RobiNZ Personal Blog

Greg Johnson Vine Street Stories 30th Anniversary Tour

It was great to see Greg's Vine Street Stories 30th Anniversary Tour. live, so good. So nice of him to sign my first release 30-year-old CD! Although mostly listen to his box set digital files these days, hate streaming, I played it in the car on the drive home. Yes, my Abarth can still play a CD! Greg Johnson announces Vine Street Stories 30th Anniversary Tour Greg Johnson returns from Los Angeles in April 2025 for a six-date national tour celebrating his iconic album Vine Street Stories, originally released in 1995. Plus1 proudly presents Greg Johnson and band live in... Read more →

ANZAC Day, Great-Grandfather Ernest Theodore Bock, my Michael Palin's 'Great-Uncle Harry'

I recently 'read' Michael Palin's 'Great-Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire': Some years ago a stash of family records was handed down to me, among which were photos of an enigmatic young man in army uniform, as well as photos of the same young man as a teenager looking uncomfortable at family gatherings. This, I learnt, was my Great-Uncle Harry, born in 1884, died in 1916. I previously had no idea that I had a Great-Uncle Harry, much less that his life was cut short at the age of 32 when he was killed in the Battle of... Read more →

To the Prime Minister regarding Cabinet Health Reshuffle | Christopher Luxon | Simeon Brown

Sent to the PM and Health Minister: Sent: Friday, 24 January 2025 14:45 To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Subject: Cabinet Health Reshuffle Dear Prime Minister, Congratulations on your recent cabinet reshuffle, in particular the changes to Health. I call on you to support your stated faith in the NZ public health system by cancelling any personal or family private health insurance, using the public system without any priority or favour not available to others, and ordering the people listed below to do the same for the duration of their current appointments. Health Minister: Simeon Brown Health NZ Chief Executive:... Read more →

It's 2025 and you cannot read Car Magazine U.K. in a web browser

Having read it, paper or digital, since February 1979 (right) I was sad to cancel my Car Magazine U.K digital subscription when they stopped supporting browser reading. You can only read the 'digital print' issues on Apple or Android devices. I am sorry to advise that our digital version cannot be accessed through the website and our app is not compatible with laptops, desktops and/or Kindle devices. I have provided the list of the devices that supports our App. Please see the list below: Apple - iPad and iPhone Android - Sony, Nexus, Samsung, Acer, Asus, LG, Motorola, ZTE, Xiaomi... Read more →

It's simple, when you know how | simplicity living . kiwi

It was great to visit the Simplicity Living Productivity Hub today and learn more about how they are building high quality affordable rental (they'll own), and rent to buy (they'll fund) housing that I own 0.0000[insert many more zeros]001% of via a portion of my Simplicity Kiwisaver (retirement fund) and separate small Simplicity Homes and Income Fund investment %) Two pours today on their Te Reiputa site with 297 new one and two-bedroom apartments in Mt Wellington, Auckland. Introducing Te Reiputa - Simplicity Living's biggest project yet | Simplicity Simplicity Living's Te Reiputa Mt Wellington Site Even better all their... Read more →

Andrew Powell And The Philharmonia Orchestra... A Sony D50, Forty years on...

I saw a Facebook post on an Alan Parsons Project (APP) group wishing Andrew Powell Happy Birthday and remembered a lifetime of entertainment. As an industrial design student in 1983/84 I was fascinated by the brand-new CD technology being launched at the time. Went to look at the first of the Sony & Philips players on display at a hifi store in the Auckland, NZ, CBD. They had a tiny range of imported CDs on sale to support the launch and one was 'Andrew Powell & the Philharmonia Orchestra Plays the Best of the APP". I was already a fan... Read more →

Socially media influenced by Webworm's David Farrier!

Recently Substacker (Webworm), Podcaster (Flightless Bird), Director (Tickled, Dark Tourist, Mr Organ), former TV3 Journalist, David Farrier posted about dyeing his hair... (Quote from subscriber locked post used with permission) WEBWORM WITH DAVID FARRIER - The Origins of Rage I dyed my hair pink - then the angry comments began. DAVID FARRIER | MAR 30, 2024 | PAID Hi, I dyed my hair pink* this week. If I was being pretentious I’d say it was an art project. I’d used a pink-hair filter on social media earlier this month, which had people evenly split between “Oh my God you dyed... Read more →

A form I'll never fill out... UOA Body Bequest Section Two

Part of my 'doing things I should have done long ago' was actually organising donating whatever collection of atoms I comprise of at the end for a useful purpose. I'm not religious so consider once dead the container I formerly occupied is just that. Now the medical school get first refusal, then transplant donations etc. if they don't want it. Still felt a bit odd to look at part two of the UOA Body Bequest form and wonder when and how it will be filled out... Read more →

Over a century, and about a week, of memorials...

It's ANZAC day today and my Great Grandfather, Ernest Bock, was one of so many who went to war and didn't come back. On Saturday I attended the celebration of Paul Rodler’s life. A work colleague, friend, who drove to work on Monday 17th April and, after a tragic road collision, didn't come back. Although we both left TWG a few years ago still used to catch up occasionally. Last time, in early Feb, he gave me heaps (as was his style) for turning up to dinner on a bicycle, on my work bike/train commute, even more so when I... Read more →

My inadvertent long-term sleep experiment | Time Out 2021-22 After

I've been wearing a Samsung Active 2 Watch to track sleep for several years and inadvertently, combined with lifestyle changes, it became a sleep behaviour experiment. The Samsung Health app popped up a summary, 12 months of records from my year of mostly cycle touring, and I realised it could answer a question I had long wondered about. While the sleep records of a consumer device are probably not that accurate, given it has all been with the same device, they are likely consistently inaccurate so can still be used for comparison. My 'normal' sleep, or not... I've always been... Read more →