One of the advantages of writing for the recently closed NewsTime was that I was “required” to produce a column every week. This I did dutifully for nearly a year except for a break over Christmas. “Required” is in inverted commas because there was no payment and therefore no absolute obligation. The idea was that […]
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Posted inLifestyle, Media
Look but you can’t listen
On several occasions in the recent past I’ve bitched and moaned at the poor staff of Look & Listen, complaining about the sheer hopelessness of their jazz selection: very few of the great classics, for instance, or very spotty representation of even very-well-known artists. Sometimes a staff member says “I’ll tell the buyer,” which seems […]
Posted inNews/Politics
From the ‘chief slut’ herself…
By Umeshree Govender Some time back, while Facebook-crastinating in the lab, as one does, my friend, Stuart MacDonald sent me a link to an article on SlutWalk Toronto. My initial reaction to the Toronto police officer’s remark that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised” was a rather defiant “Oh […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence
‘I’m too sexy to rape’
You may have read that DA MP Masizole Mnqasela was acquitted on rape charges in Cape Town a few weeks ago, and claimed that he was “too sexy to be a rapist”. You may also have read that Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba thought that the Slutwalk was an opportunity for him to “get lucky”. […]
Posted inLifestyle
Divorce: Yes, there is an upside
Over the past couple of days I’ve had conversations with two straight male friends of mine. One is going through an acrimonious and horribly expensive divorce; the other is a serial dater looking unsuccessfully for love. I always like to lend a sympathetic ear and an ergonomic shoulder, and I’ve come out of the experience […]
Posted inLifestyle
Coming out of the granny closet
Today I had a powerful flashback to the single most awful, humiliating moment in the entire awful, humiliating process that was the implosion of my life after I was retrenched from my job in Sydney in November 2008. It was at a dinner party more than a year ago. We were about to pile into […]
Posted inGeneral
RWC: Love it when a plan comes together
A while ago and a few times on air I have said that I believe the Australian rugby team looks perfectly poised to rob the Rugby World Cup from the favourites and hosts, the New Zealand All Blacks. I have, at the same time, also felt much contempt for those who have placed immense emphasis […]
Posted inNews/Politics
What do WE know about the London riots?
By James Duminy The recent acts of insurrection, violence and looting in London have drawn typically shocked and patronising condemnation from all corners of the newspaper-reading classes. “Isn’t it just shocking that people can behave like this? What must their parents say?” A particularly pernicious discourse has emerged to describe these events — the vocabulary […]
Posted inGeneral
Training? Not me!
The other side of the fence was where I ended up at this weekend’s 5150, which is a standard distance triathlon, part of the IronMan stable. Not where I wanted to be. I wanted to be racking my bike, pulling on my wetsuit and generally partaking. But the Gods of training let me down. I […]
Posted inNews/Politics
ANCYL: Zuma’s uthini baba moment
Jacob Zuma was made to wait for three hours because the start of the ANCYL’s elective conference (Midrand, June 16 2011) was delayed by, among others, the late arrival of ANCYL president Julius Malema. Once the conference began, Zuma had to listen to Malema‘s wide-ranging, 90-minute speech — a speech that was not all that […]
Posted inMedia
NewsTime, David Bullard and the middle finger
I see a competition for a cover design idea is on for the forthcoming Out to Lunch: Ungagged book by David Bullard. The one I have thought of is a hand showing the middle finger, and the middle finger is in the shape of a spade. This sums up the essence of the manner of […]
Posted inGeneral
Medical consent: Informed or not?
Have you ever consented to a medical procedure? Did you consider that to be an informed consent? Were you aware of the benefits, risks and complications of the procedure? Have you ever consented to a Blood Product transfusion? Were you told that the risk of contracting HIV is 1 in 2 million people? I attended […]