F-word Boris and the driver of a black London cab

Some people are saying the mophead mayor of London Boris Johnson  is a racist. But the cabbie in this episode was not black at all; a black cab is common usage for the distinctive London taxi,  if not all of them are black these days. Johnson, an occasional visitor to Zimbabwe when working as a…

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James Horner’s final crescendo

🔊 Theme music from Titanic, a popular movie in Zimbabwe and repeated often on satellite television. Prolific Hollywood composer James Horner died from what the coroner called “blunt force trauma” when the plane he was flying crashed into a forest in California and burnt up. Horner was 61. He won two Oscars for his score…

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‘Allo, ‘allo, ‘allo, what do we have here then?

Illegal street vending from a police vehicle – registration ZRP 3256M clear for all to see. Not a policeman in sight and the pick-up looks like it might have been sold off as old stock. If so, the number plates should have been changed for chunky fees to the roads authority and the taxman. The…

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Down like ninepins. Ruin in a smartphone

The scourge of the smartphone has brought wrack and ruin to many in the skittle alley of life. For  the second year running, Miss Zimbabwe has been sacked after earlier naked photos went out on the net. What has happened in both cases, it seems, is that one-time partners felt cuckolded by the more glamorous…

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Money doesn’t grow on trees

In the record books, again for all the wrong reasons. Until September, Zimbabweans can cash in their old defunct local currency, the Zimbabwe dollar. The biggest bank note, ZD 100 trillion, gets US 40 cents. (Contemporary Zimbabwean Art Deco) Just how much is 100 trillion mathematically? If the pyramids in Egypt are 5,000 years old,…

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This and that. Hungry for scud and other stories

🔴 Scud: our traditional ‘food and drink’ beer. Fifteen young and middle aged men are in the Kudenga rural store. The proprietor has put in a free-to-play pool table because there’s little else to do around here and no money to do it with. One player says they are all “hungry for scud.” Scud is…

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This and that. Blatter, breakfast and power

🔴 Jacob Zuma and Sepp Blatter. So farewell, Mr Blatter. You are stepping down after 17 years in power because you no longer have the full support of world football. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, I arrived, by mistake, at a press conference venue ridiculously early. Blatter came in with aides to  see…

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The riches of language

The eavesdropped conversation went like this: Diplomat: ”What are you going to do to fix that corruption problem I read about in the morning paper?” Politician: ”We’ll fix the reporter.” ANDREW SAXON revisited: A rave from the past. The riches of language.   ZBC’s morning recipe was read by a new voice and he was talking…

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