Talked About Features / Straight Talk

Johannesburg faces a Guy Fawkes reckoning this fourth of November

“Remember, remember the [fourth, sorry] fifth of November; Gunpowder, treason and plot”. The opening line of today’s op-ed is based on your writer’s hazy recall of a line of poetry with political import that he felt was a shoo-in to introduce musings over South Africa’s upcoming local government elections. May it be the fourth, he hoped; alas, it was not.

If it is too tech, then you are too old

If it is too loud, then you are too old. Ever heard that one-liner? If you are among my readership, then you probably have. From my experience, the phrase is subjectively true. But while you argue back and forth on the validity, tweaking the dial on your car or home stereo, there is another age-related litmus test uploading. This time, dear reader, you are too old if it feels too tech.

Why Bafana Bafana v Mexico felt a bit like watching government

I struggled with today’s op-ed topic, and later the title, until an idea began taking shape. A couple of days back, I attended one of those cup-half-full sessions where presenter after presenter listed how broken the country was, and then insisted that the green shoots of some over-mentioned government project would make it all better. And then, last night, for the first time in four years or so, I watched a football game.

There’s No “Bad” Time To Retire