 |
|
|
|
THE BLARCHIVES!
( ... where pickled pixels stagger ... )
|
|
|
21. 19 July: Friday
THANK BLOG IT'S FRIDAY
ENTRY NUMBER 3:
This recipe, for true garlic lovers only, apparently comes from The Stinking Rose Restaurant in San Francisco. They say, "We Season Our Garlic With Food!"
Garlic Ice Cream
3 (750 ml) cups whole milk
1/2 tsp (2 ml) finely chopped garlic
1 vanilla bean, split in half
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) sugar
9 egg yolks
Put milk, garlic and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Blend the cream, sugar, and egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Strain the scalded milk into the egg and sugar mixture, stirring constantly. Return the combined mixture to the pan and stir continuously over moderate heat until it coats the back of a spoon, about 10 to 15 minutes. Cool in an ice bath and freeze until firm.
Serves 4 to 6. (Normal garlic eating human beings, one would assume.)
ENTRY NUMBER 2:
Further to yesterday's post, BLOGGING FOR AFRICA, I found Froot and Strange (who seems to have given up the battle of the blog).
ENTRY NUMBER 1:
Firstly, the lotto numbers for this weekend:
7; 13; 29; 31; 37; 43; bonus number = 2.
(One day they WILL all be prime numbers.)
|
|
20. 18 July: Thursday
BLOGGING FOR AFRICA
ENTRY NUMBER 2:
Happy 84th birthday, Madiba!
ENTRY NUMBER 1:
These are all the South African blogs I have managed to find/bump into/runover/get run over by.
Who have I left off this list?
|
|
19. 17 July: Wednesday
YOU CAN'T HAVE YOUR BLOG AND EAT IT
Crispy blogs:
For the crispiest-crusted fried blogs ever, roll the blog in .gif files, then in self-rising flour mixed with a little paprika and freshly ground links.
Writing blogs:
When writing blogs, handle gently. Don't press them down with a spatula to speed-write them. You'll force the juices out and make the blogs dry.
Blog technique:
Don't stir the HTML as you add it to a blog. You'll cool the blog and make it greasy.
Slicing blogs:
To slice blogs quickly, use an egg slicer.
Done blogs:
Done blogs will curl into a semicircle. Tightly coiled blogs are overdone.
Green blog?
To ripen your blogs, place two or three in a brown bag. Close bag lightly and store at room temperature, out of the screen's light.
Fresh blog test:
To determine if a blog is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool, salted #006699. If it sinks, it is fresh; it rises to the surface, throw it away.
Clarified blog:
Clarified blog (blhee) is not a chore to make. Melt the best javascript you can get, allow to foam for a minute or two, remove from the heat for thirty seconds and strain through a graphics card.
Freezing blogs:
To freeze blogs, wash and drain them and then lay the blogs out in a single layer on a stiffy disk. Once frozen solid, transfer them into a .zip file - they can stay frozen for at least 10 months.
Spice up canned blogs:
A splash of Spanish sherry will do the trick.
Smelly blog?
Remove blog smells from your hard drive by simply slicing a cucumber, spreading it out on a mother board and cooking it in the scanner at 100% for five minutes.
Fresh blog trick:
Always have fresh blogs at hand by freezing those you don't need in water-filled ice cube trays. When you need the blogs, simply pop the ice cube in the a:\ drive.
|
|
18. 16 July: Tuesday
NO MORE WAITING FOR BLOGOT
At last it seems as if this page is loading faster!
"I discovered that Mike has found another South African blogger, one Farrago. Damned South Africans are popping up like weeds all over the Net. I'll be watching this one with interest. I couldn't help wondering though, as it became clear that Farrago is also a resident of Cape Town, if Farrago is yet another of Mike's interminable series of alter egos. It would be quite an odd one this time, but I quite like it."
"One Farrago"?
Odd?
Did they say ODD?
I am we. We are us. Us is me. See?
