tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73056702006-12-07T15:41:00.633+02:00wernerBlogger229125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-16135414625630603762006-12-07T15:21:00.000+02:002006-12-07T15:41:00.660+02:00

After an extended search I finally found a .com domain name that I both wanted and wouldn't have to pay an overinflated price for from some dodgy `search service`. http://www.zzzbot.com the sleeping robot. I've always been sure that nothing less than a .com would do. I'm not a .org kind of person(far too warm and fuzzy) and I still think that using .net for general purpose sites is misuse. And

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1181875983163328142006-12-07T15:19:00.000+02:002006-12-07T15:21:18.815+02:00

Wanted Beware Wanted Reward

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-70215514336641912462006-12-04T17:27:00.000+02:002006-12-05T08:15:54.806+02:00

One of the things that struck me about central London was the lack of tagging and graffiti - though I have to qualify this by saying that I never went beyond Zone 2 and suspect that less über-whatever neighbourhoods probably have plenty. Nevertheless I've come to expect some level of illegal tagging to be present in all urban areas. The only such evidence I found was some half hearted keying on

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-42902834608656644162006-12-01T11:29:00.000+02:002006-12-01T11:49:24.456+02:00

Back from London after several traumatic return flights - distance kills. This was my first time to London(!) and bizarrely I am glad to finally have gone. London seems to be the default destination for South African youth-types and every dumb nut who has been on a gap year has been. So invariably the response that you get from anyone when you say that you've not been is: 'Really? So have you

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-27968838937534092892006-11-27T10:56:00.000+02:002006-11-27T11:00:34.729+02:00

Bem vendo em Londres! Estamos aqcui na cidade dos Brits para relaxo. The weather is frickin cold and wet etc. etc. etc. etc. music: AC/DC(obviously), Roots Manuva, Placebo - how very Londonese!

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-68480826947739334902006-11-23T13:42:00.000+02:002006-11-23T13:43:50.984+02:00

Its been a while since I posted music compilations. I've put together a few for various reasons but none of them have really rocked. Here's Opening Doors. Opening Doors 1. Prince Raspberry Beret (In through the Out door) 2. Crowded House Pineapple Head 3. Jenny Lewis with Handle With Care The Watson Twins 4. Supergrass Late in the Day 5. Ryan Adams This House is

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-87269024373100952622006-11-22T10:24:00.000+02:002006-11-22T10:41:36.552+02:00

I, like everyone else, now get a lot of my news from Digg. It's a good news service, blah blah blah blah. They now also have a Labs project which is not nearly as fancy as Google's or Yahoo's but still has two cool toys. Digg Swarm and Stack are two flash-based apps that visualise Digg activity in near real time. Digg Swarm draws a circle for stories as they're dugg. Diggers swarm around

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-26322398573212991792006-11-21T11:26:00.000+02:002006-11-21T13:31:13.878+02:00

Francis Bacon is my mother's favourite artist. I was always quite disturbed by this. I still find his best known work (Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X) immensely disturbing. Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X - 1953 There's something terrible and brutal about the composition; the cage, the (electric?) chair, the ghostly face. And let's not even mention the

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-67146414585294942132006-11-16T07:45:00.000+02:002006-11-17T08:33:07.819+02:00

John Jodka is a US Marine who was sentenced yesterday to 18 months in prison for his part in the shooting death (and subsequent cover-up) of an Iraqi civilian. The details are not that important - war - atrocity - duty - superiors - whatever - fuck. He joined the US Marines in May 2005, was in Iraq by February 2006 and in detention from 12 May 2006 for this murder. His dad set up a site to

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1163582201893733122006-11-15T10:55:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:20.592+02:00

This is ludicrous. HP have introduced a new feature to their latest range of digital cameras - slimming. What it does is to trim the object at the center of the image (i.e. a loved one) to make it appear more slender. WTF?!?!?! So while the reality of your holiday might have been of a pudgy, blotchy tourist in sandals scratching their bum while wondering whether to have another cocktail in a

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1163398193308288562006-11-13T07:59:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:20.422+02:00

I ran my first half marathon of the season on Saturday morning - the 10th Winelands Half Marathon in Stellenbosch starting at 05:45. The early start is extreme (waking up at 04:30 sucks) but makes sense as it means that the race is done by 07:30 before the heat and Saturday morning traffic. The course ran from Stellenbosch along the R44 to Somerset West and then in among the farms of

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1163170053208196412006-11-10T16:38:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:20.157+02:00

Another week. George Bush got his ass handed to him. Donald Rumsfeld got the can. Reporter: "If you had any do-overs to do in this race..." GW: "You don't get to do them." Reporter: "Or if Mr Rove had any do-overs to do in this race..." GW: "You don't get do-overs." GW: "As far as do-overs ...." he trailed off, looked down, paused, and gestured to his advisers. "Talk to them." The can "

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1162830923895029832006-11-06T18:29:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:19.691+02:00

