Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Can we start with the real cricket now, please?

After a few complaints about a post in bad taste yesterday, it was
decided to put up an objective comment on the Caribbean beach
tournament. Firstly, SABC3 have taken us up the tradesman's without
KY, all non-SA super 8 games are delayed broadcast. So they given us
crud like Scotland vs Holland live, but today's Windies/Aussies match
starts at 11pm. Expect a tired workforce in the next three weeks.

Now there's doom and gloom around the result of us losing to the
Aussies on Saturday. I didn't see much of the game as I was at a
bachelor's week-end in Eland's Bay(no report - what happen's on tour,
stays on tour). Yes they do have eskom power and dstv at the hotel,
but after 10 hours of solid boozing the result is almost all that I'm
remembering now. The good news is that we're still #1 baby, and if we
beat Sri Lanka on Wed, then we get a truckload of cash from LG before
the April 1 cut-off. The simple point is that Saturdays result is
inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. The way that game
swung, I don't think we can discount any Karachi involvement either,
'retired hurt'/'skilpad kallis'? tu and tu equals four.

With no Pakis/Hindus the road to the final is all the easier. There's
four crunch games in the super 8, and we only need to win three to
guarantee a spot in the semis. Then we're just two games away from
doing the job.
Here's my selection for Super 8 log standings.
<strong>Aus</strong> (looking good)
<strong>Sri Lanka</strong>/SA (to be decided on run rate)
<strong>SA</strong>/Sri Lanka
<strong>NZ</strong>/Windies (to be decided on run rate)
<strong>Windies</strong>/NZ (home team never excels at WC)
<strong>England</strong> (they're just crap)
<strong>Bangers</strong> (party's over)
<strong>Ireland</strong> (no O'Driscoll, no more magic)

It's pretty hard to chart with a few upsets along the way and some
serious chances of rain affected results. But the top 3 are decided,
it's a bun fight for number 4. The games likely to topple this pack of
cards are:
SA vs SL – 28 Mar
NZ vs WI – 29 Mar
WI vs SA – 10 Apr
SL vs Aus - 16 Apr
Aus vs NZ - 20 Apr

The man to watch with the ball is Muralitharan, the batsmen who might
get up on the right side of bed are Gayle and Flintoff. Forget about
KP, anyone who brings out a biography after playing only 6 test
matches is a tool.

Just don't follow Dangerous Dave's betting advice…he put money on
Andre Nel to be top wicket taker, all he's had so far is share a few
puffs of Hersch's jay with Loots.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Rise and Shine and Rock

I don't get round to listening to much radio these days, Radio Five
cut me off their target market a few years back and started playing
Hop Hip incessantly between all the ads. I only live 5 minutes from
work, and there actually isn't even one in my car (scared of the
gangsters, so I just have an amp and six by nines under the seat – the
best Sansui system you can get from Hifi Corp for under two hundred
bucks, all powered by Ipod).

I've been an advocate of Radio 2000 for a while now, mainly because
they normally have DJ Pentium shuffling a very diverse and advertless
playlist whenever there isn't any sport on. They've started a
breakfast program – 'Moe G's Big Breakfast', and it rocks! He might
possibly be Ali's brutha and I think he's ex 5FM too, but seems to
have full control over his music choice. Just picture my stereo
switching on with Alice Cooper's Poison or me playing air guitar in
the shower to ACDC's Thunderstruck. What a great way to start the day,
I do feel a little bit bad about not punting Nic's KFM breakfast, but
he's running out of time to deliver Minki on my doorstep, and I'm sure
you knew about it anyway.

Now that India and Pakistan are on their way home, speculation is rife
as to what the Mumbai and Karachi bookies are offering bets on. The
latest spreads on Bob's killer are:
Match Fixing mafia: 2 -1
Inzi: 9-2
Shoaib Akhtar: 9-2
Darrel Hair: 6-1
Hansie Cronje's brother: 12-1
Diabetes/Heart Attack: 15-1
Mrs Brown with the candlestick: 200-1

Get your bets in soon, when the videotapes come out on YouTube the
odds will shorten rapidly

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Steve’s hot selections for the weekend

