Why are people giving me directions around Jo’burg in terms of the cardinal points? “Travel north,” they say. Where the hell is north? I’m a city boy. There are no recognisable natural landmarks up here. I have no compass and I’m not navigating by the sun or the handle of the Big Dipper. Give me […]
Lifestyle
Posted inLifestyle
Free rice for vocab. Genius
I’ve come out of hiding to whisper in your ear about a little website called FreeRice. For every vocab word you guess right, it donates 20 grains of rice throughout the United Nations to help end world hunger. A lofty goal, but a pretty fun one to help achieve (if you’re a dorky word person, […]
Posted inLifestyle, Tech
Facebook: A secret harvest
I was not going to bother with another article on Facebook, or any other social networking site. But then a video flitted across my Mac and it just forced me to take up the pen again, or pull up the keyboard and touchpad. There are two things I want to point out. For the rest, […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
How can we save polar bears if we can’t even protect Cape Town’s pelicans?
One person can’t make a difference. So my mother used to say, but being a parent, she was wrong, of course. But without misguided parents, there would be no psychiatric industry. Pharmaceutical companies would not earn zillions by persuading us that sadness and disillusionment are unnatural and if we only take a tab a day, […]
Posted inLifestyle
Colouring outside the lines
Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike. — Theodore Roosevelt The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved. — Mother Teresa Recently, I was privileged to fly into Cape Town on a pristinely beautiful summer’s day. As we were […]
Posted inLifestyle, Sport
Electricity for 2010? No worry!
TO: Mr Jacob Maroga CEO, Eskom CC: Mr Jacob Zuma Mr Thabo Mbeki (Please ignore if no longer applicable) December 5 2007 Dear Mr Maroga, RE: RELIABLE POWER SUPPLY FOR 2010 I see that Engineering News ran an article on July 13 stating that Eskom’s capital expenditure budget over the next 20 years is set […]
Posted inLifestyle
Cars? Thank God they don’t make them like they used to …
With most new cars coming with ABS brakes, air con, a sound system, electric windows and more than enough power to get the job done, it’s easy to wonder why anybody should bother going upmarket when shopping for new wheels. But what do you get for the extra money? Probably the most expensive item on […]
Posted inLifestyle
Township survival guide for non-blacks
A few weeks ago I posted a piece called “Single white male” from which much controversy arose. I was accused of all manner of racially biased crimes and being a typical black South African who feels entitlement to everything and never wants to work for anything or add any value. I was called all manner […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Where is ‘our generation’?
Where is “our generation”? I do not mean the generation of which I am part. I am rather speaking of the generation that the journalist and activist Zubaider Jaffer called Our Generation — which is the title of an interesting book that provides a personal account of the struggle; that generation that fought the street […]
Posted inLifestyle
Dear Mr Mandela, or should that be ‘Persondela’?
Dear Mr Mandela While everyone is mesmerised, shocked or thoroughly disgusted by the preliminary rounds of the Thabo vs Jacob punch-up in Polokwane, I know that you are probably deeply disturbed by the unseemly and puerile nature of this egoistic contretemps. I feel it my duty at this painful time for you to try to […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Sky News report on Jo’burg an outrage requiring a response
I don’t know how many of you saw last week’s insert on Sky News about Johannesburg and crime, purportedly as part of its build-up to Soccer World Cup 2010, but it merits a response. How dare Sky suggest that Johannesburg is one of the most dangerous cities in the world and that people are too […]
Posted inLifestyle
Flies just want to have fun
One of the worst things about summer is the endless supply of flies and mosquitoes eager to become part of your day, to add you as a friend on Facebook. The intensity of these insects, however, pale in comparison to what summertime Scotland has to offer. First up, they have something called clegs. These things […]