Art and Abart

Old kitchen - actually it was darker than appears here. I am still amazed how much difference it has made having a new kitchen. I was un...

Fire at Palm Beach in Sydney (photo from abc website) In New Zealand the leaves are still to unfurl while in Australia it is hotter tha...

Australia won the Americas Cup when it was still an amateur sport and they have just held the 30 year celebration. Former Prime Minister Bob...

My sister gathering daffodils Wordsworths poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud was learned by heart by my mother's generation and the...

Kiwiland has been obsessed by the America's cup during my visit. It was won by the American team, but New Zealanders will be able to l...

Salt and pepper shakers at Mirabelle Cafe How lucky we were to stumble upon the Cafe Mirabelle in Carterton (NZ). Yes, I mentioned th...

Who has time to knit socks any more?  Well someone in Tainui (below) does ... which is why it is a 'must visit' destination.  

At the Tainui pub Tainui is a small settlement in the Wairarapa on the road to Castle Point. Goolemaps has missed Tainui, so it you nee...

St James Theatre, Wellington Producing The Flying Dutchman is quite an undertaking for a recently formed opera company but Wagner...

Wairarapa landscape I had never visited the Wairarapa, the region on the south eastern corner of New Zealand's North Island, but I ...

Japonica Fly across the Tasman from Sydney to Wellington in September and suddenly you are in a different season. Early spring. The w...

Tapes, files, stories I have been working hard on a book. The last book I wrote was a light-hearted look at love and infused with music....

Well Australia has elected a new prime minister so Kevin Rudd's second prime ministership will have been a short one. Someone commented...

Window with cutout figures I am not very keen on lace curtains and today I made an alternative for my laundry window using cutout figure...

The Engegård Quartet plays Grieg and the violins dance.  I made this little film a couple of years ago now, but I still like it!

Australian politicians are sometimes very bad friends to the USA.  Foreign Minister Bob Carr tells the US to 'bomb them' and warn...

Clever clever .... a film student's fantasy. How Mercedes-Benz killed Hitler:

David Corcoran sings David Corcoran and Amanda Windred sang for the Wagner Society of NSW last Sunday, accompanied by pianist Bradley G...

If you thought email privacy or lack of it didn't relate to you, I recommend you read this article from Groklaw called Forced disclosu...

SSO 2014 brochure and CD The Sydney Symphony Orchestra sent out a CD with their program this year. It was a master stroke, because the p...