I wrote a piece the other day called “Vida e Caffe- Pushing the franchise?” and received an e-mail from Grant Dutton from vida e caffe, just informing me of some more things.

Grant said that some of the points I raised in my article were issues they discuss in depth before opening any of their new shops. Furthermore, Grant made me aware that vida e caffe do not franchise, and that 90% of their stores are owned solely by their company. He believes this helps them keep true to their concept and passion which is vida e caffe, which is a good point. Instead of just randomly franchising to anyone who can afford a franchise, vida e caffe have a hands on approach to their stores.

I should add here that I never meant that each shop was losing the vida e caffe touch(Staff enthusiasm, good coffee etc), but rather that the sheer number of stores opening up in Cape Town was just making vida e caffe more of a common sight, rather than something special.

As Grant went on to say, there will always be a fine balance between growth and brand equity. This is true as we all know there is always going to be a problem in this sense when your brand becomes as popular as vida e caffe, and the need to open new stores arises.

One other thing I never mentioned is the sheer popularity of the vida e caffe brand. I read an article a few years ago which mentioned something about brand popularity and how you know when a brand has done something to set itself apart from others. I think the example was Coca-Cola, and when you order a drink at a bar you say “Vodka and coke” or “Vodka and cola” You don’t even think of saying “I will have a vodka and Pepsi” By saying cola or coke, you mean Coca-Cola. “Coca Cola” is a brand name of cola, and the brand is so successful that the brand name “Coke” has taken over the actual name of the drink which is cola. The particular brand of cola(Coca Cola) has actually taken over the name of cola.

To make this easier to understand in the coffee sense, I often get people saying to me “Let’s go get a vida” In essence, the name “vida” has come to replace the word “coffee” Such is the popularity of the vida e caffe brand. And this is something that I’m not sure you can particularly set out to achieve when starting a company. It’s just the merging of various factors of a brand that hits a note with the public, and makes that brand so much more successful than others. Vida e caffe have successfully managed to hit that note, and whether they know how they did this or not, they have done something right along the way.

Sean Lloyd

Editor

In news that has shocked everyone viewing the SAA Open, Trevor Immelman has been forced to pull out of the SAA Open. The two time winner pulled out just two holes into the first round of the SAA Open with a rib injury. Click HERE for all the details.

This has angered the editor of a local Cape Town based website, who wanted to see the great man in action. Sean Lloyd, editor of www.slxs.co.za had this to say from Casa del Lloyd in Cape Town, on the eve of another weekend of leisure and pleasure for the editor:

“Yeah look obviously I was keen to see the big man in action, it was only a few days prior that I had posted a piece on him on my website. I love Cape Town like a son, and was hoping to see Trev in his natural habitat slaying that golf ball. But such is life”

Asked where the tournament can possibly go to from here, Sean smiled, as though he knew something no one else did:

“Well I do have a few tricks up my sleeve. Being an avid fan of the 19th hole, I have some experience in “clubs” I therefore felt it my duty to pull out the old golfing kit and try and enter into the field on the Sunday which is the last day. Luckily for me my annual pilgrimage to Carnoustie was put on hold this year and I have the honour of gracing the SAA Open with my undeniable presence. I think I will make quite an impact. I am being forced to miss the Chris Evert press conference taking place on Friday due to a wedding on Saturday which is taking up the better part of my schedule lately”

Is he not worried that he will not actually be able to get into the competition at such a late stage?:

“No” Sean said, matter of factly. “I am the editor of a website and therefore find myself to be a cunning linguist and a master debater, so I’m sure I will find a way around the rules”

What does Sean have to offer the sport:

“Well other than dress sense to bring a tear to Armani’s eye, I offer a great deal. Recently while on a crawl through the suburbs I found the perfect sports drink. Beer. With plenty of carbs to fuel those long jaunts in the bunker, and a nice dose of alcohol to keep me as cool as dry ice when lining up in front of the international press, I think I have a fair advantage. This, coupled with an eagle eye for spotting birds, should be all I need really out on the course”

During a photo opportunity, the readers of his website were greeted with this, Sean’s get up for the SAA Open:

“I’m hunting down the big trophy this year” Sean said.

“Nothing like a Callaway to smash the ball away” Sean said in a deep tone of voice

Commenting on his choice of attire, he had this to say:

“People said that I should not take a gun as it is not in the rules of golf. I told them I always carry two guns anyway, so what’s a third going to do?”

At this point Sean lifted his shirt, to reveal two biceps that looked like they were Photoshopped off of the movie 300.

