Press releases. Traditionally tedious, hurled at journalists by press officers in the hope of hitting one with a deadline looming and nothing else in the can. But not always. Try this one:

Who is that guy with all the eggs on his head that you see at all the bestest festivals in South Africa? His name is Gregory Da Silva - an artist, comedian, storyteller and dancer from Benin, West Africa.

His outfit always turns heads and each day it boasts a new feature, a new symbol of an African culture or practice. His headdress weighs up to twenty five kilograms, his body is armoured with artifacts and his face painted with tribal patterns and an undying smile.

Each day, Gregory Da Silva presents the city centre with a new display of his symbolic art. Gregory's voice is lively and he repeatedly offers phrases and words in French. Born in Benin, West Africa, 1979, he was trained in computer science at university, but went on to found a theatre group in Benin called 'Voice of Spirit' or 'Voix de l'Esprit'.

He explains the eggs on his head dress as being symbolic of life and says "everything must be life, everything must shine, [and] be positive". Next his hands grab the arcane black bottle near his waist to explain that in his culture, the Sangoma people would place "good spirits" in a bottle, with which they would "heal sick people [they] passed while walking on the roads".

When not walking St George's Mall or Green Market Square, Gregory features at the Grahamstown Festival, the Hermanus Whale Festival, has been hired to receive guests at hotels and airports, and has also appeared on SABC 2 and E-TV news.

Thoughts:
- The first sentence, with its intriguing use of "bestest", has clearly been added to the top of an otherwise rather eloquent article about him (which I've subbed down a bit or else we'd have been all day, trust me).
- He was trained in computer science at university?! Bloody hell. Who was the last computer science graduate you saw with eggs on his head dancing their way around Africa? Although we should note that with Guy Goma bursting onto our screens on News 24 recently, these computer science folk are starting to lead the way in all things weird and wonderful.

Personally I'm no longer an egg man. I did indulge in quite a few while I was in Somerset but I've gone all Fruit & Fibre this week. There was never a more gorgeous cereal made. Whisper it, but I go to sleep happy in the knowledge that the first thing I'll wake up to the next day is a bowl of that stuff. It's the little things in life, you know...

Oh, and my BBC badge arrived. The power! Yes, the power I can wield. The power to open the little security gate myself instead of whimpering like an abandoned puppy at reception each morning. The power to nip out for some lunch without being shut out of the newsroom for ten minutes til someone notices and lets me in. The power to open the car park entry barrier without having to line my window up with the little security speaker, misjudging it, then stalling when I try to edge the car forwards a bit. The badge is already a lifesaver.