My girl !

...

Break in Betties Bay

In Betties Bay for a break. Spend the day with Aunty Rin and Uncle John at the botanical gardens in Betties Bay. I just love spending time with them.

Golf

Had a round a of golf at Arabella in Cape Town. Superb golf course, shot a 104 though but was lots of fun.

High light for December was my " swaar's " wedding (Candice brother better known as Boy). What a fantastic wedding ! Sandy (his wife, a.k.a "skoon sus") look exceptionally stunning. It was the first pink wedding dress i've seen and I personally think that it was absolutely stunning ! My in-laws really know how to party !!!

A night out with my special lady !

Found a great restaurant in Sandton and decided to take the special one in my life for a night out. Like most fancy restaurants, the names of the desert was un-pronounceable and we wanted a simple pancake and coffee. The waitress then recommended the below (check video). Just when I thought a saw all possible presentation of pancakes (ranging from mince to bananas). But it was fantastic !!

Timo Wedding

My friend Timothy got married and what a grand wedding it was. He finally decided to to tie the knot and they both looked stunning. Had a wonderful time, you go Timo !! Below is the main man's entrance.

Candy's farming

After much work and pain we finally started seeing fruits of Candice hard labour !! Actually it was a great success, all seeds planted yielded results. we've got spinach, potatoes, beans, beetroot, cabbage, carrots and garlic (all organic). Most of it goes to soup kitchens, cripple care, family and poor people in Toekies. It was our first attempt and Candice really worked hard at it. Will post more pics later.

Fishing

Ok, have not blogged for some time so will only post high lights of the last 3 months. Done some fishing in October a the Vaal, did catch anything but just the experience was fun. Was my uncles 50th birthday and family got together to celebrate.

Listen to these 3 'lighties'

Giant German pothole swallows car

This aerial photo shows a giant pothole which opened under a residential
street in Schmalkalden, central Germany. (Jens Meyer, AP) a Second World War air-raid bunker under the street.

A giant pothole opened under a residential street in Germany on
Monday, taking a car with it and leaving another car hanging over the
edge. Miraculously, neat private homes on either side of the street remained standing.

Listen to these 3 'lighties'

http://www.wimp.com/threetenors

Zuma on Chess

The official launch of the Moves for Life programme

By IM Watu Kobese, Trustee

The Moves for Life chess programme was launched in a gala dinner, where heavy hitters in politics, business and chess circles were in attendance.
The honorable State President, Mr. Jacob Zuma, was the main speaker. The Minister of Education, Mrs. Angie Motshekga, deputy Minister of Sports and Recreation Mr. Gert Oosthuizen, were ministers that graced the occasion.

Announcements

The President of South Africa, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma

President Zuma announced his support and recognition of chess as a problem-solving training activity. He highlighted the cognitive development and advancement in ability as some of the gains that young learners will derive from chess.

“It is an important game in many aspects, the main benefit being that it contributes to the development of strategic thinking as well as concentration, analytical skills and problem solving.” A drive to have chess in all schools in South Africa will be further strengthened by the President’s willing and helping hand. “We will play our part as government. Both the Departments of Basic Education as well as Sports and Recreation are involved and already working to promote the game.” He announced his patronage to the Moves for Life programme, which he commended for being uniquely South African.

Monte

So much for the diet. Meeting with some buddies.

Looking for a dog like this...

now this is a dog...

JESUS.DOC: Are the Gospels true?

JESUS.DOC: Are the Gospels true?

Psalm 91

Psalm 91

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,

Say to the LORD, "My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust.

God will rescue you from the fowler's snare, from the destroying plague,

Will shelter you with pinions, spread wings that you may take refuge;

God's faithfulness is a protecting shield

You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day,

Nor the pestilence that roams in darkness, nor the plague that ravages at noon.

Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, near you it shall not come.

You need simply watch; the punishment of the wicked you will see.

You have the LORD for your refuge; you have made the Most High your stronghold.

No evil shall befall you, no affliction come near your tent.

For God commands the angels to guard you in all your ways.

With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

You shall tread upon the asp and the viper, trample the lion and the dragon.

Whoever clings to me I will deliver; whoever knows my name I will set on high.

All who call upon me I will answer; I will be with them in distress; I will deliver them and give them honor.

With length of days I will satisfy them and show them my saving power.

