My 2024 Christmas Ad Playlist has been updated

My annotated post of my ”2024 New Zealand Christmas TV Ads” playlist has been updated: Last night I added two ads that hadn’t been running, as far as I know, until recently (Numbers 5 and 6 on the 2024 playlist). I found more ads because I again searched on YouTube for any ads I’ve seen on TV since I posted the playlist. This mystifies me: If a company’s goal is to get as many people as possible to see an ad, wouldn’t it make sense to post videos of the ads to a site as widely accessible as You Tube is? Apparently not. My original post is also updated to include my annotations about the ads. To get to the Playlist, simply follow the link above.

Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 19

This week forty years ago, on December 22, 1984, a new song became the final Number One of the year. That week, ”Like a Virgin” (video above) by American singer Madonna became the new Number One, the first for Madonna. The song was the lead single from her second studio album, also called Like a Virgin. The song—spoiler alert!—would stay at the top of the Billboard “Hot 100” for six weeks.

Like many of the other Number Ones of 1984, this song was played on the radio a lot and was also part of MTV and other video music programming, but it wasn’t her first hit: In 1983, “Lucky Star” reached Number 4 on the Billboard “Hot 100”, and it and her previous single, “Holiday”, both went to Number One on the Billboard “Dance Club Songs” chart. I first became familiar with her because of those two 1983 songs, probably from going to gay clubs.

In those days, there was a stereotype that if a boy or young man liked Madonna, he had to be gay, and so, many of them wouldn’t admit to liking her music, whether they were gay or not. It would be a long time before young men and adolescents would say that they liked an artist like Madonna not just despite the perception among some that she appealed to The Gays, but even because of it. She helped usher in a time in which young gay men and youth could start to feel a bit safer to be who they were, and they first started exploring that by openly liking Madonna. I was mostly an observer to all that: I was still in the “young man” category when I first heard of her (24, to be exact), and I became aware of the stereotype somewhere around the time “Like A Virgin” was released, but by then I was a grassroots gay activist, so I was past hiding anything.

I well remember the music video for “Like a Virgin” from various music video shows on broadcast TV at the time, but especially in—surprise!—the gay clubs in Chicago, the video bars in particular.
I liked Madonna back in the day, and over time I both admired and was fascinated by her ability to reinvent herself and take on new approaches to pop music. That appealed to in the same way it appealed to me when David Bowie did that: It kept their work fresh and interesting. Over time, I may have paid less attention to her, but that didn’t change how I felt about her earlier work. Madonna is around five months older than me, and I think it’s safe to say that we’ve probably both changed a lot since the early-to-mid 1980s.

The song “Like a Virgin” reached Number One in Australia, Number One in Canada, 2 in New Zealand (Platinum–Digital, meaning it wasn't certified before the digital era), 3 in the UK (Gold), as well as Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100” and their “Dance Club Songs” charts, and was also Number One on Cash Box “Top 100 Singles”, Radio & Records “CHR & Pop Chart”, as well as Number One on the “Disco” chart from Music Week”. It was also certified Gold in the USA.

The album Like a Virgin reached Number 2 in Australia (7x Platinum), 3 in Canada (Diamond), Number One in New Zealand (5x Platinum), Number One in the UK (3x Platinum), and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard 200”, as well as Number 3 on the Cash Box “100 Albums” chart. It was Certified Diamond in the USA.

This is the final post about the Number One songs of 1984, however, there will be a series finale on December 31, and perhaps one more between now and then. The first post in the 2025 series will be published on February 2, due to the fact that “Like a Virgin” remained Number One throughout January. I guess I get a “Holiday”, but probably not “Like a Virgin”.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1984” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 1 – January 21, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 2 – February 4, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 3 – February 25, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 4 – March 31, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 5 – April 21, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 6 – May 12, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 7 – May 26, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 8 – June 9, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 9 – June 23, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 10 – July 7, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 11 – August 11, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 12 – September 1, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 13 – September 22, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 14 – September 29, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 15 – October 13, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 16 – November 3, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 17 – November 17, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 18 – December 8, 2024

An ironclad good deal

This week I received another “loyalty points reward” item: A cast iron Dutch oven (photos above, fresh out of the box). There were reasons I bought the pan, but I discovered as I was getting ready to write this post that this is one of those “onion stories” in which something seemingly simple and ordinary has a lot of hidden layers. Such is the way of things, I guess.

