It’s Christmas and I’m tired of politics, I want to inject some meaning into my life. It’s fashionable to scoff at Christmas but I’m impressed by the way Muslims respect Ramadan, Jews observe Hanukah and the Passover, and Hindus celebrate Diwali and Holi, because these special times are designed to make us pull back and […]
Lifestyle
Posted inLifestyle
Why I’m not buying a car
For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been walking to work. This is a radical move in Jo’burg, where one routinely drives to the neighbourhood convenience store for a bottle of milk and a loaf of bread, and where the new suburbs are designed on the assumption that you live in your car, going home […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Where have all the fun ones gone?
Of course, now that the RPs (reluctant punters) have made their bucks on the Zuma pot, the world is abuzz with predictions. I made a cool R250 on a Zuma win — c’mon, at 10:1 it was a straight gimme! Anyway, with my new wealth, I went shopping at Northgate. I was looking for Andrew […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Today is the first day of our democracy
Today is the first day of our democracy. Polokwane has been seminal. The African National Congress is no longer an idealised liberation movement, but is now just a political party and as such it has to pull finger and perform. Effective work must begin to balance the interests of the rich and the poor. It […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Polokwane: Bargain bazaar for albinos and gunslingers
Poor old Polokwane — dragged kicking and screaming into the limelight by a political party’s national conference. Surely the town once known as Pietersburg is newsworthy for more than the fact that a bunch of politicians and thieves has gathered there to squabble over the spoils? A quick trawl of the internet to find out […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
Hardcore music in the house
On Friday night I had the good fortune to attend a Brighton production of Handel’s Messiah. Subsequently I discovered that this is a customary event in the UK with a multitude of performances of the Messiah all over the country. It seems a strange bit of music to have such pride of place just before […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Democracy, ubuntu and other myths
Don’t give me this fiction about “the nation” watching Polokwane breathlessly awaiting the outcome. For the majority of South Africans watching their backs, their children, the weather, their pennies, their travel and the odd soapie is labour enough. Some big party a zillion kilometres away in a place they’ve never heard of and care less […]
Posted inLifestyle
Britney Spears in talks to play the Virgin Mary
Before I begin, don’t let me catch anyone sniggering. Just because a person is an alcoholic does not mean she can’t play a sober part. Just because a person is slow doesn’t mean that she can’t play Einstein. Just because a person loses her clothing (and occasionally her hair) if anybody coughs does not mean […]
Posted inLifestyle
The chilli chocolate circus
Madame Zingara’s Theatre of Dreams, outside Montecasino in Johannesburg, is a truly fantabulistic, out-of-this-world experience. It’s so fresh, so original and so much fun. From the second you walk into the giant circus-like tent, you feel yourself transported to another world. A world where bohemian rhapsody, funny hats and the abstractly bizarre all meet in […]
Posted inLifestyle
Inquest: Diana’s letters to Dodi and a few I’ve received from Mr Lombard
I’ve been reading a few articles about Princess Diana’s inquest and in particular the letters that she wrote to Dodi Fayed. They are very touching and go right to the heart of the tragedy: a sensitive soul who becomes princess, only to be scorned by a rather cruel and insensitive prince. In Dodi she finds […]
Posted inLifestyle
The police, Mr Fivaz and my mother’s crime wave
I am afraid the mayor of Cape Town is not alone in feeling the South African Police Service is a bit … shall we say, fantastically incapable? Unbelievably incompetent? Perhaps you feel I go too far. I do feel I have been pushed over the edge. It wasn’t the housebreaking and theft of virtually all […]
Posted inLifestyle
(One of) my best friends’ (gay) wedding
I am excited. Having been part of the crowd that brought you same-sex marriage, I get to attend my very first civil union ceremony in early January. But not only that, I also get to organise a bachelor’s party. To be frank, I haven’t a clue what to do. Does one follow “tradition” — drunken […]