I first came across Twitter, the micro-blogging service, in 2006 when I was living in San Francisco. Up until quite recently I resisted using it for the simple reason that I didn’t think I needed to. I was also worried about the concomitant information overload and time consumption that Twitter inevitably brings with it. But […]
2009
Posted inGeneral
British boy (13) fathers child: His mother should be spayed
I spoke to our vet and he seems quite happy to have Nicola Patten, mother of 13-year-old Alfie who has just fathered a child, spayed and if that doesn’t work, put down. His diagnosis was that this wenner “probably has mad cow disease or, at a push, a severe case of swine fever”. The mother-of-the-year […]
Posted inGeneral
Mandela: Commodity or icon?
I remember, as a poor varsity student, begging and borrowing money to visit Cape Town. A former schoolmate who had relocated to that beautiful city invited me to spend the week with him there. After some financial gymnastics, I eventually scraped enough money together to make the trip. In Cape Town, I decided to make […]
Posted inGeneral
Of course Motlanthe deserves his fat pension
In a democracy, today’s leadership is tomorrow’s electorate; power is never predestined and children are not heirs (except of course to hot off-the-cuff black economic empowerment deals). Today, our kings and queens are presidents and prime ministers voted in, not born or ordained by God. They are practical assimilations of royalty without the creed or […]
Posted inGeneral
Super 14 fact sheet: Place your bets
What an interesting Friday and Saturday it turned out to be — starting off the Super 14 with some peculiar results on the table, which will count for a lot in 10 weeks’ time when the top teams angle for a quarter-final. Let’s digress for a moment: There was the upset last night in San […]
Posted inGeneral
Of crooks, improprieties and betrayals in the ANC
The holy book has got an account of a certain Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, who driven by greed betrayed his divine master and sold him to the Roman authorities. It was an act of betrayal of the brotherhood of men, which is premised on mutual trust and respect. For […]
Posted inLifestyle
Why South Africans want to come home
Or rather, why one couple wants to come home. My brother and sister-in-law had a baby last year and though they love their life in Holland, they’re in South Africa for three months at the moment, trying to see if moving back home is a feasible idea. Why? Let’s see … 1. Why do you […]
Posted inGeneral
Referral system is just not cricket
This much-vaunted referral system the International Cricket Council (ICC) has implemented is a terrible decision. For one it has turned the hallowed grail of Test cricket into a stop-start contest, complete with all the hollow tension of a game show with a silly mystery prize. “Is he out or is he in? Let’s go upstairs […]
Posted inGeneral
Newsmakers or makers of news?
So on the weekend, Tata Mandela, our former president and global moral beacon came out and re-affirmed his support for the ANC. Speaking on his behalf, his grandson proclaimed that “when he gets to heaven, the first thing he will do is enquire about the local ANC branch”. A sentiment that Mandela did express a […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Zimbabwe edging towards a military coup?
The Observer on Sunday and the Times of London this morning in a headline article are both speculating on the possibility of a military coup in Zimbabwe. They allege that a wedge is growing between the Joint Operations Command (JOC) and President Robert Mugabe and the aim is to seize control of the country. “A […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Niehaus provides the entertainment but what’s the real story?
I can’t help feeling sorry for Carl Niehaus. Not that anything can excuse the man’s behaviour, but you have to understand where he’s coming from. Niehaus spent his early adulthood in jail for his anti-apartheid convictions while the rest of us were getting started in life, accumulating wealth, property and building our careers. When he […]
Posted inLifestyle
The noise in the night
The other night, a loud noise jolted me out of my slumbers. Immediately, I went into panic mode: adrenaline surging, heart thumping, muscles rigid, hearing attuned to the slightest clue as to what the cause might be. I waited. Another thump. The pipes? Then the faint sound of water running. It was the woman who […]