FDBd-k55iVHu-1O3N_L672JyHw5f7qib29dy-WPty1o/s320/Image0460.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My cousin doing the trapeze thing. He even managed to transfer to the next handle thing! It looked amazing! I nearly did, but somehow ended up tearing large chunks of skin out of my palms, so doing the full manoeuvre was not going to happen.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOzzbBfdI_WIuc_63DJMdG5UNxX86jYrnhih2sA8uSV0WPoCVoJ-crt2QatyDYttbpkRWe6AtlACSGvD4wd8nYWEzXP-XuUq0ChXUu7Easw-20awDRttMfLgUed8prxBF2Qzw5wh0rxwE/s1600/Image0462.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOzzbBfdI_WIuc_63DJMdG5UNxX86jYrnhih2sA8uSV0WPoCVoJ-crt2QatyDYttbpkRWe6AtlACSGvD4wd8nYWEzXP-XuUq0ChXUu7Easw-20awDRttMfLgUed8prxBF2Qzw5wh0rxwE/s320/Image0462.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Me holding swabs with disinfectant onto my then skinless palms. Painful, but TOTALLY worth it! That trapeze is my new love... </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">*(I really have nothing against New Zealanders except for when they kick our ass at the rugby. It's just fun to play on the stereotypes. In fact, I have family there now! They're not true Kiwi's because they're actually from South Africa and moved there, but it's the closest thing I have...)</span></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-37896800511699805792010-09-10T04:47:00.000-07:002011-03-04T06:05:01.027-08:00The worlds cutest animalsSo, after the lab meeting today, I was <em>not</em> working (It's a <em>Friday!!</em>) and happened upon the following videos. The contents completely blew my mind. I saw the numbers on that balance and thought, 'What in my world weighs that amount?' I soon realised that a teaspoon of sugar weighs <strong><em>more</em></strong> than this little guy! It's amazing!<br /><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PJnn-wMPU9w?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PJnn-wMPU9w?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Another personal cute-animal-crush is the silky anteater. I am amazed that these little guys have not been snatched up by their millions for the pet trade. Not that I condone that sort of thing at all, but it's amazing that it hasn't happened.<br /><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/35jMKfYdMCw?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/35jMKfYdMCw?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />And, just because I can't get enough of the little critters...<br /><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DzqRwZdT5RU?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DzqRwZdT5RU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-26388117453211838052010-09-03T03:22:00.000-07:002011-03-04T06:05:01.044-08:00Friday is NOT a work day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A while back I posted about how fantastic Fridays were because we got to have doughnuts and coffee. Well since then, Fridays have continued to uphold all that is important and true. However, this Friday has been a little different...</div><br /><br />Our supervisor is away at the moment and, well, when the cats away, the mice...swordfight with broom-sticks!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dytmU-FCtDPibrycY-Oimxn0Qj9k7sFiYAEuYvmOQ_ajUUvZ9Xfp5t1o08RE0zKU1aWa9P7yjNgQBy9F1OPsg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">...or perhaps a little song and dance number?</div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwtLoCX7LRtUDhd7JrP0MVv_Za1uHTR0aOvn72XZuQOLaylq17NmfqgbCfUrqYtu2mK3fMZ7E_mOm5-YewQWw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-63969038793350078942010-08-22T04:19:00.000-07:002011-03-04T06:05:01.062-08:00Time-warp testsAnyone who has ever had the misfortune of having to invigilate a test or exam in their lifetime can attest to this simple truth; it’s not fun. Tests seem to alter the space-time continuum, drawing time out, extending it beyond what is normally possible. It’s much like deadlines, which compress time into smaller and smaller bits, but it works in the opposite way.<br /><br /><br />Anyone who has ever invigilated a test will also tell you that as an invigilator you need something to occupy your mind while doing this job. If you don’t, the time-warping effect of the test is exacerbated tenfold. If you are smart, you take a book to read, or some marking to do from the previous time that you invigilated. But if you are like me, you only realise you are supposed to be invigilating about two minutes before the test starts and thus fail in the forward-planning department and end up stuck, pacing the rows of students with nothing to occupy your time.