In the last week I have been prone to panic. Not, as you may imagine, as a result of heavy deadlines, demanding clients nor thankfully month-end financial woes - my panic has been irrational. I'll save the exact details of the first two experiences for another note but last night's panic - while seated with a Burley Dan on one side, and the DC9 fuselage on the other, went something like this:
1Time airhostess says: "close doors and cross check" I'm a well traveled chap (admittedly usually in Business Class) so these four words barely register at my eardrum until yesterday when, to my panic-stricken brain, they sounded like: "As we take off let's fill the craft with flammable gas and fly into the nearest building!"
I had to talk myself down from running down the aisle screaming.
• Here is a recipe for culinary delight: Four chunky slices of Cest ci Bon's chilli bread, Woolies' Dueto Dolce cheese and Klondyk-cherry jam. Have the cheese at room temperature so that it oozes when smearing it thickly enough to leave teeth marks. Now cover with lashings on cherry jam, eat and wallow as you swallow.
This culinary key has unlocked my collective memory of wonderful picnics and yesterday's at Klondyk in Ceres as possibly the most magnificent.
When Giggling Gourmet Jenny Morris SMSed an invitation to join a cherry-picking party I wondered if the schlep to Ceres was too far to travel. I'm pleased I overcame my Capetonian inertia because the journey itself was beautiful not to mention the destination. According to the SMS, it was going to be a communal picnic and we'd bring something to share. I brought an apple and celery salad and muffins which were utilitarian. The feast that Jenny and Abigail Donnely (Fairlady/Visi food editor) contributed requires in-depth reportage.
• Trust www.Biz-Community.co.za to break the news before I do! I shared a delicious bottle of Glen Carlou Chardonnay with Media Nova's Tony Vaughan at Beluga last night. Tony wanted to chat to me about the Blog I'd written about Glenda Nevill's resignation from The Property Magazine. I was expecting mild fisticuffs but we had a wonderful chat instead. I found him extremely affable and look forward to our next bottle together.
His big news is that Donald Paul has been appointed as editor of The Property Magazine. What Biz-Community did not say about Donald is that his interests in property extend to civic involvement and while I was chairman of the Sea Point Ratepayers he was chair of the De Waterkant equivalent.
I worked with Donald extensively during his tenure as editor of Top of the Times and SA City Life and look forward to continuing the association at The Property Magazine. Hi wife, the fabulous Heather Parker and I were once neighbours in Observatory and when I first met Donald through Heather socially he lived on a rock-edge overlooking Sandy Bay. Even though De Waterkant is the chichi spot of the moment, I'm sure he must have some regrets to waking to the sound of nightclub's thumping and call-girl hollers instead of a Sandy Bay Oyster Catcher.
• Someone's brainwave has found a solution to the problem of creating employment and getting products to market - a cyclist with magazine racks as his cargo. The clever design allows him to zip in and out of traffic or easily pull to the side of the road when flagged down. The two I saw in Somerset Road, Green Point earlier were sponsored by People Magazine and had a number of titles on their shelves. This really gives new meaning to Moving Media.
Men's Health magazine won Best Men's Magazine at the Pica Awards for the fifth consecutive year. As I was on the team that launched the title, I fired off a congratulatory e to Touchline MD Marc Blachowitz. I received this, by reply: "thanks Brian, all that initial publicity set the magazine up. Marc."
When I think about what makes people successful, time and again I maintain it is their ability to make people who report to them feel cherished. I am motivated by the need to make a difference in my world - and when clients recognise this it makes the often slog nature of our jobs as communicators all that more worthwhile.
• I'm still reeling from tragic death of Belgian restaurateur Denis Bouckaert in a car accident last week. Den Anker at the Waterfront was a client of mine for many years and Denis and his wife Liez became friends. Denis would have been pleased that so many turned out to honour him at yesterday's memorial service. The Belgian Ambassador said he thought of Denis as part of the diplomatic corps and had he wanted to, he could have had a career in politics. Denis' passion was for beer and food and his ability to make everyone with whom he came into contact feel special, legendary. Rejeanne and Doekle Vlietman, the manager and chef at Den Anker were an extension of Denis' family. When Lies told me yesterday that Den Anker would continue as before I knew that under their guidance, Den Anker would always be the special place it is. Salute Denis, I'll miss you.
Cape Times Assistant Editor Colin Howell's death on Thursday last week was untimely. Although we weren't buddies, I was fond of him and found him always willing to hear a PR pitch or to indicate his disinterest in whatever I was promoting. Many tributes have flowed in from fellow journalists but I want to register a tribute on behalf of the PR industry. We have lost an ally in Colin. He was a newsman who recognised that we too could offer something and his dealings with us proved that.
Marut Sikka, the uber chef from Delhi, India has cooked up a storm at the Radisson Hotel, Waterfront. As part of the Indian High Commission's Indian Experience Programme, the Radisson is dishing up Indian cuisine like no other local restaurant. This promotion runs until Sunday and already it is almost fully booked. The mushroom stuffed ricotta balls in a tomato sauce is heavenly so too are the yoghurt marinated prawns done on the braai.
While I was stuffing my face (my colleague Graham Howe even commented on my prodigious appetite) my friends Mandy and Roger Neale-May were giving birth to Lauren Kelly. It was exactly a year ago that the three of us were dining at the Indian experience at the Radisson. Maybe Marut's food is good for more than just the appetite.
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