What I didn’t really “get” about the guitar was that it is in fact an instrument. Not merely an ornamental space age design coat hanger type thing. Then, during 2006 I started travelling alot and realised that I was losing alot of practice time as a result. I needed a guitar with travebility!!(There is nothing more stressful than going to Sierra Leone carrying a Les Paul around)

So on returning home, I remembered this strange thing I saw at the shop and went there. They had about 3 in stock and one of them was the nylon version. I went for the steel string acoustic!

As I picked it up I was amazed at how light it was. My first thought was…”Its a Toy!” That was only untill I plugged it in and played it.

It did not quite sound like a Taylor or a Martin…but through the headphones sounded pretty damn close!! I fell in love with it immediately!
I played it in the shop for about 2 hours realising the potential this instrument had as a performance Guitar. Great sound, no feedback, great reverbs and compact!

Another one of its many great features is that I find its playabiliy to be superb. It’s even, balanced and the intonation is amazing.

This guitar has subsequently travelled to about 30 African countries with me. It has taken well to different climates and humidity levels without any dramatic set up’s necessary.

I have used it both live and in the studio. It has become one of my favourites and I cant do without it anymore.

To sum up, the Yamaha Silent Guitar is a unique and superb instrument. It’s design won’t appeal to everybody, but as a mate of mine pointed out… Every guitarist needs to practice late at night once in a while…:)

Take Care
Chat soon

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa

Silver Orange Bistro has a country style and is situated on a family owned farm. The bistro is a small thatched house that seats between 60 – 70 people in three separate rooms. There is also a small patio outside which hosts a few tables, and one could always book a table in the garden under an umbrella if the weather was nice.

The Silver Orange Bistro has won many awards over the last few years, including ‘Top 100 Restaurants Dine’ and ‘Diners Club Gold Award’ just to mention 2 of their 5 accolades since their establishment in 2004.

The food is fantastic, 10 out of 10, and the presentation deserves a score higher than 10!
I would have to say that this is most definitely in the top 5 restaurants I have ever been to, worldwide!

Prices are very reasonable, and out of my top 5 restaurants, this is the cheapest. The total bill for my wife and I, which included 2 starters, 2 mains, 1 desert, 1 bottle of wine and 4 other drinks including Don Pedro’s was just over R500

Then again, don’t take my word for it, try it out for yourself .

Website: http://www.silverorangebistro.co.za

City: Hartbessport

Country: South Africa

The Sunday we arrived in Bangalore and had already prearranged a taxi (from the hotel one of us was staying at) to fetch us from the airport. This went without a problem, and the driver was waiting for us on the other side of baggage claim with a board with our names on it. The driving to the hotel was an experience on its own, but that is another story for another review.

Once at the hotel, I needed to get to the office I was working at in Bangalore, so called the front desk to ask for a taxi, 15 minutes later the taxi from Meru was there and they took me to office, although they got totally lost and had to stop for directions 6 times to ask the locals on the side of the road where the Cisco buildings were, I reached my destination.

The rest of the week however, was a totally different story. I would be finished work between 7pm – 8pm and on the first day, I naturally assumed I could just call a taxi and it would be there within a few moments. Monday I called the Meru taxi company in Bangalore and asked for a taxi to fetch me from the Cisco offices and take me back to the hotel, I was informed that the wait for a taxi would be 3 hours!!! Long story short, I called the hotel and had one of their drivers fetch me, and only had to wait 25 minutes for collection.

Tuesday, was a public holiday in India, and I knew a little better this time to order in advance, so I called Meru Taxi’s 2 hours before I needed collection, and they were able to assist. When the taxi driver dropped me off at the hotel, I asked if it would be possible for him to fetch me again at 10pm that evening. He assured me that this would be no problem, and he gave me his mobile number and said I should call him at 9:30pm to find out the exact time he would arrive. He explained that the traffic in Bangalore is so bad that he would either be there between 9:45 and 10:15 so calling him would be best to find out the exact time. 9:30pm, I call the cab driver and ask where he is, I was informed that he was now at the airport and that he can’t fetch me….end of story…he was just not willing to come all the way back for the fare. So I called Meru Taxi’s call centre and tried to book another taxi, I was informed that between 12:30 – 1:30 AM was the earliest a taxi could be there…. Yet again I used the Hotels private driver.