I recently blogged about the end of Flybuys, the NZ customer loyalty programme, and how I wanted to use up my points before they expired. However, the same day I ordered my reward, I ordered another one from a different programme, and for a similar reason.

Roughly a year or two after I moved to Kirikiriroa-Hamilton, I joined the Air New Zealand Airpoints loyalty programme, mainly because one of the shops I went to frequently at the time had switched to that programme from Flybuys. In the couple years since, I accumulated points from diverse places like when I switched my insurance policy to a new company, from that shop that motivated me to join, and also some from my trip to Fiji in January.

The points from all loyalty schemes eventually expire, and I got an email awhile back telling me I had a lot that were expiring on December 31, and I wanted to use them up. I decided pretty quickly that I wanted to use my points and some cash to get”The Old Dutch 4.5L Double Dutch Oven”, made by NZ company, Ironclad Co. And now, the layers present themselves.

My motivation for getting one is that I had an enamelled cast iron round roasting/casserole pan/pot/whatever of a similar capacity, one that Nigel and I bought many years ago. However, the enamelled pan wasn’t compatible with my induction cooktop, and that meant I could only use the casserole pan in the oven. At previous houses, I’d make my family’s beef stew recipe in it, starting with browning the beef in it in small batches, before putting everything in it and them moving the pot to the oven for a few hours to slowly cook.

So, I used the expiring points and $145 cash to buy the Dutch oven, and gave my old enamelled pot to my brother-in-law, an excellent cook I knew would be glad to have it (they have a gas hob, as Nigel and I did at the time we bought it). The Dutch oven is currently listed art $379 saved (roughly US$214 today), so I saved $234 (US$132) and used up some Airpoints I’d have lost. That’s a good deal, in my opinion.

The reason I wanted that pan in particular is that I already have one of their frypans, the 28cm model. I bought it at the Waikato Home & Garden Show back in October 2022—and I never mentioned any of that on this blog at the time. However, I did mention it on my personal Facebook (and included the photos at the bottom of this post):

Went to the Waikato Home & Garden Show and saw that [Ironclad Co] was there, and I bought the legacy cast iron pan, which is made in New Zealand from recycled iron, and it comes with a “three generation guarantee”. My mother had a cast iron cookware set, so I grew up using them. Decades later, Nigel and I bought a cast iron pan, but I had to give it away because it wasn’t compatible with the induction cooktop I now have. I first came across the company during the first Covid lockdown, when, like a lot of people, I became really interested in buying NZ-made products (some of this company’s stuff is made in Australia). I held off, to be honest, because the pans are expensive. But, I needed to replace a non-stick pan, and I’d prefer one that becomes naturally non-stick with use (and proper care), and the company had a good Show Special price, and it’ll last me the rest of my life, so, yeah: I finally bought the pan I’ve wanted for a couple years. Very happy they were at the show! (NOT an ad—I bought the pan for the same price as anyone else). 🙂

I never mentioned it here, maybe, because it was in 2022—my worst-ever year for blogging. Still, now the story is all caught up, why I bought the Dutch oven, and also the fact that I have extensive history using cast iron cookware. Oc course there’s a bit more to it.

The company no longer says it casts its cookware in New Zealand, but most of the cheaper cast iron cookware in the shops is made in China, possibly with inferior grade of iron, and I at least know that Ironclad Co.’s cookware complies with FDA and California standards for food-grade iron cookware, something that may not be true for the Chinese-made ones. At any rate, the company itself is Kiwi, and the products are outstanding.

The company is famous for its “Three Generation Guarantee”: “If your cookware warps, cracks, or loses structural integrity over 100 years of normal daily use, we’ll replace it.” There's a very Kiwi addition to that:

"Normal daily use" means cooking with it, taking it camping, or using it on an oven, BBQ, or campfire. It doesn’t cover things like throwing it into the ocean on a dare, using it as a hammer, eating it, or melting it down for a drink—things of that sort.

