Mike Riversdale

December 25th (From the law offices Taeker, Spredar, and Baegar) Dear Sir: This is to acknowledge your latest gift of twelve fiddlers fiddling, which you have seen fit to inflict on our client, Miss Agnes McCallister. The destruction, of course, was total. All correspondence should come to our attention. If you should attempt to reach Miss McCallister at Happy Dale Sanitarium, the attendants have instructions to shoot you on sight. With this letter, please find attached a warrant for your arrest. -Merry Christmas ------------------ 11th day

Christmas presents have been bought Over a bottle of wine the pressies have been wrapped Santa's Christmas stocking fillers have been divided and are ready to be distributed Family in Stockholm have been Skype'd and plans for present opening across the timezones made (how friggin' cool is that!) Beer has been bought Chicken and fresh stuff is being bought Vineyards have been emptied Liz's iPhone Xmas present has been let out of the bag by a "Thank you for registering your iPhone" email sent to her InBox, damn was gonna get in before Liz and archive it but ... Christmas music has been played and is being played Peter Pan is being enjoyed Kids are keen as mustard go have a bath - !!!! - reason: Father Christmas/Santa doesn't want to struggle through smelly bedrooms to fill the stockings Two more things about Christmas that have struck me this year: The myth (out and out lie?) of Father Christmas is weird ... but it generates so much excitement and wonder for

December 24th: 11th Day Listen Fuckhead: What's with the eleven lords a-leaping on those maids and aforementioned "ladies"? Some of those broads will never walk again. Those pipers ran through the maids and have been committing sodomy with the cows. All 234 of the birds are dead. They have been trampled to death in the orgy. I hope you're satisfied, you rotten swine. Your sworn enemy, Miss Agnes McCallister ----------------------- 10th day / 12th day ...

December 23rd: 10th Day You Rotten Prick: Now there's ten ladies dancing - I don't know why I call those sluts ladies. They've been balling those nine pipers all night long. Now the cows can't sleep and they've got diarrhea. My living room is a river of shit. The commissioner of buildings has subpoenaed me to give cause why the building shouldn't be condemned. I'm sic-ing the police on you. One who means it, Ag ------------------------- 9th day / 11th day ...

December 22nd: 9th Day Hey Shithead: What are you? Some kind of sadist? Now there's nine pipers playing. And Christ - do they play. They never stopped chasing those maids since they got here yesterday morning. The cows are upset and are stepping all over those screeching birds. No wonder they screech. What am I going to do? The neighbours have started a petition to evict me. You'll get yours. From Ag ---------------------------- 8th day / 10th day ...

December 21st: 8th Day OK Buster: I think I prefer the birds. What the hell am I going to do with eight maids-a-milking? It's not enough with all those birds and eight maids-a-milking, but they had to bring their own goddam cows. There is shit all over the lawn and I can't move into my own house. Just lay off me. SMART ASS. Agnes ---------------------------- 7th day / 9th day ...

December 20th: 7th Day John: What's with you and those fucking birds???? Seven swans-a-swimming. What kind of goddam joke is this? There's bird shit all over the house and they never stop the racket. I'm a nervous wreck and I can't sleep all night. IT'S NOT FUNNY.......So stop with those fucking birds. Sincerely, Agnes ---------------------------- 6th day / 8th day ...

This is easly the best picture of 2008, and that's out of some amazing pictures (see all of Bostoncom's pictures of 2008 ) - just wow. Click for the full version

Shelly Bay has huuuuge potential and I look forward to seeing developments Read the full  Iwi buy Shelly Bay story on Stuff.co.nz: ... Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast said she believed that the iwi were "perfect partners" with the city because of their long-term interest in land-holding, economic development and education. "When we had initial discussions over Shelly Bay they were keen to understand what the city and community hopes were for that site." The community made it clear that the land should have mixed use a potential mix of housing, shopping and commercial, with large tracts of it being kept green. ...

December 19th: 6th Day Dear John: When I opened the door there were actually six geese-a-laying on my front steps. So you're back to the birds again, huh? Those geese are huge. Where will I ever keep them? The neighbors are complaining and I can't sleep through the racket. PLEASE STOP! Cordially, Agnes -------------------------------------- 5th day / 7th day ...