“But seriously, the gun is in case anyone slow gets in my way. I must stress that anyone slowing down my lightning quick game, might hear me busting a cap. If you feel the burning of a bullet in your ass cheek, know that I am behind you and you better move. I hear there are some slow guys this year, a Retief someone or other and an Ernie someone Els or other. After shooting a 22 on 18 holes at Pearl Valley last year, I felt terrible. Luckily my game has improved though. I’m just not sure my maths has improved. Look, I could have shot a 222 on the first 9 holes, but who’s counting anyway?”

It seems that there is no limit to what Sean will do in Cape Town to save any event that is in trouble.

“Obviously I took time off from my normal schedule of tanning, chilling with my colleagues and causing general mayhem in Cape Town. But the SAA Open is an event to be celebrated, and I’m happy to do anything to help the competition out. I’m just not sure what to do when I win the SAA Open, but my readers can look forward to some seri-aaaaaas prizes!”

And his final comments:

“I’d like to tell my readers to stay put because next week I will probably be an SAA Open winner. If not, just tell them to love me for who I am and what I do, and that there will be plenty of time for me to be a world class sportsman. And tell them when they send photos of themselves to me, that clothing is optional. And tell them I love them. And tell them to tell the editors of other magazines to step aside, because there is a new sheriff in town. And tell them that my fetish for tap water decanted into Evian water bottles was just a stage I was going through and it is now over.

And tell them that the VR3 is still the best car in Cape Town. And tell them to remember to tell me that they love me. And tell them that I will be seeing them at the Pacha Ibiza party on Friday the 14th of December. And tell them I’m not crazy, I’m just drawn that way. And tell them I dream about them. And tell them to never stop dreaming, because we are all on a savage journey to the heart of the Cape Town dream and I refuse to stop until I reach that dream with them”

At this point Sean was forced to stop mumbling, and was sent away to the corner for some quiet time.

Click SAA OPEN for the official SAA OPEN website.

I’m always amused at parking spaces, because we are always charged way too much to park at shopping centres. So I’m guessing that in order to make it seem worthwhile, Cavendish Square have added some new toys to the parking garage, just in time for Christmas! Thank you Santa!

You will now notice that above some of the parking spots, there are these little gadgets, with lights on them. When a car is parked there, they are red. When a parking bay is open, the lights go green. I’m guessing this is so that you can see from far away when a parking bay is open.

It’s kind of handy I suppose. In a “We don’t really need this but it is fun” sort of way. In the same way that we don’t really need to be connected to the world 24 hours a day through SMS, e-mail and Facebook. But it is handy. I suppose.

It’s also a good way of “enhancing the parking experience” I’m hoping it is connected to a server at Cavendish Square, so when you actually arrive, it tells you what percentage of the parking is full.

Because on Saturday morning the parking is chaos at Cavendish Square, and when it says “Parking is 300% full” I then know to turn the VR3 around and go home. Not that I shop on Saturdays. It’s all hypothetical. In fact my whole life seems hypothetical at the moment. “I wonder what would happen if…” or “I wonder what would have happened if…”

I wonder what would happen if I won the lottery last night? Mmmmm…interesting. In fact, just like the accused in court are innocent until proven guilty, I’m R5 million richer until proven otherwise, so if I only check my lottery tickets in two weeks, hypothetically speaking, I had R5 million in my account for two weeks. Now hypothetically speaking, if I only checked my tickets in a years time, I would have some good interest on that R5 million. I could then give the R5 million back to the lottery, and keep the interest. It’s not a bad money making scheme.

You know I’m just talking rubbish now.

But you’re still reading.

-This- is me leaving.

Sean Lloyd

Editor

One of my favourite South African bands(And bands in general), Just Jinger, will be playing a one off show at the Grand Arena at Grandwest Casino tomorrow night, 14 December 2007. It seems like quite the popular venue to host the big names and I think earlier this year Enrique Iglesias played there. But no one really knew because no one really cared. Probably because all the girls now realise he has a girlfriend who he won’t let go of. Come on Enrique, we all know the way to sell out concerts is to be single! Look at James Blunt, he is definitely not as pretty as you, but he does alright. And he comes right.

But Just Jinger really are good, otherwise I would not tell you about them.

It’s interesting that a name like “Just Jinger” actually worked. It just sounds right. If they are playing at a club, you can quite easily say “Just Jinger do Hemisphere”

On the other hand, imagine they had called themselves “Just Dill” For those not schooled, Dill is a herb. So if they were playing at Hemisphere, it would say
“Just Dill-Do Hemisphere” Obviously the two middle words would cause some confusion.