This particular Dutch oven is pretty unique. Its oval shape means I could roast a chicken in it, but the other features are very unusual. The lid has no knobs because it can be flipped over and uses as a frypan. In that same position, it can be placed on the placed on top as a lid and filled with hot coals to make it a campfire over. Or, the Dutch oven can be placed upside down on top, turning it into a smoker, among other things. However, I expect I’ll probably only use it as a conventional Dutch oven: Among other reasons, I’m pretty sure my camping days are in my past, however, I do hope to get my generation’s worth of use from both of them.

Back in October, I joked about buying pens and a cookie jar as the first things I’d bought for myself since February. Technically, the cookie jar was the only thing I didn’t need, and it was only $6. All of which means that the Dutch oven is actually the first significant thing (in terms of amount spent) that I’ve bought myself since February—my Christmas present to myself? Maybe. But at the very least, I got to use the soon-to-expire points and bought that Dutch oven in a very good deal—an ironclad good deal.

This story was originally just about using up some loyalty scheme points to buy a cast iron Dutch oven I’d wanted for ages because I needed to replace the similar sized one I had, and because I like that particular company’s products—none of which I’d ever mentioned on this blog. Maybe now, at the end of another bad year for my blogging, I’m turning a corner? Well, there’s certainly no “Three Generation Guarantee” about that, but maybe a Christmas miracle?

2024 December Solstice

The December Solstice arrived in New Zealand at 10:20pm NZDT tonight, meaning that today was the longest day of the year—and they’ll now start getting shorter. There are people who feel that today is the first day of Southern Hemisphere summer, and because of that it’s also known as the start of astronomical summer. As I’ve said many times, though, I’m a meteorological season kind of guy, and noted the start of our summer, as I do, back on December 1. To me, the summer solstice is nearing the end of the first third of the season.

This weekend was predicted to be stormy, and this morning certainly was. Around midday, the rains were torrential, and the winds were surprisingly strong. And then it just faded away and later in the afternoon it became a beautiful sunny day with skies that were blue with puffy clouds. It was even a relatively pleasant 24 degrees (75.2F) today, which is not always the case this time of year.

I recently noticed something that I hadn’t before: In summer, I generate electricity even on cloudy days, sometimes enough to run a hungry appliance—like the dishwasher or the dyer—and still send power to the grid. In winter, a cloudy day usually means too little power is generated for that to be possible. This is probably because of axial tilt, which means the sun is facing the Southern Hemisphere, and that makes just enough difference that more light gets through this time of year.

I noticed this because I went into the garage recently and heard the inverter whirring away. That’s the device that takes the DC electricity from the solar panels, converts it to AC, and then sends that power first to my house, then anything surplus goes to the grid. When the sun is shining brightly in the afternoon, it can be rather loud, and since it’s mounted on the wall separating the garage from the kitchen, I can hear the inverter when I’m standing in the kitchen. The whirring isn’t even almost that loud on a cloudy summer day, but loud enough that I can hear it when I walk into the garage; it's even quieter on a cloudy winter day.

Another benefit of summer settling in is that lawns are definitely growing more slowly, and even starting to brown-off in spots, all of which happens in a typical summer. Speaking of which, I’m trying to not say “normal summer” any more because the weather has become much less predictable, and with severe storms more frequent, than used to be the case. Still, if this summer is becoming more like a typical summer, that’ll mean less mowing, and, to me, that’s a wonderful thing,

Even though I know that the days are now beginning to get shorter, it won’t be noticeable for at least a month, so I can ignore that pesky detail for now. I love summer the most, and I intend to enjoy this one.