Don’t look down until you do it, you’ll love it I promise Pick your favorite number between 1-9  Multiply by 3 Add 3, then again multiply by 3 You’ll get a 2 or 3 digit number Add the digits together  Now with that number see who your ROLE MODEL is from the list below: Einstein Nelson Mandela Abraham Lincoln Helen Keller Bill Gates Gandhi George Clooney Thomas Edison Mike Riversdale Abraham Lincoln ;-)

Here in New Zealand there are a number of central government pressures coming to apply on all Kiwi's limiting what we can/cannot do with "content" and even more scary what companies can do if they suspect (merely suspect, no prove required) that you are breaking copyright-type laws. And closer to home (for me) Wellington is a darned creative space with a lot of people doing international quality work in a sphere's of creativity - web, music, design, events - ad therefore I think the trend sucks (read more about ACTA / Section92a ) But what can you do? Support the CreativeFreedom.org.nz that " speaks for artists concerned at this trend and through  Our Goals  we seek to bring Copyright Law into the 21 st  Century ". That's it. Support the site, let others know of your support and pass on the word. Of course you could go a step frther and actually get involved but let's just get the word out for now. Here's their launch press release - pass it o

December 18th: 5th Day Dearest John: What a surprise! Today the postman delivered five golden rings. One for each finger. You're just impossible, but I love it. Frankly, John, all those squawking birds were beginning to get on my nerves. All my love, Agnes -------------------------------------- 4th day / 6th day ...

Because by fuck I'm sure he was sitting next to me on the bus OR she passed me in the street OR probably lives in same house as I do ... probably, possibly. Top work from the Police composite artist Link

December 17th: 4th Day Today the postman delivered four calling birds. Now really! They are beautiful, but don't you think enough is enough? You're being too romantic. Affectionately, Agnes -------------------------------------- 3rd day / 5th day

A great video taking the mick out of the current global financial crisis. Urging people to digg deep for those in need this Christmas. I love the gorilla from the advert - brilliant (thanks Alan )

December 16th: 3rd Day Dear John: Oh, aren't you the extravagant one! Now I must protest. I don't deserve such generosity. Three french hens. They are just darling but I must insist.... you're just too kind. Love Agnes -------------------------------------- 2nd day / 4th day

As is becoming something of a tradition here at the blog, this is my Yuletide posting about all that you should know for Christmas. But let's just take a moment in the busy day to remember what it's all about - the people you love. I'm thinking of the people you love right now ... are you thinking of mine? Of course, it's not just about family and friends (if that's who I was thinking of) but also presents, alcohol and oodles of sitting around in the sun (hardy har har Northern Hempishpereans!) If Jesus is you thing, I mean, if he's your bag, what you're into man then do the religious thing as well. Just don't get all "God" over Christmas and try to remember that it was originally a pagan festival around the longest day, certainly don't want you Christians foisting your ideas on people and trying to subvert the real message! Fun. that's the real message. Believe in Father Christmas (who shats all over Santa) and have too much laughter

December 15th: 2nd Day Dearest John: Today the postman brought your very sweet gift. Just imagine, two turtle doves.... I'm just delighted at your very thoughtful gift. They are just adorable. All my love, Agnes -------------------------------------- 1st day / 3rd day

December 14th: 1st Day Dearest John: I went to the door today and the postman delivered a partridge in a pear tree. What a delightful gift. I couldn't have been more surprised. With dearest love and affection, Agnes -------------------------------------- 2nd day ... short link: http://goo.gl/4INvT

Who knew - Miss Celania from 8 Truly Strange Christmas Customs did: ------------- Mari Lwyd , an old midwinter custom in Wales, is a holdover from pagan celebrations before Christmas was introduced. Mari Lwyd means “gray mare” in English. In its purest form (still to be seen at Llangynwyd, near Maesteg, every New Year’s Day) the tradition involves the arrival of the horse and its party at the door of the house or pub, where they sing several introductory verses. Then comes a battle of wits (known as pwnco) in which the people inside the door and the Mari party outside exchange challenges and insults in rhyme. At the end of the battle, which can be as long as the creativity of the two parties holds out, the Mari party enters with another song. The horse in the above scenario is made of a horse’s skull attached to a pole. The person operating the horse is concealed by sheets, and sometimes has a contraption to work the horses jaw! (Image by Flickr user arosmae .)