<br /><br />On Friday, I had to invigilate such a test. Unfortunately, true to form, I completely forgot about it and thus failed to take reading material with me. I had walked briskly across campus, strolling nonchalantly past the students who were waiting outside the test venue (as their lecturer, you must maintain your coolness at all times). Once inside the large building, I realised that the test hadn’t even been set out, never mind ready for the students to write. I also discovered that the class, being in excess of 400 students, would be writing in two consecutive sessions.<br /><br />Once the test was set out, the first batch of students came in to write. Time took on the consistency of syrup and my mind began to strain at the growing emptiness inside. When invigilating, I find that I tend to become pathologically eagre to do mundane tasks; things like collecting unused transcripts, counting the number of absentees, estimating the ages of students, counting how many students pick their noses thinking nobody is watching all become of the utmost importance. Occasionally a student will put up their hand for an extra sheet or to request an escort to the bathroom and your mind rejoices at the opportunity to do something.<br /><br />After the first batch of students wrote and had been released, the second lot filed into their places and began to worry for my mental health. I still had another hour of waiting before my invigilating duties would come to an end. As the second lot started writing, time, having given a brief respite and returning to normal speed, resumed it’s passage at the speed of snot. I too resumed my seemingly critical tasks. It was during one such task, drifting down one of the aisles between desks, that I noticed something odd.<br /><br />The test venue is a large hall, built to resemble an aircraft hanger. Whether this was intentional or merely my own perception, I cannot say. But one wall of the building is made mostly of one-way glass. Pacing inside the hall, I looked through the one-way glass to see a pair of girls outside, apparently in the throws of some sort of synchronised seizure or demonic possession. As I got closer to the window, I realised that the pair were actually practicing their synchronised dance moves, using the reflection off the glass to aid them.<br /><br />While this in itself was amusing, what made it so much worse was the fact that the pair were, I assume, blissfully ignorant to the fact that there were over 200 students sitting inside the room, able to see them. At one stage one of the writing students stopped her test and watched over her shoulder for a good 5 min as the duo gyrated and stamped around outside. I too watched them as they flailed around, occasionally bursting into fits of laughter when one appeared to fail at twitching at the right time.<br /><br />The responsibility of watching the students drew my mind back to the writing masses. Suddenly, a shriek was herd and I turned back to see what had happened. As I turned, it became clear that the pair outside were the noise. As I watched, the pair tore around the parking lot outside apparently being pursued by something small and white. I looked closer and realised that they were being chased around by a Maltese poodle and that the dog was determined to take them down, no matter the cost. One friend broke away, successfully evading the pooch while the second continued her rampage of shrieking. Eventually, she stopped, apparently exhausted from all the running and screaming, and the dog stopped to. The pair caught their breath and then resumed their chase.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the test time was nearly up and I had to tear myself away from this very amusing episode. However, I think this has to have been one of the most exciting test invigilations I’ve ever done! It was awesome!Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-54882572612262909412010-07-08T06:58:00.000-07:002011-03-04T06:05:01.080-08:00Engrish!<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Some pictures from the ever-entertaining China-Mart!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDpDB-iAnquUnTnmD7KbCpWlxNG3zcShN3DdSQL4WGwclQX0BkuGvBCFBAf8nHfbEkWMe-D2oEiILgbw-w5pqEn4DdrM1NhKJG3gChVvoG2Q2RB3oGL5Y7UGLb3-SjrNI1hanKW_uPOVM/s1600/Image0393.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDpDB-iAnquUnTnmD7KbCpWlxNG3zcShN3DdSQL4WGwclQX0BkuGvBCFBAf8nHfbEkWMe-D2oEiILgbw-w5pqEn4DdrM1NhKJG3gChVvoG2Q2RB3oGL5Y7UGLb3-SjrNI1hanKW_uPOVM/s320/Image0393.jpg" /></a>The menus at the restaurant were princess themed...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmBrNZ4rJNmYqG71MsRhFeLshyphenhyphenuk_lF3jj5T6z_ZSNYsw0QNk1uR0aki9mlQ0srNOraEPEAjJ_ULnc_Rtrima4VD9bKsrGUJ852P9Py5lZ14T6gZ1O5VSmFZBDjDIR-D7eTICuTTTW12s/s1600/Image0394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmBrNZ4rJNmYqG71MsRhFeLshyphenhyphenuk_lF3jj5T6z_ZSNYsw0QNk1uR0aki9mlQ0srNOraEPEAjJ_ULnc_Rtrima4VD9bKsrGUJ852P9Py5lZ14T6gZ1O5VSmFZBDjDIR-D7eTICuTTTW12s/s320/Image0394.jpg" /></a>Spiced Chemical Egg! My favourite!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCoiYu5DZZlr2qjV4VpuGyfKzVQ4JDJM0AhPbW_q3meZVud3cqgduB-H-dQHnaUGSSt4zib2pOvNQ6Gg9aCI5tylSHmaIlV83-JJp_O__nMv3Y1uFJvrPc90Df_eHTLAfYe464ItNLl0/s1600/Image0395.