Here’s the list of when the solstices and equinoxes arrive in New Zealand next year, provided by TimeAndDate.com:

March Equinox: 10:01pm NZDT on March 20, 2025. June Solstice: 2:42pm NZST on June 21, 2025. September Equinox: 6:19am NZST on September 23, 2025. December Solstice: 4:03pm NZDT on December 22, 2025

Related:

In New Zealand, Daylight Saving Time starts at 2am on the last Sunday in September, and ends at 3am on the first Sunday in April. This means that our current NZ Daylight Time (NZDT) ends at 3am on Sunday, April 6, 2025, and we resume NZ Standard Time (NZST). Then, at 2am on Sunday, September 28, 2025, NZDT returns again. In both cases, the dates and times are fairly easy to work out, unlike solstices and equinoxes.

I created the graphic above for a post in 2012. I used an image in the public domain and claim no ownership over that image, however, the composition is licensed under my usual Creative Commons license.

Ask Arthur 2024, Part 1: Pardon?

Today I begin answering questions in the 2024 “Ask Arthur” series. In past years I started with the first question asked, and then continued more or less in order, sometimes grouping questions with similar subjects/themes together. This year, however, one of the later questions is more time-sensitive than the others, so I’ll begin with that one.

Before I begin, though, anyone can still ask new questions: Leave a comment on this post, or see the other options down below, at the end of this post. I’ll call time on new questions in a later post in the series, but I’ll finish this “Ask Arthur” series by December 31.

So: This year’s first question, as is usually the case, is from my pal Roger Green, who asked:

Hunter Biden pardoned by his dad. Orange said, "What about the J6 hostages?" which is silly because orange can do it himself. Thoughts? And also, who else should Joe pardon?

I Can’t think of anything I care about less than President Biden pardoning his son. I wasn’t the least bit surprised that the Right were—or, more likely pretended to be—freaking out about it. I don’t recall a single one of them whining after 45 pardoned his son-in-law’s dad—or any of the other criminals (or his own co-conspirators) that he pardoned. So, their reaction was largely performative, as it so often is. Some of them were even unintentionally hilarious, like the far-right guy who made an “error-filled” movie about illegal immigration who publicly complained about the pardon—despite getting one from 45. Glass houses, and all that.

What I find extremely tiresome, though, is the hand-wringing and rending of garments from those on the Left, including some I like and respect. One legal commentator went to great lengths to condemn President Biden, declared he’d lied about not pardoning Hunter, that his reputation and legacy was destroyed, and he kept droning on about how the pardon violates norms—even though he’s previously noted how the Orange One has already shattered norms and precedent and will do FAR worse once he’s enthroned in January. A prominent political YouTuber I’ve watched for years declared that “of course Biden shouldn’t have lied”, however, he’s also consistently pointed out the old norms are gone, and the incoming guy will do whatever he wants, whether it’s legal or not, and without regard for the Constitution. 

I have NO idea whether or not President Biden “lied” when he said several times that wouldn’t give Hunter a pardon—and neither does anyone else, Right or Left. However, there’s strong evidence supporting the assertion that he didn’t lie. In his statement on the pardon, President Biden said:

No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.

Indeed, “no reasonable person” (emphasis added), which obviously excludes the Republican politicians whining so loudly about the pardon. If President Biden had not pardoned Hunter, the supplicants the Orange One installs at the FBI and as Attorney General would almost certainly launch phoney “investigations” into Hunter Biden, followed by corrupt indictments (indeed, even after the pardon Republican politicians in Congress declared they’d continue with their own phoney “investigations”, anyway, because, well, politics…). A pardon was the ONLY way to protect Hunter from politically-motivated harassment and persecution. I think Joe Biden did the right thing, and I fully support it.

This brings up the question of “pre-emptive pardons” for folks who haven’t committed any crimes, but who the Orange One considers to be his personal enemies because they dared to hold him to account for his many crimes. He absolutely intends to keep his promise of revenge, a promise he repeated many, many, many times over the past couple years. So, should President Biden protect those the Orange One wants to destroy? I think that depends on the individual.

