Nothing Too Serious

The Speight’s brewery in 1923. PHOTO: OTAGO WITNESS

SUBSCRIBER

Speight’s is 150 years old and I’ll definitely drink to that

On Saturday I drank a toast to Speight’s.

SUBSCRIBER

Writer reaching out for support in condemning reaching out

Join the anti-reaching-out revolution. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

SUBSCRIBER

Writer reaching out for support in condemning reaching out

Today is dentist day. Deep in dread I’m girding the gums for an onslaught of needles and drills, cowering under a cloud of cowardice and lamenting my mistreatment of the molars for so many years.

SUBSCRIBER

There is evil on the internet and we all need to be wary

Don’t fall for the scam key. IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES

SUBSCRIBER

There is evil on the internet and we all need to be wary

I am not much into computers although I have a laptop which I treat as a fancy typewriter able to send messages.

SUBSCRIBER

Intrepid tales of a rebel bikie and his troubles with the law

A criminal’s tools: an ancient bicycle. PHOTO: ALEXANDER TURNBILL LIBRARY

SUBSCRIBER

Intrepid tales of a rebel bikie and his troubles with the law

Our caring government, never afraid to tackle the big issues, has legalised kids under 12 riding bicycles on the footpath, but for me this seismic shift in the legal landscape has come too late.

The Thing is just the thing, but just what is The Thing?

Hastie’s hut at Patearoa, where The Thing was found.

The Thing is just the thing, but just what is The Thing?

The find has the place in an uproar.

SUBSCRIBER

Funds needed to shore up Butler’s Wall at Arrowtown

Butler’s Wall in need of refurbishment today. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

SUBSCRIBER

Funds needed to shore up Butler’s Wall at Arrowtown

There's a race on to preserve part of Arrowtown’s heritage.

SUBSCRIBER

Print, radio or on screen, the Man Of Steel still the hero

The Superman of today, David Corenswet. PHOTO: WARNER BROTHERS

SUBSCRIBER

Print, radio or on screen, the Man Of Steel still the hero

They tell me there’s yet another Superman movie doing the rounds. Probably called Superman XXII in what seems to be an eternal series.

SUBSCRIBER

The saga of the trees which proved someone is listening

The Patearoa trees — then. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED

SUBSCRIBER

The saga of the trees which proved someone is listening

So, you have a new-look council.

SUBSCRIBER

The Yank on the Spit - an entrepreneur at Waikouaiti

Coming ashore from the Geelong at Waikouaiti in 1863. PHOTO: WAIKOUAITI COAST HERITAGE CENTRE

SUBSCRIBER

The Yank on the Spit - an entrepreneur at Waikouaiti

They treasure their past in Waikouaiti.

SUBSCRIBER

The pub you have when you don’t actually have a pub

Friday night at the Patearoa Bowling Club. PHOTO: JULIE GREIG

SUBSCRIBER

The pub you have when you don’t actually have a pub

What has this National government (forget the hangers on) done for the rural communities, who for seven decades have returned them to power more often than not?

SUBSCRIBER

No book is entirely useless — let’s support all of them

Warwick Jordan in his Hard To Find Books bookshop. Photo: Linda Robertson

SUBSCRIBER

No book is entirely useless — let’s support all of them

When Rudyard Kipling wrote "a man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition" he probably had me in mind — apart from the ammunition, of course.

SUBSCRIBER

Let’s hear it for Hampden, where it’s all happening

The Hampden Hotel in 1906. PHOTO: TE PAPA

SUBSCRIBER

Let’s hear it for Hampden, where it’s all happening

Twice lately there have been headlines about happenings in Hampden.

SUBSCRIBER

The kind of alchemy a Patearoa writer happily endorses

Waipiata’s Main Street in 1905 with Silas Hore’s store, a star of a new family history, at the...

SUBSCRIBER

The kind of alchemy a Patearoa writer happily endorses

Years ago, when family trees were all the rage, genealogists would painstakingly produce family trees which resembled an impenetrable forest of little use to those outside the family.

SUBSCRIBER