The acclaimed Italian novelist Francesca Melandri, who has been under lockdown in Rome for almost three weeks due to the Covid-19 outbreak, has written a letter to fellow Europeans “from your future”, laying out the range of emotions people are likely to go through over the coming weeks. I am writing to you from Italy, which means I am writing from your future. We are now where you will be in a few…

So: we’re in lock down – or as I prefer to think of it, the big Tai Ho. Staying home, staying put, being stuck in one place. Find your bubble, stay in your bubble, don’t burst my bubble. Shouldn’t be that difficult really. I’m not really sure why people are getting overly excited by this – it’s a fairly simple thing to do, and not overly…

While we are all shut down in our homes, there is lots of time to think. In my case, thinking alone – no TV, no relatives, no pets, no people at all – nothing but a pad of paper and a computer. Well, and 2 weeks supply of food. So, thinking out loud now: Let’s sum up where we are. The world has caught a pandemic…

one small virus – one large effect world wide. Is anywhere free of Covid19? Perhaps the scientists on Antarctica? Bhutan? North Korea? This is spreading like the plague – only much faster. They’re almost at the Monty Python stage in Italy of “Bring out your dead”. Yes, I know that is in incredibly poor taste but it’s true – another 400 deaths last night in Lombardy,…

At long last, some progress on the travel front. LGWM have made a decision – that it is time to appoint a team of consultants who will actually undertake work to help LGWM make a decision. I’m not 100% sure that actually is progress – I thought that they were doing all that already – but let’s try and be positive. First up: who is the…

Today, Sunday, is International Women’s Day and so I thought that I would celebrate with my favourite woman architect. Who might that be? Some of you who know me may guess who that may be – after all, she is my alter-ego – but perhaps we first celebrate with a few other great women architects first. Who is your pick? First up for me is a…

It’s good to see some major new development being proposed for Porirua. The Whitby Newsbrief reports that a major new development is being proposed for the railway station in Porirua – heaven only knows that something good really deserves to happen here. The article at the Whitby Newsbrief gives a lot of information about the proposal although I’m still not 100% sure how it all fits…

(Sing along to the Knack, you know you want to… All together now!) Ooo my little prickly one, prickly oneare you gonna get me this time Coronaohh you make my noses run, my noses run,gunge it coming off of the line Corona Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty timeAlways gets to me, with a touch of the viral kindMy My My Corona Come…

Walking into the Embassy, I didn’t know what to expect. It was opening night, before all the Oscars hype, but there was a buzz in the air – literally an audible hum. Clearly others had heard something, but if so, they were keeping schtumm – first night at the movies but packed to the rafters and in the Embassy that is quite something. Was it going…

I’m not sure how I feel about Holden leaving a sinking ship – with their announcement that they are leaving their brand behind. Its probably been a foregone conclusion since they stopped production of the Commodore back in 2017 – along with Ford stopping production of their big Falcons in Australia as well. I remember way back when, when the campaign cry was “V8 till ’98”…