Many of the folks in question are high-profile politicians who can raise donations to help pay for their legal defence against the partisan attacks from Orange One’s minions and their phoney investigations and fraudulent “indictments” (assuming they can convince grand juries to indict with absolutely no evidence whatsoever of any crimes having been committed). If they do manage to somehow “indict”, there are laws against malicious or corrupt prosecutions, and it’s not inconceivable that they could end up with an unbroken record of hundreds of losses in court—unless they get the right MAGAt judge, and, if so, we can guess what the far-right Republican Supreme Court might then do.

Because of all that, and years of partisan harassment and prosecution, some of the folks in the Orange One’s crosshairs may prefer to accept a pardon. I fully understand why they might, and wouldn’t blame them if they do accept one. So far, though, Ive seen that some folks presumed to have targets on their back, like former US Representative Adam Kinzinger and newly-elected US Senator Adam Schiff, have said they don’t need or want a pre-emptive pardon. Will anyone else say they do want one? We know that a Republican House of Representatives “report” “calls for an FBI investigation into [former US Representative Liz] Cheney, accusing her of witness tampering by being in touch with star witness Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide.” The chairman of the committee, Barry Loudermilk (MAGA-Georgia), notoriously gave a tour of the Capital to two insurrectionists right before the January 6 attack, which, whatever Barry might say of it, nevertheless gave the insurrectionists valuable reconnaissance before their attack. Yet, curiously, Barry wasn’t “criminally investigated”.

All we know for sure is that when the Orange One is formally installed in power, he’ll do whatever he wants, rule of law be damned, and that will include pardoning his most obsequious allies—if they’re sufficiently fawning, grovelling, and submissive. Having said all that, I’m not sure he’ll pardon all the people convicted of the crimes they committed on or about January 6, 2021. The Orange One is incapable of censoring or muting himself, and in an interview recently he seemed to equivocate slightly on his earlier promise to pardon them all. Who knows? The guy has never shown that he understands, much less cares about, anything to do with the rule of law or the norms of behaviour for someone in the office he’ll, tragically, soon occupy, and he probably doesn’t understand the seriousness of the crimes so many of those people were convicted of. On the other hand, he wants to be worshipped, so that will probably decide his actions.

The reason that I moved this topic to the top of the list is that last week, some 10 days after Roger asked his question, President Biden pardoned 39 people and commuted the sentences of 1500 others, and there’s no reason to think there won’t be more. I wanted to avoid the Christmas rush. I also delayed publication a couple days so I could tone down my contempt for the Orange One and his party. This post is as dispassionate as I can be—which is precisely why I've avoided writing about US politics.

Thanks to Roger for today’s question!

It’s not too late to ask a question: Simply leave a comment on this post (anonymous comments are allowed). Or, you can email me your question (and you can even tell me to keep your name secret—though, why not pick a nom de question?). You can also ask questions on the AmeriNZ Facebook page, though keep in mind that all Facebook Pages are public, just like this blog. To avoid being public there, you can send me a private message through the AmeriNZ Facebook Page.

All posts in this series are tagged “AAA-24”. All previous posts from every “Ask Arthur” series are tagged, appropriately enough, ”Ask Arthur”.

Previously in the 2024 series:

”Let the annual inquisition begin fpr 2024” – The first post in this year’s series.

Pop music mashups for 2024

December is the season for music video mashups, and the two I watch every year were released within a couple days of each other over the past week and a half. As it happens, I saw a Facebook “Memory” today for my blog post on December 17, 2015 in which I shared several mashups in at once, and so, here we are.

Nine years ago, I said “This year, I’m sharing the videos by the same three artists I did last year, but this time they’re all in one post rather than separate ones (even though having the extra posts would have been nice for me…).” All of that’s the same this year, though I still have doubts that I’ll manage 22 posts this month (well, I did say that I was “possibly unrealisticly” optimistic about that goal…).

Be that as it may, this year’s post has two folks I’ve shared in the past, one of whom I also shared nine years ago. The guy who made the other video mashup still available stopped making them many years ago, and the channel of the third has been deleted. These two are likely to be around for awhile.

I’ll have \specific reactions to each video, but, in general, I have a question: Have I finally crossed into the “way to old” category? I recognised individual artists in both videos, but, for the most part, and for the first time ever, I didn’t recognise the vast majority of the videos. I’ll answer my question: I may well be in that category, but by itself this new reality isn’t an example of it.

