What is it about Natalie Portman?

OK, so she's not perfect - she's a little short for me (I'm 6'3" - she's 5'3"). Frankly, a cross between her and Keira Knightley might just be too much for my heart.

However, she is funny (read Esquire interview), clever (Harvard A student whilst pursuing acting career) and quite fetching.

And there is just something about her nose, mouth and legs... (and she's quite a good actress too)

Who is the best of the web?

Well the news is in. I did not win a Webby.



Shortly I will have all the bits gathered to win a webby: Blogger, Flickr, Cell phone posting, My fine EOS 20D and a fantastic sense of humour (I will either buy the last one or copy shamelessly).

For those of you not in the know (really - call yourself a blogger - the Webbies are the Oscars of the Internet. They say so, or rather they say that the NYT says so. And if the NYT says so, it must be so) - the Webbies are the awards for outstanding Internet content.

Now it is good to see some of my favourites won some Webbies. I do believe that Jamie Oliver is busy working on a dedication to me for my dedication to him. Zach Braff (Garden State, Scrubs) is busy penning a movie about a love affair between me and Natalie Portman for all the excitement I've generated about Garden State - not on my site, verbally. OK, don't believe me. Just wait 'til I get to kiss her on screen. Oi, I'll even kiss her off screen if she's shy. Did I tell you I have a thing for Natalie Portman? I do.

The major Webbies go to:

The Webby Lifetime Achievement Award: Former Vice President Al Gore

Webby Person of the Year: Craig Newmark of craigslist

The Webby Artist of the Year: The Kleptones

The Webby Breakout of the Year Award: Flickr

I swear, Flickr is just something else. To see why, go and look at this guy. 25 years old from Cape Town.



The full list of Webbies can be found here.

Are sports fans the same the world over?

AAAAhhh!!!!Did anyone else watch SuperRugby on Kyknet?

I would be the first to say Marius Joubert and Big Joe shouldn't be in the squad (despite the adage, "form is temporary, class is permanent"). Perhaps JP Nel and Richard Bands should be there.

However, I've almost been moved to cheering for the Waratahs after listening to the baboons who phoned in.

This one guy phoned in to complain about Monty and Jaco being picked. Kobus asked which flyhalf he thought should be there: ".....eeer, daardie ou, eeerrr, die Blou Bul ou." Kobus asks, which fullback: ".....eeeerr, daardie ou,weet jy." No? "Daardie ou van die Bulle."

Another guy phones in and mouths off about Jake White belonging in the group due for a medical exam.

I cannot believe that these are the guys who probably cheered White when he turned a Springbok team from being the laughing stock of world rugby into Tri-Nations champions.

And then Joost says they didn't really win the Tri-Nations, they got lucky because of points difference. Give me a break - they virtually won two on the road - losing by a narrow margin. Tell me who would have given them a chance of coming close after the Streauli misery.

And then, and the absolute cheeks of this: These are the fans who watched their brilliant Bulls lose on the road, called for Heyneke Meyer's head, citing his miserable record in the Super 12. These are the fans who have watched their Bulls crumble in the second half, narrowly scraping through against miserable opposition.

The Bulls were brilliant this weekend, make no mistake. Also, the Stormers were woeful. The Waratahs, Crusaders and Hurricanes will not be so willing to wave them to the try line. For South Africa's sake I hope the Bulls pull it off: but grief, I don't know if I'll be able to handle the crap from their supporters for the months afterwards.

Frankly, I may disagree on one or two selections, but Jake White will be judged at the end of this and I'm willing to give him a bit of rope. I'll give enough rope to Koos from Hartebeespoortdam to hang himself.

Why are TV chef's so popular?

So I finally succumbed to buying one of those Jamie Oliver cookbooks on display at the Woolworth's exit aisles. I already had a Jamie Oliver cookbook, and have watched a lot of Jamie Oliver on TV, but this cookbook had a DVD accompanying it. The Happy Days DVD shows Jamie on stage cooking in front of a live audience of thousands and is a lot of fun.

Now why are TV chefs so big now? Well, I think it's because they've removed the pomposity from cooking. They make it look easy and ask "What's your excuse?"

Now I cook a bit, but I've avoided buying a pasta machine despite Jamie's many exclamations that freshly made pasta is the way to go.

And then he showed a roast chicken recipe on the DVD that just looked like a winner: chicken in a salt "cave."

And even the bread looked easy.

So I did a huge shop today and came back bearing pasta machine, bread tins and lots of ingredients.

It was easy! The bread recipe is so simple a kid could remember it. The chicken falls of the bones. And the mashed potato (although undoubtedly no good for one's health) with crème fraîche is a winner!

The next girl that comes to my place for dinner will be bowled over...