Yes, the rumours are true – I love the Dog. They say that those in the know target their prey young and long before Barbie had four year olds in high heals – the Dog Men were setting the standard. It all started so innocently with those stands at the ice- skating ring in my vulnerable youth. The rolls were so fresh they’d squish if you looked at them too hard and fake tomato sauce and mustard so good, they gave Wimpy – King of Fake Condiments - a hard time. Fast forward twenty years and The Habit is now so firmly rooted as a way of life, I foresee no hope of ever giving it up…and why should I? Hot Dogs are Awesome!

Chief purveyor of awesomeness is in my opinion Reuben’s Sandwich Shop on Rudd road, Illovo - in the Post Office Center. The black and white interior is cool and relaxed but because Reubens is owner run it has that warm welcome that makes you want to sit back and chill out. So what could possibly be so revolutionary – yes, I mean revolutionary – that could set this dog so far apart from the rest? It’s their magic mustard, that’s what. Sure the vienna is great. The rolls are always fresh and they come toasted – a very important detail to us connoisseurs/addicts. But the mustard…it’s all in the mustard. It’s sweet, as behoves a proper dog-mustard but it also has a definite bite. Home-made, it’s also creamy and single handedly, the mustard elevates this Dog to another level. I hopefully asked one of the owners, Dianne, whether they sell it; she just smiled her ‘you wish’-smile and said they love having us back so unfortunately no. Wall Street – take note, this is how you corner the market.

Drinks that definitely deserves mention is Reuben’s good coffee, rich chocolate milk shake and the hot chocolate (don’t speak of it too freely but rumour has it that they use real Lindt chocolate – such temptation would sway the Vatican…wait, the Vatican has been swayed so far it’s fallen over…maybe Mother Theresa then, were she alive of course – well you get the point). As to the rest of their fare - it is said that their sandwiches are brilliant and their burgers magnificent (Vincent loves it) but I honestly couldn’t tell you; every time I have go the thought has not crossed my mind to try something else – nothing could beat the Best Dog in Johannesburg.

I thought I might not write this one, but then forced by a desire to see visitors flock to the Moral Fibre website and to appease my business partner Mr Saul K. I thought I best do it.

So.

The Venue - Capellos Sandton (Beside Edgars on the Second Level of the Sandton Mall)

The venue rocks; a definite improvement. First and foremost as a venue for presentations it worked well, the staff could be a little quieter but then that will come with time. Garsen from Capellos seems to actually thrive on his interaction with geekdom and I commend him for that - it is a selfless act suffering through the manic conversations of a nerdling who cannot maintain his attention, his eye contact or his wit. Nevertheless the food was great, I had a chicken mayo tramezzini and a couple of beers (served in chilled glasses) the food was actually better than I’ve tasted it at Capellos. Very surprising when you consider that over one hundred guests were badgering the waiters.

The presentations :

Jeff Fletcher, ISLabs - “Making the SA Internet better” & Don Packett, THUNK Perpective Lab - “The value of perspective”.

Jeff Fletcher took us through  ISLabs‘ contribution to the internet with the help of Mike who pointed him in the right direction with probing questions. The questions related primarily to  ISLabs a crowd-sourced ideation initiative which aims at gathering ideas and where necessary implementing them.

I think what struck me most was that they appeared to be walking the talk, here was a company which spoke - perhaps not very enthusiastically on the night - about changing lives, investing money into outreach programmes helping out Ph.D students etc.

Although the conversation felt a little too much like the “about” page of the  ISLabs site, it was simple, to the point and gave me all the information I needed to spark my own interest in submitting my ideas to ISLab. A job well done then.

Next up was Don Packett who took us through a very masculine perspective of perspective, ironically. His presentation itself fell into the trap of trying to say too much; without saying “it” at all. The presentation itself was a learning experience, but as it was utilized to make a profound point about the manner in which THUNK Perpective Lab actually went about their business.

I felt the presentation lacked coherence, most of the crowd (knowing as SaulK suggested about crowd-sourcing innovation and acquiring an alternate perspective) didn’t require a refresher course on those faces / innovations already too familiar too them. Instead we needed to hear about Thunk Lab’s implementation of said ground breaking approaches to innovation and how THUNK Perpective Lab’s solutions integrate the very interesting theoretical models behind crowd sourcing, the “we-think” model, complexity theory and standard qualitative market research.

