| 25/06/2002 | I can hardly believe it's been more than 3 months since my last update. I've been extremely busy with the business lately, and finally have separate office space. For some reason you just tend to work harder oif your office isn't at home :) Two weekends ago we went to a friend's beach house in Betty's bay, had a hell of a time, and last weekend me and Suzel spent the Saturday night on Janine's wine farm (Upland wines). I swear, her husband makes the best brandy I've ever tasted! On the club scene, lately we've been going to Gandalf's (299 Lower main road, Observatory) and I haven't looked back yet. The place rocks. They have drinks specials (R5 - double brandy and coke, R10 - any 3 SAB beers, R6 - double whiskey and mix etc. etc.) going every 2 hours every night, no cover charge, and a very relaxed atmosphere. The owner is a friendly guy called Antonio, who previously D.J.'ed at the Springbok in Stellenbosch. I'll take some photos of the place next week. Finally I've also managed to get my bloody camera drivers from my supplier, after struggling for more than 4 months. On a more tragic note, last night 5 petrol station attendants were shot execution style in Grassy Park. The whole of South Africa is outraged about the apparently senseless murder. The robbers got away with R1000 cash (the float in the till) and told the 5 guys to lie down on their bellies in front of the store. They then proceeded to shoot each one in the head from behind, took the bodies and dumped them in the restrooms at the back. All this happened 300m from the nearest police station. The police currently have no suspects. Ronnie James Dio still didn't pitch for his concert in the Good Hope center. My one friend even kept his ticket when he postponed the first time with the bullshit story about not being able to get a flight to South Africa, so I presume he lost whatever he paid for it. Went to Grandwest (a casino in Goodwood, Western Cape) for the first time the other day, and quite enjoyed it. Won R30, lost it again :) I wouldn't play any game there with high stakes, everyone around the poker and roulette just seemed to be losing the whole time. I can think of better things to do with my money. |
| 13/03/2001 | Hey hey people! I'm finally back online. I've got a *LOT* of new photos and interesting articles to update the site with (now I just need the time to do it :)). Check back after the weekend of the 23rd and hopefully everything should be online. In the meantime, two things are worrying me a bit: a) the Zimbabwe elections (obviously rigged) - because it will (and has) had a huge influence on the value of the South African currency, which, in turn, directly influences my business. The other night the people from 567 Talk radio (or Capetalk as it is better known in the Western Cape) had a phone-in competition where people could win free movie tickets by telling the DJ what they thought was the most beautiful sight they've ever seen or would like to see. A farmer from Gauteng phoned in and said the following: I think that the most beautiful sight any South African can currently wish for is a photo of a hyena defecating on Mugabe's corpse. Shows you. b) There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of work in Cape Town nowadays. Sure, we get our contracts here and there, but for people looking for permanent positions in the computer industry things are looking bleak. Hopefully things will change for the better soon.... Talk t'ya later.... |
| 08/01/2002 | I am currently offline and I'm will hopefully sort out the problems soon. We went to Andre's place in Kommetjie for new year's eve and it turned out to be quite an interesting evening. Happy new year everybody!!!! |
| 29/11/2001 | That's it. I'm converted - permanently. If you download Opera, make sure that the first thing you do is to go to the Help file, and check out the section labeled "Mouse gestures". This must be the handiest thing I've ever encountered in a browser. I'm still holding out with the quit smoking thing... To my surprise, I didn't have a single craving today! In fact, I was so busy with *other things, that I never even gave smoking a thought. Hopefully it'll be the same tomorrow :-). Cool IRC server: wizardz2.wox.org |
