Digital Souvenirs

Blog Break

2009-01-06T23:30:00.002Z

I will be taking a break from my daily blog posts now. I still intend to maintain the blog, but with less frequent updates. Thanks for reading!

Open 24 hours?

2009-01-04T17:50:00.000Z

Just another Flash Game

2009-01-03T23:54:00.001Z

Just another meal...

2009-01-02T23:33:00.000Z

Happy 2009!

2009-01-01T23:55:00.001Z

Oh No! Come on Pound!

2008-12-31T00:26:00.000Z

Three Degree Maximum

2008-12-30T18:54:00.000Z

Life is a Game

2008-12-29T02:09:00.012Z

At the moment it feels like life is a series of puzzles to be solved, each one more challenging than the one before. I am presented with a lot of “Life Themes”: Finance, Adventure, Experience, Relationships, Self Development, Future Plans... and I have to make sense of it all and fit them all together in a way that works for me. Not too much or too little focus on any one element, a healthy balance where all the parts fit together to form a harmonious whole.

To do this you have to look at things from different angles, try out different possible solutions and be prepared to mess up sometimes, you very seldom get it right the first time. But that doesn't matter, who's keeping score anyway? You can try to think about it logically or just go with your gut feeling and hope for the best, but the best approach is usually a combination of both. Sometimes the solution is staring you in the face, but you're too blind to see it and the feeling of being stuck can become really frustrating before you finally "get it”. And even when you do “solve it” the feeling of accomplishment is short-lived: Just before you get bored or complacent with the solution you've created things change again and become more challenging and you start the process all over again on a higher level. Very much like this game (I'm currently stuck in Level 23...):

Oh, and of course then there's always the question of what comes after the last level...

Boxing Day Crowds

2008-12-28T01:13:00.002Z

I don't regret not being there at all. Thanks TFL!

Don't Trust TFL

2008-12-27T05:16:00.006Z

Today I'm breaking the silence to explain this little adventure in public transport.

I thought it might be interesting to go to Oxford Street for the Boxing Day Sales, but since there was no public transport a day earlier on Christmas Day, I first consulted the TFL (Transport for London) website to see what my options were. I entered my departure time, To and From Locations and was quite surprised when TFL suggested the following:

Options 4-7 are bus and tube routes with an expected travel time of around 50 minutes, reasonable for the 3-4 mile trip. Options 1, 2 and 3 left me a bit confused though. Three busses and a train, just to get to Oxford Street? Departure time 00:49? Thirty hours travel time? A flight from Johannesburg to London only takes about twelve hours!

I had to look into this suggestion and after I plotted the route on Google maps, it turned out to be this 36 mile epic journey via Heathrow Airport! (All the way to Heathrow by bus, back to Paddington Station by train and then a short 20 minute walk to Oxford Street...)

The Blue Line shows how to get from A to H (just North and South of Hyde Park) with a Great Western Detour via points B,C,D,E,F and G.

I decided Boxing Day wasn't a good time to trust TFL. On the BBC News I could watch from the comfort of my sofa how crowds of eager customers lined up in Oxford Street to spend their pounds .

I wonder how long they traveled to get there?

Sunrise from Putney Bridge

2008-12-26T23:24:00.002Z

London - Closed for Christmas

2008-12-25T23:59:00.002Z

Is this Christmas?

2008-12-24T23:28:00.001Z

Christmas, one day Early

2008-12-23T23:04:00.001Z

Bath

2008-12-22T23:54:00.000Z

Christmas Plant

2008-12-21T21:24:00.001Z

24 hours now - Should I be Worried?

2008-12-20T23:52:00.001Z

Christmas Chocolates - Thanks Boss!

2008-12-19T23:48:00.001Z

Dusting off the old Guitar

2008-12-18T05:22:00.001Z

First bit of Sun this week (03h00PM)

2008-12-17T15:32:00.000Z

Clockwise, Anti-Clockwise or Both?

2008-12-16T15:49:00.001Z

Gyroscope - Good old-fashioned fun

2008-12-15T16:48:00.000Z

Not quite Pap & Sous

2008-12-14T10:23:00.000Z

London Congestion Zone Parking

2008-12-13T05:13:00.001Z

YouTube - Cures Home Sickness

2008-12-12T05:35:00.000Z

I will NOT get sick!

2008-12-11T17:21:00.000Z

Our Christmas Tree

2008-12-10T06:05:00.002Z

Tower of London

2008-12-09T17:00:00.002Z

I Sleep Here

2008-12-08T10:39:00.000Z

Beautiful Breakfast - I Love Sundays

2008-12-07T10:20:00.000Z

Sunny Saturday

2008-12-06T17:44:00.000Z

Busy Bus Stop!

2008-12-05T09:52:00.000Z

"All Staff Please Read" - I Hate Policies and Procedures

2008-12-04T05:06:00.002Z

Hat Shopping in Camden

2008-12-03T05:15:00.002Z

District Line Music

2008-12-02T17:13:00.000Z

Sunday Night Scrabble

2008-12-01T12:13:00.000Z

Learning Russian

2008-11-30T06:07:00.000Z

Missing the Bus

2008-11-29T05:56:00.001Z

Thanks Ma!

2008-11-28T07:24:00.001Z

Abyss in the Mirror

2008-11-27T05:10:00.002Z

Lunch

2008-11-26T05:07:00.002Z

Wimbledon Common

2008-11-25T10:54:00.000Z

Temporary Flatmates

2008-11-24T10:52:00.000Z

I need sleep...

2008-11-23T05:36:00.002Z

The joys of sharing a flat

2008-11-22T03:50:00.000Z

Right Brained Blogging

2008-11-21T03:40:00.004Z

This will be my last written blog post. That's right, no more describing, no more labeling, no more interpretation of reality. I'm taking a virtual vow of silence. I'm turning off the running commentary. But don't worry, the blog continues. So how's this going to work then? Simple.

A titled souvenir from my day, each day. Yip, one souvenir a day, every day. No more, no less. Just that. That's it. Why? Because.

What's a souvenir? Tune in again tomorrow and every day after to see what I mean.

