Public Address | Cafe | Summer Holiday

wayoutwest

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 13:26:14 +1300

tell ya something ...surf life savers used to be real naff in their speedos, crew cuts, and stupid bathing caps , completete with that ridiculous tow line reel theyd run to the shore with to do a rescue..but times they have a changed . Now you see em hovering here…

reece palmer

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 16:31:08 +1300

Yeah, I've seen what to my untrained soccer eye look like some mean as latin and asian players down at viccy park on a saturday or sunday, skills to burn.

Russell Brown

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 14:37:58 +1300

3 Sitting eating takeaways at Western Springs one evening, watching a group of Indians/Pakistanis/Sri Lankans? in a not-so-casual game of tennis ball cricket.

Yep, I've seen some serious games like that. I'm looking forward to those immigrant communities strengthening our player base. In theory we should see the same thing…

James Bremner

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 13:07:24 +1300

In Whitianga for 2 weeks vacation. New Zealand certainly is a beautiful place, I am struck by the bright colors and strong contrasts everytime I come back.
Weather has been good, temps warm, sea flat so we have had several days of good boating. A bit overcast today, not a…

Robert Harvey

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 09:22:50 +1300

Delights:
1 Westmere – the people whose xmas display is formed from suitably coloured soft drink cans, arranged into a tree and at first, xmas greetings, then happy new year. Not to mention the wry comment on coca cola's co-opting of xmas' style, and on Franklin Road (and others) conspicuous…

Hamish

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 17:19:32 +1300

Would you believe – New Years eve in the Whitsunday islands: the rain that started to pour at 10pm would have ruined things, if the stomach flu and migrain hadn't already done the job. Probably caused by excessive drinking on the previous 17 days in Sydney and Brisbane.

Rose Gordon

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 01:19:26 +1300

Snoopy's Christmas bellowed by visiting cuzzie stretched out in the tatami room. Frozen NZ greenshell mussels from Costco and chook from the euphemistically named "Sakura Farms."

New Year in HCM City navigating the roundabout with 15 billion scooters. Controlled chaos. Dinner at 5 floored local eatery specialising in seafood. Loud,…

Sam F

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 21:34:49 +1300

Currently spending my first January out of the country, in Changchun, China with my girlfriend and her parents. We went on a ten-day trip to Xi'an and Beijing just before Christmas – saw the Terracotta Army, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and so much more – ran out…

reece palmer

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:29:51 +1300

wait and see i guess, but they have proven to be past masters at rising to an occasion when least expected but also for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory also. Never mind super 14 in a month, those boys are going to feel it.

Emma Hart

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:38:44 +1300

Heh, you can go back to calling me Ghet if it makes us both more comfortable... And yeah, it was subtly done and I think it worked, but then I'm a big fangrrl so I would.

And Reece? Yeah. My 'it could be worse, we could be English' mantra is…

Span .

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 11:54:37 +1300

Hmm I'm not sure how I feel about the Eccleston hard edge on good ol' Tennant, but I think it's probably time. Too fluffy for too long and it'll be too far from the fanbase maybe. Nothing wrong with a bit of bitter. Thanks for the heads-up EH :-)

reece palmer

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 20:58:18 +1300

Just got home from the cricket at eden park. How embarrassment!

Emma Hart

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:45:02 +1300

Summer finally got here. Yesterday the asphalt burned my feet, the raspberry canes scratched my leathery '80 year old Australian cattle drover' forearms all to shit, and not one of the boys who stalled their SUV at the traffic lights by Countdown was wearing a shirt, bless 'em.

Then we…

reece palmer

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 01:04:10 +1300

The few Christmasses that I've spent away from Family have been very relaxing and without stress. I enjoy them. At the same time I enjoy my family also, although finding out that my uncle had taken my families vinyl collection to the dump (a crime against music) was something of…

Brenda Leeuwenberg

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 22:55:10 +1300

This year's Xmas for me was in Vienna and very Austrian and very traditional. Each action of the evening stretched back thru family history – the decorations, the tree, the presents process (in the evening!!), the singing around the tree, the different drinks for each stage. Except, bizarrely enough the…

Russell Brown

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:57:59 +1300

... stayed in a cheap but great hotel in auckland ...

Which was, for future reference?

