Spectrum of information

2025-07-23

I was surprised to learn, not long ago, that my wife, and all my children consider me to be 'on the spectrum'.

The bard and the maiden

2025-07-16

A funny thing happened today, at the Cambridge Farmer's Market.

You've got to have a plan

2025-07-09

Well actually, I've lived most of my life without one; turned up in NZ for the first time in 1980, and apart from a few trips home, have been here ever since.

Inconvenient truths...

2022-01-18

Creationism vs evolution - Christopher Hitchens (a while ago now - he died in 2011) said 'The debate is over'.

Valuing our resources

2021-11-30

I wrote, a couple of weeks ago, of my boatbuilding escapades and the large Kauri beams which sit on the floor of my garage pending incorporation into the structure of the boat.

A new life for my kauri

2021-11-16

I'm doing a bit of recycling. Actually I am building a boat, but bear with me.

Vax and fiction

2021-10-05

There seems to be a fair bit of anger in the community directed towards the prime minister.

Yesterday when I was young

2021-09-21

Someone said to me at the weekend that the world is in a mess.

Seeing the whole of the moon

2021-09-14

I like the idea of the pen being mightier than the sword but I guess it rather depends on whose hand wields the pen.

Traffic Flow in Cambridge

2025-07-03

In 2017 Cambridge got a new roundabout, courtesy of the NZTA, at the intersection of Hamilton Road and Victoria Street, next to St Andrews Church.

The perils of the morning walk

2025-06-26

I went to the doctor last week and she prescribed Escitalopram - an anti-depressant.

How people cope

2021-09-07

Lockdown is tough, more so for some than others.

Examining the waste

2021-08-31

Having developed, in recent years, a desire to be a better global citizen, less wasteful and more caring for the planet on whose surface we scrabble, I was particularly struck by a recent event.

Follow the guidelines

2021-08-24

Here we are again. Whilst none of us are, I'm sure, entirely happy about it, can we at least agree that it is necessary? I mean, what's the alternative?

Our changing world

2021-08-17

It seems trite to moan about recycling soft plastics in Cambridge NZ when across the world people are dealing with such crises as the earthquake in Haiti, unprecedented rainfall and flooding in Japan,

Here's the ammunition...

2021-08-10

As I write, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is about to publish their latest report. I reckon it should be called

Time to take a lead?

2021-08-03

The biggest manufacturer, in the world, of plant based meat is called Beyond Meat. The founder of Beyond Meat is called Ethan Brown,

Money to watch the world go round

2021-07-27

Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos have both recently returned from the edge of space.

Why we must work together

2021-07-20

After the Howl of a Protest which swept through Cambridge and the rest of the country last Friday,

On the right track

2021-07-13

We boarded the train en famille at Frankton last Saturday morning at the start of our 'winter break',

Doing it by the book

2021-06-29

On the occasion of a recent birthday I was given a copy of a newly published book. It's called 'Climate Aotearoa - What's happening & what can we do about it'.

The gulf between us

2021-06-22

I wrote recently about timescales and how we sometimes refer to mind-bendingly long periods of time in convenient terms like the 'Cambrian explosion'

Car package works for me

2021-06-15

I have, on a couple of occasions, had cause to write to Jamie Shaw who is now the minister for climate change.

The truth is ...

2021-06-08

I became vegetarian about four years ago. There were two reasons.

Giving with one hand

2021-05-25

The act of sending any person to person mail or parcels through NZ Post is now carbon neutral.

An hour of rubbish.

2021-05-18

Apparently I am grumpy on Tuesday mornings. That's because Tuesday is rubbish day and we have to get our rubbish bags out on the street by seven o'clock in the morning.

A moment in time.

2021-05-04

Cast your mind back 541 million years. That was when the Cambrian explosion began.

Time to wake up.

2021-04-27

In preparation for this week I had a look through my notes file and found this paragraph:

It's tough being responsible.

2021-04-20

At the dinner table last night the conversation turned to the pandemic and the observation was made that this time last year we were in Level 4 lockdown.

How about an aviation tax?

2021-04-13

A study published last year concluded that half of the CO2 emitted by the global aviation industry is caused by flights taken by just 1% of the population.

You don't convince me.

2021-04-06

Oh dear. I appear to be stirring things up a bit.

Those scientific facts.

2021-03-29

I've received a few emails recently in response to this column, all so far disagreeing with what I say.

Time to accept reality.

2021-03-23

In the foreword to the recently released United Nations Environment Programme report entitled 'Making Peace with Nature',

Going green by default.

2021-03-16

Something surprising has happened recently in Switzerland.

Getting our priorities sorted.

2021-03-09

There is a lot of hype about Harry & Meghan.

Emergency stop

2021-03-02

When I took my driving test in England in 1979, one of the compulsory manoeuvres was an emergency stop.

Actual reality - deal with it.

2021-02-16

Standing in the shower this morning, I was thinking about reality and its different forms.

Kaitiakitanga

2021-02-09

Brazil loses around 10,000 square kilometres of rainforest per year.

Hello and welcome to 2021

2021-01-19

This morning, on the last day of our holiday, I had a slight shift of perspective.