Chapter Two

2008-11-19T04:13:00.005Z

It seems that nearly every blogger on the Internet at some stage apologises for neglecting his blog for a while. It's such a cliché that I'm not even going to do it. The reason for a shortage of new posts is usually one of two, either the blogger's life has become so boring that there really is nothing to write about or real life is keeping him/her so busy that spending time online to share his thoughts becomes less of a priority.

In my case it's currently a bit of both. I'm making a transition into what I call Chapter 2 of my London experience. I am now living in a completely different part of the City, getting used to new working conditions, enjoying having a bit more money and the changing of the season serves as a very visual metaphor for all the other changes taking place in my life. While flat-hunting, moving all my earthly possessions using public transport, learning new bus routes and getting lost on my way to the local supermarket is enough to keep me very busy, it's not necessarily interesting blogging material.

Also, going into this new phase makes one ask certain questions, like: “Where has the last 5 months gone?”, “What should I be doing with the next 5 months?” and “When my Visa runs out, will I be able to go home feeling that I have seen and done enough?”. I don't have answers to these questions, but at least I have pictures to show where I was while pondering all of this:

The sun broke through the clouds behind Lord Nelson on his Column. After a cloudy morning, Trafalgar Square was bathed in winter sun.

Everything had a fresh glow to it. I had to run up the steps of the National Gallery to find a spot to capture the almost surreal atmosphere. The unique colour of the light reminded me of the movie 300.

Click on this panorama picture to see more detail. The South African Embassy can be seen at the far left. I'm proud to say it's every bit as impressive as the Canadian Embassy on the right. This picture was taken around 13h00, but note how low on the horison the sun his hanging. Just about it's highest spot of the day...

The view towards Richmond Park from the balcony of my new flat, around 16h30. With a bit of imagination (or home-sickness) it almost looks like a winter sunset in the Bushveld back home...

Found in the garden of my old house-share home while visiting to watch the rugby over the weekend. Charming...

Autumn in Bishop's Park. Taking a walk after work early one morning.

Maia Hee

2008-11-12T04:23:00.007Z

I know this is totally random and has nothing to do with anything, but lately real life has kept me so busy I haven't had time to stop and smell the roses, never mind blog about it. Fortunately for me, being back at work means a lot of lazy hours and Internet access, so I decided to take some time out to solve this little puzzle that's been bugging me. I have to make it very clear though, that I was motivated by pure curiosity, so please don't make the mistake of thinking I'm a fan of any of the “artists” featured here!

Most South Africans, whether they liked it or not, have heard this song (I really don't expect you to watch the whole thing, I know I couldn't):

I (and I suppose most other Nicholis Louw victims) always assumed it was a Nicholis Louw original. After all, it's so bad, why would he want to copy it from somebody else?

Imagine my surprise when I saw this on TV the other day:

What's going on here? The Nicholis Louw song came out before the T.I. Featuring Rihanna one, so it's not very likely that he copied them. But it's even less likely that they even know who he is, let alone use his song as a sample in their's. So, who copied who? After a bit of research I found this:

From what I understand, this song, Dragostea din Tei, is the original. It's sung by a Romanian group called O-Zone. Their music video is quite funny as well, for some reason it can't be embedded, but you can watch it directly on YouTube. It seems the O-Zone song was used as the foundation for both the Nicholis Louw and T.I. versions. But they were not the only ones! It has been covered in one form or another by a bunch of other people, including a guy called Haiducci:

But why? What is it about this silly song that people like so much? And who originally wrote it for O-Zone? Or did they copy it from somebody else as well? You have to wonder: "Is there no originality left in the world?" If there is, pop music is definitely the last place to look for it...

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T00:31:00.004Z

When under quarantine, you have to be creative to enjoy Halloween. To keep us entertained, the support staff arranged a little pumpkin carving competition. They supplied the pumpkins and we scavanged around for medical supplies and other useful stuff to produce "Billy", who obviously won first place.

Quarantine

2008-10-30T21:34:00.019Z

I can now add Quarantine to my list of UK experiences. Don't ask me about the details, all I can tell you is:

It's not as bad as it sounds

I'm not really sick

I'm in good hands (mostly)

I volunteered for this

I'm getting paid for the whole thing

If you're ever in a similar situation, the following survival tips might come in handy:

Latex gloves make great balloons

2. Butterflies can sting

3. Whenever offered a cannula, politely say: “No bloody way!”

4. It's possible to lower Blood Pressure and Pulse with a bit of strategic Meditation

5. Good company and a sense of humour does wonders for the immune system

6. Eating lots of fruit keeps the body healthy, drawing them keeps the mind occupied

7. Online Flash games can keep you sane. When cabin fever sets in and you run out of things to do, you can always find a little time-waster online. These are a few of my favourites. Click on a picture to try the game. Unfortunately, it will not open in a new window, so once you've played one, hit the back button to try the rest.

A Moving Experience

2008-10-24T01:05:00.004+01:00

Warning: Readers sensitive to sentimental, melodramatic nonsense may want to avoid this entry and wait for one with pretty pictures and videos.

Tonight our house feels a bit colder than usual and I don't think it's just winter setting in. I have cleared out the room myself, but suddenly it's emptiness strikes me as unexpected. The almost lonely atmosphere is enhanced by the fact that I know downstairs others are getting ready to leave as well.

I've never been a fan of long-term commitment. I have moved house five times in the last three years, it doesn't take me long to get tired of a job, adding a new employer to my ever expanding CV every now and then and my relationships rarely last more than a couple of months. It's easy to put my wanderlust down to just being a free spirit, but in truth I've never been able to figure out what exactly it is I'm chasing (or what's chasing me). All I know is that I've always felt there must be more out there, a life purpose to be discovered, a soul mate waiting to be found, a calling to accept rather than a job to apply for, potential to be realised, a destiny to be fulfilled. You might say I have unrealistic expectations, that I'm idealistic, a dreamer and even a little naïve. You may be right, but it's being all these things that keeps me going, keeps me young, makes me try harder, looking forward to tomorrow, keeps me alive and at the same time keeps me from ever being completely satisfied, always running, whether it's towards or away from something.

