Its always nice to see old friends and evening functions provide a perfect opportunity; given that parallel sessions may not promote "catching up".

It was time to catch up with Remmy Nweke and Brenda Zulu; we had a chance to remember the old times

We were all happy when they announced that food would be served before kick off; it was a better plan compared to waiting till half time or eating when the game was going on.

Then it was time for testing MTN knowledge and those who were good at it were rewarded

But not all were lucky; she could not believe that she got the answer wrong and missed the gift pack!

It is the talk of town, buzzing on twitter, facebook; people just can't stop talking about Ghana and what would happen if it upsets Uruguay: Africa will have won and reached a new football high.

Everybody is an expert on football now, and hypothesizing on what Ghana should or should not do is common. This morning I took a taxi and the driver could not stop talking, giving me his run down on Ghana and how Michael Essien must be feeling bad that he is not in the team.

For a guy who can not speak proper English, I must say he was good; he gave me his analysis of what he thinks went wrong with African teams and how Portugal pulled a fast one on Ivory Coast by scoring seven goals against North Korea; meaning that the goal difference would remain far more superior.

Online, even my American friend, who I never thought had interest is sports beyond basketball, emailed me to say "go black stars". I think its great that Ghana knocked out the US, I guess it raised some awareness.

At the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, fans are gathered chanting and singing while others are blowing the vuvuzelas. It seems people have gone home or their teams are eliminated because the noise is not as much.

The radio stations have been running analysis from morning and it seems the belief in the Ghana team has gone higher. People are impressed that the team may not have renowned stars like Cameroon or Ivory Coast but is playing as a team, which is vital in the games.

Whether Ghana wins or loses tonight, there will be no doubt that African hopes were high and that the people who believed in the Black Stars even before the kick off were right.

Ends

The version looks a bit sophisticated compared to the common one that requires lots of energy and skill

I think they can grow head muscles with the stuff on the head...

It looks massive- jokes aside...

Alexandra neighborhood is famous, but unfortunately for the wrong reasons; it was the heartbeat for xenophobic attacks and the soaring crime rate has not helped the image either.

I have been longing to go to Alex, as its commonly known, because every time I tell my South African friends that Soweto suburbs is probably better than most Kenyan middle class estates, they always advise me to go to Alex, apparently because its worse.

Many friends have said how they have never or can not step in Alex because of the way the place is infested with criminals and every time I passed by young men and women, I could imagine that they are probably honing their skills by mugging people or doing drugs, which is not exactly alien.

The idea I had about Alex was something else; maybe rivaled by the American drug and gangster movies and the idea of a crime infested neighborhood, that has been over dramatized in Hollywood.

I got a chance to visit by accompanying a friend who was going there on official duties; the fact tat I look South African worked in my favor although there was no significant threat that is out of the norm.

The visit was timely, I know understood the reason why foreigners like the place; and maybe the problem of xenophobia lies somewhere else but demonstrated through killing the hapless neighbors, just because you cant get to the real culprits.

First, Alex is not a slum by Kenyan standards (because thats what am familiar with) ; they have tarmac roads and if there was a fire, at least the fire engine would access the place; Alex is more like the upper lower class or lower middle class in many countries, if that makes sense.

So, what people think is appalling, is probably what foreigners are used to and maybe the rent is far cheaper. Plus for some people, they are used to places with no order or no authority e.g if you escaped war or poverty, then you don't mind so much the place and besides for some of the criminal activities to thrive, chaos is vital.

Am only using the argument to understand why foreigners like the place; although that may not necessarily be the issue.

The bone of contention is the rising crime rate and the fact that some people dealing drugs are so rich, they are untouchable.

On my way back, I had a conversation with an old man, who made the issue clearer; he argued that there are some nationalities that are known for dealing drugs, perpetrating criminal activities and getting away with it, just because they have money or power to influence.

Just like in many communities where people feel frustrated by people or the system they can't reach, they start fighting or killing with whoever is the representation of that figure.

So, in the old man's opinion, the xenophobic attacks were more to do with frustrations with the system, rather than nationalities. He argued that previously, South Africa was very comfortable with other nationalities but that has since changed.

That is not to say that its guaranteed that if the issue of crime was sorted, then the animosity will stop; there are no such guarantees but that would be a start.

Then there is the argument that the animosity is all about jobs that are taken by foreigners. Who is to blame, the employer or employee? None. but the debate is far more complex than that.

There is not much you can understand by taking to people in an afternoon, but it helps!

There is something about sports and booze; we see it more in football and rugby but am sure it happens in other sports too.

But during the world cup, the beer consumption goes up; indeed just before the world cup, i remember pub owners in the match cities saying that they were stocking on beer big time.

German and British fans top the list; you can imagine how the fans celebrate the team win or loss. At the world cup stadium, fans just get beers, you don't see many holding cans of soda, I guess its not cool.

You can imagine the beer that will be consumed on sunday when Germany meets Britain. It will be great for the local pubs.

The funniest was these South Korean fans, a man and woman, who were sharing some booze, which had straws and was carefully packed on the head.

I think beer is one of the indicators that the fans are spending as they should; that is why the big footballing countries should stay in the draw; the economy will be much better am sure.

Just when I thought the world was done with the Vuvuzela debate, I receive this press release.

But it teaches be that companies know how to take advantage of events, I think this company went out its way to manufacture or upgrade one of its products or better still, its just the same only that they have gotten a new marketing tag.