Peter Hunter

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 11:25:59 +1300

We had a friendly, family affair with ALL the kids (3) back from their respective 'other' homes; and my partners parents, her brother and his partner over. Seafood food mmmmmmmmmm. Sure, the weather wasn't what I remember from my childhood, but we had lots of fun and fellowship.
Came back…

Che Tibby

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 10:16:17 +1300

last year i did exactlywhat jo did and just chilled on the couch. watched old star wars dvds, played xbox, and ate a roast chicken for lunch.

bliss.

this year was however endless relatives. that said, i also dived the poor knights, drove up to cape reinga and looked at…

Andrea Wilson

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 08:02:34 +1300

Was a slightly strange one this year in London .. stranded with our friends in more interesting climes we couldn't quite face the traditional british get pissed and watch telly approach on our own.

We saw an add for a christmas day cycle which came near our place.. so at…

Felix Marwick

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 21:50:40 +1300

Thank God there's another one!

Cheers Jo :)

Jo_Eggers

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 17:15:34 +1300

I too, spend Christmas alone ... and LOVE it!

I cook myself a great meal and then go out to a movie. No hassle, no screaming kids, no fighting relatives..... nice and easy.

Sure just like Felix above, I have a chance to spend Christmas with others – and I…

Felix Marwick

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:28:58 +1300

Well I'm one of those anti-Christmas people so I guess it's time to for a grinch to have his say.

I've never been a fan of the whole family get together and, to be honest, many others in my family feel the same way. Don't get me wrong they're great…

Span .

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 10:02:51 +1300

Heather, how did you guess with the Whitcoulls? Spooky.

I didn't work at St Lukes (thank all the deities), but for two Xmases we took over the shop next door and had a Xmas shop – a new brand of torture, as not only did we have only one Xmas…

Belt

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:22:50 +1300

DPF holidays in Golden Bay. Days later – reports of Rock Snot in the Takaka river.

You connect the dots...

Heather Gaye

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:04:17 +1300

I certainly didn't enjoy it much when I worked in retail and we didn't have any children around on Xmas day.

Yeah, I guess that nails it – the presence of all the bad elements & absence of the things that make it really good. I definitely noticed a change in…

Span .

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 18:23:06 +1300

Given that blogs are often all about sharing the hate, I guess it's probably inevitable that a lot of bloggers will complain about christmas.

I certainly didn't enjoy it much when I worked in retail and we didn't have any children around on Xmas day. While the food was always…

Heather Gaye

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:50:10 +1300

Back at work now – my choice, although I was expecting/hoping for a quieter office this week. Staff numbers don't seem to have diminished at all. Most distressed to discover that every coffee stop between me and my work is closed until next week, unless I can spare 15 minutes…

Span .

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:47:21 +1300

I used to love working the stats too, although I haven't worked one since the new legislation came in for both time and a half and a day in lieu. But then I used to take very few holidays at all, at one point they had to pay me out…

Robyn Gallagher

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 13:54:25 +1300

Time-and-a-half and a day in lieu

Somewhere, in a far corner of my mind, is the memory of one of those classic Kiwi summer holiday things. The one with the beach and the Pohutukawas in bloom and the simple bach and the barbecue and the beach cricket.

But it's a…

Patrick Lilly

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 20:56:54 +1300

Christmas was the usual extended family affair, although considering I had been on holiday since the beginning of November it hardly seems like a bona fide Summer Holiday. Summer School starts on Thursday, I'm taking a course on European Union politics; it seems like a nice way to spend warm…

John Holley

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:06:16 +1300

Well Christmas day was at our place with some English friends who have been in NZ for about 5 years – so we had a laid back lunch/dinner on the deck with too many nibbles, a huge salmon done on the BBQ, too many deserts and lots of great NZ…

Paul Capewell

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 15:59:19 +1300

Christmas was almost non-existent, but all the better for it. New Years has been interesting – I'm sat on the sofa in Glasgow at 3am on New Year's Day, the only thought in my head about maybe having another cigarette, none of this 'oh whatever will the new year bring'.…

Span .

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 12:28:34 +1300

Well my holiday's over already, in the away-from-town sense. Now I'm back home belatedly catching on to that mp3 thing due to the player I scored for Xmas (what a great opportunity to procure all those terrible songs you were too embarassed to actually purchase -Girls Aloud anyone?).

The holiday…

anjum rahman

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 17:25:48 +1300

kia ora all

well i'm in malaysia, and yup, it's raining. but it hasn't been all rain, and the consolation is that i'm staying in a mini-palace, with 2 full-time maids, a part-time gardener, a driver and sundry other luxuries. it just goes to show, when you're rolling in money,…

reece palmer

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 10:31:07 +1300

please to be obliging, substitute their for they're, in lieu of edit feature.

reece palmer

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 10:29:37 +1300

So in clarification, Deborah Coddington and the English cricket team should be sponsored by Kirby vaccuum cleaners because their both overrated, overvalued, but in reality they just suck.

reece palmer

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 10:27:39 +1300

I'm pretty sure it is, because it's something that has been happening for years and well before macdeath opened up there. It's a kind of dirty exhaust smell as you come down the hill, it was raining this morning so had the window up. I'd like to think my home…

Robyn Gallagher

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 23:42:24 +1300

Tell me if this is a common phenomenon but I can smell Auckland from the top of the Bombays, does anyone else experience this also? It just reeks.

