http://tmmb.mywire.org/ Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:07:59 +0000 MyBB http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=4098 Sat, 07 Jun 2025 14:50:07 +0200 Zurdo]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=4098 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...need-to-be

Just what I expected, sounds like the sort of guy to invent Jack Reacher.]]> https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...need-to-be

Just what I expected, sounds like the sort of guy to invent Jack Reacher.]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=4064 Fri, 30 May 2025 04:07:41 +0200 zqwerty]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=4064
https://www.dannydutch.com/post/ian-flem...t-made-007

An 11 minute read, well written in places with good descriptions of Jamaica and scenery. Informative.]]>
https://www.dannydutch.com/post/ian-flem...t-made-007

An 11 minute read, well written in places with good descriptions of Jamaica and scenery. Informative.]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=4043 Fri, 23 May 2025 23:39:02 +0200 Oh_hunnihunni]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=4043
My Next Breath, by Jeremy Renner

Recommended.]]>
My Next Breath, by Jeremy Renner

Recommended.]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=2925 Tue, 27 Feb 2024 10:44:15 +0100 Zurdo]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=2925
I haven't read much of interest this year so far, until The Bassett Rd Machine Gun Murders by Scott Bainbridge. Something that has always interested me, and it's all been rumour for 60 years.  Dec 1963, a couple of weeks after the JFK assassination I remember that, Bassett Rd maybe not as much, I was 10.

Lots of information, and it is real gangland stuff, it would make a really good movie....trouble is, it's a New Zealand story, and we all know the real drama happens in other countries. Someone mentioned often - John Banks !  He was brought up with nice relatives, but went to live with his father as a teenager...Dad used to blow safes, and little Johnny drove the getaway car. He also met the 2 guys killed only a few days before, and even handled the murder weapon - these days, if found it would have his DNA on it...luckily well in the past for Banksy. A big break in the case came when Robert Muldoon brought in a key witness, when he was MP for Tamaki.   Not really a gangland murder, just the usual...a woman involved, and a couple of men after her. Not a machinegun murder either really, it was on single shot.

In the dodgy crowd I hung out with as a young guy, Bassett Rd was mentioned often, some guys seemed to have first hand knowledge of it, and the talk was always about Ron Jorgensen, not a mention of Dirk Gillies who did the actual shooting.

I hope I haven't spoiled it for you...]]>
I haven't read much of interest this year so far, until The Bassett Rd Machine Gun Murders by Scott Bainbridge. Something that has always interested me, and it's all been rumour for 60 years.  Dec 1963, a couple of weeks after the JFK assassination I remember that, Bassett Rd maybe not as much, I was 10.

Lots of information, and it is real gangland stuff, it would make a really good movie....trouble is, it's a New Zealand story, and we all know the real drama happens in other countries. Someone mentioned often - John Banks !  He was brought up with nice relatives, but went to live with his father as a teenager...Dad used to blow safes, and little Johnny drove the getaway car. He also met the 2 guys killed only a few days before, and even handled the murder weapon - these days, if found it would have his DNA on it...luckily well in the past for Banksy. A big break in the case came when Robert Muldoon brought in a key witness, when he was MP for Tamaki.   Not really a gangland murder, just the usual...a woman involved, and a couple of men after her. Not a machinegun murder either really, it was on single shot.

In the dodgy crowd I hung out with as a young guy, Bassett Rd was mentioned often, some guys seemed to have first hand knowledge of it, and the talk was always about Ron Jorgensen, not a mention of Dirk Gillies who did the actual shooting.

I hope I haven't spoiled it for you...]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=2903 Sun, 18 Feb 2024 06:51:14 +0100 Lilith7]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=2903

https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/02/17/short-...90hjrOCme8]]>

https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/02/17/short-...90hjrOCme8]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=2899 Sat, 17 Feb 2024 03:21:58 +0100 Oh_hunnihunni]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=2899
He has written lots of novels, and is still going, so with luck I will not run out of entertainment to keep me amused between science fiction doorstops.

Wonderful stuff, recommended.  ]]>
He has written lots of novels, and is still going, so with luck I will not run out of entertainment to keep me amused between science fiction doorstops.