So I think Just Jinger was a good name to choose.

You know I’m rambling a bit now so I should stop. I just love talking. I’m not drunk I swear. Honestly. No seriously I’m not.

So Just Jinger play at the Grand Arena, Grand West, tomorrow night, the 14th of December 2007. In addition, Flat Stanley will be playing too! I just read that now.

Doors open at 19:30 and the gig is 2hrs30min long with no break in between. So don’t drink too much.

Click your mouses head on JUST JINGER AT GRAND ARENA to make your computer take you on a little joyride right through the internet and through The Matrix to Computicket where you can book tickets for the show.

BOOM it’s go time!

Sean Lloyd

Editor

“Sweet mother of God” I commented to myself as I piloted the VR3 through the pristine landscape of Stellenbosch. The comment came in reference to the number of places that I was passing that were somehow involved in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages. I had seen Distell, J.C Le Roux, Van Ryn’s brandy, Welmoed and a whole host of other places manufacturing pure goodness from the earth. In fact, Van Ryn’s brandy and J.C Le Roux fall under the Distell brand. Distell must be laughing, knowing that they can get the whole of Cape Town pissed at any time if that’s what they wish to do. Cool party trick.

“It’s…it’s…it’s beautiful!” I said out loud as I removed my sunglasses, fluttering my eyelids as though I had just seen the light in life.

This place was too good to be true, and although I had been to Stellenbosch many times before, I had forgotten the beauty of what actually brings the big bucks into Stellenbosch. I eventually arrived at Jerry’s place, not really that amped to move all his possessions out of his place. I arrived, and we transferred into his car, The Black Viper.

” Fo shizzle dizzle, it’s the big Neptizzle, with the snoopy dee- oh double gizzle” Was blearing over the speakers in the Black Viper, replacement for The Bomber.

“Jerry this is SICK” I commented.

“I know” Jerry remarked, with a smirk on his face. There we were, two white English guys, cruising through an Afrikaans area, listening to everyones hero, none other than Snoop Dogg, who we all know but remember him from Old School. The contrasts were too much, but that’s what makes it so awesome!

We were in the area to move Jerry’s possessions into the new place, and we planned to do it ourselves. However, as we are men of leisure and pleasure, it did not quite turn out this way.

I arrived there and nearly had cardiac arrest looking at all the possessions of Jerry’s. It is astounding that someone who lives on his own can actually own so much. For the love of Gisele, he had a fan in his room the size of the Royal Astoria. Not to mention enough electronics to kill an army. From mixing decks to the 73cm flat screen to the X-Box and enough cellphone boxes to connect the whole of Africa. Jerry literally changes phones while he is speaking, it’s bizarre.

So we started packing all this stuff into boxes, not really taking care as to what was being broken or not. If anything broke, Jerry told me not to worry as we would just buy new stuff. I like the mans style. I was a little nervous when Jerry started shoving the TV into the box, literally hitting the top of it so that it would fit into the styrofoam that it came in. I have never hit anything as hard as Jerry hit that TV. It was glorious.

After packing all this in the boxes, it was time to pack it on the trailer and drop it at the new pad. Before that though we visited the petrol station, which was right below Jerry’s old place.

The view of BP Express and McHealthy from the old palace

I must just let you know that the talent walking around Stellenbosch is astounding. And due to the relaxed nature out there, minimal clothing is needed. It’s clear the people in Stellenbosch like nothing more than to have some sex. If you walk into a normal petrol station, you will usually find condoms, maybe behind the till. And then, there will be a small selection. Mother of Durex, the range at this petrol station was like a pharmacy of every condom ever made by Durex. And it was not behind the till, it was just chilling on the counter where you paid. Chilling there basically saying “You know you need me”

We then rolled to the new palace and realised that carrying all this stuff up to the third floor with no lift was not going to be fun.

“Call those guys over there” Jerry said, referring to some workers on a lunch break at the construction site.

“Hey guys you keen to earn some cash?”

They were up in a flash and walked out on their lunch to help us out. They had the trailer cleared of everything and had taken it three floors up to the new palace of excess. R100 for 6 minutes work was not too bad for the guys.

We rolled back to the old place and realised that we were not born to do stuff like this, rather we were born to party! We whipped out the decks and Jerry mixed it up while I smashed out a bit of soccer on the X-Box. That was more our style.

“I’m actually beat” Jerry said to me, after spinning the decks.

