Win An All-In-One Printer From HP
I recently did a post on my relationship with printers, and HP South Africa have been nice enough to provide me with one to give away here. It is the HP Deskjet Ink Advantage 4645 2- All-in-One Printer which goes for the RRP of R1,599 in South Africa. A great printer for home or small business, it is web-connected, which means you can: ePrint – print by emailing to your printer’s email address, as long as it is connected Apps – can print from smartphone or tablet using HP All-In-One Remote app or access digital content through the printer’s control panel ePrintCenter – use any web browser to...
Button-up With Ben Sherman
For their Spring/Summer 2014 collection campaign, the concept goes back to Ben Sherman’s roots as a shirt-maker. It is centred around buttoning up your shirt. In the press release, CEO Mark Maidment says, “Buttoning up the top button of your shirt is something that’s been done to Ben Sherman shirts since 1963. It is a deliberate style choice that exudes ‘Britishness’ and personal pride. It’s also an integral part of British style culture. Ben Sherman visually acknowledges this style decision with its brand new campaign – The Original Button Up Since 1963”
Win Luggage Worth R11,000 With Club Med
Last year, I went on a rare holiday with my family to Club Med’s La Plantation D’Albion resort in Mauritius. Since that trip, my kids have been hounding me regularly to find out when we are doing a Club Med holiday again and where we are going to next – I’m thinking Bali or China. We did a week last year and are thinking 14 days of doing absolutely nothing might be the better way to go. It took two days for my mind to recognise that we were on holiday and what it meant. This week, Club Med is running a competition in South Africa in which the prize is Samsonite luggage worth R11,000. Having...
Into The Rush Of Horseracing
There are certain events on the South African social calendar that seem to be as much (if not more) about hype than the actual event. I have always felt the Durban July and, to a slightly lesser extent, the Met in Cape Town are two such events. The excitement around these occasions is often focused on marques, fashion and partying. I’ve never had the opportunity to attend either and I have often joked that the first time I attend will probably when I own a horse running in the race. Growing up in Lesotho, I’ve been exposed to horses – including riding up and down mountains when the snows are...
To Print Or Not To Print?
What’s your relationship with printers? There was a time when they were purely office devices for those with funds. I remember having an argument with a business partner, many moons ago, about whether it was worth getting a printer that could also fax, scan and make copies, because of the cost, plus we already had a fax machine and making copies using the printer just wasn’t cost effective (and that serves as my last word on that argument, although we did actually buy the one he wanted). A decade later, I was giving printers away because it was cheaper to buy a new printer than buy an ink...
Hennessy x Shepard Fairey
In 2010, Hennessy released the documentary The Art of Blending, shot by French director Thibaut De Longeville, which documented the Hennessy Artistry event that featured music artists like Chaka, Q-Tip, Erykah Badu, Mary J Blige, Bobby Brown and Eve, all backed by the legendary The Roots. At the time, I moaned incessantly to the then SA Brand Manager that I wasn’t invited to it. I did, however, get to experience a similar event in Joburg featuring music legends like Sipho ‘Hotstix” Mabuse as well as contemporary artists. They’ve also since held Artistry events in China, Barbados and Manila....
A Family In Need
I know that, sadly, in this world, there are many people in need. Below is a letter from a very good friend of mine that I have been meaning to post for a bit. Rather than write a whole post on this, I thought it would be better to simply share the words and hope that there are some of you out there who are in a position to assist, in whatever way possible. If you are able to assist, please leave a message in the content section and I will contact you as well as put you in contact with my friend. "I am writing on behalf of Jolene and Theo Huntley, I would like to take this opportunity to ask...
Efficiency Overdose
This life is some work. I often feel like I’m ODing on trying to deal with this reality better, from a professional, business and personal perspective. Every day I’m reading, doing exercises, working to implement a more efficient way of tackling the day-to-day. There is no single manual to making it work. There is no one way of doing things. As with so many aspects of life, it’s about finding one’s own path amidst the multiple tools. And it is a work-in-progress. From David Allen’s Getting Things Done, The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan and Stephen R. Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly...
