Our Chief Reporter at The Auckland Star never stopped reminding cadet reporters how important weather news was to readers. We sighed - there seemed to be more important things happening. But we dutifully drove to the Met Office and returned with the Weather Forecast. Later we sidled self-consciously down to Queen Street with an embarrassment in our hands: a foot-long barometer. Then we scurried back to the office to write the noon temperature. How things have changed. When Australian bushfires can create sepia skies over Auckland, it’s tangible evidence of climate change - and interest in this phenomenon intensifies. Our insistent Chief Reporter was right after all.
Tens of thousands of Kiwis out in the rain over the weekend to protest against the TPP which many thought had been killed off in the last, failed round of talks. But no. In the collective race from commonsense and responsibility to their peoples and institutions, governments are expecting the deal to be finalised later this month. Meanwhile some Ministers have already dismissed the protests.
Funny… it just didn’t seem like Greece. We’d been dazzled by the blue and white on Santorini, subdued by the mainland Greek’s grey and shades of olive and now Corfu looked like Greece’s bohemian cousin, in her green, orange and pink. But then maybe it was Corfu Town’s shabbiness, its charm and its palette of ochre that gave it the taste of Italy.
I grew up in a village called Balmoral where we wished, without a hint of masochism, that the dentist’s drill would shriek; where we knew we were half-way to Hollywood when the cinema doorman took our tickets – dressed in a tuxedo.
Now here’s a fishy one…
This last summer, a friend came down to Nelson from Atlanta USA to fish for trout with a fishing guide, Zane Mirfin.
Lost and….?
Spotted in Auckland’s burbs, last week: a child’s favourite bunny – tied firmly to a lamp post to make sure Big Ears returns home…
Bad news for the managerial clones at TV3: John Campbell’s spirit lives on.
The recent news about the violence in Mount Eden Prison has many elements. Political, naturally; Labour will be pleased to have been given the opportunity to rub National’s nose in the troublesome policy of privatisation. The Prison Officers’ Union will be equally pleased to say I told you so.
Each of us will have certain expectations about life as an older person. Our attitudes towards and knowledge of ageing can influence our desire and ability to plan ahead.
Take a quick quiz to find out – answer True or False?
An open letter from Murray Lord, CEO of MedicAlert NZ
“The completely avoidable death of Eunice Richardson is a major concern to MedicAlert® Foundation and to everyone I have spoken to on this matter.