Children’s Antics which make their Parents Apoplectic

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries 0 Comment

Why is it that some kids just have the knack of doing the wrong thing whether it is regarding their room’s walls as a blackboard or attempting to climb into places which they shouldn’t like the toilet. Often it is the family’s animals that are the object of their naughtiness? Whatever it is, at least 10% of children will be egregious offenders whereas the other 90% will be model responsible children. As such they will never be a burden on their parents.

Dream on.

Main picture: Clearly this little boy knows that scibbling on the wall and “colouring-in” the dog were verboten, yet he did it. Why? Is this an indicator of a future delinquent or is it merely an example childhood naughtiness; a passing phase?

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The Diet Paradox Part 1: Sugar

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Health 0 Comment

For some apparently unfathomable reason, in the Western world since the 1970s the average BMI of the population has spiralled upwards while simultaneously the level of dieting, consumption of diet food and amount of exercise performed, whether in the form of gyming or running, has skyrocketed. How is this possible? Was this sheer co-incidence or happenstance or are there, within the current dieting regime, prospective candidates as the culprit.

 The current suspect is sugar. Like a rabbit trapped in a car’s headlights its apologists and defenders such as the sugar water industry – read Coke – are supine but not immobile. With sugar taxes looming after New York City’s courageous imposition of this punitive measure recently, their muted rational response is quite credible.

Main picture: Will sugar take the mantle as the new tobacco over the next decade or is it being unfairly cast as the villain in the piece?
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Photographs to Electrify a Curious Mind

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries 0 Comment

So many questions never get answered. Not that one is incurious but life is too short or the answer is not readily available. Whatever the reason, one never finds out. Instead of the usual canon of photographs of stunning sunsets or virgin African bush populated with grazing animals, this is an unusual collection of eclectic photographs. Take time to ponder on each.

For instance I have always been fascinated with Mount Everest. For me it defies belief that people would want to climb it knowing that the risk of dying is 1 in 10 and that the risk of losing a digit or a limb is even higher at between 2 to 3 in 10. Yet, for all that, men in the hundreds will not be dissuaded by the deprivations of freezing cold, oxygen sparse altitude and precipitous climbs in order to satisfy an inner yearning, a life-long desire to conquer their fears and the mountain.

Main picture: Climbers ascending the highest mountain in the world and the greatest challenge in their lives

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James Frey: A Remarkable Tale in Overcoming Addiction

By Dean McCleland in Books, Other Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

When Janine commanded me to read A Million Little Pieces about a recovering crack head, the remarkable story of James Frey’s battle against addiction, it was never on the short list of books that I would ever read. Never! Not even on the extended list. Firstly I mainly read history but mostly because who wants to read about the travails of a recovering addict. Being an instruction and not a request, to keep the peace in the McCleland household I reluctantly demurred to do as I was instructed. The fact that the book was classified as non-fiction and had been highly recommended by Oprah Winfrey in 2003 as the best book on the subject swayed me slightly as well as the fact that I would be reading my first book on a Kindle.

For the English purists like me, it was quite a revelation. The earthy raw language often without punctuation and with arcane repetition of words is child-like and puerile but it is precisely this debased language by James Frey which brings the story to life. The depravity and the lengths to which an addict will sink in order to obtain their next fix, is evocatively expressed in this cacophony and kaleidoscope of sounds and words all intermingled.

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Are the South African Police trustworthy and are they professional?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 0 Comment

The recent riots in Etatwa on the far East Rand have brought this question into sharp focus. I was always under the belief that this was a largely white perception. But after listening to [black] listeners phoning into 702 Talk Radio with their experiences, I have comprehensively been disabused of that notion. What has led to this sharp decline in standards and professionalism over the past ten years?

One measure of professionalism is the level of tolerance for corruption within the police force. On this measure, the police score abysmally. Part of the problem was the disbanding of the police’s independent anti-corruption units and placing full responsibility in the hands of the Station Commander. While this might work in a first world environment, within a third culture like South Africa this is a recipe for disaster as has been proved. This arises for two reasons. What happens when the Station Commander is complicit in criminal activity himself/herself but more importantly threatened with death if disciplinary action is taken.

Main picture: They prowl the empty streets by night…… drinking, eating… Our ever-vigilant Police Force in the New South Africa snapped during a refuelling session.

