A short history of tomorrow by Trevor Plumbly
The sun ain’t gonna shine anymore They’re all at it! Even my blog mates are doing the gloom and doom stuff, so I reckon it must be my turn to announce that the world is going to hell in a handcart. Like the man said back then, ‘The times they are a-changing’. I don’t mind change as long as it’s properly handled, but latterly I’m beginning to doubt the competence of the folk dishing it out. I’ve never had much truck with the ‘those were the days’ culture some oldies cling to,… Read More
Selfies by Trevor Plumbly
On reflection Looking in the mirror’s one thing, but when it comes to describing yourself it can get a bit tricky. Emily provoked this train of thought the other day after her second glass of Shiraz by blurting out, ‘We need to upgrade our bios; Christ I’m still 40 in mine.’ After a re-read, I had to agree. Those scanning that little puff-piece would think that I’m bloody spotless! It comes across like a eulogy in one of those new-age churches, delivered by a celebrant who had never met me. Who the… Read More
National Theatre review by Trevor Plumbly
The Christmas Special It’s the variety show and the gang’s all here: songsters, illusionists and comedians. We’ve got a political theme this year and it’s pretty high octane stuff for a small country. Donald and Boris may well have hoofed it in the world arena, but as the bard said ‘All the world’s a stage’, and remote as we are, we can still turn on a show. We don’t do clash of the Titans anymore, we use a casting system called MMP, a lot more suited to sub plots and insider trading…. Read More
Fairy tales by Trevor Plumbly
Once upon a time On arrival in NZ in 1971, my first impression was that of a country a bit like England in low gear, or if you ventured far enough afield, in reverse. ‘She’ll be right’ was more a statement of disinterest than reassurance while emotion was generally reserved to sporting matters. In short, we were a pretty placid, albeit boring, mob. These days we’re more in touch with the world and we can panic along with the best of them. What we used to call ‘eccentrics’ are now bona fide… Read More