Sani Pass Winter 2011

We were given two Land Rover Defenders for the weekend from Land Rover Durban and we decided to put them through the most grueling test. Sani Pass in the Drakensberg.



Sani Pass is one of the most treacherous roads Southern Africa has to offer 4X4 enthusiasts and what better way to experience it for the first time than in the "Best 4X4 By Far". The pass starts near Underberg and ends 2874m above sea level up in Lesotho. In the middle of winter it is not uncommon to find frozen waterfalls and ice on the road.

They say that you can see the remains of vehicles on the side of the mountain that failed to make it up. I didn't see any. What I did see were hikers, mountain bikers, a few Toyota Hiace taxis converted into 4X4's and the occasional mountain goat.



The Defenders we used were a two door short wheel base and a six seater long wheel base. I was counting my lucky stars we were in the short wheel base Defender as it is easier to maneuver around the almost vertical hairpin bends. The guys in the long wheel had a bit of difficulty with a greater turning circle.



On the top of the mountain we found the highest pub in Africa at the Lesotho border post. After stamping our entrance into Lesotho we went over to Top Chalet for a drink. They don't keep beers in the fridge because they're just as cold on the shelves! We opted for the hot chocolate to keep us warm. A favorite is Glühwein. A hot wine and spice drink.

We then took a drive further into Lesotho for about 10kms. To our delight we came across snow and being men who like to act like boys we promptly wrote our names in the snow the way only boys can!



The snow capped mountains in Lesotho are beautiful. But it's a wonder how the locals live in the highest country in the world in those extreme conditions. Coming back down we hit an ice patch around a bend that sent our Landy sliding sideways. Fortunately we had a very experienced driver and didn't end up down the side of the mountain.

I really felt like we were on a Top Gear expedition and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Would you dare go up Sani Pass? What would be your ultimate adventure?

WWE, Costumes and Cirque

What an awesome weekend!


On Friday night I had the privilege of watching the WWE Smackdown event at Durban's Westridge Park Tennis Stadium from the ringside. I am not a huge wrestling fan and don't know most of the wrestlers of today. When I was a fan there were the likes of Hulk Hogan, Diesel, The Ultimate Warrior and Ricky The Steamboat Dragon! The wrestlers we got to see at Westridge were The Big Show, Kane, Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Christian and a few others including SA's own Justin Gabriel!

Today's wrestling is filled with theatrics and rivalries but that's what makes it so entertaining. The spectacle was sold out and there were fans from the ages of 2 to 80 years old, all screaming from the top of their lungs for their favorite fighters! There was a kid behind me that was screaming so loud I'm lucky to still have my eardrums intact!

Although you can see that the fighting was faked or staged it was still impressive to see some of the moves these guys had to make. They are without question superb athletes, most of them in peak physical condition!


Saturday was Waewest's Superhero and Villains Costume Party. I hired a Batman costume from Troubadour Productions. I was afraid that it wouldn't fit but fortunately it was made out of lycra which is super stretchy! There were some stunning costumes, most of them made from scratch but still amazing! Some worth mentioning was the beautiful Poison Ivy(@waewest), Spidergirl(Christy), Batgirl(@wildchild2006), Psylocke(Jill), Lumo Boy(@Al_Dog7) and Superman(@AMG133)! There were many more costumes but I think Waewest won the best costume with her Poison Ivy outfit!


Last night I had the good fortune of being invited to Madame Zingara at Suncoast! Madame Zingara is a traveling circus and dinner theatre! Although it was freezing cold last night you are quickly intrigued by the magic that is Madame Zingara as soon as you enter the circus grounds. Strangely dressed characters greet you and there are stalls to gear up for the entertainment inside. Many bought feather boas and fun hats.

Inside the circus tent is where the magic really comes alive and a three course meal is served between the entertainment. People were awed by flying trapeze artists, a little dwarf, amazing contortionists and beautiful singers. The food was great but the entertainment was spectacular. A must see if you can get tickets as most nights are sold out!

Twitter Blanket Drive #TBD 2011

The 4th of June 2011 marked the second Twitter Blanket Drive. Annually the South African Twitter community rally together to collect blankets at different venues all over the country for charity in anticipation of winter.

