(This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times) Greetings to the concerned readers who noticed my absence during the past few weeks. An unexpected stay in hospital and some up-close and personal experience with the pointy end of…
Category: Just me
Posts about me, my family and friends (yes I have some), Seymour the Wonder Cat and his not-so-trusty sidekick Norman the Newbie Cat and life in general, both online and offline
The fallen: we will remember them
Tuesday marks the 91st anniversary of the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzacs) at Gallipoli. Thousands of young New Zealanders and Australians died in what many class as our defining moment as a nation. On April…
You remember how to www.histle, don’t you?
(This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times) Hands up all the habitual whistlers out there … hmmm, come on, surely there must be someone apart from me. I whistle. Constantly. And loudly. It’s a habit I picked…
Back to fans and 24: Conspiracy
I’m back and yes, the holiday was splendiferous. Thanks for asking. To the reader who became concerned by my conspicuous absence from these pages during the past month and e-mailed asking if I’d been eaten by a crocodile while on…
Last-minute packing
(This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times) I’ve stopped counting sleeps, it’s finally here. I’m on holiday. Right about now, I’m probably sorting out last-minute bits and pieces and packing my SPF-gazillion-plus sunscreen before I head off…
Lows and highs
Saturday got off to a sad start with a funeral but ended on a high note with a wedding held in my living room and attended by more than 100 guests. No, I don’t have the world’s biggest lounge —…
Torturous times
A couple of weeks ago, Southland Times sports columnist Jamie Mackay — unhappy with the way his column had been cut the previous week — suggested sub editors were a strange bunch of people who, as children, most likely pulled…
No toasters but sponges
So, that was Christmas (apologies to John Lennon for mangling his wonderful lyrics). I’m pleased to report there wasn’t a toaster, or any other unwelcome kitchen appliance, to be found under the oh-so-fake tree on Christmas Day. Instead, I was…
Cyber Santa
(This is the Online column written for The Southland Times) Are you ready for the big day yet? There are only two sleeps to go until Santa comes scudding down our chimneys. Well maybe not our chimneys. If the weather…
In the wake of a quake
(This is the Online column written for The Southland Times) Well, Tuesday got off to a bumpy start with the earthquake that rocked our world here in the deep south. I was in bed when the quake hit and was…