| 21/11/2001 | I'm trying to quit smoking now. Every time I'm in the mood for a ciggy I have a glass of water instead and it seems to work quite well. Read more about this weird replacement drug (also known as "W" on the streets), here :-). I've heard a rumour today about Absa's free internet access. Andre told me that apparently they're gonna kill the accounts of the people who are using the facility but aren't absa clients - which, (un)fortunately, includes me. I had a look around on their site, but couldn't find out anything about this story. What I do know, is that I'll rather pay a million rand monthly internet charge than ever using that sad excuse for a bank for any of my business again. If you are as irritated by the Internet Explorer's New Window function that doesn't open windows maximised, but rather like an MDI child of the desktop, try typing this in the address bar of your first IE window: javascript:resizeTo(1024,768); replacing the 1024,768 by your screen resolution. Also, you can try: javascript:alert(document.lastModified); to show when the current document you are viewing was last modified. |
| 14/11/2001 | I saw on the news today that a new law is going to be passed which allows members of parliament to change their parties *after* they have been elected. WTF???? I uploaded the photos from Jaco's birthday party at the beach Sunday, as well as the set from the Octoberfest in Paarl. I have been keeping myself busy with the development of a rpg loosely based on the Cyberpunk 2020 rule book. The character generation part is almost finished now. |
| 04/11/2001 | Today, a fellow Dio fan from Johannesburg sent me this: MONSTERS OF ROCK 1 TOUR POSTPONEMENT ME Productions regrets to announce the postponement of the Monsters of Rock 1 South African Tour. The tour has been postponed due to the FBI in the United States issuing a warning to all travellers, ahead of a suspected Halloween terrorist attack, not to fly during this period. This has lead to the cancellation of almost all internal American flights. As a result it is proving to be almost impossible to get the artists to South Africa. Promoter, Magnus Erikson has assured the South African public that the tour will go ahead as soon as these problems have been resolved. Tickets can be refunded via the TicketWeb call centre or retained for the future event. ---------------------- This is just brilliant. I had such a cool weekend and was really looking forward to seeing Dio on Tuesday. Oh well... The Octoberfest in Paarl rocked! I bumped into some old friends and we partied a bit. At first we struggled to find a suitable camping spot, but once we got settled in, everything was cool. Photos to follow soon... |
| 01/11/2001 | Did go out that Friday night after all :) The Halloween party at the Turtle was very, very cool. Unfortunately, some guy spoiled my mood by trying to rob me with a knife (in an open field close to where I'm staying) later that evening, but I just got a few cuts on my arms, luckily nothing serious. The photos from the club (credit goes to Clem for playing photographer that night) are all online. I'm having my birthday party on Friday at the Octoberfest in Paarl. I'm still deciding if I'm going to camp out for the whole weekend or come back to Cape Town Saturday morning. Will definitely take some photos. I'm currently busy downloading Netscape 6.2 in order to take a look at this site through a different browser. Statistics show that at least 26% of visitors to this site are using Netscape. |
| 27/10/2001 | Metallica just released action figures of themselves. What is the world coming to.... Christo requested pics of Table mountain and other locations. They will be up soon. The first new DVD writers arrived at our supplier today. They can write 4.7GB on a single disk and retail for about R5000. One cool feature that I noticed was the ability to record directly from your VCR onto digital disk. This definitely has some possibilities. :-) I'm still deciding if I want to go out this weekend. I received flyers for three halloween parties already. Could be fun, we'll see. |
| 22/10/2001 | I added the photos from De Doorns - didn't catch a single damn fish :-( Well, there's always next time. While we were there, we went out to quite a few (if not all) the clubs/pubs in Worcester. I did some short reviews/took some photos and I will add it under the South Africa section soon. The Stag's head parties are apparently moving to the afternoons (like the old Arties days), so we took a few extra photos of the 'closing-down' party. You can find them under the photos section, along with the photos from D'aniel's birthday party he had in Belville recently. I found another kick-ass window manager for Win9x - it's called Talisman. It sort of works on a Visual Basic style concept, and everything on your desktop is customisable via straightforward menu systems. My birthday's coming up soon! :) |
| 10/10/2001 | While looking around on the web today, I found out that one of the holiest Christian holidays is named after a pagan goddess :-). The name "Easter" apparently derives from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, who governed the vernal equinox. I am going to do some more research into the subject and post my results here. |
