Two days everyone! That’s not a lot of time, but it only takes you a few minutes to enter, so before you clock out at 1pm today (I know the Cape Town crew who cause the 1pm traffic jam out of town…naughty naughty!)

It’s the Smirnoff Experience, the biggest things that’s happened to your life since you got that sneaky handski at the school social for the first time in Grade 9. Imagine how good this is going to feel!

Click here to stand a chance of winning tickets to this music and performance spectacular.

(Look, this is a week or so late, but Smirnoff and the crew know how I roll. They know that I need to get my mind right for pieces like this. They understand this. While other sites may have banged out an article in like, 20 minutes, this behemoth took me about a week and a half. Let it rain…)

The Grand Café near the V&A Waterfront was in fact the ideal backdrop for the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project media gathering, being set on the ocean on a sort of man made beach. Catering to what I assume are Cape Town’s upper class, I was in damn good company! Nothing like throwing a Claremont boy into the cauldron of elitism, and seeing how he copes. By my own very low standards, I think I did alright. I even managed to look the part in that linen jacket, and those imported Swedish jeans I like to wear. Nothing flash…just understated style.

The Grand Café was probably built by men who drink beer and smoke cigarettes and chop wood on the weekends. Men who wear musk and service their own cars and spend their free time making love.
As part of a select group of media and bloggers, it was an awesome occasion, but weird at the same time. It’s strange how media has changed from traditional sources to a sort of underground mix of people who just love bringing the you the stories that they are passionate about. As bloggers we are certainly under no obligation to cover anything, and it’s a well known fact that I skip many occasions because they don’t interest me and I feel they are of no interest to you. I’m rad like that. Ithankyou!

Which is why everything you find written here is something  I’m interested in, and I really want to write about, which is why I’m part of the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project. It’s a highly ambitious project and I’d love to know the first reactions when the idea came about, because 14 countries swapping nightlife is a monumental project and if I were at the top of the organizational chain for this, my balls would certainly be sitting somewhere in my stomach right about now. It is game changing for a liquor company and something that will surely be looked at in years to come, because a lot of other projects pale in comparison to this. After experiencing it, we may even feel a little ‘bored’ by other nightlife events. In fact, that is my main worry about this project. Life will seem average afterwards…

Fresh and Euphonik chilling at the table next to us, with Rory from Halo Live and Sean from MyCityByNight in the forefathersground

The way Smirnoff have treated the media (Well I speak on my behalf as a blogger) is unparalleled. I felt for their last Mashup Street that we were left a little out of the proceedings, but they’ve invested a lot of time and effort into keeping us fully up to date this time around, inviting us to sneak previews of the event and having us attend the official launch event at The Grand Beach Café, and generally making us a priority. There are loads of other companies out there who like to use bloggers to publicise stuff, without giving them anything in return. Well I’m stoked that Smirnoff are doing things right. And at all times, the Nightlife Exchange Project is really about swapping nightlife and having an amazing time. We have obviously been briefed on Smirnoff as a company, but I never feel we’re trying to be sold the product. Smirnoff are just creating phenomenal brand awareness around an awesome event. They don’t need to try and sell me something. I always feel that if you need to try and force a product, then it’s a product not worth buying. Smirnoff aren’t forcing anything on us and I dig that. We don’t have to pay for anything, and neither do you because tickets can only be won.

The day was a phenomenal one with the numbers being made up by some of SA’s most prolific bloggers including the likes of Cape Town Alive, MyCityByNight, Bangers And Nash, Halo Live, BPM Life and Slick Tiger. Then we were also graced by the presence of the awesome Cathy Lund from Cosmopolitan who is always a laugh. You have to meet her, if you haven’t already. I remember telling her and a whole group of people some fantastic stories of my school career where we drew penises all over the school boards. Everyone laughed. And while at the time I was sure they were laughing at my amazing sense of humour, I realize now that they were probably laughing because they felt sorry for me. Tough crowd.

