Mike Riversdale

I'm sure there's value in doing a retrospective but really 2011 is already so chock full of promise and adventure that 2010 has already started to fade. BUT, before I go here's the 2010 Days of Christmas 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

Fuck me!

This is from CapitalTimes.co.nz http://www.capitaltimes.co.nz/article/3612/Heartbeat.html ) - I reproduce it in full as I don't know how long they keep articles up online* Psychologists have found that the majority of our clearest and most vivid memories come from the period between adolescence and young adulthood, a time they call our “reminiscence bump”. Retired lawyer Doug Webb’s reminiscence bump features many memories of Miramar, and of adventures to its picture theatre. DOUG Webb moved to Miramar with his family in 1950 when he was four and stayed there for 20 years. Almost every Saturday afternoon Webb and his brother would venture on foot to Capitol Cinema – Miramar’s very own picture theatre. “Most families didn’t have cars, and especially in an area like the Eastern suburbs, the local picture theatre was it for the weekend,” says Webb. “It was a big deal for kids right across the Miramar suburb. The theatre would be bulging both upstairs and downstairs. Would you expect a

Look what I just found on a page 16 of "Wuthering Heights" via Google Books Go to http://goo.gl/Esg0g and check it out (page 16) ...

Boston.com's Big Picture is THE best place to get the latest topical photographs that will astound, challenge and please you. For instance check out their, Beginning to look a lot like Christmas , set: In many places around the world, it is definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Santas are making appearances from Beijing to Beirut, and the traditions of the season can be seen all over - the trees, the lights, the shoppers, the devout and more. Collected here are a handful of recent photographs of people enjoying and celebrating this year's Christmas Season as it hits full swing. [Editor's note: This year, I'll be inviting you to submit your own Christmas 2010 photos, starting December 26th. Details coming soon, here and on Twitter (@big_picture) ] So many to chose from but I think my favourite is ...

Nothing happens if you're offended, move on! @philipreeve got a little offended/angsty/agitated by my Martin Snedden post and called it , " PC bollocks".

(source: Telegraph, "New Zealand urged to enjoy hosting World Cup rather than worrying about winning it" ) I couldn't agree with Martin Snedden more! If Kiwis focus on the All Blacks 100% then they are gonna miss out on a massive event, great rugby and the chance of a lifetime to meet and party with awesome visitors. I for one will be taking the following into the competition: Hope the All Blacks win Hope Wales do awesomely and make it to the semi's See every game somehow Meet at least one native of all the competing countries Have a blast with the surrounding events The order of what's most important will likely change day-by-day and I certainly won't struggle if the All Blacks get knocked out in the pool rounds with only 1 of my 5 dependent upon them. If the All Blacks AND Wales get knocked out in the pool rounds then I'm stuck with watching rugby, meeting new people and having a blast - not so bad eh!

Found this via the avalanche of Neatorama links in my Google Reader: Apache Pictures made a short film that imagines Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner as human beings. It’s called Wiley vs. Rhodes. The special effects are impressive for an independent short film.

Seems like the frost hit Monmouth (Wales, UK) tough last week having many photographers rush out to capture stunning images. Being the owner of the Flickr group, Monmouth (Wales, UK) , I am constantly on the trawl for awesome pictures of my 'growing-up place' and look what I found from Keith Moseley ( imaginedhorizon ) a long time and frequent contributor to the group. And the same goes for Bill ( stillbase ) also a fantastic contributor to the group and very proudly had the following 'Monmouth in frost' photos on the Fickr front page gaining him much deserved exposure I urge you to click through and see the many other photos - here's a sampling from the Flickr group itself

[Updated] From @AdamShand - "updated my "Welly Wifi" map with your new suggestions: http://tinyurl.com/wellywifi " Earlier today I tweeted the following question Wgtn peeps, where's a good cafe with wifi (free awesome) for a weekly breakfast catchup (thinking 10+ attendees but likely to grow)? And the response was almost instant and very VERY useful. @jo9ty then asked Will you put the info you've received re cafes with wifi in Wellington, onto your blog at some point? And I thought, absolutely ... but I wonder how to easily collect the tweets. I then recalled others popping tweets into a Google Spreadsheet for archival and wondered if I could automatically capture the tweets coming through into a Google Spreadsheet, I mean both Google and Twitter are on the web right, surelly this should be easy. Easy, it was more than that, it was done for me! A Google search lead me to share the info via my work Twitter account (@WaveAdept) Wanna get/keep a Google Spread

The calendar has now morphed into the ongoing International Rugby Fixtures iCal Calendar ...