| 09/10/2001 | If everything works out I'll be going fishing this weekend at Albert and Milandé's place in De Doorns :) We're also apparently going on a wine-tasting trip... Will add some photos. I quote from Wilson-Collins: De Doorns Named after a local thorn bush, De Doorns is the centre of the Hex River Valley, which produces most of the country's export grapes. The legend of The Witch (heks) of the Hex River Valley has it that, long ago, the admirer who captured the heart of beautiful Eliza Meiring met a tragic death. When her longing for him became unbearable, she leapt to her death. The Witch still mourns her longlost love, especially on moonlit nights. You can pick your own export grapes (Feb-Apr). Check out this article ---> Johannesburg family ready to join 'jihad'. This is what happens if you mix religion with politics. Just add in some booze and you've got the perfect recipe for disaster. Links section updated... |
| 25/09/2001 | I started working at Air Traffic and Navigation services here at Cape Town International airport today, filling in for Hentie while he is on study leave for a month. Should anybody wish to contact me, you can still do so via my old e-mail address. |
| 24/09/2001 | HUGE update to the photos section. Let me know what you think. Major timekiller - The Landover Baptist church 60 second sermons - thanks Maritza! The site is a parody (I *seriously* hope so, at least) on conservative religious beliefs. BTW: You will need Realplayer for this. Get your South Park season 5 episodes here - see Cartman purchasing his very own pubic hair and watch the kids become part of a suicidal death cult! Files average about 30-40MB's each (Realplayer format). We've got plans to go camping again in Rocktober! Will update site accordingly. Also, I am planning a Victorian tea party in the garden for my birthday on the 30th of October. Me and Leon were extras for Stanley's college film project, which should be done in about 2 weeks time. I don't exactly know what the film is about, but I do know it involves a rather goth-looking girl drinking blood and appearing on dance floors :) I'll ask him if I can encode the movie when it's done and make it available for download here. Also, the Beserker movie should be released in South Africa during the first two weeks of December. Keep an eye out for me, Harm, Salamon and Daneel during the Norsemen battle scenes :) |
| 23/09/2001 | Finally updated the photos page! I added a section for the Lion's head photos we took on the 11th of August. I still have all the originals in 1600x1200 format so mail me if you want high quality versions, and I'll send them to you. Next thing on the agenda is to add the Stag's Head photos. |
| 18/09/2001 | Hmmm. The big question: Did Usama do it? I figure we'll probably never know. Two brothers from Stellenbosch (named Wilhelm and Chris Conradie) decided to start an internet chain letter stating that it was South Africa that organised the whole terrorist attack because of America pulling out of the racism conference in Durban. Needless to say, they were arrested by the National Intelligence Agency and brought before the court, although they still have to be sentenced. A local newspaper called "Die Burger" reported that one of them was working for Adept Internet services, a local ISP which now led to them taking legal action against the newspaper, as this was apparently not true. Never a dull moment.... I realised now that I didn't add a space for adding one's name in the guestbook! I'll have to see if I can get it fixed now, without messing up everything in there... My camera's batteries are *DEAD*. Before I can take more photos I'll have to get new rechargeables. :( |
| 24/08/2001 |
I am busy mapping out San Remo, in 3D Gamestudio, the only 3D design program that I have ever found to be really useful. The 3D engine is bloody FAST and supports all sorts of goodies, like dynamic lighting, animated skies, coloured fog and 3D sound. As soon as I am done I'll post the map here and everybody that has access to a compiler for 3D gamestudio can download it and take a 3D tour through the guesthouse. You'll even be able to see all of us and take a few shots at us if you feel like it :) Updated the music section.... |
| 16/06/2001 | I received an unexpected e-mail today from Carrie Carolin, the owner of Darklinks.com - informing me that they have linked to my page! Although there's 10300 working links on darklinks.com, their criteria is still quite strict, and I was pleasantly surprised. Also, my site submission with google.com has been approved. If you search for Ruan's Realm you'll find my link at the very top of the list :) Anyways, enough bragging :) Have been sick with the flu for the past few days... Saturday, the Stag's head club will officially open under the name "Route 71". My friend Daneel's band - called "Corruption of virtue" - will be playing there. I will post a review under the music section Sunday night. Just watched "Cannibal Holocaust" on video. Anybody who's into seriously disturbing films should have a look at this one. Read the review and decide for yourself if you want to see it or not. I thought it rocked, although I still can't believe Mr. Video stocks this uncut. While I'm on the subject of movies, also make sure to check out "Requiem for a dream". I think it's a definite classic. |
