Lacking the true Christmas spirit

A dear friend in England emailed me last week concerned at the ghastliness of receiving a festive email from his old alma mater, Oxford University’s Lincoln College, wishing him “Happy Holidays.” What he found particularly galling was the fact that the college was founded in 1427 by the then Bishop of Lincoln for students “who would defend the mysteries of Scripture against those ignorant laymen who profaned with swinish snouts its most...

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The end of a sordid era

I played a prank in 1962, unofficially opening Masterton’s new Post Office from a nearby rooftop 10 minutes before the Postmaster-General Mr Arthur Kinsella was due to do so officially. I had a false beard and moustache attached intending to be unrecognisable. The incident gained notoriety nationally and even internationally and I was described as a “Castro-like” figure. Fidel Castro was persona-non-grata at the time and I hadn’t intended...

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What's in a name?

The long-suffering ratepayers of Auckland were justifiably outraged when they discovered their foolhardy city council had spent $500,000 to come up with an improbable slogan. The city’s proposed new global brand “Auckland, the place desired by many” was worked on by three project staff over a two year period while 115 council staff attended workshops. To his credit the new mayor Phil Goff was not impressed.It reminded me of a similar...

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