Monthly Archives: February 2009

I can haz trifle?

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A few evenings ago, I had an awesome trifle. It was bought, but still awesome. This got me to thinking; “How much more AWESOME would a trifle be if home-made?“. I love combining my hobbies. Music and computers, internet and photography, the social web and cooking… all great combinations.  I chose the third combination for the above task.

I love Cookstr. It’s a great service to find the perfect recipe for your meal that suits you best and is, at the same time, possible that it was crafted by a professional chef, making the potential outcome of an even higher standard. In this instance, I popped over to Cookstr and typed “trifle” in the search box. Simple search query, with instant results.

(Cookstr was also the source for the original Jamie Oliver sorbet recipe, used as the base for my refreshing sorbet recipe).

Of the myriad of trifle recipes at my disposal, I chose one with a moderate production cost and under 2 hours kitchen time. Sounds perfect. I’ll be trying out this trifle recipe as soon as possible and will post up my results. 

 Image Courtesy: Cookstr.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus confirmed for Coke Zero Fest 2009

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It’s official. Florida based American rock band, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, are confirmed to perform at Coke Zero Fest 2009. The addition of this rock supergroup to the line-up can only lead to positive things for the festival.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus will be performing alongside Oasis, Snow Patrol, PANIC! At The Disco, Bullet For My Valentine, The Dirty Skirts, Zebra and Giraffe, Foto Na Dans and aKING at Coke Zero Fest 2009. The line-up seems to be growing and is sporting a fine balance of local and international artists. As I have mentioned before, I am excited that South African bands are able to showcase their talents, in front of their local crowds, to international artists and bigwigs. These kinds of opportunities can only lead to a positive evolution of the South African music industry.

Boys will be boys… when it comes to toys

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OK, so I’m a kid at heart. I love cool toys, cartoons and animation. Coupled with my love of gadgetry and cool addons and updates for my gadgetry (eg: mobile phone applications), I’ve stumbled upon some very interesting (and entertaining) gadgets and toys.

While browsing Gizmodo this morning, I came across this awesome toy by Nerf, the Nerf N-Strike Raider CS-35. Having read Dick Tracy comics and watched the cartoon on television as a young kid, this toy took me back a few years. With pump action auto fire, a 35 dart drum machine and a realistic design and feel, Nerf have really raised the bar. Unveiled recently at the Toy Fair, Nerf are becoming renound for their unique approach to the design and manufacturing, as well as for the quality of their product.
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Twestival in Cape Town… Tweeters tweet for charity

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Last night saw Twitter users around the world band together to support a worthy cause (charity : water …providing clean drinking water to 1.8 billion people that don’t have access to it). Tweeters from over 100 countries around the world gathered in their various nations to share, learn and discuss with eachother. Capetonian Tweeters gathered at Doppio Zero in Cape Town city centre for an evening of wine, pizza slices and informative discussion.

The evening kicked off with several presentations including a talk by Eran of Springleap on social media marketing and several beautiful performances by Cape Town’s own social media-made performing artist, Verity (also the MC for the evening). Watching interesting videos, chatting with other Twitter users about their experiences, watching Marcel the incredible corporate magician perform incredible sleight of hand and generally having a lovely evening are just several of the experiences had at last night’s Twestival.

Thanks must go to the organisers of the Cape Town Twestival, as well as to the global Twestival co-ordinators, for doing such an awesome job of organising the evening, spreading the word and raising funds for charity : water. Here’s to the next global Twestival and to creating global awareness of global issues faced on a daily basis by billions.

More South African bands announced for Coke Zero Fest 2009

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Since the innitial announcement of the line-up for Coke Zero Fest 2009 (when it was mentioned that more bands will be added soon), I’ve been waiting eagerly to see who will be added. Would it be more local bands? Would it be more international bands? I’m not sure of the exact date this announcement was made, but it has been made!

Joining the innitial bands for Coke Zero Fest 2009 are locals Foto Na Dans, aKING (only at the Cape Town festival) and Cassette. This is really great. While the bands are all rock bands (ie: no reggae, punk, blues or other bands), this is a great showcase of South Africa’s musical talent. Aside from that, the majority of the South African bands are based in Cape Town. The influence mountain must surely have something to do with this selection.
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Keep your mobile ‘in sync’ using Google Sync

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No iPhone? Can’t get hold of a Google Android phone? Pout no more… you can now still have “Google” on your mobile phone. I’ve tried out Google’s Gmail application on my Nokia S60 mobile with success. It’s a great app. It only covers the email features though, so I’d have to login via Google mobile to do anything with my calendar or other Google features, on which the mobile functionality is still somewhat limited. Google steps up now to introduce Google Sync.

 Google Sync allows you to keep your mobile contacts and calendar (depending on your mobile device) with your Google account. This is done in true sync style, meaning that any updates made on your Google account can be synced automatically to your mobile device, and visa versa. You can also get calendar alerts on your device.
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HOW TO: Make a refreshing sorbet

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OK, so summer is definitely coming on strong at the moment. With temperatures in the Cape reaching highs of 34° and up (also showing no signs of cooling down too much), keeping cool and refreshed is becoming more and more difficult. A few months ago, I blogged about websites for “web 2.0 chefs“.  During the research for this post, I discovered some awesome websites that I have made use of since then. The recipe I used for reference for this sorbet (thanks must go to Jamie Oliver) was found using Cookstr, a great resource for finding recipes to suit your exact requirements (budget, meal, season, etc).

In the incredible heat over this weekend past, I created a basic sorbet (leaving one or two flavours out of the recipe linked above). I found it to be very refreshing. This is how I did it:

You will need:

1 cup of water.
¾ cup of sugar (I used brown. It changes the colour slightly but is possibly healthier than white).
Juice and zest of 2-3 lemons (use as many as you like. It depends how sour you like it. 2-3 compliments the sugar nicely.)

OK, this is how you do it:

1. Bring the water and sugar to a boil on the stove, making sure to stir and disolve the sugar. Once boiling, simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Once simmered, remove from the stove and allow to cool for a bit (use this time to get your lemons ready).
3. Once cooled, mix in the lemon juice and zest.
4. Pour into a tupperware container and store in the freezer.

This should take around 2 hours to set. I left mine in for a bit longer. Check up on it every so often and judge when you feel it’s ready.

I’ve since tried this recipe with berry juice to replace the lemons. It may end up being a tad sweet. I’m keen to check it out though. When the weather just isn’t calming down, here’s another way to get refreshed and cool down a bit.

Image Courtesy: Cookstr.

Do you have a sorbet recipe? How did the above recipe work out for you? Share your thoughts in the comments. 

4 South African albums to expect in 2009

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How often have you heard that your favourite band is “in studio recording their upcoming album”? How many interviews have you read, heard or watched where the band has mentioned that they’re in studio recording an album? This phrase seems to be extremely common among bands in general, which begs the question; “Who is actually releasing their albums and is finished with the recording and production?”. This is who.

Below are several South African bands’ albums to keep an eye and ear out for in 2009. These guys have all been hard at work on their albums for the last year or so, at least. Having followed each of these bands for almost a decade now, I can assure you that they have each pulled out all the stops with their upcoming albums.
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