I won’t lie, the crowd at The Grand are what we refer to in blogging circles as ‘not kak looking’ Every second person was insanely hot and wealthy. Hmmmm…daddy digs.
The mens toilets were a bit odd, after coming out of the sunlight and into the bathroom your eyes haven’t quite adjusted, and the roses in the urinal looked like blood to me at first. Not that pissing blood is bad, because it was after all a Friday, the day after Phuza Thursday. Most of us piss blood on Fridays.
When they announced the lineup my body was so confused. Usually the only time your body is allowed to get that excited, is when you’re in the same room as a naked girl, and she’s looking at you with those attack eyes. So when the lineup of DJ’s was announced (Markus Schulz, ATB and Monika Kruse), my body experienced the same excitement, and the same chemicals pumped through me. I looked around me and noticed that a few people had goose bumps, some people had these massive smiles plastered on their faces, and then there was yours truly.

I had a boner.

I didn’t know what was going on at all because I was so excited. I was just hoping they weren’t going to make us all stand up suddenly because I would have looked like the fiddler on the roof. Once you have a bit of a stout kabout in that situation, it’s pretty hard to get rid of it, because every second person is flashing a bit of bum and a side dish of nip. Luckily I wore my one size too small boxer shorts, flipping the old chap to one side and putting my wallet and phone in that pocket to hide the evidence of my magnificence.
Normally I’m hesitant to publish stories like this for fear of not ever getting invited back to these events, but we’re given one life and I want to live it. Gandhi once said that his feet are like old biltong, I lie, he said that whatever we do in life will be insignificant, but we must do it anyway. So I feel under obligation to publish this story, although I didn’t feel under any obligation to get a hard on. Although the top brass at Smirnoff will no doubt be happy that their event has already produced such excitement in my body. It is some sort of feat of science and instead of being embarrassed, I’m actually really impressed.

Slick Tiger klapping it…

Although I’d love to pass my media pass on to one of you, the fact is, I need to be there. I need to immerse myself in this event from the bar to the stage, I need the people to sweat on me, I need to surf the lazers, touch the people, lick the floor, take my pants off. I need to scream my name, scream their name, scream your name and scream her name (If I can remember it) I need to, for one night only, lose all my composure. And I need to document it by whatever means possible. I need to capture with with my Nikon, my Blackberry, my mind and my keypad. I need to throw myself all over that party like a cheap suit.

Above all, I need to represent. A new generation of bloggers, immersed in lifestyle and culture, out there doing what we love. Passion, writing, photos, words, tweets…I need to capture this for all of you. Because that what I do, that’s what I love, and that’s why you’re here.
If you want to experience what I’m going to experience, you have two weeks ledft to win yourself a ticket. Click that banner on the top of the site…
This event will change your life, blow your mind, expand your senses, take your clothes off and lick you all over. It’ll throw you off tilt,take your socks and knock them right off, it’ll be all up in your face and inside your ears, exploding all over your mind like a technicolour Tim Burton trip. You’re going to be one with the music, one with the crowd, one with the world. This is going to be THE ONE party that you don’t want to miss.

This is the Smirnoff nightlife Exchange, and it’s coming to Cape Town.

I’ll see you there. Clothing and mind optional.

And remember…drink responsibly.

As if life isn’t bad enough already, not living in Cape Town with all the dream people…you then get the news that the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange is not even happening in your city.Bad News Bears!

Well that’s what we thought…until now…

Smirnoff, the champions of party that they are, are making sure that you’re not stuck out on the Highveld listening to Steve Hofmeyer and going to gym and chowing those PEK DEKS. You can be a part of the dream now too! Check it:

Smirnoff launches inter-city competition to get out-of-towners to Cape Town for the Nightlife Exchange Project

Yes, this is correct, confirmed and cast in stone!

Smirnoff, the number one spirit brand in the world, is going to fly some very lucky fans to Cape Town for the most ambitious global initiative to discover and celebrate the best of nightlife from around the world.

Lucky winners will not only receive awesome, highly-sought-after, as-valuable-as-gold tickets to Cape Town’s Nightlife Exchange party, but will also be privy to return flights to Cape Town, a night’s accommodation at 15 on Orange, meals and ground transfers while in Cape Town!

To enter, go to www.facebook.com/SmirnoffSA today!

Sweet!