Are you sure it's Auckland (which is rather far away) and not the Bombays themselves? I mean, there's a McDonald's up there.

reece palmer

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 22:26:46 +1300

I've taken an interesting tack on the whole DC is a F*&%tard thing cos I haven't read the article yet but will do so tonight, but read the letters page(s) in the subsequent issue (you go hard Keith) and am thinking could it really be that abhorrent. Soon see I guess.…

Che Tibby

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 21:39:14 +1300

old people.

it's really great that the automobile has given them independence. allows them to escape the solitary confinement of their elderly years. encourages them to spend those saved dollars productively instead of being couped up in the house.

and driving to paihia has made me realise, i'm agin it.

Jackie Clark

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 20:57:18 +1300

What an enriching holiday, Juliana. I am ashamed, yet slightly proud, to say that every day this week I have stayed in my dressing gown until at least 4pm. In this age of rushing around like mad things, I think I may start up a business teaching people to do…

Juliana Venning

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 08:13:57 +1300

Kia ora Russel
Went across to OZ and specifically Melbourne, where it happened there was a commemorative walk/hikoi, at St Kilda to mark several years since Aboriginal Elder Michael Long had walked to CAnberra to once again protest a lack of work on his people's greivances/needs. Naturally as a KIWI…

Idiot Savant

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 01:08:33 +1300

I'll take your word for it. But what are you doing reading the bloody thing?

Because buried near the back, well behind the objectionable Deborah Coddington piece, was an article on sedition which drew rather heavily on my blog for the background material. They got instant research; I got a…

Tom Semmens

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 21:08:37 +1300

Christmas day was featured lunch on a big trestle under the rustling willow on the back lawn of the family home near Napier. Nothing much of note happened that day, nothing much happened the next either. Don't expect much to happen tomorrow.

Ohhh I know – I mowed the lawns…

Louise Wheeley

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 19:45:08 +1300

Christmas this year was in Dubai sandpit.

For me it was a welcome change in temperature (almost like being home) from seven years in London.

Sis in law flew out from London to enjoy a few days of sunshine and festivities.

Was pretty low key – unless you'd booked the…

Lea Barker

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 16:45:05 +1300

My Christmas tree was a ponderosa pine in Grand Canyon National Park, and the presents under it were deer droppings! Wished I'd noticed that BEFORE I sat down.

Russell Brown

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 16:16:46 +1300

Well, I think I can say that the white chocolate & strawberry tiramisu recipe in the "National Front" issue of North & South is quite edible.

I'll take your word for it. But what are you doing reading the bloody thing?

t. edison

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 14:20:39 +1300

I watched Dave Chapelles Block Party & right about the time he was doing James Brown impersonations the real James Brown was skipping off this mortal coil..... RIP Mr Brown

& FWIW no one lives in Wellington for the weather!
if we have had 3 days of sun in a row its…

David Hamilton

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 14:05:27 +1300

My christmas began with the sound of breaking glass. You see I'd just walked out of my mums house, locking everything behind me when I patted my right pocket. My keys usually form a satisfying lump, which tells me that I have access to all the stuff I need, like…

Idiot Savant

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 13:40:37 +1300

Well, I think I can say that the white chocolate & strawberry tiramisu recipe in the "National Front" issue of North & South is quite edible. Though next time, I'm lifting a trick from another tirimasu recipe and sticking grated chocolate in the cream layer as well.

Damian Stewart

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 11:21:38 +1300

re stars –

Two years ago I was on a cycling tour of the South Island. My three days on the West Coast were gloriously sunny, and I ended the first by driving my bicycle down an inviting track to find a small clearing on the side of a river…

BenWilson

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 11:13:50 +1300

Reece.... that was beautiful.

Does it help to know that at least one poor techo misses his christmas holiday to help stop your inbox bursting at it's spam-seams?

My ditty:

Boxing day
Coding, yay!

Chocolate snax
Desperate hax

Design dilemmas
Coffee tremors

New Years?
Boss stares

Release day
Relaxing j…

reece palmer

Tue, 26 Dec 2006 12:41:17 +1300

Here's a post apocalyptic Christmas ditty for you then...