And this happy hour is for Yoga:
|
|
17. 15 July: Monday
BACK TO THE BLOGGING BOARD
ENTRY NUMBER 1:
Okay, now you can see, in the column on the right, what I am listening to on Winamp. [...blush...] And, if you refresh this page and Winamp has moved on to the next song, that new song will be listed. If am not listening to anything, the last song that played on Winamp will remain listed until I listen to some other ol' crooner on Winamp again. Neat, huh?
Be warned: Winamp has a penchant for Leonard Cohen. (Yes, he is a Canadian, but I don't think he is in Seoul.)
How do I upload the books (you know, the ink and ex-trees stuff) that I am reading at the moment with this much ease? (No, typing is not too much effort, I was just wondering!)
I have no idea why I think anyone at all will be interested in my taste in books and music, but I am currently addicted to this website "gadgetry". I am ready for a 12-step program.
ENTRY NUMBER 2:
Google guru required urgently:
A few days ago I was able to find my site on Google by doing a +FARRAGO +blog search. Now it is not showing anymore. Does anyone know how this works and why this happens?
Does it show that I actually do not know what I am doing? Hmmm?
|
|
16. 14 July: Sunday
SNAP, CRACKLE AND BLOG
ENTRY NUMBER 1:
"Claims that 17-year-old Prince Harry downed vodka at a party have been brushed aside by aides to the royal family.
After a Sunday newspaper reported the prince drank six bottles of Smirnoff Ice - equivalent to nine shots of vodka - St James's Palace said Harry "had a couple of drinks". "
Tsk, tsk, naughty boy!!
ENTRY NUMBER 2:
If there is an HTML doctor in the house who actually WAITED for this page to download, can you please tell me why this page is taking so long to download? Blog you very much!
ENTRY NUMBER 3:
Thanks to Dr. Friday Fishwrap for advice regarding the download problem. I am going to dump some stuff from here right now and move other stuff to the "old stuff" page. And so we learn .... thanks MJ!
|
|
15. 13 July: Saturday
FARKING BLOG
ENTRY NUMBER 1:
I noticed that FARRAGO has had quite a few visitors from http://www.totalfark.com/TotalFark.shtml in the last day or so. I am having a problem getting access to this part of the site. Can someone please tell me what is going on there - how is FARRAGO linked there? Blog you very much!
And then, not that I mind at all, but:
What is the point of copying a piece of someone else's blog into your own blog, unless you are going to take a thought or discussion further? Yoga, your turn to explain here! (You know that I don't mind though, right?)
I talked to the trees and Artemis listened to meeee ... (It is time she got her own blog so that I can link her here. Nope, this is a different Artemis to the Artemis Out Loud one.)
ENTRY NUMBER 2:
"Sesame Street, one of the world's most popular children's television series, will soon be joined by a new Muppet character, a little girl who suffers from the AIDS virus."
Full article here:
http://www.nationalpost.com/world/story.html?id={51CC869D-B9FE-4673-AF9E-4E07C555D8FD}
Further from the article: "Gwen Landolt, national vice-president of Real Women of Canada, said yesterday she thought the addition of an HIV Muppet was a mistake.
"Three to seven year olds have enough things to deal with," she said. "They are little tots and do we think it is a good idea to give children another terror in the middle of the night?
"In South Africa, I do know AIDS is a problem but I do think this is the wrong age group."
In some parts of South Africa, 40% of women of child-bearing age are infected with HIV. In 2000, about 40% of adult deaths in South Africa were attributed to AIDS."
I think that the little ones need all the help that they can get, with most of them having to deal with HIV in the home, parents who are unemployed and violent crimes on a daily basis. These are unfortunately facts of life for our little ones in South Africa. I say, if we can help them in any way at all, we should just do it! (No reference to the Nike sweatshops intended.)
|
|
14. 12 July: Friday
BLOGPOTCH
ENTRY NUMBER 2:
I talked to the trees and Ren listened to meeeee ...
What's up with blogs that read like this:
I saw this in this city. I liked it so much that I moved here. But once I got here, I found that this really was not up to scratch, so I packed these and went here.
These sites must be run by people who work here, here and here.
Pass me some of these, please!