Growing up and living in a community where people lead relatively stable (one might even say boring) lives, my outlook on life has always made me feel like a bit of an outsider. It was relatively easy to leave behind that life and place that was all I knew since I can remember, because I knew that if I ever wanted to return, it will still be there, more or less unchanged. Ironically, it is considerably more difficult to leave behind my first London home, probably because I felt more at home in this messy, chaotic, temporary stop-over than in my so-called hometown. My housemates, who were strangers to me less than four months ago, may be following different paths from my own, some more sure of where they are going, some less, but at least they are all following some kind of path, going somewhere. Whether it be Amsterdam for a weekend, the Caribbean for a lifetime or the supermarket down the street, which is still halfway round the world from the hometown they started off in, they are going somewhere. And because they are going somewhere themselves, they can not be left behind by me, unlike the people back home. It also means they can not be returned to, because like me, they will not be here.

And yet, knowing all this, I am moving anyway, without any guarantee that were I might end up next will be better than here. Why? You might say it's just the rush of the unknown calling again, but it's more than that. It's because I know there is still more out there, more strangers who will become friends, more late night and early morning conversations around kitchen tables or on dirty sofas, more beers to be shared, more unplanned adventures to be had. And every time I move on I like to believe that I am getting a little closer to that illusive “something” that I am chasing, a life I may find worth settling for, a place worth staying in. But until I find that, leaving an empty house every now and then always outweighs the prospect of hanging around in one place indefinitely, wondering: “What if?”.

If following my path means meeting more temporary travelling companions than permanent neighbours, then so be it, because having to say farewell to people worth meeting still beats never meeting them in the first place.

Loch Ness or London?

2008-10-17T16:30:00.007+01:00

There's been talk of strange sightings along the Thames at night. One rumour tells of a creature so far only labelled “Classification Pending”:

"Witness a new life form living in the Thames... Only appearing at dusk, they develop into an apparition – like creatures of folklore before them."

I had to investigate, so armed with my camera-phone and notebook I took to the streets of London at sunset. By the time I got to London Bridge, as guided by my "Here-be-Monsters"-Map, the almost-full moon was rising slowly over the skyline towards Tower Bridge in the East.

My search began on the south bank, moving north over the bridge, keeping a close eye on the water below. I arrived on the other side of the river without spotting anything exceptional, but wasn't discouraged and decided to get closer to the water level by going down the dark, deserted stairway leading to the Thamespath.

After a while the icy night wind turned my nose into a red, runny block of ice and the thought of abandoning the monster-hunt crossed my mind, but then I saw something gliding through the water without a sound, not far from the shore. It was only visible for a moment, but I instinctively knew that this is what I came to see and quickly went back up to street level on the bridge for a better view.

I joined a small group of people already hanging over the side of the bridge, watching the water attentively. The air was filled with a sense of wonder as they whispered to each other and then someone broke the silence: “Look at that!”, followed by cries of “There it is!” and “Cool...”. From the depths a creature emitting a faint white glow emerged, first only showing glimpses of itself, later swimming just below the surface for longer periods of time before vanishing again.
I activated the night mode setting on my camera and chose a high exposure to make sure I got evidence of what I just witnessing. I filmed the dark river for what felt like ages, hoping for another appearance, the cold numbing my fingers, making it hard to keep a firm grip on my camera. Sure enough, the waves were illuminated once more, this time by two of the mysterious animals. Later they were even joined by a smaller, playful little one and for a moment I was wondering if this was London or Loch Ness:

For related sightings seen around London, like the perpetually sinking sailboat or the ghostly green outline of the old Blackfriars Rail Bridge appearing on it's former posts after dark:

Visit http://www.drift.org.uk/ .

On a Lighter Note

2008-10-14T04:00:00.006+01:00

Wow, that Nunhead story was deep, don't know where that came from... If you're looking for something a bit lighter, I fixed up this video that I've already posted earlier:

For the full story, check out the original post: The World is a Mirror . Back then I was still posting from my mobile phone. It feels like I've really come a long way since then, though it's less than 3 months ago...

If you like the cemetery stuff, these where taken a while back in Brompton Cemetery:

If you look closely you can actually see a copy of the A-Z London Map in my hand. Now I just use Google Maps on my phone (when I still need a map). I kinda miss the rush of being fresh of the plane, not knowing anything. I think it's time to get out of London for a while...

Nunhead Cemetery

2008-10-13T08:03:00.017+01:00

People sometimes ask me why I would want to visit a cemetery, to which I usually reply: “It's like a park, just better”. This is especially true of Nunhead Cemetery in London. Apparently it used to be a lawned cemetery with a few trees here and there, but somewhere during the 70's it became full and without any new “tenants”, it had no income, so they stopped maintaining it. Over time the lawns have turned into overgrown woodlands with hundreds of hidden tombstones lining the narrow pathways breaking away from the main road.

Which brings me to my next topic: Roads. I originally planned to start this post like this:

“Daniel's Road was a very short road, leading straight to the cemetery. Not a very cheerful sentence to start a story with, but only if you're reading it in an overly symbolic kind of way.”

I would then continue to tell a strange, overly symbolic, self-referring, metaphorical, paradoxical tale full of life lessons, starting with the night before:

“The conversation in the lounge at Daniel's house-share house turned serious. The topic was The Future and being not quite sure what the next step should be. It was clear that everybody in the room, including Daniel, was feeling some kind of pressure, whether it was from parents who expected a life with more direction, girlfriends wanting more stability or simply the nagging desire for adventure, caged in by time or financial constraints. They all felt the need for some kind of change, but nobody was completely sure of which direction to take. With his mind full of questions, Daniel went to bed, deciding that the following day should be spend reflecting on the past three months in London. Trying to make sense of it all, deciding where to take it from here. And what better place for contemplative reflection than a cemetery”

Then I would go on to describe how I discovered Daniel's Road opposite the cemetery and how it became a metaphor for my life's journey after I had a deja vu like sensation of the surroundings reminding me of places I've never been to and memories of events I've never experienced.

