Archive for 'Random Thoughts'

The Steady Decline Of M. Night Shyamalan

Posted 29 August 2010 | By Mike | Categories: Life, etc., Movie Reviews, Random Thoughts | 3 Comments

After a slow start to his writing and directing career, M. Night Shyamalan burst on to the Hollywood scene with his mind-bending blockbuster, The Sixth Sense. The cleverly written thriller shocked and wowed audiences around the world, resulting in veritable cult status and an enviable ranking of #128 on IMDb‘s list of the Top 250 [...]

Mercedes-Benz Service Excellence

Posted 13 July 2010 | By Mike | Categories: Life, etc., Marketing and Advertising, Random Thoughts | 2 Comments Mercedes-Benz Service Excellence

I recently upgraded from a much-loved Audi A4 1.8T to my all-time dream car, a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. It’s not that I didn’t like the Audi, on the contrary on many levels it’s an easier, more comfortable car than the C63 – it has more headroom on the driver’s side, a softer ride and in [...]

I Am A Racist – Confessions Of A Diseased Gen X-er

Posted 13 April 2010 | By Mike | Categories: Life, etc., Random Thoughts, South Africa | 18 Comments I Am A Racist – Confessions Of A Diseased Gen X-er

Yes, you heard me right.  I am a racist.  And I venture to suggest that you might be too, if you’re honest with yourself about it. Recent events in South Africa have, to borrow Jenny Crwys-Williams of Talk Radio 702′s phrase, “lanced a boil” filled with putrid racist muck, and the contents are spilling out [...]

I Don’t Get It – The Fuel Misconception

Posted 07 April 2010 | By Mike | Categories: Life, etc., Random Thoughts, South Africa | 13 Comments

I wonder if this is a South African thing, or just a South African boomer thing that is rubbing off on younger generations, but I just DON’T get why we all think we have to rush to the garage to fill up with fuel at the first sign of a petrol price increase. I mean, [...]

Sights, Sounds And Sore Feet In New York City

Posted 20 March 2010 | By Mike | Categories: Random Thoughts | 5 Comments

It is no surprise, given my love for Johannesburg and all it’s diverse craziness, that New York stole my heart. I’m certainly not the most well-travelled human on the planet but I’ll go a long way before I find another place that inspires me like NYC. Note, I said ‘inspires’ and not ‘invigorates’. New York’s [...]

Back In Austin For SXSWi And The Social Business Summit

Posted 13 March 2010 | By Mike | Categories: Random Thoughts | 3 Comments

After a marathon 30 hour transit from Jo’burg to Austin, the last few days have been spent acclimatising to a dry Austin that is starting to enjoy the first signs of Spring, and of course with it, the deluge of crazy people (70,000+) that descend on this small city for the SXSW music, film and [...]

Why Cerebra Is Moving Offices (Again)

Posted 02 March 2010 | By Mike | Categories: Random Thoughts | 10 Comments

It’s been a big four years. Cerebra has evolved from a one-man consulting show to a full-service social media agency boasting a client list that includes Samsung Mobile, Toyota, Vodacom, eBucks, GIBS, Microsoft, Touchline and Cell C (and those are just the brands we’re engaged with right now). Our team is comprised of a young, [...]

WirelessG Now Offering In-Flight Wi-Fi In SA

Posted 18 January 2010 | By Mike | Categories: Random Thoughts | 8 Comments

The news is finally out and I’m as excited as a 5 year-old on Christmas eve! I’ve just received a press release from the fine folks at Emerging Media informing me that their client WirelessG will soon be offering in-flight wi-fi to sub-Saharan Africa. No more boring flights for me! Here is the release in [...]

9 Reasons To See District 9

Posted 30 August 2009 | By Mike | Categories: Life, etc., Random Thoughts, South Africa | 30 Comments

Yep, I know – plenty of noise and hype and buzz around District 9 already. I’m not hopping on the bandwagon though – I am genuinely excited about what this movie means for Johannesburg, South Africa and South African cinema (which I’m sure you’ll agree could use a kick up the butt). My 9 reasons [...]

Comedy Heavies At Carnival City – Free Tickets Up For Grabs!