This year I helped with the #TBD in Durban. We had three venues setup and one down the South Coast. The venues in Durban were I Heart Market, Luna Rossa and Linvingston's Gastropub.


It was the first time that I attended the I Heart Market and discovered that it was a beautiful flea market that is held on the 1st Saturday of every month. It was great to see people dropping of blankets while enjoying the items on sale at the different stalls, good food and listening to the pleasant sounds made by the live bands playing.


The second venue was Luna Rossa which is situated in the outside food court at Gateway Theatre of Shopping. We were fortunate to experience great Durban weather and many Twitter users joined us for some cool refreshments when they dropped of their blankets.


Livingston's Gastropub in Durban North's Glenmore Center was the final venue and tweeps dropping of blankets had the opportunity to watch the Super Rugby game between the Sharks and Cheetahs while enjoying the good food and drinks provided by this popular establishment.

At the end of the day close to 500 blankets were collected and special thanks were in order for those that contributed to and donated blankets to the drive. Some businesses stepped up and matched donations and blanket contributions. One of the biggest was Makro with a R50 000 money donation and dropping the price of their blankets to cost for the week.

The blankets were donated to Izulu Orphans Project.

For more information on the Twitter Blanket Drive click here.

Horward Webb: The Worst Referee In The World

Is Howard Webb the worst ref in the world?

Recently Liverpool supporters have been hating on this man like he was the Devil incarnate. There's even an online petition by Twitter users asking the FA for him never to referee another Liverpool match! LMAO!

Here is the link if you don't believe me or if you want to add your voice to this ridiculous petition! http://twitition.com/g5iig



Surely the man that refereed the 2010 World Cup Final and last year's Champion's League final has to be the best there is or they would never have let him ref those 2 important matches!

So what does that tell you about Liverpool? According to their fans Liverpool Football Club has lost the last 5 matches refereed by Webb with 2 of them being against Manchester United! Therefore making Webb a puppet of Fergie or a hater of the Scousers!

I personally think he is a great referee! When I watch a match he is officiating I know there will be very few mistakes and no disaster decisions. Webb is a fair ref and seems to get the big decisions right according to Jose Mourinho, The Special One!

Apart from reffing the WC2010 final and CL final last year the Queen of England made him an honorary MBE.

Calm down Liverpool fans. You have a great team and a manager that finally seems to fit! You can finally say that it can be yours next year! With Dalglish leading the side and the likes of Suarez, Andy Carroll and Maxi Rodriquez making the magic happen LFC will be a strong contender for the Barclays Premier League and the FA Cup! One ref won't make a difference if you play good football!

I wouldn't want to mess with a ref that looks like Robocop anyway! Would you?

Once Upon A Time And Charlie's Angels 2011

This fall (autumn if you don't live in the US of A) ABC is releasing two new TV series that look very promising!

I have been privileged to be given the opportunity to have a first look at these TV series by Technorati and you can only view them by clicking on a link they send you as the videos are unlisted on YouTube.


The first one is Once Upon A Time. It is about a woman that gets drawn into the strange world of Storybrooke, the place where her son lives that she gave up 10 years ago.

After having a look at the video and discovering who the actors and writers are I am very excited for this to be released! The setting switches between a fairytale world and present time. Apparently all the characters from a fairytale book are trapped in this town and Anna/Emma Swan who might be Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter has to save them from the Evil Queen!

Some of the characters are played by some amazing actors with Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White, Josh Dallas as Prince Charming, Jennifer Morrison as Anna/Emma Swan, Lana Parilla as the Evil Queen (magic mirror and all) and Robert Carlyle as a weird inn keeper/Rumplestiltskin. I'm a bit confused with Jennifer Morrison's character because IMDB and every other online media including the YouTube link state that her character's name is Anna Swan but in the actual first look video clip I'm 100% sure that Robert Carlyle's character calls her Emma!


It might be a bit confusing at first as you would expect from Tron and Lost writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz but if it's great visuals and special effects you like then this is a must see! I'm sure this is going to be another TV series we're going to be addicted to. Hopefully we won't get lost in this story but will discover a happy ending!

