Author Archives: Administrator
Judging books by their covers
This article was first published in Business Day years ago but, because Joey Hi-Fi’s work and comments on book cover design remain relevant, I believe it’s worth sharing again. Contrary to what the idiom recommends, illustrator and designer Joey Hi-Fi … Continue reading
Book reviews
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane A family drama covering about forty years, Mary Beth Keane’s novel Ask Again, Yes tells the tale of the Stanhope and Gleeson families whose paths first cross when patriarchs, Brian and Francis work … Continue reading
Spontaneous pleasures of Portugal
Unconstrained on the banks of the Douro, Penny Haw tries to buy a hotel. THE only person I know who is more spontaneous about travel than I am is my husband. Adventurers, we may be. Planners, we are not. Our … Continue reading
Seeing clearly in Lake Malawi
IT was while looking for a new snorkelling spot off Mumbo Island in the calm, clear waters of Lake Malawi that my husband and I spotted splashing about 25 metres ahead of our canoe. Paddling closer, we discovered a juvenile … Continue reading
South African opera export extraordinaire, Pretty Yende – a profile
ABOUT 13 years ago, Pretty Yende heard opera for the first time and resolved to make it her career: “It was as if my soul knew what it was even though my mind and body didn’t,” she says. These days, … Continue reading
Burgeoning weeds? There’s a goat for that
I AM a big fan of uncomplicated, make-a-plan biotech-type ideas. They suit my simple-solutions-are-super approach to life. I like the notion of solving problems and creating opportunities by putting things that don’t need batteries, Eskom or petrol to work. We’ve … Continue reading
Age…with eyes wide open
AS if we need further encouragement to enjoy a glass of red wine, researchers say resveratrol, a natural compound found in red wine, grapes, blueberries, peanuts and other plants, could protect blood vessels in the eye from being damaged by … Continue reading
Make my day, phone scammer!
SCAMMERS claiming to be from Microsoft or Windows security or technical support have been around for years. They’re those “helpful” people who phone out of the blue to say your computer is running slowly because it’s full of viruses or … Continue reading
Email for the aged – but not infirm
MY mother is 78-years-old. She was a nurse and farmer’s wife when PC meant neither ‘politically correct’ nor ‘personal computer’ but ‘police constable’. To her, a mouse is a rodent and, if you want to burn a CD, she’ll toss … Continue reading
A father, brother and a Datsun bakkie
WHEN I was seven, my father put me in the boot of his beige Datsun 1 600 sedan with a three-day-old Jersey bull calf. My job was to keep the animal calm and hold the trunk slightly open so we … Continue reading
Penny Haw 