Either way, its a chance to market, only that it has been overtaken by time because people have moved on. I guess the company execs are not even in South Africa but they sound like they are forever in the thick of things.

Here it goes...

Not all TV broadcasters mute irritating vuvuzela shrieks when showing World Cup 2010 matches. New AVS Audio Editor effectively bans the annoying noise with specially developed Vuvuzela Remover filters.

Online Media Technologies Ltd., the owner of AVS4YOU Project releases today a special edition of AVS Audio Editor with the extra Vuvuzela Remover feature.

The Vuvuzela Remover feature contains 6 filters adjusted to reject frequencies typical of this African horn. Software engineers designed the algorithm in such a way that it effectively reduces irritating noises up to 99 percent without damaging audio quality.

The Vuvuzela Remover can be applied in combination with the intelligent Noise Removal filter. You indicate the noise type and save it as a sample. Basing on this sample, AVS Audio Editor 6.1 will automatically search, detect and remove similar disturbances such as horn roars, whistles, hisses, etc. from other audio- and video files.

“One feels real adrenaline rush while yelling and blaring in the stadium. In a room, where there's not so much space, vuvuzela wheezes become hard to endure. AVS Audio Editor 6.1 deletes excess noises without mercy,” said Tatyana Danilova, PR Manager, Online Media Technologies Ltd.

There has been many theories advanced on why football attracts fanatical support; for some, its the game of the poor and middle class, who have all the time to play in open field while the rich are locked in gated communities and high flats playing video games and watching TV. I think the case of Brazil and the rise of most footballers from humble beginnings can reinforce this theory.

For some, football is the game that unites all religions, its a universal language that people play the best way they know how. Just look at the support on the field and TV audiences.

For some, football is the game of men and not for sissies although I think rugby players would contents this, given that football players are known to fall down and complain at the slightest touch. The other day somebody commented on twitter that he was surprised Ronaldo did not fall down when he was given a high five after the Portugal game with Ivory Coast.

For some, football is the game that surpasses all ages, both young and old; it is a time when you can celebrate in a stupid way and your kids, workmates and other folks will not think you are acting immature.

For some, football transcends gender, both men and women get emotional although Africa is yet to accept that women can be true football supporters and contribute to intelligent football discussions.

The gender aspect is still an issue; ever wondered why parents take their boys to the stadium and not girls, yet you see youthful women and older ones on the stadium; is it that we are jumping a gap in the support or girls are not interested in football at an early age?

Anyway, what is football to you?

Of all the people who get nice seats, I envy the photo journalists and their huge lenses

Its always fascinating when you hear the amount of money companies sponsoring the world cup are spending just to be part of it.

One can be forgiven for asking whether they recoup their investments. In some cases, you don't have to know the figures; just look at the amount of advertising MTN has paid for in the last six months, look at their fan park, look at the advertising material produced; look at Sony's advertising stands at the Sandton- its big money.

I had a chance to go to the Sony 3D experience dome and its a worth while experience; Forget that they promise to show game highlights and they end up showing the game for less than two minutes. Its a 15-minute commercial and 13-minutes showcase Sony products in 3D.

I think Sony is going to recoup its money because it has an audience from several countries, who can then buy the products back in their countries. Even if they will not buy the expensive 3D cameras, am imagining, the other products will be taken up.

Sony's strategy was very targeted, one stand for the youth, showing the games and other products for the age group, another for the basic who do not know where they belong and the 3D experience for the hi-tech or those who have nowhere to go and are out to kill time.

MTN has managed to keep the buzz up with its "Ayoba" advertising; which means cool; when I was for the Argentina game, I remember fans shouting Ayoba. They would sing in Spanish then shout Ayoba, making it so catchy.

Am imagining that for most world cup folks, MTN is the only network and probably the network has sold lots of sim cards and airtime. If not that, even solidifying its continental position is still something.

That may be a big win for big corporations, but even the smaller businesses have won, hotels, restaurants, shops, and other businesses have all adjusted their prices to be "world Cup prices", the cabs are even worse, its so expensive to travel.

The shopping malls have these signs that say discounts but when you look at the prices, there is no change if anything the prices are up, but you know there are people who cant buy unless they see the item labelled "on sale".

Even the hawkers near the stadium, they have hiked prices and when the Vuvuzela complaints were on a high, they were stocking ear plugs and I wondered, who would wear ear plugs in the stadium?

So, big or small, international or local, businesses are winning big with the World Cup because its Ayoba time!

The other day I was at Mandela square late in the evening, it was cold and chilly but for the football fans who have braved worse winter weather, I guess it was nothing.

There were groups of fans, chanting slogans and working hard to outdo each other.

One corner, Argentina fans were singing their voices hoarse, Brazil was in another corner, Mexico was somewhere in between and Mexico was just there, then there were these two Swiss fans, who had painted themselves red and were only in shorts.

I guess the fans have different ways of expressing themselves and believe it or not, the stripping helped attract more women to their side; works well huh? In all these chaos, I happened to be standing next to a cute guy, from one of the South American countries; he did not speak much of English but he had a lisp and I made sure he talked and talked, forget that I was not getting half of what he was saying.

It was a pleasant atmosphere that allowed people to do things they would normally do, talk to strangers and just jump up and down. Vuvuzela or no Vuvuzela, the place can get noisy.

So, in all the mayhem, I got to know who are the noisiest fans of the day- Argentina- I think they can out-shout the vuvuzela.