Steve’s hot selections for the weekend

Well now, snailman has got his act together and has organized the first ever UCT Boardsailing regatta (in living memory, anyway). Note that I said Boardsailing and not Windsurfing, it’s a manufacturers/inventors brand name which can’t be used for the generic….kinda like Hoover/vacuum cleaner. That’s the useless fact for the day; I’ll stop confusing you in the future. He’s even got some sponsorship from one of the local board/kite shops, Ocean Spirit, mainly because he’s there every second day spending his research grant on platinum series product. Anyway, it’s a Super X(that’s super-cross) event which is all rather interesting. The pros race this circuit where they all start from the beach, head round a buoy, have to perform a compulsory trick (like a loop-the-loop), then jump over this huge inflatable pool noodle. Yes this is all done on a windsurfer. Since no-one in the area can do any tricks (going ‘nohands’ doesn’t count, apparently), there’s just a few pool-noodles to jump, and about 6 gybes(turns) thrown in. Should be good fun to watch (they’ve built a beach bar, with Super cheap beer), all kicks in at UCTYC, the best place to be in the Cape Flats. More info here.

That’s all fun and games, but for those who can’t windsurf or have seen the weather report that clearly predicts that there won’t be any wind this Saturday (which makes getting a windsurfer over a pool noodle a tad harder), can I suggest some March Madness? With this year’s focus moving onto adventure sports I’ve signed up with the lunatic fringe at WPASS (pronounced ‘whipass’). They run four events/adventure races a year and the first one is this Saturday. It’s in pairs, involves a fairly long hike from Constantia greenbelt to Lakeside via the mast, and then a bit of a paddle around Sandvlei. This is kinda missing the point by giving the rough route away, but at least you’ll know what you’re in for. Forget the big events with massive sponsorship, these little well-run ones are much more fun, and is rather cheap too. WPASS

It’s not often we have royalty in the Beautiful Cape, so this Sunday is very special. In the world of the televangelists, Benny Hinn is the King MacDaddy Triple Cheese. He makes our very own Pastor Ray MacCauley look like a Sunday School Betty. He’s the most eloquent, articulate, flambuoyant, persuasive and suave bastard you will ever lay your eyes on. His following is huge Massive and he’s courted controversy being the focus of plenty Sixty Minute type investigations. He also performs healing sessions during services, Minister of Health take note. Of course he’s stinking rich, but is oddly enough not afraid to show it off, and is well known for going on Miracle Crusades to India with an entourage to rival 50cent all staying in 5 star plus. I’d just love to hear him boom out “Praise the Lord” over the Goodhope Centre PA. Kick off is 2pm.

Unfortunately I’ll be missing it all, as I have top secret work to fulfill - I’m seriously looking into the whole ACME clone package.

Monday, March 19, 2007

i d'one like cricket

I dohn laaik crickeet, I luv it!

Well well, CWC 2007 is now firmly getting underaway. Yes, it's a six
week marathon but the initial claims of the qualifiers being a waste
of time have already been substantiated with Pakistan being booted out
after only two games. There's hollywood in the tale of saffers and
ozzies in green comfortably beating the bearded ones in green, on st
patties, the day of green. Go Andre Botha, you beauty!

To get in the spirit of things, we took a trip to Newlands on Friday
night for the Pro20 semifinal. It was all there - sixes, catches,
hotties, mexican waves and it came down to the very last ball. The
game see-sawed with us getting them out cheap, racing ahead,
collapsing to 60/5, rebuilding with a few sixes, only to lose 2
wickets in the final over. Alan Dawson, go you good thing, 2 runs to
long on by the number 10. The definite highlight was 'small field' and
'the philanderer" carving some huge sixes to get us back in it. Spare
a thought for Benji from my res at varsity, run out without facing a
ball!

Of course not many people actually watch the cricket, and it was no
disappointment here. We ended up next a bunch of clutchplates who were
getting well stuck into their contraband (using the t&t method of
brandy in domes), even dopping out of hardhats.

I'll be glued to SABC3, good thing it fits into my work schedule, get
used to some midnight (run)feasts, and we're all looking forward to SA
vs Oz on Sat 24 march

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Argeeeeeees – longest day ever!

If you ride bikes, and people know you ride bikes, then the stupid damn index of how good a bike rider you are is your Argus time. This only applies to the four wheelers who actually don't realise that the Argus is a piece of piss in group E with Ultegra as your best friend, and a mammoth undertaking from group OF on a mountain bike with gumboots instead of slicks. Well I decided to do the worst Argus time possible, and in that respect did pretty damn well!

