So what happened to Depeche Mode?

I am a Depeche Mode nut! Growing up, DM seemed to resonate with me. Martin Gore's lyrics, the avant guarde nature of their music, the phases they went through.

And boy have they gone through a whole lot of phases. They certainly have some stamina - watch out Rolling Stones, we may see Depeche Mode last 40 years from their appearance at the beginning of the eighties.

Depeche Mode are credited with being one of the most influencial bands of my time. Vince Clark, now of Eurasia, once of Yazoo, started with the Depeche Mode boys. DM defined the eighties synth that was to become techno. They graduated from that to the harder edge of Songs of Faith and Devotion.

The harder edge almost destroyed David Gahan who fronted the image and took its drug fuelled excesses to the brink as he overdosed on a heroin / cocaine speedball. He survived.

The band came back with Exciter. Sadly it was not one of their most exciting albums. Nothing like the incredible Ultra.

I was at the Songs of Faith and Devotion concert in Cape Town in the early nineties. It was amazing - Depeche Mode are known as a fantastic live act. They were enjoying themselves in South Africa and Cape Town in particular. Apparently, whereever they played, they'd fly back to Cape Town to party at Deviate, a techno club above the then infamous goth club called The Playground. Not surprising considering the phase the band was going through and the fact that Deviate was the biggest drugs scene around.

While the Exciter album was only average, the DVD was fantastic. It was a recording of a live stage performance in Paris - I highly recommend it if you want to get a taste of their live act.



Now DM are back. In breaking news, brought to you by IITQ, we can tell you that the new album Playing the Angel has just been released. The first single is titled Precious and in an exclusive preview, we bring to you the music video for the song. Click here to launch the Apple Quicktime video (10 MB). We really like the sound. A really mellow, slightly melancholy feel with some beautiful Martin Gore lyrics.

You can watch the Electronic Press Kit for the album here (Apple Quicktime, 29,6MB).

Lyrics for Precious from Playing the Angel by Martin Gore

Precious and fragile things
Need special handling
My God what have we done to you
We always tried to share
The tenderest of care
Now look what we have put you through

Things get damaged
Things get broken
I thought we'd manage
But words left unspoken
Left us so brittle
There was so little left to give

Angels with silver wings
Shouldn't know suffering
I wish I could take the pain for you
If God has a master plan
That only He understands
I hope it's your eyes He's seeing through

Things get damaged
Things get broken
I thought we'd manage
But words left unspoken
Left us so brittle
There was so little left to give

I pray you learn to trust
Have faith in both of us
And keep room in your hearts for two

Things get damaged
Things get broken
I thought we'd manage
But words left unspoken
Left us so brittle
There was so little left to give

The album has just gone on sale in Europe and the UK and will go on sale in the US from October the 11th.

To go to the Depeche Mode site, click here. It's an award winning site with tonnes of DM stuff.
To see information about the new album, click here.

I see that the band has a tour lined up, but with no dates yet slated for a South African appearance. MMmmm. Might have to catch them in New York or Europe. The tour line up is here.

Could we actually challenge in the America's Cup?

No one expects us to have a hope of winning the America's Cup. Anybody with the smallest amount of knowledge about sailing (and I have a bit less than that), will tell you that America's Cup sailing is one of the most expensive, technical sports in the world. Teams practice for years and boats are released in multiples to fine tune the designs.

So it was heartwarming when the chairman of the Meditteranean Shipping Company in South Africa, Salvatore Sarno, became passionate about giving South Africa a chance in the America's Cup. Heartwarming, but not exactly something to believe we had a hope in.



But now, a little while later, Team Shosholoza are placing behind the America's Cup contenders in competition! Team Shosholoza were named "team of the day" after finishing fifth in two races on Friday to score fourth place overall behind the big guns of the America's Cup - BMW Oracle, Team Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand - on the first day of the Trapani Louis Vuitton Act 9 fleet racing event held off Sicily.

Today they placed third in their first race and seventh in the second - enough to keep their overall fourth position heading into the final day tomorrow.

A New Zealander once told me that every second house in New Zealand had a boat in the driveway and someone who played rugby in winter. The America's Cup is a chance for them to compete with the giants - the USA.

So in a country where most people will not even have heard of the America's Cup, it is truly amazing that the SA team has progressed so well.



