And literally were are seeing fire, if you are not seeing fire then you are going to see fire! I deal a lot with businesses in the US and the UK and these financial events taking place are not good for their businesses. I do not need to know why this mess is happening, all I need to know is that clients are saying “we cutting down on spending”. For me that is the bottom line. If they do not spend then we as businesses will suffer. What really got me laughing was when I thought that this financial mess was only affecting businesses across the world but then I saw that it is even affecting whole countries! Iceland is basically seeing the fire I was talking about earlier with their economy about to collapse.

All these banks seem to be crashing and as funny as it maybe, the underlying fact is that it is affecting the whole world. I saw wanted AIG to go down thinking that Manchester United would no longer have a shirt sponsor. That would have been really funny seeing Man Utd playing without a sponsor on their shirts! But business took over my hatred for Man Utd. and it was actually a good thing that AIG was rescued as their downfall may have caused even more chaos.

This past week the JSE has been doing some crazy things! People have lost millions within hours all because shares are dropping in value. Who ever said that the more money you have the more problems you have was correct. Imagine you had R20m invested on the JSE and over night you loose 5% of that? That’s a staggering R1m lost in 24 hours. Now I would be hurt even if I had a lot of money. The big guys are loosing millions and even us small guys who had small portfolios on investments are loosing! And what about the rand? Just last week we were trading at R8 per $ and now we touching the R9.50 mark. If you earning USD or pounds then you laughing all the way to the bank but if you got bills to pay in forex then you in deep water!

It is just tough times all around but one has to remain strong. It is testing times like this which make or break you as an individual. There are just some thing you can not control, such as banks crashing in the US but these crashes play a part in your life. How you adjust to this is how you rise or fall. If you have lost R1m in 24 hours, it is up to you to make a plan to get that R1m back.

I have just finished reading a book called “Innovation” by Tom Gorman which was a very quick read ( I can not read large books!) and it was basically saying that one needs to be innovative if you want to be successful. Look at problems around you and think of ways to solve those problems and your solution could be worth millions! It is a good read and if you can get your hands on it you must. You will be done reading it in a day or two but it will get your brain thinking. And it is at times like this that we are in, you need to be thinking outside the box and be one step ahead of everything!

Renault’s Alonso comes into the pits to change tyres and re-fuel. Granted, Alonso had started off the race on a different set of tyres to everyone else and he had a lighter fuel load. Alonso was hoping to tear through those infront of him at the start because he had a lighter fuel load but alas he could not get passed those infront of him. Then my conspiracy theory kicks in: Alonso pits and then his team mate, Piquet ‘crashes’. I put the word crash in inverted commas because I think this was a premeditated crash! Piquet ‘crashes’ and forces the safety car to come out. Wow, what a coincidence! Alonso pitted at the perfect time just before the safety car was sent out because his teammate has ‘crashed’. Isn’t that a bit dubious?

Maki was the first to come up with this conspiracy theory as he called me during the race. In his words: Both their racs (cars) where not in points scoring positions so they decided kuti (that), you know what, it’s as good as both racs being out of the race. So the ownes (team) tuned (told) Fernando to go into the pits early, and then when he was back on track fuelled till the end of the race, they tuned that Nelson owne (guy) to crash his rac so that a safety car could come onto the track. Coincidentally this happened just 2 laps after Alonso had pitted and just before the other teams were about to pit. Owne this was just too convenient. The whack thing is the whole world is turning a blind eye to something that is so obvious. A team sacrificed a rac so that the other rac could win the race. I mean if that hadn’t happened then Renault would have had nothing from that weekend. Clear match fixing, the crash was not even that serious, but it warranted a safety car to land.

Now Maki is not a Ferrari fan like me, he actually supports Toyota but he is clearly angry about this like I am. Okay, Ferrrari messed things up for themselves with the whole fuel hose drama in the pit for Massa and then Kimmi loosing concentration towards the end of the race and crashing out. I, like Maki, think that there was something more to this race than we may believe.

After basking in the glory of the Liverpool win yesterday it was only polite to have a look at the Arsenal - Hull game as many, including myself, thought we were going to see a cricket score in this game! With the way Arsenal had been playing with their free flowing, running football it only made sense that they were going to bag in a couple against a newly promoted team. And with the game being at The Emirates stadium, it only made sense that we were going to see lots of goals. My prediction was Arsenal to win 5 - 0, with some Arsenal supporters I was watching the game with predicting as many as seven!

