Cherryflava

Arise…King Lance

Posted on 26. Jul, 2004 by Cassandra.

Le Tour is now over…and Lance won it for a record 6th time.

His streak of six straight crowns has helped reinvigorate the greatest race in cycling, steering it into the 21st century. And the Tour, as much a part of French summers as languid meals over chilled rose, molded Armstrong into a sporting superstar.

No. 6: The achievement was almost too much for even Armstrong to comprehend.

“It might take years. I don’t know. It hasn’t sunk in yet. But six, standing on the top step on the podium on the Champs-Elysees is really special,” he said

Now he starts training for number 7. As an afterthought, here are a couple of Le Tour FAQ’s to get you ready for next year’s tour….like:

Why do the winners of each stage receive a toy lion?
The lion is the symbol of Credit Lyonaise, the French bank that sponsors the Yellow Jersey.

Mmm…meat

Posted on 23. Jul, 2004 by Cassandra.

Here’s something interesting for ardent meatlovers. A whole take-away, milkshake…’I'm lovin it’ vibe just for meat.

Yum…there’s nothing better than slurping down a nice refreshing beef meatshake on a baking hot summers day.

Taking note of the company and founder’s history:

Pete grew up working for his father and eventually married Daisy, his high school sweetheart. In the late 1950’s, his father retired and Pete took over the family business. Pete never forgot the stuggles of the depression and was still interested in using beef in new ways. In 1961, he came up with “meat-juice”. Meat-Juice was a liquid he created with leftover and unused beef at the slaughter house. At first, the competition laughed at him but when they tried the juice, they stopped laughing.

Sounds wonderful….hope this doesn’t put you off your weekend braai.

More website invites

Posted on 22. Jul, 2004 by Cassandra.

Cherryflava loves this guy…it’s all in German but first check the site, here’s the bad translation from Monkeyfilter:

Now you ask you reliably as one at all on the idea come such a thing to make. My slogan and only its than others! I am assessed as standard equipment exhibitionistisch and I find it simple geil to carry sexy underwear and to let me photograph thereby or be naked in the public. In addition it stirs me up totally to make men and women with my hot Outfits geil. Most men move on if their wives are inspired like that are even our society!! !

The last time do not get I very many offers of men now must I all finaldeceived I am Schwul and stand only on Mrs. Sorry to look may it gladly however more not!!!

You had us at the Porsche mate….

Updated warning: Barely SFW, but not your stomach…thanks Richard.

Road trip rules

Posted on 21. Jul, 2004 by Cassandra.

For your next roadtrip…here are the handy rules of “Riding Shotgun”.

The term “Shotgun” refers to the front passenger seat of an automobile. “Calling Shotgun” is the act of claiming the position of Shotgun for one’s self. As this position is the most coveted of all positions when riding in a car, the following list of rules has been created to ensure that Shotgun can be acquired in a fair and equitable manner by any passenger of an automobile.

It’s serious stuff. [Via Monkeyfilter]

What makes you happy?

Posted on 21. Jul, 2004 by Cassandra.

The number one unspoken rule of successful advertising…if cute babies, puppies and humour don’t sell the product at breakneck speed, just slap a shot of a naked lady on your ad and whadda ya know.

Case in point is this UK ad for Evian water. It’s basically saying that if you drink enough Evian water you’re going to get all naked, run in a plush garden area and jump onto the first swing you see. What on earth are they putting into water these days?

Speaking of advertising, it’s time once again to have a critical look at the present crop of television ads and offering the Cherryflava top 3…as voted and decided apon by Cherryflava.

At Number 3…is the new Jetta ad. It’s the one where the snappy executive woman walks into the dealership and demands a new Jetta, in red. Cherryflava is just not sure why, but you’ve gotta love the expression on her face as she realises that she’s got to take the beige car. Good ad, love watching it.

At Number 2…a bit predictably…it’s the Sasol ‘Coach’ ad. Hit him in the head…haahahahaha…it’s almost as funny as ‘The Office’. Good copywriting, good casting, perfect for the brand (humanising a petrol company).

And for the Number 1 spot…it’s the All Gold ‘36′ ad. TBWA Hunt Lascaris has fallen off the advertising wave of late, but this ad proves that they’ve still got a sharp creative edge and some crazy creative director who can sell anything to a conservative client. Bennie should get his own show.

The sun always shines on TV

Posted on 20. Jul, 2004 by Cassandra.

Ever heard of the Pacific island of Tuvala? Maybe you haven’t, but global television networks around the world are paying top dollar for the small island’s number one export…it’s internet domain letters…TV. Ironically the island doesn’t even have it’s own television station, but big global networks are falling over themselves to get their websites marketed as a .tv.