So to cut a long story short, Wednesday I had a similar problem and was informed a taxi would take 4 hours to arrive, so I booked my return trip at the same time, which arrived 2 hours late!!! Thursday I booked the taxi in the morning (9am) for collection at 8pm, he made it one time, but was unable to get another lift later that evening. Due to this, the rest of my trip I just used the hotel’s driver.

So in conclusion… If you need to get around in Bangalore, good luck with using the taxi service of Meru Taxi’s! Rather stay at a hotel that will charge you 5 times as much as the Taxi company, but will give you piece of mind, and will be able to get you from A to B in a sufficient time frame.

City: Bangalore

Country: India

For all Guitar Enthusiasts

True Temperament Necks

I did not really know what to make out of this one when I saw it. But, if Steve Vai is playing a neck designed like this…it should be credible. Right?

Most Guitarists know that a guitar is a tonally imperfectly designed instrument. Haven’t we all bitched and moaned about the sudden tuning and intonation problems that are caused by changing strings, climate differences etc? Well look no more.

I’m not exactly sure of the science of this, but I think I will give it a brief try… Traditionally, on a guitar, equally and parallel spaced frets take only one factor of a vibrating strings tonal characteristic into account. It’s scale length. (I.e. the distance from nut to bridge)
Excluded is, the strings relative tension and its mass. This traditionally causes huge intonation problems. Since depending on the tuning, (and were assuming the Standard) we all know that the same note can occur multiple times at different places on the fret board. Sometimes though, although we have a perfect tuning on the open string, some sought after notes on this string sound out of tune when played further up the neck. In other words, a specific note will sound in tune on one part of the board and completely out of tune on a different part, even if all the strings are perfectly tuned. This is traditionally known as an intonation problem. Normally we adjust the scale length on the guitar to compensate for this.

Traditional way of setting intonation:

If a string sharpens itself going up the neck…we lengthen the scale length by shifting backwards the string saddles on the bridge.
If the guitar flattens itself as we go up the neck…we shorten the scale length by shifting forward the string saddles on the bridge.

Now, with True Temperament, the frets are spaced (bent) in such a fashion to give us pure notes anywhere on the fret board. Some frets are lengthened because the traditional spacing made a note seems sharp, and of course vice versa.

So…in guitarists speak. You can now fret a “D” chord and move it all the way up the neck and it will stay perfectly in pitch!

Well, I’m not sure about the look? But apparently these guitars play exactly like parallel straight fretted ones and sound beautifully in tune.

I’m keen to try!!!

Check out the following website.

Cheers for now!

Website: http://www.truetemperament.com

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa

South African Special Forces League

How many of you have ever sat in a bar and had some loudmouth endear you with tales of bravery and military prowess? Stories like… “I was a recce …blah blah blah”

It’s happened to me quite often.

A former colleague now friend of mine is a bonafide South African Special Forces Operative. And as our friendship grew, I had the privilege of learning about the necessary character traits, the personal sacrifice, and the incredible integrity required to earn that title.

To call yourself a “Recce” or an “Operator” when you are not…is actually an incredible insult. Especially those operators and their families who made the ultimate sacrifice for their Country.

I.e. Our Safety and Freedom

Anyways…check out the following website.

http://www.recce.co.za

It gives you quite a bit of insight as to the history, motto, insignia of the South African Special forces, and sheds light on how closely knit these individuals really are.

It also shows how unkindly they take to impostors. Check out the “Wall of Shame”

To all “Wannabes” out there…I’d think twice if I were you!

