Posts by Alfie

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  • Up Front: Reading Murder Books,

    I admit it... I'm an addict, hopelessly hooked on murder mysteries. In particular I've developed a taste for Scandinavian police procedurals. It started during a brief spell in hospital where The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo become unputdownable and I quickly consumed the rest of the series. That led to Stieg Larsson's biography which included a handy list of his favourite crime writers. And I was away.

    My favourite author by far is still Henning Mankell, who sadly passed away earlier this year. If you enjoy perfectly plotted and beautifully crafted crime books, he's your man. He also wrote several non-crime novels -- Chronicler of the Winds stands out for me. It's one of those wonderful books which is so good you find yourself re-reading paragraphs for the pure pleasure of the writing style.

    Of course once you're addicted to this stuff there's a never ending supply of quality Scandinavian noir from the likes of Sjowall & Wahloo, Hakan Nesser, Karin Fossum, Jussi Adler-Olsen; French crime by Pierre Lemaitre; Icelandic fiction from Arnaldur Indridason, as well as a handful of fine New Zealand crime authors including Vanda Symon, Paddy Richardson and Liam McIlvanney.

    As a former lapsed reader I'm relishing my rediscovery of the joy of books. While I blame crime novels for getting me hooked again, it's nice to branch out into other fiction. I've just finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Murial Barberry, a superb little tale, beautifully translated from the French.

    Ahh... so many books to read... it's a pity that life is just too damn short.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to izogi,

    That makes sense Izogi. Presumably Pete G is linking to an image on a govt site and not hosting it on his own server. I haven't viewed his flag thread, which explains why I don't have the same govt cookies. Confusion solved.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to John Farrell,

    The ones in the picture are in the “blocked” tab. I opened this by clicking on the cookie with the red X on the right of the address bar.

    Correct me if I'm wrong John, but that means you've blocked cookies from govt.nz at some stage. And if that's the case, it has nothing to do with yournz. Thus my confusion with your original post.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to John Farrell,

    One of the links on the site is to the Parliamentary website. Perhaps the cookie comes from there.

    A link won't generate a cookie... they don't work that way. I visited PG's site after the initial link was posted here and I don't have the same govt.nz cookies that you do John. Nor do I have a single cookie from yournz. There must be a different explanation.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to John Farrell,

    I’ve set Chrome to refuse third party cookies.

    I understand cookies John, but as my browser is set to automatically reject all third party cookies, I’m not seeing them either. But from your image it appears that you’re blocking cookies from the govt.nz domain rather than Pete George's site.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to John Farrell,

    these are the third party cookies blocked on Pete George’s site

    I don't understand the context of that post John. Could you clarify please?

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Hard News: A cog in the Mediaworks machine,

    Jane Bowron sums up the Christie and Weldon disaster and hints that the incapable duo are about to apply their magic to the 6pm news as well. God help us all.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Key really pushes his distain for process, doesn't he. Such as announcing Collins' return to favour on the Paul Henry show with, "most of Cabinet don't even know so I'm going to tell them this morning."

    Has the country already forgotten the rigged inquiry which cleared Collins of something minor, conveniently ignoring her gunning for Adam Feely, providing confidential and private information to Slater and using taxpayer money to promote hubby's business? Actually, the terms of the inquiry avoided most of those transgressions, didn't it.

    The Key government... it may look a bit like democracy, but it's really just a cynical farce.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Hard News: Dirty Politics,

    Hmmm. Using Judith Collins’ new law to stifle debate and silence critics? There’s a reference in this Kiwiblog comment from Alan Wilkinson, the final line of which reads:

    The above press release was issued as a PDF which shows that its real author was one Dermot Nottingham!

    While I tend to avoid most of the blogs being referenced, this appears to be yet another shot-across-the-bow from some of the participants in the long-running Blomfield/Slater affair. It seems self-defeating when the named author of the press release is the very person who has just been granted name supression in that order.

    Dirty Politics is still alive and kicking.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Polity: Saudi sheep: Misappropriating…,

    Sorry the sheep died, Mr Al-Khalaf. Our fault entirely. We should've known they were unlikely to survive in desert conditions. So here's another $2.6m of taxpayer money for... let's call it an abattoir this time, shall we? Somewhere to kill all those... er... dead sheep. And let's be clear... this is definitely not a bribe this time. No sir, no way.

    By the way, how's that free trade deal going?

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

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