Portcullis goes up on me and my man cave
Portcullis goes up on me and my man cave
For years I thought a man cave was a floating thing, a space where a man could be his inane onanistic self.
Dazed and Confused
The best 35th birthday so far
The best 35th birthday so far
Another birthday gone. A few who thought they were close personal friends, and until last Thursday they assuredly were that, mentioned how old they thought I was, which is hardly something you say to someone on their birthday, is it?
Hints for perfect wives never date
Hints for perfect wives never date
"Art is a hard mistress, and there is no art quite so hard as that of being a wife." Ah, you will be saying, is there a new Leonard Cohen album out?
Hayward's invisible exhibition like nothing you've seen
Hayward's invisible exhibition like nothing you've seen
A close friend of mine from Sydney, a painter, not a house painter, though I would be out of order if I said he couldn't paint a house, but you know, a noted painter, and one who is very serious about his art, has sent me some astounding information of an exhibition in London, which opens today.
Nothing like feeling safe in the middle of the road
Nothing like feeling safe in the middle of the road
Apparently, we turn to entertainment when times are tough. Like now.
The Hayley trap: a lifetime enchantment
The Hayley trap: a lifetime enchantment
Natasha's departure from Coronation Street a month ago remains the finest thing shown on television so far this year.
Sabrina, the best of the blonde bombshells
Sabrina, the best of the blonde bombshells
Howls of protest greeted my recent Jayne Mansfield column. It is only now I have plucked up the courage to come out from behind the sofa and leave the house.
Cat pee can bring down the house
Cat pee can bring down the house
In the mansion-construction one-upmanship that swept through Beverly Hills in the early 20th century, each famous actor trying to appear the richest and best, there was arguably none finer, none more outrageous, than Buster Keaton's 10,000sq ft Mediterranean palazzo.
Head under water hard to fathom
Head under water hard to fathom
A firend texted last week, Wednesday, in a state of pure epiphany.
Women's stores maketh the man
Women's stores maketh the man
The feature in this paper last week on the Sisyphean nature of women's fashion retail in Dunedin was a good read, but it incomprehensibly missed the one enormous contribution these stores make, that of assisting the maturity of a man. Every year, the World Health Organisation figures paint the same picture - the extent to which idiot man has grown up can only be measured by how he handles himself in a women's fashion store.
Intelligence unnecessary to appreciate true grit
Intelligence unnecessary to appreciate true grit
Most rational thinkers are fully aware of the Mendelian Laws of Heredity, the once (1865) controversial but now accepted theory of how powerfully we are controlled by inherited genes. Far fewer are aware of a side-dabble the great man toyed with back then (1861), Mendel's Law of Complementary Intelligence.
A tremendous winter in Whittaker's good hands
A tremendous winter in Whittaker's good hands
Most rational thinkers would agree the four most significant inventions of the past 500 years have been Paul Crowther's Hot Cake guitar effects box, the thing, probably a lever, that keeps planes in the air so they won't fall on the ground, chocolate, and peanut butter.
Having a cake and eating it
Having a cake and eating it
Columns are not the easiest things to name.
Retailer's insular 'rhinoceroserial' approach a little square
Retailer's insular 'rhinoceroserial' approach a little square
Oscar Wilde said, and I am paraphrasing, a spoonful of routine makes the medicine go down, the medicine go down. The refurbished Whitcoulls in George St have whanged an island right into the middle of the store, and it has disturbed my Whitcoulls routine something terrible.
Dazed and Confused: Stumbling across Jayne Mansfield
Dazed and Confused: Stumbling across Jayne Mansfield
There has been loose talk around the town in recent years that South Dunedin is no longer a retail hub, that something needs to be done to bring it back to the halcyon 1970s.
A life education for a dollar
A life education for a dollar
When I went to university, they paid ME to be there. Three times a year I received a cheque, which was promptly spent on wild living.
A rational thinker could grow lilies all the year round
A rational thinker could grow lilies all the year round
Most rational thinkers have little time for science. Most of my friends are rational thinkers.
Boxing on, punch-drunk
Boxing on, punch-drunk
Mistakes, or as behavioural psychologists are wont to call them, cockups, are just mistakes. Or cockups. Nothing more.
Rational thinking means autoharp opportunity lost
Rational thinking means autoharp opportunity lost
Most rational thinkers would agree that the mark of a man is his ability to repeatedly purchase useless objects.
Carols, they'd be nothing without Helen and Rebecca conducting
Carols, they'd be nothing without Helen and Rebecca conducting
Helen was back in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Choir this Christmas.