Like A Girl
There’s something like a line of gold thread running through a man’s words when he talks to his daughter, and gradually over the years it gets to be long enough for you to pick up in your hands and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself – John Gregory Brown, Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery, 1994 My first child was a boy. I figured him out quite early. It’s always been easy to buy presents for him or to figure out the things that he likes. It doesn’t hurt that he seems to reflect me when I was his age so, often, the things I found cool are the things that he does. In terms of...
10 Minute Books On Productivity
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body – Joseph Addison Growing up a bit of a bookworm, and raised by an academic who converted the garage into a study to fit all his books, I’ve always understood the power of reading. Starting out with comics and writing like The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Aesop’s Fables and the full gambit of fairy tales (from Readers Digest) through to Agatha Christie, Louis L’Amour and Shakespeare in high school, I have been fortunate enough to travel the world and learn from the experiences of others through their written word. A few years ago, I realised I...
Louis Vuitton Men’s Spring Summer 2015 Fashion Show
This is becoming tradition here. The streaming of a Louis Vuitton Fashion show. Tomorrow, June 26th, at 14h30 South African time, I will be streaming their Men SS 2015 fashion show which is happening at Serre Parc André Citroën in Paris and the video will be available to watch once the show is done. The official hashtag is #LVLive. Past fashion shows posted include the Ready To Wear Spring/Summer 2014 collection and the Men's Fall/Winter 2013-2014 show.
Get A Free Office Efficiency Assessment
I’ve been involved in Nashua’s Saving You Time campaign for a couple of weeks now. I have been using it to add impetus to my own drive to become a bit more efficient on a personal level particularly because I have never been a person who has been able to do only one thing. Before, during and after university, I was working in family businesses, in management consulting, IT (in particular identification technologies, biometrics and specialised software), retail (a shop supplying hair products and cosmetics to hair salons) and a weekly newspaper, all in Maseru. Currently, while my work life is...
Battle of the Football Ads
It is the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and, in addition to there being the opportunity to be absolutely gluttonous with football, but the different brands attempt to put their best foot forward to capture our attention and pockets. Football is big business and companies pay millions of dollars to be a part of the spectacle. For the sports brands, the competition is to adorn the bodies - and feet - of the football players in the hope that, if my favourite player is wearing their brand, I will be more inclined to interact with it. Last world cup, in 2010 in South Africa, I posted on Nike Football...
Things My Father Taught Me (Win With Chivas)
Life is about example. Having example and being an example. My father has been my main parent since I was about one. My mother died in a car accident. Everything I have learnt about being a man, a professional, a husband, a father, etc has stemmed from my father. I started working for him in the family businesses from a very young age so I learnt how to work and gained skills directly from him outside of school but, more importantly, watching him over the years – I am now 42 and he is 79 – has shaped who I am. Whenever I am asked about my role models, my father is always the first I name but...
Getting Things Done
This process of becoming better is an on-going one with the potential to frustrate. For every short step forward, there are times when it feels like this is followed by two rapid steps back. This applies to all aspects of life. I am constantly on the look out for processes, systems, habits, etc that will help me become more efficient with my time to ensure that I can maximise experience. I have used notebooks, diaries, Tasks in MS Outlook, digital/mobile calendars, text messages to myself, and, when the app ecosystem was born, I went ballistic, downloading multiple productivity and time...
Digital Crates – Yasiin Gaye: The Return (Side 2)
My Digital Crates feature, albeit erratic (as with most of this space), is the opportunity for me to share the really dope music (in my view) that I come across. The beauty of the digital realm for me continues to be the fact that I am not dependent on radio, television and the major record labels for the music I listen to. Whether it is through social media or randomly browsing the web, there are many artists and deejays that I have 'discovered' that have become part of my life's soundtrack. Amerigo Gazaway is most definitely one of these. I recently wrote a short post on him, sharing some...