Three (3) weeks ago (10 April) I contacted S & K Unicom in Umtata to ask them to check my dish installation, which was not picking up DSTV.  They took my details, and said they might be able to help me the following week.  I have not yet heard back from them.

On the page listing them, it says "Services : n/a".

Last week I contacted Video Effex and they were extremely helpful, polite, and professional.  I was expecting another week's wait, but they solved my problem the same day.

On the page listing them, it says "Services : installations".

If you want a DSTV installation or repairs done in Umtata, get hold of Video Effex.

I am a fan of George Romero's Dead movies:

Night of the Living Dead [1968]
Dawn of the Dead [1978]
Day of the Dead [1985]
Land of the Dead [2005]

Diary of the Dead, for release in 2007, is a 5th, but not a sequel to Land of the Dead, as it takes place at the during the initial outbreak of the zombies that occurred in Night of the Living Dead.

Remakes of these movies by other directors:

Night of the Living Dead [1990]
Dawn of the Dead [2004]
Night of the Living Dead 3D [2006]
Day of the Dead [2007]

And then of course there's Shaun of the Dead [2004], a spoof of the above, not by George Romero.  See also Night of the Living Bread [1990].

Wikipedia has a good explanation of which are Romero movies, which are Russo movies, and which are non-Romero "sequels" and related and unrelated movies, such as unofficial non-Romero non-Russo sequels Day of the Dead 2: Contagium and Zombi 2.

The original Night of the Living Dead was co-written by George Romero and John Russo.  Romero sequels are "Dead" movies and Russo sequels are "Living Dead" movies.

I haven't a clue what this means:


Probably something to do with Άννα Βισση coming to Sun City in May.

They linked to me ... so here's the Anna Vissi blogspot.

My deltoid muscle hurts tonight.  I had my flu vaccine today ... and that's a fairly common minor side effect, but a sign that something's going on there.

The flu vaccine recommendations for the last few years are as follows:

2004/5 Northern hemisphere winter:
an A/New Caledonia/20/99(H1N1)-like virus
an A/Fujian/411/2002(H3N2)-like virus
a B/Shanghai/361/2002-like virus

2005 Southern hemisphere winter:
an A/New Caledonia/20/99(H1N1)-like virus
an A/Wellington/1/2004(H3N2)-like virus
a B/Shanghai/361/2002-like virus

2005/6 Northern hemisphere winter:
an A/New Caledonia/20/99(H1N1)-like virus
an A/California/7/2004(H3N2)-like virus
a B/Shanghai/361/2002-like virus

2006 Southern hemisphere winter:
an A/New Caledonia/20/99(H1N1)-like virus
an A/California/7/2004(H3N2)-like virus
a B/Malaysia/2506/2004-like virus

2006/7 Northern hemisphere winter:
A/New Caledonia/20/99(H1N1)-like
A/California/7/2004(H3N2)-like
B/Malaysia/2506/2004-like

2007 Southern hemisphere winter:
A/New Caledonia/20/99(H1N1)-like
A/Wisconsin/67/2005(H3N2)-like
B/Malaysia/2506/2004-like

Changes from season to season are in italics.

Note that the H1N1 part of the vaccine has remained the same.  It's H2N3 that changes regularly.

As I pointed out before, South African virologists like Anna Vissi music.

She'll be here in South Africa soon, and will have a concert at Sun City.

Tickets can be booked on the Kalahari.net website.

I have a reputation, and am living up to it.  I think this is quite a good way to use a box, but it needs a table cloth - when I get round to getting one.


This is some sort of crate packing support device that I have turned into a shelf for my DVDs and CDs, and maybe a few books when I get more of those unpacked.


Very fashionable.

Here in Umtata we don't always have good access to our e-mail.

Google has the answer - Gmail paper.

I trained as a medical virologist at Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg Medical Campus, and, prior to the current head of department, Prof Estrelita Janse van Rensburg was the head there, so I spent the first few years of my training under her.  Now she's head of the virology department at Pretoria University, where I did my undergraduate medical training.

On 28 March, she was awarded an Exceptional Achievers Award.

The Pretoria News (which we don't get in Umtata - my mom e-mailed me the article) said:


The article can be read here.

I also know Prof Louis Nel, Prof Brenda Wingfield, and Prof Mike Wingfield.

Congratulations!

Mycobacterium tuberculosis and related bacteria are bacteria, NOT viruses.

The following are also not viruses:

• malaria
• typhoid
• tick bite fever
• syphilis
• gonorrhoea
• cats and dogs

"More hospitals to treat TB virus" published on 14 March 2007 in The Mercury (a newspaper) should have a better headline.

Some snippets:


I am sure they are ... it's quite a problem.  The local stats sound quite scary.


Hmmm ... do they mean that MDR and XDR TB in a patient result from that patient's treatment failure?  MDR often yes, and I'm not an expert on the genetics (I'm a virologist, and TB is NOT a virus) but I think the jury is still out on XDR TB, and there is some evidence that XDR infections are usually caused by an XDR strain infecting the person.


We definitely need more money to fight HIV and TB in this country.