Don’t know about you, but I just bought 5 lines for Friday’s Euromillions jackpot. I suggest you do the same. During a recession, why would you not?

You know we don’t make a fuss about the EuroMillions lottery on 2oceansvibe unless it comes with a big jackpot. Well, this Friday is ANOTHER rollover with a jackpot of £82,000,000. In Dollars you’re looking at $120,000,000.

And, in Rands, it’s a gentle R1,037,300,000. In other words – ONE BILLION RAND.

These are my entries – what do you think?

I’m quite happy with my numbers
(Click here to get your own)

Quite nice that they threw in that voucher promotion at the end. They’ve been doing that for a while. In fact I had a few stored which I used today, which ended up in me only paying for one line! Hating that!

Now, we’ve chatted about this before and it’s one thing not buying a ticket EVERY week, but if you’re not buying a few tickets for the big draws, then you’ve kind of missed the whole point of being able to live the holiday. Just like what is suggested in all books about success (including the likes of The Secret and variations thereof), if you’re not able to visualise the success you wish to achieve, then you probably won’t get there. Being able to dream is the basis of all of these formulas – it unlocks the potential. Dropping a few bucks on lottery tickets is as basic as that formula gets.

But that’s all up to you. Personally, I’ve taken that “plunge” and, if I win, I will be buying the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien drove this car to victory at Le Mans in 1958, one of ten significant race victories this TR amassed in the 19 races it started between 1958 and 1961) at this year’s Leggende e Passione auction event at the Ferrari factory in Maranello in May.

The 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa

Ralph Lauren owns two of these beauties, and I would very much like to join the club. They’re expecting it to shatter the $10.89 million record set last year by my dream car (mentioned to you before here) the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder. That shouldn’t be a problem after I win this weekend’s lottery!

In fact, just like a pledged to drive my scooter in a leopard print thong; I pledge to you now that if I win the lottery, I will go to that auction and bring back that car. And I’ll document the whole thing!

Maybe I’m dreaming? So what – I wouldn’t be able to without a ticket.

And then the “potential” would never be realised.

Are you even listening to what I’m saying?

CLICK HERE to get your lottery ticket safely online NOW!

*** UPDATE – THE DARN LOTTERY JUST ROLLED OVER FOR A SIXTH TIME! THIS WEEK’S JACKPOT IS £110,000,000.

That’s verging on R1.5 billion.

Hold me now.

CLICK HERE to get your lottery ticket safely online NOW!

Mish Kebab sent this through to me and I wasn’t quite sure how to take it. She says she didn’t have any bacon at home and that droewors works just as well.

This post is, essentially, for the laydezz!

[Although I should mention that I got this (and wrote this) before the swine flu virus vibe came about.]

Riiight. Ok.

Now where were we?

I’m pleased to announce that the video from this year’s SA Blog Awards Best blog post has hit 85,000 views.

For those of you that didn’t get to the article (here), it was in response to a challenge laid down to me by Idols judge, Randall Abrahams.

CLICK HERE to see the original post. Or skip straight to the video below to watch the message to Randall:

I’ll down a beer on video if that gets to 100,000 views..

CLICK HERE for the full range of Idols related posts.

Ok, the whole “swine flu” topic is on everyone’s lips (good one) and I think it’s reaching a point where we need to be more educated on the topic. Let’s get through that, then we’ll chat about these recent local cases.

A friend of mine, Wilfred Ikipedia, filled me in on the vibe. check it out:

Swine influenza (also swine flu) refers to influenza caused by any strain of the influenza virus endemic in pigs (swine). Strains endemic in swine are called swine influenza virus (SIV), not to be confused with Simian immunodeficiency virus, also abbreviated to SIV. [I would never make that mistake]

Swine flu is common in swine and rare in humans. People who work with swine, especially people with intense exposures, are at risk of catching swine influenza if the swine carry a strain able to infect humans. However, these strains rarely are able to pass from human to human. Rarely, SIV mutates into a form able to pass easily from human to human. The strain responsible for the 2009 swine flu outbreak is believed to have undergone such a mutation. [oh shit] This virus is named swine flu because one of its surface proteins is similar to viruses that usually infect pigs, but this strain is spreading in people and it is unknown if it infects pigs.