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCoiYu5DZZlr2qjV4VpuGyfKzVQ4JDJM0AhPbW_q3meZVud3cqgduB-H-dQHnaUGSSt4zib2pOvNQ6Gg9aCI5tylSHmaIlV83-JJp_O__nMv3Y1uFJvrPc90Df_eHTLAfYe464ItNLl0/s320/Image0395.jpg" /></a>Chicken omlettle! Another personal favourite!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAC1qPjdzlI9ImG_hs7F5ltm1icfVrJu68HZyFUppGfi_1QVj-9hI8e93Bkeu1XP2f8LyfyVQx4ogmo2Sek_c5J3QgOS1emvwlta0jwOH_wSsrHaAV6ZUG7a-79BgAhZIAZVNIV5G5r78/s1600/Image0396.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAC1qPjdzlI9ImG_hs7F5ltm1icfVrJu68HZyFUppGfi_1QVj-9hI8e93Bkeu1XP2f8LyfyVQx4ogmo2Sek_c5J3QgOS1emvwlta0jwOH_wSsrHaAV6ZUG7a-79BgAhZIAZVNIV5G5r78/s320/Image0396.jpg" /></a>Ever need to teach your children the meaning of contradiction? Why not buy them a 'grumpy-baby-with-smiley-face' doll?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOTwUK2-QiCziOMJ1YA40iso6bOSck3Tax0ZK-r4dwvBF2raExRTUJ1xDRjGl4tbjhqUnxNwhfr0gufxL9vFRc4bcbD2-aaeaJCiGlyNiP4U2NNr2j8mgQbg0JxmkE8FmD-cdm2Oc6DGM/s1600/Image0397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOTwUK2-QiCziOMJ1YA40iso6bOSck3Tax0ZK-r4dwvBF2raExRTUJ1xDRjGl4tbjhqUnxNwhfr0gufxL9vFRc4bcbD2-aaeaJCiGlyNiP4U2NNr2j8mgQbg0JxmkE8FmD-cdm2Oc6DGM/s320/Image0397.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZ4-ylfWbmsXEDgKat3ebYSw5rz4syDM8lgaLcRT_vKO5ddOkWTa55nQIE3o5KQS2Bpl0UP-WkTfnK818WH87j-YSnH75rOTVBlY2HJd2klloVfmmif6O3-4MUSso3Ry443l_ppZCbVM/s1600/Image0398.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZ4-ylfWbmsXEDgKat3ebYSw5rz4syDM8lgaLcRT_vKO5ddOkWTa55nQIE3o5KQS2Bpl0UP-WkTfnK818WH87j-YSnH75rOTVBlY2HJd2klloVfmmif6O3-4MUSso3Ry443l_ppZCbVM/s320/Image0398.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyW4JvyCspL0hbgF9fhw2zARSI7snbrn6S5qUbAqay8u-kk4OpgRJR3Xjk3ih-K0ybLWw4MQS1doBlZaRikZpaxJULanij17tSVciJaxcW7uzIjrUdJIjXaOVqSfGfiGaEYLqjA8AY624/s1600/Image0399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyW4JvyCspL0hbgF9fhw2zARSI7snbrn6S5qUbAqay8u-kk4OpgRJR3Xjk3ih-K0ybLWw4MQS1doBlZaRikZpaxJULanij17tSVciJaxcW7uzIjrUdJIjXaOVqSfGfiGaEYLqjA8AY624/s320/Image0399.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1bXwHbb4NMGMflTgPaQcosPlfkX588NkWeRiQxdPwFVMBRLFwYqJLNjcbZIiFdwzJZT5Jor91zQ9c7AoFYfoRJZA7nAZB2QcF-heh7Ae95NSaAikOyPu8dR-6zwnSoaP8tK9nnq1G3M/s1600/Image0400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1bXwHbb4NMGMflTgPaQcosPlfkX588NkWeRiQxdPwFVMBRLFwYqJLNjcbZIiFdwzJZT5Jor91zQ9c7AoFYfoRJZA7nAZB2QcF-heh7Ae95NSaAikOyPu8dR-6zwnSoaP8tK9nnq1G3M/s320/Image0400.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-671119495440146572010-07-07T04:47:00.000-07:002011-03-04T06:05:01.100-08:00My favourite pieces!<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, I was rummaging through my phone and I came across these pictures of my favourite art pieces from the Joburg Art Fair at the Sandton Convention Centre in March. A little late, yes, but still nice...I think anyway...</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggj6Hr9Yews2sL4qiYQuB7QxQirojXpzh8E9QlWvGQBGDCMwb0_omS_FtwqunotIutv9f0eSf8sA3S2-4f9a6PiqFTBHEd2lwRTtLjxO53LSxne3h3-3og63d-FvfXC-tH9SpKYxpkMb0/s1600/Image0357.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggj6Hr9Yews2sL4qiYQuB7QxQirojXpzh8E9QlWvGQBGDCMwb0_omS_FtwqunotIutv9f0eSf8sA3S2-4f9a6PiqFTBHEd2lwRTtLjxO53LSxne3h3-3og63d-FvfXC-tH9SpKYxpkMb0/s320/Image0357.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Dr2rXHD2k5yvoA4RrLjHDD9ky7GEjgTsxnx3JUmmGcxe5N4w4fcBchQXAA_wo3WvgDCUaZkmpyiM3Ck5ncULvgPkdwvPdEsLAgqKctZgVIoEIJas9U25WV3kwyUnMd5dKQcEdie0jh4/s1600/Image0356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Dr2rXHD2k5yvoA4RrLjHDD9ky7GEjgTsxnx3JUmmGcxe5N4w4fcBchQXAA_wo3WvgDCUaZkmpyiM3Ck5ncULvgPkdwvPdEsLAgqKctZgVIoEIJas9U25WV3kwyUnMd5dKQcEdie0jh4/s320/Image0356.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5g_PIsigwomF6Jvfi2mTSz5j-5snEEq1JxTcdwHJZCO3J2aus61O5hVJwDjBVbCIXAu7l_V-ShLN1S_1nTSUtM55Q9X5pvAAPE9i5poit2bWhMuY2v9X1nEUelgDVxoXlox7w-FL9QGY/s1600/Image0355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5g_PIsigwomF6Jvfi2mTSz5j-5snEEq1JxTcdwHJZCO3J2aus61O5hVJwDjBVbCIXAu7l_V-ShLN1S_1nTSUtM55Q9X5pvAAPE9i5poit2bWhMuY2v9X1nEUelgDVxoXlox7w-FL9QGY/s320/Image0355.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrfj7s307V6Z0WjRVMZ4T7s-gWrS7KZ1Ze7Sf-Ze58EgG6OtWGeaOtrjeTEArQTDgsCPEhfF1g0ipNOqebKbiOxDLZ_3FTFk1oVTCIju3xHcrmnYuSh928B58yrBnhzfCtzY6ScQUeolA/s1600/Image0354.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrfj7s307V6Z0WjRVMZ4T7s-gWrS7KZ1Ze7Sf-Ze58EgG6OtWGeaOtrjeTEArQTDgsCPEhfF1g0ipNOqebKbiOxDLZ_3FTFk1oVTCIju3xHcrmnYuSh928B58yrBnhzfCtzY6ScQUeolA/s320/Image0354.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp6QlxtD5L-Le_y9eZOTYmdu2jAexftG19CC-Nbre8sUZPICAhbHf1Cc9X418vyNfYNUQxOd52mNb0uUlvWPOzM8bU1vuW9HW9qzQ1mhWXfUawjL0b6QB65N1g-1n7f3mmZUp3ZpDa1-g/s1600/Image0353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp6QlxtD5L-Le_y9eZOTYmdu2jAexftG19CC-Nbre8sUZPICAhbHf1Cc9X418vyNfYNUQxOd52mNb0uUlvWPOzM8bU1vuW9HW9qzQ1mhWXfUawjL0b6QB65N1g-1n7f3mmZUp3ZpDa1-g/s320/Image0353.