Posted 23 June 2009 | By Mike | Categories: Random Thoughts, South Africa | 33 Comments

I’ve been offered 10 tickets to the Comedy Heavies gig happening at Carnival City next weekend and am giving them away to 4 lucky people (yes, I’m keeping 2 for me monkeys) who post the best jokes in the comments section of this post by 8PM Sunday 28 June. MY decision is final… here’s the [...]

SA Politics – Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe

Posted 27 February 2009 | By Mike | Categories: Life, etc., Random Thoughts, South Africa | 20 Comments

I’ve never cared much for politics. This is largely because I felt intimidated by it. When I don’t feel knowledgeable about a subject I simply steer clear of it to avoid looking lke an idiot. I could never understand politics because it never made sense to me. I think I understand now that I had [...]

Yet Another Blog Meme – 7 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me

Posted 29 January 2009 | By Mike | Categories: Life, etc., Random Thoughts | 4 Comments

Man, I just love these self-righteous, introspective, “I-think-I’m-important-enough-for-you-to-read-such-crud” blog memes. I’ve been tagged before mind you, and if it weren’t for the fact that it’s the incomparable Ethan Zuckerman tagging me this time around (just a mention on his blog results in a lightning bolt of traffic) I’d ignore the whole shebang. Still, I wouldn’t [...]

Virgin Active Comedy

Posted 23 January 2009 | By Mike | Categories: Random Thoughts | 5 Comments

Ok maybe I’m finding this funnier than you will, but I just got a mail from Virgin Active saying the following (verbatim): Hey there Premier Upgrade Fee We’re writing to let you know that your monthly upgrade fee will be increased by R .00 per month, effective 1 January 2009, resulting in your new monthly [...]

My Claim To Fame – A Nerdy Nom-Nom

Posted 08 January 2009 | By Mike | Categories: Life, etc., Random Thoughts | 9 Comments

God bless Sheena Gates‘ little cotton socks. Not only does she regail us with unending wit and drama on Twitter but, and to quote her own words, in a week that is normally quite ‘emo’ for many of us returning to the grindstone, she has brought a little ray of sunshine to the circle-jerking, ego-flated [...]

links for 2009-01-03

Posted 04 January 2009 | By Mike | Categories: Random Thoughts | No Comments

How to Use Twitter to Grow Your Business — Copyblogger Is Twitter more than just a waste of time? Before you discard it, read this and decide. (tags: web2.0 socialnetworking socialmedia marketing branding business tips tools seo social_media Twitter)

links for 2008-12-21

Posted 22 December 2008 | By Mike | Categories: Random Thoughts | No Comments

Influential Marketing Blog: A Compilation of 2009 Social Media Predictions Worth Reading Rohit points to a very nice doc highlighting 2009 social media predictions / trends from the minds of the industry's leading thinkers (tags: predictions trends social media RohitBhargava)

links for 2008-12-20

Posted 21 December 2008 | By Mike | Categories: Random Thoughts | No Comments

Cherryflava: South African Old School ads: Making even more sense 20 years on Jon Cherry takes us back to the 80's and some scary-ass ads, which, sadly enough, have some learnings for modern advertisers. (tags: marketing branding advertising Cherryflava cigarette) Cherryflava: Best South African ad of 2008 Jon Cherry takes a look at the cream [...]

The Difference Four Years Can Make

Posted 02 December 2008 | By Mike | Categories: Life, etc., Random Thoughts | 6 Comments

Four years doesn’t feel like a long time. But my goodness, a lot can happen in four years. 3 years and 10 months ago my son Ethan was born. It was a big day. I know that’s a cliched thing to say – but there’s just something earth-shatteringly amazing about experiencing the birth of one’s [...]

Venue Name FAIL

Posted 09 November 2008 | By Mike | Categories: Life, etc., Random Thoughts | 5 Comments

Simply not thought through well enough for my liking… Seen in one of the dingier corners of the Magalies Meander, Magaliesberg.

links for 2008-11-08

Posted 09 November 2008 | By Mike | Categories: Random Thoughts | No Comments

Cloud Computing Panel at Web 2.0 Summit – ReadWriteWeb Video from Web 2.0 Summit in Berlin of Cloud Computing Panel (tags: cloud computing web2.0 web)