Don my advice to you is to stick to what you know, you seem passionate about the subject and you speak very well. Ditch the explanations and focus on a few key points which provide the structural framework for your concluding “slide” the ThunkLab perspective on alternative consumer research.

My thoughts :

So my third 27dinner, what are my thoughts thus far? Perhaps my biggest concern is that speakers don’t seem to want to challenge the audience, they focus instead on their own companies / what they’re doing. Of course its a great opportunity to send up your own business or your creative solutions, but I think the platform warrants something more than a business plug. I was chatting to Gustav Bertram the other day, and we shared our views on open - source education, wouldn’t a presentation from Mr Betram on the subject be interesting? Yes its a wee bit more serious than a lighthearted creds - presentation of your business but we are all gathered in a single spot at the same time, why not use the opportunity to inspire and create new ideas?

Why not move away from viewing the world as a the blogosphere as we so often do e.g. the epic iphone launch in the wake of a new president and cabinet, and focus instead on how to utilize our talents as a collective to better the lives of others.

Thanks again to team Cerebra for organizing the event, to Garsen from Capellos for allowing us to use the venue and to my two partners in crime Heidi and Saul thank you for the epic-entertainment!

I thought I might not write this my 27 dinner review - gig, but then forced by a desire to see visitors flock to the Moral Fibre website and to appease my business partner Mr Saul K. I thought I best do it.

So here it goes, the 27 dinner review which took place on the 25th of September :

The Venue - Capellos Sandton (Beside Edgars on the Second Level of the Sandton Mall)

The venue rocks; a definite improvement. First and foremost as a venue for presentations it worked well, the staff could be a little quieter but then that will come with time. Garsen from Capellos seems to actually thrive on his interaction with geekdom and I commend him for that - it is a selfless act suffering through the manic conversations of a nerdling who cannot maintain his attention, his eye contact or his wit. Nevertheless the food was great, I had a chicken mayo tramezzini and a couple of beers (served in chilled glasses) the food was actually better than I’ve tasted it at Capellos. Very surprising when you consider that over one hundred guests were badgering the waiters.

The presentations :

Jeff Fletcher, ISLabs - “Making the SA Internet better” & Don Packett, THUNK Perpective Lab - “The value of perspective”.

Jeff Fletcher took us through  ISLabs‘ contribution to the internet with the help of Mike who pointed him in the right direction with probing questions. The questions related primarily to  ISLabs a crowd-sourced ideation initiative which aims at gathering ideas and where necessary implementing them.

I think what struck me most was that they appeared to be walking the talk, here was a company which spoke - perhaps not very enthusiastically on the night - about changing lives, investing money into outreach programmes helping out Ph.D students etc.

Although the conversation felt a little too much like the “about” page of the  ISLabs site, it was simple, to the point and gave me all the information I needed to spark my own interest in submitting my ideas to ISLab. A job well done then.

Next up was Don Packett who took us through a very masculine perspective of perspective, ironically. His presentation itself fell into the trap of trying to say too much; without saying “it” at all. The presentation itself was a learning experience, but as it was utilized to make a profound point about the manner in which THUNK Perpective Lab actually went about their business.

I felt the presentation lacked coherence, most of the crowd (knowing as SaulK suggested about crowd-sourcing innovation and acquiring an alternate perspective) didn’t require a refresher course on those facts / innovations already too familiar too them. Instead we needed to hear about Thunk Lab’s implementation of said ground breaking approaches to innovation and how THUNK Perpective Lab’s solutions integrate the very interesting theoretical models behind crowd sourcing, the “we-think” model, complexity theory and standard qualitative market research.

Don my advice to you is to stick to what you know, you seem passionate about the subject and you speak very well. Ditch the explanations and focus on a few key points which provide the structural framework for your concluding “slide” the ThunkLab perspective on alternative consumer research.