Cheers for now…

Website: http://www.recce.co.za

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa

Not having a grand budget, economic recession and all…We decided that this year’s holiday destination would be closer to home vs. a trip to Europe. So, my other half and I opted to go to Namibia. In the initial study, the pictures of scenery were appealing and it seemed like a different thing to do. Yet, in the back of my mind I could not help but wonder…What could one possibly do in the desert?
So after a decent flight and a pleasantly empty Windhoek International Airport, we rented a car and made our way to the quaint town of Swakopmund.
Adorned with German colonial architecture and the Namib dunes to its south, the personality of this town grabs you in the first few minutes of arrival.

Accommodation:

We stayed in a place called Rapmund. It’s a quaint little bed and breakfast in the centre of town where everything you need is within walking distance. The price is approximately R500 per day for a double bed room and includes a very good Namibian style breakfast buffet… making it a steal!

Activities:

Quad Biking

Within a walking distance from Rapmund you get to rent a Quad bike with a guide and go on a 90 minute quad bike low and high speed adventure through the desert. Going up and down the dunes is so exhilarating and evokes child hood dreams of being a fighter pilot! Too cool! Adrenalin guaranteed! Just make sure you wear sunscreen ?

Desert Tours
There is a local tour guide called Tommy (i.e. Tommy’s Desert Tours) who takes you into the desert in a comfortably converted Land Rover. The enthusiastic Tommy introduces you to some of the fascinating, hidden life in this apparently barren landscape that is part of the Namib Desert. Tommy digs, runs after, and catches for you look at and sometimes hold creatures endemic to the Namib: the sidewinder (Peringuey’s Adder), the nocturnal Palmato Gecko with its transparent skin and beautiful colours, the desert chameleons etc…
Tommy is educational, fun and gives you an unforgettable experience. It’s sort of like meeting the late Steve Irwin. You will see the desert and dunes with new eyes. The photographic opportunities are endless too: make sure those batteries are charged before you leave!

Dolphin Cruises

Originally only operating from Walvisbaai, these tours now operate from the peer in Swakopmund. You get to enjoy a half day cruise that takes you on a round trip south to the Guano Island where one gets the great opportunity to feed Pelicans in flight. Then one heads out between multitudes of anchored vessels to the seal colony on another Island called Pelican Point. Some of these boats are in a very bad state of neglect and it brings an interesting dynamic to the trip. The eeriness one feels when these semi derelicts come out at you from the mist has a very surreal quality. At Pelican Point the boat is boarded by seals that are fed on the deck. It’s really interesting and a little daunting being so close to these beautiful mammals! From there on, one heads out to sea a little and lunch is served. Lunch is a great finger food type of buffet with as many Oysters as you can eat! All along the cruise, one gets to see varied species of Dolphin that in a playful manner swim with the boat. If one is lucky, one also gets to see Whales or a Sun fish…locally known as the Mola Mola, it’s a giant strange creature that feasts on the plankton rich waters and is really a sight to behold.

Sky Diving

Operating from a field about 5km outside of Swakopmund one gets the opportunity to strap onto a tandem master and throw your self out of a perfectly functional aircraft at 10000 ft. All of this is done by a highly professional crew with a good safety record. Not only is it a great Adrenalin Rush, but it also gives you a scenic flight over the town and parts of the desert. Your free fall incorporates an awesome view of the ocean and desert together. Not for the feint hearted, but definitely worth it. It’s also a great bonding experience to undertake with your partner.

Mountaineering:
Spitzkoppe

About an hour and half drive in an easterly direction located between Usakos and Swakopmund is the Spitzkoppe. It comprises of a group of bald granite peaks in the Namib Desert. The granite is more than 700 million years old and the highest outcrop rises about 1784 meters (5857 feet) above sea level. The peaks stand out dramatically from the flat surrounding plains. The highest peak is about 700m above the floor of the desert below. A minor peak- the Little Spitzkoppe – lies nearby at an elevation of 1584 metres above sea level. Made accessible for tourists, we got there with the little Toyota Yaris quite easily. One just has to take it slowly.