“Me too” I said after playing the X-Box

Just another day in the office for us

We then decided that we could probably move all the stuff out the apartment if we REALLY set our minds to it. As we said though we were born to party. A quick call was made to the removal company and BANG, everything was out of the apartment without us having to actually move from the perch on the balcony.

“These guys are quick, they stormed this place like it was Normandy!” I said to Jerry

“Yeah well for the money I’m paying them I’m expecting them to build me a new house as well”

“True. True.”

While they did their thing, we took the Viper out for a spin.

“Check this guys car” Jerry said, motioning to his right hand side.

“Ha he must be POOR!” I remarked sarcastically.

“Check this out”

Jerry began to wind down his window, and said to the guy in his panty dropping Mercedes AMG

“You must come right with that car!”

The guy looked at us, gave a smile and floored the accelerator, leaving us to eat pieces of tar as he drove off into the distance and into the heart of the Stellenbosch dream.

Interesting things are be seen in Stellenbosch, and we had out fair share of visual delights. One such thing was a car with the logo “The Bonsai Guy” It said that you can hire Bonsai trees for special occasions. Um…ok. I have always actually had a fetish for hiring Bonsai trees to make special occasions even more “special”. I guess each to their own. Some people just hire strippers. Naturally. Other interesting things to be seen:

This beauties orange Land Cruiser:

And this hero’s motorbike, with a luminous yellow windshield vibe thing. I mean come on! Are you serious? It was outrageous.

No surely not?

We stepped out the Black Viper in an absolute blaze of glory, and noticed to our left hand side a Fidelity cash van, no doubt carrying loads of cash.

“We should rob it” Jerry said

“We should, there is some good cash to be made. Obviously after I remove 100 bullets from my frame” I smirked

“No seriously we should do it. I can tie the guys up with the tape we just bought”

“Yeah and they not going to resist idiot?”

“Lloyd you idiot, I figured this out already. You’re eating peri peri cashew nuts. Throw them in the guys eyes, I will tape them up and we can make some money right now”

“I’m not sure, it sounds a little dodgy”

“Yeah I suppose”

We rolled back to the pad and everything had been emptied, and we were off to the new place. I cracked open a Just Juice(Jus Jooce), and admired how hard we had worked. It was then that I remembered Jerry’s birthday party at the old pad earlier in the year.

We were on the balcony having Jager bombs when we saw this women, about 50 years old, and started chatting to her, telling her to come upstairs for a drink. She was laughing but seemed like she would have been keen. It all went downhill from there as we all started to act like we really wanted her. My shirt lifted and I remember tweaking my nipples or something. At this pointed I was tempted to shout “Got MILF!” I never did though.

But I’m sure the new place will also have it’s parties where new memories will be made, new drinks drunk and we will surely take the excess to a new level.

Look I should go now before I divulge too many details about what happened that night…

Sean Lloyd

Editor

Other than doing the Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour every year for as long as I can remember, I can now also include the Two Oceans Half Marathon on my list of stupid things I do to my body every year.

It was Mikes idea to run it this year and we did a bit of training for it but nothing too hectic. In fact I lie, our training was bad, we ran 20km’s a week. Two 10km runs every week. Not ideal. Anyway, a week before the Two Oceans Half Marathon we ran the route. It was the first time I had ever run 21km’s and it was actually not too bad. By “not too bad” I mean my heart did not stop. There were brief moments where it would skip a beat, but I never let Mike know because he would have thought I was weak. I’m a man. A strong man. A man who invented the wheel and built the Great Wall of China out of brawn.

But we did alright and completed it in 1hr56min which I think is quite respectable considering our training “schedule”

Here is a quick look at a scene from this years run. Mikes girlfriend Carey took this one, of us, debauched, lying on the steps at UCT after 21km’s of fun:

Utterly spent

I had almost forgotten the bleeding toes(And one guy at the finish whose nipples were bleeding. Ouch) and the sheer exhaustion when I opened my mail box this week to find a letter addressed to me from the organisers of the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon. I was expecting it to be a cash bonus for the pain inflicted on my body earlier this year, but alas it was not.
Instead it was an entry form for the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon in 2008. So I took a look over it, and I actually had quite a bit of fun this year running 21km’s, so I’m sending in my entry for the 2008 run.

It takes place on the 22nd of March 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa. Click HERE to enter.

Whose with me? Mike I know you are!