[more here]

Nice, quite a mellow vibe. Just to fill you in, there are something like 159 reported deaths (here) so far from this bacon bonanza.

Not ideal.

Neither is this.

It is not known if that started it all. I think you’ll find it’s just an old pic of someone’s child doing revolting things.

Back to South Africa and this swine flu vibe. iol reckons it’s finally hit our shores. Awesome.

Check it out:

Swine flu suspected in SA – report

Two suspected cases of swine flu have been reported in South Africa, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said on Wednesday.

Deputy director Lucille Blumberg said the first, which became known on Monday, was a woman from the Western Cape who travelled extensively in Mexico earlier this month.

She was in contact with the people there while using trains and buses.

The woman was ill with flu-like symptoms on her return to South Africa on April 24, Blumberg said.

A general practitioner who treated the woman last Saturday did consider swine flu as a possible diagnosis.

She was given anti-viral treatment and sent home.

The woman was fine now.

The specimen taken from her was not stored appropriately, which meant a laboratory assessment to confirm the case could not be done.

“(But) she fits the case definitely,” said Blumberg.

The second suspected case which the institute became aware of on Wednesday concerned a woman in Gauteng.

Not much details were known about the woman, although she was known to have returned from Mexico with a flu-like illness.

“She is not particularly ill,” said Blumberg.

No confirmed cases of swine flu have been identified in South Africa.

[no more here]

That was the entire article. I swear to God. Not much we can gather from that. Other than, well, nothing.

You are aware that the UK has ordered 32 million face masks, right?

No, I’m not kidding.

CLICK HERE for more on that.

Th’e US have also had their first reported death from swine flu; an infant. CLICK HERE for that.

[thanks nic]

Turning heads is one thing, but making men freeze, seemingly dumbstruck, is another. While some might think that Kate Moss is on the verge of losing it, this pic says exactly the opposite.

Taken recently in a garden centre, somewhere in the UK.

Watch your hose there, buddy..

Tidy..

Role play has always been enjoyed here at 2oceansvibe. You may have picked up that The Roofer enjoys quite a bit of surfing exposure, whilst The Surfer himself has recently been spotted (with great success , I might add) trying his hand at photography (here). Not that this should effect the title of The Photographer. It’s just a bit of role play. And we’re FINE with it!

Like this recent video of The Surfer enjoying a bit of tractor time – a pastime usually reserved for The Fruit Farmer.

Please enjoy The Surfer pretending to be The Farmer, to the sound of Limp Bizkit. Taken this weekend’s bachelor weekend away for The Personal Trainer, in Bot River.

You will enjoy it. Yeehaa!

Things are SO crazy around here at the moment!

I don’t know too much about wine, to be quite honest. I drink wine that I think tastes good and that’s probably why I’ve settled for De Grendel wine. Quality stuff, easy drinking and affordable – with all the awards to boot (just in case there is a wine snob in the room!).

The oldest wine I can remember consuming was a bottle of Nederberg Baronne 1979, which I shared with the rest of the rabble at The Film Guy’s bachelor party in (Jennifer) Arniston a couple months back. It was pretty good, if I remember correctly.. (the evening was “getting on”).

Some of you might be impressed by the aforementioned vintage. You shouldn’t be – it is 252 years shy of the oldest drinkable wine in existence. I am, of course, talking about the Rüdesheimer Apostelwein 1727.

Rüdesheimer Apostelwein 1727

Check this out, from finestandrarest.com:

The city of Bremen owns the famous Ratskeller or town hall, underneath which is a legendary cellar known as the Schatzkammer (treasury cellar). In here are 12 very large elaborately carved casks of wine dating from the 17th and 18th century, named after the 12 Apostles. The oldest dates from 1653, but the wine is no longer drinkable. The most famous is the Judas cask, containing Rudesheim wine of the 1727 vintage, by repute the greatest vintage of the 18th century. Wine from this cask has never been sold, but periodically very small quantities have been bottled as civic gifts from the Bremen municipality to important dignitaries, visiting heads of state, royalty etc. When any wine has been drawn off like this, the cask (about 3000 litres + in capacity) has been topped up with young Rudesheim wine of the finest quality. In this way the barrel has been refreshed, as the old wine feeds on the sugars in the younger one. But only a handful of half bottles have ever been drawn off at one time, and so this top-up wine only constitutes a tiny percentage of the overall volume, the vast bulk of which is still the original 1727.