Overseas commentators are equally impressed. According to one of the official race commentators Matt Sheanan, as quoted on News24: "They are looking like one of the pros, they have great pace and are doing beautiful manoeuvres. They look slick, composed and confident. They have come a long, long way in the last year. What a lovely performance from the South Africans."

The America's Cup followers seem to be enjoying the romance of South Africa's entry. The following is an excerpt from the America's Cup magazine:

Finishing strongly At first glance, there’s not much to link the powerhouse BMW ORACLE Racing team with the fledgling South African Challenge, Shosholoza. The Americans are in their second consecutive campaign, a big-budget effort with the power of global brand-name sponsors and Larry Ellison behind them. In the case of Shosholoza, it’s not just the team that is making its first foray into the Cup; it’s the first challenge from the African continent.... Read more here.

I like Captain Salvatore Sarno's quote from the article best: “We’re not here to bring the America’s Cup to Africa. We’re here to bring a little bit of Africa to the Cup.”

Even if you know nothing about sailing - or don't really want to - take a look at the Team Shosholoza site. You'll need a Macromedia Flash installed in your browser (most browsers have it standard) and be prepared for a heavy graphics load. But it has some beautiful photos and is well designed.



UPDATES:

Shosholoza in the top four with BMW ORACLE leading the pack

Alinghi win but Shosholoza star

Shosholoza astounds critics

Shosholoza steals the show as visitors to the America's Cup Park pass the one-million mark

Shosholoza sailors can hold their heads high

Can we be friends?

Chitty's post reminded me of my perfect girl. And here. And here.

Truth is, I never really give up. And some part of me still says, "Don't burn the bridges, be there if she is keen one day."

That's hard. When I told her I was moving on, there were a lot of tears. She had said that she wasn't ready for a relationship in a non-commital kind of way. Some months later I said I needed to put some space between us for my own sanity. The tears made it worse, like she did feel something. She told me she was still in love with her ex. I told her she needed to sort that out, give a last try, but I wasn't going to just hang around and not know if I stood a chance.

Since then, it has been difficult, we've met for lunch. Other times we've been supposed to meet and it hasn't happened. Sometimes we've talked and mostly we haven't talked very often.

My best friend and his wife were on the beach the other day and bumped into her - with the ex. I spoke to my friend later that day and he told me about it. Funny - it still hurt. My dream girl with someone else. Just after I spoke to my mate, Keira-girl phoned. I didn't let on that my mate had told me anything. It was a bit tense.

I phoned her tonight and all the tension was gone. She was so happy to hear from me. She mentioned meeting my friend, perhaps listening to hear if I had heard she was with the ex. I didn't let anything on. We just chatted like old friends.

I've moved on. I've seen other girls. But of course I'm looking for the signals. Yeah, I'll be a friend. I'll phone. We'll meet. Once burned, twice shy - but she'll always be the girl that took my breath away when I was 21 and who I finally got introduced to 10 years later and had a chance with. Maybe dream girls are just meant to be dreams.

How much is a good cuppucino worth?

I bought a Krups esspresso/cuppucino machine about a year ago. Without doubt one of my best purchases ever.



I feel on top of the world when I start my day properly. Getting up early, drinking an awesome cuppucino and reading the news before heading off for work.

I have always been of the belief, "Buy the best you can afford." And so while I choked at the price when I purchased this beauty, I do not regret parting with a cent.

A Nestlé hot chocolate with frothed milk is something equally luxurious, and that drunk, I am now ready for bed.

As I always say, life is too short for instant coffee. Night all.

Can anything stop terrorism?

During the worst work week of my life, a stray thought or two has wandered towards holiday - and Bali. I've often thought that the safest place must be one that has recently been hit by terrorism. Lightning striking twice and things.

So today's blast is all the more shocking to me.

I worked in Jakarta a few years ago and was stuck in traffic thinking that the world's fourth most populous nation was the number one for traffic jams - not realsing that the reason was a bomb only a block or two away. Shortly thereafter there was the enormous bomb at the hotel I had most of my meetings at (after I left) and then the bomb in Bali.

Terrorism knows no logic. Indonesia needs development - you have no idea of the poverty there. It is in your face all the time. Their urban development means that you have skyscrapers next to squatter camps. The 1997 Asian crisis meant that there was not even money to dismantle cranes - 40 storey high towering cranes stood rusting years later. Yet the threat of terrorism will mean that tourists and business will be lost.