Twas the day after christmas night,
when whanau got drunk and started to fight,
inebriated arguements for the left and the right,
no wrist strap you see, we were in a wii plight.

stomachs were pained by turkey and ham,
inboxes…

Brendan Cameron

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 09:17:49 +1300

Spent yesterday playing petanque, tennis and Kubb on the in-laws backyard in Cambridge. Had a fabulous dinner and a few glasses of wine before opening all the pressies. YAY! My daughter got 5 books and I only got 3....................some sulking in the corner from me.

Up at 0340 to shower…

Ian Hickling

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 02:53:42 +1300

here's one for you Che. We were out diving yesterday, moving my mooring that had drifted after a large tourist catamaran decided to borrow it. As we chained it up with another engine block to give added weight, just as we put the pin through the shackle to finish the…

Ian Hickling

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 02:35:22 +1300

never much enjpyed Christmas in NZ, especially when those "Any time, Any Place, Any Where" blitzes put more stress into racing round various family, friends etc for present delivery and socializing – and having a drink at each.
Barbados we enjoy at Christmas. The temperature has slightly dropped to the…

Ben Austin

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 17:12:50 +1300

Che, beautiful.

Robyn, you clearly need lessons in Emoness

andrew llewellyn

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 10:08:23 +1300

Later guys! Have a good one y'all.

Richard Tankersley

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 08:18:24 +1300

G'day from London. Weather! In the past 2 weeks I've had a Chch norwester (30 deg), 42 deg with a gusting wind in Melbourne (yip, like being in a fanbake oven), 32-40 in Perth (thank the bro's tax rebate for the new swimming pool!), 26-38 in Singapore during the monsoon…

Muriel Lockheed

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 23:39:07 +1300

I am spending Xmas and New Year working, and to boot I am on call. Violins please. But I will console myself with writing a poem that will be a distant second to the outstanding efforts so far.

I am going away in February to Hamilton, I know, effing sad…

Yamis

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 19:31:00 +1300

I'm not going to eat so much turkey this year. Two years running I fell asleep under the dining room table an hour after lunch. From most people that would be a bad look. From me it's half expected. Nonetheless, that stuff should be banned!

Emma Hart

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:11:45 +1300

Until you shove your hand through your ceiling fan playing Wii Sports Bowling and have to go to hospital straight after you finish the frame...

Robyn Gallagher

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:50:47 +1300

Here's my poem:

I'm getting a Wii for Christmas.
I have nothing to complain about.

Che Tibby

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:03:56 +1300

NB: NOT based on a true story.

i couldn't not get in on this action tho.

__Liars. And fakers.
Ungracious present takers.
Dressed up in some xmas best
To make the neighbours feel impressed
A shallow, meaningless,
Matrix.

How can you smile at her?
You fucked her sister!
She came…

Ben Austin

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 12:03:46 +1300

Jeremy, David is just trying to illustrate the twin goals of synergy and convergence with the restrictive artistic framework that is emo poetry.

Jeremy Andrew

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 11:58:01 +1300

As if I would
ever
want anyone
to tickle me.

That's emo, not Elmo!

Russell Clarke

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 11:28:20 +1300

4 days into a month off and I am already suffering the symptoms of "Xmas-ennui" (if it's not a psychological condition it should be.)

I think I need a hobby.

Ben Austin

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 11:06:36 +1300

David, that was beautiful. I feel depressed already, as no doubt do all your competitors. Surely no one can beat such a masterpiece?

David Slack

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:58:02 +1300

Here you go Ben, just for you:

__
Another Christmas Day,
another disappointment.

It was sunny
for three minutes,
but now it’s grey again.
Soon it will rain.

My drunk uncle
has started his lame jokes.

And couldn't they,
just once,
just once in their ridiculous lives,
have listened properly…

Ben Austin

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:48:52 +1300

Given that ‘emo’ ranked so highly on the word of the year poll, I challenge you all to keep yourself grounded this summer by composing at least two verses of the finest emo poetry and posting it in this thread.

If you are blessed with children or in laws this…

andrew llewellyn

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 09:13:12 +1300

And Boy George just knew that George Michael was gay.

We all did. Barrymore too. But I've long suspected Julian Clary is secretly straight.

But this aspect of the show was gleefully reported to me by a colleague.

Robyn Gallagher

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 17:00:06 +1300

Did anyone happen to catch the BandAid show last night?

It confirmed what I had long suspected – most of the pop stars had shown up in the morning after a hard right, and yet looked totally awesome because of the underlying power of their big '80s hair.