This is, quite simply, the oldest drinkable wine in existence.

Renowned authority on wine tasting and old wines, Michael Broadbent , has sampled this very wine:

I first tasted the 1727 at Schloss Vollrads in 1973 at a tasting of wines of the world to celebrate Count Matushka’s 80th birthday. Another memorable occasion took place at a dinner in Sydney on the evening of my first visit to Australia in February 1977. By way of welcome, my host, the irrepressible Len Evans had invited the Prime Minister and a group of the best ‘palates’. Among other fine and rare wines was this 250 year old Hock. Just as it was about to be served, there was a shattering crash followed by an agonized Australian voice ‘Gee Len, sorry we’ll just have to have the 1928’! (The ‘waiter’ Anders Ousbach, who had dropped a handful of spoons, was a wine expert and opera singer
known for his practical jokes).

Very good – I’m sure everyone in the room aged to a similar vintage during that little incident!

If you’re keen on tasting the Rüdesheimer Apostelwein 1727, you can order it from the extensive wine cellar kept at the historic Graycliff Hotel (here) in Nassau, Bahamas.

I warn you though, it’s probably a bit pricy.

And what better moment to remind you that this week’s EuroMillions lottery is sitting at R1 billion – the EXACT minimum required for a mention on 2oceansvibe! CLICK HERE to get involved.

That should sort out your litle trip to the Graycliff!

A couple months back we brought you one of the funniest ads of your life, featuring a BMX that a guy was selling (here). That has nothing to do with this article, other than the fact that it involves a bike of sorts. I just mentioned that to, you know, bring across an air on continuity on these esteemed pages.

So today I have a video I was sent featuring a guy doing urban stunts on a mountain bike.

You gotta check this out..

That was none other than Danny MacAskill.

Wikipedia tells us:

Danny MacAskill is a stunt cyclist who released a five-and-a-half-minute video on YouTube on the 19th April 2009, filmed by his flat mate Dave Sowerby. This film has attracted massive attention on the internet and is a form of bike trials.

As of 21 April 2009, Danny, a twenty-three year old from the Isle of Skye, had been practising for more than 12 years. He gave up his job as a mechanic so he could ride full time. He now lives in Edinburgh. He often listens to music while riding.

Danny draws a lot of skill from influential riders of the trials scene including Martyn Ashton, Chris Akrigg, Mathew Street, Michael Judson, Kenny Wilson, Fraser McNeil and Brian Bleech.

Interesting name he is sporting there. “MacAskill.” Would make a good name for a new line of free-range Macdonald rump burgers – The Mac Ass Kill.

In a nice way.

[thanks andy skin]

Quick thinking.

Good.

Pass.

[thanks nick]

BREAKING NEWS : Britain orders 32 million Swine flu face masks. CLICK HERE.

With the latest outbreak of swine flu in Mexico, I thought it would be quite fitting to feature Mexican TopModel Elsa Benitez!

Elsa Benitez

Born in Sonora, México, in 1977 and making her name in 1996, she has became one of the most recognized latin models in the world – posing for everyone from Victoria’s Secret to Sports Illustrated.

Quite Mean!

Now let’s give her a big 2oceansvibe welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tabs!

Click image to see NSFW version:

CLICK IMAGE for NSFW pic

I do like Elsa. But, more importantly, I just dig her outdoor naked tanning vibe. And, even MORE importantly, I dig how she is on a cordless, not a cellphone.

Landlines/cordless phones are coming back people, make NO mistake! I have a shortlist of friends with landlines and we have long chats in the evening with a crystal clear phone line, zero radiation or burning ear.

Join the club. Get broadband at home from Telkom and get the landline that normally comes with it.

Thanks again, Elsa, that was great.

[thanks martin]

I received this on voting day from a reader who spotted it on TV. A member of the crowd was holding it up as Kevin Pietersen came in to bat.