So we ran a competition last week for a Smirnoff hamper and congratulations Josho on winning, with this awesome entry:

Okay, Project X is all about Smirnoff giving away two double tickets for four people to travel to one of the strangest places of the world to experience the biggest party of their lives. How it works is that Smirnoff order each of the winners to sample a variety of Smirnoff cocktails dished up the the gorgeous and delectable Smirnoff ‘Ice Maidens’ at the Diners Club lounge of the Cape Town International Airport. Each winner will then get spun around 21 times and given an aeroplane ticket to an unknown destination. During the flight they will each be allowed to have any Smirnoff drink of their choice and given a pair of Smirnoff 4D glasses. In their completely ecstatic states, they will be parachuted onto an extremely secret island, which only the Smirnoff pilot knows the position to, right in the middle of the Bermuda triangle. Upon landing, the winners will be met by thousands of other Smirnoff winners from all over the world to go berserk and joll in one of the craziest parties that mankind has ever experienced. DJ Benny Banassi will be pounding thunderous beats into their ears, while a pumping one-hundred meter Smirnoff bar will be flowing with drinks. And equipped with their 4D glasses, the winners will experience mind blowing visuals like no other, they will be encapsulated in a world that they could never have imagined, the Smirnoff world.

Now you’re probably wondering what Smirnoff Project X really is, and we have the answer. Great success!

This has absolutely nothing to do with this article, but this is what George Clooney taps and she’s flippin’ decent to look at!

Here is the press release:

Smirnoff launches the world’s first nightlife exchange project

In an ambitious move set to break new ground in nightlife experiences, the world’s leading vodka brand Smirnoff has unveiled ‘The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project’. Continuing on a mission to inspire and enable more one-of-a-kind experiences, this bold attempt will see 14 countries work with respected nightlife figures to discover and celebrate the best elements of their country’s nightlife. These ideas will be captured online, packed-up in a crate and transformed into exciting event experiences. In an epic finale on 27th November, the world will swap nights, with each country exchanging the best of their nightlife with that of another.

The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project puts these fans and the general public at its very center. Participants are invited to make suggestions for what represents the best of South Africa’s nightlife which will be captured via a dedicated hub on Facebook, www.facebook.com/SmirnoffSA. These suggestions might be a specific type of music, a locally-conceived cocktail or a fashion trend unique to our country. Once the suggestions are in, it will be up to the local expert Curator in each country to decide what will represent the very best of each country’s nightlife in the exchange.

Smirnoff South Africa will be working with DJ Fresh and DJ Euphonik as South Africa’s curators. Both are well respected personalities in the South African nightlife scene, and will work to discover and celebrate the best elements of South Africa’s nightlife and create the one of a kind South African event that will be exchanged with one of the other countries.

DJ Euphonik says “It’s an honour to be asked to represent something as huge as The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project. In the last year or so I’ve had the privilege of travelling to Miami, London, Ibiza and New York and I from what I’ve seen, South Africa has more to offer than the rest of the world anticipates and being part of the team responsible in exposing that is an amazing feeling.”

The Nightlife Exchange Project will take place in 14 countries located in six different continents and they include: South Africa, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Lebanon, Poland, Thailand, Ireland, Great Britain, Australia and Venezuela.

The ingredients of South Africa’s nightlife will be revealed on 22 October 2010. Once revealed, South Africa will exchange with crates with one of the other countries to experience on November 27. South Africa will exchange its nightlife experience with one of the 13 other countries, the big question to be answered… which country will it be?

Starting 13 September, South Africa’s crate will tour 4 cities – Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town – collecting participant’s ideas to be sent to the exchange country.

This project is expected to surpass the enormity of the much revered Smirnoff Experience MashUp Street, headlined by world #1 DJ, Tiesto, in Johannesburg earlier this year.

Adrian Petersen, marketing manager for Smirnoff says, “The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project is a display of Smirnoff’s continuation in staging original events of global scale. We believe in pushing boundaries and have taken things a notch higher since the aftermath of MashUp Street. Smirnoff will connect the world in a shared cultural exchange of the best nightlife experiences from around the world and the result will be memorable night that is emblematic of the current global nightlife culture.”

Submit your ideas to help shape this unique global experience and find out how you can join the worldwide party on 27 November 2010. Visit www.facebook.com/SmirnoffSA and make your suggestion as to what makes South Africa’s nightlife unique.

Smirnoff is not for Sale to Persons Under the Age of 18. Drink Responsibly.

So there is some pretty cool stuff Smirnoff is working on right there! I’ll be keeping you up to date with all the news on this, but it’s looking awesome and I have a raging boner thinking of what the party is going to offer.