Author: Peter Woods
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Coloniser or Egophrenic?
Just as South Africans are ambivalent about Jan van Riebeeck, so Christopher Columbus is an enigma for America. For some, both are heroic explorers who brought civilisation to benighted continents. But for the native inhabitants of Africa and America these “civilisations” also brought a form of disease that turned us into cannibals. That is the…
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How to avoid being President.
Having been overexposed to the election and inauguration of the 45th president of the United States while being simultaneously overwhelmed by last year’s reportage on the president of this fair land I have come to a decision. I hereby give formal notice that I don’t want to be the president of the USA, RSA or…
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Don’t underestimate the power of addiction.
A few weeks weeks into this year there’s a good chance your resolutions haven’t made it this far The idea that we can change our behaviour as easily as making a new year declaration is an ancient but impractical one. Like the new year fireworks that dazzle for a few minutes and then are overwhelmed by…
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A Tale for Twenty Seventeen
With all the rage about decolonising and stripping all signs of our European past, I am not sure we should speak about colonial history in 2017? Let’s do it anyway, for despite our hindsight smugness there are inspirational tales worth remembering. One of these is of Leander Starr Jameson (1853-1917). A successful British medical doctor,…
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The past is passed, what new chapter awaits?
It’s a common practice. No matter the place, no matter the era, humans need to make marks as we pass through the tunnel of time. The days of our birth, anniversaries of significant life events, and even the date on which our lives end are all recorded and remembered. It’s as if the stream of…
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A Dolphin Leap of Faith
Being on holiday means being in unfamiliar rooms and staring at unknown pictures on the wall. I had seen the Talbot collection print of a leaping dolphin before, but never attended to the inscription underneath. “Delphinus Delphis” got me wondering why the common dolphin would be named after a Greek site associated with the famous…
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We’ll do anything to appear normal
It’s called homeostasis and describes the process of living organisms to balance their physical and chemical environments to maintain life. It is homeostasis that maintains the hydration of the cells in our bodies, our blood pressure and even the rate at which we perspire. The concept was described by French physiologist Claude Bernard in 1865…
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Food or Shopping? Black Friday blues.
If Black Friday’s shopping frenzy leaves you as frazzled as it does me every year, you may be interested in its counterpoint called, “Buy Nothing Day”? Founded by artist Ted Dave in Vancouver Canada in 1992, Buy Nothing Day or BND is an international day of protest against consumerism. In North America, Britain and Sweden…
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Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
There I was on Monday night waiting for the supermoon. I had charged up my camera and planned my viewing spot above the reservoir in Lovemore Heights. My clever cellphone app told be that moon would rise at 18h56. With everything packed all I needed was for time to pass. And then I stepped outside.…
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We can never go back to paradise
We all want to live in paradise. Americans have just voted to go back there. Something in every human heart wants to return to the wholeness of the Garden of Eden. We long for a place where everything is perfect. A utopian kingdom where everyone is at peace and our daily evils are gone. Englishman…
The Listening Hermit 