My Nokia, the South African one, bleeps to announce the arrival of another SMS. My heart sinks: another update from FNB, chirpily informing me of how much I’ve just spent on my Clicks Clubcard. I will have to be employed in Australia for at least three months before the banks will even consider approving a […]
Lifestyle
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Drinking from the half-glass: full or empty?
A critical thinking friend called St. Pee was telling me that the Million Man March (MMM) is a set up to create a buffer between the real culprits behind crime in the country and the rising anger of the ordinary citizens. “Desmond Dube should stick to what he knows best,” he said sipping his cocktail […]
Posted inLifestyle, Sport
Can one man make a difference for the mood of a country?
I am reading a new book, Superclass, that talks about the nature of the most powerful people on earth (there are about 6,000 of these individual super-powers), and how they affect history. Although I have just started the book, it is already obvious that power is most often aided by money or political position. Unless […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Homecoming revolution?
“Many South Africans are leaving the country.” “South Africa is experiencing a brain-drain, as many (especially white) professionals are leaving the country.” “Many South Africans are living abroad nowadays.” “Crime is driving South Africans out of their own country.” “If Zuma becomes president, I am leaving South Africa.” Above are just some of the comments […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media
Good advertising – we’ve been having it!
About two years ago, I read an article about a Swedish promotion agency saying that South African adverts are among the best in the world. I sometimes get upset when I walk down Parliament Street and see the foreigners (Western foreigners, that is!) busy shooting a commercial or part of a movie on Church Square. […]
Posted inLifestyle
Weather and South African patriotism
South Africans with no stated intention of leaving South Africa will be pleased to know that the weather in Sydney has been absolutely bloody awful for the past week, and has no prospects of improvement. Since Sunday, it’s been grey skies, persistent rain and winds strong enough to blow the crappy little umbrella I picked […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Point taken? No point!
Picture this. A rep, late for an appointment in the next town, gets caught doing 143 km/h in a 120 zone. The fine’s supposed to be R750, but the cop seems a little reluctant to start writing. Finally, he broaches the subject of “breakfast.” He and his partner, he says, don’t feel like all the […]
Posted inLifestyle
Do you know what is on your child’s cellphone?
This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: Do you know what is on your child’s cellphone?
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Black diamonds, white trash
Marketing people are strange types who, I suppose, have to justify their existence by continuously showing management just how clever they are. It always beats me, though, as to why, at car launches, they feel this huge urge to explain to the media just who their product is aimed at. Of course, every presenter earnestly […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Racism, Rock and ruling
“You know how hard it is to make racism just plain fun? Rock does it. Racism to Chris Rock is just a Hacky Sack on his foot. He kicks it up over here, over there, behind the back and then right over to you. The tension release he offers is available nowhere else, from no one else.” Jerry Seinfeld on Chris Rock, currently touring South Africa.
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Black Armani suits and the lack of leadership
I have recently made a very startling discovery: most men who wear black Armani suits are tame. Of course, their dress sense makes them look like very important people who are making it in the world, whatever that means. But on closer scrutiny, their black Giorgio Armani suits soon reveal people who are not only […]
Posted inLifestyle
A place where they torch cars in the street
Last week, someone torched a Landcruiser in the suburb where I live. It seems that the resident, known only as “Stephen”, awoke in the middle of the night to discover his car, which was parked in the street, on fire. Someone — for reasons presumably unknown — had decided to torch it. I found this […]