Sean Lloyd

Editor

While I was in Stellenbosch last week, Jerry let me know of a new pair of Reef sandals that he had purchased that came with a little flask of sorts in the heel. I obviously thought he was joking and on some sort of drugs, but he was not lying. The last time we spoke of Reef was in my piece entitled “What is surfing really about” Click that and take a gander over that article. Enjoy it. It just seems that Reef is out there to turn us into alcoholics with a penchant for smoking joints.

Their previous sandals, as owned by Mike P, had a bottle opener underneath them. Obviously to open booze bottles. Their new ones have this little contraption:

Drink it in! Literally…

It’s a neat feature, but if you actually use it you need to get a mirror out. You need to place that mirror in front of you. You need to look deep into your own eyes, right into your soul and ask yourself this question: Do I have a drinking problem?

Because you just might. It’s quite cool anyway but the amount of booze it holds is minimal, and might get a featherweight drunk.

Personally these are useless to me as they can’t fit a bottle of Jack, a bottle of Mumm, a bottle of Jagermeister and a 6 pack of USN Spike inside them.

Sean Lloyd

Editor

The end of the year signals sheer debauchery for most businesses, as bosses try and outdo themselves over last years office party in order for the staff to stay on another year.

It’s usually the booze and the serene setting that has people thinking “Ah I guess the boss is not that bad!” I may as well stay on another year instead of starting my own multi million rand empire. I mean why not make the big guy rich, he has after all supplied us with loads of snacks and booze, Kerry from accounts is here and she wants me, I no longer have to beg for an annual increase of 75 cents, the water cooler has given us some great conversations and the boss says that I am part of a bigger plan, and I must be calm for now because one day he will make me rich.

If you have a normal boss, there will be the annual booze up somewhere around Cape Town as the boss toasts to his Bahamas holiday and you toast to a holiday spent swimming where the beach once used to be at Lookout in Plettenberg Bay while kids kick sand all over your towel.

However, if you have a nice boss, who is willing to spend a shilling or two on you because he did after all only pay you R300k this year even though you brought in R50 million worth of deals, then he will do the following.Naturally he will give you a MASSIVE raise, pay off your car and then have a little end of year office drinks party. Off of Clifton. In the Princess 57. Drink in hand, other hand turning the meat on the braai, sunlight bronzing your sculpted guns, tanning oil everywhere and a smirk on your face knowing that you are going to kick the boss overboard later. Sheer bliss.

Ooooh drink it in Cape Town!

What? Your boss is just taking you for lunch for the end of year party? That’s despicable! I tell you what. Forward him this link and let him know that you know he is in on some shady deals. If you are lucky, he will be in on some shady deals and will wonder how you know. He will then be MORE than happy to hire out the Princess 57, fill it with more food than the craft table on the set of Little Britain and he will give you a major raise. I’m talking huge. Millions.

How do you get hold of the Princess 57? I will tell you. You go over HERE. That takes you to David Abromowitz yacht brokers in Cape Town, who will, for a fee directly deducted from the fat cat’s account, give you a choice of boats. But the Princess 57 is what we are looking at.

Let’s not stuff around. So to all the fat cats in power at Cape Town businesses, up your game. Your staff are onto you. SLXS are onto you!

And you know what that means? There is going to be a lot of ass whipping if I see you taking your staff on anything LESS than the Princess 57.

I’m watching you.

Sean Lloyd

Editor 

It turns out I was invited to Wadda last night, and after initially not wanting to do it, I ended up going through at about 11pm. Or sometime around then. I wasn’t expecting too much in the way of a great night which worked in my favour, because if I had expected something crazy I would have been disappointed.

I rolled in in a blaze of glory, cameras flashing as I left a trail of destruction caused by teenage desire. I was hit by a wave of heat, as though I was trapped in the armpit of a bison. A beastly sweating bison on heat.

I’m just randomly guessing that Monday at Wadda in Claremont is a student night. Because there were guys and girls walking around there who were chomping at my ankles they were so young. Ahhh the fragility of youth. I don’t even really know what that means but it sounds really cool like I actually studied hard in English class.

I saw people kissing and thought “Hey, you are too young for that! That mouth is only for eating and drinking!” I felt so old. Look, these were probably matric, or first year varsity students so they are not that much younger than your holiness, but due to the fact that I grew up with an older brother and sister, I always hung out with the older crowd. I remember being in standard 6 or something and kicking it with the hottest girls in the world. My sisters friends were like a Godsend. Needless to say I never came right, only because I knew they could not handle me.

At house parties held my by siblings, I would roll in smelling like teenage desire, chat and mingle with the crowd, and then disappear. I often used the Hook and Shut Up technique. I actually never capitalised on that though, and now that everyone is getting married, I have blown my chances. But I know when the first kids start arriving they will still be thinking “I wonder what little Timmy would have looked like is Sean was the daddy? Ooooh spank me daddy Sean!”

