Meet Philani Dladla the Pavement Bookworm of Johannesburg

Read on!

Headline of the Day: Mystery Meat

Right on the heels (hooves?) of the UK horsemeat scandal, there's this from South Africa: "Waiter! There's a giraffe in my kudu!"

Vultures: Soapboxing on the Oscar Pistorius Case

In the aftermath of the horrible news, there has been some repugnant, opportunistic "commentary" by various people with axes to grind.

Oscar Pistorius Charged with Murder

WHAT?  I wake up this morning and see this dreadful headline about one of the stars of the London Olympics.  More here.

Awesome: Oscar Pistorius Makes History in London

Alessandra and I have been following the South African athlete's career with great interest.  What a story!  I watched him run  the 400 meters this morning and qualify for semifinals, and it was awesome.  In case you've been living under a rock for a while and don't know who Oscar Pistorius is, here's the scoop.  

UPDATE: Pistorius didn't make it out of semis, but it doesn't matter.  He is still victorious as far as everyone is concerned.  The crowd roared, my buddies and I cheered, and the defending 400 meter Olympic champion exchanged bibs with him in a charming gesture. Pistorius gets the heroes tag.

Disgustingly Cute Friday Fun: Super-Affectionate Lion Cubs

Awwww:

A Thought on Mandela's Legacy

The refusal to launch a cult of personality.

Awesome Ad: "The Last Dictator Standing"

This is an advertisement for Nando's, a chain of chicken restaurants in South Africa.  How many dictators can you identify?  Oh, and the parody of the famous scene from "Titanic" is just too perfect.

Privatizing Elephants

Here's something I'd never thought about!  More here.

The Loneliest Tree in the World?

Awwwwwwwwwww.  It's missing its Entwives.

Disgustingly Cute: A Living Fossil Smiles

Via Neatorama, check out National Geographic's new image gallery of the coelacanth.

Awesome: An Airline with a Sense of Humor

Take a look at this sheer awesomeness by South Africa-based Kulula Airlines.  More glorious photos here and here at the official website. Nerdtastic bonus: one side of the aircraft has the label "captain, my captain" on the cockpit!  Playful, learned, cheerfully educational, and fond of traveling -- this is a plane livery after my own heart (if I had a heart).

Sign of the Apocalypse: Amazon Now Sells Vuvuzelas

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Then again, it's the whole supply-and-demand thing kicking in.  That goofy South African invention the vuvuzela's the hot accessory of the moment!  I guess I should say "Yay!" for free market capitalism and all that, even if vuvuzelas make my head hurt from all that noise.  (And make me watch World Cup matches on TV on *mute*!)

Also: an evil part of me (yes, I'm unabashedly evil) is now fantasizing about what would happen if I took one to a faculty meeting.  Or a Nerdmoot!

BBBBBBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

Well, it sounds about as sensible as some conference papers I've heard.

Heck, it's even an improvement on others.  

Movie Review: the Cinema-Mad Sibling Reviews "District 9"

Last night the Cine-Sib went to see the new sci-fi flick "District 9," which is set in Johannesburg, South Africa, involves insectoid space aliens, and has been receiving a lot of buzz for being an apartheid metaphor.

I saw it a couple of days ago, and maybe I'll get around to writing a review. The Cine-Sib liked the movie very much and wrote his review in haiku:

Shrimp from outer space
Are more human than we are.
Let 'em phone home, K?