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Pictures to Cheer Us Up

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries 0 Comment

After a week’s sabbatical due to work commitments, the Casual Observer is back at work – not work work – but my home work – not homework – but work at home – the blog. Instead of a depressing blog on the Springbok’s thrashing at the hands of the rugby minnows, the Japanese – the less said the better – instead you may have another beer to drown your sorrows. I don’t need an excuse for a drink. I am balancing a Savanna on the couch as I type.

As an aside, I did not watch the rugby as I was sleeping after a cool 21km race in Irene. When I arrived at Rodizio’s in Bedfordview for Arnold’s birthday party, the first question that he asked me was the final score. The match was just finishing as I entered the restaurant. Without hesitation, I proffered a winning margin of 35 points. Fortunately I did not place money on that.

Moreover I must have been the only South African not to watch South Africa beat the All Blacks in the World Cup final in 1995 – 24th June to be exact. The mundane reason was that I was boarding a KLM flight back to South Africa at Schipol Airport in the Netherlands. Not being a rugby playing country, it was impossible to find a TV set in any of the lounges which was showing the game. A third division Bundasliga soccer match was the closest that we could get to rugby. Finally two hours after take-off, the  captain announced that as he was aware that the South Africans on the flight must be interested in the final score, he announced that South Africa had won.

The plane erupted. Even if he had announced the final score nobody would have heard. That was inconsequential. The fact that South Africa Africa after so many years of sporting isolation had thrashed its traditional rugby foe was all that counted. Joel Stransky was the man of the match with 3 penalties and 2 drop goals.

 

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Unrest in Port Elizabeth

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Other Galleries 1 Comment

Port Elizabeth is still close to my heart as I was raised there. I only relocated to Joburg after completing my articles as there were no work opportunities there. Due to the numerous protest actions nationally mainly as a result of service delivery – poor, non-existent or shoddy – it is a daily occurrence throughout South Africa. Due to the number of these riots, they receive little publicity. For me this one did. My paternal grandmother Daisy Elizabeth McCleland, the family matriarch, lived at 99 Albert Street which judging by the photographs is slightly off the epicentre of some of these riots.
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Hlaudi Motsoeneng awarded a Permanent Number as a Mampara

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, SA Heroes and Mamparas 0 Comment

In the running fraternity in South Africa, one is awarded a Permanent Number for completing a certain number of a specific race. In the case of the Comrades, it is 10 finishes within the cut-off time. For the runner it is regarded as a prestigious award and an honour which is conferred on one. It is indicative of one’s dedication and hard work in obtaining this exalted award. Similarly with Hlaudi. He has gone beyond the call of duty in his management and leadership of the SABC. Thus he is a worthy recipient of this illustrious award for 2015. It requires a particular breed of ignoramus and imbecile to be awarded this noteworthy prize.

Firstly a brief look at Hlaudi’s stellar academic achievements. As far as can be ascertained, Hlaudi distinguished himself by obtaining a Standard 3 pass. It is still unclear whether this was a first class pass with distinctions or whether he obtained an F for Woodworking like another eminent colleague, Juju aka Julius Malema.

Main picture: The teflon coated man in his armour plated suit escapes yet again

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Great Flood of 1st September 1968

By Dean McCleland in Other Personal, Personal, Port Elizabeth of Yore 25 Comments

Unlike adults, at the age of 15, one is never affected by the weather. Even if it was raining, we would go swimming in the sea. Whether it was night or a howling gale force wind was blowing, we would be swimming. No matter how atrocious the weather conditions were or what the time of day was, it was time to swim.

There was only one exception to this rule: the water temperature. If the sea water was freezing cold, we would not swim but that would not prevent us from wading in the water and even “catching” a few waves. Nothing seemed to deter us or maybe we just never noticed what the weather was like.

Main picture: This “river” which runs through Happy Valley is normally no more than a trickle and would normally be classified as a placid stream.

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What is the Cost of a Life?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Health 0 Comment

To use an overused word, human life is priceless but on the obverse side, there is the small matter of cost. Simply put:  With the whole slew of new & innovative medical treatments and medicines coming onto the market where does one draw the line in providing all these potentially life-saving treatments?

Lest anyone is under the misapprehension that this conundrum is not pervasive today let us consider the dilemmas that doctors and medical aid schemes face today when confronted by such quandaries.

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