Careless Memories
A decade of malcontent mischief.
So soon just after you've gone
My senses sharpen
But it always takes so damn long
Before I feel how much my eyes have darkened
Fear hangs in a plane of gun smoke
Drifting in our room
So easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisper
With a careless memory
Songwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / Nick Rhodes / Roger Taylor / Simon Le Bon.
There was much to write about this morning, but all of it required a bit more reading and resultant understanding than my Saturday morning brain was up for. So, I hope you don’t mind, but it’s another trip down memory lane.
Some laughs, some gee-the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same, and some lighthearted questions for you. Okay, so approximately on this day, over the last decade. Beginning with…
2015
A decade ago, I was between jobs, which is to say I’d quit my previous job due to a mismatch in values with the CEO and had not yet started my new role.
Back then, Fi’s family had a bach at Pt Wells, over the hill and along a bit from Matakana, inland from Omaha. The kids and I stayed there for a week or so while Fi returned to Auckland daily for work.
It was a great place to clear the cobwebs, with no internet access and just a pile of well-watched DVDs and VHS tapes. There was a gas BBQ, but it’s never quite the same if you’re not actually burning something, so I took the Weber in the car.
Which was fine until the day this happened…
Me: "Quick, kids, get dressed. The police are on their way."
"Why?"
"To arrest the people who stole our BBQ!"
"Our BBQ? We hid that round the side of the house."
"Well, you'll have to explain that to the police, and they won't be very pleased."
The look of absolute horror, I can picture it now. So, question #1, and don’t worry, I’ll repeat them at the end - Have you ever pranked your own children?
2016
I posted the following…
It will be 20 years later this year since I met Fi; these are the first three movies I took her to (can’t remember the order):
1) Breaking the Waves – one of the most depressing movies of all time, seriously slit your wrists stuff – I’d already seen it; what the hell was I thinking?
2) Mallrats – a movie about stoner comic geeks that centres around lame jokes about anal sex – hmmm.
3) Romeo and Juliet. What a movie – I’m glad Leonardo Dicaprio finally won an award – epic soundtrack.
Hey Fi, apparently, Mallrats 2 will be out soon.
So, question #2 - Can you remember which movie(s) you first saw with your partner when you went out?
2017
In 2017, I was feeling very proud of my Uncle Ian, but it had nothing to do with stage or screen for once. On holiday in the area, he had joined the picket line with the Pike River families in solidarity. I wrote:
It is an absolute scandal that no one has ever been held to account for the shortcuts and safety breaches that led to the deaths of these men. Wherever we may sit in the political spectrum, I don't think this sits well with many Kiwis; truth and justice matter.
Good on you, Ian!
The article in the Herald quoted him saying:
“I've always been proud to be a New Zealander and of New Zealand; of fair play, respect for others, for dealing with people with honour - and I think all of those things will be buried behind four tonnes of cement at Pike River.
Some of the people in political power, economic power, it's revealed who they really are and what their attitudes are to New Zealanders.
I'm wondering why a prime minister can say 'I'll get them out of there' and then not talk to them. I'm wondering why a new prime minister on his first day in office declines to see a delegation of the families who have come all the way up at their own expense to Wellington to try and communicate with the people in power. I see no honour here.”
So, question #3: Have you ever joined a protest spontaneously, on the spur of the moment, with no prior intention to?
2018
I must have been feeling rather snarky about the media and posted the following advertisement in response to the tabloid drivel appearing in my newsfeed:
Social Media position – well-known NZ news organisation.
Required:
• An interest in finding obscure child murders and abuse cases from around the world to present as if they were local.
• A belief that events on reality TV, or the private lives of sports people, qualify as news.
• Ability to create click-bait style headlines to trick people into reading articles without content.
• A willingness to post articles enforcing stereotypes to excite rednecks and bigots.
• A dislike of vegans and cyclists.
Optional:
• Literacy.
Question #4 - What is the least newsworthy story that has appeared in your feed recently from a source purporting to be news?
2019
Back in 2019, I was feeling musical and posted:
“Got the old guitar out of the garage, cleaned it up, put new strings on it - needed pliers to get the old ones off. The tips of my left-hand fingers are as soft as a baby’s butt - it's like being 16 and learning to play again!
I dread to think how the fingers of my right hand will go with bass strings tomorrow, not to mention the thumb knuckle—do thumbs have knuckles?
Time for some calluses!”
Question #5 - Is there something you enjoyed doing in the past that you might get back into?