Magnus takes on the world

The setup in New York was Magnus Carlsen sitting alone in the penthouse of the Cooper Square Hotel in New York City, with a spectacular backdrop of the city, playing on a regular chessboard. After he had made a move his opponents, sitting in a different room, would advise the Internet audience what to play. These had a minute to cast their votes, and when the move was decided a "butler" would execute it on Magnus' board.

We brought you the game and pictures in our report Magnus pounds The World in RAW Chess Challenge. Here today are a number of video reports, most in HD, that recap the event.

We attended a couples camps hosted by the Kimberley assembly. What a great time we had !! Pastor Owen Palm (a man with vision and passion for young people) organized everything well with some great speakers. One of the speakers was Delton who really spoke well to the couples (find his message notes here).

What's this song about ? Hallelujah - Lenny Cohen

I heard it sung (beautifully) by Rene Flemington (from her cd Dark Hope and in Shrek), played on 702 on Jenny's show last week thursday. You can download the song fro here

Well I like it... possible interpretation :
Hallelujah means "Praise Jehovah." With the reference to David and Samson, men who were in God's favor, and then through sin (murder, adultry -David; idolatry - Samson) fell out of favor, eventually found their way back. It cost David a lifetime of war; and Samson lost his life, but they were redeemed. Personally, it's a message of hope, the real "hope." No matter where we are in life, God, Jehovah, Yahwah etc. we can make our way back. And can't we all use some real hope these days.

but i'm sure there is several other different interpretations especially concerning Lenny Cohen style of music.

Here's the words:

Well I heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do ya?
Well it goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Well Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
she tied you to her kitchen chair
And she broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Well baby I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew ya
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Well there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me do you?
And remember when I moved in you?
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Well maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who'd out drew 'ya
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen in the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Golf

Still attempt to get myself on a golf course whenever possible. Not good at all, 24 handicap, but can improve if I can get to driving range more often. Last played with Dally and Guss and was lots of fun (with much frustration). Delton plays a good round of golf and improves at every game we play together. The goal for this year is just to stay on the fairway. Guss has a natural swing... but lacks practice as well... but he told me that next we meet he'll be so good, that he will be swinging both ways ...

Prudent adoption of Agile Modelling (Denver PM)

Excellent read - http://dvpms.squarespace.com/our-journal/ (owned by my partner Vernon Zwiers)

Prudent adoption of Agile Modelling in Business Analysis and Design

This article is not going about addressing the intricacies of Agile Modelling. This article does however place this absolutely valuable method in the Business Analysis and Design area of expertise.

Have a look at Scott W. Amber’s web site, http://www.agilemodeling.com/ for in depth information about Agile Modeling. Scott W. Amber is the founder of Agile Modelling.

The first thing that must be looked at is the characteristic profile of the Technical community. Yes, it is a generalization, but serves the purposes of this article. Engineers and technical people (which is also my background…) always look for the short way of getting things done quickly. It is not a matter of what is known but where it can be found when needed. One only has to look at a technical person doing a home project. The Construction Manual is only necessary if things go wrong at some stage, even if the project is completely new to the person.

Agile Modeling fits in exactly with this profile, which is, “Get it done quickly with as little input as possible and we can always apply the same process if anything goes wrong to fix it.” It was developed from a technical point of view meant for technical use. The design of this methodology is to get rid of as much analysis work as is possible and just get to designing and implementing the system. Thus it has certainly created a place in the analysis for itself and that is for purely back end system level functionality. It falls horribly short when it comes to involving the Users of a system when trying to make the system reflect how their business is done.

Another common characteristic is that technical people avoid other humans like the Business Owners and the System Users at all costs. Thus when looking at Agile Modelling and asking the Business owners during the analysis whether they understand what is happening, the usual answer is received, “Well as long as they know what they are doing, that’s fine.” Internally they are probably thinking to themselves, “We’ll nail them later at sign-off time.”

Unfortunately there are some things that no Business Analyst can shortcut or get away from and that is, plain simple, hard work, huge effort and sufficient documentation, which is understood by everybody, to allow a system to be written. The User has to be made part of the team right from the beginning and their input is worth gold as they are the experts in their particular field of work, not just the technical people. In order to facilitate this a Business Analyst has to have as part of his or her arsenal some way in which to get this information in a form that the Business User is comfortable with and understands, at each step of the way.