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIhiKT-wCRTv4FUZM9ZLD4_-vDxM26cHaKkmyhAcDSWusp732hsE1OZ9s_sRpgI0HdLajf1dm_fY2VF-BtSOcGXeRW1NfdSXMQ7r3M6Iwr91VuPtDrkXT1aWZOqi0yAUAfHiykzbMzYnk/s1600/Image0352.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIhiKT-wCRTv4FUZM9ZLD4_-vDxM26cHaKkmyhAcDSWusp732hsE1OZ9s_sRpgI0HdLajf1dm_fY2VF-BtSOcGXeRW1NfdSXMQ7r3M6Iwr91VuPtDrkXT1aWZOqi0yAUAfHiykzbMzYnk/s320/Image0352.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnqBJxUT4n10w8IacBql5Pa0doZBMciZSiBlzD71YY4U1q6trlDMKZfJkkhokKFKaVffPyKiehAN_CxApuDFfqiL0uU4zHHwiw57V4bo4u8eTUPJsH-gMah8KO8xE-4QTBCFvt682S5kI/s1600/Image0351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnqBJxUT4n10w8IacBql5Pa0doZBMciZSiBlzD71YY4U1q6trlDMKZfJkkhokKFKaVffPyKiehAN_CxApuDFfqiL0uU4zHHwiw57V4bo4u8eTUPJsH-gMah8KO8xE-4QTBCFvt682S5kI/s320/Image0351.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxqpU0CWVjfdRoqSm-dJJqVErNg91M2V25PWlirWx09-PvCDjsp1I_yLsXUxDkSymKKYrbP7PZO3pkvEdTHhQs8RYMjfopjYM08dmKfYTn_lJzdLqgcFtbWfe8VmfjZimEzwb1gQGUVXA/s1600/Image0350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxqpU0CWVjfdRoqSm-dJJqVErNg91M2V25PWlirWx09-PvCDjsp1I_yLsXUxDkSymKKYrbP7PZO3pkvEdTHhQs8RYMjfopjYM08dmKfYTn_lJzdLqgcFtbWfe8VmfjZimEzwb1gQGUVXA/s320/Image0350.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqayyZRDI9nte-gNQvcf6lsLZgEMplrBR42V3rfEIGNhKmsO_VAp-Iw5gcJxh5KCNQdE6E69WQ2QBoHkKPhyViCAfiEtYV0diCxmFKG4wCZGjBrPN8OKYe_HsCTJMhtfE6GXkRTOZlzrA/s1600/Image0349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqayyZRDI9nte-gNQvcf6lsLZgEMplrBR42V3rfEIGNhKmsO_VAp-Iw5gcJxh5KCNQdE6E69WQ2QBoHkKPhyViCAfiEtYV0diCxmFKG4wCZGjBrPN8OKYe_HsCTJMhtfE6GXkRTOZlzrA/s320/Image0349.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9M1PQSjRx1Keo3_HxjImHzBFej2oycMfv4_i120yl7FJLaD1-Qv8sov2EoQ01YPx2_sjene6LBziCzlzVPsQ6h7Hc3wkVeFt1Hxp7APAIjmmIY7Jt5IDbxoCzyt24ygls-tVcRCnWOaw/s1600/Image0348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9M1PQSjRx1Keo3_HxjImHzBFej2oycMfv4_i120yl7FJLaD1-Qv8sov2EoQ01YPx2_sjene6LBziCzlzVPsQ6h7Hc3wkVeFt1Hxp7APAIjmmIY7Jt5IDbxoCzyt24ygls-tVcRCnWOaw/s320/Image0348.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijaPESQo5Nb3j_ar32mmej570mqxfRD3rHbJK3ezYIJ5GO6O9bvEF6ISns1yl-A5zdNRn_ir51HF87sRWpAGBqykgXhRa4HoLreMx-vteYY9vsvOxT5Z7MraBjvLrZ5N6tNQNqCg_KIBc/s1600/Image0347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijaPESQo5Nb3j_ar32mmej570mqxfRD3rHbJK3ezYIJ5GO6O9bvEF6ISns1yl-A5zdNRn_ir51HF87sRWpAGBqykgXhRa4HoLreMx-vteYY9vsvOxT5Z7MraBjvLrZ5N6tNQNqCg_KIBc/s320/Image0347.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu4CKL3zm_2_nJRKpxmpI6sw06lGEMcJD9Tmx2N0SeBW0kJxfAgy7KU97MlGamLohNtqnnh62_rUBxtzVqbnOeL-wxpAAdM6LQGPea_9ARxD6eQ9W64z-i0qshFQcYN9_tO9u9uvF6hpE/s1600/Image0346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu4CKL3zm_2_nJRKpxmpI6sw06lGEMcJD9Tmx2N0SeBW0kJxfAgy7KU97MlGamLohNtqnnh62_rUBxtzVqbnOeL-wxpAAdM6LQGPea_9ARxD6eQ9W64z-i0qshFQcYN9_tO9u9uvF6hpE/s320/Image0346.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmYH1q8dfF4WX4M0LuR8znrcAeWdDefcF3pw7OOqkNr-yjt7ubj2wUJ_PR71ROJPtgdPpT59GqcxUCimc1ohArIIGyd6kNO8xKj7vUwjQS4ei76t6gcwpVlS4GrCNR7m1Uwiu9nYtfHs/s1600/Image0345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmYH1q8dfF4WX4M0LuR8znrcAeWdDefcF3pw7OOqkNr-yjt7ubj2wUJ_PR71ROJPtgdPpT59GqcxUCimc1ohArIIGyd6kNO8xKj7vUwjQS4ei76t6gcwpVlS4GrCNR7m1Uwiu9nYtfHs/s320/Image0345.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvtDt1SD0TFZZnrCbRqkZVDF1UZ2BO6Dz_fuIQRlq6HN-Fdj-ez36lrBlnUKB73jHwNP1aqep7RfymvCzOLPnLbBBwMz4datkCahcZlrKPJVHGANxcUeNq3bno5Dv14c5VKTjQDiAOApA/s1600/Image0344.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvtDt1SD0TFZZnrCbRqkZVDF1UZ2BO6Dz_fuIQRlq6HN-Fdj-ez36lrBlnUKB73jHwNP1aqep7RfymvCzOLPnLbBBwMz4datkCahcZlrKPJVHGANxcUeNq3bno5Dv14c5VKTjQDiAOApA/s320/Image0344.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHEt0Mp_Mm79Iz-SySnZn3J4SYrD1oAgS7AvcmUaMCph3QU7BT3TxfbQ_jkpmdK5ne7R5ypbyVQd0LRLiE2rWf8vIOHtgfrO1P94meIl_NVmoXb-uFFXfmgS1XwunGtUz8wBWijg9vCU/s1600/Image0343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHEt0Mp_Mm79Iz-SySnZn3J4SYrD1oAgS7AvcmUaMCph3QU7BT3TxfbQ_jkpmdK5ne7R5ypbyVQd0LRLiE2rWf8vIOHtgfrO1P94meIl_NVmoXb-uFFXfmgS1XwunGtUz8wBWijg9vCU/s320/Image0343.jpg" /></a></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-65245128630853133582010-06-29T05:27:00.000-07:002011-03-04T06:05:01.117-08:00...all we wanted was some milk!As occasionally happens when one is a professional student, one becomes overwhelmed by the sheer amount of procrastination that one undertakes and is forced to take a step outside, away from all the work and non-working, to clear ones head. I was offered the opportunity to do so today when Leia, discovering that we were out of milk, decided that she was going to go and walk to the shops to buy some. She too was procrastinating and thus, it was better for both parties involved to just take that step and leave the lab...