Wonderful stuff, recommended.  ]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=2045 Sat, 08 Apr 2023 07:52:29 +0200 Zurdo]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=2045
The mind works in mysterious, and sometimes suspicious ways.

Many years ago I found a book in a 2nd hand shop by Tom Neale, called An Island To Oneself.  It is about the times he spent living alone on deserted Suvarov Island...in the book his 2 times there, but in the real world he went back a 3rd time. It made an impression on me, it resonates with others who crave solitude. When we lived on Waiheke Island there was no Public Library then, just a Community Library of donated books, and we donated a lot of our books, and this must've been one of them. 

On a motorcycle forum I'm on someone started a thread - Hermits, Recluses, Lookouts and lighthouse Keepers, asking if anyone had done it. A few live off the grid, but a true life alone is rare these days.  I mentioned An Island To Oneself, and someone said he had the book, and read it at least once a year.  So that set me on the trail to get my book back...I found a hardback on Amazon - $1,200 US !   Even paperbacks are 2 or 3 hundred.  A local women runs a Book Fair at the community hall, and other places as well....she keeps her books in one of the storage containers at work, and at the moment lives in the back yard in her truck. I had a look for it in the hall but didn't find it, and asked her, that I guess she didn't know every book she had,  but, did she have it. Half an hour later she gives it to me....she has a box labelled Russia and Pacific, I just saw Russia and moved on. She charges $3 per book, I gave her $4 for the prompt service.

So, just by thinking about it, my book has found it's way back to me. I am going to loan it to a friend, well she won't say we are friends, she shuns humans and leads a live of few friends. One of her daughters asked what would be her perfect life, and she just drew a picture...an island with one palm tree, and the stick figure of herself. So, this book is destined for her.

I do have some slight connection to the book too. The company A B Donald had interests in the Cook Islands and others, and they had a boat, or others that traded their products around the islands, and Tom was a friend of the skipper, and used the boat to get to Suvarov....and bought many of his supplies from the Donalds store.  In the mid '80's I worked for one of the Donald's, and he knew all about Tom Neale, and went to the islands aboard the same boat, with the same skipper.  Then on Waiheke I worked with a woman from Raro, and I mentioned Tom Neale - ''Oh, Uncle Tom !  He used to come and visit us in Glenn Innes.''  And she told me he went back a 3rd time, and had married in Raro and had kids, which is not in the book.]]>
The mind works in mysterious, and sometimes suspicious ways.

Many years ago I found a book in a 2nd hand shop by Tom Neale, called An Island To Oneself.  It is about the times he spent living alone on deserted Suvarov Island...in the book his 2 times there, but in the real world he went back a 3rd time. It made an impression on me, it resonates with others who crave solitude. When we lived on Waiheke Island there was no Public Library then, just a Community Library of donated books, and we donated a lot of our books, and this must've been one of them. 

On a motorcycle forum I'm on someone started a thread - Hermits, Recluses, Lookouts and lighthouse Keepers, asking if anyone had done it. A few live off the grid, but a true life alone is rare these days.  I mentioned An Island To Oneself, and someone said he had the book, and read it at least once a year.  So that set me on the trail to get my book back...I found a hardback on Amazon - $1,200 US !   Even paperbacks are 2 or 3 hundred.  A local women runs a Book Fair at the community hall, and other places as well....she keeps her books in one of the storage containers at work, and at the moment lives in the back yard in her truck. I had a look for it in the hall but didn't find it, and asked her, that I guess she didn't know every book she had,  but, did she have it. Half an hour later she gives it to me....she has a box labelled Russia and Pacific, I just saw Russia and moved on. She charges $3 per book, I gave her $4 for the prompt service.

So, just by thinking about it, my book has found it's way back to me. I am going to loan it to a friend, well she won't say we are friends, she shuns humans and leads a live of few friends. One of her daughters asked what would be her perfect life, and she just drew a picture...an island with one palm tree, and the stick figure of herself. So, this book is destined for her.

