Riddle me this
We have this whacky story in the paper today about how a guy sparked terror in the suburb of Beacon Bay when he started painting messages in Chinese over bridges and other surfaces in the neighbourhood.
Some people thought they were "gangster messages". Others apparently anticipated a Chinese invasion.
So what were they? Well, they were Zhong an Niu's direction to his home were he was offering.....bean curd or tofu for sale.
The poor guy was really embarrassed at the consternation his scribbles caused and said he did not know it was wrong to paint them on public surfaces.
Well, of course everyone forgives him and the story makes for a great morning chuckle. But isn't it alarming how deep our prejudice runs? If writing in Chinese appears on our walls their must be something sinister about it, there must be triads involved and so on?
If people start writing in Russian on our walls will we automatically think that the Russian mafia has hit town?
What do Chinese people in China think if they see graffiti in english on their walls? That the Evil English have arrived?
Children of the resolution
A happy New Year to you all and commiserations as well because I’m sure that as you read this you are counting your broken resolutions.
I’m still battling the nicotine dragon I promised to vanquish years ago – he’s a much tougher old bugger than I ever imagined.
Yes, New Year also had me vowing to exercise more, to eat better, to drink less, to have more balance in my life, to be happier, to be more content. Sound familiar?
But unfortunately these resolutions are rarely resolute. Instead, I have found, they walk hand-in-hand with some nasty friends called “self-doubt”, “guilt” and “regret”.
But today I want to tell you that those resolutions don’t matter.
The times are changing
There's a fascinating story on our breaking news blog - Xhosa’s white initiate (pic) - and in the paper today. Check it out. It concerns a young white teenager who has decided to join his best friend in the Xhosa rite of passage ritual in becoming a man.
I think it's a real heartening story that shows that in many small ways our society is changing. Many of our kids seem to be comfortably wearing a new identity while we struggle with ours.
I wonder if there are other examples of this kind of cross-cultural pollination? They may give us a really good idea of how South Africa will be in the future.
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Tags: Xhosainitiation, abakwetha, society
Cambridge plays the blues
A while back a friend of mine Andrew Mogridge met up with some old-timers in Cambridge Location, East London. The old gents don't have much but they have music in their blood . Andrew set up several recording sessions in a kitchen of a township house and recorded what they had to play.
The result is an amazing collection of music you will hear nowhere else. Now he has posted all the tunes, video and still photography from those sessions for free download on his site.
Check it out here and you will discover the magic that lies down the dusty roads and between the shacks of the Eastern Cape, a richness of creativity which mocks the poverty of our region.
A bit of a wobble
So the boffins have worked it out at last. Technology is making us fat, and there is nothing we can do to stop it. The State must step in and do something to help stop us all turning into wobbling blobs who will keel over at 40 from hearts so congested you could shove wicks in them and use them as candles.
At least that’s broadly the conclusion of a recent British study, according to a report by the BBC.
Yes, we are killing ourselves simply by living thanks to technology that saves labour, convenience foods that skimp on nutrition, four wheels that skimp on legs... it all adds up to a big fat problem.