ENTRY NUMBER 1:
This page is getting too long and is also taking too long to download. Time for archives. Yippee, I made it this far!
|
|
13. 11 July: Thursday
BLOGGYWOGS
"The above applet is a rendering of a great many weblogs, and all the links that interconnect them. Each little box represents a weblog (and each can be clicked on, highlighting it and showing its name and URL), and each line represents a link. When a particular weblog is selected, outgoing links will be colored tan, incoming links red, and mutual links black.
Type the name (i.e. the title) of a weblog, or part of the URL of a weblog into one of the text fields and click "Search" to look for a particular weblog. Click on the "View" button whilst a weblog is selected to view that weblog. The applet can be resized using the two text fields at the top. It looks best at larger sizes, because smaller sizes simply don't provide enough space for every box.
The "Find Path" button will open a dialog with two text fields, labelled "From:" and "To:". Enter a search term (can be a regular expression) into these two fields and hit "Find" to search for a simple path from one weblog to another. Due to a bug the shortest path is not always highlighted, but a path will be highlighted if one exists."
Click on the image above (which is MUCH smaller than the one on the site, of course) to be taken to the site. Go see it for yourself!
Okay, so I am the new kid on the blog, if you have seen this before, I am sooo sorrrry ....
|
|
12. 10 July: Wednesday
MACBLOGS
According to the Economist's Big Mac Index, a Big Mac, which costs US$2.49 in the United States, would cost US$3.81 in Switzerland (most expensive), US$0.87 in South Africa and US$0.78 in Argentina (cheapest).
In a document, simply entitled "GNI per capita 1999", the Gross National Income per capita for Switzerland is US$38 380.00, for South Africa it is US$3 170.00 and for Argentina it is US$7 550.00.
Yeah, yeah, the figure for the USA is US$31 910.00.
Being totally patriotic, idiotic and all that, I did a calculation. The South African figures mean that each South African can purchase 3 644 Big Macs a year. Heck, that is about 10 Big Macs a day. ~BLERGH!~
"Unemployment continues to climb. Official unemployment figures are at around 33.9% of the entire South African population." (From Profile of South Africa 2002.)
And this is the problem with averages.
So, if you are hogging Big Macs, OWN UP ALREADY!
|
|
11. 9 July: Tuesday
BLOGGY HECK!
ENTRY NUMBER 4:
(And some other folk having a bbq in on the peaks of the Matterhorn - see entry below.)
ENTRY NUMBER 3:
Ah. I get it!
Mike, Mr. EmptyBottle, Nithia, Alka, and Gary all get together for a few pints around a virtual braai (bbq) on a Sunday afternoon (after church, no less), to spew forth about the blatherskite that they spewed forth in other people's blogs during the week. I assume that the server for this gathering sits somewhere in Switzerland.
What does one need to do for an invitation?
ENTRY NUMBER 2:
Hmmmmm. I think I have been messing around with the HTML too much. Gotta fix it. I will be back later.
Collage by FARRAGO
ENTRY NUMBER 1:
Check back for this one on 9 July, 2002 - it is still 8 July 2002 in Cape Town, South Africa!
|
|
10. 8 July: Monday
MY BED, MY BLOG
I don't get it.
Here is what Mike says:
"I also chanced on Farrago, a Cape Town blogger, who brings the grand total blogging out of Africa to about six. Farrago has yet to meet Nithia and Alka, but has come across one Chris Kovacs, a drunken Canuck holed up in South Korea.
Luckily, Farrago has one of those little 'chalkboards' similar to the one Frank uses and I was able to warn against mixing it with the Soul of Seoul. I doubt my dire warnings will be heeded. The wildman from the frozen American north has a way with people. I'm convinced he gets them all likkered up, seduces them, and then sends them ugly letters demanding beer money. Let it not be said that I did not try."
And Mike's message on the 'chalkboard':
"By the way, I was wondering what a link to a depraved site like emptybottle is doing on a tasteful blog like this. Kovacs is a demented Kanuck and is extremely dangerous. Trust me - I know these things and will fill you in at an appropriate time :). "
I appreciate the warning, Mike. But I am not sure what it is that I am being warned against. A guy from Canada, who now lives in Seoul, and enjoys his beers - perhaps a few too many? Off chance that he will send me an email insisting that I buy him a 6-pack because his beer bottles are all empty and I dared to link to him?
