..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…

I’m personally not convinced that vitamin supplements are a vital adjunct to modern living and I decided to give up taking vitamins more than twenty years ago with no noticeable ill effects – which didn’t entirely surprise me as they’d had no noticeable positive effects over the period I took them either. That’s not to…

..a bigger audience than TV. The second series ‘The Red Planet’, the one of which I have the best vague recollection, was optimistically set in the early ‘70s, a choice of era that showed a refreshing trust in the rapid and useful advance of technology heralded by the V1’s one-way trip from Peenemunde to London….

.. we don’t for that matter. One of my more amusing NYE experiences was in Christchurch a few years ago, when the weather was so miserable the council cancelled the planned public celebrations and everyone went home early. New Year’s Eve is just not that big a deal. However, ticking over into 2007 does give…

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…

.. in the first century BC and capture by pirates might have been described as ‘an occupational hazard for Roman aristocrats* . Among their more celebrated captives was Julius Caesar who, when the pirates demanded a ransom of twenty talents, indignantly claimed he was worth fifty. He also told his captors that that he would…

..would be wool blend socks because pure woollen socks do tend to hole rather quickly and the little woman darning your socks by the light of the fire late at night is way out of fashion, not to mention totally un-PC. They do blend wool with some exotic materials these days, such as possum fur…

There is no doubt that the Sydney CBD lacks the culinary variety that Melbourne has in spades and alleys. This particular alleged restaurant was located on the third floor at the top of an extremely steep set of stairs, which ended up being my most strenuous exercise for the week. Malcolm is a bit larger…

.. to be some sort of ‘interruption in the data flow’ and that somebody would look at it over the next two working days. So, when I can make an excuse to go to somebody’s place with a working Internet connection, I’ve been sending off another instalment of our monthly e-mail on their PCs. That’s…

It has been a hard won battle to gain a universal suffrage and all the associated democratic rights and responsibilities. It is imperfect, but to bring out the Winston Churchill chestnut yet again ”…. it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried…

.. tour I’m involved in at the moment – even older than Brian Cadd – and I was reminded of this fact when having one of my several chats with fellow MOTE guest singer and ‘male, independent Australian singer-songwriter based in Melbourne’, Lior. I’m nearly twice Lior’s age, (he turned 36 a couple of weeks…

that there is a world where you could travel where everything looks much the same, where there is no sense of place. Just the same experience. The perfect model is the airport where pretty much no matter where you are it is deliberately the same experience. Many travellers must wonder whether the plane merely flew…

..the easement – I think we might’ve even gone home for lunch on occasions. Our home’s proximity proved crucial in one particular incident when, in my self-appointed role as boy-with-the-tightest-belt-in-school and in the middle of a game of bar-the-door in the school yard I suddenly felt my belt snap and my shorts come dangerously close…

…death. Over half a century later it is still a very vivid memory. Perhaps as a consequence I have little sympathy for the live animal trade. Over the years, we have seen sheep by the thousands die in ships on the way to the Middle East in hot and inadequately ventilated ships and now the…

..serviced in anticipation. I was about 10,000 k overdue, which is unusual for me but reflects the precarious state of my income stream. I had it done here at home for the first time by a mobile mechanic, and so far it’s all good. It was probably half my usual cost and I know for…

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…

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…

..are hotly contested, in the same sense that having the first case of syphilis might be contested. Was it the Market Square in Lake Forest built in 1916 or the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City in 1922? Perhaps Highland Park Shopping Village built in 1931 in Dallas, which turned its back on the street…

..my objections, and I think it’s more likely she might mention them to somebody now that I cold-heartedly aborted the call. Not that it will make the slightest difference to the quality of questionnaires in the short term. Flouting the convention of poll questions being couched in neutral language is just one of the downsides…