The Northern Cape and specifically the small town of Kakamas have won an appeal to have one of the preliminary world cup matches played at their grounds. After visiting the pitch, the FIFA officials deliberated for a few hours and eventually agreed that one match would be played at the rural grounds.

The brand new dust bowl outside the small town of Kakamas.

The local council and tribesmen had to prove to the FIFA officials that the pitch was playable on, and that there was enough room for spectators. The pitch is surrounded by a natural bank or bowl (hillside) giving all the potential spectators a wonderful view of the field and players. The pitch has recently been brushed of all rocks and pebbles, so should not trouble the players who are wearing body armour. The local council have promised to rid the area of snakes, scorpions and spiders.

Security fences surround the pitch and bricks mark the centre of the field.

Security of the players has always been the number one concern, but the tribesmen were quick to point out that the ground was surrounded by a fence, which would keep out the troublemakers. (foxes, small rabbits, wild animals etc).

Brand new pitch,  soccer nets and raised spectator seating can be seen in the background.

Mr Ibullsh Itunot, the sports minister for Kakamas said,

We are delighted to be having one of the football world cup games held at our ground.  We have not been told who will be playing here, but the local township are extremely excited at the prospect of having at least one international team playing on our famous “dust bowl” ground. All the big cities in South Africa are spending millions of rands building wonderful stadiums and we are proud to be apart of that world cup fever. We are a small community and this sort of worldwide visibility will put us on the map of the world. Obviously we can’t offer players and spectators the grandeurs that Cape Town, Durban or Johannesburg are offering, but I am sure player/spectator will experience Africa at it’s best.

Looking at the 2010 world cup calendar, it will be the only open air game where the pitch is totally void of any solid structure (concrete walls, stands, seating etc) and it will be the only green stadium. The openness of the pitch will come as a big relief to both players and spectators as temperatures at the ground often reach 35 degrees Celsius or above.

More wild animal will be needed to light up the pitch.

There was a suggestion to play the game at night, but the local tribesman are worried they will not be able to safely manage the players and / or spectators in the dark with only a few choice animals offering the needed light for the game.

If the many rumours, news articles and image coverage are true, then we are definitely ending 2009 on a high and will start 2010 with a 41 year old, seven times world champion! Yay!!!!

I don’t want to jinx it, but there is a lot of news today on Michael Schumacher and his return to F1 next year driving in the same car that brought good fortune and luck to Jenson Button. Even Jenson Button is getting in on the action by saying “Schumacher will be putting his reputation on line“. Totally nonsense of course for Button to think that. He is just scared like the rest of the drivers.

Michael Schumacher has spent the last 3 years watching Hamilton, Alonso, Massa, Vettel, Webber, Button, Barichello, Kimi race so he knows what they are about? He knows that Massa and Barichello are still number 2 drivers, he has seen that Alonso is still hungry for another championship in a Ferrari. He knows Vettel is a future champion and he knows Hamilton is a cheat and can be beaten.

It will be one hell of a year in 2010 if seven times world champion teams up with Brawn for the 3rd time and shows the youngsters once again who the real champ is?

Come on Mercedes / Brawn, Schumacher – tell us it’s true!!!!

Related News Headlines:

• Schumacher will be putting his reputation on line, warns Button
• Michael Schumacher set to return to F1 in 2010 – Yahoo
• Michael Schumacher ‘ready to sign’ for Mercedes for 2010 Formula One season – The Telegraph
• Schumacher to sign with Mercedes – The Associated Press
• Schumacher Close to Deal With Mercedes – New York Times
• Schumacher ‘not over the hill’ – Damon Hill
• £7million… and it’s all for Schu – The Sun
• Schumacher back in F1 – NZ Herald News

Have you seen this video? I don’t know the full story behind the making of it, but it goes something like this;
There was this competition where contestants were asked to add their musical talents to the famous piece of music by German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. It was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue in the same key. (Information on Johan Pachelbel from Wikipedia).

This kid Matt Rach and his guitar came up with the following:

The video is just over 5 minutes. Watch it, it’s truly incredible.

Mike, you need new jeans and pants as yours don’t fit you well, Mike you need new shirts, Mike you need a new coats, new shoes, new socks, Mike your underpants have holes in them, Mike, I am embarressed to walk around with you looking like a slob, Mike YOU NEED A NEW LOOK!

Does that sound familar? I have heard those words hundreds of times since I married my lovely wife. Clearly she has not read the following or doesn’t understand men:

Men Are Just Happier People– What do you expect from such supreme creatures?

Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don’t have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress R5000. Tux rental-R100.

People never stare at your chest when you’re talking to them. New shoes don’t cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time.
Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.

Your underwear is R12.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck.

You can play with toys all your life. One wallet and one pair of shoes — one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can ‘do’ your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

So please send this post to the women who can handle it and to the men who will enjoy reading it.

There is a wonderful story in the news today (many sources BBC, Metro, IOL etc) about a company in South Africa who used a pigeon to  carry a small memory card of data from one location to another while at the same time they tried sending the data over ADSL to the same location.

They wanted to show Telkom how slow their broadband connection was.

In total, it took two hours, six minutes and 57 seconds for Winston the pigeon to fly to Hillcrest and to upload the data from the card onto the call centre system.

By that time, the ADSL transmission of the same data size was around four percent complete.

What a clever pigeon – Not only did Winston fly there in record breaking time, he also uploaded the data onto the system.

Winston sets off to work for UPigeonS!

This story got me thinking why the mad scientists of the world are trying to clone sheep or grow ears on hands or silly stuff like that?

Instead why don’t they genetically enhance a racing pigeon and make it like a hawk or an eagle with excellent eye sight, a powerful body strong enough to fend off predators, bad weather and equally strong enough to carry a few carefully constructed waterproof boxes or satchels on it’s back or legs, which can hold memory cards, mini hard drives or small documents. It’s incredible to think that the pea size brain of a pigeon is intelligent enough to remember great distances and locations of departure and destionation, so the scientists would not have to make major changes in the brain department.

Once the super pigeon has been developed, train them up, and give them good strong names such as Winston, George, Sarkozy, Berlusconi, and Barack-Obama and then sell them to some small choice companies who are willing to compete with the likes of Royal Mail, TNT, Fedex, UPS and all the ISP’s of the world.

I am sure there are many people, companies, small developing countries around the world who have poor mail services and equally poor broadband services. Take the UK for example (since I live here), the Royal Mail are striking at the moment (yet again). Our ISP’s sell us broadband packages and promise us speeds of 8MB or more, yet one is very lucky to get more than 2MB. There are plenty of surveys to prove this statement.

Look out for the following global brand names in the future (Royal Pigeon, UPigeonS, FedPigeon, FastPigeon, Pipigeon, T-Pigeon, PigeonBolt). I can definitely see them taking off. (excuse the pun).

What an idea hey?