onetrackmind

"These Bonitas okes are a pain in the back"

I don't think they do. <being polite, they don't>

IronMan is going to be fun if she thinks 4:20 is a good time.

Bwahahahahaha. Priceless. You are the weakest link, goodbye.

Can you imagine how the organisers would be flooded with people saying 'i checked when i finished, i was 3947th, now you have made me 4006th!!! You people are incompetent!' I can fully understand why they do it the way they do. Rather wait a day, and get a much more realistic idea.

The chips/systems are virtually identical. Comrades doesn't have a brazillion seeded groups to process, cross-check and finalise. One start time for everybody, makes it very simple to post results almost immediately. I suppose, in principle, argus could post your finish time fairly quickly, but final positions take a while, understandably.

Time starts when your bunch starts, all the same for everybody in the bunch. NOT when you cross the start mat, that is just there to prove you did actually start. Finishes when you personally cross the finish mat.

Are you calling Billy odd?

I have three broken helmets that show me what the point is.

Sweet as sugar, man.

And the Santa Cruz importers are soooo much better than the Giant ones. :)

Dragons has been in this business for 20+ years, and doesn't make stupid/nasty/malicious decisions. They make solid business decisions, and are unlikely to pull out of a shop that is actively selling their product. That is not the way you stay in business for so long. Supporting guys who don't pay their bills is not good business practice. I don't think you should rush to pass judgement on them on the strength of a thread on the hub. For all we know, the shops concerned had failed to pay their accounts - you will be amazed how bad some of the guys are at doing this simple thing - and are blaming Giant/Dragons instead of admitting they are at fault.

Priceless.

Your tongue, my cheek... Oops, wrong forum.

As ever, I bet there is Giant/Dragon's side to the story. Like, for instance, maybe your LBS hasn't paid their bill or similar. Of course, your LBS will tell you this is the case, won't they? I thought so. One question: you expect them to be loyal to your LBS, when you aren't? Can I quote you from your January post: "So someone please remind me why we need a LBS?.............. My only loyalty is to my pocket!" :D

Those numbers are nonsense. Bottom pro-level camera is R21-odd-000, for the 5D MkII, (all real pros use Canon, Nikon is the devil's tool) and most mainstream firms will not even use them, the 1D (R38k for the body alone) is more reliable, dust-proof and robust in the long run, so already your R20k for equipment is off the mark. So, minimum requirement - 5D MkII, with a 70-200L lens, is already over R40 000 - bare minimum. Battery pack to last all day - another R2000. Flash, a minimum of R2500, but probably the pro-level R4500. Cards, call it R500 for a 4-gig, and they will use maybe six or eight in the day, so lets call that R4k... getting the picture yet? We have already almost increased your thumbsuck expenses, on the first line item, two and a half times So, already you need significantly more than 25 000 to buy for your get-rich-quick scheme to work, which, let's face it, ain't happening. A quick poll amongst your mates will show, I am sure, that a very small number buy these pics (unless mine are particulary unvain ), and generally 'cos they can't be bothered, not because of the price.

You are paying for the use of their equipment, and their time, their transport and their skill. If the pic is out of focus, send it back. If it is not, pay what seems to be a reasonable price, and move along. Part time photographers will always tell you how cheap they could do it, but actually stump up the 100+k on bodies, lenses, cards, computers, software (Photoshop is over ten grand if you don't steal it ) ), then sit there all day shooting, and all night processing, and you might get a slightly altered view. 50 ronts sounds pretty cheap, IMHO

Not permitted any more.

AIKONA!

Dude, whatever you are smoking, pass it along.

Then they are probably telling porky pies about their weight...

This is also funny, not sure if you have seen it before?

If it's on the Hub, it is true. Don't you know anything?

I wonder whether the truth of the matter lies in this little sentence. Journo pitches story to editor, editor says it might be a good idea, but does not actually say let's do it, journo assumes it is on like donkey kong. I guess the lesson is to get these kinds of agreements in writing? Does it work that way in the magazine world? Engineers/builders/architects etc - the sensible ones - won't start a job without written confirmation and, more often than not, an advance payment of sorts. Cyclojourno, did Adele confirm in writing that she wanted you to work on the Tour?

Sell yourself, son... I believe the fount of my creativity comes from the de Jongh side of my family. Tinus is my great grandfather. ABOUT ME Hi, thanks for coming. I am freelance photojournalist based in Cape Town, South Africa. I do test shoots, talent scouting and strategic business management for corporates, celebrities and models. I have a degree in Economics, and a postgraduate diploma in marketing and brand management [AAA]which I apply to specialised and insightful analysis for financial and IT magazines. I also enjoy writing inspirational sports pieces [ironman triathlon, swimming, cycling and running] and motivational psychology. My work has been published in most of South Africa's mainstream magazines and newspapers, including Men's Health, Bicycling, Brainstorm, Financial Mail, Getaway, go!, Shape, Leisure Wheels, TriathleteSA aswell as the Sunday Times, City Press, Sowetan and many others. My strategy is to raise my profile as an important writer, communicator, commentator, analyst and thought leader in South Africa. The idea is to leverage this awareness and insight in order to successfully publish a number of manuscripts that cover a range of socially important and painstakingly researched topics within our particular context of imminent energy crisis, in order to address unsustainable, inauthentic living habits. These use both fictional and non-fictional platforms, with both sharing a call to conscientious action. The idea is make these intelligent [rather than merely entertaining] stories inform and ameliorate our popular culture into something more appropriate and in tune to reality and our common circumstances in the 21st century. HOLIDAY represents perhaps my most important manuscript. It is a climate thriller which presents the reader with a heightened reality of living in a world suffering from the advanced symptoms of climate change. HALF FULL MOON represents an effort to write a quintessential South African story, in the guise of Gods Must Be Crazy, but in a far more serious, and spiritual vein. HEAVEN IS IN YOUR HEART represents a serious attempt at coming to terms with death and possibility of an afterlife. Links to all these writings can be found in the right hand margin of this blog. In 2011 I will be doing a series of articles for Country Life on famous South African artists including Tinus de Jongh, Pierneef and Vader Claerhout. I have interviewed Morgan Freeman, Wolverine director Gavin Hood, world champion breast stroker Cameron van der Burgh [for Sports Illustrated] and 2009 Miss World, from Gibraltar, Kaiane Aldorino. And I was privileged to be able to shoot and interview many of the other Miss World contestants. You can view these albums on my Facebook profile. I have more articles imminent in GETAWAY, Men's Health and Brainstorm magazines. I have also been published on MONEYWEB, News24.com, OhMyNews, SAMen.co.za, Dispatch, Bicycling.co.za and in print titles including the Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, Rapport, the Weekend Post, The Times, Cape Times, Sowetan, Financial Mail, Go!, Leisure Wheels, Ride, True Love, Shape, Biophile and Heartland magazine. I've worked at the following companies: AVUSA Media Ltd, Quintiles, Brebner Secondary School, The Jupiter Drawing Room CT, PWC, AXXA Sunlife, Hargreaves Lansdowne, AT&T, Mail on Sunday. I have taught ESL in South Korea and Economics in South Africa, done an Ironman, climbed Kili and am presently training for a half Ironman in East London and working on a manuscript. I am available for hire as a freelance photographer or writer.