It would end with me realising how much I'm missing because I'm tangled up in my own though processes:

“He wandered the whole of the cemetery, and later the rest of the neighbourhood, wrapped up in his own thoughts, finding hidden meaning in things around him, trying to make sense of things, running the whole day over in his head, describing it before it even happened, attaching his own interpretation to everything. And then, at the top of the hill he came to a realisation. All this time he spent living in his own mind, he was actually wandering around oblivious to the reality of the things around him. The beauty of the shadow play on the autumn leaves on the ground escaped him, he was deaf to the calls of the magpies and crows mixing with the sounds of a wind chime somewhere in a tree and the delicately crafted stone angels and gargoyles staring at him all went unnoticed."

"He knew what to do, he quickly found a bench to empty his thoughts into his notebook, so he could continue unbothered by them and spend what was left of the day just experiencing everything around him."

"He spent a few minutes there, writing furiously and when he got up he was blissfully aware of the fact that he had no idea what was going to happen next, simply because he wasn't planning it.

He also realised how lucky he was to be a character in this strange, overly symbolic, self-referring, metaphorical, paradoxical story, because in real life one rarely gets a second chance to go back to what we missed the first time round.”

You might have noticed that I even considered writing it in the third person to convey the almost out-of-body dettached set of mind I was in.

I eventually realised however, that it would take a very experienced writer to make that kind of story work and even then most people wouldn't find it as cool as I first thought it would be. Also, it would have been just plain weird. But in a way my uncompleted little mind-trip story still says a lot about the effect Nunhead Cemetery had on me. You see, these old cemeteries have a very unique atmosphere to them. A peaceful, almost mystical kind of ambience where I sometimes lose myself in reflective thought and contemplation. And that's exactly what happened to me in Nunhead. A very powerful experience, but very difficult to convey. Something you have to experience for yourself to understand.

I was going to end the story by saying:

“Daniel's Road might be a short road with a hilltop cemetery to the south, but you can also choose to look north, down the hill, for a great view of the City. You might even be able to see St. Paul's Cathedral and the Eye of London, not visible in this photo, but to experience that you have to be there in person.”

If you where actually looking for some facts on Nunhead Cemetery and read through all my ramblings without finding any, you might want to visit Wikipedia or the Southwark Council website.

London Bits and Pieces

2008-10-06T02:45:00.008+01:00

The past couple of days have been rather uneventful. Well, uneventful might not quite be the appropriate word. I did add another year to my age this week, which I suppose does count as an “event”, but a more personal one, not the kind of thing most people would find interesting reading about. After all, everybody has a birthday once a year. I think what I'm trying to say is that I haven't experienced anything blog-worthy recently or at least I can't think of anything I can spin into a story interesting enough to post. Well, that's not entirely true either, Saturday night's birthday celebrations turned kind of wild in the end and would make amusing reading material, but it's probably better not to publicly publish the details of the night on the Internet...

So, today's post is a mix of random stuff, bits and pieces I found lying around in my “archives”. And what better way to start small talk than talking about the weather, the Brits do it all the time. We have to face the fact that summer really is over now, I took this picture of sunrise over the rooftops just after 07h00 one morning, a lot later than the mid-summer sunrise at around 04h00 in June when we arrived.

The temperature is also dropping fast and we've had one or two really grey and misty mornings.

The other day I realised that I've never been to Canary Wharf, even though it's just across the river from where I live. So I decided to take the ferry from the Hilton Docklands Hotel in stead of the boring old tube to the other side of the river for an afternoon outing.

This was taken from the pier while waiting for the ferry:

And this is the tunnel from the hotel to the pier:

I have been told that my previous post on the London Underground makes it seem a lot nicer than it actually is, so here's a shot of a busy day on Canary Wharf Underground Station:

Last weekend we went to the Olympia Centre in Kensington for the South African day of the Toast Festival. I don't think the event was really big enough to justify being called a festival, but it was nonetheless nice to have a few South African beers and boerewors rolls and get nostalgic with good music from back home. The centre itself is also very cool, with a very high ceiling and lots of windows, creating a kind of outdoor feel indoors, perfect for the unpredictable British weather. This is Freshly Ground on stage:

And finally, this is how I keep my room cheerful. It's one of two printed cotton throws I bought at a Camden Town Market stall. I'm using this one to block out the sun through my loft window so I can sleep during the day.

The Mayor's Thames Festival

2008-09-29T08:46:00.010+01:00

The Mayor's Thames Festival is an annual event hosted by the City of London to celebrate the City and it's River and maybe to boost old Boris' popularity a bit (the colourful Boris Johnson is of course the current Mayor of London).

During the two days of the festival the area along the river between Westminster and Tower Bridge (a big chuck of city!) is transformed into a free party and entertainment zone, so whatever the real purpose of the festival, it's great fun.

Unfortunately I missed most of the big events like the Banquet on the Bridge, the Night Carnival and the Fireworks, but I did manage to see some great street performers and musicians. Here's a short compilation of the acts I did see:

The main show of the afternoon at The Scoop amphitheatre was this guy and his mechanical horse. The “horse” is actually a remote controlled robot, but you soon forget this little fact as his skillful controller brings him to life and he becomes a wild, fire spewing, neighing, galloping character in the show. The performers have amazing interaction with the people in the audience, making them a part of the surreal show. They even manage to make a few children cry and surely violate a number of Health and Safety regulations, but this just makes it all the more entertaining!

These little segments do not come close to doing justice to the entire festival (not that I know how you're supposed to be able to experience everything on offer), but should at least be able to keep you amused for a few minutes.

What I Bought from The Hobgoblin

2008-09-22T02:36:00.008+01:00

On my way back from the St. Pancras Crypt I was lured into a side-street by the sounds of a harp floating on the wind. I followed the music and it led me down Rathbone Place straight through the doors of The Hobgoblin. The cosy little shop specialises in acoustic, folk, Celtic and world instruments and it wasn't long before I found myself lost amongst the mandolins, violins and guitars.

