Author: admin

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ClustrMaps salute friends and visitors to your site!

Where has your site been?

People visit your web site from all parts of the world and it is interesting to see just where  these folks are coming!  Thanks to “ClustrMaps”,  your visitors are logged on a nice little map showing you where they hail. The map above represents visitors to Pinotageclub.blogspot.com.

This is not a secret for those of us familiar with ‘hit logs’… but to see a graphic representation is always fascinating! The size of each dot represents the number of hits emanating from that particular part of the world!

Karen, Laura and I… along with our family site have put up these maps and it is just getting started. It is interesting to see that  Laura’s Psychology Blog  is so appreciated far and wide…. and I expect that  Karen’s Public Relations Blog  will be too.

Now, I know that ClustrMaps isn’t doing all of this for the good of all mankind… because they have a little directed Google Advertising on the enlarged map… but I think this is a small price to pay… plus I like their suggested links.

So, put a ClustrMap on your site… and see where your traffic is coming from!

Roger Freberg

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… a tribute to Families

our family over the years

Laura  and I have certainly changed a bit from our former selves pictured above in Austria in 1976… and so have my girls (going clockwise)  Karen  (1993), Karla (1993) and  Kristin  (1984). However, families are a fun diversion and there is something enjoyable about watching young minds develop.

So, allow me to add a small tribute to all of the ‘families’ out there… large and small.

Roger Freberg

 

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“Snakes in Suits”… are everywhere!

Snakes in Suits... are in education, tooFor a long time, many people have followed the corporate disasters of “Eron” and the many ‘lapses in judgment’ in the corporate arena and wondered — not always silently — why these folks weren’t behind bars?

Publisher’s Weekly offers a candid review of the effort… and here is an excerpt:

“Psychopaths are described as incapable of empathy, guilt, or loyalty to anyone but themselves; still, spotting a psychopath isn’t easy. Babiak, an industrial and organizational psychologist, and Hare (Without Conscience), creator of the standard tool for diagnosing psychopathology, present a study of the psychopath in the corporate landscape. A common description of psychopathology states that subjects “know the words but not the music;” Babiak and Hare state that “a clever psychopath can present such a well-rounded picture of a perfect job candidate that even seasoned interviewers” can be fooled.”

 You can purchase a copy rather inexpensively on  Amazon.com.

Personally, I have noticed that psychopaths tend to be attracted to money, power and the control over other lives to benefit themselves. This covers a lot of ground — an in my humble opinion — the corporate environs are not the only hallowed halls that are infected with self serving psychopaths. One only has to look into academia itself… following the university president who takes his entire staff on a holiday cruise to the Mediterranean and there is much much more… but then I am sure that would be a subject of another book.

worth reading,

 Roger Freberg

PS. other interesting books on related topics : the Sociopath next door, Psychopath: emotion and the brain; Emotional Vampires

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Pinotage & “little John”

I challenge you... Claret at twent paces... if you have the 'lafite' for it!... or should we just  

In the Movie with Errol Flynn “Robin Hood”… Robin is knocked off a log by ‘little John’ with the aid of a staff… after some consolation, Robin says,” I love a man who can best me!” Words to live by.

In an earlier post, I wrote on the virtues of “Bobotie” a South African dish of Cape-Malay origin… delicious! I presented it with a Kanonkop wine… just not the recommended one and I got caught! ouch!

To be fair, I had never thought of Pinotage… it had never been in my list of highly desired varieties… but sometimes, we all need ‘grapeness’ thrust apon us… and this peeked my curious mind.

It give me the opportunity to explore my “little John’s” site called  “Pinotage.Org”  … which I have found interesting and helpful … so much so, I decided to buy his book entitled  “Marlyn Merlot and the Naked Grape”  … I just ordered it off of his site… should be a fun read.

In life, we all need our ‘little John’s’,

Roger Freberg

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Bobotie, wine & thou!

 Bobotie for You-tie and me-tie!

Well… I finally put together my South African dish called “Bobotie” and it lived up to everythnig I hoped it would… delicious!

I was worried about how all the ingredients would fit together… add 2 onions, dried apricots, white raisons ( called santanas), lemon juice and peal, garlic, apple, almonds, eggs, bread crumbs and a variety of spices including… black pepper, salt, curry, tumeric… all mixed into ground lamb. It was wonderful.

Normally, I follow someone’s recipe religiously the first time… but 2ml of crushed garlic? what’s that?? I added more. South Africa’s own ‘Balls Chutney’ was perfect with the Bobotie!

On Epicurious, Lannice Snyman author of “Rainbow Cuisine” suggested a certain brand of “Pinotage” which I procured… Kanonkop,  very nice and full bodied.

Amazing what you can do with only 2 lbs of meat!

Roger Freberg