Thanks to 'Sally' for the thoughts that count
Thanks to 'Sally' for the thoughts that count
It's the thought that counts. This piece of gobbledygook has been used for centuries to excuse miserly spending at Christmas.
Dazed and Confused
Season's greetings and thumbs-up to all
Season's greetings and thumbs-up to all
In the days before Google, when encyclopaediae poured down the pipe like Cadbury chocolates, way before their current status as the most unwanted and heaviest thing at the Regent Theatre Book Sale, there were two leaders of the pack - the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Arthur Mee's Children's Encyclopaedia.
On the road again - not if I can help it
On the road again - not if I can help it
Oscar Wilde once said, and I'm paraphrasing, that if you are struck at speed by a rusty old Ford Cortina, you will struggle to cross a road again.
A secret recipe to make the mouth water
A secret recipe to make the mouth water
If there is one piece of correspondence I unrelentingly receive for this column, it is requests for my pavlova recipe.
Books - because you can't Kindle a fried egg
Books - because you can't Kindle a fried egg
Books!
Skull-numbing folly on a non-horse
Skull-numbing folly on a non-horse
A close friend, let's just call her Erasmus, suggested coffee last Wednesday afternoon.
Mauled in true fashion by a rock'n'roll animal
Mauled in true fashion by a rock'n'roll animal
Lou Reed stories from his three mid-'70s New Zealand tours have been pouring out of the woodwork like backwards borer since his death. Let me exhume mine.
Nothing like a 50-inch telly to improve outlook
Nothing like a 50-inch telly to improve outlook
The recently discovered letters from Oscar Wilde to Cameron Diaz have thrown up some real humdingers.
Pianos sacred to Franz, Jerry Lee and me
Pianos sacred to Franz, Jerry Lee and me
Today, as most of you will know, is the birthday of the Hungarian pianist-composer Franz Liszt.
Money no object when babysitting
Money no object when babysitting
Babysitting.
Unwanted visitor terrifying
Unwanted visitor terrifying
I swore on my dog's grave that I would never write a word about the America's Cup, but most rational thinkers would agree some bad decisions were made on board as 8-1 turned into 8-9.
'Coro' returns to topper mostgreatness
'Coro' returns to topper mostgreatness
Coronation Street has normally been worth two columns a year, I make no bones about that, but this year it's been largely bollocks.
Ode to Lydia and musings on rugby
Ode to Lydia and musings on rugby
It was back in hospital last week for another life-threatening operation, this one at least below the waist, only scar tissue now remaining above.
Shocking revelation to get off my chest
Shocking revelation to get off my chest
Almost all rational thinkers agree that the lowest form of human, the toxic offal beneath the snakes at the very bottom of life's barrel, is your common or garden Breast Man.
Homage to a great Dunedin singer
Homage to a great Dunedin singer
Trevor Wheeler died the Sunday before last.
This is as fine a body of grumpy men as you could hope to meet
This is as fine a body of grumpy men as you could hope to meet
Grumpy Old Men was a successful and often entertaining television series a few years ago. It is also a medical condition and an anthropological phenomenon.
Installation of bedroom piano step towards realising bucket list
Installation of bedroom piano step towards realising bucket list
There are three phrases which most rational thinkers would agree have gone way past their use-by date - bucket list, elephant in the room, and Peter Dunne.
Black-haired Maria just an Aegean memory
Black-haired Maria just an Aegean memory
The book was 20 cents. A tad mangled, but you get mangled with 20c books. Charisma by Orania Papazoglou.
Tall tales of the painfully incorrect sort
Tall tales of the painfully incorrect sort
I think it was Oscar Wilde who said, and I'm paraphrasing, that while it is a splendid thing to walk towards the Octagon along Princes St, it can often be far more revealing walking along Bond.
Tenacious shopper gets his thing
Tenacious shopper gets his thing
Ratioanl thinkers have argued for many years as to the worst card that could ever be dealt to a human.