What makes Aussies such good sportsmen?

One of my lasting sporting memories will forever be the fighting finish of the Presidents' Cup at Fancourt in 2003. As the officials debated what the result would be if the playoff match between Ernie and Tiger was called off due to bad light, the players debated what to do: call it off or come back the next day. They were informed that if they called it off, the Americans would retain the cup. Only if they came back and won, would they win the Cup.

At this point Stuart Appleby declared that there was no way in hell they were giving up the Cup and that they would cancel their flights and be back the next day. This sparked mass consternation as everyone pondered the complicated logistics. Ultimately, this caused Player and Nicklaus to agree to share the Cup.

Sadly, Appleby missed his final putt today and lost his chance to draw his match with Tiger. But along the way, he holed eveything within a mile. What a fighter. Typical of a good Aussie sportsman. Lots to learn from them.

Will you give one minute of your life to stop AIDS?

Some time ago a social worker from Kwazulu Natal spoke to our company about the effect of AIDS on whole communities in the region. She talked of whole villages where only grandparents and children survived - all adults of 20 to 60 were dying from AIDS.

She showed us stories of individual children and the effect of AIDS on their upbringing.

There were not many dry eyes as she showed us drawings by these children and narrated the stories behind them.

The newspaper article below tells of one such story. It does not mention AIDS. This is the tradition in Africa. It is considered shameful to die of the disease - so people don't admit to it. I am surmising the mother died of AIDS and the father is dying of AIDS.

If you would like to make a difference, there are many opportunities. From volunteer work in the affected regions to donations.

If you would like to donate, you can do so through The Nelson Mandela Foundation at www.46664.com.

If you donate, please leave a comment below this blog entry - I'd like to track its impact. I'll total the amounts disclosed in the comments and display a running total on the blog.

____

This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on September 16, 2005

These boys shoulder a huge responsibility...

Solly Maphumulo
September 16 2005 at 07:42AM

Themba and Thabo should be doing what other boys do - playing soccer, climbing trees and watching television.

But 12-year-old Themba and his nine-year-old brother Thabo shoulder a huge responsibility.

They look after their seven-month-old sister, Precious, and their bed-ridden father, Jimmy.

They also looked after their mother, Sbongile, before she died on Monday at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg, where she was admitted with abdominal pains.

'I have to make sure my family are okay'

On Thursday, Thabo didn't go to school. It was his turn to look after Precious and their dad, although Themba couldn't wait to get home to cuddle his tiny sister.

When Precious began to cry, he rocked her, making soothing sounds. Then, putting a dummy into her mouth, he whispered: "Ungakhali Precious, ngikhona" (Don't cry, I'm here).

"I have to look after my father, my brother and my sister," Themba said. "I don't mind because I'm the oldest, and that's what I have to do. "I don't have time to play with my friends after school... I have to make sure my family are okay."

The boys clean the house and scrub the floors, wash nappies, and cook and feed the family.

On Thursday Thabo woke up to feed Precious, cleaned the house and made his father comfortable.

'She was sick for a long time'

"It was my turn; that's what me and my brother agreed," he said. "Tomorrow I go to school and he stays at home."

Jimmy, who was too weak to talk much on Thursday, said he was proud of his sons.

"They are good boys because they are looking after me and Precious. They also comforted me when I heard that Sbongile had died."

Although she died on Monday, Jimmy has been too weak to go to the mortuary to identify the body. Also, there isn't enough money to bury her.

"My mother was in terrible pain and God chose to take her away to rest," said Themba.

"She was sick for a long time. She was always groaning. That broke my heart.

"I cried when I heard about her death, but I remembered what our Sunday-school teacher taught us. She said that if someone dies, they will rest peacefully.

"So I think my mother is resting because she was suffering. I watched her and cried every day," said Themba, stroking his sister's cheeks.

Sbongile had always wanted a daughter, so she was over the moon when she gave birth to a girl.

She loved her so much, she named her Precious.

"I will look after Precious properly, so that my mother can rest properly," Themba vowed.

The brothers comfort Precious when she's inconsolable, and rock her to sleep when she wakes up crying in the middle of the night.

Money is hard to come by and the family survive on donations from neighbours. Sometimes they go days without eating.

When the family moved into the abandoned home in Protea Glen Extension 4, Soweto, there was no roof, so Jimmy found a few sheets of corrugated iron and spent his days turning the house into a home.