Epic vs ZX81 - Originally uploaded by epicbeer

And there's nothing more I can say

Strange how the universe works eh, this "to all"email from Tricia Irving from skylight is, to be honest, spooky prescient - the PDF "attached" is here Hello, Attached is a PDF about Skylight's just launched support handbook DEATH WITHOUT WARNING - for people impacted by a sudden, unexpected death of any kind, including accidental death, natural sudden death, suicide and murder. Published by Skylight, and launched last week by the Chief Coroner, Judge Neil MacLean, its publication has been supported by ACC and FDANZ (Funeral Directors Association of NZ). Skylight has made sure it was released before the summer break, and expects this practical book to be invaluable for many bereaved in sudden circumstances - and for those supporting them professionally - as it contains key information about what happens after a sudden death, and about people or organisations that may be involved, as well as info about the trauma and grief that follows and strategies for ma

Sadly Anna, Kindy teacher at Miramar Central, died last night from a brain aneurysm. Jack had some great times at that Kindy and I know Anna was a part of that. Meg has just started there last week and so, unfortunately, didn't have a chance to get to know her but she's now at a place that is dealing with death. And so, we've now have "death in our lives". We've explained what happened to Anna (in appropriate terms, no medical malarkey of course), how we still have great memories of her and how we can always see her in the photos. All good really, close but not that close. That will come. *sigh* - RIP Anna and huge thoughts to her family and partner + kids.

... and that's despite what he says - I've highlighted my favourite out of this lot from Adam's Jokeslist --------------------- "I'm sorry, but having a DB9 on the drive and not driving it is a bit like having Keira Knightley in your bed and sleeping on the couch." "... the last time someone was as wrong as you, was when a politician stepped off an aeroplane in 1939 waving a piece of paper in the air saying there will be no war with Germany " Illustrating the lack of power of a Boxster: "It couldn't pull a greased stick out of a pig's bottom" On the Vauxhall Vectra VXR: "there is a word to describe this car: it begins with 's' and ends with 't' and it isn't soot "The Suzuki Wagon R should be avoided like unprotected sex with an Ethiopian transvestite" "The air conditioning in a Lambos used to be an asthmatic sitting in the dashboard blowing at you through a straw." "Koenigsegg are sa

Searchme has a neat search result interface that will be familiar to anyone using the Apple-esque "flip through CD cover" approach. Give it a go - Searchme: miramarmike And here's what it looks like if you can't be arsed to go look for yourself:

Can ya spot it, the ever so slightly disturbing area of this piccie ... ? From a StephenFry tweet

1: Why did Opo die? 2: When will the "storm" get here? 3: Why do you have to go to work? 4: Is this Ro'orua? 5: Can I get a drink of water / something to eat / read me a story? [delaying tactics]

Ok, so we have Che and Second Chef outputting a beast of a boy (and it's Che's fault as the only outcome dictated by the male is "size at birth") And then we have Martha and Glenn wondering how big is this bugger gonna be???

I have a theory ... care to hear it? You will, sweet. I take the bus into town on a fairly regular basis and I'm not alone in this endeavour. I mean I'm not alone on the bus, not just bus taking in general. Of course there is the driver but there are usually at least another half dozen fellow public bus passenger types, all staring intently out of the window endeavouring to avoid all possible human contact at any cost. We bump along from bus stop to bus stop picking up more and more human avoiders. Unless we're on the 31 which stops just prior The Cutting (where the statues are going to go ) before heading out at breakneck speed to our next port of call, stop 1 on Courtenay Place from which time on it's, "Sorry, this is an Express we don't pick up ... [wait for confusion on the part of the would-be-passenger to be expressed] Nah, mate, this is an express ... [plea to be let on] ... No, it's a 31, express, don't pick up ... [doors shut, we all look on as

I know it's trite to pick upon TradeMe for following the herd with the Southern Hemisphere Christmas decorations of snow, snowmen, jackets and everything Northern Hemisphere ("British"). But, well, really ... it's summer here!

