Writers
Susan Grimsdell
After retiring from audiology some years ago, Susan’s finding life’s pretty good with lots of time to do what she likes. That includes walking, reading, having coffee with friends, and a bit of activism thrown in. Also, day by day doing her best not to worry too much over the many threats to our gorgeous planet.
Read Susan’s Blog
Trevor Plumbly
Meet Trevor. He’s had quite a colourful career, from his early days as a pub manager in Tunbridge Wells he went on to become Dunedin’s leading auctioneer. Trevor is a published author and was something of a TV personality in the 1980s as a regular panellist on a show about antiques.
Read Trevor’s Blog
Emily Smart
Emily is very loud, and has really bad taste in cheesy pop music. When not at work flogging goods to the public via advertising and marketing campaigns, she can be found hiding from her partner and children at the local pub. If you’re easily offended or don’t appreciate the constant use of profanities, then you probably shouldn’t read Emily’s posts. You have been warned!
Read Emily’s Blog
Angela Caldin
Angela has had many roles in her life including: schoolgirl, student, daughter, friend, civil servant, wife, lover, mother, manager, magistrate, landlady, teacher, grandmother, blogger, editor and proofreader.
Read Angela’s Blog
The latest
Finality by Angela Caldin
I’ll always remember the Christmas of 2022 because, a few days before, a friend of mine died and I felt her loss deeply. She died unexpectedly away from home, so there was no opportunity to say goodbye or to tell her what a good friend she had been. Suddenly she was gone, leaving a vast hole in my life. She had lived all her life in Auckland and took great pleasure in introducing us to lovely places. She took us to the Pah Homestead, an imposing old building now housing an art… Read More
The age of the PMLs by Trevor Plumbly
And the meek shall suck it up! It’s a time for forgiveness and tolerance, but I reckon it’s getting a bit tougher. The odd ratbag doesn’t worry me much, most seem to have some sort of excuse for their conduct, but Power Mad Loonies are self-made and there’s no way I’m going to kiss any of those bastards under the mistletoe (metaphorically of course). We’ve got the UN, NATO and the rest of the alphabet soup of protective agencies to stop us from slaughtering each other, but there are also deluded PMLs… Read More
Tough on the causes of crime by Susan Grimsdell
What makes a youth offender? I can never understand how people can vote for someone who doesn’t ever spell out the detail of what he (in this case) is going to do. Tama Potaka has just won the by-election in Hamilton West and all I’ve heard so far is that he is going to be “tough” on crime. What specifically does that mean? Shariah law perhaps? Nobody wants to be the victim of crime. But surely to reduce crime, we have to first understand what causes it? My son, and probably your… Read More
Christmas is coming by Angela Caldin
It’s the second of December as I write and I’m thinking about putting up my Christmas tree this weekend. Nothing unusual in that you might think since decorated trees have been appearing and Jingle Bells has been playing in the shops since about the end of October. But I have to admit that it’s unusual for me because for many years I was a Christmas curmudgeon. Everyone else in our street would have their tree twinkling in their front window from early December, but I would make my family wait until two… Read More
Free speech and hate speech by Susan Grimsdell
Absence of respect It’s interesting that those who clamour for the right to say anything they want are almost always people who want to say cruel hateful things about other people. They demand the “freedom” to spew out whatever racist, sexist, anti-semitic, anti-gay messages they want, whether in person or on social media. I’ve never heard anyone shout out for the right to express kind, generous, tolerant, respectful messages. We should remember how damaging hate speech is, and if anyone doesn’t know how to identify hate speech, the simple test is –… Read More
The Writers
We’re four Brits who made the big move from the UK to the other side of the world. We love New Zealand, the English language having a good laugh and the occasional moan. Ah, just read our posts and you’ll get the gist.
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