Laughter is the best medicine

When I was youngster and needed pocket money my father would initially seek to deny his monetary responsibilities by tracing my parentage back to the milkman. Dad had a warped sense of humour, but I was savvy enough to know that the milkman wasn’t really my father; I didn’t even look like him. Not that I would have minded. Our milkman was one of the funniest men I have ever known and I would have been more than happy to have inherited...

Read More...

The old cleric's unbelievable story

The year is 2050. Two clerics are sitting in the shade of the mosque. The old cleric is being pestered by the young cleric to tell him about the rise and fall of the Western Empire. The old cleric was a young cleric himself back in 2013 and he had a clear recollection of the times. “It all started when the great infidel decided to supply weaponry to the rebel army in Syria” mused the old man, “Although the Syrian leader...

Read More...

Looking a gift horse in the mouth

An old schoolboy friend came to visit recently. Malcolm used to live over the road from our place and we went to primary school together. The family left Masterton when his father was transferred to Auckland. Malcolm at the time was in the third form at Wairarapa College. I had only seen him once since then, and that was about 40 years ago when I was being shown through Auckland’s Southdown freezing works. Malcolm left the chain and...

Read More...

An analysis of the ties that bind

My father once told me that there was an old saying that went: “Never trust a man who wears a bow tie.” I considered this to be a bit dubious particularly when some years later we resolved to wear bow ties and boater hats in our butcher’s shop. I suggested to dad that did this now mean we couldn't be trusted?  But he reckoned the adage didn't apply when the bow tie was part of a uniform.I thought about this when parliament’s...

Read More...