I’m so off the topic it’s not even funny anymore. Where were we? Wadda. Yes. Right.

Anyway, I went to look for the ship mate, who has the best job in the world. Currently taking a break from the shipping industry(A forced break, paid for, that’s how the shipping industry do it) he is a man of absolute leisure and pleasure. His past weeks schedule has seen him having a mid afternoon beer with myself and Jerry D at Paulaner at the V&A Waterfront, attempting to watch some water polo yesterday and hitting Wadda last night. He only goes back to work in February. Nice three month leave. Nice work if you can get it.

So I found him and I reminded him that I had not been this uncomfortable in a club since I was a little girl. We chuckled and then I looked around, giving my icy cool 1000 mile stare. I saw young girls hearts shattering at the realisation that I am too old for them. For some people it is love at first sight. Sorry girls.

I then went upstairs where the heat was pumping in like the Sahara desert on tap. My greatness it was hot up there! I must have looked like I was blushing. I will have you know that I NEVER blush. Ever. I’m ice cold. Like dry ice.

I saw more people pulling into each other and knew very well that they should have been at home planning out a career path for themselves.

Anyway, it all got too much and I was literally sweating buckets, and everyone was young, and I was hot(Talking about physical sweat here, not dashing good looks), and I had a DVD collection to put Warner Brothers to shame waiting at home for me to smash into the DVD player. I left the same way I came in.

Via the door.

I got to the VR3, opened the reverse suicide doors, jumped in, saddled up, put the aircon on Level 4(All four windows open) and sent it home.

Please don’t invite me to a Wadda Monday again. And entrance was R30. And it was not cool in any sense of the word.

It’s time to sign off now before I start going into cold shivers thinking of last night.

(On a side note: I was going to put a picture of a sauna in here to show you what Wadda felt like last night, so I typed in “Sauna” on Google image search and it was not quite what I was looking for! Good Lord Google! I thought they were supposed to have the best search engine around. How does “Sauna” bring up these results? Bizarre! So I left the picture out. Hopefully my artistry with words drew a picture of last nights sweat fest)

Sean Lloyd

Editor

Be GENTLE on the big guy!

Recently something in Cape Town caught my eye and that was Red Brick Building. But trust me…it’s more exciting than it initially sounds!

We are obviously all aware of the effect of global warming and in Cape Town we are more than aware of the power shortages we have due to Eskom not being able to supply enough power to us. Everyone blames Eskom, but at the same time we need to take responsibility and look at ways to conserve power and also use other resources to generate power. Forget about the hassle of being without power for a couple of hours and think about the damage done to the planet form burning coal to power our lives.

Red Brick Building will be situated in Cape Town, a block away from Cape Technikon and is hopefully the start of a “greener” Cape Town. I think all buildings and apartments should be constructed this way.

You see, Red Brick Building makes use of grey water recycling, an energy efficient design, low energy lighting and solar heating. It’s a step in the right direction, or at least a leap looking at the other buildings in Cape Town. Nothing else I have seen seems to be designed this way.

Personally, I believe to further strengthen it’s green credentials, they could make more use of solar technology. Instead of just solar heating, solar panels could be used to supply power to the building, which would remove the strain on the national power grid. In addition, they could further enhance their eco friendliness by encouraging apartment owners to recycle. This could be done by having an area of the building where owners can leave their recycling(Tins, paper, plastic etc) and this can be collected by an independent company once a week, or as needs be.

The Red Brick Building is however, hopefully just the start of something bigger in Cape Town.

This brings me to another point regarding accommodation. The future relies heavily on all of us doing our bit to recycle,make use of solar power, biofuels and just live cleaner lives with regards to carbon emissions. People are not only going to want to live like this at home, but abroad when they travel. Cape Town is a major travel destination for people worldwide, and as people become more conscious of their carbon footprint, they will be interested in saving resources even when they travel.

It would therefore be interesting to see what sort of a response overseas visitors would have to staying in houses/hotels/apartments that make use of solar power, grey water recycling and the like. Would it be beneficial to equip your rental houses with these methods of energy conservation? Would your house be more likely to be rented by an overseas visitor if it has better green credentials than another similiar house? I believe in the future this will be a great deciding factor on where people choose to stay when abroad.

I’m not quite so sure if this will have an effect with the 2010 World Cup, because that is very soon. And I’m also not too sure if soccer fans are that concerned about energy saving because they are just here for the worlds biggest party!