To tell the truth, ever since an unfortunate incident a few years ago involving a guitar getting it's neck crushed by a VW bus door, I've been missing a proper guitar to play on. Buying one has been in the back of my mind since I arrived in London, but I was looking for something very specific and wasn't expecting to find anything matching my needs as well as my budget soon, so I was just browsing and dreaming. After looking at a few steel string acoustic guitars I was about to leave when I mentioned to the shop assistant that I didn't see any classical nylon string guitars on the floor. He nodded his head to the side, indicating the stairs to the basement which I have somehow not noticed up to that point and for the second time that day I found myself going underground.

The basement is both a showroom and workshop with classical guitars lining the walls. A bit more interested now, but still not seriously considering buying anything, I started to casually go through the instruments. My monthly budget had already reached it's limit, so I was just smiling at the tags with mostly three and four digit handwritten prices on them, but then a surprising figure caught my eye. £20? Could this be right? I took the instrument from the wall. The 3/4 guitar was noticably smaller than the rest and it was definately second hand. I didn't mind the odd scratch here and there, but the obvious work done to the neck did concern me. The brand was a name I have never heard of and the design around the sound hole reminded me of Space Invaders. I asked the man with the gray ponytail behind the counter if the price on the tag was correct. He agreed that it sounded very cheap, but after showing him where the neck was rejoined to the body he remembered doing the repair work himself and confirmed the price. He assured me that the damage had been properly repaired and gave me a guarantee on his workmanship, but I was still sceptical. I had to hear for myself.

I sat down on the stool and tuned the strings with a few quick harmonics. Playing the first few chords I knew it would be difficult to put down this guitar and after a few fingerpicking sequences (mainly to check the fret positions, but also to show off a little) I was convinced. The sound is surprisingly rich and clear with a nice deep, mysterious resonance on the lower notes. The strings are at a perfect height above the fingerboard for a firm yet comfortable action. The 3/4 size makes it light and easy to handle and this combined with the character that comes with a secondhand instrument, makes it a perfect travel guitar. I knew that I had found exactly what I was looking for and the price meant I couln't say no.

On my way to the bus stop I was counting the days to payday and with my new second hand guitar under my arm and three-day-stubble on my face I was feeling kind of like a busker. By the way the bums on the street were smiling at me they must have gotten the same idea, but I have learned not to judge anything on outer appearances alone.

And this is what she sounds like:

Illumini

2008-09-16T08:13:00.016+01:00

The first thing you notice as you go down the steps is the stuffy, mouldy, yet strangely inviting smell. An old, damp, decaying, woodiness mixing with the smoke of burning incense.

Your eyes have to adjust to the darkness as you move into the depths, following the deep, hollow "doof-doof, doof-doof" of a heartbeat booming through a sound system with a lot of bass somewhere further down.

This is the crypt under St. Pancras, one of London's famous old churches. Once a burial place, the past few days it has been the striking venue for a free art exhibition. Illumini is a collection of sculptures, paintings, photographs, installations and other creations by 15 artist with one thing in common: they all use light in their work, either as subject or as medium. With themes like man's relationship with technology, perception of space and reality and the properties of light itself represented with neon, laser and projected and glowing light, the contrasting dark crypt is the perfect backdrop for this fascinating display of light. For more info go to www.illuminievent.co.uk/

My new computer, combined with the uninspiring weather, kept me indoors for most of last week. Even as I left for the exhibition on Saturday morning it was cool and cloudy and it took some self-persuasion to leave the house, but by the time I came out of the crypt it had changed into a cheerful autumn day and I was eager to get to the Thames Festival. Before heading back south of the river however, I wanted to explore the area a bit more. This is when I came across the Hobgoblin and - once again - couldn't leave without parting with money I didn't really have (no, The Hobgoblin is not a pub...). More about my latest purchase in my next post, which should be up soon.

I cracked

2008-09-03T10:56:00.007+01:00

I just couldn't take it anymore. Who was I trying to fool? I can never live isolated from all that is familiar and comfortable to me, cut off from the world I know. I can't go on like this. How am I supposed to survive without... a Laptop!

So on Saturday morning after a visit to the old Battersea Power Station building (which might be featured in a later post) I did not go home as planned, but semi-impulsively paid a visit to Tottenham Court Road "just to look" at what's on offer at the amazing number of electronics and computing stores, all next to each other on the High Street. An hour or two later, after some bargaining, haggling and poker-faced negotiation, I got on the tube shivering with excitement, a silly grin on my face, a new computer on my back and almost no savings left in my bank account...

Sure, I might have to live from bread and water for the next month, but I'm too happy to care. With an unlimited broadband connection, a decent machine and enough time, the only limit to what you are capable of is your own imagination. Sunday was a blur of technological indulgence, I jumped right in by installing Skype, what a wonderful invention. If anybody would like to keep in touch with me FREE OF CHARGE (except for data costs if you still have those...) email me for my Skype details. Then I had to do a bit of SARS e-filing to get the business affairs in order (yawn...), before I could get lost in Youtube. Youtube, who needs TV! Here's a few of the gems I came across:

An old one, but still hilarious:

If you have a bit of bandwith to spare, a little bitter-sweet one:

By the way, I found quite a few ways to save Youtube videos to your hard disk, if anybody is interested...

Then I became a resident of Second Life. I've never seen anything like it! It's like Facebook meets 3D adventure meets online shopping. A huge, real-time, online, 3D environment where people (or more accurately, their avatars) interact, chat, buy and sell, explore, "live" and even create anything from buildings (on land you can buy) to clothing. Brands like Adidas have "real" shops in there and you can even attend a live concert with "real world" artists on stage! Take a look at www.secondlife.com, but be warned, it's addictive.

And when is the last time you checked out Google Earth? Did you know you can now go right down to street level to see 3D buildings? Or fly over your home town in a flight simulator? And when you get tired of earth, you can just leave it and explore the rest of the galaxy!

Honestly, I've been using the Internet for more than a decade now, but for the first time I'm beginning to feel the magic. I am really excited (and a bit scared) by where all this is going.