The second show to premier next fall on ABC is a remake and not just any remake. It's about three sexy ladies kicking some bad guy butts! That's right! Charlie's Angels are back! It is produced by ex Charlie's Angel Drew Barrymore and the team that brought you the hit TV series Smallville, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar!


It stars Annie Ilonzeh, Minka Kelly and Rachel Taylor as Kate, Eve and Abby. Bosley gets a new look as he is played by Ramon Rodriguez. No more old, balding dude. Bosley is as young and sexy as his female counterparts! The girls are beautiful and a pleasure to watch.


With plenty of eye candy and the combination of Gough and Millar this is sure to be a hit. I'm a huge Smallville fan and was sad to see it end. Maybe an angel might be just what I need to lift my spirits when this show starts!

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do this but here are the links to the first look videos Technorati sent us:

Once Upon A Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz9VFa7Z6Y0

Charlie's Angels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19VFDlCnOXc

Will we get lost in the fairytale of Once Upon A Time or will it be hell or heaven to watch Charlie's Angels?

UnstoppaBull

This season of Formula 1 racing is being dominated by the Red Bull Racing team. These bulls seem to be running so far ahead of the pack that none of the other teams stand a chance of catching them!

Surely Sebastian Vettel is getting bored being out in the front leaving all the action behind him in nearly every race! And believe me there has been an abundance of action in the pack following the leader.

In the past two Grand Prixs the race strategies have evolved with the management of the tyre use and increase of the number of stops drivers have to make. Tyre wear, KERS, DRS and fuel consumption have really changed the dynamics of the 2011 season of Formula 1.

Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel seemed to have gotten it right from the beginning, McLaren are following closely and Ferrari seem to have only stepped up to the plate in the last race with Alonso finishing third on the podium. Ferrari's first podium finish this season.

With the completion of the Turkish Grand Prix the team standings have Red Bull Racing in the lead with 168 points, trailing not far in second is McLaren-Mercedes with 105 points and Ferrari with a late start in third with 65 points.

The driver standings place Sebastian Vettel as the alpha bull with 93 points, Lewis Hamilton in second with 59 points and Mark Webber in third with 55 points. Nico Rosberg might be the dark horse for Mercedes!

The season is still young with only 4 races complete. What will be in store for the Spanish GP? Will Alonso claim a victory for Ferrari with the support of his home crowd? Will Sebastian Vettel stamp his dominance in yet another pole position and number one podium finish?

Bella Swallows A Monkey

About three weeks ago I was travelling on the N3 Highway to Eston. About 10 kilometers before Camperdown a monkey jumped in front of my car.

I was doing about 120km/h when I saw a flash of grey, heard a thud and saw my number plate flip up. The next thing I know there's smoke coming out from the front of the car and I had to pull over.

I get of and go to the front to assess the damage and get the number plate only to find that a monkey was stuck head first in the grill! It was one of those little grey vervet monkeys you get all over Durban that like raiding unguarded kitchens and it was still alive and kicking!

I didn't know what to do! What condition was it's head in? How was I going to get this roadkill out? I couldn't drive around with a monkey stuck in my grill! I was thinking of flagging down a truck to get the driver to help me but I don't think anyone would have stopped on that part of the N3!

Eventually I gathered my wits and got a towel from my gym bag. I grabbed the monkey by it's legs, closed my eyes, pulled and flung it over the barrier! The monkey landed on it's side. It's eyes were open but blinking and I thought it would die anytime soon.

I took my towel and covered it thinking that it's end was near. I grabbed my number plate and jumped into my car. It took me a while to gather my thoughts and take in what had just happened.

To my utter surprise I saw the towel come up! The monkey sat up, pulled the towel of it's head and tried to take a few wobbly steps. I think it was still dazed from the knock. After a few minutes of watching the traffic go by it calmly got up and walked of into the bush like nothing happened!

The monkey didn't have a scratch on it. I guess the honeycomb grill of my car took most of the impact and cushioned the blow to the monkey. The smoke was actually gas from the air conditioner and besides the grill being damaged one of the heat sensors was kaput too. All in all damages came to R15 000!

Monkey 1 - Golf GTI 0