I had my first real race of the running season on Saturday, taking part in a corporate relay and doing a 14km leg. Next weekend will be my first half marathon of the season - the Winelands Marathon(and half) in Stellenbosch. Go Speed Racer! Go! Yesterday was also New York City Marathon day. Out of 90,000 applicants a record 38,368 runners started this year’s marathon on Staten Island, busted a

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1162555647580776622006-11-03T14:05:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:19.459+02:00

. . .. ... ..... ....... And when you loose control, you'll reap the harvest you have sown And as the fear grows, the bad blood slows and turns to stone And it's too late to loose the weight you used to need to throw around So have a good drown, as you go down, alone Dragged down by the stone. Dogs Photos: http://www.texansforpeace.org

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1162394795085736122006-11-01T17:24:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:19.219+02:00

PW Botha died yesterday. Reactions to his death are mixed; the government is politely detached[1], others emphasise the good in his bungling attempts to reform South Africa. Very few reports are openly agressive. This is the natural reaction to the death of a man who the world has passed by. He lived the last seventeen years of his life in a country that day-by-day proved how viciously

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1161852981557855612006-10-26T10:41:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:18.997+02:00

Here's a fascinating article on Alzheimer's disease from the NY Times. When he learned in 1995 that he had Alzheimer’s disease, William Utermohlen, an American artist in London, responded in characteristic fashion. “From that moment on, he began to try to understand it by painting himself,� said his wife, Patricia Utermohlen, a professor of art history. The article gives a view on Mr.

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1161619598352790542006-10-23T17:56:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:18.786+02:00

I first picked up on the notion of Advanced Capitalism through Haruki Murakami's Dance Dance Dance. Murakami's take on the concept is concerned with the pervasiveness of the capitalist imperative[1] and the brutal system used to drive it, namely waste. He emphasises the fact that most western-style economies rely heavily on wastage and redundancy to drive growth. It's the old story that no car

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1161352699620235282006-10-20T15:46:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:18.600+02:00

Tomorrow is the day of Diwali - the Indian festival of lights. Jaipur lit up We have a delegation from India working in our offices at the moment(as part of a skills transfer program) and today's Friday morning tea was hosted by them with a Diwali theme. Traditional dress abounded. One of the guys(he seems to be generally accepted to be the most senior of the crew) spoke briefly about the

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1161184397514650212006-10-18T16:46:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:18.410+02:00

I'm becoming more convinced of the importance of active protest[1]. It's fine to talk about how screwed up the world is, that and why each individual should recognise this and how it affects my life. But if none of this translates into activism it's a bit glass-house/stone. While I have never protested violently I don't disapprove of it[2]. Nor am I much of a socialist[3]. But I am sometimes

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1160997234299909722006-10-16T13:02:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:18.249+02:00

Now is a time of endings. Spring(and with it summer's early heat) has arrived in Cape Town, and it is the start of the growing season. But relationships and lives are ending. The world is fucked beyond repair. And(vainly) I am approaching the end of my twenties. Three of my grandparents are still alive and are all in their eighties. My father's father is in good health but his twin sister

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1160665088919126082006-10-12T16:37:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:18.050+02:00

Another lo-fi video gem to fry your brains with! I first heard of OK Go after the viral phenomenon of their previous video hit A Million Ways. The video features the band performing a 3 1/2 minute sexycrazy dance routine[3] in the singer's backyard. It was recorded in a single continuous take[1] with a borrowed video camera on a tripod. Apparently the total production cost was around $10 with

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1160148537221291712006-10-06T17:28:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:17.817+02:00

As reported previously I'm working on an entry for the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest. Here is the latest fruit of my labour - the opening sentence to a soon-to-be monster novel: Memoirs of a Slut. She never put out on the first date of the day, but it was clear to him that this might change as he watched her deploy those fuck-me-harder eyes he'd heard so much about.

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1160034338540674222006-10-05T09:35:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:17.625+02:00

This is fantastic! I just saw the video for Tenacious D's song Tribute(to the greatest and best song in the world)[1]. It's Jack Black and some dude who he's been friends with since 1985 who plays an acoustic guitar. It starts out nice and simple but then builds into the kind of post-post-postmodern-postness that Muse wish they could do. Liam Lynch[2] meets Lordi meets the Andy Milonakis Show.

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1159877132506676832006-10-03T13:38:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:21:17.403+02:00

I've been ripped off(recently again) about my kak taste in magazines. I totally don't agree. Yes, Anita and I do buy heat every now and again and will buy Vanity Fair whenever it's not ridiculously overpriced(as recently in Washington). But even higher on my wishlist of magazine subscriptions is The New Yorker - snooty, I know, but the cartoons are unrivaled. But I will freely admit to buying

wernertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305670.post-1159521100251166472006-09-29T10:40:00.000+02:002006-11-16T20:15:09.194+02:00

One of the major stresses at Catalyst was the all-singing, all-dancing Diebold ATM which was meant to wow S1 customers with it's business-card depositing, channel integrating, coolness. It was meant to be connected to our Postilion system to be used by the conference attendees to draw S1 Bucks (fake money). Each attendee was issued with a debit card and could draw x Bucks from their accounts. The

werner