Needless to say, I think the "Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone" line at the end of my posts will not show up as often as it used to.

Notting Hill Carnival

2008-08-30T07:45:00.001+01:00

Monday was a bank holiday, making the weekend a good old 'langnaweek'. The long weekend was also the time of the famous/notorious annual Notting Hill Carnival. Since the 60's the Caribbean people of London have been taking to the streets of Notting Hill on these two days with parades, floats and costumes to celebrate and display their culture. They are now joined by the rest of the city and the world to create the biggest street party in Europe and the second biggest in the world apart from Rio. We went there on the Sunday, the milder of the two days, but it was still crazy, with masses of people dancing in the streets to Reggae and Calypso music pumping through hugh sound systems, drinking rum from coconuts and eating jerk chicken sold by hundreds of stalls while the police nervously watch on. It's the most people I've ever seen in one place and yet the media reported that only 250 000 showed up on the Sunday, while the main event was attended by around 600 000 trampling each other on the Monday! I hate to hear that I missed out on a great party by going home too soon, but in this case it doesn't bother me that much...

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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Orange trees and Aradhna

2008-08-26T06:03:00.001+01:00

Here in the UK there's a mobile (cellphone) network called Orange with an interesting advertising campaign. It's the i-am-everyone campaign and it's basically about how you are who you are because of everyone else and the relationships you have with them (and of course how Orange keeps you connected with everyone). The people in the TV ads literally say: 'I am everyone', which is a weird thing to hear if you don't understand the context! You can check it out on www.i-am-everyone.co.uk if you're interested. I have a similar philosophy: It might be true that any one leaf is not the tree in its totality, yet every leaf is as much the tree as every other part of the tree (all the parts have the same DNA if you want to get technical about it) and in that sense every leaf IS the Tree and stems from the same source as every other part of the tree. 'What is all this talk of Orange ads, leafs and trees really about?' you might be wondering. Last Sunday we went to see Aradhna, a group of 'western' (American, Canadian and British if I'm correct) musicians who grew up or spent a lot of time in eastern countries (India, Pakistan, Nepal). They play devotional Christian music in Hindi using sitar, guitar, tabla and violin and this particular afternoon they were doing it in a baptist church in south west London. It was a harmonious blend of east and west in a musical, cultural and religious sense and it got me thinking of the diversity of the world and the conflict it creates. Surely, somewhere beneath all our artificial differences there must be eternal truths we can all agree on? Where does the common ground lie? Is it possible that we are all looking for the same thing without realising it because we are looking in different places and call it different names? And in the sacred atmosphere created by the interaction between the musicians and the congregation my mind and spirit began to ponder these questions. The realisations I came to are the kind of thoughts you discuss with good friends around a bottle of wine or a campfire and are difficult to express in a blog, but if you have the same questions, you may want to find a tree to sit under for a while, try to find the wisdom in an Orange advert and definately visit www.aradhnamusic.com.

(My apologies to Aradhna for using their music in my slide show without their permission)

The Thames

2008-08-15T08:12:00.001+01:00

It's 02h10 in the morning and I just woke up to get a glass of water and now I can't go back to sleep again. It might be because I had one too many beers at our braai last night, but I think its more a case of my body not realising that night-time is sleep-time. I suppose this is a normal result of working four night shifts per week... So in stead of rolling around in my bed, I am going through the 'archives' on my phone and found a few nice river videos. I suppose compared to other mighty rivers of the world the Thames (pronounced 'Tems' or sometimes 'Tames' depending on where you're from) isn't all that special, but to me, coming from a dry part of a dry country, its a truely magnificent sight. Excuse me for sounding cliche, but that really is the best way to describe it, and thats just because of its size, not even mentioning the historical and technological aspects. So to give you a glimpse of the little stream I live next to, here's a few fun facts about the River Thames to go with the videos:

In most parts of the city, there's a high wall on the river bank on both sides separating water from city. I say most parts because I can only speak of what I have seen, but I suspect its like this in the whole city.

The River actually has tides. Twice a day the water level rises and falls like the sea with a difference of as much as 7 metres between high tide and low tide. At high tide the water sometimes splashes over the wall, reminding you of the force of the river and at low tide you can actually go down to the 'beach' at certain spots with stairs or ladders on the wall.

The River divides the city into a north side and south side, each with its own unique character. To me north has a more Gauteng business-like feel to it while south has a more relaxed Capetonian vibe, but maybe thats just me. Of course there's also a difference between the more cultured west side and the 'cheaper' east. We live in the south-east, work out the combination for yourself.

The River plays a big role in transport, not as much as it used to, but its still used by cargo ships, the occasional cruise liner as well as the navy. A lot of people also commute to and from work on a public transport system of fast clippers.

The water level can be controlled with the Thames Barrier to prevent floods.

The Romans (and others) used the river to transport their armies into London when they invaded the city.

On a more recreational note, you also see a lot of party boats going up and down the river as well as sight seeing tour boats, private yachts and smaller boats. There's even a floating pub or two. The River was also the site of the Red Bull Air Race two weekends ago, not far from where we live.

When I sleep with my window open I can hear the waves breaking against the river wall and it almost sounds like the sea...

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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

2008-08-15T07:47:00.001+01:00

Part two - First read the post below

2008-08-08T19:50:00.001+01:00

As I was saying before the rain: nice view. We didn't feel like standing in line to get on the line, so we just took a picture of all the people in line waiting to get their picture taken with the line (the meridian line, that is). Then we were off for some pub-hopping, just in time for happy hour. The next day we had a house braai at home and Sunday I was back at work. A fun weekend, only problem is when I realised on Monday that I can't find my debit card, I had no idea where to start looking. After half an hour of searching and still no card, I was convinced that I had lost it and had to phone the bank to cancel it. Of course, just as I put the phone down, I discovered it in the pocket of a pair of pants I wore over the weekend... Now I'm waiting for the bank to send me a new one. It seems as if new and interesting ways of saving money keeps on finding me.

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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

I'm back online!