Then both parents became ill. He and Sbongile grew weaker and, before he could finish putting a roof on the home, they both were confined to a mattress, leaving Themba and Thabo with the adult responsibility of looking after them.

On Thursday, Gauteng department of social services assistant director Zandile Makgalemele promised to assess the situation.

"If the children are young, they cannot look after a bed-ridden father and a baby," she said.

Child psychologist Ruth Ancer said the boys had been robbed of their childhood.

"Childhood is about discovering something about the world and yourself. Children discover a lot of things through playing. This should be the time they develop confidence. They shouldn't have such enormous responsibilities."

Ancer said the boys needed time to grieve for their mother, not to become little adults overnight.

She urged the government to provide facilities to help the children and others in similar situations.

"It is going to be stressful and frightening for the boys to look after their father, who is not well. They also have to look after their seven-month-old sister.

"That is too much for the boys - they don't have the maturity and skills to do that," Ancer said.

Do you want to be eaten?

YA HOLY CRAP!!!

Police remove 43-year-old Bernd-Jurgen Brandes' remains from Armin Meiwes' house Photo: BBC

SABC 3 is broadcasting some pretty unbelievable documentaries at the moment. They air just after Oprah at about 23h30. None more unbelievable than tonight's feature about this German incident. This bloke fantasises about eating another bloke. Luckily for him, he hooks up with somebody who wants to be eaten - in a newsgroup catering especially for people like this.

The downshot of writing this blog entry is that those newgroup members might find their way to this blog. Begone you sickos - find help!

Back to the incident, the eater meets the to-be-eaten. He slices off the latter's penis and they share the delicacy. 3 hours later, the guy still hasn't died. So the eater plunges a knife into the eaten's throat. He then eats the dead guy over the next few months.

The guy then brags about his deeds on the cannibalism newsgroup, where a potential-cannibal-with-a-conscience alerts the police. Who then find the dude in a small German village.

More on this gross story can be found in the following BBC report.

The interesting part about all of this is the psycologist's explanation of the perpetrator and victim's state of mind. Apparently the cannibal was lonely and by eating his victim, is always close to that person. The victim felt weak, and by being eaten, felt wanted.

Man, more than anything this illustrates (albeit the most unbelievably extreme example) the importance of a healthy self image. Every unhealthy relationship and sexual deviation is based on fulfilling a personal need rather than being a celebration of the other.

Armin Meiwes was convicted of killing Bernd-Jurgen Brandes. However because it was consensual, he was sentenced to only 8 years. He will likely be released in 4 years.

Who knows what is next on the SABC3 late night slot!

How do you delegate well?

I'm crap a delegating. As a leader and manager this is a problem.

The problem starts with my perfectionist streak. And to be honest, the fact that I like things done my way. The other is that I tend to play very senior roles and don't have time to help with the nitty gritty.

I've tried various means of addressing this. The most successful is when I am supported by experienced team members. I'm at my worst when I have a junior team. I am fairly good at coaching, but it takes time and means you have to allow failure and help with recovery. Management consulting doesn't have much time for that. It means you have to get to the point of failure very quickly so as not to derail delivery. That means regular deliverables with very quick and honest feedback.

But frankly, I think I am too soft. Friends at my level have shaken their heads as I shoulder the team's accountabiltiy for delivery. And that is the big issue. Getting team ownership of the problems.

Now the current problem has been getting an Excel based model owned by the young inexperienced modelling team. I gave up. I'll sort it out next time...

Is there something wrong with me?

I feel like I'm in a trap:

I keep on meeting someone long distance

I think I get taken for coming on too strong

The people who fall for me, I'm just not attracted to at all.

And then it seems like others create distance. Ignored calls. No call to me.

Another weekend it seemed we both enjoyed and then nothing.

I know I'm a nice guy. I know I am kind. I am intelligent. I don't think I'm unattractive - I can't see a hunchback in the mirror...

The long distance thing is wierd. Is there no one compatible in Jo'burg? I hope there is not something deeper there. Like a fear of commitment...

...but if there was a fear of commitment, how could I get taken for coming on too strong? And I am comfortable with taking things as they go. I make a great friend. I'm absolutely fine with a fun sexual relationship and just seeing where it goes, or acknowledging it won't...

Man, as always, it is when you're not looking, hardly interested, that others are interested in you. Now if only that could be somebody I liked...