| 09/08/2001 |
I'm finally online again. If the weather's cool this weekend we'll go hiking up Table mountain :) I'll take my camera along and take some photos. Two interesting sites if you have some time to kill: Encyclopedia Mythica - An online mythology encyclopedia and, finally, an online version of the Malleus Maleficarum! Also, I found some information on something I've been wondering about for quite a while now - it's called chlorofluorocarbons - a liquid gel that can supposedly be injected into a person's lungs that fascilitates underwater breathing (like in the movie "The Abyss"). There's some info on this here. The page also contains links to FAQ's about scuba diving. |
| 18/06/2001 | Got my first web awards!!!! The letter they sent me: Having reviewed your web site, I am happy to direct you to claim your awards at http://hotsite.pagehub.com and http://swabd.pagehub.com A very nicely designed site with good navigation and rich content. Ken Steinberg Southwest Web and Banner Design http://swad.pagehub.com Kick-ass - Thanks Ken! |
| 04/06/2001 |
Fixed a MAJOR mess-up with the photo section. Switched to straight FTP instead of webshell, which caused a lot of problems because of the fact that Angelfire's operating system is case sensitive. I'm setting up an office at home now, and will be quite busy during the next few weeks. Will still do updates during the weekends, though. Also, I will add the photos from the Cornerhouse (also 08/06/01) soon. Check out the OSI (Office of Scientific Intelligence) if you're into bionics :-) Unfortunately the picture of the bionic tongue still remains classified. Another handy site is the World time server, if you want to know what time it is in every single country in the world. The more I think about this 'durian' fruit the more I want to try one. I wonder if it's available in South Africa. I'm going to Fruit and Veg City tomorrow to try and find out. |
| 10/06/2001 | Modified the photo section, did some touch-up work all over the site. Had the most hectic weekend I've had in a loooooong time :) I added the photos taken on friday night's party, unfortunately I couldn't add the more explicit ones, but mail me if you want more photos of the S&M show. If any of you appear on a photo and want your page or e-mail address linked from there, please let me know and I'll see what I can do. Lazy sunday afternoon..... |
| 04/06/2001 |
Just found a list of the weirdest foods eaten around the world. In Hong Kong they apparently eat monkey's brains out of a live monkey's head (sorta reminds me of 'Hannibal' :)). There's also a really interesting section on a fruit called 'Durian' that is frequently found in Singapore. Also, have a look at the M400 Skycar, apparently the future of transportation. Another (more informative) article called "I'm just flying down to the supermarket" on the Skycar and related projects here. My friend Stanley is going to start helping me out with the music section of the site. He is going to write reviews of new albums and so forth and we're gonna add links to the best music to be found on the web. The first update should be finished soon. Any suggestions should be directed to him. For now, Daneel found a Sisters of Mercy rip-off site called 'The Sisters of Meowy', complete with lyrics and everything :). |
| 31/05/2001 | Found a really cool site - www.litestep.com. Litestep is a 'window manager' type thingy (like the ones you get for X) which you can use to customise the look and function of your desktop. There's a LOT of themes available on the site and most of them feature some pretty impressive artwork. I still haven't gotten around to updating the photo section (too lazy to upload the photos!). I'll see what happens during the weekend. Also, I managed to find a really cool 'Rainbow' double LP this morning, which made my day. Tip: If you are into incense at all, try and find something called 'Vrindaban'. It's handmade in India and it's potent stuff. :) The flavour I tried is called 'Darbari'. In the news today: Apparently the local squatters are stealing the train windows for use in their shacks. |
| 20/05/2001 |
Went away for the weekend to a place called 'Dennehof Resort' in Villiersdorp close to Franschoek. Will update the photo section soon.... :) |