2020
Back in 2020, I thought I had the perfect recipe, although I subsequently found that things were better without the last ingredient:
Step 1: Mix fish sauce, brown sugar, olive oil, pepper, and rump steak. During marination, burn wood and drink Pinot Noir.
Step 2 BBQ.
Question #6 - What is your go-to marinade or use for a cheaper cut of meat?
A couple of days later, I posted this clip of the wonderful John Clarke, which is still relevant; only the names have changed:
2021
For some reason, perhaps it was the regular outcry regarding the treatment of animals at rodeos, I made the following post:
“I have a horrible confession – I once went to a bullfight, not proud of it.
Fi and I were in a bar in Seville near the bull ring, which we’d walked passed earlier in the day. We got to talking with the English-speaking barman about the bullfight. Soon after half the bar walked out to go to the event, Fi and I decided to go as well. When in Seville? The barman said you’ll be back soon – he was right.
The atmosphere was electric, it felt like the Roman Coliseum. The first bull came out to cheers at the thrill of the contest. But there was to be no contest, men on horseback speared the bull repeatedly until it was more than half dead and losing its senses before the matador appeared
There were a few half-hearted charges by the poor, befuddled animal before the brave hero stabbed it with his sword, and it was then dragged off dead. I’m ashamed I saw it, but I’m also glad to know the truth: there was no sport, no heroics; it was just senseless, cowardly butchery.
We went back to the nearly empty bar for some pretty stiff drinks, the bartender was a bit amused at our return – always listen to the bartender. Oh, and fuck that shit!”
I guess sometimes you have to see for yourself just how bad something is, which brings us to question #7 - Have you ever done something you knew was wrong just to see what it was like?
2022
At that time, I had a somewhat regular topic that examined a particular country and asked, “What did they ever do for us?” The “ten years memories” of its day if I was looking for something to write about.
I wrote one about Ukraine, and how there wouldn’t be a war there, which was so wrong in hindsight that it somewhat discouraged me from doing similar since, but on that day, I was looking at Serbia and asking:
Question #8 - is there a country you would like to read a silly newsletter about?
Just so I have an image for the cover, this is the view off my back deck at the moment, it’s another cracker in Tamaki Makaurau, hope it’s a good one wherever you are. 🙂
2023
I wrote this, which I’d forgotten about entirely:
Question #8 - Which politician demonstrated the greatest mediocrity in 2024?
2024
A year ago this weekend, former PM Jacinda Ardern was getting married, and I posted, “Shame on the NZ Herald for publishing paparazzi photos spying on preparations for Jacinda’s wedding. Gutter tabloid trash.” I also wrote:
Question #10 - What advice could Jacinda Ardern give to Christopher Luxon?
Questions
Here are all the questions asked above; you are welcome to answer one, many, or none at all.
Have you ever pranked your own children?
Can you remember which movie(s) you first saw with your partner when you went out?
Have you ever joined a protest spontaneously?
What is the least newsworthy story that has appeared in your feed recently from a source purporting to be news?
Is there something you enjoyed doing in the past that you might get back into?
What is your go-to marinade or use for a cheaper cut of meat?
Have you ever done something you knew was wrong just to see what it was like?
Is there a country you would like to read a silly newsletter about?
Which politician demonstrated the greatest mediocrity in 2024?
What advice could Jacinda Ardern give to Christopher Luxon?
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Some of you might remember this, a bit of a rockier one from the boys from Birmingham - Duran Duran and Careless Memories…
Non Newsworthy "stories" - Can't seem to keep the "stories" about the housing market out of my newsfeed. Mainstream press seems to think that we are not a nation of people hanging out to see where and when the latest property deal can be done. For the average person, if they are lucky enough to own their own house, the changing market matters not one iota until they wish to move; and even then all prices will move together.
These so called stories often come across as desperation on behalf of media to keep us wanting to get involved in this merry go round and should be left to real estate's own media. THEY ARE NOT NEWS.
Probably the worse thing about them is they portray rising prices of housing as some great economic strength not a serious inflationary problem like all other price increases seem to be!
Q2. The first movie I saw with Diana was Alien. Best movie ever. She clung to me very tightly all the way home. Happily, she still does😁
Q4. Meghan’s dog. Enough said already on that.
Q9. Luxon, hands down.
Q10. If I was Jacinda I would take Luxon aside and say, “under normal circumstances Chris, the way things are going, I’d suggest you quit while you’re ahead, but in your case, what I would say to you is quit while you’re an arse.”
There may be more to come but this will do for now