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Working BC – Before Chainsaws
To most people, the past is glowingly referred to as the good old days. This pie-in-the-sky idyll never existed apart from people’s imaginations. The overwhelming majority of people a century ago – 92%+ in the case of Britain – what work entailed was back-breaking manual work whether in foundries or as reflected here in a logging operation.
Hard grinding physical labour was the lot of these workers. What was more iniquitous was the pittance that they were paid for these long hours of toil.
Main picture: Lumberjacks besides their handiwork. The height of the man is indicative of the diameter of the tree
The chain saw is merely a metaphor for machinery
Oddities of Nature
Evolution has the ability to mould creatures into an infinite array of shapes and configurations. What makes many of these animals unique is not so much because they are different – they undoubtedly are – but due to the fact that many of them combine features of disparate geneses and species.
The incomparable David Attenborough has introduced me to a few especially the star-nosed mole which has feelers protruding from where its nose should be positioned and the disgusting naked mole rat which even at birth has the body of a wrinkled superannuated rat on its death bed.
Main picture: The star-nosed mole which only its mother could love
On the Horns of a Malema
The ANC has experienced breakaways and splits before. Historically the most significant was by the PAC in 1959. Of the most recent, Bantu Holimisa’s UDM was never going to be a threat to the ANC whereas Cope was potentially never a life threatening hazard but rather a less venal and self-serving version of the ANC itself. More ominously the EFF with its self-proclaimed populist radical policies are more lethal and hazardous not only to the ANC in particular but to SA in general. The dilemma for the ANC is whether to politically engage with them or totally ignore them. What is my prognosis for the EFF?
Main Picture: Julius Malema sings after addressing a group of soldiers in civilian dress at the Lenasia Recreation Centre Continue reading
The Politics of History: A South African Curse
Many organisations abuse History to buttress their credentials or to make political statements. It can also be used as a weapon in political disputes. The fluidity of the interpretation of events creates the ability to distort it for one’s own advantage. Currently it bedevils South African politics mostly as a weapon to silence the ANC’s critics by labelling even their own missteps as being the fault of Apartheid. Let us consider its past and its possible future.
Main picture: An unwitting victim of the war on the statues: The Horse Memorial in Port Elizabeth
Rev Francis McCleland: From Passage West to the Cape – 1820
This is the third episode in the life and times of the Reverend Francis McCleland [1793-1853]. It chronicles the period from his arrival in Passage West in early 1820 aboard the East Indian from London. Francis had visited the British capital in order to expedite his acceptance as a Settler. Furthermore, William Parker had assigned him the task of escorting the English settlers in his party to Ireland. On his arrival in Passage West, Francis’ spontaneous disposition takes precedence. He engages in a whirlwind romance and marriage to a native of Passage West by the name of Elizabeth Clark. A week later, the couple sailed off into the blue yonder – the Cape of Good Hope.
Main picture: View of current day Passage West
Continue readingMore Stunning Photographs of Nature
Mother Nature puts on an elegant display again. From calm and tranquility to formidable waterfalls, these photographs have them all.
Main picture: Peace and transquility personified
More rare photographs of Famous People
More rare photographs of Famous People. These reveal some of today’s icons in previously unseen photographs.
Main picture: The Beatles and Ali – 1964
Rare photographs of Famous People
Famous icons as you have never seen them before, often before they became well-known. Often they provide an insight into the era or the persons involved.
Main picture: Bill Gates’ mug shot for driving without a license 1977
The Sublime Transition from Summer to Autumn
Autumn is the time when summer packs away its spritely greenery and instead dresses up in its autumn colours before it finally adopts its drab winter’s hues. During the transition, the fashion stakes predominate with the reddish tones and tints with not even a tincture of green protruding.
The vibrancy of summer evanesces into a more sedate insouciant mellow undertone with indolent trysts amongst cavorting leaves slothfully cartwheeling across the ground.
Such are the emotions that autumn evokes in me.
Main picture: KILCHURN CASTLE, SCOTLAND IN AUTUMN