Pure quality

[thanks kevin s]

Wow, I certainly hope that this doesn’t effect our local tequila supplies. Remember when that happened a few years back? Suddenly there was no tequila in town. In fact, there was a global tequila shortage if I remember correctly. Hectique!

Anyway, you may have heard about the Swine Flu outbreak all over the US. From what was first spotted in March 2009 in Mexico, has now spread to the US, Canada, Spain and the UK.

The world Health Organisation has increased the Pandemic Alert to 4 – “Small cluster(s) with limited human-to-human transmission but spread is highly localized, suggesting that the virus is not well adapted to humans. An epidemic is possible but has not yet happened.”

EU Health Officials have urged against travel to the US and Mehico.

This, from Inquisitr:

EU health officials
have issued a Swine Flu travel warning, urging Europeans to postpone all nonessential travel to the United States and Mexico.

The call comes after Spain became the first European country with a confirmed case of Swine Flu, and around 20 others suspected of carrying the virus in Spain have been isolated. Notably a travel warning like this is usually only applied to third world countries, or for countries where there is a civil disturbance.

Naturally Government representatives in the United States disagreed with the warning. Richard Besser, acting director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said any such restriction was unwarranted because of the limited number and seriousness of cases in the country. However Besser did agree with the travel warning applying to Mexico.

The warning against travel to North America will further hit airlines who were already struggling with the effects of the recession. Airline and travel stocks took a big beating today, with the AMEX Airline Index (AMEX:XAL.X), which tracks 13 airline stocks, falling 10.62%.

Pretty wild. Even though today, World Health Organisation flu expert Keiji Fukuda pointed out that it is too late to contain the swine flu “Containment is not a feasible operation. Countries should now focus on mitigating the effect of the virus,” he said. He also stressed that the experts did not recommend closing borders or restricting travel. “With the virus being widespread… closing borders or restricting travel really has very little effects in stopping the movement of this virus.” [More here].

Even Google Maps has got involved, with a very useful world map, documenting where the virus has been detected, and at what level.

Looking good in South Africa
Clean as a whistle!

Check out that map for yourself, as well as information on each case that has been detected (pertaining to each marker on the map).

CLICK HERE.

[thanks mark]

This is a big day for Old Mutual . As a company that is known for it’s staid image and knack for red tape and corporate governance, it comes as a refreshing surprise that they have lifted a 5 year block on access to 2oceansvibe.

And now, in this rare moment, the employees at Old Mutual will get a taste of what Nelson Mandela may have felt that day he was freed after 27 years of incarceration.

You are all free. Don’t be scared. Come and play.

Hip Mutual

We applaud Old Mutual for becoming cool and allowing their staff access to South Africa’s number 1 blog site. Maybe some day everyone will be able to read up on things they care about, written by people that they trust.

What a wonderful moment for South Africa. Or, dare I say it, the WORLD.

[thanks jd]

We have a few announcements today. Firstly, Goldfish have followed the trend set by The Dirty Skirts and have given 2oceansvibe the exclusive release of their new music video, Cruising Through .

Let’s have a look at that, and then we’ll check out the email I received from Goldfish (currently in Brazil), as well as the South African Music Awards.

You’ll enjoy this video. It’s shot around Cape Town and features Sakhile (the man behind the voice) as the stressed-out 9 to 5er, showing his existence compared to that of the two Goldfish boys, Dom and Dave – as they cruise around Cape Town chilling out, surfing and living the holiday.

The only way to do it.

Pretty sick!

Check out this email I got from Goldfish yesterday:

Hey Seth,

Greetings from Brazil where the Fishies are flying the Flag out here. Sun, warm water and Samba. It’s not all bad… Seriously though, Brazil is completely off the chain and we’ve been having a blast. Locked in to some cooking surf and Caipirinhas on the beach in Buzios, a party town 2 hrs north of Rio. The Brazilians are amazing people and sure know how to party, always a bit weird though when you start playing your first Goldfish track in a town you’ve never heard of before and the crowd starts singing the words right back to you!

Still have some dates in Brasilia, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte before we head back on Saturday for the South African Music Awards at Sun City.