<br /><br />We walked down to the shops of the Matrix (our student centre where purveyors of everything sweet and greasy ply their trade; if I ever get heart disease, I'll be blaming it on the Matrix...). We walked into the 7/11, deep in meaningless conversation about the perils of the student life, or something to that effect. As we approached the wall of glass doors that are the fridges, we discovered to our horror that there was a large empty space where the milk usually took residence.<br /><br />In utter disbelief, Leia shuffled from door to door, examining the contents of each fridge, in the vein hope of finding that one carton that somehow went unnoticed by previous shoppers. Unfortunately it was not to be.<br /><br />Conceding defeat, she announced that they had no milk and together we forlornly left the store.<br /><br />BUT WAIT! There is also the Cafe Fino in Senate House! Perhaps they might have [ridiculously overpriced] milk!<br /><br />With the hope of this revelation in our hearts, we began to trek up the hill to Senate House. We arrived through on of the side entrances and continued down the 'Disability Unit' corridor. Just as we were reaching the end of the corridor, the person who had been walking in the opposite direction to us stopped and spoke to us.<br /><br />She looked Mediterranean, about 50+ years of age and wore an ochre/orange jacket. Her hair was died an impossible blond and had the fatigued look of a little too much time at the office. She started by asking us if there was an exit that took her to the traffic lights in the direction that we had come. A little confused as to what she was asking I responded with silent blinking.<br /><br />Leia, a little more on the ball than I, requested clarification. It turned out that the woman worked in the block north of the university and had come in to pay something but had somehow gotten lost on campus. She had found the financial office but now needed to return to her car which she had parked near a set of traffic lights on campus.<br /><br />'Oh...!' I recounted internally. I proceeded to offer her a detailed description of a route that would take her directly to the traffic lights she sought. The route was not complicated; literally just walk in one direction, in a straight line until you reach the road. Then turn right, following the road down the hill. <em>Et viola!</em><br /><em></em><br />Clearly uncertain, the woman thanked us and proceeded to walk the suggested route, muttering something about how despite her navigational skills she had other redeeming features. Feeling that the incident had concluded, Leia and I resumed our conversation.<br /><br />A few words into the chat, we were again accosted by the lost woman. This time in a rather determined tone, she asked if there wasn't an alternative route through one of the passages to her left. A little perplexed, we assured her that the route we had suggested was the most direct and simple route. Thanking us again, she resumed her waddle toward the street.<br /><br />We entered the store, found the milk and payed for it, all the while chuckling and muttering about the crazy woman who seemed convinced that she knew where to go, in spite of demanding directions from complete strangers. As we left the store, we walked toward the building exit and stopped dead in our tracks...<br /><br />There, waddling between buildings was the crazy woman! She apparently had walked the route we had suggested just enough to seem like she hadn't <em>completely</em> disregarded our advice outright and then had gone with her gut...the <strong>wrong</strong> way. Neither of us wanting a repeat encounter, we decided that it was best for all involved that we run in the opposite direction, giggling with milk in hand...Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-8202071486784506822010-05-18T01:51:00.000-07:002011-03-04T06:05:01.137-08:00Pessimism and the W.C.No, not <em>that</em> W.C. ! The <em>World Cup</em> of course!<br /><br />The W.C. What can I say...Firstly, I sincerely hope that they never get to host it in this country again for as long as I live! I know, I know...I'm unpatriotic and un-South African...blah blah blah. But there are some really big reasons why I'm anti-W.C. at the moment.<br /><br />Numero uno: It's been really irritating because absolutely everything now is about the world cup! Just the other day, my uncle went to the licensing department to try and get his car re-licensed and the place was closed, only to open an hour later. The reason? The staff were being taught the official <span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><em>world cup dance </em></strong></span><span style="font-size:85%;">(it's called the <em>diski</em> dance for those who need to know; what <em>diski</em> has to do with soccer, I have no freaking clue...)