General

“You saying that you want me. So press record, I’ll let you film me”. Sounds enticing? Well what about “Do you like what you see? You want to video me”? Even better –“What? You want me naked. If you liking this position you can tape it on your video phone.” Beyonce is one of the […]

What is it about the festive season that makes people want to kill themselves and each other? Strange question, I know, but I spent the night of the 25th and early hours of the 26th December with the drunks and depressives at hospital in the casualty department. I could probably count on one hand the […]

I just knew somehow it was going to be a very special day. I was all smartly dressed in a khaki uniform, cap and sandals, and a shiny leather satchel was slung over my back. Decades later, I remember looking at the photo, recalling the scents of leather, well-scrubbed teeth and a hint of peanut […]

When white South African Brandon Huntley was granted asylum in Canada after he claimed he was the victim of racist violence, many of us — Richmark Sentinel included — went pear-shaped and labelled the board who had approved it a bunch of morons who never took the time or trouble to investigate the reality of […]

Around where we live there used to be a real “China Town”. That is to say, wonderful bric-a-brac of small shops selling everything from toilet seats to services such as getting new keys cut, shoe repairs and tailors, from the Chinese version of take-away omelettes wrapped around a stick of dough for breakfast to tiny […]

It took a very special kind of mind to conjure up the idea of introducing a scatological theme into the nativity scene. Somewhere, sometime in the distant past, an anonymous Spaniard said to his mates, “I know how to brighten up our display. Let’s put the queen around the side of the stable.” Somebody else […]

I was lying on a bed in a physiotherapist’s ward in Randburg with an ankle injury and listened to an elderly female voice querying another woman: ‘So what are you doing for Easter?’ I had seen the two slowly hobbling into the ward and they were definitely old hands at being “senior citizens”. “Oh… I […]

I know, I know. I’m on about film again. It’s sort of inevitable, if one happens to be sharing some of one’s film treasures on DVD with one’s friends in an intimate holiday atmosphere, and in a place as beautiful as the little village of Greyton into the bargain. Here, exploring the indescribably majestic mountains […]

This year has been a tumultuous one for Test cricket. Many scribes have begun writing obituaries for the game that has formed the cornerstone of cricket competition for over a century. In relation to the ever-constant changes different sports have undergone recently, especially within the last 20 years where the iron grip of professionalism has […]

Yesterday I went to see Invictus (good, not great, bring tissues) with my usually sufferable parents but was promptly reminded of why I have not seen been to the cinema with the pair of them since the disastrous Liar Liar (circa 97) incident — which saw an embarrassed younger brother and I seeking refuge in […]

South Africans are an intolerant bunch of people who often look down on others and themselves. Take the stupid political rally that the welcome of hero Caster Semenya was turned into by Julius Malema earlier this year — only to find that our own Pinocchio Leornard Chuene was the fool making us all look like […]

I’ve lived in Africa my whole life and I’m acutely aware of the danger that a person’s sexuality can hold for their personal liberty and sometimes even their lives. This continent has an intolerance that eclipses anything seen in the rest of the world and when it comes to the gay and lesbian community, it […]