I of course cycled with Craig “Pharmboy” Sterling for our friends at Izivunguvungu in Simonstown. The rub is that Craig had a mahassive flag and I had a total sh1tter bike from House and Home...throw on a banging sound system and it came to a behemothly 22kgs! Oh yes we had lifejackets and full sailing gear on too!


As usual I was preparing a bike the night before the Argus, only this time it involved getting my 6x9's and amp out of the bakkie and onto the new rack at the back of my Shiny Raleigh E100. How long will a 7Ah motorbike battery last, when you crank your ipod through the amp?!!


Well the start was fun, at the back with a 86year old, normally after “everybody say hopla” they play some sh1tty tune..this time I chose to ride out on Roxette's Joyride! By the time we got to hospital bend, I knew it would be a looooooooong day. The bike was just too small, and you had to stand to get a decent pedal stroke in.

Anyway, we coasted up Edinburgh drive to much fanfare, pulled into my dad's refreshment station at Blue Route...and just missed the bacon and egg breakfast! Back on the road we switched bikes, and now Craig got to feel the pain of riding the beast! It was a relief to go on a decent bike again, even if it did have a huge flag, and my sailing booties didn't really work with SPD pedals!
Well the ride to Simonstown is always a pleasure, nice and flat, beautiful vista and Kalk bay rocks as usual. I stopped for a free bum massage in St.James, very niiiice!

We pulled into Jubilee Square well behind schedule, but who's watching. Quick refill and we were about to leave, until we saw some very cute physios with open beds. Ahh, switched on second years, double teaming my calves for ten minutes!

The cruise up past Smits was cool, with the tunes getting a good reception from all and sundry around. At the top we stopped in at the mechanics to see if we could tighten a pedal which was squeaking madly. The dudes from the cycle factory/Stevens didn't have the right spanner, so gave us a new one instead!


We also ran into some of our boys from Izivunguvungu there, they'd walked from Red Hill squatter camp, a good 10kms away. We were starting to feel the pinch a bit as finally the halfway mark was passed. Another stop in Oceanview with a whole crowd of the boys was also a welcome break. By now I'd have been finished, but we still had Chappies and Suikerbossie to go. Up Chappies we even had the joy of seeing the flag spin around and face forward..indicating a following wind. Unfortunately halfway up the sh1tter tuned us nooit, bru. Puncture on rear wheel. Now there's no qr lever on this baby and I stupidly brought the wrong multitool. So options were to walk to the top and see if there was bike support, or just fix the tube on the wheel. We did both, Craig walking all the way down with a spanner, that I never used in the end! A few extra blasts from the standup pump and we were on our way.


Now, Chappies is quite a winding road, heavy bike with minimal brakes is fun. Throw in an idiot mechanic(me) who only reduced it to a slow puncture and we have a hairy ride down, stopping every now and then to repump. Where's the #15 spanner now? Bowman's didn't have one either, and the call was made to fix it properly, on the side of Suikerbossie. The mood really dropped when Gnatterly Burls came flying past us, with a 'what's taking you sooo long grin'. With the job done properly it was a cakewalk to the finish, with about an hour spent on the side of the road giving us plenty of rest.


All in all, it was a good fun day out, our time of 6:44 was very long and we actually only just escaped the 7hr cut-off! The beertent had never been so inviting. Well done to all who finished, it was a great race day and very luckily only 26'C.

Have a look see through the results here if it's still not crashing!

Thursday, March 08, 2007

ARGUS

Cycling for Izivunguvungu

Izivunguvungu is a sailing development center of excellence which provides many activities, as well as offering educational assistance and adventure opportunities. These opportunities are for the benefit of disadvantaged youth.

They are a great organisation based in Simonstown and are doing wonders in all sorts of spheres.
More info at www.izivungu.co.za

Local sailors Craig Sterling and Steven Burnett will be competing on their bikes in sailing gear, including life jackets! Watch out for Craig with his huge Izivunguvungu flag and Steven on his 'supermarket special' bike which will be donated to the school with just 109km on the clock. They're starting at 8.30am in Z group

The ARGUS Cycle Tour is already extremely involved in charity work through proceeds from entry fees, and we give non-participants a conduit to help directly with this initiative.



