mary's musings

With crowds coagulating outside Burger King, queues compounding from before breakfast at Maccas and public bins overflowing with fast food debris on day one of Level Three, I heard the odd derogatory comment about the people who would line up for this sort of fare. Interesting to note then, all the “others” who had been hanging out for a decent coffee – whatever that is.   Coffee snobbery is probably the purview of those with plenty of discretionary income.   I’m disappointed that as we emerged from Level Four, we saw a rapid reversion to pre-lock-down habits among the fast food junkies AND the coffee snobs, then there were the parties and other activities of debauchery. Bring back Level Four!    We clearly have not had enough time to consider the poignant poems, Facebook memes, and other evidence that the planet was enjoying a breather from our everyday throwaway habits. “We need to kick-start the economy again” is the plaintiff cry from those exper...

So during Levels three and four while you women under 60 are pondering how you’re going to get your roots redone, spare a thought for Dr Ashley Bloomfield.   His roots don’t appear as if they will need redoing, but I’m deeply concerned about how dishevelled he might look before any barber can get close enough to restore his classy coif to its former glory. Already I’m suspecting that the PM has taken to her own glossy locks with the kitchen scissors. Having penned this pithy intro I must justify myself by reminding you what happens when one is in the public eye and doing a damn good job (as are the PM and Dr Ashley Bloomfield).   Those who are watching, become proprietorial.   This licenses them to gossip, be proud, and/or rude, be concerned for the celeb’s welfare, and aware of any tiny thing that may put a ding in the paintwork – such as cutting the hair with the kitchen scissors – or not.   Small price knowing you’re doing a magnificent job I guess. ...

Masochism Did anyone see that great meme: “ If Donald Trump Had Captained the Titanic” ?   His first claim would be “There is no iceberg”, closely followed by “We won’t hit an iceberg”.   When the inevitable happened, he would claim to have known it was an iceberg before anyone else knew, and then he would say “No one knows icebergs better than I do”, followed by several other contradictory statements culminating in “I am the best captain, ask anyone”. I shared it with my cynical nephew (as you do when you want to touch base but you don’t want to type all the usual platitudes) and not to be outdone he came back telling me he’d been watching all of Trump’s daily Covid press briefings because they’re so good!   Now let me reassure you he was saying that with his tongue firmly in his cheek; but I couldn’t resist suggesting that he (my nephew) must have a masochistic streak. I got two messages back in quick succession.   The first was “let me find out wha...

Renee’s Rugged Rags As we progress though this CoVid lockdown, and I am starting to think about cleaning another bookshelf, I have been diverted by another wee book of quotes – these ones from Oscar Wilde.   Now what I’m about to say will make some of you rear up in politically correct consternation.   I had been harbouring these views because of it – but then Oscar Wilde reached out having once said this… “Fashion is what one wears oneself: what is unfashionable is what others wear.” My views are about to set sail!     Early on in the lockdown there was a lot of talk about transgressing boundaries.   David Clarke and his bike.   That awful man in the Christchurch supermarket.   The leader of the opposition in his limo.   But before they took the limelight, there was another boundary regularly being transgressed – the most recent of which was the tipping point that sent me scurrying to my keyboard to pen this vent.   The clothing o...

Quote of the Day… When a public statement appeared in a Glasgow newspaper claiming that whiskey was in short demand at Otago (2 December 1848), Edward McGlashan in a letter to Thomas Anderson famously said - because it appeared in AH McKlintock’s The History of Otago – and again in the Heinman Dictionary of New Zealand Quotations:   “the principles on which the selection of Emigrants is conducted preclude the idea of whiskey being an article much in demand”. These days we would have said “substance” rather than “article”.   Notwithstanding, McGlashan clearly was a master of the wry understatement. According to Wikipedia, Edward McGlashan was an independent member of the third term of New Zealand’s Parliament from 1860 – 1862, and again from 1871 – 1875.   Two stints occurring well after he made his famous observation to his mate Thomas Anderson (who incidentally was a chemist of some note and considering his studies refining the make-up of codeine; could well ...