But to my shock, Arsenal where held 0-0 at half time. And I knew that the longer the game was 0-0, Arsenal could get frustrated but alas, Arsenal did what they had to do and managed to get a goal. I recall the commentator saying that it was not a question of ‘if’ Arsenal are going to score but ‘when’. And score they did in the 50th minute. Then I thought the floodgates were going to open with 40 minutes to go we are going to see that 5-0 scoreline. But alas! A wonder strike from Hull’s Geovanni leveled the game in the 60th minute. Now Arsenal were rattled and so was I! What a gem of a goal and now the Gunners were looking nervy. They had to come out and score again but instead it was Hull who took the lead with a fine header by Cousin four minutes after Geovanni’s goal.

I thought Arsenal would pull back and atleast equalise but they failed! Ha Ha Ha Ha! I have gotten my fair share of stick from Arsenal supporters in the past when Liverpool lost to ’small’ teams so now it is my turn to laugh at all the Arsenal fans! It is funny how quickly all Arsenal fans just switched off their cellphones after the game. But I will not let this one up very quickly! You are going to switch on your phone sooner or later and I am going to rub it in! It may be a bit too early to talk about the title but these dropped 3 points by Arsenal could come back and haunt them. I honestly do not think Arsenal are capable of winning the title this season. Their ‘kids’ are just too young! Maybe in four or five seasons these kids will be mature and be able to challenge but for now they can forget about it. And how can you have a captain like Gallas? I think that is one the biggest mistakes Arsene Wenger made. Gallas is too emotional to be a captain. He cries and screams big time! How can you take him seriously?

Anyway, enough about Arsenal now. Sorry guys, you got ‘Hulled’!

The weatherman is saying that a cold front will be arriving on Tuesday morning and we expect there to be some rain on Tuesday and Wednesday. So now that leaves me with the question, “How do you braai in the rain?”

I have been sitting at my desk all day trying to figure out the answer to this question and I am not having much luck in finding a solution. We just have to find a way to be able to braai in Cape Town on Wednesday! Hopefully the rain will not be too bad and it will rain for a couple of minutes and then go away and leave us to braai. But knowing Cape Town weather the way I know it, this is very unlikely. It may rain and it looks like it has gone but within minutes it starts to rain again and again and again!

There is the option of putting the braai stand under shelter. That will work if the shelter is big enough to cover a large radius. A small shelter will not help in protecting the prized asset (the braai stand) from the rain and wind. I look at my balcony at home and it is covered but it is just not good enough to protect the braai stand from the rain and wind. But then again, even if you braai under a shelter it is going to be cold and miserable outside and no one will want to sit outside in the rain under a shelter. The whole point of a braai is not to leave one poor soul outside to stand by the braai stand themselves and braai but rather have everyone sitting around the fire with drinks in hand enjoying the sweet smell on meat being braaied.

But come what may I am going to braai on Wednesday! If it means wearing a raincoat and holding an umbrella over the braai stand, so be it! Come to think of it that is actually a plan. The raincoat will protect me from the rain and wind. Just need to make sure I am wearing a lot of layers of clothing underneath to keep me warm. Now the trick is to protect the fire from dying down from the rain. So providing cover for the fire using an umbrella will be effective. It may not be 100% effective as the rain in Cape Town usually rains at an angle due to the wind so one has to think about protecting from the rain when it comes at an angle. How about a human wind breaker! You get a couple of people maybe four or five to wear rain coats and stand in the way of the wind blowing to create a wind break. Now to find people willing to stand in the rain to help protect the fire will go to show who your true ‘die hard braaiers’ are!

This could turn out to be a rather interesting braai day in Cape Town! I hope not too many people will be put off by the bad weather and they will still make a plan to go ahead and celebrate with a braai. If you have any ideas on how one can braai in the rain, please do share them with me.

I have known Ron for sometime now and I will be the first to say that I have met very few guys like him. I honestly can not think of a time I have seen Ron being mad at someone (okay, maybe when Liverpool loose!). But besides that, he holds not grudges with anyone and always seems to have a smile on his face all the time. I have heard many people say that Ron has a big heart and that is an understatement. His heart is massive! If you ask Ron for anything he will say, “If I can do it, I will do it for you. But if I can’t then, I will make a plan to do it for you!” That is a Ron phrase! Ron is a great friend and I am sure is one to many people. I know he is also a great brother and great uncle and know that one day he will be a great husband and father. Oh, another one from the Ron collection.. I remember him meeting some guy for the first time and they asked Ron, “What do you do for a living?” and Ron said, “I work hard, and play even harder!” That just sums up who Ron is. He works hard but also loves to have a good time with his friends and family.

On this your day Ron, I hope you have a smashing one. (I know the weather in Cape Town is not great right now but I am sure that will not stop you from having some fun today). Wishing you many more years.