Having featured in the movie 10000 BC, the Spitzkoppe is an amazing and mystical sight to behold. It is best visited at dawn because the light then is very special and it can get very hot. On its eastern side, there is a chain that you can use to successfully climb up parts of the rock without specialised equipment. Once inside the granite area, many examples of Bushmen artwork can be seen painted on the rock and scenery it is priceless. It’s absolute silence, history and anthropology makes the Spitzkoppe radiate a certain mystical magic one very seldom gets to experience in life. A must see. Be prepared though…Good shoes, a hat, enough water and sunscreen are necessary.

Food and Restaurants:

There are a multitude of good restaurants in town. But for us, the one that stood out was the “Brauhaus”. Specialising in a mixture of German and Namibian cuisine, an exceptionally good meal is guaranteed for a decent price. Reserve a table early though…it’s very popular.

To sum things up…Namibia wormed its way into my soul and I’ll definitely return there again. It’s safe, clean and incredibly welcoming to all tourists. With a multitude of activities that speaks to both the adventurist and the conservative, there is something for everyone…Museum’s, beaches, Camel rides in the Desert. Namibia gets my vote ten fold over!

Cheers for now…

City: All

Country: All

Quake-ravaged Haiti has called for help and South Africa has answered. Led by the Gift of the Givers and Rescue SA, the teams were due to fly through several countries and begin arriving in Haiti from about 5pm South African time on Friday the 15th January 2010

The Gift of the Givers Foundation is the largest disaster relief organisation of African origin on the African continent.

Rescue South Africa (RSA) is an official South African Disaster Response Team made up of volunteer emergency response specialists from the South African public and private sector emergency and ancillary services.

Here is a quick synopsis

On Monday, 18 January 2010, Gift of the Givers 2nd Search and Rescue team departed for Haiti on an Air France flight to Paris and onward to the Dominican Republic. The team comprises 6 specialists who are also advance life support paramedics. As with the first team they are carrying R2.5 million of heavy equipment. This team is accompanied by our first 4-member medical team which is carrying essential medical supplies. A media delegation has accompanied this 2nd team.

The 1st 10-member Search and Rescue team was received by Caritas/Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Santa Domingo on Saturday, 16 January 2010 and, in convoy with a security escort was taken to the CRS compound in Port Au Prince. Caritas, an internationally renowned charity, has been well established in Haiti and the Dominican Republic for many years, and is our ground partner. This journey from Santa Domingo to the Haitian capital took 9 hours. At 04h00 the team members got a huge fright as there were gunshots outside the compound; one bullet struck a gate close to the team. Thankfully they are all safe.

On Monday, 18 January 2010, the first team was assigned an area which no team had thus far reached. The 60km arduous journey through destroyed roads took 2.5 hours. The devastation was mind boggling, with no sign of life, only a litter of corpses and the sick stench of decomposed bodies along the way. The first stop was a Catholic mission, totally destroyed; 5 bodies were recovered. At another site 9 more bodies were recovered.

On Tuesday, 19 January 2010, the team has been assigned their gruesome duty; move to a hospital site to remove 600 bodies to start preparing the hospital to be used as a hospital. Six of our team members will be deployed here and will be joined by a 7-member Mexican team. The other 4 members are going to a Cathedral to start suturing and treating the huge influx of patients arriving there.

On Wednesday, 20 January 2010, their brief is to move to another city where no team has reached. It is believed that many are in need of medical assistance here. It is also believed that their are numerous survivors in this city. Access by road is impossible. At a briefing today, the Gift of the Givers team were told that they will be flown in on UN helicopters on this day and would be the first Search and Rescue Team to be taken in.

