If sport, nay, if life was fair and things had gone the way of fairness, then South Africa should have beaten England 4-0 in this spellbinding Test series.
Thank the heavens that cricket is not always rational and keeps us on our toes, for we would not have been able to experience four Tests of dramatic entertainment.
It was magnificent, from Makhaya Ntini celebrating his 100th Test match at SuperSport Park to JP Duminy bowling Ryan Sidebottom at the Wanderers on Sunday.
Aphabetism is a tool of obfuscation, but it does make some things plain – like bureaucratic ugliness and a contempt for verbal felicity.
When I was a kid, I had a predilection for canned food, and especially anthropomorphic canned food – sugary, goopy pasta molded as animals, or video game characters (yup – there was a Mario Bros tinned pasta product). This made an otherwise painful process – dinner – far more entertaining. I could eat boring old roast chicken and potatoes, or I could, with little more than a spoon, conjure a bushveld landscape in my soup bowl. A bookish lad, I would also happily spend a dinner fiddling with a bowl of alphabet soup, inventing a language comprehensible only to myself. I’d spoon a greasy K alongside a puffy R, hitch a swollen V to a mushy X. Or, if I was feeling particularly ribald, I’d search for an A and then coax two S’s from the bottom of the bowl. “What are you giggling at?” my mother would ask. “Well mom,” I’d say, “it’s hard to explain.”
Chris Beswick’s Classic fM Companion contains a selection of easily accessible biographies of some of the world’s major classic composers and is the perfect Christmas gift for classical music fans.
In this essential companion, Beswick presents a collection of concise biographies that illuminate the lives of the greatest composers from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Not only does the Classic fM Companion highlight some of the composers’ most successful works and explore their relationships with their composer contemporaries, but it also provides a brief outline of the major historical and cultural events that occurred during their lifetimes, giving an idea of the world they lived in and how it may have influenced their music.
Chris Beswick was born and educated in the UK, and has always had passion for classical music. He has been a spare time researcher of family and social history for the past 30 years, and has written articles on family and social history for magazines. Recently retired from a long career in the IT industry, he is able to devote his time to larger projects dear to his heart. This is his first book.
Penguin Books and Kalk Bay Books take pleasure in inviting you to the second Cape launch of Kiki Theo’s new book, Money Well.
How do you contain the money in your life? Do you have a container? Is it big enough, sturdy enough? Does it leak? Can it withstand the test of time? How you contain money is reflected in how you contain other things in your life – your joy, your talents, your relationships, your goals and aspirations, your humanity.
Come learn more about Theo’s alchemic money processes at the event – see you there!
“Ell Aye Vee! Eee Are Pee! Double-Oh Ell – Liverpool FC!” Can there be a finer way to start the week for a Liverpool fan than a 2-0 win over Manchester United? Well, yes – if this was next May and the 'Pool had beaten United 2-0 in the FA Cup final, but that dream will have to wait.
Oh, yes, I am a Liverpool fan – there is no suggestion of objectivity, no ounce of professionalism in me when it comes to that. I have been obsessed since a very young kid in Northern Ireland, when my dad brought home two kit bags, one Liverpool and one Manchester United.
I got the Liverpool one. My brother Brian became a United fan, until years and years of despair and ragging by me forced him to turn to the light side of the Force. As one who covers sport for a living, I can let the beast inside loose when watching Liverpool as I do not have to write about them (er, except for this column, I suppose).
Based on the book Playing the Enemy by John Carlin – soon to be reprinted with the name of the film – Invictus takes us back to 1995 and the Rugby World Cup. Who can forget its central moment, when President Nelson Mandela strode onto the field in a Springbok rugby jersey?
Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film takes a deeper look at the circumstances of the times, and the men who made this powerful moment in history possible. Due to be released on the 11th of December 2009, Invictus stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon as Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaar. Watch the newly released trailer:
The South African Fact Book by Pat Hopkins, Jabu Ngwenya and Denise Slabbert is packed with interesting information about South Africa’s past and present – its famous people and places, its government and economy, its flora and fauna, and much more. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in this fascinating country.
Everyone knows that South Africa is the Cradle of Humankind and the home of Nelson Mandela – but did you know that:
There are more plant species on Table Mountain than the British Isles or New Zealand?
The first motion picture footage ever recorded was shot in South Africa?
Cape Town is the only place on earth where you can see one World Heritage Site from another?
Mahatma Gandhi was the first lawyer of colour to be admitted to the Supreme Court in South Africa?
The Big Hole is the largest hand-dug excavation in the world? It ceased production on 14 August 1914 when the lower reaches were flooded.
“I was at a very low point in my life,” says Joanne Brodie, author of Woman, Trashed, of her decision to write the book, which relates a dual account: the relentless seduction of the impulse to self-destruct is played, at the same time, against the human spirit’s desperate desire to survive.
Listen to Brodie discuss her book with the Sunday Times‘ Tymon Smith:
Penguin Books invites you to join Heart FM and Exclusive Books Canal Walk on Saturday, 17th October 2009, for Saskia Falken’s monthly Book Lovers’ Club.
This month Saskia will be interviewing Kiki Theo on her latest book, Money Well. This is a wonderful, interactive event and an opportunity to meet and learn more about the author. All guests are treated to coffee and snacks as well as R30 discount on any book purchased in-store on 17 October 2009.
How do you contain the money in your life, particularly in these strained financial times? Do you have a container? Is it big enough, sturdy enough? Does it leak? Can it withstand the test of time?
How you contain money is reflected in how you contain other things in your life – your joy, your talents, your relationships, your goals and aspirations, your humanity. In this ground breaking, holistic approach to transformation through money-making you will learn not only how to contain your money, but also how to spot and repair leaks and blocks in your money flow, using The Money Well™ process.’ It’s not how much money you get to make, it’s how much money you get to keep, that’s the issue,’Oprah has said. That is what The Money Well™ is all about.
Kiki Theo is a rare combination of successful business woman from highest echelons of the investment world and alchemical intuitive, with her own brand of energetic transformations. She straddles the worlds of finance and metaphysics, offering a unique blend of business experience, practical money-making tools and guidelines for personal growth.
Attention sports trivia fans! Penguin Books points you an upcoming event organised by Jenny Crwys-Williams’ Jenny & Co. featuring The Penguin Book of South African Sports Trivia and its two authors, David O’Sullivan and Kevin McCallum.
Here’s more from Jenny & Co.:
When your book goes to the best seller list within a week of publication, you know there’s got to be gold somewhere. Talk Radio 702’s David O Sullivan and The Star’s Kevin McCallum had this experience immediately after their book on sports trivia was published. And they’d love to take you through the best-selling book (think Christmas stocking fillers…)
We can’t, alas, do the sports trivia quiz this time round, but you will have a hugely relaxed evening listening to O Sullivan talking about some of the really unknown and distinctly bizarre stories in the book.
People have lapped it up and so will you. Amusing, erudite and huge fun, O Sullivan will entertain you as McCallum writes a blog about the evening during the evening (don’t bother about dressing up, he can’t tell the difference between great dressing and no dressing at all…).
So join us for another informal evening with good food (think great handmade hamburgers) at the Local Grill, Hurlingham, on Tuesday 29th September.
PLEASE book early to avoid disappointment. If you can’t get in, ask (or DEMAND) to go on the waiting list.
Event and Booking Details
Date: Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Time: 7:00 PM for 7:30 PM
Venue: The Local Grill, Nicol Way Shopping Centre cnr William Nicol & Republic Roads Hurlingham, Johannesburg | Map
Based on the book 
