SECTIONS

Dazed & confused

OpinionMay 16

Farewell, Nevan, and thanks

Nevan Rowe died 34 days ago. No announcement, no funeral.
OpinionAugust 31

Pedalling along the road to guitar ecstasy

They say everyone has one book in them. I have spent a lifetime searching for that book, while some writers, who can really only be referred to as idiots, have written more than a dozen.
Pedalling along the road to guitar ecstasy
Pedalling along the road to guitar ecstasy
OpinionJuly 6

Haunted by terrors from the vault

Try as the memory wheelie bin might, some nightmarish visions from childhood just refuse to disappear.
OpinionJanuary 12

Time to recognise Dunedin as NZ's music city

You can tell a music city by the strength of its busking. Memphis has a street music culture so strong you feel as if you should be eating alligator while you watch.
Time to recognise Dunedin as NZ's music city
Time to recognise Dunedin as NZ's music city
OpinionFebruary 18

Travel writers rarely know the real deal

The world is filled with false information, crazy stuff we haul aboard like lemmings in reverse, toppling towards the next phase unaware we are living in a house built on sand. Eat your vegetables or you won't grow. What mountainous piffle this is. I have hoovered up vegetables like a Dyson all my life, yet I've never been bigger than small. My mother took me to school on the first day in her handbag.
Travel writers rarely know the real deal
Travel writers rarely know the real deal
OpinionFebruary 4

39 years, that's something innit?

The 39th wedding anniversary slipped seamlessly into Queenstown's unyielding blue skies last week. Thirty-nine is probably a world record when you look at marriages these days; well, the ones we are told about on the telly.
39 years, that's something innit?
39 years, that's something innit?
OpinionMarch 26

Fly me to Baku where the real stars will shine

Michael Caine says at his age, Christmas seems to come around every six weeks. I wish it would. Then I could sit on Santa's knee at the thankfully restored Pixietown in the Settlers Museum and ask to be flown to Baku on May 22.
OpinionSeptember 19

Marathon of an eight-day list

If you are walking purposefully towards an appointment along Dunedin's main street, and you have lived here all your life, it is an absolute given you will meet someone you know who will make you late. Dunedin is that small.
Marathon of an eight-day list
Marathon of an eight-day list
OpinionSeptember 5

House guest takes biscuit

Aesthetes and lovers of fine hockey flocked to the city from all corners of the earth to celebrate Brian Turner's honorary Doctor of Literature from the University of Otago. Two of them, from Cambrian, stayed with us for one night. We were, as always, peerless hosts.
House guest takes biscuit
House guest takes biscuit
OpinionAugust 8

My life with the extremely famous

Oscar Wilde once said, and I'm paraphrasing, if a man can hold on to a grudge for more than 213 days, then he must be genuinely angry. It is 214 days since this newspaper ran a feature about Dunedin locals and their brushes with extremely famous people.
OpinionAugust 1

Coffee pav a perfect comfort food

Most rational thinkers would agree that the only time a man should ever try to make a coffee pavlova is when his wife is in Christchurch stuck in heavy snow.
OpinionJuly 18

Hot diggity, dog ziggity, it's sport

Is eating a sport?
OpinionJuly 11

A good reason to photograph children from behind

Children should always be photographed from behind. I am thrown into a coma of shame when I realise how long it has taken me to realise this. Most humans, I am sure, worked this out very early on.
A good reason to photograph children from behind
A good reason to photograph children from behind
OpinionJuly 4

In search of a replacement for a little bedside radio

Most rational thinkers believe material possessions accrued in youth shape the rest of your life. Mine was a small Philips bedside radio.
In search of a replacement for a little bedside radio
In search of a replacement for a little bedside radio
OpinionJune 27

I love truth - and Alanis Morissette

New Zealand has quaintly taken ownership of the Tall Poppy Syndrome.
OpinionJune 20

Big Sing - every breath they drew was 'Hallelujah'

The principal of my wife's school was stranded by volcanic ash in Wellington last Thursday, and the request went out to represent the school in the Dress Circle of the Dunedin Town Hall for the high school choral showcase, The Big Sing.
OpinionJune 13

Taking a shine to wealthy women passes time over the canapes

A close personal friend, Lou, who lives in Brighton, England, one of my 346 Facebook friends, posted an intriguing question last Friday: why do very wealthy women always look shiny?
OpinionJune 6

Domestic DIY effort meets sticky end

Many years ago when I was a bright-eyed young cricket writer, national cricket coach Martin Horton told me he found it incomprehensible that our players made exactly the same mistake every time they went out to bat. I, too, was dumbfounded by this thing. And, look no further than Ross Taylor, it hasn't gone away.
OpinionMay 30

There ist no shaking my faith

The 2003 Toyota ist has been our car for a year now. It has served us splendidly.
OpinionMay 23

NHNZ is a Fernhill community neighbour that should be treasured

Attendance at the annual meeting of the Fernhill Community Group was small this year.
OpinionMay 16

Do not expect justice in the final of 'American Idol'

American Idol is down to the Top Three. Last Saturday night we lost James, which leaves Scotty, Haley and Lauren heading for the final. I am jiggling with excitement.
OpinionMay 9

Up the ladder of depravity with Lianne

The number of times I have agreed with the wowser cabal would be fewer than the thumbs on one hand.
OpinionApril 25

Band manager, strings attached

My old friend Peter popped around for a cup of tea last week. It's something we've been doing occasionally since he came back home from Auckland a couple of years ago.
Band manager, strings attached
Band manager, strings attached
OpinionApril 18

A concession to the quality of Paul Simon's lyrics

Debris continues to beat my door down from internet auction and retail sites. I am gathering things I barely know anything about, buying on whim and seventh sense.
A concession to the quality of Paul Simon's lyrics
A concession to the quality of Paul Simon's lyrics
OpinionApril 4

Singer finds perfect pitch for pathos

Many years ago I bought an album by Red Sovine called I Know You're Married But I Love You Still, simply for its title.
Singer finds perfect pitch for pathos
Singer finds perfect pitch for pathos