According to ex.plode.us I have only 70% interests similar to myself ("Miramar Mike" and "Mike Riversdale") which puts me fourth in the list. Liz, my wife, is more like me than ... me!?!?

Seems that the VERY old (and slightly smutty) Christmas cartoons I uploaded to Flickr many years ago (gotta keep 'em somewhere) are now a perennial find on my Flickr account, especially if you do a search on Yahoo! Of course I claim no rights on the cartoons, I claim no ownership of the cartoons and have merely uploaded them from emails sent way back when ... but hey, enjoy them nonetheless.

Classic - from a trail of posts back to Blame It On The Voices

It was way back in 2005 that I first noted Dave Barry's Annual Gift Guide with the stand out items of the year for being the fine KISS Celebriduck , Funky Musical Toilet and the Scrolling LED Belt Buckle From Dave's full 2008 list you will notice that I have chosen a few select items you may have Father Christmas place beneath the tree for me: Talking Fly Swatter Gun-Shaped Egg Fryer Zombie Yard Sculpture 'Firm Grip' Brand Butt Glue Restroom Baby-hanger Hug Me Pillow Wearable Sleeping Bag The Uroclub Gassy Gus Flatulence Game

Stop Racism - it's not much to ask ... is it? Especially when you read Protecting My Child’s Innocence by mrsgooding This is the moment when I thought, "Fuck 'em, racist bastards - STOP IT!!!" But sometimes, there are things that you can’t ignore. Especially if they are emotionally affecting someone you love more than life itself. That someone is my only daughter, Bea. Yesterday, she came home from school hysterical after a very traumatic bus ride. Five teenage boys taunted her and THREW STONES at her INSIDE the school bus while taunting her saying she doesn’t belong here and that she’s an Asian b*tch . If she was not in a public place, who knows what extent they’d go to in their desire to be hurtful and destructive. I shudder at the thought. It took all my herculean effort not to break down while my daughter narrated what happened to her over the phone. I rage at the thought that this happened while my daughter was on her own without her family to protect her. I ra

(thanks Adam's Jokelist)

I am so convinced that these adverts will make 'er indoors' life a little bit easier that if you don't receive a warm, loving hug straight from your better half I will personally pop round and let her know she's wrong and tell her to buck her ideas up* Here are 3 of my personal favourites, from 9 of the most disturbingly misogynistic old print ads from a time back when men were men, women were women and advertisers had no friggin' idea that this would come back and bite them on the bum. Of course the challenge is to take the ads being pumped out now and work out what will receive a similar posting in 30 years!! But the real reason I got you here, is to ask you to read this from Che Finn Higgins - Failed by police, Wellington mental workers On with the pay off ... * some conditions apply ... like I won't be doing anything of the sort!

It was a big night out last night. Some highs and some lows (pork bellys). Some goods (Epic Pale Ale) and some bads. Funniest thing though was Liz bumping into her first love at Mighty Mighty - Shane. You know it's always funny doing that, noticing an old flame in a darkened crowded room ... and after so many years and with ya husband in tow it's even funnier. They had a good old natter, he seems to be a bit of a Lothario living the life of a single man, top work fella but I'm sure it's not all beer and skittles. Old flames eh, what's that all about? I'm quite lucky in that I am, for the most part, still in touch with a lot of my ex's. Some just as a "Facebook friend", some more so because they're here in Wellington. Not all of course, some would rather cross the road rather than piss on me if I was on fire. But you get that sometimes - same goes the other way from me for one or two. But generally, the nice ones (and that's why I went out w

*sheesh*, there's seems to be an ongoing issue of usability over at Vodafone So, I struggle through to the online system after getting my password re-set. I then see that the details are of my mate who used to have the number, that'll be why I didn't know the password :-) I find the link to where I think I can update the name ... but no, it's everything else. Ach, I'm up for that and fill in the boxes and hit enter ... error in my input! Ok, must've missed that, my mistake ... let me just enter the "Title" for you and we'll be away ... OH! No actual field to enter into ...