2008-08-08T16:50:00.001+01:00

It's the second of my three off days per week and I'm sitting on a park bench in Holland Park. It's more like a forest in the middle of the city actually, really cool. Thats the first video. If you where wondering what happen to me, I was offline for more than a week because of 'technical difficulty'. My phone just froze up and when I restarted it it refused to send any text messages or emails. I finally got it fixed by re-installing the software, basically formating the phone. It's nice to have a clean start, once you've made peace with the fact that you've lost most of the contacts in your phone book and have to set up all phone settings again including internet and email... At least I have contact with the rest of the world again, so for now, just a quick summary of the past week. Last Friday I could at long last get hold of my first months wages. Pictured here is a months rent just before I paid it. The fact that I got it a week late was actually a good way of saving money, so I decided I deserve a bit of fun over the weekend. We started off in Greenwich Park (pronounced without the 'W'), where the meridian line 'originates' or whatever the correct technical term might be. If you want the details, Google or Wikipedia it, but its basically the line dividing the eastern and western hemisphere and the point where time begins (in the greenwich meantime sense, not the universal time and space sense). It sounds more impressive than it really is, but you do get a great view from the top of the hill. I tried to capture it, but the photo and video does not convey half of it.
*blogging temporarily suspended due to rain*

--
Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Wisdom, wages and waterfalls.

2008-07-30T21:05:00.000+01:00

Like I said last time, life is really what you make of it. Being happy, or rather, feeling content and at peace is not determined by your circumstances, it's not about being lucky or unlucky. Living a joyfull and meaningful life is not a result of the gods smiling or frowning upon you. It's not about the things that 'happen to you', it's about the meaning you give to these things, your interpretation of it all, the pattern you see emerging from seemingly random events. In other words, it's about your mindset. With the right outlook you can find meaning and happiness in any situation, just like you can be unfulfilled and unhappy in 'perfect' circumstances. 'What brought on this sudden blurt of existential ramblings?' I can hear you ask. Well, as I am writing this, our landlord is downstairs with an industrial vacuum cleaner, sucking buckets full of water from the instant indoor water feature that, up to this morning, used to be our french housemate's room on the first floor. The toilet on the second floor that has been blocked for the last few days seemed fairly innocent until it turned out to be just a small symptom of a much bigger plumbing problem that caused a pipe in the roof to turn into a nice fountain, feeding a steady waterfall onto the frenchman's bed. Luckily, according to our landlord, it's just water from the shower outlet and not sewerage from the toilet. I doubt whether our french friend will be able to recognise the luck in the situation when he comes home tonight to his new waterbed... This same landlord is, interestingly enough, the same guy that 'accidently' got rid of all my roommate's earthly belongings (including his passport and documents) by taking it to the dump, thinking it was rubbish left by the previous tenants. He is also the same guy that I still owe a week's rent to, but that's not his fault, I have my employer to thank for that. When the payroll department eventually realised their mistake of paying a total of £0.00 (complete with payslip) into my account as monthly wages, they thought it was a good idea to correct the problem by immediatly mailing me a cheque. A cheque that takes four working days to be cleared by the bank, effectively leaving me penniless for close to a week. To top it all, I am reporting this unfortunate chain of events to you from my room/sauna on one of the hottest days of the year (yes, London can get hot!) after giving up trying to get some much needed sleep before working night shift again tonight. If you are getting tired of what seems to be me complaining, here's the point I'm actually trying to make: I can choose to be miserable or angry or curse the gods for the raw deal they have dealt me. Or I can say at least I sleep on the second floor, above the unlucky guy with the wet bed and at least my backpack is in my closet, unlike my roommate's. Or I can say: 'Hey, I'm in London, one of the greatest cities in the world, I have a full month's wages in the bank (even though I can't spend it yet), I have a job that pays enough to keep me comfortable (even though I'd like to earn more and work less) and I can keep doing this for at least another eleven months. I'm living the life I chose, whatever else happens is part of the adventure and I'm loving it!'

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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

The World is a Mirror

2008-07-25T14:50:00.004+01:00

(For a more recent, better quality version of this video, see On a Lighter Note) 14 October 2008

I was part of this little upside down scene on the tube late one night when I came to a realisation. Before I came to London I read a lot of books, articles and websites about the place and spoke to friends, travel agents and strangers that's been here. They all painted their own pictures, but the general idea I got was of a rather unfriendly, grey, depressing, highly developed place where you could make a lot of money and occasionally have a lot of fun if you don't mind losing yourself. I can see how people might see it that way, but my impression so far is very different. I'm experiencing something I think is rather accurately captured in this video: a friendly, diverse, entertaining, crowded, highly developed, sometimes a bit disorientating, vibrant place with a lot of strangers interacting with each other more than you would expect and a lot of dogs. You really do see a lot of dogs around here, watch the video till the end if you don't know what I'm talking about. What is important though, is not the question of what London is really like, but rather the fact that we all see it differently. The fact that when we look at the city (and actually everything else, for that matter) we not so much see London and the way it really is, but we see ourselves and the way we really are reflected in it. So whether you see something as threatening or inviting, a blessing or a curse, fate or coincidence, something to smile at or loose your temper over, depends more on you than on the actual situation you are experiencing. And once you realise that, everything changes. So when you read my blog, watch my videos and look at my pictures, don't expect to see an objective picture of London, but rather to see bits of me reflected in London. Or if that's too deep, you can just have fun looking at the pretty pictures if you want! By the way, if anybody can help me turn these videos the right way up, please let me know.

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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

A Poor Man's Diet

2008-07-24T12:12:00.001+01:00

Since my arrival in London I've been living off money I brought with me from home. There is of course a big difference in cost of living and income between here and SA, so my first pay cheque, which is due tomorrow will be very welcome! Watching my funds evaporate with each travel pass I buy and each pint I drink (not to mention paying rent including a huge deposit), I have been forced to become a master in budget shopping. Tesco value products (similar to pick-n-pay's no-name brand) are my new best friends. Have a look at my little display of a week's shopping (which cost me about £6), notice anything missing? Yip, no meat... I get my protein from canned food, nuts, milk and fish. But it's not really that bad, to tell the truth, I think it's actually a very healthy diet and with all the walking we have to do here without a car, I'm actually quite fit. For the first time in years I can see my six-pack again! But for now the holiday is definately over. As famous attractions become familiar scenery and buses become a way of commuting rather than sightseeing, as housemates and colleages become friends and a homeshare house a home and with each time I say 'yeah' in stead of 'ja', I'm becoming less tourist and more Londoner.