And Boy…

andrew llewellyn

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:31:51 +1300

and father has already quietly said to me "what shall i buy your mother for christmas?".

Good to hear he hasn't left it till the last minute...

Sara Bee

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:30:31 +1300

And also, the six year old has convinced himself that he's getting an xbox for christmas, as long as he hasn't been bad. I suspect we'll have some explaining to do on Christmas morning...

Sara Bee

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:27:50 +1300

The more-than-middle aged parents have arrived... Left them refereeing several teenagers at home =0, and father has already quietly said to me "what shall i buy your mother for christmas?". So it's shaping up nicely :)

Craig Miller

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:26:48 +1300

Climate is what you expect – weather is what you get.

I was talking to the lady who owns the dairy, she was bemoaning the cold wind and rain. "Where is summer?" she cried. I had to remind her that the holiday season is filled with horrible weather and that…

Michael Savidge

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:18:35 +1300

Yeah yeah I'm a grinch...

Please resume normal service...

Michael Savidge

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:40:01 +1300

Xmas.....my fav excuse for rampant misanthropy...

Did anyone happen to catch the BandAid show last night?

I'll be seeking out a hammock, staying drunk and avoiding just about everything.

Joanna

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:18:41 +1300

the fish-life is usually external to the vessel

Now that is an almighty euphemism. For what exactly, I'm not sure, but I like it anyway.

Emma Hart

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:55:13 +1300

I have an article deadline on the 7th of January. I shall fret about that, referee my children, and some time probably about Boxing Day, get into a huge argument with my brother when he refers to my kids' schoolmates as coconuts and towelheads.

Three days earlier my family will…

Che Tibby

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:39:01 +1300

joanna, i've never swum in egg-nogg.

the visibility would be too low, and the fish-life is usually external to the vessel.

andrew llewellyn

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:34:48 +1300

BTW: So you don't have to wait weeks to read it on my (nearly in 2005) award winning blog because I just know you all read it avidly- holidays will be spent:

Drinking/eating – weather permitting, barbecuing!
Checking the welfare of ancient sheep & young lambs
Clearing pine trees (oo-er is…

Tom Semmens

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:34:45 +1300

I am retreating to the rural idyll of my East Coast homeland, where I shall wile away the long, hot days sitting on the porch in a rocking chair with a distended tummy and comtemplating yet another enormous Turkey and cranberry sammie. After all, it would be a pity to…

Joanna

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:20:01 +1300

Is it the clouds in the skies above, or is it someone who's had too much eggnog to drink?

Well didn't Che just announce in front of all of the interweb that he was in to water-sports?

andrew llewellyn

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:18:09 +1300

Llaugh in the face of the pronoun police!*

*in the interests of fomenting ambiguity

Robyn Gallagher

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:54:02 +1300

Pissing down in Wellington, two days pre-holiday.

Hang on, there's no pronoun in that sentence, leaving it delightfully ambiguous* as to what is pissing down. Is it the clouds in the skies above, or is it someone who's had too much eggnog to drink?

* __Context will be ignored in…

andrew llewellyn

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:40:53 +1300

as is the fashion

Don't forget to put an onion in your belt.

Che Tibby

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:01:50 +1300

it's a water-themed christmas this year, so a little rain is not a worry.

snorkeling goat island, diving the poor knights, walking the bridge to waitangi, seeing the great expanse of ocean at cape reinga.

[sighs in expectation]

oh, and getting blisteringly pissed in the mount for new years, as…

Compie

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:40:55 +1300

Samuel Johnson thought it “peculiar that, when two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather; they are in haste to tell each other, what the other must already know”

Compie

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:39:00 +1300

"Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while."
Kin Hubbard

or I could give the title of my thesis

"Towards a New Median Enabled Weather Environment"

then go on to say how sad a bugger I am doing…

Russell Brown

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:25:17 +1300

What's Key's policy on the weather anyway?

It depends on what you mean by "weather" ...

Jeremy Andrew

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:37:04 +1300

I'm dreeeeeeeaaming of a wet Christmaaaaaaaasss

andrew llewellyn

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:23:20 +1300

Pissing down in Wellington, two days pre-holiday. If this weather continues I really can't see the government holding on the next election. What's Key's policy on the weather anyway?

Russell Brown

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:15:12 +1300

How's the holiday? The thing we like here at Public Address System is when you tell us your stories, and we'd like readers to report in from wherever they are through the holiday season: anecdotes, gripes, surf reports, special moments, testaments to natural glory, whatever. We'll keep this feature open…