Issue 137

..taciturn demeanour would be interpreted today as at least pathologically reserved, if not downright stand-offish. His behaviour even seems a little odd in the context of the era, but perhaps because I missed some of the early series I’ve also missed the rationale for the apparent chip on his shoulder. I wasn’t alive then, despite…

S P E C T R U M S P E C T R U M S P E C T R U M M I K E R U D D B I L L P U T T . C O MM M I K E R U D D B I L…

The Cathedral Boys’ Choir in 1958. Or perhaps 1957. I’m second from the top next to the pulpit and next down from me is David McPhail. Hamish ‘Gubby’ Guthrie is sixth down from the left. (Reproduced without permission from David McPhail’s auto-biography, The years before my Death).

..somehow there was a feeling of restrained animosity which no other religion engendered, probably because other religions existed only in the coloured pages of The National Geographic, in countries far removed and absolutely foreign. Many did not even speak English or wear proper trousers. To be frank, Christchurch in the 1950s and 1960s was not…

PayPal credit card facility available now! Issue # 41

Mike’s Pith & Wind cont. .. under my breath, I eventually opted for XL, and then spent another five minutes trying to find a Bonds’ five pack in the right size. I eventually found a pack of gaily-coloured XL cotton hipsters down the back of the L rack. By this stage I just wanted to…