Scorched

A more beautiful game is possible (M&G)

Friday, June 27th, 2008 | Mail & Guardian column | No Comments

The air is prickly with tension. The tail end of a sentence, barked by a souped-up coach, gets muffled as it ricochets down the length of a carpeted hallway. New gusto to the old pre-match pep-talk. Across the way the other team meditates, some heads drooped under towels. One or two athletes stretch their quads and glutes. Both teams are ready — Lycra leotards stretched over lean, sinuous bodies; cheeks ruddy with rouge; hair taut and pinned; satin shoes bound in place; tutus puffed out, flirting and audacious. › Continue reading

Tags: media, patriarchy, sport

To breed or not to breed (M&G)

Monday, June 2nd, 2008 | Mail & Guardian column | No Comments

I wake with a snort, roused by the clatter of a ballpoint pen hitting the floor. It spins idly to a halt, put there by the same peaches-and-cream striped paw now tapping one end of it. How easily the modern quill is reduced to a plaything!

Blink, blink, blink.

The cursor on my computer screen winks expectantly. Above it, the line: To breed or not to breed.

Blink, blink, blink.

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Tags: parenthood

Freedom is green (Extra Virgin)

Sunday, June 1st, 2008 | uncategorized | No Comments

The right to vote means precious little if you don’t live in surroundings that are healthy enough to cleanse your water, filter your air and grow your food.

True freedom, says Leonie Joubert, can only happen if the environment is properly cared for.

It wasn’t a single winter of discontent. It was two, back to back. Earth pirouetted through space on the pointed toe of its axis, and tilted its southern bowl away from the sun as it had done, so routinely, for the past few billion years. But as it spilled South Africans into the winter of 1976 and then, one full orbit later, into the winter of 1977, something much darker and bleaker than the mere season was unfolding. › Continue reading