Why is it that I always seem to confront the nakedness of my own soul in airports? It happened again a few nights ago. On September 11, no less. I must have been crazy to brave the terrors of high-altitude traveling on a date so loaded with ominous precedents, but there I was, dead on […]
Koos Kombuis
Koos Kombuis, the legendary Afrikaans author and musician, has published two books under this English pseudonym Joe Kitchen, the childrens' story "Hubert the Useless the Unicorn" and the satirical novel "Sushi with Hitler", which is available as a Kindle download on Amazon. In his free time, he drinks coffee and sells his amateur art works online.
Posted inNews/Politics
Et tu, Tutu?
Dear Reverend Tutu, I apologise for giving this blog entry such a corny name. I realised the phrase “Et tu” had been used at least twice before — once by some old Roman politician and once by Dr Bandula Kothalawala (not to mention the band by that name somewhere on YouTube). Be that as it […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Springtime for Cameron
Riots? In the UK? What shall we call this phenomenon, these marauders running riot with their Blackberries and bricks? The British Spring? After the widespread pro-democratic protests in predominantly Muslim countries, we were all wondering: who’s next? What dictatorship is about to topple before the angry hordes? Secretly, some of us hoped for something similar […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Secret letter to Jon Qwelane
Hallo, Jon, how are you? From riches to rags, you say? I empathise! I decided to write to you on an impulse. I don’t know you personally, I have never met you, but what the hell. I’m a columnist, too, and, as you know very well, column writing is a dangerous job, especially these days. […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Slow walk through Main Street
Last week-end, I experienced one of those — all too rare — refreshing periods of exhilaration that gave me renewed hope for South Africa as a country. I attended a volksfees in the platteland! Yes! A volksfees in die ware sin van die woord! I hope that, when the annual Cederberg festival in the town […]
Posted inLifestyle
Short drive to Voortrekker Road
It all started so innocently. Just another brilliant autumn day, not too hot, not too cold, and I was spending the day with my family. We were in Oudtshoorn for the week, where I had a few shows at the KKNK. We were going to watch a play, then hang around the flea market, maybe […]
Posted inNews/Politics
It’s still the same damn zebra!
We have all experienced this at one time or another. The moment of truth in a troublesome relationship. That pivotal point in time when you look into someone’s eyes or see someone do something in a certain way and you have a sudden, explosive intuitive insight into that person’s character. And, after months, possibly years, […]
Posted inGeneral
The giant leap from ‘I am’ to iPad
Can Twitter save our planet? Will Facebook free mankind from the twilight of collective stupidity, religious fanaticism and crazed dictatorships? Is WikiLeaks the fulfilment of the ancient prophecy contained in Johan 8:32? In short: is the internet the next step in the evolution of human consciousness? This isn’t just idle speculation. Many people are starting […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
The Mona Lisa conspiracy
Now they’re saying the Mona Lisa was a MAN? I’ve always suspected it! I’ve suspected it even more when I saw that picture — it’s a famous picture by now — on the front page of a Cape Town newspaper the other day! It was the story — “Zille, You Can’t Touch This” — by […]
Posted inLifestyle
Introducing the Koos Kombuis fitness plan!
I never thought that I would have anything in common with Springbok rugby captain John Smit — apart from our crappy hairstyles, that is — until I read in this morning’s paper that, over the Christmas season, John has lost seven kilograms. Surprise, surprise! I did even better than that! Over the last nine and […]
Posted inGeneral
Hold my hand, I’m dieting
I received two birthday gifts this year. One was a fantastically constructed venison pie, which my wife had somehow gotten hold of through some mysterious housewifely process, either by swinging her magic wand, ordering it on Gumtree, or actually making it herself. Whatever the method entailed, it was surely a grand-looking pie, enormously big, and […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
My greatest fear
There’s a new author that started publishing stuff in America recently. His name is spelt almost exactly like mine, but with the “u” and “i” in a different order: instead of “Koos Kombuis” he calls himself “Koos Kombius”. This is not where the similarities end. He also looks a bit like me: overweight, greying, bald. […]