So here we are again, wrapping up another school year and longing for the holidays. The year-end exams are behind us and we all await the annual ritual of the matric pass-rates announcement. Which province will bask in the glory of first place? Which will be crowned with the dunce’s cap?

Cartoons and animation in the West are predominantly seen as being "you know … for kids", to steal from <i>Hudsucker Proxy</i>. In reality, they are just another vehicle for writers and filmmakers to get their story across. But there’s this constant, almost sneering attitude at the animated and "graphic" genres, as if they automatically have less depth or content than the written word.

There’s an old mantra in the humanitarian aid world — and many still live by it: Whatever you do, don’t let the aid get near the men with guns. Humanitarian assistance, they say, should never be entrusted to armies. Well, a few days ago I was flying low over the crushed ruins of Balakot, a thriving market town and tourist centre that was reduced to rubble in only a few seconds by the earthquake on October 8.