The news that causes your cake to flop

GOOD day, fellow frivolistas, we hope you still have hope and courage left to make it to Christmas. We will try to lighten your path.

We know not all our users are rugby fanatics, but the season is finally over and we won't bother you again until the middle of next year. However, the Springboks have been so good this year that we feel a bit like Rory Petzer about this one ...

All credit to Daddy Metal

When we saw this short performance at the Los Angeles Rams football team's home opener, by 75-year-old Ozzy Osbourne, the self-proclaimed “Prince of Darkness", and icon to every kid who has listened to metal in the past 50 years, we couldn't help but wonder what had become of the men who, in the 1980s, scared the kids at every elementary school in the country with their stories about Ozzy and Co.

“Dr." Rodney Seale, I see, now offers workshops on anxiety, probably for everyone he has put under his spell. And the singing dominee, Jan de Wet? Maybe Huisgenoot will put on a show for veterans sometime.

Click here to register 📌

The best of  ’meeeerica!

Whether you feel love or hate for Americans, it's the place where extravagant quatsch culture flourishes, and if it amuses you, you have no choice. It's therefore also the place where the best memes are hatched.

I could be wrong, but I think this guy would have loved to have Kamala appear on the Joe Rogan show. (James Carville ran Bill Clinton's “It's-the-economy-stupid" presidential campaign in 1992.)

Cartoons from here, there, everywhere

Stimulating tidbits

Millennium cuckoo clock

The Clock of the Long Now, also known as the Ten Thousand Year Clock, is an enormous mechanical clock under construction inside Mount Washington in the Sierra Diablos mountains of Texas in the US.

The idea came to Danny Hills in 1989, and its goal is to change the way people think about time. “It has to do for time what the photographs that people have taken so far from outer space have done for Earth. It has to be interesting to think about, charismatic to visit and famous enough to become popular in the public conversation," says Stewart Brand, a founding member of the Long Now Foundation. The project is largely funded with $42 million from Jeff Bezos, but anyone can make a contribution.

The idea is that the mechanical clock will remain accurate for 10 000 years, as long as it took humans to build modern society. It ticks only once a year, the century arm moves once every 1 000 years, and the cuckoo comes out once every thousand years. The clock is under construction in a series of rooms and the date of completion is unknown. It may never be completed as it is constantly being improved.

MIT now for free

One of the world's most prestigious educational institutions, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA, has announced that any family earning less than $200 000 will be able to study at the institute for free. This means that about 80% of students will now be able to study without paying. The biggest challenge is no longer affording the fees, but gaining admission.

Maltabella porridge’s days numbered

A faintly audible cheer went up among small children who hate Maltabella sorghum porridge but are forced to eat it, when the announcement came through that Bokomo would no longer be grinding the flour for the masses. Apparently, it is no longer viable due to declining demand.

MaMkhize’s mall house

If you were wondering what controversial businesswoman Shauwn Mkhize's house in Umhlanga looks like – the South African Revenue Service conducted a raid there last Tuesday – watch this video. Some describe it as a shopping mall.

Mkhize is believed to owe SARS R37 million. They entered the property with a preservation and seizure order to seize assets that may be needed to cover her tax arrears.

Mkhize is active in the construction industry and is said to be a major beneficiary of government contracts and tenders.

Lekker old (not) advert

Instead of an old advertisement this week, we're posting an entertaining video with a series of brilliant marketing and advertising ideas.

Hysterical social media dancers

This week we focus on three wild dancers. Well, diverse in style. First up @leeravely.

We have no idea what to say.

Then there's this rascal: Boss Dzario, also known here as spiritualdetox. We're also pretty stunned, but you can tell the Boss is enjoying himself, and in the end that's all that matters.

Finally, Murat Erdem. No words. Murat is not strictly a dancer. He does ... well ... kind of smooth moves. We don't know, just see for yourself and please don't contact us about this.

Old yet gold

Al Debbo sings “Hasie" in the flick Altyd in my drome in 1952.

♦ VWB ♦

BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION: Go to the bottom of this page to share your opinion. We look forward to hearing from you.