My thoughts :

So my third 27dinner, what are my thoughts thus far? Perhaps my biggest concern is that speakers don’t seem to want to challenge the audience, they focus instead on their own companies / what they’re doing. Of course its a great opportunity to send up your own business or your creative solutions, but I think the platform warrants something more than a business plug. I was chatting to Gustav Bertram the other day, and we shared our views on open - source education, wouldn’t a presentation from Mr Betram on the subject be interesting? Yes its a wee bit more serious than a lighthearted creds - presentation of your business but we are all gathered in a single spot at the same time, why not use the opportunity to inspire and create new ideas?

Why not move away from viewing the world as a the blogosphere as we so often do e.g. the epic iphone launch in the wake of a new president and cabinet, and focus instead on how to utilize our talents as a collective to better the lives of others.

Thanks again to team Cerebra for organizing the event, to Garsen from Capellos for allowing us to use the venue and to my two partners in crime Heidi and Saul thank you for the epic-entertainment!

As everyone knows, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise spends all his time lost in space, getting picked on by morally inferior aliens. Space, in Captain Picard’s scientifically suspect world, is a place where sound travels and where lasers shoot in short, modest spurts, like a 17-year-old. Space is also a place where fires and explosions can occur without the apparent presence of oxygen.

The tale of Captain Picard is based on the rather annoying split infinitive: “To boldly go where no man had gone before.” Indeed, in reality no one can go to Picard’s space….because it simply cannot physically exist. You do not have to read Hawkins to know this either, I laughed at this long before I ever laughed at the idea of matter being smeared around the edges of a black hole…but that is a tale for another day.

Fair enough, the original 1966 film was founded on the old post-apocalyptic rule: man destroys earth and uses sheer wit and brilliance to wander off into the unexplored wastes of outer space in search of nothing more than knowledge and moral superiority. It’s all a bit insecure really, one has a hard time believing that a society that spawned the quiet, steady hand of Captain Picard could possibly have destroyed Planet Earth. It is like saying that Jane Austin fell pregnant by a heathen and never went to church, we all know Jane is far too didactic and sensible. To top it off it’s predictable: really very much an exaggerated Armageddon tale in the vein of: War of the Worlds and even (to a lesser extent) prophetic entertainment such as Dr Strangelove, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb. Point being, in this day and age (and certainly in the politically uncertain 1960s) one would come to expect a Jean-Luc Picard, someone with quaint yet strong French name, who is about as French as a football hooligan from Manchester (hey, if your not a Mank you’re a wank).

So why the raging success? My first instinct is always to hit the ‘idiot’ button, but in this case I am overwhelmed by the sense that Star Trek is essentially a very good story. And a very well formulated story in the style of a heroic novel and a post-apocalyptic yarn of hope. How does this happen? Well most literature is formulated, and most of these formulas work. Going back as far as Beowulf, Chaucer and the Pearl Poet we discover that each of these writers wrote in a high heroic style, emphasised by characters who served as allegories of morality and heroism.

People love it! They don’t know it…but story telling has, through the centuries, devised ways to get them to love it. The hero must die, he must be from rather mysterious or unfortunate beginnings (usually without parents), he must journey, have an epiphany, and make tough choices. I am not sucking this out of my thumb or speaking from observation, these are hard-and-fast rules.

Frankly, I like Picard but I am also deeply bored by him. He is character cooked up by recipe, and as such he is profoundly two-dimensional and any last-ditch attempts to explore his deepest, darkest, innermost complexities in later day cinema releases failed quite spectacularly. No one needs a winging hero with a conflict of self, it sort of defeats the purpose.

Nowadays, all literature is post-modern, arse-upwards emotionally confusing things (thanks JM Coetzee), and even though this is often more edgy…it is also in a sense deeply boring. There is always a climax, but none of the revelatory kind of culminations that we used to get. The story also does not have to reveal itself or explain anything. Authors like Pynchon will keep you guessing and then leave you hanging, and you have the faintest suspicion that you are being duped once you hit the end of it.

I guess my point is that I miss antiques like Picard and his one-sided morality. I miss the predictable safety of that formula. There is a time for sound in space, and if we keep our ears to the ground of modern literature, we run the risk of hearing nothing.