The School is always in need of help, be it time, material or monetary. If you'd like to make a donation, no amount is to small.
Izivunguvungu
ABSA
Br #:630126
Acc #. 4063820699
Indicate Argus Cycle Tour – 'ACT' in the statement line so they can identify it

Good luck to all those riding on the day, and for once we won't pray for fair winds!
**********************************************************************************

phil did all the hard work in the MTB results for me:55km

Steve Burnett 3:05:30 264
Old man Rist 3:29:49 487
Phil Rist 3:30:39 495
Craig Sterling 3:31:12 506
Neil Mackellar DNC (detained by immigrations officials at the Botswana/South Africa border)
Steven Rhodes DNC (cos he's a wimp)
Ian Wolmerans DNC (they just don't make things like they used to or for someone of his size and power)
26km

Dave Waiting 1:37:37 126
Natalie Burls 1:40:09 153
Mathew Price 1:55:50 407
Leone Nowell DNC (injured as well as probably still hungover from Friday)
13km

Kim Neil 1:28:04 261
Kath Pengelly 1:28:54 267

was a great ride, awesome course and just enough rain to make it muddy but not slippery!
Kudo's to Geoff for finishing the downhill with half a fork, and Sara for,well, winning the ladies section

Monday, March 05, 2007

Under the SEA- my new scuba friends

Did my scuba diver course a while back and have been on their mailing list for a while now. They just relocated/merged with a shop in Muizenberg. With my last dive being in Mozambique in December 2003, I decided it was time to get underwater again! With the ridiculous pricing in place, I just had to see what the catch was.

I'd be restricted to a morning only with a busy week-end, but got my first ever wreck dive in. I was a little anxious with the extended time since the last dive. Luckily my buddy, Adrian, was really patient and is doing the time to be a master diver/instructor, so taking me down was his bread and butter.

We descended to the sea floor, and did a few refresher exercises – taking off mask, losing regulator etc. and then moved onto the wreck itself. It's actually an old fishing trawler, and was scuttled in 1982. The hull is quite intact and easy to see from the bow. There was amazing vis for False Bay and so much to see. The anchor from our duck had actually landed on the deck(gps helps!). All in all, a great dive and I'm scared of getting bitten by the scuba bug again! This is all fitting in with my master plan of a Mozambique trip later in the year.


Now the important part, what does it cost?I'm not totally sure how their pricing actually works, because it makes no economic sense. It might actually be a front for the arms deal for all I know, as it's and absolute steal! I paid R120 for a boat dive, including all equipment but my mask, cylinder and boat ride – ridiculous really.

Get yourself on their mailing list
(info@diverschoices.co.za)
and tell them that Steve sent you, or just phone and ask for Phil! They're near the corner surf shop, behind what was “The acoustic Cafe”. I'll just paste in the end of the last email:

First weekend of the month special

It’s the beginning of a new month and DiversChoices is celebrating with boat dive specials! One boat dive will

Cost you R120, 2 boat dives R 180 and 3 boat dives for only R 240! It’s a steal of a deal folks so don’t miss out!

also, bring along some spare change as we'll be serving up some tasty boereworse rolls for only R 7. Cool drinks

will also be available.



Boat Dive Schedule

Saturday March 3rd, 2007

09:00 - The Wrecks of Smitswinkel Bay max depth. 40m

11:00 - Roman Rock max depth. 25m

13:00 - Divers choice???



Sunday March 4th, 2007

09:00 - Big Blue (Fun, Fun, Fun)

11:00 - Pyramid Rock max. Depth. 12m

13:00 - Divers choice???



Remember to arrive at the launch site 45 minutes prior to launch.

To book for your spot please call us at 021 788 8473 or alternatively at

082 468 3956 and confirm your booking the evening prior to launch.



Seating is limited so book in advance!

We look forward to hearing from you and can't wait to dive with you!

Friday, March 02, 2007

MTB season kick's off

The waiting is over, the boschendal fat tyre slugout is this sunday.

There's lotsa people getting into this one, so we'll have an on the
spot reporter there. In the meantime lets look at a pretty picture.



that little spike on the right is not that little.

results will go here OFF Road Argus site

the main Argus is next week. It's my 11th one, so to celebrate, Craig and I are doing it a little differently.......more news then