I do have some slight connection to the book too. The company A B Donald had interests in the Cook Islands and others, and they had a boat, or others that traded their products around the islands, and Tom was a friend of the skipper, and used the boat to get to Suvarov....and bought many of his supplies from the Donalds store.  In the mid '80's I worked for one of the Donald's, and he knew all about Tom Neale, and went to the islands aboard the same boat, with the same skipper.  Then on Waiheke I worked with a woman from Raro, and I mentioned Tom Neale - ''Oh, Uncle Tom !  He used to come and visit us in Glenn Innes.''  And she told me he went back a 3rd time, and had married in Raro and had kids, which is not in the book.]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=1194 Sun, 06 Mar 2022 07:54:38 +0100 Zurdo]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=1194 Men's reading rate drops

I think everyone is reading less....for younger people it is a chore, and has been for many years. Back when we had no TV or computer I would read about 4 books a week, now I'm down to one a week...and ebooks these days. I prefer a print book, but I read at work too, so an ebook it is. Is it not considered a manly thing to do ?  Some people only read fiction, some only non fiction...but whatever we read, even if it's crap, it's a learning experience.

I read to my kids every night - I loved it, and it gave them all a love of reading themselves. I was reading to my eldest daughter up to she was 16...it was John Steinbeck by then. But we went from Rupert to Lord of the Rings and beyond. 

Books were almost lost in the Dark Ages, and there have been book burnings up to the present day - I just hope we keep having authors...and printers.]]> Men's reading rate drops

I think everyone is reading less....for younger people it is a chore, and has been for many years. Back when we had no TV or computer I would read about 4 books a week, now I'm down to one a week...and ebooks these days. I prefer a print book, but I read at work too, so an ebook it is. Is it not considered a manly thing to do ?  Some people only read fiction, some only non fiction...but whatever we read, even if it's crap, it's a learning experience.

I read to my kids every night - I loved it, and it gave them all a love of reading themselves. I was reading to my eldest daughter up to she was 16...it was John Steinbeck by then. But we went from Rupert to Lord of the Rings and beyond. 

Books were almost lost in the Dark Ages, and there have been book burnings up to the present day - I just hope we keep having authors...and printers.]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=1174 Mon, 28 Feb 2022 07:55:54 +0100 Zurdo]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=1174
Ann Cleeves - gotta  be good. We've all read Vera and Shetland...and watched the TV shows. I've stream Vera from Series 1 to whenever they let me see the latest. And Shetland too.

So she's got a new one...well, new for me, 2019. Two Rivers, the first book in the series is The Long Call. I got it out of the e library yesterday....and by the first couple of pages it's all sounding a bit familiar...

BUGGAR !  I also just started streaming a show on TVNZ on Demand - The Long Call. I've only watched 2 episodes, and by the first couple of chapters they have changed things...grrrr. So...stop watching...or stop reading. You can't stop me reading, and we all know the book is far better than the movie or TV series, already I have far more background to the characters than I gleaned from the TV show. I'll read the book, and then get all grumpy when I watch the rest of the TV show. Or maybe I won't watch it again.]]>
Ann Cleeves - gotta  be good. We've all read Vera and Shetland...and watched the TV shows. I've stream Vera from Series 1 to whenever they let me see the latest. And Shetland too.

So she's got a new one...well, new for me, 2019. Two Rivers, the first book in the series is The Long Call. I got it out of the e library yesterday....and by the first couple of pages it's all sounding a bit familiar...

BUGGAR !  I also just started streaming a show on TVNZ on Demand - The Long Call. I've only watched 2 episodes, and by the first couple of chapters they have changed things...grrrr. So...stop watching...or stop reading. You can't stop me reading, and we all know the book is far better than the movie or TV series, already I have far more background to the characters than I gleaned from the TV show. I'll read the book, and then get all grumpy when I watch the rest of the TV show. Or maybe I won't watch it again.]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=961 Tue, 28 Dec 2021 02:44:10 +0100 crafters_corner]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=961 https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/bo...r-has-died

I read The Bone People many years ago, and I found it very thought provoking

RIP to a wonderful NZ writer. ]]> https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/bo...r-has-died

