The glorious art of the insult has been brought to a new level with Julius Malema around. I was sent an article about him recently (Feather in his cap as Malema agrees to shut up) in which he professed to stop making clownish statements and get more mature as he prepares for his rise to […]
Rod MacKenzie
CRACKING CHINA was previously the title of this blog. That title was used as the name for Rod MacKenzie's second book, Cracking China: a memoir of our first three years in China. From a review in the Johannesburg Star: " Mackenzie's writing is shot through with humour and there are many laugh-out-loud scenes". Cracking China is available as an eBook on Amazon Kindle or get a hard copy from www.knowledgethirstmedia.co.za.
His previous book is a collection of poetry,Gathering Light.
A born and bred South African, Rod now lives in Auckland, New Zealand, after a number of years working in southern mainland China and a stint in England.
Under the editorship of David Bullard and Michael Trapido he had a column called "The Mocking Truth" on NewsTime until the newszine folded.
He has a Master's Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Auckland. if you are a big, BIG publisher you should ask to see one of his many manuscript novels. Follow Rod on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/Rod_in_China
Posted inLifestyle
Caught with yer pants down: How’s your ‘privacy quotient’?
The man fondles my butt. Okay, it is only two seconds of curiosity — I assume — but my left hand immediately turns into a fist and swings backwards at that vegetable seller in Jiaxing city before you could say “cheeky bugger”. I drop the fist, realising the assault could easily have the police around. […]
Posted inGeneral
Is your Facebook also twittering with gorgeous, ‘anonymous’ gals?
To be honest, I am glad Facebook and Twitter are not available in China. I believe there are “vays und means” to get through via proxies but agh, it is just the waste of time that gets me. I would rather be working on my various book projects, studying Chinese or pouring myself a vodka […]
Posted inGeneral
Jokes put the ridiculous side of religion(s) into perspective
“I got this cool joke,” I said as a group of us Scrabblers sat and sipped our coffees after an exhausting round of Scrabble at the coffee shop on Fish Hoek beach some years back. “A long time ago a Jewish couple had a baby and the father, Giuseppe, especially wanted to know what career […]
Posted inGeneral
Our pal China: Big daddy loves you, SA!
Some articles have appeared recently on Thought Leader with regard to “China taking over the world”. It is also big in the current literature, for example Martin Jaques’s recent When China Rules the World. The key word there, of course, is “when”, not “if”. The book to some extent explores the “how”, and, to state […]
Posted inGeneral
A reply to Sandile Memela’s ‘coconut’, ‘authentic (non-racist) blacks’ blog
“Over the past 25 years, there have been a number of coconuts, non-whites and whites who have, overtly or covertly, accused authentic blacks of being racists,” says Memela in his recent “Dear coconuts, there are no black racists blog”. He does not define what an “authentic” black is. An immediate problem with the word authentic, […]
Posted inGeneral
‘Racist’ jokes and getting over ourselves
The Pope and Julius Malema are on the same stage in front of a huge crowd. The Pope leans towards Julius and says, “Do you know that with one little wave of my hand I can make every person in this crowd go wild with joy? This joy will not be a momentary display, like […]
Posted inGeneral
Sexism, flatulence and Zapiro’s global emissions cartoon
I once remember sitting in a public library, enjoying the peace, browsing through a couple of books. There were a number of people in the reading area. I shifted in my chair and one of the joinings was a bit loose because the chair creaked loudly, a parping noise, uncomfortably like a “you know what”, […]
Posted inGeneral
‘Snotklap’ insults as art: Thought Leader commentators and giving offence
So there were Frank and Danny, just moseying along on the front of their wagon, thinkin’ about nothin’ in per-tick-u-ler, their two hosses ridin’ up front, wagon clattering over the stones through the plains of Tennessee. It came to Danny’s attention there was a whole bunch of flies around Frank’s horse’s posterior. He realised another […]
Posted inGeneral
Hands up: Are Americans naive or not?
“I don’t know why you should think I have a Chinese girlfriend,” seethed Malcolm, a young American teacher speaking to me in an office we once shared together in Shanghai. “She is a Canadian.” His beard bristled around his clenched teeth. “I think you should have just let that information come out naturally in conversation.” […]
Posted inGeneral
South Africans and POLITE behaviour
I am amazed to think I have been away from SA for more than five years and I have virtually forgotten how many South Africans behave. More than four years of that time has been spent in China and I am starting to acquire various habits, including standing up for the Chinese, some of whose […]
Posted inLifestyle
What can we learn from depression?
“Serve you right to suffer, serve you right to be alone, because you’re still livin’ in days done past and gone … ” jangles that marvellous blues number played by one of the most awesome duets known in blues history, Van “the Man” Morrison and John Lee Hooker. The latter dude went through such rough […]