</span>! We have a world cup dance?! I mean really! Can't the money that was spent on hiring a Fifa-approved choreographer have been put to better use?! But thank God that now, should some misguided tourist waft into the licensing department and ask for the staff to break into dance, they will be able to deliver without hesitation! Now if only they could process their forms with that kind of efficiency...<br /><br />Secondly, our country has been inundated with billions of flags. There are flags on everything! People have flags on their cars, houses, children...you name it, it's done! Actually, the children part, I have yet to come across, but I am fairly certain there are a few branded kiddies out there, unaware that they are punting their parent's favourite team. None the less, the flags are a bit much! They have even invented side-mirror socks which allow you to display the flag of your choice on your side mirrors! To give you an idea of how bad it is, several of the houses in our area now display little plastic flags all along their walls; not just of one country,mind you! They display the flags of every team that will be playing! So it's not even about supporting a team!<br /><br />Once again, the futility of displaying all the flags like this doesn't seem to have dawned on most of the populous. In my opinion, foreigners are not likely to adorn their exorbitantly priced rental vehicles with the flags of their homes so the competition for best soccer supported is a little unfairly weighted toward the SA guys. They are also unlikely to have difficulty in identifying South African drivers on the roads, certainly not up here in Joburg. Just look out for the ones who are <em>aiming</em> at the other cars...that's us! So the need for South Africans to plaster flags over everything is completely unfounded...<br /><br />Just the other day, I was on my way in to Wits on the highway when I saw, lying dirty and damaged in the freshly cut grass of the middle island, one of those horrid car flags which had obviously snapped off it's host car as they zoomed down the freeway. I felt so good to see it, which gives you some idea of just how sick I am of the stupid flags...<br /><br />Thirdly, and most importantly, Fifa has demanded that for the duration of the world cup, all street vendors, hawkers and street salesmen are to be rounded up and arrested if they are caught selling their wares on the streets of the host cities! So effectively for two months, these people who make a meagre living on a good day, are to be deprived of their income! Not to mention that Fifa should be paying them compensation for this, but also, the hawkers are such a typically South African thing and by removing them they are also detracting from the full South African experience of visitors!<br /><br />Other than that, we're all very excited!<br /><br />Apparently some soccer fundi says that Bafana will be at an advantage because of the fact that they are used to playing with the vuvuzelas and rowdy crowds of South African Soccer. So perhaps we do stand a chance after all!Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-4251796473891395362010-05-13T06:33:00.000-07:002011-03-04T06:05:01.154-08:00Horrors! I've not posted in over two months! What has become of me!<br /><br />Life just kinda caught up with me I guess. Things have been pretty hectic and as things stand at the moment, I'm in a rut...which is why I thought I should post some pictures of the...interesting...things I have spotted while out shopping lately. Enjoy!<br /><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9p0x0JjznRJTHfUvJY-qlaelmS41iuZxwicLHfe9Wt84VLjhfCnbZlKMHB_zWgjuMxB1hZwi8COzac2eOmlOrjSI0W4uIYJn7iLo6IFtb4zWx2TxG7cKvZ7_ag61by81pW7C_tSPM4Ag/s1600/Image0364.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470750811289402674" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9p0x0JjznRJTHfUvJY-qlaelmS41iuZxwicLHfe9Wt84VLjhfCnbZlKMHB_zWgjuMxB1hZwi8COzac2eOmlOrjSI0W4uIYJn7iLo6IFtb4zWx2TxG7cKvZ7_ag61by81pW7C_tSPM4Ag/s320/Image0364.jpg" /></a> What's wrong with this picture...?<br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQhDgMbKR7lAHrDfqn0VoOLyXo5P7ceRei4zqI0PcXPkPEP7eBlz4-6vGbTHiyvhJJ8da0Xz-a_c8wP3glmOt1H6-YqL-2H7OLMddDt8adbUIOfgf2ZUVShPFOsJtAFq5jDKVkwnljq4/s1600/Image0363.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470750797731599698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQhDgMbKR7lAHrDfqn0VoOLyXo5P7ceRei4zqI0PcXPkPEP7eBlz4-6vGbTHiyvhJJ8da0Xz-a_c8wP3glmOt1H6-YqL-2H7OLMddDt8adbUIOfgf2ZUVShPFOsJtAFq5jDKVkwnljq4/s320/Image0363.jpg" /></a> They knew there was a double letter in there somewhere! <em>Which</em> one it was...merely a technicality!<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZ4j7KirYMYukoLbAzYwUw-ZNPKeI36T-yjHYRit7IGx-Thka7eSGgm1-noTa8duvqGOhkn-7L6pEOBCHUu2ehkIu05fDqksPfCeOXJFR_-guo4ct_ODtQoRGIQTag68acwzfuQAflho/s1600/Image0241.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470750142072335410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZ4j7KirYMYukoLbAzYwUw-ZNPKeI36T-yjHYRit7IGx-Thka7eSGgm1-noTa8duvqGOhkn-7L6pEOBCHUu2ehkIu05fDqksPfCeOXJFR_-guo4ct_ODtQoRGIQTag68acwzfuQAflho/s320/Image0241.jpg" /></a> Anyone looking for a 1/4 of a rabbit? I know where to go!