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/ 8 December 2010
The <i>M&G’s</i> <b>Chris Roper</b> explores African despots and the Red Bull Soundclash. Yes, they do go together.
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/ 3 December 2010
Never has SA hip-hop sounded more resolutely middle class, which is ironic given Die Antwoord’s attempts to pitch themselves as lower-class trash.
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/ 2 December 2010
Coloured anal-rapists and scared white boys — a powerful advertisement causes <b>Chris Roper</b> to despair at the use of tired racial clichés.
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/ 30 November 2010
Oh, the irony. Media organisations arguing against access to information.
In its third year of existence, the annual Bookmarks Awards dispenses praise and Pixels to the best of the online industry.
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/ 18 November 2010
This is a fabulous debut, both in the strict sense of resembling a fable and the colloquial sense of an exclamation of joyful approbation.
Three seemingly unrelated things happened to me last week, involving a dead Kenyan photographer, an American State Department official and a clown.
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/ 23 September 2010
The <i>New Age</i>’s ad campaign nicely sums up its avowed editorial standpoint, as well as the sadly limited philosophy of its de facto master.
Rumours of Schabir Shaik, wandering the streets of Durban with his arms outstretched, moaning "Briiibes! Briiibes!", appear to be exaggerated.
The best science fiction writers are those who can make you part of an extended universe without resorting to that awful trick of the padded series.
Every week, the <i>M&G</i> chooses one great song that says something about what it means to be South African.
The Tutus describe themselves as "a little pop ‘n roll kwela disco punk band from Pretoria" and their songs are finely drawn vignettes.
Every week, the M&G chooses one great song that says something about what it means to be South African.
The opening and closing lines of <em>In a Strange Room </em> are like the opposite sides of an entry/exit sign.
The official World Cup song is <i>Waka Waka: This time for Africa</i>. It’s also the most glorious collection of rank clichés.
The sight of Americans taking Yo-Landi and Ninja seriously is so delicious, I can almost forgive some of the excesses of the music.
South Africa’s changing cities give us clues about what groups need (and what they don’t) to have a happy existence.
Art critics, even occasional art critics like myself, are never allowed to utter the words: "I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like."
Tired of having to say the obligatory trite things when you’re overlooked for a job because of your race? Just download your pack of Race Cards.
It’s getting as hard to find a positive role model in SA as it is to find a white person who remembers apartheid.
The work is funny, pretty and accessible, but it’s also complicated, surprising, exceedingly well crafted and rewards a long-term relationship.
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/ 19 January 2010
THE CHRIS ROPER CONDEMNS THE ANC YOUTH LEAGUE PATHETIC SPELLING ABOUT THE MAIL AND GUARDIAN.
Can we just get the kak stereotyping journalism out of the way before the Soccerball World Cup starts, please?
Perspective is everything, as the owl said to the pussycat. There’s been a furore about the Prez (finally, that Z makes sense) and his fifth marriage.
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/ 18 December 2009
In their way the sleigh bells opening Bob Dylan’s christmas are as shocking as the snare drum that opened <em>Highway 61 Revisited</em>.
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/ 27 November 2009
Designer Heather Moore places emphasis on making things properly, harking back to the 1950s instead of the excesses of the 1980s and 1990s.
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/ 16 November 2009
Funnier than ANC Youth League press releases, more popular than nakedhelenzille.com, ZA News videos have now been watched almost 400 000 times.
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/ 6 November 2009
<i>The Man in the Mirror</i> should really be called <i>Man of Straw</i>, especially given that Joost van der Westhuizen’s middle name is Heystek.
Paul Edmunds’s work is as beautiful as it is sometimes baffling, and a visit to <i>Subtropicalia</i> will reward you in more ways than one.
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/ 23 September 2009
As you enter this welcoming wine bar with its gigantic fireplace, the heady aroma of red wine embraces one
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/ 22 September 2009
Here is a list of places you can go to meet people of different colours, shapes and sizes, and hopefully make some real-life friends in the process.
So pigs do fly. Julius Malema, you rock. Spot-on comment.