The Mathematics of Chaos — a documentary that was aired on BBC Four not too long ago is an informative, enlightening but disturbing viewing experience. In brief, it contrasts the modern understanding of causality (and the mathematics this presupposes) with the more recent, perhaps in a sense “postmodern” understanding of causality (again with a concomitant […]
2009
Posted inNews/Politics
Malema should have apologised for ‘rape comments’
Whether or not African National Congress Youth League President Julius Malema believed that the comments which he made at the Cape Peninsular Technikon concerning the complainant in the Zuma rape case were justified or not, there is an issue which transcends who was legally right or wrong. The fact of the matter is that South […]
Posted inGeneral
Would Iron Man have been half as much fun as an environmentalist?
I missed Iron Man when it was on cinema in SA. I’m not sure why, considering how alluring a trailer with Black Sabbath blaring and explosions flashing across the screen can be. Perhaps I’d already blown my time and money budget on some of those terribly trashy films they show at the Cinema Nouveau. You […]
Posted inBusiness, Media
BS baffles brains — why using jargon makes you look like an idiot
Ask the average business executive or key government official precisely what their company or department does and their brains fall out of their head and jargon springs to their lips. Frothy meaningless terms might be fine when you fall in love or during strong economic growth but they impede growth during economic downturns. And what […]
Posted inLifestyle
All good things, damnit, all good things
I have been deflowered. The days of wondering what it’s like and when my time will come, if I’m ready and whether I’ll be disappointed, are long gone. Now that my seven day fling with Grahamstown is over, it’s really just a matter of how long the romance will last, and whether I’ll be drawn […]
Posted inGeneral
How to Cope in SA politics
1. Do not serve “divorce papers” in public if your intention is to go and shack up with your wife’s twin sister who shares her exact mannerisms. 2. In fact, do not serve papers on anyone until you have a Plan B that is worth all the hype and fuss of leaving home to begin […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Cope in desperate need of a leader
Many of you have probably read some of the stories regarding the resignations of Lynda Odendaal and Simon Grindrod of Cope. My response was simply this: Lynda who? Simon who? With the utmost respect to Cope and their leadership — including Dandala, Lekota and Shilowa — there is not one individual among them who stands […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The Hawks. South Africa’s latest cop show
Monday saw the launch of a new TV drama — The Hawks. The latest offering in that uniquely South African genre, the crime-fighting soap opera. It will be taking the place of the ill-fated show The Scorpions — recently cancelled despite favourable reviews. The studio cited irreconcilable creative differences between the script-writers and studio bosses […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Not the Michael Jackson farewell
While Mrs Traps and a billion people around the world watched the Michael Jackson Memorial Service, I was giving consideration to the events taking place around the world which the media, in their wisdom, had decided to put on the backburner. Undoubtedly Jackson was an immense talent worthy of extensive coverage but surely not to […]
Posted inLifestyle
Criminally hopeful
I had two dates with crime last week, and although they jolted my emotional safety belt, they ultimately were experiences that gave me a lot of hope. How so? They showed me that, despite the general lament about its disappearance, ubuntu still exists in our society. Here’s what happened: Last Sunday, my neighbour looks out […]
Posted inGeneral
Exiled Zimbabweans should return home
At a time when Zimbabwe should be experiencing a brain gain, its brain drain shows no sign of abetting. At least not just yet. It is naive to have expected aspiring Zimbabweans blessed with what used to be some of the continent’s most illustrious education, to have stayed on in the country when things were […]
Posted inGeneral
So we are at war
Apparently I have been uncaring and cold in my condemnation of my friends who have been imitating my fellow UDW students by dancing in the streets. I noticed that there were no petrol bombs and so I will say that perhaps greater strides need to be made in strugglising the liberationary nature of the perpetual […]