Gift of the Givers team is also on standby for Caritas if the organisation is made aware of the signs of human life in any structure. It is quite clear that the first team has to be strongly supported to maximise the chance of survival and also the need to provide medical assistance to a seriously traumatised nation. Hence, the 6-member additional Search and Rescue Team has been dispatched with the first 4-member medical team. On Wednesday, 20 January 2010, another 11 member medical team departs with large quantities of medical supplies. On Thursday, 21 January 2010, ten more medical specialists depart. Another 20 medical personnel are on standby in the days to come.

I would like to Congratulate our Hero’s (Some of them friends of mine) in this humanitarian effort. It’s wonderful to see our country give assistance irrespective of race, religion, colour, class, political affiliation or geographical boundary. May you all be safe, blessed and come home when the job is done!

“Such that others may live!”

God Bless

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa

During my first of many trips into the DRC, I realized that depending on the type of work you do, one is exposed to sometimes harrowing flights in a variety of different aircraft. But nothing grabbed my fancy more than flying in the Antonov An 2.

Designed in the 1940’s, the An 2 is a relatively large biplane generally used as a light utility transport because it’s slow speed and good field performance. This quality makes it very suited for short, unimproved fields of which there are plenty in the DRC!!!

The client knowing that I have a particular interest in aviation was kind enough to let me sit in front with the pilot. He introduced himself to me as Yuri and passed me a flask.
“Courage?” he asked…
“Ahh…no thanks” I quivered wondering what was in the flask.
Yuri then started shouting something towards the back of the aircraft and a packer climbed over the cargo littering the entrance of the cockpit and stuck his head inside the minute gap that used to be the emergency exit.
A barrage of instructions came from Yuri…and none that I understood.

Yuri looked at my quizzing mug and elaborated in a stiff Russian accent.
“Dis packer dropped bag of cement on last flight…Dust Everywhere! Dust on Windscreen…Dust on instruments…I can’t see things. Just making sure he knows I kill him if drops one again.”
“Oh boy” I sighed as a sense of impending doom came over me.
“You like my office?” Yuri pointed at his cockpit.
It was a little different to what I was used to in an aircraft, because all the instruments displayed metric information. But most of all I admired the very old fashioned fan blowing air onto Yuri’s face.
“It’s interesting for sure. I fly Cessna’s at home…”
Yuri looked at me with a beady eye and muttered only one thing back.
“Dis very different” and started the engine.

Nothing prepares one for the noise coming from the Shvetsov ASh-62 radial engine. It’ loud, bombastic and it filled me with exhilaration.

Before I knew it we were airborne, crossed the Kasai River and were flying no higher than 100m (app 330 ft) above the ground. The tree tops from the jungle were almost touchable and scenes from the movie “Out of Africa” came to mind. We flew between valleys…and then at very low level with a river before struggling to get enough altitude to clear a hill.
It was amazing!
As the flight progressed Yuri gave me control of the beast. I took control and found her to be remarkably responsive and easy to trim. Straight and level turned out to be a breeze. Yuri pointed towards the GPS and I noticed that we needed to change our bearing. Next he pointed at the compass and showed me which bearing to fly.
A subtle power change, a bit of stick and rudder and Voila! Not that I’m an expert…but to me…she handled like a dream.
Yuri smiled at me appreciatively as he took back the controls.
I was still staring out of the cockpit when I noticed that our altitude had dropped a little more than it had been during the very low level parts of our flight. I was starting to think that Yuri was maybe getting a little reckless. Before I even looked forward…all three wheels had touched the ground on a runway I did not even recognize from the air.
It was the smoothest landing I had ever experienced.

As we finished taxing to the end of the field…hundreds of Congolese kids were waiting in anticipation of the excitement an An 2 brings when it lands. Cheekily, Yuri swung the tail at them and briefly opened the throttle. A plethora of dust flew into the crowd before he cut the engine. Instead of being annoyed…the crowed cheered in exhilaration.

