Mike Riversdale

It might seem like you're just holding on by the very last leaf but just below you is a whole stream of people that love you and will catch you.

I'm a big podcast listener (many posted under #podcast and I share my current listening list . A stalwart is the BBC Radio 4 Quiz , which isn't actually one show even if it is one podcast. They revolve through Brain Of Britain , Round Britain , and Counterpoint . The three quizzes are all light hearted, comfy, and replete with arcane questions. They also do NOT have any prizes except for bragging rights. Teams from the regions of Britain go against each other to find the connections between some very convoluted questions. Individuals answer general knowledge ("general" if you're a friggin' encyclopaedia) questions to make it the final and become crowned Brain of Britain. Music questions for individuals to become the champion music from all ages, all styles, and all genres.

A lovely, although slightly mysterious, Parisian (a Mr Rob D'Art) got in touch the other month asking if, for a few dollars, I'd like to store a painting for him. Not sure where to put it though. Weirdly my bank account is currently zero, but I'm sure that's just an administrative error and he'll realise very soon and immediately transfer back the mistaken funds.

It's a very heightened, through Google Photos doing it's magic and me adding a few flourishes, photo of a showy wee flower. Veronica speciosa , synonym Hebe speciosa , is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae, known by the common names New Zealand hebe, showy hebe, showy-speedwell , and the Māori names titirangi and napuka . Like most hebes, it is native to New Zealand but it can be found in other parts of the world where it is grown as an ornamental for its showy flowers. Wikipedia: Veronica speciosa

People also ask What is the difference between crepuscular and anticrepuscular rays? Crepuscular rays form when the sun is just below the horizon or low clouds. The dark lines are shadows formed by clouds. Anticrepuscular rays form directly opposite the sun at similar times. The reflected light and consequent effect is weaker, but still beautiful. 16/11/2021 You're welcome.

It's what was known as "beer" for a very long time in Aotearoa New Zealand but it's rare to see it nowadays, certainly in the bars I frequent.

What pills do I take? Citalopram Tablets 20mg Each tablet contains Citalopram hydrobromide equivalent to Citalopram 20mg. Also contains lactose. How much and how often? One tablet per day. I take mine first thing in the morning What happens when I don't? I've missed taking the pills a few times over the past years (I started on Citalopram after coming off, um, coming off, er ... whatever it was I started in May 2016 as they wiped me out and I was just sleeping each and every day, ugh! I don't skip taking a pill on purpose but, you know, life happens. When I do the calming  training wheels for the brain sloooooowly come off. I don't really notice it in the first 24 hours, I might notice something in the next 24 hours, but by day 3 I will absolutely note that I am different and very quickly note that, "You've missed your pill Mike, doh!" I can feel myself drifting away from reality, and definitely start to see everyone and everything through dark glasses. Th

The past week (from  Shadows And Lines ) have been all photos from one day, 2nd May 2021, a fantastically photogenic day. This is the last one as we close it off and move one to other days in 2021 and beyond.

Wellington Harbour fountain off Oriental Parade all lit up as it's spurting out fire. It was May 2021, I have no recollection as to why, maybe just to make it purdy.

The sun goes down on THE day in Wellington that one apparently can't beat.

Only once did I have the courage to get up on the boat shed roofs and run across them, I was convinced I was gonna fall straight through. I didn't.

The boat sheds at Clyde Quay Boat Harbour seem to be a place for owners to chill out inside, potter around with stuff, and generally relax towards the end of life. Nice.

 Aaaaaand, play ...

It was an absolute pearler of a May day in Wellington and you're gonna get a few more photos from my wander around the waterfront in upcoming posts. Love this (sort of) reversible - turn it upside down - photo of the boat sheds at Clyde Quay Boat Harbour .

You see what you see.

There are a number of country's installations at the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington. This is a close-up of the Laurel-Memorial-Wreath The Belgian Memorial combines a laurel wreath and a memorial wreath to pay tribute to the people of New Zealand who defended Belgium's freedom and values during the First World War and later conflicts. Belgium is forever grateful for their sacrifice and their memory lives on in our hearts. If you get the chance go have a wander around, and after sunset is particularly cool.