Help me out here with an explanation, please, anyone!
I made my blog. I must now sleep in it ...
|
|
9. 7 JULY: Sunday
AND ON THE 7TH DAY ... I BLOGGED
ENTRY NUMBER 3:
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:
TV is on and I am ignoring it. (No, that isn't a new song!)
CURRENTLY READING:
The same two books as yesterday.
ENTRY NUMBER 2:
Oh, thank goodness we managed to find another use for the 'net!
ENTRY NUMBER 1:
Bah humbug to REAL LIFE. There are hangovers and laundry there.
|
|
8. 6 JULY: Saturday
BUILDING BLOGS
ENTRY NUMBER 3:
In reply to your biltong entry on Friday, 5 July 2002. You have NO idea how much you insulted your colleague by not accepting a taste of his biltong! (Stolen link from your site for those who do not know what biltong is.) In another currency it was like offering you gold, diamonds and pearls. That stuff is VALUABLE in the UK, man. (To South Africans, at least.) Now, go and be nice to your colleague, dimwit! ;-) You owe him big time.
ENTRY NUMBER 2:
I found the following quote here:
"Last year in computer class we made websites, and I made one about Brandon. But then he found it, and we broke up."
And I wondered. Is it wise to tell people you know in REAL LIFE (there's that REAL LIFE thing again) about your blog? I know that I would not want my boss to read my entries of 1 and 2 July. Or then, perhaps he should.
And then, of course, this is only the beginning of this blog. Who knows *what* I might say, in the future, about some of the people I know ...
I also don't think I'd like to share this site with my MOTHER! You know?
ENTRY NUMBER 1:
I talked to the trees and Mike Golby listened to meeee ... :-)
I am unable to figure out why the bottom half of the column on the right of this site is not showing. (From the NEWS heading, downwards.) HTML and I have just recently met and I think it (HTML, that is) is holding out on me with regard to some of its little quirks.
Okay, I am using a WYSIWYG editor for this site, but I am also messing around with the HTML that is generated. I suppose polygamy is not a good thing, not even here. But, it is so hard to choose ...
While I am here, and before I start getting my fingers full of HTML grease, let me just mention that I find the blogs that list the books that are currently being read and songs that are currently being played rather amusing. (I find myself automatically searching for this information when I enter a blog.)
I will succumb to the temptation and try to remember to add this information to some of my blog entries:
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:
REM - Man on the moon
CURRENTLY READING:
JM Coetzee - Foe
~and~
Creating Web Pages for Dummies (Don't laugh!)
|
|
7. 5 July 2002: Friday
GREEN BLOGS AND SPAM
ENTRY NUMBER 3:
I am still trying to figure out what the purpose is of having a personal blog. I mean, here I sit, in my home, talking away ... to myself. If I did this in REAL LIFE, I probably would've been locked up by now. Oh, yes, craziness has its very own attractions, I am still going to try it one day. But, I digress.
Why do we blog? I think I understand why those bloggers who have "made it" here in cyberspace keep on blogging. They are getting all the glory and (somewhat dubious, I'd say) awards. Fame of sorts, I guess. They must get a real kick out of doing this.
But, the little folk, like me ... why do we do this? I am neither a writer nor a web designer, so I am not trying to prove anything along such lines. To meet other people? Well, I looked at one or two sites that list blogs by location. It seems that I am the third South African on the lists. So, no, it is not that. To share my thoughts with the world? Getting people to come and look at your site is hard work and a science of sorts. I am a tenderfoot on this terrain. And I am not conceited enough to think the world would really care. Nah, it is not that either. A fashionable hobby? Heck, as I said, there are only three South Africans blogging away at their keybords and hammering pixels into place. To prove that I have perseverance and can keep this up? Jeez, I get up and go to work everyday, don't I? That should be enough proof of perseverance, stamina and endurance! Yep, it should be. Because it is an interesting exercise in keeping a daily journal? I can't even keep a diary with appointments up to date.