Finally - the good news

2020-12-22

Sitting at my desk, about to pen my last column for the year, I confess I have no clue what I am going to write next.

Recycle - is it or isn't it?

2020-12-15

We had the annual work do at our house last week; and very pleasant it was too.

On the verge of stupidity

2020-12-08

Travelling on the Southern Motorway last night, towards the Bombay Hills,

Good news - or is it?

2020-12-01

Scanning through the news this morning, I noticed an article on BBC News which claimed 'One of biology's biggest mysteries 'largely solved' by AI.

Don't believe what you read

2020-11-24

It must be the internet - so much information so easily.

Conflicted emotions

2020-11-16

Many years ago a lawyer said to me that the most tiring thing about being a lawyer in his line of work, which was the family court, was permanently being in a state of conflict.

Blind to the specs ...

2020-11-09

I think I lost an argument with the wife last night.

Plastic - How fantastic?

2020-11-02

Great news: Plant-based milk bottles. Fonterra have announced new fully recyclable milk bottles made from sugarcane.

A forcing of nature

2020-10-27

I like a nicely mown lawn, and a tidy garden. So when the sun came out a couple of weekends ago I had no excuses left.

Meat the greens

2020-10-20

Someone said to me a while ago - I'm not a greenie. Fair enough, one doesn't have to be a greenie. But what does that mean?

As simple as 1-2-3

2020-10-13

I've been thinking about the concept of 'indifferent consequence'.

And now for the 'good' news

2020-10-06

One of, if not the only, benefit of flying as close to the deadline as I habitually do is that I can change what I am planning to write at the last minute. My story of two neighbours will have to wait.

On the path of least resistance

2020-09-29

I called in to the dairy at Hautapu yesterday and spotted a poster on the notice board. It was advertising the new Sharing Shed at Country Creche,

It's a yes from me.

2020-09-22

Cannabis. Should we make it legal or not? I say we because we are shortly going to vote on the issue and that vote will determine the answer to the question.

It's not our problem.

2020-09-15

Broadly speaking, my brief is to write a weekly column, with the odd digression, on environmental issues.

Reading the blurred line.

2020-09-08

Since being asked to tackle 'End of Life' this week I have been thinking about how to present my thoughts.

Can we be bothered?

2020-08-24

I wonder if this is it. All this interminable rain - is it climate change or just some inclement weather?

Keeping us in the dark.

2020-08-17

Having dropped the kids off at school this morning, I found myself behind a milk delivery truck.

Food farms: Good for the planet?

2020-08-08

Let's peer into the future for a moment, but before we do, let's look at some recent events.

Examining the greenness.

2020-08-03

What a day. It started at home in Cambridge. I had to go to work for an hour, and then pack up the car and the family and drive south,

My beef with some burgers.

2020-07-27

One step forward, two steps back. France has announced a ban on outdoor heating which will come into force after the northern winter.

Gaga on Gaia - or not.

2020-07-20

I've been a bit conflicted this week. I read an article online about the proponent of the Gaia theory,

The public gets what the public wants.

2020-07-13

Hats off to Diageo. Who? Diageo - a British corporation with an annual revenue of GBP£12 billion (NZ$23 billion).

It's free: But we don't use it.

2020-07-06

Back in 2006 some very clever people using some very clever techniques worked out how much solar energy is available here on earth.

Can we reach this goal?

2020-06-29

I wrote, a couple of weeks ago, how rich people consume proportionally more resources than non-rich people.

Losing the keys to life.

2020-06-24

We all know that society is dependent on technology.

Benefits of the burbs.

2020-06-17

Last weekend we finally finished moving into our new house,

Time for confession.

2020-06-08

Here was a dilemma, and me on the horns of it.

Boom times are making way.

2020-06-01

Whilst researching this week's column I was surprised to learn that I am a baby boomer.

Your vote really does count.

2020-05-25

In our house we recycle everything we can

The elephant in the waiting room.

2020-05-18

In the wake of Grant Robertson's $50bn recovery budget there have been, amongst other reaction

Now to the world's real problems.

2020-05-11

As the world begins to emerge from lockdown and strives to get back to normal,

Just take what you need.

2020-05-04

I have said in this column that I think our government has handled the Covid19 situation very well.

In Jacinda we trust.

2020-04-27

There can be no doubt that New Zealand's approach to the Covid19 pandemic has been successful so far.

It's just nature.

2020-04-13

I like to claim that I don't waste my time trawling through the often mind-numbing pithicisms which litter the avenues of social media, but the truth is that sometimes I do.

Here's more food for thought.

2020-04-06

I had planned to base my column this week on a few questions like:

Time, and lists, on our hands...

2020-03-30

As we settle in to lockdown, there's a joke doing the rounds:

We can do it - but only when it suits.

2020-03-05

Interesting times. I refer, of course, to the currently rampaging Covid-19

The good news and the bad news

2020-02-06

In my last column I said I was feeling a lot better about the future of the planet because economics will take care of the tough decisions, and I believe that is true.

By George I think he's got it.

2020-01-02

When the evidence points to the necessity for a change of mind then a change of mind it will have to be.