The Geneva-based International Organization of Standards, assigning country-code, “top-level domain” names on the Internet, had bestowed dot-tv on Tuvalu, just as it had dealt dot-jp to Japan and dot-fr to France. The Tuvaluans owned that Web address, and could license it for non-Tuvaluans to use.

With no real marketing plan, the Canadian deal foundered, however, and Tuvalu reached another deal, with a California company, in 2000. Two years later, that company sold the new dot-tv Corp. to VeriSign, the powerful outfit that maintains registries for “dot-com” and “dot-net,” the most important Internet suffixes.

There are even a couple of South African site registered as .tv’s…eg…the Phat Joe Show.tv.

There’s another problem though, it appears that the little island is slowly sinking into the big blue Pacific.

The sea is encroaching, apparently because of climate change. With family burial plots sitting just meters from beaches, the ocean eats away the sand. Inland, seawater seeps into pulaka growing pits.

Sopoanga’s government hopes to arrange contingency evacuation plans with New Zealand, but Tuvaluans are torn.

“I’ve been to Fiji, Australia, New Zealand. They’re nice developed countries,” a young mother, Siemai Apinelu, says after church one Sunday. “But I would miss Tuvalu’s simple, easy life.”

The story of an island that once was. ]
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Even in this modern age, island people are being exploited and colonised, not by nations, but big business.

All of this begs the question…what will happen to all the .tv (s) [Thanks Helen]

Knysna Oyster Festival 1

Posted on 19. Jul, 2004 by Cassandra.

First in the series of pics from the first weekend of the 2004 Knysna Oyster festival. Only after Cherryflava got back to Cape Town was it realised that not many pictures of people enjoying the festival were actually taken. Well…whatever…but here are some nice scenic shots for you. Just add your own crowds and festivities.

Oyster festival 1

Posted on 19. Jul, 2004 by Jonathan Cherry.

Marketing genius

Posted on 19. Jul, 2004 by Cassandra.

This is the cover of this week’s issue of Newsweek. You just can’t buy this kind of brand promotion…not that the guys at Apple really need anymore exposure, but you’ve just gotta love their style. The Apple iPod has now achieved a level of mass-cult following which is the envy of every brand manager. It’s the personification of cool.

Cherryflava is edited on an Apple iBook (which is the business), but unfortunately portable MP3 players are not very popular in South Africa…so therefore have never considered investing in an iPod. With the average South African spending so much time in their cars, in contrast to using public transportation, there isn’t really a market for this type of product here. Still, you just can’t ignore a marketing love story which is taking the world by storm.

Here’s the link to the article in this week’s Newsweek. (iPod nation) [Via Gizmodo]

Here’s more about the new iPod from Engadget.

Restaurant review: Mesopotamia

Posted on 19. Jul, 2004 by Cassandra.

Cape Town is well-known for being a world-class destination for lovers of fine food and cheap beverages.

Putting this fine reputation to the test, Cherryflava ventured out into the cold winter night with a couple of friends to test out the fare at the city’s only Kurdish restaurant…Mesopotamia.
The venue is named after the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, now known as Iraq. As you would expect from an Iraqi spot…there are lots of carpets on the walls, giant bronze platters serve as tables, you sit on cushions on the floor and the CD player doesn’t really work that well.

Our waitress was from Turkey…and at times, it was a little difficult to understand what meze items were on special with the defective CD player repeating the same Iraqi top 20 hit for the 5th time.
While considering the translations of the menu, we tried some tasty beverages. Nothing fancy here…AFB’s all around except for one culinary adventurer who tried a traditional Kurdish drink which was yoghurt, lemonade and a type of aniseed shot. Very nice…another one of those please waitress.

Wanting a bit of variety with the starter, we decided on a multi-meze platter. There were countless types of humus and dips to dunk your nan bread into…very filling. For the main meal, the group shared a platter of traditional foods which included cubes of tender lamb and roast veggies. Tasty…but we did overdo it a bit with the starter.

Halfway through the evening, around the time your legs go lame due to lack of blood, the lights dimmed even more, the CD player fired up a new track and out came the evening’s entertainment…the bellydancer. Dripping with gold and well-posititioned cloth, she performed solo for a few tracks and then forced a couple of the diners to showoff their own booty shaking moves. A word of advice…get as much out of the bellydancer as possible, because you are charged for her services whether you like it or not.

Overall, the experience was a good one, although perhaps a bit on the expensive side. But it’s a small intimate venue with very few tables (or cushions I should say). If you’d like to experience Iraqi cuisine without the fear of getting a piece of shrapnel in your ass…this is the spot.