Posts by Angus Shaw
Preface
I often used to wonder how Kandaya felt when we were closing in on him or his people. Sometimes they didn’t have a chance because we had the helicopters, the radios, the superior firepower, you name it, we had it. But Kandaya had stealth on his side. Some said he had the moral high ground…
Read MoreDawn Chorus
Listen to the first things you will hear in the morning, when waking up in Zimbabwe and then in Syria. Dawn chorus in Zimbabwe Dawn chorus in Syria
Read MoreThe Star Fish Story
The Roman Catholic sisters in Mbare dished out the fortified, nutritional drink mahewu, what food they managed to find and antiseptic creams and other basics donated by pharmacies, some time-expired but effective all the same. (There were politicians who hated this – and even tried to stop it – it was driven by charities, non-government…
Read MoreThe limp Ipad
The limp iPad is attributed to: Classic Doonesbury by Pulitzer Prize winning US cartoonist, author and satirist Gary Trudeau. (In 1981 he wrote a superb book on the new US presidency of the time entitled: “In Search of Reagan’s Brain”)
Read MoreIt’s life
At first I disapproved of the “greening” of Zimbabwe’s cellphone towers. But then I took a longer, more contextual view and it didn’t seem too bad. Maybe that’s the way to look at life. The tower in Chitepo Avenue seen from Samora Machel East.
Read MoreThe legend of the Ark of the Covenant and the disputed Zimbabwe connection
The legend of the Ark of the Covenant and the disputed Zimbabwe connection By ANGUS SHAW According to legend, white lions of God and a two-headed snake guarded the “drum that thunders” in a cave in southwestern Zimbabwe’s sacred Dumbwe mountains. But, after an Indiana Jones-like tale of intrigue and adventure, the 700-year-old relic some…
Read MoreIs the pen mightier than the sword?
Freedom of expression: the debate goes on “I despise what you say but I will defend to the end your right to say it.” The enlightened approach current for so long in democratic society. Something to think about: “ I believe in freedom of speech, but if you insult or threaten my mother I reserve…
Read MorePrologue
Home for the Bewildered The man in the next bed, Thought he had a coffin Growing out of his head. He couldn’t wear his hat, What do you think of that? In the clinic, the Home for the Bewildered, the woman from Alcoholics Anonymous asked me if I had smuggled in anything to drink. AA…
Read MoreMutoko Madness
[one_third] [/one_third] [one_third] [/one_third] [one_third_last] [/one_third_last] A Memoir By Angus Shaw How do you behave in a poker game with a genocidal murderer? General Mohammed Siad Barre of Somalia had a revolver lying beside his over-flowing ashtray on the baize card table. Dictators bully and cheat, not only at cards. Field Marshal General Idi Amin…
Read MoreKandaya, Another Time, Another Place.
The fight for independence in Zimbabwe comes under scrutiny in Kandaya, Another Time, Another Place. It is based own the experiences of a white conscript in Ian Smith’s army. Angus Shaw examines the camaraderie, the innocence turning to experience and the brutality that war engenders. It chronicles the roots of the conflict, the nervous humour…
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