Hollywood actress Sharon Stone said that the Sichuan earthquake was karma for what China did to Tibet. What do you think of that? Well, what I can say is that Sharon Stone is a stupid [bleeeep! Not on my blog!] bitch. What is your view of South Africa and South Africans? What have you learned […]
Lifestyle
Posted inLifestyle
‘Upon entering, abandon all reason’
“Why can’t I use one of our new classrooms downstairs when I teach on weekends?” I asked Cindy, the campus manageress. It’s too dangerous,” Cindy replied. My eyebrows rose as I tried to figure out that one. One of the really good private schools I freelance for in Shanghai, with the stunningly unoriginal and redundant […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Rwanda on my mind …
His smiling face popped up on a faded, scanned-in picture on one of the millions of Facebook groups. The class photograph was taken in front of the building of Ecole Privée Belge in Gisenyi, Rwanda. It was 1986, the sky was blue, the rain season had finally come to an end and Rwanda’s future looked […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Taking ownership of an American president
A talk show host on a Cape Town radio station was joking (Wednesday, November 5 2008) about how a coloured won the F1 title on Sunday and how another coloured won the US presidential election. I had never thought about it like this but I guess when somebody achieves something in life, everybody wants to […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Barack Obama puts the spotlight on the role of the so-called coloured in the black struggle
Barack Obama’s predictable triumph in the American presidential race, interestingly, sets up the role of the so-called coloured in the black struggle for critical examination. Of course, most blacks deny that there is intra-racism determined, largely, by complexion and class in black American society. Thus the political euphoria has misled the world to believing that […]
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Obama’s US is the new rainbow nation: Africa needs to learn
Change may have been a long time coming, but when it did – wow! Sometimes revolutions come with pain, sometimes with joy. From today this is a new world and we all have to change the way we think and what we do. The first decade or two of any millennium is a time of […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Televising the revolution: how ‘illiterate’ Jacob Zuma outshone educated Professor Barney Pityana
The live coverage of some of the great political events happening in the country will, inevitably, shape the future and influence choices people make. After all, television is a powerful medium that has the potential to influence people’s behaviour and attitude. Thus it was fascinating to watch the revolution being televised and observe the behaviour […]
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What does your loo say about Yu?
Not always one for toilet humour, I still had to chuckle about a public toilet in Munich which has recently been converted into an art museum. Of course wonderful articles like this inspire puns. Creating art, like going to the loo, is a great form of relief. One is able to vent and offload and […]
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Big Brother Africa 3: time to ditch Hazel
One of the best cures for the xenophobia haunting South Africa has to be Big Brother Africa. Twelve housemates, from as many African countries, locked in a house from August to November and forced to get along as best they can while trying to be the last man or woman standing. Viewers are able to […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
When is a racist not a racist?
I was privileged to watch Abdullah Ibrahim’s trio perform in Artscape’s Opera House last Saturday. I have seen them perform several times and am always amazed at how talented all three musicians are. But to watch an Abdullah Ibrahim performance requires concentration, which is probably why South Africa’s best jazz pianist refuses to perform at […]
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Fat lot of lies about your health
I am amazed that one of the most important books written on nutrition and health — one that systematically demolishes the myths, lies and scientific bigotry of mainstream health dogma — has received so little attention in this country. Perhaps I shouldn’t be. Published last year, Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes is not […]
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A day in the life of Mac the Inarb (I’m Not a Racist But … )
Inarb Mac snores and dreams on bed-branch deep in Shanghai jungle, writing South African poems in his sub-conch-iousness … An inarb called Mac would despair Over what others preferred to wear. His clothes? Stained glass. You could see his arse, Rainbow Nation cheeks with flair. Inarb Mac grunts, wakes up on bed-branch. Rattles conch-iousness. Scratches […]