| 17/05/2001 | It's 5:46am and almost time for the Toasty Show! Have to go to work soon and finish up a few PC's :) On the news this morning: A karate club owner from Mitchell's Plain apparently sodomised half his students. The weather's gonna be great though. Updated the music section. Removed the poetry section for now. This one's for you Khim ;-) In what sense is Jane Eyre a feminist novel? |
| 16/05/2001 |
Yesterday I finished Stephen Hawking's book "A brief history in time". Overall it was very interesting, although some of his theories on quantum mechanics was a bit hard to grasp. I started looking for more info on the web, which eventually led me to a NASA member site with small simulation videos (mpg format) on how it will look like if you, for instance, fall into (land on?) a black hole, neutron star, or ultracompact star. It is called "Virtual trips to black holes and neutron stars.". Check it out if you have some spare time. Some South African humour (thanks David!) :) Believe it or not!! After digging to a depth of 100m last year, Russian scientists found traces of copper wiring dating back 1000 years, and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network one thousand years ago. So as not to be outdone, in the weeks that followed, American scientists dug 200m, and headlines in the US newspapers read: "US scientists have found traces of 2000 year old optical fibres, and have concluded that their ancestors already had advanced high-tech digital telephone 1000 years earlier than the Russians." One week later, the South African press reported the following: "After digging as deep as 500m, S.A. scientists have found absolutely nothing. The government have concluded that 5000 years ago, their ancestors were already using mobile phones due to cable theft problems." |
| 15/05/2001 | Added a photo section. |
| 06/05/2001 | Didn't do much this weekend. I recently stumbled upon this quote by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, describing the Afrikaner: "Take a community of Dutchmen of the type of those who defended themselves for fifty years against all the power of Spain at a time when Spain was the greatest power in the world. Intermix with them a strain of those inflexible French Huguenots, who gave up their name and fortune and left their country forever at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The product must obviously be one of the most rugged, virile, unconquerable races ever seen upon earth. Take these formidable people and train them for seven generations in constant warfare against savage men and ferocious beasts, in circumstances in which no weakling could survive; place them so that they acquire skill with weapons and in horsemanship, give them a country which is eminently suited to the tactics of the huntsman, the marksman and the rider. Then finally put a fine temper upon their military qualities by a dour fatalistic Old testament religion and an ardent and consuming patriotism. Combine all these qualities and all these impulses in one individual and you have the modern Boer." - (The Great Boer War - 1910) Cool stuff. ;-) I also had a another look at the web page I made for Oudtshoorn Kollege today. Finally got around to mailing them and demanding payment. :) |
| 19/04/2001 | I finally got around to organising everything into a frame. Will work on the general look of the site though, I am not satisfied yet. Check out www.amigothornot.com. Rate them. |
| 16/04/2001 | I spent pretty much the whole weekend online in order to get my money's worth on the "R7 Callmore plan" recently implemented by Telkom, our local telecommunications monopoly. This culminated in an aching back, lots and lots of system crashes, and about a 100Mb's worth of AD&D netbooks and supplementary information of dubious value. Click here for a very cool pic of Jeri Ryan (The Borg woman called 7 of 9 from Star Trek Voyager). And here for another one in plain clothes. Current easter weekend road accident death count: 101. |
| 14/04/2001 |
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| 04/12/2000 |
I'm considering changing the site a bit - maybe add a frame or two
with a proper index to everything.We'll see how much free time I'm gonna
have during the rest of the week. |
| 03/12/2000 | Nothing to do? I discovered some weird sites this week.. Two good examples would be Somethingawful.com and also Stileproject.com (thanks Christo!). Both sites are updated frequently and will keep you busy/irritated/intrigued for quite a while. I also finally got around to getting an ICQ ID: 99408470. |
| 02/12/2000 | Whoa! I never expected this many visitors (I haven't been updating this site for a LONG time now and only checked back recently). Guess I'd better shape up and get things going..... |
