I’m old :)

I just found a grey hair that had just come out of my head that is at least 45 cm long.  That is, it is more than 1.5 times the length of a bit of A4 paper (always describe your methodology).
Even Podna no longer denies I have grey hair I don’t know [...]

Read Full Post »

Another Thursday night date with Tony Soprano

Friends and loved ones have been somewhat surprised to learn of my total capitulation to Tony Soprano. They obviously don’t read this blog very much as I have often mentioned it here.  Work colleagues responded with “but he hits women.” And I reply that he doesn’t discriminate, he hits men as well, not [...]

Read Full Post »

Wow

I have just got back after charging over the northern Wellington region looking for a cloudless sky.  I didn’t achieve that but I did get some great views of the blood red moon.
What was amazing to me was how much smaller the moon looked. I’ve just had another look now that the light is [...]

Read Full Post »

Eclipse!

Is happening!

Read Full Post »

Stats NZ Non-Profit Institutions Satellite Account

Howzat for a yawn-inducing title.
It is actually something of a major milestone that this has been published for the first time ever. From now on, weasly Michael Cullen won’t be able to refuse to discuss the NFP sector because he doesn’t know how big it is or how much it’s worth. He’ll have [...]

Read Full Post »

Another rant

After my whinging on the state of NZ print journalism the other day, here I go again.
Stuff today has an article saying how there’s new research debunking some diabetic food myths.
What this article should really be saying is, American thinking on diabetic diets is finally waking up to the research widely understood elsewhere for the [...]

Read Full Post »

Porangahau, revisited

Thought I’d write up the weekend sans fishing.
Porangahau is a small place, and Porangahau Beach is even smaller. Porangahau Beach has a fishing tackle shop that used to be a motel (this is the only shop of any kind). On talking to the owner, he said he had to stop the motel side of [...]

Read Full Post »

Kitefishing at Porangahau Beach

We went away for the weekend, a spur of the moment thing. Podna wanted to check out Porangahau Beach, it’s at the southern end of the Hawkes Bay region, about 80km east of Dannevirke. As the crow flies it’s nearer than that, but there’s only one road and it only goes the way [...]

Read Full Post »

My window needs cleaning…

…as the view from it isn’t sufficiently interesting to blog about.  There must be something happening in the world, but I can’t see it.
I just wrote a whole rant about NZ newspapers and TV news being spineless mouthpieces without an investigative or analytical bone in their collective body. Just for once I’d like [...]

Read Full Post »

Wikiscanner

Every major newspaper website and several of my fave blogs have mentioned the recently released Wikiscanner which lets you check who is editing which articles in Wikipedia, as determined by their IP address. I think you’d have to be pretty dumb not to realise that any edits you make to Wikipedia are tracked against [...]

Read Full Post »

Pear time

Eddie Izzard, on, I think, his Dress To Kill tour, made a very funny and totally accurate observation that pears sit there in the fruit bowl for months, too hard to eat, then they’re ripe for about half an hour and then that’s it, it’s all over and they’re a big sweet soppy mess.
We’re in the half-hour zone.  What can I do with four perfectly ripe pears?

Read Full Post »

Good grief

Apparently three mamas in Christchurch have decided to enjoy wine with their natter rather than coffee.
What has me rolling my eyes about this is, this is news in Christchurch. What are they trying to say – they’re more sophisticated? I mean, for crying out loud, when we were growing up, my mama’s “coffee [...]

Read Full Post »

State of Play

UKTV is repeating State of Play.  I remember being totally obsessed by it when it was on TV One, and sufficient time has passed for me to forget the intricacies.  So now I’ve watched the first episode again and am totally, totally hooked.
Paul Abbot is a genius

Read Full Post »

Gosh I’m fab

I had my Diabetes Clinic appointment today.  I met Dr Elaine Barrington-Ward, who seems very nice, very sensible.
She’s more than happy with my HbA1c. She did a foot check (perfect as usual) and then a blood pressure check.
She didn’t believe my blood pressure so she did it again
115/80 Woohoo!
As she told me that [...]

Read Full Post »

I’m famous!!!!

I got a mention in Dr Licciardi’s blog!
I need to go for a lie-down now.

Read Full Post »