This essay (longer than my usual post length) first appeared in the catalogue for the Re-Sponse “retrospective” art exhibition that recently opened at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum (NMMAM) in Port Elizabeth, as a joint project between the Art Museum and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s School of Music, Art and Design. I have […]
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Posted inGeneral
What’s the connection between music and love?
“If music be the food of love, play on!” With these opening words of Twelfth Night, Shakespeare captured an essential bond between two things without which no human being should have to do, but — at least in the case of the latter — many people regrettably often have to do without. Nietzsche once observed […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The ANC’s young lions get mauled
Junior needs a good caning in the headmaster’s study rather than just a public slap. Already, by the end of the week, Malema was again causing trouble.
Posted inLifestyle
The power of nothing
I am a science-fiction lover. If this statement does not interest you, read no further; this blog post will mean nothing to you. (It might mean nothing to you anyway, but we’ll get to that later.) Science fiction is a bit like quiche; people either love it or hate it. I happen to love it. […]
Posted inGeneral
Jacob Zuma: A presidential white elephant
“To be or not to be, that is the question” that confronted Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s classic tragedy of the same name. Hamlet is confronted with two important considerations, which pose to him a predicament of sorts; whether to reprimand his mother or protect her; to love Ophelia or reject her; to kill Claudius or […]
Posted inLifestyle
The jasmine is late this year
The jasmine is late this year. It’s nearly August and the flowers are still little more than tiny carmine spears poking out of a tangle of leaves. I love jasmine: it’s the scent of spring, of new beginnings, of possibility and the inevitably of clocking over of another year for me come the last official […]
Posted inLifestyle
Feel it, it’s here…
By Stuart Thembisile Lewis Ah, what a month and what a World Cup! It was a showcase of all things South African which the world will not soon forget. From prophetic octopi to the Hand of God version 2.0, 90 000 vuvuzelas pointed at 11 Mexicans and 49 million hands over hearts of green and gold, from […]
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Censoring porn censorship
Recent media reports that have received international exposure have indicated that Deputy Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba is spearheading a bill, drafted and spurred on by the Justice Alliance of South Africa (Jasa) and its missionary director John Smyth, to effectively ban PC and mobile access to pornography in South Africa. The draft “bill” is […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The World Cup of destiny
If continents were companies, Africa would be an investment banker’s delight and a consultant’s playfield. It would offer real opportunities to unlock a host of obvious synergies and realise its true potential through careful restructuring and timely intervention into human egos and vested interests. And 2010’s Fifa World Cup could well be the perfect catalyst. […]
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The unbearable lightness of being Bakkies Botha
“No, we haven’t seen any lions yet.” The lady from the BBC radio station sat across from me in our lounge, fidgeting with her recording equipment. Her face was serious; perhaps she had not realised I was only joking? They had driven from Cape Town to Somerset West that morning, she and her lady friend, […]
Posted inGeneral
Our complex, changing world
In his magisterial work, Modern European Thought, Franklin Baumer alludes to the “three blows” that humanity (one could also say “the human ego”) has suffered since the end of the European Middle Ages. First, Copernicus delivered the blow that dethroned humanity as the “crown of creation”, with his mathematical-astronomical claim that we are not at […]
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SA Rugby’s precedent — pride or prejudice?
é On March 5, SA Rugby nominations for President, Deputy President and Vice President, must be received in writing, from both the nominees accepting the nomination, as well as those doing the nomination, for the SA Rugby elections that will take place on the March 26. It is really quite simple. SA Rugby’s 14 unions […]