The New Vuvuzela iPhone Ringtone!

Lovers of the metre-long South African plastic horns can now blast them from cell phones. Probably to the annoyance of everyone else. Eish!

The Dutch designers Moblio has created a Vuvuzela-2010 app that's available in Apple's iTunes music store. One user comment called it "so stupid, it's awesome". In spite of complaints by annoyed players and viewers alike, FIFA persists that fans must be allowed to blow the horns that are already symbolic of the South African tournament.

According to Moblio there has already been more than 750,000 downloads of the application!

Cold Front Brings Snow To Parts of Western Cape

A cold front in the Western Cape has brought snow to Ceres and the surrounding areas. Capetonians have been flocking to the Boland town to catch a glimpse of the rare white stuff.

On the left is a picture taken in the Matroosberg mountain range outside of Ceres by a friend of the family.

The Thing About the Vuvuzelas...

What's long, plastic, brightly colored, and very anoying? A vuvuzela of course!
The incessant noise from these horns turns out to be a source of great irritation for many soccer fans. Folks, it's kind of a big deal that this FIFA World Cup 2010 is hosted for the first time on African soil - ye'all wanted an African experience - South Africa is giving you a fantastic one!
Bafana Bafana is not doing too well either, so please allow the South Africans their small pleasures. How does the saying go - When in Rome...?

Either way - here's what old Adolf thinks about these Vuvuzelas - a must see!

A Busy Hurricane Season Up Ahead?

Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are predicting a very busy hurricane season this year. A record number of storms are expected, with the first storm of 2010 already in sight. Fortunately it seems to be petering out to nothing but a gust of wind, but weathermen are basically saying "Buckle up".

What makes this worse news is that one or more storms could cross paths with the infamous "English spill" - the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. The potential heavy weather could increase the current threat of polution and contamination for the Gulf Coast and the pristine Florida Panhandle coastline. Storm surges could push the oil miles inland to the coastal wetlands.

Apparently the reasons for the expected stormy season are twofold:
South Florida has experienced one of the longest, coldest Winters in decades, the coldest in Miami since 1981, and the 2nd coldest recorded Winter ever in Miami Beach. (We had a ball "picking" cold, limp iguana from the trees!) Now, water temperatures in the Atlantic is approximately 4 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than usual. Hurricanes feed of the hot air rising from the ocean - once a storm hits the Gulf of Mexico, they usually "explode", or pick up speed quickly, due to the warmer water.
Secondly, the El Nino wind conditions that discouraged storms last year, are absent in '10.

Hurricane season in the Carribean and Florida traditionally starts in June and ends around November.

Mary Poppins!

Attending the famous musical Mary Poppins at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts was another highlight in June. The quality of the lyrics, the beat of the music, the choreography starkly contrasted with today's instantly produced "art".

A Yachting Trip Up the East Coast

In my line of work the chance to take a trip up the East Coast of the US of A, and that in a luxury $1.4 million yacht, doesn't come along every week. The past weekend, with Sarah working through the final prerequisites of her Masters degree, I happily took the invitation that came my way.

Apart from a bumpy start due to a stubborn Northern breeze across our bow, it was plain sailing. The choppy ocean conditions had Captain Grant head up the Intercoastal instead.

The Intercoastal is the waterway of natural and man-made canals that stretches all along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the US. By taking it, one can avoid the hazards of traveling the open sea, although travel is slower. But it's beautiful, a real privileged two-day feast of a trip. We saw loads of birdlife, sea turtles, manatees, hordes of snowbirds (the kind with the fishing rod in one hand and the coffee/whiskey mug in the other!), and an uncountable amount of dolphins.

The dolphins loved playing in our wake, riding the waves like surfers, getting a free ride. Quite an awesome sight watching 'em play. I'll post some dolphin pics once it's downloaded.

St. Augustine's port is where I waved farewell to the crew, who continued up to Long Island, and urged my rental's nose back South towards Miami and home.