The queen is dead
Dolly Parton died today, aged 80. The inimitable and irreplaceable Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean was exactly the kind of person we needed in her 80 years on the planet, and the world will be poorer without her. Go be with Carl.
So long, Steel Drum Sally
My friend, mentor, and former housemate, Chris Esterhuyse, has died. Chris, who moved in with me at one of the most difficult times of my life, and saw me through breakups, near-bankruptcy, and finding new love. Chris, who kept me fed, even if it was Mystery Chicken Surprise. Chris, who introduced me to Gereth andContinue reading So long, Steel Drum Sally
Death camps for kids
The subject comes from this tweet by Jason Filiatrault: If a school had a graveyard then it wasn’t a school, it was a death camp. On 28 May 2021, I read an article about the confirmed discovery of the bodies of hundreds of children who died at a single residential school in Canada. KAMLOOPS — AContinue reading Death camps for kids
Revolt, rinse, repeat
We know that history has a tendency to repeat itself, as those of us who remember the past eventually die. It’s been almost a century since Hitler’s rise to power. We are witnessing it again. From Wikipedia: The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch, was a failed coup d’état by Nazi PartyContinue reading Revolt, rinse, repeat
A new theme
I picked a new theme for this site, moved it over to WPEngine because I’m tired of managing WordPress sites and I couldn’t find a good enough static site generator that handled comments in a reasonable way. I’m also worried about COVID-19, but not in a panicky sort of way. It’s more a worry aboutContinue reading A new theme
Pride month
In the US and Canada, June is Pride Month. We’ve come a long way from 2001 when South Africa was lucky to have its first Pride Week in Johannesburg, a concept that has apparently continued since we invented it. I wrote some things on Twitter about Pride in the last few days, which I’m goingContinue reading Pride month
Luke Potter
I was born in December 1976. My first cousin Luke was born in January 1978. We grew up together as cousins do, only a year apart. We had similar childhoods growing up in South Africa. We went to the same family events, we hung out. If the photos are anything to go by, we mightContinue reading Luke Potter
Moncler 1 Pierpaolo Piccioli – Fall 2018
Look at this. Witness the audacity of the Fall 2018 collection from Moncler 1 Pierpaolo Piccioli. I must have one.
Good bye, Jacob Zuma
Defiant to the end, Jacob Zuma is the second president of the Republic of South Africa to be recalled by the African National Congress. Tonight he resigned during a speech that was clearly not written by him. When Thabo Mbeki was recalled almost ten years ago, it also made history for South Africa’s fledgling democracy. AtContinue reading Good bye, Jacob Zuma
Microsoft BizSpark is now a one-year programme
As of 1 December 2016, Microsoft’s BizSpark programme is now only for one year, down from the original three years. Given how useful the free Visual Studio tools are, and what is possible with Azure, I’m not surprised, but this is going to affect a lot of people. From the BizSpark page: A one yearContinue reading Microsoft BizSpark is now a one-year programme