To sum up things…I have flown in many aircraft in my life before, ranging from airliners, cargo planes to aerobatics aircraft. Nothing spoke to my soul more than the approximately twenty flips I have had in the An 2 to date.
The Russians are not necessarily known for building things that encapsulate romance. But with the An 2, I think they managed to get it right.

A tribute to a great aircraft!

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa

The app is very easy to use, and the menu is broken down into 5 menu options
1/ Send my location
2/ Request Others’ Location
3/ See Others’ Location
4/ Invite Others
5/ Settings.

The first is obvious, which allows your iPhone to find your location using the iPhone’s built in location capabilities, and send this information to any of your friends listed in HeyWAY. The accuracy largely depends on the area you are in, and is far better when outdoors which allows the iPhone to use GPS to find your location more accurately. If you are indoors when you send your location, it will be accurate to within 1km as the iPhone has to use Cell phone tower triangulation to find your location instead of GPS. You will be able to see your location on a Google Map before sending and will also be able to identify how accurate your current location is. When sending your information to your chosen friend/s they will receive a push notification (assuming they have enabled push notifications) and will then be able to see where you are currently located on a Google Map.

Requesting Others’ Location, will send a Push Alert to your chosen friend asking them to share their current location. They have the option to allow you access or deny it. You will be notified via Push Notification if they have given you access to their current location

See Others’ Location will show you any of your friends last location that they published and made available to you. If you want a more recent location status, send a ‘Request Others’ Location’

Invite Others, allows you to become friends on HeyWAY and therefore share your location. There are two options to add friends
1/ Invite By E-mail, which will send your friend an e-mail with instructions on how to get the app, as well as allow you to see their location
2/ Invite Nearby Device, which will look for devices near you with Blue Tooth enabled.
I personally have not had a great experience with using the Blue Tooth option, but the e-mail route works perfectly!

Settings shows you a summary of how many people you are following and how many people are following you. It also allows you to set your screen name, and choose the Map type to be used in Google Maps (Street, Satellite, Hybrid)

City: All

Country: All

I sadly, signed a contract with my old Cell Service Provider just before the iPhone 3G phone came out, and was quite sad that I hadn’t done the research before hand to see its arrival date. However, since I had a 24 month contract with my Cell provider, and the fact that the cancellation penalties were so high, I grinned and bared it and kept my old phone.

The good news, December 23rd my contract was due for expiration, and I had already placed a port request (to move from MTN to Vodacom, since only Vodacom has the rights to sell the iPhone in South Africa) to take place on the 23rd of December so I could finally get the iPhone, and by now of course the even newer version (iPhone 3GS) had been released which was in my favour of course ?

Now I had had many discussions with friends about the iPhone and the hefty price tag attached to the phone, even on a really high monthly package. In South Africa (at time of print of this) the iPhone 3GS 16GB will set you back between R2,000 – R5,000 ON A CONTRACT! There is currently no option to buy it on Pay as you Go, and there is no way to get one for free, regardless of the package that you subscribe to with Vodacom. Vodacom also have a sneaky way of getting you to buy the higher end package. I was previously on a 300 (free minute with per second billing option) which was more than enough for me in most cases. Vodacom however, have a 240 minute package (per MINUTE billing) or you can go for the 500 package which does have per second billing. This pretty much forces you to go for the higher package, and of course a higher monthly cost then I was paying for before.

It was the above reasons why so many of my friends had made the statement, “It’s not worth the money, after all, it’s just a phone”

Well, I took the plunge and decided I would go for it even with the extra cost, and after having the phone for almost a month now, I can confirm, this is NOT “just a phone”. With over 120,000 applications available for the iPhone (A lot of free, but even the paid apps are cheap, mostly been under R8 (£0.59) ($0.99)) it can do pretty much ANYTHING you want it to do.

In conclusion, I don’t think I will ever go for another phone, and certainly recommend the iPhone to anyone in the market for a new phone, and yes, it was worth the wait

Just a warning though, if you do get this phone, expect to spend a few hours a day addicted to it, and constantly looking for new apps and features for it!

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa