I experienced something very unsettling yesterday. Footsteps on the pavement behind me, a voice saying my name. I turned, recognised a face in that way in which you think, “I know you, but who are you?’ He reminded me, and I was instantly whisked back six years to the many months before I left Cape […]
2008
Posted inGeneral
Test cricket, T20 and web publishing
A year ago saw me trying to explain microblogging (when the Twitter Fail Whale was but a guppy), after having got the blogging presentation finally right. The Twenty20 Cricket World Cup was the rage, and I simply joined the dots: Twenty20 cricket is to 50-over cricket as Twitter is to blogging. It’s shorter, more intense […]
Posted inGeneral
Faster than a speeding bullet
Why are we so determined to send a man with no legs to the Olympic Games? Is there not another man that can run the 400m in under 45 seconds anywhere in South Africa? I think that I will make it my life’s goal to run the 400m in under 45 seconds. For what seems […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Barack Obama – America’s black hope
The winds of change are sweeping in their full might across America. From west to east, from south to north; from the curvaceous peaks of California to the heightening Allegheny Mountain ranges of Pennsylvania; from desert dunes of Texas to lakes and rivers of North Dakota — the soul of America reaches out for change. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Is Professor Malegapuru Makgoba smoking his dirty socks?
When a man the rest of us expect to possess an above average intellect, such as the learned Professor Makgoba, goes on to concur with the rubbish uttered by Julius Malema and Zwelinzima Vavi about killing for Reverend Kangaman, then we have a very big problem. While I continue to hold in esteem the studies […]
Posted inGeneral
Terror and cosmopolitanism
The work of social theorist Ulrich Beck (famous for his book Risk Society) on cosmopolitanism is a valuable source of reflection on the question, whether there can ever be an answer to the ‘threat’ of terror and ‘terrorism’. In A new cosmopolitanism is in the air (2007), Beck sets out to answer the question: ‘How […]
Posted inNews/Politics
New Yorker on Obama is not satire, it’s crap
A so-called satirical cover of the New Yorker magazine, depicting Barack Obama as a Muslim and his wife as an armed terrorist, has created a huge storm among the media, politicians and religious leaders. While the publication tries to justify it as a reflection of right-wing views of Obama, it is at best a stretch, […]
Posted inGeneral
Time for Asif to come clean
Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif has once again found himself at the centre of controversy, having been named as the player who tested positive for a banned substance during the Indian Premier League. Asif is not guilty of anything at this point, but one at least has to begin to question his innocence as these […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Motlanthe in the Cabinet at last
According to the headlines in the Sunday papers, scattered among the usual hysterical rantings of the Sunday media (Eskom bonuses, the ANC firing premiers and so on), was the news that Kgalema Motlanthe has been put on to the Cabinet by the ANC NEC. This has been touted for some time and has now finally […]
Posted inGeneral
Ignorance is not really the same as stupidity
This post is in the interest of stating the obvious that I think needs to be stated. I recently almost caused an international incident during an interview. The interviewer was a foreign national from a European country whose capital city’s name starts with the letter M. Another clue is that the citizens of her country […]
Posted inGeneral
Cristiano Ronaldo: Diary of a slave
In light of Cristiano Ronaldo confirming Fifa president Septic Bladder’s view that he is a modern-day slave, I thought it only right and proper that he keep a diary to ensure that future generations be made aware of his suffering. DIARY OF A SLAVE (Cris aged 23; Mental age circa Barmitzvah Boy) 6am Awoke to […]
Posted inLifestyle
Cape Town winter: it’s not all bad
Yip, I’m back. After a few months of scribbling away at my second novel, I’ve decided to emerge from my shell and scribble a bit on Thought Leader instead. But only twice a week — Mondays and Fridays. This is the new, streamlined me. Before I begin (again), though, I’d like to mention a few […]