Should we flag the flag debate?

Now that the Gallipoli landing centennial commemorations and the ANZAC remembrance services are over perhaps we can examine the flag issue without letting emotion cloud our conversation. Flags have never held much interest for me; I’ve never quite understood their purpose. In the digital age with instant worldwide communications between nations at the touch of a computer key a printed piece cloth must surely be approaching its use-by...

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Exploring the political paradox

I’m pretty certain that our political leanings are formed at an early age and are conditioned by the preferences of our parents. I was given two choices; my liberal mother voted Labour and my conservative father National. Back in those halcyon days there were only two choices. It was a source of constant amusement to my sister and me when our parents used to get dressed up on a polling Saturday afternoon to walk around to Lansdowne School...

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Baking all the way to the grave

It will come as a complete surprise when I tell you that I have recently taken up cake baking. At this stage any plans to become a candlestick maker have been put on hold. You will note I said cake baker not cake maker. The intricate elements of the cakes I have been producing have been carefully put together by an ageless American lady named Betty Crocker. It’s a very simple process. To Ms Crocker’s magic mixture I merely add a few...

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The camera sometimes lies

Last week I wrote that my father had a wicked sense of humour and then described his party-trick penchant for anonymously pinching women’s bottoms. This trait will not have been universally admired so I have decided to reveal his jocularity in a more favourable light. For instance when the young Queen Elizabeth came to Masterton in 1953 and had lunch at the Empire Hotel their dining room had their meat requirements supplied by rival...

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