Art by Ornulf Opdahl.
“You can draw, and probably better than I can.” An oldie but a goodie from Ebert.
My new favourite YouTube channel might just be TheReportOfTheWeek. Snappy suits and fast food reviews… what’s not to like?
A death sentence is “the last sentence you read before decisively, or agonizingly gradually, abandoning a book.”
Teaching my boy to drive on roads I helped design and build is kinda cool.
“If you’ve ever set out on a ride, a run or a hike with a head full of problems, you know it’s more effective than any therapy that exists.” A good vid on the benefits of mountain biking and other outdoor recreation.
Art by Paul Chadeisson.
Judging from the confusion I’m seeing at Inland Revenue right now they don’t get too many calls from dads wanting to increase their child support payments.
Recently.
Films watched in autumn:
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
Rosemary’s Baby
Fish Tank
Leaving Neverland
The Witch
Farmlands
Zodiac
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
The Big Short
Apollo 13
Straw Dogs
Looking fine, M95.
Thursday’s done and I have four days off woot
“Dad, why is it New Zealand? Shouldn’t it be Old Zealand?”
Tikitapu this eve.
Earlier this month I biked the Waihaha, Waihora and K2K trails on the western side of Lake Taupo… 10/10 would ride again.
Just applied beard oil for the first time and now I smell of rich mahogany and am kind of a big deal.
I wanted to try to write something profound today but all I have is this: I am now 50 years old, and I am grateful for this one life of mine.
One of my teenagers often wants to turn on closed captioning when we watch films and shows together, and I usually say no because I find it distracting. Turns out I should really be saying yes.
Every Kiwi kid learns about Anzac Day. Schoolroom lessons are made of the beaches and cliffs at Gallipoli. We know about the trenches and mud and machine guns, and we know about the killed and wounded soldiers. We know about the poppies.
For me Anzac Day is tied to the year more, and means more, than any other holiday. Christmas and Easter are hijacked seasonal rituals, entirely out of sync with our southern winters and springs. Halloween, that candy-coated newcomer, ostensibly celebrates the dead exactly at the time our days are warming and lengthening and we should be celebrating life and the coming summer.
Anzac Day alone feels right, coming as it does in the last week of April when the days cool and shorten and the trees turn red and lose their leaves. We gather together in the pre-dawn to remember our fallen, even as the sun rises once more to remind us of all that is good in the day.
And when we know about the poppies, there is plenty of good in the day.
This, from Ella Francis Saunders:
You see, you are not so soft after all; you are rock and wave and the peeling bark of trees… When you put your best foot forward, you are taking the north side of a mountain with you.
A couple of good videos about the historic black hole image: Why it’s such a big deal, and how to understand it.
Astronomers have captured the first-ever image of a black hole… this is a monumental achievement.
I said, “I feel like I’ve finally got my shit together.” I said it and I didn’t believe it. I don’t think any of us really get our shit together, ever. We try, and that’s all we can do. The rest is not our business.
I turn 50 in one month, and I keep trying.