Well, well then. If last week was a “day off”, what on earth will Sir Alex call Saturday’s meltdown at Craven Cottage? It is rather unlike United to lose, never mind lose two matches on the spin. If it was hairdryer stuff in the change-rooms after the Liverpool drubbing, then Saturday’s post-match verbal volley must […]
2009
Posted inGeneral
The more Cape arts change, the more they stay the same
Recent events in the Western Cape region reveal the smug face of white middle-class cultural activity and consumption that refuses to transform. There was the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, for instance, which revealed the unchanging “whiteness” of the event with only one African nominee on the list, Mwenya Kabwe, winning best actress in leading […]
Posted inMedia
Do you tweet?
There’s a whole other world out there. A world where people log on to Twitter to tweet, and retweet and chat with other tweeples. But what is it all about? Is it just another time waster? A little sister to Facebook that’s easier to log onto and see what people’s status updates are? Or is […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Balancing China and the Dalai Lama
As a frequent critic of South Africa’s abysmal approach to foreign policies both here in Africa and across the globe I was not surprised to see the latest brouhaha regarding the Dalai Lama. What it boils down to is this: The government has rejected a request for a visa from the Dalai Lama to attend […]
Posted inGeneral
South Africa: A nation in distress
Many thinkers, ranging from as far back as Plato and Aristotle to as recent as Hannah Arendt, spent inordinate amounts of time trying to make sense of the world we live in. With similar intensity and dedication, pioneering psychologists such as Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget devoted significant energies in an effort to understand the […]
Posted inGeneral
Super 14: Fast and furious at the halfway mark
Here we are at exactly 43% of the Super 14 tournament done. There are upsets galore and the Bulls and Sharks are still up there with 22 and 21 points respectively as number 1 and number 2. A great achievement and a wonderful place to be for the balance of the tournament because now it […]
Posted inGeneral
Be the change
To be the change you want, you see Is not as easy, as it seems You have to listen, learn and believe To be the change for real For this life of ours, is nought, but strife This life of ours, is not the, promised life We’ve been denied, the rainbow, of our dreams Just […]
Posted inLifestyle
How much do you value your online friendships?
Some of my best friends are people I have never met. Some of them are people I first got to know online, then met in person. And still others are people I may never see again, but with whom I maintain ongoing contact. Could an online friendship be as rich, as meaningful, and as rewarding […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Greed, Obama and AIG’s obscene bonuses in the US
Before looking at AIG, I just want to quickly look at two other examples of greed. As a child I had a Labrador called Bruce who could devour food as if he were a vacuum cleaner. His bowl would clatter across the veranda as his snout pushed into it and a typical meal was gone […]
Posted inGeneral
Bureaucracy – the way to strangle a nation
I interrupt the series of pieces that I have been writing on the “twelve big questions of science” in order to address something that has obtruded itself so frequently in recent weeks that I feel constrained to say something about it. I hope that the minister of education, Naledi Pandor, whom I have met, and […]
Posted inMedia
Why is SA Tourism wasting this opportunity?
“Hello ma boy! Hallo ma boy!” Such a uniquely South African expression. The fact that we’re watching a man lovingly telling this to an enormous male lion that could kill him in seconds if he felt like it — well, that’s just part of life in amazing (as opposed to poor, benighted) Africa. Now, while […]
Posted inGeneral
The digital demise of professional photographers
This post is born of my curiosity about something quite obviously apparent in the photography industry at present. As more and more cameras are produced, of course the prices get lower, and the entry level cost for aspiring photographers becomes easier and easier to attain. All in all, this shouldn’t be a bad thing, and […]