Blog Archive 2024
Blog Archive
2024
December
Are you a dishwasher cutlery tray person? Or a cutlery basket person? What might this say about your personality?
Do you know what a purple squirrel is? Can I not believe in purple squirrels and be one at the same time? I'd like to try.
Gibbston Community is trying to be heard and learn what's afoot for our area. Local and central government are actively blocking flows of information in both directions. What's going on?
I'm always questioning my own beliefs, in this case about science, the importance of Marsden-funded undirected research and Judith Collins banning humanities and social science researchers from this fund. Do I care? Should you care?
November
Doing hard things...I seem driven to do them and I don't really know why. Does this happen to you? My latest hard thing is singer-songwriting performance with my cello.
Sharks 'attack' humans while humans 'fish' sharks. Why this differential in terminology? Are all our kills justified where the rest of the animal kingdom is not supposed to be killing us?
Journalists are a dying breed but journalism is one of the three legs of a functioning democracy. Where are the journalists going and what does this forecast for our society?
Is truth important? The re-election of Donald Trump for president, as someone disinterested in truth suggests truth is irrelevant. Where does this leave society?
The reach of AI continues to broaden...all material on the web is suspect and influencers don't need to be human. In fact, AI influencers may be more popular than humans. We know how we got here. Where are we headed?
October
Hard work - necessary evil? Worthy practice? Or both? One thing is in no doubt, great gardens require plenty of it.
The old adage suggests a picture is worth 1000 words. But how many of those words are true?
The government is galumphing rough-shod over community and environment with the Fast Track Bill. Worse, the short-listed projects looks like hand-outs to rich-listers, at least in the Wakatipu. It's a lolly scramble for the wealthy and here's what you can do about it.
Time for a typhoon? Can you trust the media to tell you accurately whether a typhoon is turning up? Can you trust the media to tell you anything with accuracy? Should you just have a coffee and see what happens?
September
We’ve been doing up this house, soon to display the much-awaited ‘Seagull Gate’. The scale of enthusiasm for our gardening versus our painting has been interesting – is it about the blue? Or something else?
We need more beauty in our built environment. This may, or may not, be painted seagulls on top of a gate.
At a young age I swore never to own a handbag, as a item linked with sexism, vulnerability and, for me, frustration when my mother could never find what she wanted in her handbag. I have kept my vow. Or have I?
A positive RAT test – a trip down a memory lane my brain is reluctant to take. How much things have changed since early COVID days (not that we had RAT tests in 2020)!
August
We make assumptions about people in milliseconds; how do those types of assumptions relate to Simon the Toyota Corolla and the Ford Everest? Read on to find out.
There's a famous quote saying that success requires far more perspiration than inspiration. I suggest success may also require some trickery – of oneself. Read on to find out how and why.
There was a social media storm over breaking at the Olympics; Australian competitor Raygun bombed out while claiming her goal was originality. But Sarah Nelson made her move 16 years ago!
What goes up must come down – this applies to (ex) Mayors, inflation and employment alike. NZ has to reduce employment to 'cool' the 'overheated economy'. How did we get here?
One third of the Canadian town of Jasper burned to the ground this week. New Zealand is still not properly waking up to the risk of wildfires, despite increasing numbers here. And, for so many problems, we want to research more than we want to take action. Why?
July
JD Vance, who's standing for VP of the USA, thinks the country is ruled by miserable childless cat ladies with no stake in the future? Maybe he's right...Taylor Swift has 3 cats and no children.
When you publically make a huge error of judgment, what should happen? Losing your platform, as happened recently to Kyle Gass when performing with Jack Black, is probably appropriate. So, what should happen to Trump?
When you see an escalating incident, you have to step in, don't you? Read on to find out about my exciting evening event in a car park.
Rishi Sunak's supposedly sent constituents an email from their future selves to persuade them to vote for him. What missive might I send this version of myself?
June
What do you sing to a bear five metres in front of you? And, if you had to choose, would you rather it was a bear or a man five metres away from you in a Canadian conifer forest?
We are related to everything on the planet, inaminate and animate, through our shared ancestry. Whether you believe this from a spiritual or earth science viewpoint, it seems self evident, doesn't it?
When can we use stereotypes as a useful heuristic to interact with other people? And when are stereotypes abhorrent? Some of the time? All the time? And would you put a pink flamingo in your garden?
What do dots, crickets and kissy faces have in common? They are all slang, slang having become as much written as spoken in the digital age. Read on to find out what they mean.
This week it was revealed John Key got to buy a $2 million dollar section in Gibbston Valley Resort for $400,000 to help with marketing. How long a stretch is it from ex-politicians influencing marketing to influencing political decisions? It may not be very far at all.
May
Life was pleasantly slow and coffee was cheap in Spain. And there were no takeaway coffee cups. Is this a state New Zealand could aspire to?
How woke is my meal? And how did we get to a point where we are concerned with the 'wokeness', or otherwise, of edibles?
Why did we walk from the the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Sea on the south coast of Spain? Probably no good reason, but that's humans for you.
Taylor Swift is as ubiquitous as AI but no more immune to its effects than the rest of the population.
April
How fast is AI developing? Faster than I, or Geoffrey Hinton – the 'father of AI' – would have believed. Here's a story of AI chatbots replacing friends that shifted from fiction to fact in less than 5 years.
There are so many ways to measure how far you have to walk, metric is easiest but links, chains and furlongs are entertaining.
Why the excitement over natural hydrogen that's bubbled up in New Zealand? Is this the clean green energy of the future? Or a speculator's dream? And why are Shane Jones and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer debating who might own it?
As well as seeing fantastic arctic Norwegian scenery, we've learned a little about Norwegian culture while ski touring. Here are some highlights…
March
Have the majority of humans collectively lost our sense of reverence for the wild? For environments we are not actively managing? Has sci-tech been a significant driver of that loss?
Why are human lives considered to be so much more valuable than lives of animals, whatever state a human is in?
What can you transport with a bike? Plenty, including a walking frame. And if you shift a walker on a bike what are you? Mad? Or lucky?
While depictions of the future showed robots doing our dirty work, AI is already taking over creative roles that people still want to do. What's happening and why?
Is disliking tourists in the Queenstown area biting the hand that feeds you? Who is essential to make a place in which one wants to live?
February
Empathy - how we connect with humanity. However, there are signs the stressors of our times make sharing our thoughts and emotions risky, impeding empathy. Read on...
What do we want? Do we want more when more is offered to us? I wrote a song about the too many coffee options available and this oversupply of choices turns out to extend to bras, BBQs and homes.
How easy is it to get sucked into thinking that your body looks wrong while forgetting what your body can do? How do you get your head out of that space? It's hard but the outdoors helps.
When you see a stranded whale how do you feel? Different cultures can have different reactions. And should we be sadder than when we squash an insect?
January
We're all looking for our path, including when we are staggering up a steep slope covered with tree fall. However, there's nothing that beats the satisfaction of getting to the top of the mountain.
Creatives don't have to retire, except perhaps they do when AI can do better than them. How soon will my role be redundant? Not yet...but maybe soon...
Who is in charge of your eating, your stress patterns, your emotions? You? Your microbiome? Or is it a joint effort?