I read The Bone People many years ago, and I found it very thought provoking

RIP to a wonderful NZ writer. ]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=915 Sun, 19 Dec 2021 19:27:36 +0100 Oh_hunnihunni]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=915
https://www.instagram.com/lululaberlue.e/]]>
https://www.instagram.com/lululaberlue.e/]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=900 Fri, 17 Dec 2021 02:53:51 +0100 Lilith7]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=900



"Possibly it feels good to these men to be superior to animals, but it does seem that if they were sure of it they would not have to prove it. Often a man who is afraid must constantly demonstrate his courage and, in the case of the hunter, must keep a tangible record of his courage. For ourselves, we have had mounted in a small hardwood plaque one perfect Borrego (big horned mountain sheep) dropping. And where another man can say ÔÇ£There was an animal, but because I am greater than he, he is dead & I am alive, & there is his head to prove itÔÇØ, we can say, ÔÇ£There was an animal, & for all we know there still is & here is the proof of it. He was very healthy when last we heard of him.ÔÇØ

The log from the sea of Cortez, John Steinbeck.




"The nations of the world that most vigorously foul the planetary nest & those in possession of the most destructive arsenals ought to be governed only by young women with small kids. More than anyone else, such mothers must live in the future, & they also face each day the realities of raw human nature. This gives them a special insight."

Children of god, Mary Doria Russell




"IÔÇÖve found the prescription for the powerful men of the world, the ones who sit around peace tables clad in jackets & ties. Put the blue child on the table & make them stay. Make them stay & watch death do its methodical work, watch as it eats away at the child from within. Hand out sandwiches, cigarettes & mineral water & leave them there while the child empties, while he decomposes to the bone .Leave them there for days, for all the days it takes. This is what IÔÇÖd do."
Margaret Mazzantini, Twice born.



"Religion is not one of my high points. I donÔÇÖt really subscribe to the stories surrounding each one, because they are just stories, remembered by men. I do feel the Great Spirit in all that is around me, & I am humbled/ I do pray with others if that is what they do. I donÔÇÖt judge them for that. That is their way I join them. Then I move on. The moon means a lot to me, as does the forest. All things natural speak to me with a rhythm that I feel. It is this that probably makes me a pagan.
There is no evil in the forest or the moon. Or, if there is, I donÔÇÖt see it.
The Great Spirit, as I like to call her, is in us all & in everything that lives or used to live, in everything that exists or used to exist."
Waging heavy peace, Neil Young



"My Mother didnÔÇÖt try to stab my Father until I was six, but she must have shown signs of oddness before that."
Never have your dog stuffed & other things IÔÇÖve learned, Alan Alda.



"The movie premiere. After the show, a loudspeaker alerted fans to the departing great ÔÇô Mr Clark GableÔÇÖs car! Miss Marlene DietrichÔÇÖs car! Miss Constance BennettÔÇÖs car! Miss Shirley TempleÔÇÖs motherÔÇÖs car! And on one glorious occasion ÔÇô Mr. Alfred HitchcarÔÇÖs cock!"
David Niven, Bring on the empty horses.

]]>



"Possibly it feels good to these men to be superior to animals, but it does seem that if they were sure of it they would not have to prove it. Often a man who is afraid must constantly demonstrate his courage and, in the case of the hunter, must keep a tangible record of his courage. For ourselves, we have had mounted in a small hardwood plaque one perfect Borrego (big horned mountain sheep) dropping. And where another man can say ÔÇ£There was an animal, but because I am greater than he, he is dead & I am alive, & there is his head to prove itÔÇØ, we can say, ÔÇ£There was an animal, & for all we know there still is & here is the proof of it. He was very healthy when last we heard of him.ÔÇØ

The log from the sea of Cortez, John Steinbeck.




"The nations of the world that most vigorously foul the planetary nest & those in possession of the most destructive arsenals ought to be governed only by young women with small kids. More than anyone else, such mothers must live in the future, & they also face each day the realities of raw human nature. This gives them a special insight."

Children of god, Mary Doria Russell




"IÔÇÖve found the prescription for the powerful men of the world, the ones who sit around peace tables clad in jackets & ties. Put the blue child on the table & make them stay. Make them stay & watch death do its methodical work, watch as it eats away at the child from within. Hand out sandwiches, cigarettes & mineral water & leave them there while the child empties, while he decomposes to the bone .Leave them there for days, for all the days it takes. This is what IÔÇÖd do."
Margaret Mazzantini, Twice born.