<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8sqeFn-3kS73bk5LTN61lPNSM6Un7d_dyfEVLTUZdB00E47YtSHnFojYCFPQE5qietksVZrr7gknc20zs9yPibk2Lgoy4MW2l15251CRoidS7GAArDYWnsNZKy3EHTtXD70F-5EWJTc/s1600/Image0239.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470750129081755506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8sqeFn-3kS73bk5LTN61lPNSM6Un7d_dyfEVLTUZdB00E47YtSHnFojYCFPQE5qietksVZrr7gknc20zs9yPibk2Lgoy4MW2l15251CRoidS7GAArDYWnsNZKy3EHTtXD70F-5EWJTc/s320/Image0239.jpg" /></a> Oddly enough, not bought in a sex shop! Thailand actually!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikPMMePF7hmH0R1mHAG4ZB_yUYK9gPF5U4TVSiZTLpQtBT99TY1_7Sacs9Wtm9n5nAhdKtZFgfqRDrOAJDio-VyCwt_zQktoC0cZjq8X85meS8LM5X_RjQr4p5mTOy6VXPBtvSQPiibcI/s1600/Image0235.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470750114825243250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikPMMePF7hmH0R1mHAG4ZB_yUYK9gPF5U4TVSiZTLpQtBT99TY1_7Sacs9Wtm9n5nAhdKtZFgfqRDrOAJDio-VyCwt_zQktoC0cZjq8X85meS8LM5X_RjQr4p5mTOy6VXPBtvSQPiibcI/s320/Image0235.jpg" /></a> You'd think that <em>someone</em> must have picked up on the double-entendre here <em>before</em> they printed the packaging...<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVryW2Cdvg0JJ4Dc_4sY1CTTLTvdupWrOJbMAQIyFpSunCDlkI7__18W3_nRMfH_MpjKXkHRZfB9DqV8uT_y0i3OoDeNXcHZtJKIEFWgdA9c4r9LC7XkoYRf23izaiItjmaNJ8nkskoHw/s1600/Image0234.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470750104676729394" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVryW2Cdvg0JJ4Dc_4sY1CTTLTvdupWrOJbMAQIyFpSunCDlkI7__18W3_nRMfH_MpjKXkHRZfB9DqV8uT_y0i3OoDeNXcHZtJKIEFWgdA9c4r9LC7XkoYRf23izaiItjmaNJ8nkskoHw/s320/Image0234.jpg" /></a> Becasue Kate Moss and the History of Science have <em>SO</em> much in common...<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqtixUnI309XRg9GVLlEB8GP03UzRC5jYjUn8ydbJ5ZE0srnLHTBM0YGpOFDgwBfrWZqImAVZPGwCwtleTHjf62gv6xoi3F7XHpYxcdurVXLZDnDP2MWVMZCbu0l2PDQ_-me3tcQVTeVs/s1600/Albaik.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470750093173041026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqtixUnI309XRg9GVLlEB8GP03UzRC5jYjUn8ydbJ5ZE0srnLHTBM0YGpOFDgwBfrWZqImAVZPGwCwtleTHjf62gv6xoi3F7XHpYxcdurVXLZDnDP2MWVMZCbu0l2PDQ_-me3tcQVTeVs/s320/Albaik.jpg" /></a> Spelling isn't their strong point, is it? But at least we know their food is the 'nuggest' of them all!</div></div></div></div></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882052541595406943.post-6304696016682729132010-02-09T07:40:00.000-08:002011-03-04T06:05:01.178-08:00Food of the Gods/DevilNow that I have neglected my blog for a good month or so, I feel that I should write at least <em>ONE</em> post for February. For my fans, alas, I will probably be posting rarely this year as I have a lot of work to do for my PhD (HOORAY!!!) and so I probably won't have the time or inspiration to write. Unless you want to learn about how chimpanzees use space...<br /><br />Following a post by <a href="http://theexploringmouse.blogspot.com/">Leia</a>, I have been thinking about the whole chocolate-is-a-substitute-for-sex thing. And, following a rather fruitless rummage through a text book on biological psychology (What kind of <strong>decent</strong> text book on psychology doesn't have a section on chocolate?! I mean <em>really</em>...! <insert>), I turned to the faithful Internet for the knowledge which I shall present to you here.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqFzKvK1m5TyxA29pRbf01StB4i8ncjCn86ju8LbomCcMfHx4DxjXcBSlaH_lscNRK7spixmhIPdjXAHBiXl14Qy6tv_zAQ_y90b2kC5x0pPKM_xfHDNRLJ-obvBm25i6ZvuhwDvIAeM/s1600-h/melting_chocolate.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 170px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 250px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436281992557614706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqFzKvK1m5TyxA29pRbf01StB4i8ncjCn86ju8LbomCcMfHx4DxjXcBSlaH_lscNRK7spixmhIPdjXAHBiXl14Qy6tv_zAQ_y90b2kC5x0pPKM_xfHDNRLJ-obvBm25i6ZvuhwDvIAeM/s320/melting_chocolate.jpg" /></a><br /><br />So Leia argued that she was not one to fit the stereotype of chocolate substituting sex. She then went on to describe how she ate chocolate all the time, so it couldn't possibly be related to her libido. As she put it, she ate chocolate whenever she felt, 'tired, frustrated, lonely, etc.'<br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbOA2iBo0y9dKLWGomEw5j0FzSdzS3LW0R0QijxNwavjkmOHuHJ8V3t3y4RESHc1rJDz_sZknUQTy2qDujYvcS6MaDCUzHhs8XM9UnupQEqiXZSFVp2IcWJmcIi62qijotHA1ii67JK8/s1600-h/Cocoa+beans.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436281984594111106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbOA2iBo0y9dKLWGomEw5j0FzSdzS3LW0R0QijxNwavjkmOHuHJ8V3t3y4RESHc1rJDz_sZknUQTy2qDujYvcS6MaDCUzHhs8XM9UnupQEqiXZSFVp2IcWJmcIi62qijotHA1ii67JK8/s320/Cocoa+beans.jpg" /></a><br /><br />While the motivation for eating the heavenly gifts of the cocoa plant may not be sexual, it is very interesting to look at the hormones that are released when one eats chocolate. First up, <span style="font-size:180%;">ENDORPHINS</span>!