But I do honestly believe that people who rent property should consider looking at ways to make their rental properties more energy efficient, and where possible, create their own power. It sounds cheesy, but the future is now, especially with regards to saving the planet. In addition, the money saving on electricity will benefit the person who owns the property. Maybe not short term, but long term it will definitely have a benefit. Not only to their wallets, but to the planet as well.

And saving the planet for future generations is surely far more important than financial gains in the short term.

Click HERE to go to the Red Brick Building website

Sean Lloyd

Editor

I sometimes have stupid little things to say but just can’t be bothered writing a piece that is two sentences long. So I store these pieces and then combine them into something like this.

Being summer, it’s wedding season in Cape Town which exponentially increases guys and girls chances of coming right. Everyone at weddings is happy and emotional at the same time, and are therefore keen to bare their souls to other single people at the weddings. Which, if you’re a single guy or girl, is the perfect opportunity to hook up. I have a wedding to attend on Saturday. And another on the 5th of January 2008. Also there is something about a massive party on Saturday evening of which I refuse to speak about.

Classic nightclub moment here. A mate of mine was chatting to a girl the other night, and he was fairly under the weather after the Tiger Tiger cane and cream soda special. So he asks this girl for her number, and as he is about to type in the name, he realises he has forgotten it. What to do? Easy, he thought. Just ask her how to spell her name.

“K-A-T-E” she says

BLIND!

Obviously if it was something like Carey, it could also be spelled Kerri or Kerry. However, Kate is pretty straight forward. Oh the embarrassment.

You must see my golf kit, it’s outrageous. Obviously we have to view the SAA Open this week and I need something golf like to get in the golf frame of mind. Pictures of my get up to be posted in the week.

I had something else to say, but that will have to wait for another Ma’m.

Why is it so sweaty in Cape Town today? This morning I showered and looked like Brad Pitt but I currently resemble an arm pit. This is not a good look for me.

Until the next post.

Sean Lloyd

Editor 

Vida e Caffe first hit me when I noticed their coffee shop on Kloof Street in Cape Town. My brother was working for a production company and he was always in town, so he would stop by at Vida for coffee. He was always telling me about it and would always make a mention of the fact that the people who went there were seriously good looking. Because most of them were models.

I always see the Kloof street Vida as the original seed, in what has turned out to be a forest of Vida’s all over the Cape Town. It’s kind of a sad thing, because I always saw the Vida brand as a smaller, more intimate style of coffee shop, where it was worth making the trip to Kloof Street to experience the art of coffee making. I still think Vida are good and it’s the combination of simple decor and enthusiastic staff that make it popular. However, their growth has just gotten out of control and personally, I fell as if they are losing that personal touch.

Currently, there are 14 Vida e Caffe stores in Cape Town, and soon there will be 16. According to the website, they have Vida’s in Greenmarket (I take it this is Greenmarket Square area in Cape Town?), Kloof Street, the V&A Waterfront and Green Point. Geographically, the space between these four stores is extremely small. In fact it’s too close for comfort. Their soon to be added stores are in Sea Point(Once again, close to the others) and Camps Bay. I’m not sure if the Camps Bay one is open yet, but it must be open or very close to opening.

It just seems that the franchises are killing the brand, probably not financially, but to me, in terms of exclusivity. I can now have Vida coffee wherever I want in Cape Town, because there is always a store close by. There was even a Vida in Stellenbosch when I went there last week. And it just seems that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. I realise other stores such as Nandos and Steers will franchise, but to me coffee shops have always been about the vibe, the conversation and the relaxation. Coffee shops are there so you can stop in, read the paper, check e-mails on the laptop and enjoy the experience.

Now with Vida all over the place, it is not a special experience anymore to go visit the Vida in Kloof Street. It reminds me of the Louis Vuitton craze of bags that people went through not too long ago. Louis Vuitton bags were the hot ticket with girls, but now they are everywhere and you wonder how many of them are real. They have lost that exclusive edge, but this is probably mainly due to loads of them being fake. It’s still exclusive to own a real one, but who is to know if it’s real if you are walking in the street? Vida could have avoided this, because you can’t just open up a fake Vida e Caffe. However, you can make Vida too common(Like the Louis Vuitton bags) by franchising too hectically.

Most people will disagree, and refer me to the Starbucks craze overseas, but the fact is, we are not overseas, we don’t have to copy it’s business model. No doubt all the Vida’s that open will be successful, because there will always be demand for coffee. But for those of us who like exclusivity in our choice of coffee shops, we might feel that the Vida brand has grown too big and too quickly.

