Author Archive
Perception vs reality
He wasn’t the first to say it, but he was the first I heard say it, and he said it with such passion. Then Prime Minister1 Geoffrey Palmer, whose book Unbridled Power? was one of the texts I’d studied in politics at Victoria University, said, with feeling: “In politics, perception becomes reality.” — The Right […]
Our American cousins and their approach to the English language
I love words. Here’s the difference between the Oxford ‘British English’ Dictionary entry for the word antithetical* and Oxford’s ‘US English’ entry (arrowed): Quirky! Of course, when I think about it, a word like ‘syllabification‘ simply had to exist — but I’d not encountered it. (Perhaps I’ve led a sheltered life.) – P * a […]
Sharing secrets? Isn’t that kinda antithetical?
I spotted this graphic in an All Things Digital article about Whisper: Why Should You Care About Whisper, the Secret-Sharing App That VCs Are Pouring Money Into? And thought, yeah, it’s amazing how quickly ‘gossip’ (however you define that) gets around. If it’s a ‘secret’ people shouldn’t blab — but they do. There’s this irresistible […]
Good intent
I had my phone playing songs in alphabetical order on this morning’s loooong walk around the coast, thinking about aspects of online and public reputation … when this cool song, Good Intent by Kimbra (from her album Vows) played. – P PS Another version of the song here as a comment on my post Let […]
“… serious criminal offences …” *
From ACT Party insider Simon Carr’s slender volume The Dark Arts of Politics… In the end, despite attempts at distraction (or bluster) the evidence speaks for itself … and is often inescapable. For my own part, I try to be a reasonable person, remaining open to negotiation where possible. But only up to a point. – P […]
Oh zing!
Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber cherry-picks a review of Samsung’s ‘smart watch’ (for the full review, see: Samsung’s Galaxy Gear Watch) then sums up: About the best you could expect from Samsung without having anything to copy from Apple: overpriced, ugly, laggy UI, terrible battery life, dubious utility. Oh. – P
Unspeakably good satire about a serious matter
Ben Uffindell of The Civilian blog is seen as our latest Bright Young Thing of political satire — and rightly so. With his delightful mimicry of the ‘voice’ of news reporting (much like The Onion, although he’ll perhaps be tiring of that comparison) Ben manages to produce satire that is so soaked in verisimilitude that […]
Memorable quotes
“Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!” – Oliver Hardy, from the movie Sons of the Desert, 1933.
Speak up to save a life. (It may be your own.)
Here’s the link to the It Can Wait documentary
Fighting fire with fire. It may not always be effective, but one can understand the urge.
Auckland Law Revue parody of Blurred Lines. Entertaining and edgy. Good work. – P via @CaitinMoran Update: according the the NZ Herald, the three women are: Adelaide Dunn, Olivia Lubbock and Zoe Ellwood. Excellent. (Note the beefcake doesn’t get a credit.)
Honourable
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him; The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones, So let it be with Caesar … The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar was ambitious: If it were so, it was a […]
Groping for the truth
Why does a lie offend us? Why is it that a lie — especially a lie to our face — vexes us so? Our efforts to identify the veracity of a claim (sometimes a very basic claim), can be frustrated by liars and rogues. So much of our lives can be taken up with efforts to […]
Those Google glasses. Gee, you hardly notice them after a while …
Yeah, we’re not there yet. – P
Dealing with one’s disillusionment with an elderly man
Rolf Harris is innocent until proven guilty, of course. But it struck me as sad that prosecutors have said (as quoted): “We have determined there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.” Quite unrelated to Rolf Harris, I know the sharp pang of disillusionment one […]
Making up words to keep the patrons entertained?
Saw this visiting family in Wellington. I guess the locals are used to it, but I spluttered. – P