It can take a lot of taping on the camera app to finally get the shot I want, thank god for oodles of space and the delete function, what a time we're living in eh. More KASPLOOSH!

The stream running underneath reflects and sparkles on the autumnal leaves.

"Yay, you're here!", exclaimed the duck. "Weirdo", retorted his friend.

Exurb2a on teh Interwebs (don't ask me I'm not down wiv da kidz) is a a channel/person/"content creator" that I've only recently discovered and I very glad I have. His videos cover everything, are productions of genius with a lot to say, and can be very funny through some quite deep stuff. He also did, a few years ago, a mini series called Catastrotivity . In 6 episodes of about 10 mins each he gives you the OK, the "Go do it", the "Don't listen to them!" that he's learned over the years of creating. It's is very VERY good. Whilst the above is YouTube you can also get it as a podcast via Spotify, I did, you should.

I love my housemates plug holder, a metal crab.

Mates, I assume, chatting on the Petone foreshore.

As the night fell on CubaDupa 2021 so did the rain, big time.

Not a profile photo in the sense that I am looking left or right but a photo that I use as my work/professional profile around the Internet. Great photo eh.

Breaker Bay (Wellington) is a big sweeping bay facing directly into the Cook Strait and can have some pretty gnarly waves, especially close(ish) to the rocks roadside. Also makes for a great photo when the sun is setting and the distant hills turn golden.

I went for an evening drive to take some shots of the sun setting. Night fell, the camera used up almost all the battery, and I called it a night. Doris (my car) refused to start.  I sat there for ages wondering WTF I could do. I was out in the back hills of Wellington and ... eek. One last call could be made. My housemate at the time was awesome, she drove all the way out, used her AA card to call for actual help and a lovely man came out and took Doris to my local garage.  She was fixed by 11am the next morning - $$$. Now, some of you may remember that I'd been commenting that Doris was having problems doing her car thing, especially at traffic lights if I recall. I mentioned it over the space of about 12 months. Oops. She now receives regular expensive servicing and I am a paid up AA member. I also never go driving without charging the phone.

Of course the moon is high, it's 384,400 km away but seems very high in this photo.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a drink poured is not a drink that has to be drunk. Yes, I like a beer and the (in)frequent wine, this is true but that universal law was one that was, for a long time, unknown to me. When you don't really have a lot of money, or have a history / upbringing of making do but not having money to chuck away, it's weird to know you don't have to. Also, alcohol is my emotional crutch (surprised?) and the thought of leaving that alone of a night was for such a long time a thought of, "But, no, I will have to face myself". I'm obviously in a better place. Now, when I'm done, I am done and have no qualms about leaving a drink half quaffed. In fact, it's a strength and I love it when I do it. No one has to deal with 'finger wagging Mike', I don't have to deal with 'finger wagging Mike'. Leaving it undrunk is fine, it really is.

POLL: Should Aotearoa New Zealand become a republic by 2030? Popped the question on various social media platforms and the results are: Yes: 81% No: 19% The majority of those that said No commented that it's not No to the idea BUT what could it be replaced by? Many wouldn't want a Presidential type election process, all political and USA / France in type. We could make up something else, it's our rules and we could do whatever we like. A few people also made the most excellent point that Māori have a direct contract with the Crown via Te Tiriti o Waitangi and that would need to be something for Māori to resolve well before a general change could happen. Great point. There ya go, a very small amount of people have spoken!

In March 2021 I made a website as Simon Ingrams " The Algorithmic Impulse " exhibition monitored my brain and made a painting about the website creation process. See also: My original post The website

I'm not into the History Channel style Nazi documentaries, you know the ones that are all graphic and titillation in the presence of horror. Like seeing how close you can stand to the raging bear on the other side of the cage, it gives a rush I s'pose. I'm also not really into war movies and I do try to limit my intake of American (almost always) movies that glorify the gun and that violence is the way. I say try as I do love a good pew pew / bang bang movie but it's not good for ya, inching closer to the raging bear. For me the Holocaust has alway been, um, I don't know what the feeling is ... like staring into the abyss, or standing on the precipice and staring down. Perhaps attempting to work out why the bear is raging. It is so dark, so so evil. I can wrap my head around what, where, when, who, and even why - understanding and agreeing are not the same. But how , how can those in the darkness survive with themselves when they did what they did. On 20 January 194

It is widely believed this is the only surviving photo of the original Birthing Pods discovered during the summer of 197G as the heat dried up the big water hole. Now, reburied by the sludge, they have become both a protected area (Don't), and a centre for all Birthing Procedures as  directed by Council Orders 167.3. For more information please read again.

