A long time ago (you know the rest)

31.12.2015/01.38

Those great, shared cultural experiences. I’m sure some of you remember how ground-breaking it was in 1977 to see this film. Sure, we’d seen the actors in parts before, on TV, in some smaller films, but this one propelled them into greater stardom. The memorable tunes. One of the greatest cinematic antagonists. The fact we […]

Trump a creation of the media, not of ad spends

11.12.2015/11.18

This is by no means a blog post in favour of the Republican poll front-runner, although this graphic from Vox (not the old Vox that I used to be on) was very interesting: Jeb Bush's operation appears to have set $32.5 million on fire pic.twitter.com/dziA85tUAz — Vox (@voxdotcom) December 11, 2015 When I ran […]

Alarm für Cobra 11 changes direction again, with Daniel Roesner as Paul Renner

18.08.2015/10.26

Poor Vinzenz Kiefer. The co-star of Alarm für Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei, which commemorates its 20th anniversary next year, will be written out of the show, and not by his choice. Since the departure of Tom Beck as Ben Jäger a few years ago, the producers of the long-running German action series decided to […]

How a car accident makes you grateful

04.05.2015/10.40

The trouble with all the yellow-peril reporting that’s far more prevalent than it should be in Aotearoa is when something happens to you that may get people thinking about a stereotype. Back in March, of course, we had one writer justifying racism toward (east) Asian tourist drivers in the Fairfax Press, when the facts […]

A year of random thoughts: 2014 in review

29.12.2014/12.05

For the last few years, I’ve looked back at the events of the year in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. (In fact, in 2009, I looked back at the decade.) Tumblr’s the place I look at these days for these summaries, since it tends to have my random thoughts, ones complemented by very little critical thinking. They […]

Reacting to AJE’s Broken Dreams: are there parallels between GM and Boeing’s 787?

12.09.2014/03.10

Simpsons fans should be able to connect the above scene with the post below. I’m sure some of you watched the al-Jazeera English documentary this week on the Boeing 787, and how there are safety concerns over the models built in South Carolina. In summary, ‘Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit and reporter Will Jordan investigate Boeing’s […]

Why I ran

24.04.2014/08.55

In two elections, I told people some blarney on why I decided to run. In 2010: ‘I was working at Lew’s Diner and this guy had been picked on. I told him, “Stand tall, boy, show some respect for yourself. Do you think I’m going to spend the rest of my life in this […]

Google tracks your searches, and uses them, even when your web history is turned off

22.01.2014/12.19

My dislike of Google is no secret, and, as a precaution, I have every known Google tracking setting turned off. I even block the Doubleclick and YouTube cookies. However, I have to manage a page at Google Plus—and Google cleverly tracks you through its Plus service. It doesn’t lie about it: When you use […]

Open the shop and strip away the jargon

05.01.2014/02.31

I’ve been reading this Grauniad interview with Rory Stewart, MP, referred by Jordan McCluskey. I’m told that Stewart, and Labour’s Frank Field are the two worth listening to these days in British politics. On Stewart, someone who can speak with a Scots accent and has lived in Hong Kong must be a good bloke. […]

A tribute to Lewis Collins: the top ﬁve reasons he was awesome

28.11.2013/22.40

A small tribute to actor Lewis Collins on his passing earlier this week (originally published in Lucire Men). 1. The cars The Triumph Dolomite Sprint Lewis Collins’ character, William Andrew Philip Bodie (he was a ‘regal-looking baby’) had in The Professionals had more power than Doyle’s TR7. And his Capris were far cooler. So cool […]