I confess I felt like a Ryland Fisher when I wrote my previous blog Time for SA to invade and occupy Zimbabwe about SA invading Zimbabwe. I was testing the waters to see what the response would be. You know, to get out a referendum on the radical, perhaps impetuous idea of invading Zimbabwe. While […]
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 inNews/Politics
Time for SA to invade and occupy Zimbabwe
I am one of the most decisive people that I know. “Come on Chook, let’s go live in China,” I brightly announced one day to my wife in England after being “let go” from my second job (I was a terrible salesman by England’s cut-throat standards). “Okay,” she said, “hmmm … sounds interesting”. So, amid […]
Posted inNews/Politics
‘Yes/no’ referendum needed on Zuma and the arms deals before elections
In 1992, in the face of pro-apartheid political dissent, FW de Klerk boldly threw down the glove and asked for a yes or no referendum, made available only to white people. He asked the white people of South Africa if they wanted to move towards true democracy and abolish apartheid. South African whites responded with […]
Posted inGeneral
The Dalai Lama: Holy man or gangster?
I have always been deeply suspicious of the way history or current events are conveyed. There is so much opportunity for the entropy of the “truth” from original event to end readers of texts: texts which are inevitably just interpretations and potentially filled with biases. Thus, infamously, a factory for WMD in Iraq turns out […]
Posted inLifestyle
Could the SA post office just not steal over Christmas?
We have simply learned not to send gifts back to South Africa unless the item is not worth stealing … which sort of makes it pointless to send worthwhile presents, doesn’t it? Family in New Zealand has sent family in SA stuff like the entire kiwi rugby clobber (there are some closet kiwi supporters in […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle
Global recession: are people jumping off buildings yet?
Gloom and doom, doom and gloom … Increasingly people around me in China are singing the blues because of the global crisis and resorting to vague generalisations (tautology intended) to explain their impoverished state of affairs. “A lot of companies are closing down because of the international crisis”, “many people are losing their jobs …” […]
Posted inLifestyle
People-mountain, people-sea: welcome to our China and … tlickets pliss!
‘Okay, now do you have a bottle opener for me?’ I asked the shop owner of the little store in the train waiting room designated for departures to Suzhou. While we waited for our train I had bought beers for the Chook and for a Kiwi friend who was coming with us, named Ben. Marion, […]
Posted inGeneral
The Musical Stones
After writing prose and poetry, probably my greatest love is teaching creative writing. I always jump at the task to take writing courses for children and university students. I gave my writing classes the beginning of a fantasy story I wrote, called Ricky and the Musical Stones There once was a small island off the […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media
ABSA: Absolute Blessing to Screw Anyone
Is it right that we all bitch so much about banks? I think one of the greatest lessons in life is gratitude. When I was in SA I ran motivational, empowerment courses for children. One lesson dealt with gratitude. All the kids were put in pairs, blindfolded, had marshmallows shoved in their delighted mouths, instructed […]
Posted inLifestyle
How much is changing … how little I want it
Gnnaarr…nggg…kapow!….fuggoff are some of the typical sounds associated with this Irish South African as he clambers on or off the subway trains in Shanghai. The Chinese don’t queue, they just blithely surge on and off at the same time, pushing and shoving to get a seat. Hoooaaahhh…there is something surreal about the serenity with which […]
Posted inLifestyle
The magnetic symbolism of Chinese characters
I have resisted trying to learn written Chinese for a long time. It was like trying to read a forest of wind-whistled leaves and twigs. To wit: 我的中文的名字大树. Then I gained interest as I discovered the unbelievably magnetic symbolism attached to some of the characters. Now I know 我的中文的 名字大树 means “My Chinese name is […]
Posted inLifestyle
Chicken feet and biltong: interviews with the Chinese (Lee Yao)
Hollywood actress Sharon Stone said that the Sichuan earthquake was karma for what China did to Tibet. What do you think of that? Well, what I can say is that Sharon Stone is a stupid [bleeeep! Not on my blog!] bitch. What is your view of South Africa and South Africans? What have you learned […]