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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

The Mayflower

2008-07-23T20:24:00.000+01:00

Having a pint at The Mayflower on the Thames. Its already 19:20, but the sun is not even close to setting.

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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

More glimpses of London

2008-07-19T14:00:00.000+01:00

Tower Bridge (not to be confused with London Bridge or Tower of London!), sunset over the Thames and Big Ben.

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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Glimpses of London continued

2008-07-19T13:09:00.000+01:00

The Tower of London.

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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Glimpses of London

2008-07-19T12:17:00.001+01:00

I've been here for exactly 4 weeks now. Instead of analysing and labeling everything I've seen and done so far, I'll rather just post a bunch of random photos and let you make up your own mind for now.

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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Inside the Tube

2008-07-13T05:24:00.001+01:00

Very bad quality video, but gives you an idea of what a tube ride is like whith all the repetitive noises. If you listen closely you might be able to hear the automatic voice announcements.

Waiting for the next one

2008-07-13T05:14:00.001+01:00

A typical platform on an underground station, except for the fact that its not overcrowded. You can still hear the busker echoeing in the tunnels. The noise on the microphone is actually the wind created by the train as it rushes through the tunnel, almost scary. And then of course the 'Mind the Gap' as the doors open.

Underground busker

2008-07-13T05:02:00.001+01:00

You will have to turn your head or your monitor sideways for this one. Buskers like this guy can apply for designated spots in the tube stations. Most of them are really good, and add to the underground vibe.

Mind the Gap

2008-07-13T04:51:00.001+01:00

One of the first truely British things we were exposed to was the London Underground, or Tube as it is also known. It is a masterpiece of engineering, planning organisation, timing, overcrowding and very convenient and rather frustrating all at the same time. Our first trip was from Heathrow to the hostel in Kensal Green. You can follow on the map: Heathrow is on the blue Piccadilly line bottom left. We travelled up to Piccadilly Circus station where we changed to the brown Bakerloo line which took as to Kensal Green station. Not rocket science if you take the right train in the right direction (eastbound/westbound, northbound/southbound), the problem comes in when some of the lines are not working or are delayed. You can easily spend an extra hour underground. Even so, its still an amazing system, think about it:There's a station within walking distance to just about anywhere in the city and a train stops at every station every 5 to 10 minutes. This means that you can get from anywhere to anywhere within an hour or two using only public transport. If thats not enough, there's also the buses, which does more or less the same thing just a bit slower. And with a travel ticket you have unlimited access to both these services for as long as the ticket is valid! What does 'mind the gap' mean? All trains have an automatic voice talking to the passengers telling them what the next stop is, when the doors are closing etc. And at each stop it tells you to 'please mind the gap between the train and the platform' as if you cant see it! A perfect example of the British health and safety overconsciousness. The rhythm of the announcements, the beeps and doors opening and closing can be hypnotic and many people have fallen asleep on the tube, missing their stop. But even that is not a problem, since you can just get off at the next stop and take the next train back, as long as its before 1 in the morning when all trains stop running, in which case you will have to take a night bus, but thats another story all on its own...

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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Wormwood Scrubs

2008-07-12T19:02:00.000+01:00

Wormwood Scrubs park and recreational area close to Hostel 639. Nothing compared to the big parks like Hyde or Regents, but still great for a morning walk.

Typical Kensal Green street

2008-07-12T18:37:00.000+01:00

Our second day in London, in front of the local library were we sent some emails to let everyone know we arrived safely.

Kensal Green

2008-07-12T05:41:00.001+01:00

From the airport we took the tube to Kensal Green, Brent in the North West. We were booked into Hostel 639 for a week, sharing a 6 bedroom dormitory with strangers. At first we were a bit shocked at what we got ourselves into, but we soon got used to it and it turned out to be great fun, smelly rooms and all. And really cheap, which was the most important part. We met some great people (Hi Robbie!) and it was the perfect centre for our first week as backpackers in London, with a tube station and bus stop right across the road, Notting Hill to the south and a few pubs and restaurants within walking distance. Apart from lack of privacy, it was a great carefree week of exploration and adjustment.

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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

2008-07-12T05:20:00.000+01:00

Our room, complete with roommates. That box in the corner to the left of the sink is the shower. All-in-one convenience!

2008-07-12T05:12:00.000+01:00

Viva Mzansi!

2008-07-12T05:02:00.000+01:00

A view from across the street. The coach was probably on its way to the cemetery next to the hostel. Nice neighbourhood...

2008-07-12T04:54:00.000+01:00

At least an attempt was made to make the hostel look funky with murals on all the walls.

2008-07-12T04:48:00.001+01:00

The entrance. This was no 5 star hotel!

2008-07-12T04:38:00.000+01:00

Hostel 639

Welcome to my adventure!

2008-07-12T03:21:00.004+01:00

On 20 June 2008, after months of anticipation and planning (or years, depending on how you see it) I landed on Heathrow Airport, London. I was hoping to have access to a computer as soon as possible to document my experiences and keep in touch with everybody back home, but it didn't work out that way, so I was forced to start exploring all the possibilities my mobile phone has to offer. This blog is the result of that adventure in technology. Thanks to a few brilliant products, including Sony Ericsson's K850i, Google Blogger, Opera Mini web browser, O2 mobile network and a few others, I am now able to blog from anywhere with 3G coverage using only my mobile phone. Even the photos and videos are captured with the phone's camera. The hardest part is typing these long posts... The first few posts will be material accumulated on my phone over the last three weeks, but hopefully after that I will be able to post material right after it was captured and you will have a semi-direct window into what I see, hear and think. Please leave your comments so we can make this a two-way experience!