We were wondering if we could give you the exclusive on our new video for Cruising Through (featuring Sak on vocals)? It is of us living the holiday.

Hope you approve.

Love from the Fishies.

Dom and Dave

Shame, poor babies! I certainly do approve and hope you boys Samba yourselves into a coma.

www.samusicawards.co.za
Saturday 2nd May, 20h00, SABC 1

Now, back to the South African Music Awards (SAMA’s) – I need to make you all very aware that Goldfish are up for a record breaking 8 SAMA’s – the most ever in the 15 year history of the awards! Not bad for a couple of Cape Town boys who started out all those years ago on the Camps Bay strip at Baraza.

Oh my God, I just had a little look and found one of the early articles I wrote about Goldfish in 2004, during their Baraza days. The heading is “BARAZA – CAMPS BAY” and the sub-heading is “Enjoy these goons.”

CLICK HERE to check it out. It features this photograph.

Early Goldfish
Too adorable for words!

Can you cope? I can’t.

One of the awards that they are up for, Song Of The Year, is decided by public vote. So to give them a bit of love (which you know you should), sms ‘M’ to 083 123 SAMA to make the Fishies Gold!

Don’t forget to watch the awards on saturday at 20h00 on SABC 1, where The dirty Skirts are also up for an award – Best Rock Album! Hating that!

It was a ballsy move for Conde Nast to launch their business magazine offering, Portfolio two years ago – a time when magazines such as Forbes and Fortune were struggling to sell ad space.

‘cos every time i seem to fall in love
crash! boom! bang!

The Entrepreneur mentioned it to me and I immediately subscribed. With the subtitle “Business Intelligence,” It was a fresh change to the other mags on offer and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Incidentally, the latest (April 2009) issue I have at The Safe House has a big Zuma feature.

JZ – one of the “stars” of the April 2009 issue

But then, as you may have gathered, came the global economic meltdown – a topic which engulfed the magazine mid way through its very short life. It was global warming the one day and the credit crunch the next; making way for a healthy dose of irony as the magazine has now folded at the hands of that very same recession it discussed at length:

This, from mediamemo:

Portfolio has had its doubters even prior to its launch in 2007. Long before the advertising market cratered, critics worried that the market couldn’t support a fourth business magazine to compete with Forbes, Time Warner’s Fortune (TWX), McGraw-Hill’s BusinessWeek (MHP); they also marveled at the reported $100 million budget that Conde Nast had committed to the launch.

No telling whether that bet would have paid off in a healthier market for the high-end advertising that business magazines thrive on. But the current market is as bad as it could get: In the first three months of 2009, magazine ad pages declined more than 25%, according to an industry trade group, and Portfolio’s pages dropped by more than 60%. Some of that drop stems from the magazine’s move to a 10-issue a year schedule, down from 12 a year.

But Portfolio has been suffering for quite some time. Last fall, the magazine laid off a good portion of its staff, and turned its Web site into a skeleton operation.

Here’s the full statement from Conde Nast group president David Carey.:

Earlier today, Conde Nast announced, quite regrettably, that it is pulling back from its investment in Portfolio.

For this high-profile, 21-issue launch, the recession has helped and hurt the brand. While the unprecedented nature of these times has made business and the economy the main topic of conversation, it has also led to high levels of uncertainty and a tremendous reduction in ad spend in the five key sectors Portfolio’s business model depends on.

The company is deeply grateful to Portfolio’s readers and for the broad support of marketers and executives all around the country.

[more here]

Jesus, it’s pretty hectique out there.

And this is a magazine focused on business and the economy – the very thing that killed it. That, after launching only two years ago – by one of earth’s most powerful and successful publishing groups.

What does that tell you?

Ja, keep it simple, guys.

[thanks jonty]

Today is a public holiday here – AGAIN.

And the coming Friday as well…

I know – it’s disgusting.

See you on Tuesday.

Shilpa Shetty joins the other Schleb Plebs – celebrities who mingle with the plebs!

Spotted at the V&A Waterfront during the IPL fever!

Shilpa Shetty gets her size on

Sent in by Christine P from splashpr.co.za

Nice.