Last weekend I attended a men’s conference at my local church, Rivers Church in Sandton. Every year, the church brings men of all kinds of background and basically tries to challenge them into becoming the best men they can be to their families, communities, cities and countries. The conference is called “Heroes” and this year’s […]
Lifestyle
Posted inLifestyle
Racism and other fluff obscure real issues
By Roger Diamond I find it fascinating that people are attracted to the bump and grind made about relatively inconsequential matters, while the real driving forces in our lives are largely ignored. The headlines are filled with nonsense about what some official in some arbitrary government post has to say about his own opinions. What […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Teenage pregnancy — let’s talk about sex baby
The sad discovery of a dead baby in a school bag should bring it home to all of us how scared young women are to talk about sex, sexuality and pregnancy. And perhaps it also shows how poor our tactics of talking to them have been. The Oprah school saga is only one fragment of […]
Posted inLifestyle
What is the mood of your city today?
Frustrated? Stressed? Like chilled hey china? I’ve been asked to tackle the question of: “What is the mood of your city today?” and like “What makes you smile about your city?” it’s a challenging one. How do you pin Joburg down to a single mood? On a single day? Which day do you choose anyway? […]
Posted inLifestyle
A beer at the finish line please
I rounded the final bend where a family of six, the spectators, pattered a modest round of applause, and as I wheeled up to the finishing table a thick-set man handed me a dewy can of beer. “A beer?” I stared at him in disbelief, tentatively extending my hand while an obnoxious, Lycra-clad, cyclist droid-type […]
Posted inLifestyle
Black Swan — requiem for a dancer
Ballet has always been a loaded subject, suspended uncomfortably between art and masochism, between the divine and the pathological. But Black Swan transcends ballet, playing more like the dark existential crisis of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde than the fairytale of Swan Lake, around which it is written. Darren Aronofsky has always been drawn to […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Harm of a special kind
The worst evil in the world is not committed by the tyrant, the bigot or the thief; the gravest evil is that performed by those we should be able to trust, a person whose very title demands respect: daddy, mommy, priest, lover, teacher, boss, political leader, spouse. Hospital wards and institutions are filled with far […]
Posted inLifestyle
Hofmeyr, Bloody Hofmeyr
Dear Steve You’ve been at it again. You’re saying that it’s hard not to be a racist because “the blacks” keep jumping over walls and killing whites and their children. You say that whites would never do such a thing. Then you used Bono to get yourself back into the press, even though you didn’t […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media
21 activities missing from your timesheets
In the course of the jobs we do, a lot of us have to fill in timesheets. Billable hours are important, and HR needs to be able to track what you’re up to every day. Most timesheet systems require that eight hours be filled every day or they are considered incomplete, and, while it’s possible […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Why I dig U2 and always will
So completely overwhelmed was I when I received an electronic invite from Heineken for U2’s 360° concert that I promptly declined it. Twice. One sheepishly penitent, slightly humorous email to a kindly executive producer and my RSVP was reversed as the tickets were being dispatched. The puerile excitement was just that. Puerile. To the point […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Maybe individuals can’t change the world
In the blogs I write I’m always careful to include what individuals can do about climate change and environmental issues. It’s about presenting a complex and daunting issue, but then discussing ways we each do something about those problems. Recycle, ride your bike rather than drive, don’t over consume, switch to energy savers, lobby government, […]
Posted inLifestyle
Bandits in them hills
Over the past five months, I have pedalled my bike up and down the bandit-besieged tracks of Table Mountain on about 70 occasions, and only twice have I seen park officials on patrol. The first slapped me with a half-grand fine; the second snored in a bush while his dog tried to chew my face […]