Rod MacKenzie's Blog, page 13

Koran burning: How much of Terry Jones is in us all?

"What a dick," I muttered, shaking my head as I watched Terry Jones, yet another apostle of the Christian fundamentalist lunatic fringe*, declare on television that he was going to publicly burn the Koran as part of his church's ceremony to observe the anniversary of 9/11. "What on earth makes him and his ilk think [...:]

Poor SA immigrants volunteer for Kiwi earthquake clean-up

Dear Right Honourable John Key
I was taking a lovely walk through your beautiful suburban countryside here in Auckland, contemplating the massive earthquake that struck Christchurch yesterday, which registered at least 7 on the Richter scale. Whenever I have the balls to think I am in a bad situation, not belonging to a country (more than six [...:]

Corruption works in China, not in SA

It was a sunny day in Shanghai on Nanjing West road, apparently the longest shopping road in the world. We ex-pats were doing what ex-pats do on a day off, sitting in a favourite pub, The Long Bar, fronting the Ritz-Portman hotel. While we sipped our beers a small body of citizens gathered outside the [...:]

First sexual encounters and shame

So I have to change her name. Well, at least to the name I have chosen to use in a semi-autobiographical novel I am writing, tentatively titled Shame. Well I remember being attracted to Alexis in what was then a rural part of Boksburg. She had a younger brother, Cosmo, and the three of us [...:]

Gays, race and this institutional thing of marriage

Truth be told, I am not married and have never been married, now at the sweet, tender, gullible age of 47. That's right, the Chook and I (the Chook being my missus Marion) have never stood under showers of confetti and their lovely, tasteful representation of great fertility: clouds of sperm pouring luxuriously through the [...:]

Rugby World Cup at Kiwi cut-throat prices

The current furore in New Zealand about the country being a rip-off for tourists (so look out rugby World Cup 2011 tourists) should be taken seriously when a former All Black who played in 81 test matches says NZ is "really expensive"and suggests that pricing needs to be addressed. Former All Black Justin Marshall bases [...:]

Her ashes in New Zealand, her ashes in South Africa

A South African tourist, Tayla Storm, died in New Zealand after a lengthy battle with a rare infection. The tragedy for her and her family will be felt for many years to come. The clumsy cliché of the previous sentence reminds me of how words simply get in the way of expressing how we feel. Whenever someone [...:]

Uninsured SA tourist in critical state gets amazing Kiwi medical care

A South African visitor has so far cost New Zealand about one and a half million rands because of a rare infection she contracted whilst travelling here in New Zealand. After reading this spectacular sample of hospitality and humanity I needed to take a walk and chose Takapuna beach to clear my mind.

Takapuna [...:]

Explaining an SA crime story to a Kiwi child

"So I got this cool plot nearly worked out for my new blockbuster novel," I grinned at Dylan, Marion's Kiwi grandson.
"Blockbuster?" the eleven-year-old said. "You mean like it's selling lots?"
"Well, I haven't got there yet," I said with a mock bruised ego, while he was busy painting his Warhammer toy ogres. I grimaced at [...:]

How 'South African' is it not to trust people?

Yesterday Marion and I went to the local shopping mall here where we live in Auckland, New Zealand. Whilst having some coffee we got into conversation with a Kiwi couple. I had first noticed him when I went to order the coffee from a takeaway in the food court. The two breakfasts he ordered looked [...:]