In a world where things are happening faster, change is the only constant, and the rate of change is itself increasing, it seems only sensible to assess the effects that this fast-paced, communications-enhanced lifestyle might be having on how we live, work and socialise today. You do not need to look far to see the […]
2009
Posted inLifestyle
Kaalgat pseudo-liberalism and the Polanski affair
The late Irving Kristol once defined a liberal as someone who, upon witnessing a fourteen-year-old girl engaging in a live sex act, worries about whether she is getting the minimum wage. It was the same Kristol who described a neo-conservative as a liberal who has been “mugged by reality”. Kristol himself is widely regarded as […]
Posted inSport
Let’s blow our own vuvuzela
Recently, international soccer governing body Fifa decided to take a Cape Town company to court over their selling of key rings. The key rings are in the form of two ixilongo (plural for vuvuzela) crossing towards the blow ends with “2010” embossed onto a soccer ball. What’s worrying are reports of an inspectorate who will […]
Posted inMedia
On air with Ryan Seacrest
Whenever I drive to or home from work during the week there is nothing I enjoy more than listening to 94.7 Highveld Stereo. It’s great fun because the last thing I need or want to hear at that time is some of you lot waffling on about politics on 702 or one of the other […]
Posted inMedia
What does your beer say about you?
Do you ever think about what the advertising for the beer you drink says about you? Are you downing the cool beer, the beer for average guys, the working man’s beer, or the beer for metrosexuals? Beer ads have long been an interest of mine. I devoted a chapter of my doctoral thesis to the […]
Posted inGeneral
VCRs, the Walkman, now Murdoch and Hefner?
Hugh Hefner and Rupert Murdoch suffering from the same headache. Who’d have thunk it? The internet age is posing a massive problem for these two icons of the golden age of capitalism. On the one hand Murdoch is railing and threatening a clampdown on free online consumption of news from his expensively acquired outlets arguing […]
Posted inGeneral
Malema, Mbeki, smoke and mirrors
Julius Malema has come out against the Young Communist League and vowed to do his utmost to defend former president Mbeki against any legal action over his HIV-Aids utterances. And in other news, a herd of pigs were seen executing formations in the air above the Union Buildings while over in the Middle East Ahmadinejad […]
Posted inLifestyle
Even the Taliban would’ve found it funny
After telling me where he was from, he grunts and looks the other way, nostrils flared as he pretends to admire the scenery. Of course, through the crowded wig-wagging of bodies, there was nothing to see. I peer at him and he reminds me of something I had seen on National Geographic. That thing about […]
Posted inGeneral
If Parliament were to shut down, would you notice?
So Parliament held its last session with pomp and ceremony to witness the changing of the judiciary guard. Judge Pius Langa must have been happy to see the back of the partisan-infested relationship between the executive and the judiciary which was marked in this session of Parliament with the appointment of his successor. A move […]
Posted inSport
Our heritage is no joke
It’s been dubbed “anthemgate”. November 13 2009 the South African rugby team, affectionately known as the Springboks, is playing France at the Municipal Stadium in Toulouse and the stadium is packed. Both teams are lining up for the national anthems and I thought the French were quite the sportsmen as they were absolutely on attention […]
Posted inGeneral
Mbalula, I salute you
So the deputy minister of police, Fikile Mbalula, is now being heralded as someone who has a complete disregard for our Constitution, one who wants to kill people of South Africa, an enemy of democracy. For years I read articles and readers’ comments about the state of crime in South Africa and the inability of […]
Posted inGeneral
Where’d all the cyclists go?
My usual Sunday morning cycle turned out to be a solitary event because I assume the majority of Gauteng’s cyclists decided to participate in the annual 94.7 cycle race yesterday. This year’s event probably saw many entrants, most of whom were perhaps new to the sport and encouraged by peers to take part. With the […]