We might get critical over the upcoming uniforms, but the service on Air New Zealand that I experienced was very good. The staff was brilliant (deserving of whatever award was given to them), and the personal screens remain a lifesaver for in-air boredom. (I was surprised that Lufthansa, an airline I used to enjoy flying, […]
Taxis signal how a local car industry is going
When Fiat was in the poo, I remember heading in to Italy and the cabs were a mixture of German and French cars, with a few Italian ones. Generally, it was a reflection of the state of the local motor industry: cab drivers are, perhaps subconsciously, patriotic and quite traditional. If they reject the local […]
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Hong Kong disappears from Cities I’ve Visited app?
I have a feeling something is wrong with Cities I’ve Visited on Facebook. (Actually, something’s been wrong for a long time, either with the application, Facebook, or something between the two.) Not only has it not published new cities I’ve entered on this most recent trip, I now notice that while the important metropolis of […]
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Rasrisk?!
This is a punny one for my Swedish friends. I know this is an innocent warning sign, but when a foreigner comes and he has a different skin colour, his mind wanders on what it could mean! Here’s a bit of humorous context about a very inappropriate sign at the National Bank in Wellington, […]
On the subject of copying
Saw this old Mikado commercial a few days back: and, after searching on YouTube, it appears that it was repurposed in Germany for a completely different product. Either that, or this came first: The top one seems to work better, probably because of the idea we have about conservative Japanese management. Any idea […]
Blogger to end FTP publishing; shift to Wordpress well timed
Blogger has announced that it will cease supporting its FTP publishing service, which means the shifting of this blog to Wordpress was well timed. It seems I would have had to shift in any case—the fact that this happened just over a month ago was fortunate. I received an email about this for the […]
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When Facebook robs you of having a profile pic
I will have more from my Swedish and French tour soon, but I will say that I had a marvellous time in Malmö and Lund on my first day in Sweden (especially getting a feel for Lund’s environmental programmes), Kristianstad and Hassleholm on my second, and on my return to Stockholm. A big-up to Stefan […]
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The advertising career of Audrey Hepburn
I can’t explain why I like the Steve McQueen Ford Puma ad and dislike this one with Audrey Hepburn, even though I think the world of both actors. In terms of tacky, I reckon this one takes the cake as a celebrity endorsement: Come to think of it, this is worse. I believe the original […]
Learned misbehaviours
Preparing for one of my Swedish speeches, I came across this, which I delivered in India in December 2008: If you ever get to read Michael Lewis’s writings about the US financial industry, you’ll learn that a lot of people within there do not know what they are doing or why they are doing it. […]
Convention holds us back, but Wellington wants to move forward
We all expected someone to go on about ‘experience’ sooner or later when it came to my mayoral campaign. Mr Bertrand Brown, I thank you for raising it in the comments at the Stuff website. And this is a genuine thanks, not one of those BS ‘with respect’ ones, as you signal that it’s time […]
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