The absurdity of American politics

I suppose to some extent we have all been unduly influenced by America. For me it started when the Marines gave us rides in open top Jeeps and packets of delicious tasting chewing gum during World War II. From then on we were bombarded with the Los Angeles culture in movies and then television and the obsession continues as exhibited by the Auckland glitterati who were fawning over Quentin Tarantino when he paid us a flying visit last...

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Swimming against the tide - again

I never did get David Bowie. I totally accept that this is my fault and not Mr Bowie’s. I didn’t even know how to pronounce his name correctly until he died. I thought the bow was as in lowering the head or upper body as a social gesture and found out instead that it was as in bow tie. So his son’s name rhymes with Chloe.Countless millions worldwide considered him one of the greatest artists of all time; his undoubted talent passed by...

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Going against the trend

Warning: This column will offend believers in global warming and papal infallibility. Although I never joined the flat earth society and stopped believing in Father Christmas when closed-door log fires came into vogue I tend to be a sceptic on climate change. I recall how the boffins from the now extinct Wairarapa Catchment Board warned us back in 1986 that the sea at Riverdale was encroaching towards the land at the rate of a metre...

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