<br /><br />These are the bodies natural pain killers. According to <a href="http://www.causeof.org/endorphins.htm#Causes">these guys </a>(they have references, so I am inclined to believe them) endorphins are produced by our body in a variety of circumstances, including pain experience, eating spicy foods, overexposure to light (I'm assuming that refers to sunburn...?), exercise, laughter, crying, stress, acupuncture, shower massagers, calming music, tickling, sex, stimulating the erogenous zones and eating sweet foods, including...drum roll please...chocolate! Interestingly, scalp massage made it's way in there too. That explains why some girls love having their hair washed so much...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7t8Sg1P9y7yup97VhnB-vtGeYfGjWPm5ALqfWs5kcEJvmhrir44ujlcWuHCniIS7ueigo6sIpCXGRt9x1jLGnj2lM5kxSYcjYItBhuf1dGT07x8Wyya2beLX0Np1-cjhHYEh1og-GCqM/s1600-h/chocolate3-2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 207px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436283013311255010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7t8Sg1P9y7yup97VhnB-vtGeYfGjWPm5ALqfWs5kcEJvmhrir44ujlcWuHCniIS7ueigo6sIpCXGRt9x1jLGnj2lM5kxSYcjYItBhuf1dGT07x8Wyya2beLX0Np1-cjhHYEh1og-GCqM/s320/chocolate3-2.jpg" /></a><br />Another important chemical is <span style="font-size:180%;"><em><strong>Phenylethylamine</strong></em></span>. There's an obligatory quiz on all the chemical names at the end of this post...I think I'll just call it 'P' for simplicity's sake. This chemical is naturally found in the brain and is associated with increasing activity in the pleasure centres of the brain by causing the release of <span style="font-size:180%;">dopamine</span> (the happy chemical). This is also produced in relatively high levels during orgasm. They have a strong influence on our mood when found in the brain. However, according to <a href="http://www.chocolate-chemistry.com/phenylethylamine.php">these people</a>, some suggest that chemicals such as P are metabolised long before they get near the brain when taken in through chocolate. It's also found in a number of other foods, including beer, wine and some cheeses.</div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85vT9XiOqwbkxvJLfTYXMTRod_ZyQNTzCmBY1zhlNA1ZkKqeMbXw9hQQ7fOZPKBai5R2alZwSqPgkViANicT6Ko5bCUi8qAfbJlUgS0Ap2JeDTZHHJtWz-Fc_uUsvlxcvSSI5JmCEOEM/s1600-h/index_chocolate.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436283009415202626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85vT9XiOqwbkxvJLfTYXMTRod_ZyQNTzCmBY1zhlNA1ZkKqeMbXw9hQQ7fOZPKBai5R2alZwSqPgkViANicT6Ko5bCUi8qAfbJlUgS0Ap2JeDTZHHJtWz-Fc_uUsvlxcvSSI5JmCEOEM/s320/index_chocolate.gif" /></a> <div></div><div>Interestingly, chocolate also contains <span style="font-size:180%;">cannabinoids</span>, similar chemicals to those found in weed. So, they have the effect of making one feel happy. However, one would have to consume ridiculous quantities of chocolate to get high. The cannabinoids in it are not nearly as strong as those found in cannabis. According to this abstract, some lawyer actually tried this once as a <a href="http://www.chocolate.org/chocdefence.html">defence against his client dealing and using Mary-Jane</a>. Sadly for him, his defence was shot down in flames...</div><br />A well known chemical in chocolate is the <span style="font-size:180%;">caffeine</span> and similar non-caffeine chemicals. I'm not going to say any more apart from the fact that the chemicals occur in very low quantities in chocolate when compared to coffee. <a href="http://www.chocolate-chemistry.com/caffeine.php">Here </a>they claim that 50g of dark chocolate still contains less caffeine than 150ml of tea. Food for thought and whatnot...<br /><br />So, while the sex-chocolate link isn't exactly gospel, you can still see that chocolate has come very interesting effects on the brain. On the plus side, it also tastes good!</div><div></div><div><span style="font-size:78%;">PS. Picture credits; </span><a href="http://www.chocolatechunks.com/melting-chocolate/"><span style="font-size:78%;">Here</span></a><span style="font-size:78%;">, </span><a href="http://www.nutritiondietshealth.com/diet/cocoa-for-better-brain-blood-flow/"><span style="font-size:78%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:78%;">, </span><a href="http://www.experiencechocolate.com/"><span style="font-size:78%;">here </span></a><span style="font-size:78%;">and </span><a href="http://nerdgirltalking.wordpress.com/2008/09/"><span style="font-size:78%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:78%;">.</span></div></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408021370464130759noreply@blogger.com5