So where does Agile Modelling fit in with Business Analysis and Design?

The ideal point is when the design gets down to the class level. At this point it is a extremely valuable and highly recommended method to enhance the system design at the point of system expansion to support the requirements gained through the analysis.

The whole point is that as Business Analysts we must not limit ourselves to the hype and hoorah that is created, but make sure that we understand these techniques and know where the value of all these techniques lie. This will give us an understanding of where they will benefit the projects that we work on. We need to embrace and incorporate them in our work where they make sense and combine them to create a solid system when the work is finished. At all times we must be able to apply what are Appropriate, Necessary, and Sufficient for the situations that we are analysing. 

Joe Barber

Candice wanted to see Joe Barber 5. Was ok, a bit repetitive like rocky series that does not want to end. We ate at Gramadulas (resturant at the the theater) and the malva desert is highly recommended.

Current reading.

I got the following book in e-book, by Patrick Heron, and really enjoying it. Eye openening stuff. Nothing new as far as the message teaches us but approached from totally different angle. This is the second book i've read of Patrick (the other Appoclypse) and must admit that this man is on another level.

Vide Cor Meum (English Lyrics)

ok, found the original... and some background

The words to Vide Cor Meum were taken from Dante's La Vita Nuova (The New Life) where Dante describes his first forays into poetry. Vide Cor Meum is concerned with the first sonnet where Dante describes a vision he had and asks for help in interpreting it. As Dante tells it, when he was 9, he became quite smitten with a little girl he called Beatrice. He only saw her in passing but was soon obsessed with her. Nine years later, he sees her again. This time she says hello and Love overwhelms poor Dante. He goes back to his room and "thinking of her, sweet sleep overcame" him. Then he sees the vision of Love holding a woman (Beatrice) who is wrapped in a veil. Love says, "I am your master." In one of Love's hands there is a heart on fire and he says to Dante, "Vide cor tuum: See your heart". Then Love wakes Beatrice and feeds Dante's burning heart to her which she reluctantly eats. Love, then, becomes very sad and takes Beatrice with him up toward heaven.

Dante never tells us what it means. In fact, the sonnet asks for possible interpretations. One such interpretation was recorded by Dante's good friend Cavalcanti who suggested that falling in love was, on the lady's part, a sad event and perhaps a prelude to her death.

Both Dante and Beatrice married other people and Beatrice died at the age of 24. Dante wrote La Vita Nuova about 2 years later. It was right about at that time when Dante was becoming interested in philosophy and politics. One theory suggests that Beatrice might have been a symbol of some secret Florentine political society but I don't know enough about that to make any sense of it. What makes the most sense to me now is that Beatrice was Dante's muse.

Vide cor Meum-Sarah Brightman

I love this song. First heard in the horror movie Hanibal and just loved it ever since. Found this video with Sarah Brightman rendition of the song. Not sure what is nicer, the song or Sarah. (dont tell my wife)

Diet

Still on a diet... 10 kg down. Living on salad (shaun se ek is al n hasie). I just have to start loosing weight (picture speaks for itself, ignore ugly toes pls) !!

world cup game

Argentina game... rocked !!

Classics

Went to the orchestra just to 'find' myself again... work of Tchaikovsky (no idea how to spell it)... strings only. i miss playing piano. Was surprise to see all the double bass players are women, used to be considered strictly male instrument... needless to say they, they kept pretty tight beat.

New Building Project

Started another building project. renovating a old farm house into tuscan design with only a R150 000 budget !!. Will post the completed work in a few weeks. Candice will be in charge of all designing.

Chess Tournament

I started arranging chess tournaments for the local community. The main aim of the tournament is to get more children (and adults) to play chess and not as much as cash generating event as this (my odd contribution to the community...). Brain games like chess eliminates the poverty of the mind and directly stimulates the IQ of any child\player. Juniors supported well but poor support from seniors.

Fish on the menu

Surprise of the day. Candy prepared red snapper today and it was divine. She bought at the market (she allways wanted prapare fish while we here but she wanted me to get up at 5 am to meet the fishing boats.... but told her thats the time i'm praying.... so she arranged with the maid ) . My fish rankings, I think nothing beats red snapper (yellow tail second).