"Religion is not one of my high points. I donÔÇÖt really subscribe to the stories surrounding each one, because they are just stories, remembered by men. I do feel the Great Spirit in all that is around me, & I am humbled/ I do pray with others if that is what they do. I donÔÇÖt judge them for that. That is their way I join them. Then I move on. The moon means a lot to me, as does the forest. All things natural speak to me with a rhythm that I feel. It is this that probably makes me a pagan.
There is no evil in the forest or the moon. Or, if there is, I donÔÇÖt see it.
The Great Spirit, as I like to call her, is in us all & in everything that lives or used to live, in everything that exists or used to exist."
Waging heavy peace, Neil Young



"My Mother didnÔÇÖt try to stab my Father until I was six, but she must have shown signs of oddness before that."
Never have your dog stuffed & other things IÔÇÖve learned, Alan Alda.



"The movie premiere. After the show, a loudspeaker alerted fans to the departing great ÔÇô Mr Clark GableÔÇÖs car! Miss Marlene DietrichÔÇÖs car! Miss Constance BennettÔÇÖs car! Miss Shirley TempleÔÇÖs motherÔÇÖs car! And on one glorious occasion ÔÇô Mr. Alfred HitchcarÔÇÖs cock!"
David Niven, Bring on the empty horses.

]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=898 Thu, 16 Dec 2021 15:32:16 +0100 Oh_hunnihunni]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=898
So many questions, Andy Weir, so much psychological baggage to add to my already heavy load.

There ought to be a law against such books... but thank heavens there isn't.]]>
So many questions, Andy Weir, so much psychological baggage to add to my already heavy load.

There ought to be a law against such books... but thank heavens there isn't.]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=859 Tue, 07 Dec 2021 07:13:36 +0100 Lilith7]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=859 Its definitely an absorbing series; I very nearly put oil in the petrol tank on the lawn mower because I was still thinking about the people in the book. I've bought all three for a granddaughter who reads as much as I do & we both enjoyed them. It was originally to be a trilogy but there's an excellent chance there may be more in the pipeline - I hope so.

They'd make a good Xmas gift, too, & can be bought directly from the author, which is how I got them.

https://www.facebook.com/RHvandeWeert/po...7715603301]]> Its definitely an absorbing series; I very nearly put oil in the petrol tank on the lawn mower because I was still thinking about the people in the book. I've bought all three for a granddaughter who reads as much as I do & we both enjoyed them. It was originally to be a trilogy but there's an excellent chance there may be more in the pipeline - I hope so.

They'd make a good Xmas gift, too, & can be bought directly from the author, which is how I got them.

https://www.facebook.com/RHvandeWeert/po...7715603301]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=838 Fri, 03 Dec 2021 22:33:48 +0100 Oh_hunnihunni]]> http://tmmb.mywire.org/showthread.php?tid=838
But perhaps that is better than the formulaic creation of a book where every part of it is so carefully mapped out we readers can spy the inevitable conclusion long before it takes place. The kind of story where we start yelling advice and warnings at the characters in a vain attempt to save them from the wicked machinations of the puppetmaster behind the pen.

That said, I did enjoy Alistair Reynold's return to Revelation Space, I am just a little frustrated it didn't resolve in the end. But then Revelation Space never did...

'Inhibitor Phase'  Gollanz 2021

https://books.google.co.nz/books/about/I...edir_esc=y]]>
But perhaps that is better than the formulaic creation of a book where every part of it is so carefully mapped out we readers can spy the inevitable conclusion long before it takes place. The kind of story where we start yelling advice and warnings at the characters in a vain attempt to save them from the wicked machinations of the puppetmaster behind the pen.

That said, I did enjoy Alistair Reynold's return to Revelation Space, I am just a little frustrated it didn't resolve in the end. But then Revelation Space never did...

'Inhibitor Phase'  Gollanz 2021

https://books.google.co.nz/books/about/I...edir_esc=y]]>