At the bottom of Te Manuao Road, where Burt Edwards’s dairy occupied one corner and a derelict house the other corner, we kids regularly explored the old house, which was predictably known as the “Haunted House”. This was a time when Te Manuao Road had about seven houses and was more generally market gardening and farming land. In fact,... Keep Reading
Telling occasional fibs is what we animals do. Even my dog is capable of a swifty if it means another biscuit. But there are limits and we see downright lying creeping ever more into the utterances of politicians, officials and corporate leaders, to say nothing of all the Josie-fibbing-queens on Instagram. We can tell it’s a massive... Keep Reading
As a frequent traveller between Ōtaki and Wellington, life has been changed immeasurably by the new roads – Peka Peka to Ōtaki, Kāpiti Expressway and Transmission Gully. On a clear run the journey is reduced by around 10 to 15 minutes. Better still, the congestion points are eliminated so that a north-bound three-hour Friday evening... Keep Reading
Legislation aimed at boosting New Zealand’s housing stock makes sense, until it starts affecting the existing community. In recent years, fuelled by rocketing property values, living in a house as a traditional family unit has become unaffordable for many people. Up to one in nine Kiwis is living in overcrowded accommodation (defined as a... Keep Reading
I’ve imagined the world going to a therapist. You know, just like every Hollywood A-lister does during another marriage breakup or perhaps after an accidental overdose. The Earth (let me call him Mr World) is having a few headaches right now and is experiencing quite a bit of over-heating along with some discomfort with waste disposal.... Keep Reading
As the early storm clouds of Covid rolled from Wuhan in China towards the rest of the world, I spent a blissful 2019 Christmas with family in Auckland. In between the barbecues and languid strolls to Takapuna Beach, where evidence of masks or social distancing was still some way off, I jumped into a book written by a group of international... Keep Reading
There’s a possible truism that a life-of-the-party type person – you know, jokes and megawatt laughing at everything – can only be that way if they know diddlysquat about what’s happening in the world. Let’s face it, anyone who consumes too much daily news will get the smirk wiped off their face quick smart. But I’m not so sure... Keep Reading
The media are flushed with stories about the arrival of AI (artificial intelligence) into the crevasses of our lives. Whether we ignore it, or not – and many are doing the former – indifference will be irrelevant to the juggernaut being unleashed before our eyes. Make no mistake, this is likely to be humanity’s biggest game-changer... Keep Reading
I’ve caught myself becoming a serial critic of Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown. While I don’t mean to pick on him unnecessarily – this is the second perspective on him that I’ve written for this column – he really has painted a target on his own backside. The latest outrage from Mr Brown was his casting vote to remove the Auckland... Keep Reading
Like all kids, my life seemed like an endless series of epiphanies – the curtain is drawn open and something new is learned, often with startling effect. I’d like to think these moments embedded themselves as a kind of street map that guided this intrepid self through life. Part of that is trying, often with struggle, to maintain that... Keep Reading
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown had planned a game of tennis on the day New Zealand’s worst climate-related disaster unfolded. So that morning, he sent a text to his mates to apologise for a “no show” saying he’d need to be dealing with the “media drongos”. As became painfully obvious later that day, Wayne urgently needed the media... Keep Reading
Really big things can happen because of infinitesimal things. Years ago a close friend suddenly stopped talking to me and I couldn’t understand why, even though I made many overtures to meet up. Then, a mutual friend told me that my friend believed I’d “snobbed him”. Apparently, he’d waved to me from his car and I’d looked... Keep Reading
My dad’s favourite expression was, “worse things happen at sea”. He, being a veteran of some of the worst horrors of the Second World War naval action, obviously used it to bring a little perspective whenever someone mentioned a minor calamity in everyday life. Dad was a hard-working, practical man, growing tomatoes and other crops in... Keep Reading
I was recently gifted a kitchen blender and gleefully set about a daily ritual of chopping frozen berries, fruit and vegetables in the expectation it would boost my intake of vitamins and roughage. On announcing this to a friend I was informed that blending fruit and vegetables destroys the natural goodness of the ingredients. Somewhat... Keep Reading
I’ve been asked once or twice whether I would consider standing for public office. Although my ego tells me I’d quite like being called Mayor or Councillor Carson, my practical mind steers me to other more sensible pursuits. Such as editing a community newspaper, which, apart from being a big conflict of interest with an elected role,... Keep Reading
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