Brilliant response from the Monty Python team around illegal Python vids being placed up on YouTube: We know who you are, we know where you live and we could come after you in ways too horrible to tell. But being the extraordinarily nice chaps we are, we've figured a better way to get our own back: We've launched our own Monty Python channel on YouTube .

It's about 2:50 mins

A handsome wee email from my Dad, nice - Oh, that's not a picture of my Dad but it's certainly reminiscent of home in Monmouth of a cold Sunday lunchtime Yorkshire Pudding Eh waiter, excuse me a minute I'm not findin' fault, but dear me 'taties is lovely and beef is alreit But what sort of pudding can this be? It's what? Yorkshire Puddin'? Now cum cum cum cum It's Yorkshire Puddin' yer say? I'll grant yer it's some sort o' puddin', owd lad But not THE Yorkshire Puddin', nay, nay. Now reit Yorkshire Puddin's a poem in batter, T'mek it's an art, not a trade So just listen t' me and I'll tell t' thee How t' first Yorkshire puddin' were made A young angel wi day off from 'eaven, Were flyin' abaht Ilkla Moor, When t' angel, poor thing, got cramp in a wing An' cum down at an owd women's door T' owd woman said "Eee - it's an angel. By 'eck, I'm fair cap

Meg, dancing at Hi-5 - Originally uploaded by Mike Riversdale Meg, dancing at Hi-5

Strangely enough, once I uploaded the "on stage" photos of the fairly recent Hi-5 show here in Wellington I noticed that there were one or two or many photos of just one of the Hi-5 gang, Kellie who is the blonde, very fit (physically and ... other) and gregarious girl of the gang and for some reason I obviously had to have an in focus shot of her - not sure I managed it. Hi-5 have, like the Wiggles , been through a stage of growth recently losing some of their key staff - can anyone truly replace Greg, noooooooooooooooo! And it showed, the two Hi-5 members that had the most stage presence (I know we're talking about a "kid's show" but believe me you can see the good from the bad), the seniority and the on stage fun were Nathan and, of course, Kellie . Fit these captions to the relevant photos: We hear you Nathan, we hear you Hi-5 swingers Nathan is intrigued, could she really promise all that? "Feel THAT!" Blurred but still fit "What the

I love everything about these nights and I know I'll love them even more if actualy got along to one! Pecha Kucha Night Wellington #04 PKN_WGN_04 // 25 november 2008 // Paramount Cinema, 25 Courtenay Place, Wellington City // doors open 7.30pm / start 8.20pm // $9 on the door (cash only) Come and join us for our last Pecha Kucha Night in Wellington for the year 2008. Pecha Kucha - which originated in Tokyo - is a unique, rapid-fire format in which each speaker shows 20 images, each for 20 seconds. With each presentation lasting just 6 minutes and 40 seconds, the audience experiences an exhilarating variety of ideas and projects. We put together a great line-up of speakers for you to enjoy: Craig Stevens // Scientist // Environmental turbulence - or how to capture ephemera for a living Suzanne Tamaki // Fashion designer // about natives in fabulous frocks Heather Galbraith // Curat

Here's an old 'draft' post I found at the bottom of the sock drawer ... but now that the initial spotlight has moved on it's good to be reminded ;-) The diary I'd love to see posted is I Will Bear Witness by Victor Klemperer . The best description I have is that it is "a Technicolor version of life as a German Jew during World War II". I have to read it in stages as it makes me so angry, incredulous and sad. If it can be put up as on-line diary (copyright and all that) I think it would educate a whole generation of those that now think, "It was such a long time ago and not really anything to do with me". Pepys Diary: http://www.pepysdiary.com I read almost all of the diaries whilst I was living in Clapham around 1993/4 which just seemed so appropriate as it hadn't really changed (a few more police cars I s'pose) since Mr Pepys retired there. George Orwell's Diary: http://orwelldiaries.wordpress.com Each day that goes by seems to hig