ST

But alas, I have not heard a single United fan say that to me now that we went on to win the game thanks to a late winner by Babel. Liverpool totally dominated United and not even United fans can say we played better than you because we just looked a shade above them. It was about time that we beat these guys. They had been lucky in previous seasons to win against us as we dominated games against them but we never got the result.

It was time for United fans to switch off their phones after the game! Shame guys! I will be gloating about this win until we play them again in March. So that means a good 6 months of bad mouthing United fans. How sweeter can that get?

I am not usually one to make comments or judgment about other teams, especially United but I have to say that without Ronaldo, United look out of their depth. Ronaldo scored 40 odd goals for them last season and it is clear he is a very important part of their team. Just look at how poorly they have started this season without him. And that is when everyone is busy saying Liverpool are a two man team of Torres and Gerrard. Well, we beat the best team in Europe without our two man team! Secondly, I do not see how United are going to be able to keep Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez and Berabtov all happy. There is no way all 4 can play together upfront. But I guess Sir Alex knows what he is doing. And lastly to add more insult to injury; it looks like United’s shirt sponsors, AIG, maybe going under as a company. This financial crisis gripping the world seems to be taking its toll and United may soon have a bankrupt sponsor on their shirts. Someone like Carlsberg, you know it will take a lot for them to go under. After all, how many millions of people drink beer?

As you can see in the image at the top; Sir Alex bowing down to Rafa with Mascherano looking over the proceedings. I think it is time the guard has shifted and Liverpool are now on their way to title number 19.

Early on this year I actually watched Live (I can not remember why I was home on that Friday night) and I heard that Andile was leaving the show as a presenter and they had quite an emotional farewell for him and then they played a track which really got to me. I never knew what this track was called but it stuck to me. I went out several times and heard this track being played. It was almost as if there was no club you could leave and not hear this track. I then discovered that this track was on Andile’s CD. It only made sense to me then because I had heard it the day he was leaving Live. So then I thought, “So this Andile guy has a CD?” I never actively went out to look for it but the more I heard ‘this track’ I forced myself to go out a get this CD.

So only today, now that I bought the CD do I know what the name of the track is and it is called ‘Song 4u’. It is the first track on the CD. Reading the insert in the CD, Andile says this is his favourite track on the CD and I must agree with him there. I think I played the track about ten times on repeat before I decided to go through and listen to the rest of the tracks. The second track on the CD titled ‘Weakness in me’ is another classic club track. I always heard it being played but never realised that it was on this CD. As I was going through the tracks I realised that there was remix to Song 4u. In bracets it says ‘Get down mix’. It certainly is a get down mix! It has a much faster beat and tempo to the original track and it is surely a track you can ‘get down’ to. Andile says that he wanted to add some “Vuma!” to the original and he certainly did that.

It usually takes me a couple of days or weeks to get into a new CD but this one I have fallen in love with on day one. As a huge fan of house, I suggest you get yourself a copy of ‘I am not a Dj’, it certainly is a good one to add to your collection. I am not too sure if Andile will be releasing another CD anytime soon but good work on this one mate. And thank you, thank you, thank you for ‘Song 4u’.

After Nadal trounced Roger Federer at the French Open and Wimbledon, many had thought that this was the end of the man I like to call “The Fed”. I never for one second thought this was the end of Federer when he lost to Nadal. All great sportspeople and teams go through stages where they are not on the top of their game and they experience losses. Even in life, one goes through ups and downs and how you bounce back from those downs shows your character. Federer has just shown his and I never doubted that he lacked character. He raced to win the US Open on Monday by destroying Murray in the final. I really would have loved to see a Nadal - Federer final but alas Nadal could not make it to the final.

In the last couple of months we have seen some great sporting moments such as Bolt in the Olympics and Phelps too. Now “The Fed” is back and ready to shatter more records and one day win that French Open.

What made me realise the popularity of Google Chrome was when I was getting phone calls and emails from people you would not think may pay much attention to technology, asking me if I have seen this new Google Chrome! On first impression, Google Chrome looks great. It does not seem to take too long to load and it is easy for someone who was used to Internet Explorer or Firefox to start to use Chrome straight away. There are many ‘cool’ features with Chrome, like when you open a new window or tab, you get displayed with your most visited sites by default, in pretty little windows. When you go to the address bar and type in a web address, Chrome predicts what address it is you want to type which is pretty cool. Since it is only a Beta release, we do not know how well Chrome is actually going to perform, especially with regards to security. I will not go into much detail about the technical aspects of Chrome as Rons Crib is not the right platform for that!

But I just want to let you all know that Google Chrome is here and you should try it out. What is interesting is that Google have now ventured into making software and that is going to be interesting. I can not wait to see what else they come up with. Beware Microsoft, Google is coming after you!

Visit www.google.com/chrome to download Google Chrome.