ArchivesBy Author: Phil
Advance Australia Fair
I’m expecting to get quite a lot of flak from fellow Kiwi’s for what I’m about to say, but I’ll say it anyway…
Australia is awesome!
I haven’t been to Sydney since I was 6 or 7 and I’ve never visited Melbourne at all. So when a rather serendipitous set of circumstances set me on a Qantas flight bound for the other Great Southern land, I jumped at the chance.
Stunning Sydney
Even arriving in the middle of a fairly massive thunderstorm did little to dampen my spirits and within an hour we were checked into the conveniently located, mid-range Park Regis hotel.
+29Meet the new boss…
Well the UK 2010 election is now over…and at least it’s been an entertaining one.
As usual, the British version of “organisation” (known everywhere else as a “cluster-f*ck”) swung into play, with scores of people prevented from voting for a range of reasons including lost or insufficient ballot papers, lack of staff, resources etc.
+33Bangkok revisited (part 2)
Despite the rather full-on day I had yesterday, I was determined not to miss my planned excursion today. Even so, when the alarm woke me at 6:45am, it took some effort to drag myself out of bed.
Still, it’s amazing what an ice-cold shower and a decent breakfast will do, even without the coffee (no coffee, tea, coke or red wine for 10 days said the dentist) and by 8:30 I was on my way to the Chatuchak markets.
+22Bangkok revisited (part 1)
My second trip to Bangkok was undertaken with some degree of trepidation.
Shortly after I booked my tickets in early March, large numbers of supporters of the ousted president Thaksin Shinawatra started to congregate around the business and government districts of Bangkok. Similar protests had occurred during my previous visit just under a year ago but I had narrowly missed the worst of them; they were reported by the international press around the time I was gratefully dropping my bags on the floor of my parents’ place in New Zealand and I was a little stunned to see TV images of the police clashing with red-shirted protesters outside what appeared to be the hotel I had stayed in less than 24 hours previously!
+29So long…and thanks
Well, my time at the NPIA in Bramshill is now over. It was a very busy 9 months working at my favourite client site and I got a lot done, but as always time caught up with me.
I will miss the terrific team that I was part of, the fantastic site I was lucky enough to work at on and off for over 4 years, the fab meals and the challenging work.
Like any contract, it had it’s down sides on occasion, but on the whole I feel pretty lucky to have worked there.
Ah well – that’s enough looking back – time to look down the road.
So long folks – and thanks for all the fish.
+17The Catcher AND the Rye
The recently reported deaths of two post-modern heroes of our time, left me contemplating not only the diversity in their respective character makeup, but also the remarkable size of the contributions they made and the legacies they have left behind.
The Catcher…
The first of the two figures in question was J.D.Salinger, well known author of: "The Catcher in the Rye", which struck a worldwide chord with the young, by dealing with complex issues of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation.
+18Rant: Crappy new year
What a shite few months we’ve had!
A seemingly endless list of personal problems, work issues and general winter maladies left everyone pretty tired and depressed by the time Christmas rolled around and we were looking forward to some quiet time to recharge the batteries and get ourselves back on a more even keel.
Unfortunately it wasn’t to be.
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