Author Archive
Gonzo
I’m reading this oral history-style biography of one of my heroes, Hunter S. Thompson which I picked up at Real Groovy in Queen Street last weekend. Good book. I’ve been reading Thompson since being astonished by Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in the late1970s. I always found his writing worthwhile, particularly his political reportage [...]
Olly Newland on Morning Report
Hey, The Paepae ain’t PropertyTalk, and ain’t trying to be … but you may be interested in listening to one of my authors, Olly Newland, interviewed today on Radio NZ’s Morning Report. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Link to MP3 file for non-flash users (like moi). 3 Min 3 MB Olly’s latest column [...]
Europe: the ‘you have to act quickly’ sales pitch?
People who work in sales are familiar with the use of the ‘urgency’ or ‘impending event’ ploy to try to achieve a purchase decision. The sound of ‘I want to think about it’ is like finger nails on a blackboard to a salesman. Potential buyers use that statement or similar to put some distance between [...]
Bloggers v journalists
The blogosphere has been atwitter about a blogger who wanted her un-sourced ‘comments’ and denigration of a businessman to be protected under Oregon’s ‘shield laws’ — designed to stop legitimate news media from being compelled to reveal their sources. By far the best comment I’ve read about it was from Forbes’ Kashmir Hill in her [...]
Scrutiny and criticism starts at home
It is my belief that the writer, the free-lance author, should be and must be a critic of the society in which he lives. It is easy enough, and always profitable, to rail away at national enemies beyond the sea, at foreign powers beyond our borders who question the prevailing order. But the moral duty [...]
Oh Patrick Gower!
Well worth watching … 50 seconds of … well, of … Patrick Gower. You know, the [allegedly] ‘deceitful bastard’ ACT leader-on-the-skids Don Brash wouldn’t talk to — three times. Good on him. From TV3′s Firstline (full clip). Look how he cracks up Rachel Smalley … who sometimes indulges in a wee bit of humour [...]
Grumpies’ solution for the economy
This was emailed to me. Here it is, without endorsement or criticism, warts and all (although I think it’s a cut-and-paste. What ‘motor industry’?): ==START QUOTE== Dear John Key and Bill English, Please find below our suggestion for fixing New Zealand’s economy. Instead of giving billions of dollars to the banks, Iwi’s and others to [...]
Poor Siri caught up in an argument
A little swearing, but I had to chuckle at the tagline… See all the CollegeHumor Original Videos here. via stumbleupon.com
Is NZ’s international reputation as a democracy taking a pasting?
I started to reply to a comment by Craig, who suggested that if Bradley Ambrose is successful in his call for the High Court to declare the ‘cup of tea’ conversation “not a private communication” that that (in Craig’s view) would be “a sad day for privacy in this country” Oh yes? I thought. What [...]
Winston Peters Kelston speech
I heard comeback kid Winston Peters complaining today that his ‘clear as daylight’ Kelston speech hasn’t been adequately reported in the media. Here’s a copy of the speech notes that I had at the event (with my scribbled notes on the last few pages). I filed reports from the venue on what I saw as [...]
