Here are some predictions for 2010. The crystal ball was unfortunately more greasy than usual, so take these with a pinch of nerves and keep that tongue close to your cheek. In January, Darrell Bristow-Bovey formally returns to the literary scene with the publication of a new book called I Am My Own Wife. It […]
Derek Daly
Derek Daly is a freelance journalist, semi-retired DJ, former cinema owner and part-time double-glazed window-seller. In 1990 he won the Cape Argus Award for Best Writer in a School Newspaper. He was invited to do record reviews, but his articles all were banned, possibly due to the supplement's close proximity to the Jellybean Journal. He has the dubious honour of accidentally deleting a semi-completed travel novel.
Posted inLifestyle
Songs for the road
There’s something about a song that can take you right back to a moment. Compared to photographs, which are often a disappointing record of a holiday, music can bring your holiday back to life years later. This is why one should spend at least as much time in selecting which music to take along as […]
Posted inSport
Corne and the ‘Blitz’ Krige saga
SuperSport’s unashamed bias in rugby commentary is typified by the bland and bombastic commentator Hugh Bladen, who acts as a sort of glorified cheerleader as he yells out encouragement from behind the microphone. All that he’s missing is a skimpy skirt and a pair of generous boobs, although his banal comments act as boo-boobs quite […]
Posted inLifestyle
Faded pop stars at the last-dance saloon
A few years ago a friend of mine was hitch-hiking near Stellenbosch and got a lift with Heinz “Idol” Winckler. She said that he was listening to his own album in the car. Someone actually bought the album then, in other words. I ran into a copy the other day at a second-hand record shop. […]
Posted inGeneral
OR Tambo Airport: A claim to shame
For a country that is expecting to host the football World Cup in less than 900 days, here’s how the International Arrivals section at OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg is currently going about its business. I arrived at the dire baggage claim area just after 17:00 on Tuesday 4 March after a flight that had […]
Posted inLifestyle
Las Vegas unplugged (part 1)
Here are some snapshots live from Las Vegas, the city I’ve been in for the last week. This post may be a bit disorderly, but I’ve got the ring of slot machines in my ears. It’s a sound that follows you everywhere in this city. Every hotel and its resident casino has a gimmick to […]
Posted inLifestyle
Drug trials — in the eye of the needle
Here are some snapshots from my days as a human guinea pig. Taking part in “medical research” had a less worrying aura to it in the mid-Nineties. It was before the horribly unlucky “elephant men” in the United Kingdom with their expanding faces, and it was something that many South Africans, New Zealanders and Australians […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The sinister Marc Dutroux cover-up (part three)
This is the final part of our Marc Dutroux investigation. Read part one here and part two here. Paedophile Dutroux’s support system in law enforcement and legal circles came into their own as the case wound up. I think it’s important to place these facts out in the open once more for public evaluation because […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics, Sport, Tech
2008: A sneaky preview
Here’s what the coming year has in store for us, courtesy of Nostradamus’s greasy little ball. In January Saru announces what they call a “compromise candidate” to take over the role of Springbok coach. It is Andre Markgraaff, the former disgraced coach of telephone-tap/racist-comments fame.
Posted inNews/Politics
The sinister Marc Dutroux cover-up (part two)
This is the second part in our investigation of the sinister police mishaps surrounding the case of Marc Dutroux. Read part one here. In December 1995, Dutroux was arrested for stealing a car. While in custody, plans were made for the search of his house. Hearing about this proposed search, the “rival” police agency gatecrashed […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The sinister Marc Dutroux cover-up (part one)
It’s worth reminding ourselves of the events surrounding Belgian paedophile abductor Marc Dutroux. Institutions that are meant to protect society can sometimes contribute to misdeeds of the most sinister kind. The Dutroux case was characterised by deliberate police incompetence and behind-the-scenes murder of witnesses. In June 1995, two eight-year-old friends, Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Christmas in a mass of crime
In case anyone’s wondering why South Africa is losing the battle against crime, here are some telling pointers from my local law-enforcement agency in Worcester. The town, like most others in South Africa, has a massive rate of house-breaks and car thefts. Every week you hear of a house that’s been burgled in your neighbourhood. […]