Posts by Joe Wylie
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Southerly: Things to be Grateful For: A…, in reply to Marcus Turner,
I downloaded that for a friend of the teutonic persuasion a while back, who blurted out "That's beautiful!" at about 5 seconds in, before remembering that they were supposed to laugh at it.
-
Southerly: Things to be Grateful For: A…, in reply to David Haywood,
Refrigeration included at no extra cost: $450 per week. No vegetarians.
Perfect spot to chill out & chew the fat.
-
Southerly: Things to be Grateful For: A…, in reply to Steve Barnes,
I was wondering if the rapid growth may be a precursor to such an event.
It's what I thought of when you mentioned it. I've only seen bamboo flowering twice, once in the late 70s in Wellington, and about 10 years later in the Auckland area. Typical grass flowers, turning to seed heads like rye grass. In both cases it was that common running variety that's a noxious weed in places like Greymouth district (I've seen it overwhelming native bush near Blackball). Something triggers its clock and there's a mass flowering followed by the big die-off. Bad time to be a panda.
I remember a dismal rainy drive through drawn-out Dargaville where there was a lot of bamboo up farmhouse driveways etc. It looked as if the place had been hit with agent orange. Apparently some of the non-running varieties have become so dependent on suckering that they've never been known to flower.
-
Southerly: Things to be Grateful For: A…, in reply to David Haywood,
Wow, that’s some pretty photography, Joe! As opposed to my holiday snap talents…
Mine too, actually. There are a few crash-hot local pictakers I know of, but only one dedicated enough to hit the snowy streets at 4 a.m.
Really envy Bob's igloo, btw.
-
Southerly: Things to be Grateful For: A…, in reply to Steve Barnes,
No takers on the Bamboo question then?
Can't help as it's too cold in these parts to grow any really interesting bamboos, though I fondly recall the fun I had when I gardened in warmer climes - bambusa latiflora got as thick as Arnie's, um, wrist in Grey Lynn. Wonderful stuff. The only mishaps were when they flowered - and, of course, died, though only the wretched running varieties ever seemed to do that. When it happened just that particular variety for miles around would bolt to seed and die.
-
Chch, crack o' dawn, no demolition happening.
-
Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
every person who converts from car to bicycle will...
...free up more air for people to breathe - as it won't be imprisoned in larger car tyres!!
For a moment there I thought you might be outing yourself as one of those old-school Mennonites that are reputed to reject pneumatic tyres because of a belief that it's wrong to "capture God's air."
Seems the real reason is that with steel wheels they would not be tempted to use the tractor for transportation.
-
Speaker: This is your National Library, in reply to paynter,
Also, people tend to think of their ancestors as old people, as old as they are when they die. But you're more likely to get into the Court News when you're young.
So they did, occasionally : )
Something that was really big with the kids about a century ago was the childrens' pages. In their heyday they were like an early 1900s Facebook. Unfortunately it's difficult to identify people as they used pseudonyms (Cupid, Awkward Ned, Arohanui, etc.). The best gold I struck was when a female ancestor, who I remembered as a very old lady from my childhood, had her identity inadvertently revealed in the Dot's Little Folk section of the Otago Witness. Once I'd realised who she was I found a series of exquisitely detailed letters about her life in Brunnerton.
From a few years later I found the account of the court case of the Englishman who married her and fathered her only child, while neglecting to mention that he already had a wife in the old country. He got six months for bigamy, but the stigma blighted the rest of her life. A couple of older folks, who'd dismissed her as "that poor old thing" who'd spent much of her later years washing dishes at the Wellington gentlemen's club, were visibly moved to discover how beautifully she'd once written about her hopes and dreams.
-
Speaker: This is your National Library, in reply to Lisa Black,
How about the handy tips from "Mr Amies, the Levels Road bird poisoner" - presumably his official title.
-
Almost forgot to say how great Papers Past is. Joel Crayford's recently pulled some excellent Christchurch quake-related material from the vaults.