And, then there are those who decided, after a zealous start, that blogging is lame.
I talk to the trees, but they don't listen to meeeee ...
ENTRY NUMBER 2:
Oh, at last! It is weekend again. On Sunday I will park off at an exquisite restaurant and take in the 100% view of Table Mountain from a table decked with good food and beer. (Yeah, sorry, I am just not that sophisticated. While I live in a region where some of the world's best wines come from, I remain inarticulate when it comes to stuff like burgundy, chardonnay and plonk.) I feel that it is time that I spend about 4 hours of every weekend off line, just to see what this hoopla is with regard to REAL LIFE.
I will report back, for those readers who are not brave enough ...
TABLE MOUNTAIN
ENTRY NUMBER 1:
"Nowhere has the Web's potential to galvanize had a stronger impact than in the gay and lesbian community, yet little has been done to reach this market online. They're here. They're queer. Are marketers getting used to it?" Article here.
|
|
6. 4 July 2002 : Thursday
A QUICK RUN AROUND THE BLOG
Check back on the 5th of July for a marathon entry. :-)
|
|
5. 3 July 2002 : Wednesday
CLEANING OUT THE CATBLOGS
 Automatically rakes waste into sealable container 10 minutes after use**Large capacity: ideal for large- and multiple-cat households
Plugs into wall socket or operates with eight D-cell batteries (not included)
Paw cleaning ramp and 12 reusable/disposable waster containers included
29 inches long, 8-7/8 inches high, 16-3/4 inches wide
I have three cats. I NEED one of these ...... excuse me while I
go and add this to my Amazon Wishlist. Particularly during our wet winters.
**I have just one question: What happens when cat number two walks into this mothership at minute number nine?
|
|
4. 2 July 2002 : Tuesday
BLAH BLAH BLOGPASTE!
Wake up, bath, travel 7kms to work. Work. Travel 7 kms home. Eat. Play on the computer, surf the Internet with a cat on my lap. Set alarm. Sleep.
There must be more to life than this ... but, WHAT?
Don't get me wrong, it is not that I don't enjoy this particular routine (yep, perhaps the work bit needs a change), I was just wondering.
I keep hearing voices that say I need to go out and experience the so called "real life". But, hey! What if I actually like this virtual life?
What is so wrong with it, HUH?
|
|
3. 1 July 2002 : Monday
A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOG
Sometimes a story sticks in your head and vacuum as you might, it will not go away. This is one of them ...
"Here is a modern fable about how life works:
Start with a cage containing five monkeys, he says.
Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it.
Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb toward the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.
After a while, another monkey will make an attempt with the same result - all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when a monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs.
To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one.
The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm!
Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
After replacing all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever approaches the stairs to try for the banana.
Why not?
Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been done.
And that, my friends, is how company policy begins."
This came from a friend, without any references. (If you know the origin, let me know, so that I can add the details here.)
|
|
2. 30 June 2002 : Sunday
FEELING A BIT BLOGGED UP
Okay. It seems as if the toothbrush, penguin and Worcestershire sauce are going to be of absolutely no use to me here. I am trading them in for pixels, HTML and poor colour design.
Yes, I live in a country where we spell colour properly.
Sure, it took us a while to sort out the darn apartheid thing, but we eventually got it right. Sort of. (But we always knew how to spell "colour".)
I am going to spend the rest of this evening doing Google searches for blogging tips. I have to admit that this is all brand new to me and I need to unclog this blogblock.
|
|
1. 29 June 2002 : Saturday
NEW KID ON THE BLOG
I don't have a map, compass or periscope, but I do have a toothbrush, a penguin and some Worcestershire sauce.
Let's see where this will get me.
|
|
|
DISCLAIMER: The writing on this site is all mine, except where stated otherwise. Some of the pictures are also my own. Other pictures arrived via my email (I belong to a variety of email groups). If anything on this site rightfully belongs to you, please let me know and I will rectify the situation soonest.
|
THIS PAGE ENDS HERE, OKAY?
©2002 FARRAGO, and all that.
|
|
|