I guess as people in a modern world, we are all going to own something, or consume something, that comes out of a place that has been franchised hectically, but I always saw coffee shops in a different league. Obviously Woolworths is everywhere, but that’s more out of necessity. I need food. I don’t need coffee. Also, I don’t necessarily go to Woolworths for the vibe. I do however go to a coffee shop for the atmosphere.

I guess in todays age it’s a simply a process of supply and demand. We as customers make the brand popular, and so the brand supplies their services closer to where we live. I just think that placing stores in Greenmarket, Sea Point, Kloof Street, Greenpoint and the V&A Waterfront is way too close together and that’s my main concern.

I think I will end this here as I could probably go on forever explaining myself. Anyway, it’s something to think about, as to whether Vida are growing too quickly to still be personal. But it’s an interesting brand to discuss nonetheless due to their phenomenal success.

Sean Lloyd

Editor

It just seems that in the greater Cape Town area at the moment, bands are playing non stop, making this the craziest summer ever. If you have been reading this site you will know that Paul Cluver host the summer concerts at their very own amphitheatre, Kirstenbosch host the Summer Sunset Concerts and now the SAA Open bring us music, every day after the golf finishes.

I actually don’t know what to do with myself at the moment! So let’s take a look at what the SAA Open are treating us with:

Taking place from the 13th until the 16th of December at the Pearl Valley Golf Estates, the Sundowner Sessions will take place immediately after the golf has finished each day.

Entrance is R75 per day, which includes a refreshment voucher worth R25, and you can purchase your tickets at Computicket, although I searched the site and could not find where to book tickets. You can also buy tickets at the gate between 16:30 and 18:30.

However, if you have purchased a ticket to the SAA Open golf, entrance to the SAA Open Sundowner Sessions will be free.

What I have done is given the link to the websites of the bands where applicable, so I don’t have to give the full write up here. Yes, there are lot’s of links! But you can just click on them(Click the bands name) if you are interested in a specific band. Let’s take a quick look at the musical line up:

Thursday 13th December 2007

18:30- Nungarin

19:30- Jacsharp

Friday 14 December 2007

18:30- Dream Soda

19:30- Three Bored white Guys

20:30- Boulevard Blues

Saturday 15 December 2007

17:30- Plush

18:30- Southpaw

19:30- Bed on Bricks

Sunday 16 December 2007

17:30- DNA strings

18:30- Rastamie and the Warriors

19:30- CODA( Click HERE for the CODA website, and click THERE for our viewing of CODA at the Paul Cluver forest amphitheatre)

Food and refreshments will be available at the SAA Open Sundowner Sessions, and the following restaurants will be there to fuel you after a tough day watching golf:

Gourmet Burger

Nando’s (YES PLEASE!)

Noodlebosch

Nino’s

Rafiki’s

Chip ‘n Dip

For more information please contact Brian Little at Complete Events ( brian@complete.org.za) or visit www.saaopen.com

Sean Lloyd

Editor

In my first year studying journalism, there was one lecturer who stood out amongst the others and that was Rafiek Mammon, who now works at The Next 48 Hours. Rafiek used to make lectures fun even though we all agreed that some of the work we were doing could make your mind go mad with boredom! I still remember when our class went to watch some or other play at the V&A Waterfront, where the Imax used to be. Ahhh…good times!

I always catch up with Rafiek’s articles on the internet and he writes things that are normally on my mind, but I just can’t seem to write them! Then I read what he has written, and can’t try and write that same piece without being influenced by his writing, and so normally end up not writing anything.

He wrote a very interesting piece on New Years over HERE, and basically what he says is that we can turn any night into New Years Eve and we can make New Years resolutions anytime of the year. It’s so true and he wrote it perfectly. It’s basically what I have been thinking for years and years now.

And obviously it’s the way we live here! We just tend to live it up all year and I think we should all do that. It’s about surrounding yourself with a good crowd, having a good laugh and just living life flat out all the time. Have a read over Rafiek’s article and you might just agree with what he has to say…

Sean Lloyd

Editor

I should also mention that Fatboy Slim are playing in Cape Town tonight. Click HERE to book.

I won’t say anymore as I’m in a hurry. Kelvin Grove is SURELY calling my name.

I mean, who else would be calling me at this time on a Friday afternoon? I think I know what Kelvin Grove wants. It wants me to be there to entertain the masses.

Enjoy your weekend.

Bon voyage.

Sean Lloyd

Editor