Looking like a massive hypodermic needle Auckland's Sky Tower at 328 metres (1,076 ft) tall, as measured from ground level to the top of the mast, is the second tallest freestanding structure in the Southern Hemisphere* * source: Wikipedia: Sky Tower (Auckland)

Evening flights south to Wellington always get window seats on the right hand side.

Anyone who knows me knows that the greatest film of all time is Casablanca - heck, some that don't know me already think that. Then there's Citizen Kane , a genius of a movie that still holds up so strong today as it did when it first came out. Yes all the innovative film techniques are now standard movie lexicon, some have been parodied a million times. But, like Casablanca , it's the story and the acting that truly take them to the next level. Another film I've had drifting about me all my life is Sunset Boulevard . The ending is so well known I felt I'd seen it already, but I hadn't until a few days ago. Wow, what an absolute corker of a movie with, again, stunning acting and a story so strong it could've been a novel. I do love me a good movie from the pre-1970s even if much that was released does turn out to be quite, um, awful to our contemporary sensibilities. Those classics though, are classics for a reason, gorgeous to look at and perfect for a rai

Apparently, so the story goes, back in the middle part of the 20th century a group of New Zealand scientists were on a working trip to the UK. During the trip one of them visited the famed Newton's Apple Tree , took a cutting, and planted it back at work in New Zealand. You are looking at a clone of the original tree under which Sir Issac Newtown is said to have sat and questioned the nature of gravity . The subsequent laws of gravity Newton devised endured for hundreds of years until Einstein sat upon a light beam.

I giggled despite it being unadulterated puerile FILTH! 😁

David Slack, a man worth knowing. If you don't feel like bowling up to him on the street and shaking his hand with a jaunty, "Mike says I should know you!", then the next best is to subscribe to his daily Internet reckons,  More Than A Feilding . Right-wing, he's got you covered. Left-leaning, he's for you. In the middle with the vast majority, his words will resonate. My only warning is that he does not do hardball journalism, it's commentary. If you forget that David is not an investigative journalist and believe that his reckons are The Truth then it's a slippery slope just as it would be with anyone else. So, pop your hand in your pocket  for some of the finest writing Aotearoa New Zealand is currently producing! "Woah, woah, woah there Michael!!!! Spend money, I thought you said he was on the Internet where everything is free!". *sigh*, best support is to buy , remember?

After Dad died I arranged a wee get-together with a few old mates that knew him so we could raise a glass in his honour and share laughs and stories. My brother also came along, via the magic of the Internet, all the way from Sweden. It was a weird night for me, I wasn't really in the celebratory mood, and I think it was one of the first times it struck me that he was no longer with us. Cheers Derek Alan Boyle, you helped me smile, cry, and become the person I am today, very proud of you ❤️ There's also this one, as my brother chats to my oldest NZ-based mate (we came here together) - unfortunately can't quite be my daily photo coz of that damn red post, grrrr

1: No-one ever does anymore, be different, 2: You can send personalised ones, 3: Everyone loves actual physical post. Agreed? Good.  You now have a choice, pop down to the local tourist place, find the greatest (your own definition) set of 5 postcards, fill them in, slap on a stamp, and slip them into the nearest postbox. Walk home smiling. Or, do it the way I do, with the MyPostcard app * Download the app, get 5 of the greatest (your own definition) photos you've ever taken, upload and fill in the app postcards, pop through the money, and push  them off. Lean back in your chair smiling. * If you use the link above you & I get a wee bit of credit, but I'm not doing it for that.

When joie de vivre overtakes you, you end up on a horse claiming you're king of the world shouting from the top of some stones. Would never happen in real life of course.