Posted on September 25, 2026 Remember roundups of links? That was the original web logging, my friends. And I’m feeling old-school. I’ve often noticed how little time there is to cross the road at some intersections. I don’t know how New Zealand compares to the UK, but apparently around the world, crossing times are...

Posted on August 6, 2026 For a lot of us, as we get older, we end up with more of our parents’ stuff. In the beginning it could come as a welcome helping hand. You’ve moved into your own place and Dad’s been keeping that still-working toaster in the garage just for this occasion. And then the pace accelerates. Mum...

Posted on June 26, 2026 It’s time to bottle this year’s cider. I like my cider, and I think some other people do too. But. Is it good cider? I’ve been thinking about that. It doesn’t taste like much of the high end cider I can buy here. Mostly I think because at this point I don’t have access to cider apples. But,...

Posted on April 30, 2026 As always, this summer I had to net the figs. As soon as they began to ripen the birds noticed. How do you know a fig is perfectly ripe? A bird has eaten it. Figs are biblical. Certainly I enjoy eating figs under my vines, as Micah 4:4 extolls. Figs are laden with symbolism, with their sweet...

Posted on February 3, 2026 From late August to the end of September last year I was in Brazil. My purpose was to hang out with Mestre Roxinho and observe his work with the Bantu Cultural Institute, and to generally learn more about capoeira angola and its context. (If you didn’t know, I’ve been playing capoeira for...

Posted on January 1, 2026 Remember roundups of links? That was the original web logging, my friends. And I’m feeling old-school. It wasn’t deliberate to hold off until New Year’s Day, it’s just worked out that way. Please enjoy this random selection of holiday reading. I’m going to start with something nice, and...

Posted on December 23, 2025 This post was written as a guest post for Cycling in Christchurch. The version there has some good images nabbed from Streetview too. Last weekend I had an overnight trip to Auckland booked. So I thought I could ride my bike for once and save myself two days’ parking or a return Uber...

Posted on November 30, 2025 Remember roundups of links? That was the original web logging, my friends. And I’m feeling old-school. Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era — a troubling tale of fake journalism (which isn’t new) enabled by AI (which is) and a freelancer who was just a bit too...

Posted on November 29, 2025 Keen readers of this blog, if there are any, might remember that I have some great black runner beans. Obviously I planted some more this year. Not that I really needed to, because runner beans are a perennial, growing from a tuber, and indeed the vines from last year’s tuber are way more...

Posted on November 16, 2025 Remember roundups of links? That was the original web logging, my friends. And I’m feeling old-school. This poem by Denis Welch really stuck with me. Denis Welch! A byline you don’t see much these days. I thought I saw Keith in Mercer Street, striding along, fit on his feet, looking well...

Posted on November 14, 2025 After I set up my homelab I was casting around for ways to do monitoring and alerting. I didn’t want to use anything that was fiddly to set up, I did want something that could send email and ping my phone, and I wanted to be able to host everything myself. For notifications, I settled on...

A list of more interesting seed vendors in Aotearoa