Hey, uh, what are you guys doin?

When I first arrived in the United States, New Zealand was world-famous in this land of the free for one thing.  Lord of the Rings.  I had to struggle at times to get in my little “but-I-could-see-Mount-Fuji-on-The-Last-Samurai-out-my-bedroom-window-when-I-was-a-kid” line.  But that has changed, at least a little, with the Flight of the Conchords picking up their [...]

Offices and tubes

Mondays are a killer. I wake at six, and after a shower and forcing food down my nocturnal self, I float three minutes to the Northern Line and find a seat in the tube. The littered carriages and ad cards above the tube maps weave into my dreams. As my night wrestles with my day, [...]

Oozing with character

I was at the pool the other day, getting changed, when a boy of about ten walked in. He was short, awkward looking, and quite overweight. His puppy fat jiggled gently when he bent over to pick up his gear bag, an inch of butt-crack showing itself at the top of his pants. He pulled [...]

Who is going to heaven again?

It may come as a surprise to some, but heaven – as most people understand the term - doesn’t exist. At least this is according to one of today’s most formidable New Testament scholars, N.T. (Tom) Wright. A recent Time magazine interview with Wright can be found here.
Wright’s early years as a scholar were spent teaching at [...]

Hello, goodbye, hello.

Tendai Biti cuts an unusual figure. His large black suit and bowler hat hangs a heavy frame around the secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change.
Outside it’s thirty degrees. Creature comforts such as air conditioning is only found in the upmarket hotels, and days later I would be making regular stops to [...]