I used to be so aware of current pop music because I was able to watch music videos on TV, which is barely available anymore, and what is available (one part-time channel) doesn’t necessarily show videos that are even remotely current. Since I don’t listen to the radio, and seldom to any streaming service, the only way I know of a current pop music song is if a snippet is played on a TV programme, in an ad, or the very rare times someone shares something on social media. So, it’s probably not even remotely surprising that I don’t recognise most of the videos or even the songs. Or, maybe I’m just refusing to acknowledge reality.

Here are the two mashups I’m sharing this year, and fist up is “CLUB 2024 | A Year-End Megamix (Mashup of 150+ Songs) // by Adamusic”, released on December 9, 2024:

I think it’s interesting how these mashup artists can draw a theme out of songs in a year, in this case, about beat-driven club music. In this video, I recognised snippets of videos from Beyonce and Teddy Swims, along with several artists, but the vast majority of what was in this video was completely alien to me, like I’d just been dropped into some future year. Honestly, it was kind of a weird experience being so utterly out of touch with so much pop music from the year. Even though I felt perosnally disconnnected form much of the video I nevertheless like Adam’s work (obviously, if I keep sharing it…). Adam doesn’t post a track list as such, but the YouTube description has a link to a Spotify playlist of all the songs.

Next, it’s “United State of Pop 2024 (Blame It on the Whiskey) - DJ Earworm”, released December 11, 2024:

This video is a third the length of the first one, but it’s also a “mashup of the 25 biggest hits in the U.S. during 2024”, according to the YouTube description. This video takes a different direction, focusing on the more country aspects of this year’s music: Different emphasis and vibe, which is nice (I like variety). While the video may have been shorter, I didn’t do any better with recognising most of the videos, though I was more likely to know the artists in them, for whatever that’s worth. One thing I especially like aboutDJ Earworm’s YouTube videos is that he always puts the tracklist in the YouTube description—though in this case, sadly, it just confirmed how many of the artists I was unfamiliar with.

I like both these mashups, even though there were so few music videos that I’ve actually seen. And I also like—well, more like am amused by—the fact that so much of all this was true in my post nine years ago. In fact, back then I summed up what I feel this year:

This means that when I watch/listen to one of these end of year mash-ups, the odds are good (and getting better) that I won’t recognise much. Still, I like them as a nice way to find out what was popular in the preceding year.

Indeed—and very relevant: I recently saw a mention of Hozier’s “Too Sweet”, a song I hadn’t heard. Then, as so often happens these days, I promptly forgot all about it—until I saw his video included, and sought it out (here’e the link if you want to see/hear it—and so I can find it again…).

I guess my theme for these mashups is probably, “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose”. Once again, it proves the point.

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 416 is now available

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 416, “Presently”, is now available from the podcast website. There, you can listen or  download the episode, or any other episode, and you can subscribe to the podcast.

The five most recent episodes of the podcast are listed on the sidebar on the right side of this blog.

Goodbye Flybuys

Yesterday I said a symbolic farewell to Flybuys (formerly “Fly Buys”), a customer loyalty programme in New Zealand that was launched in 1996. Nigel and I signed up right away, and mainly because the initial marketing promoted the possibility of earning flights (hence the name…), something that seemed like a good idea for us, a binational couple. Even though none of the early promises—as we understood them—actually amounted to anything, we nevertheless continued on and earned many rewards over the years. All that ends on December 31, and I needed to use up my points before then. I did that yesterday.

We got quite a few “rewards”, as they were called, over the years, and among them is a clock radio I still have and use. I can only list that one thing because it, and a six month subscription to a magazine, were the only things still listed when I checked yesterday. I probably have no hope of remembering anyt earlier rewards.

Technically, my account was an extension of Nigel’s, and he usually chose what we got as “rewards” (like that clock radio—because it can project the time onto the ceiling at night). The only thing I got since Nigel died was that magazine subscription (and a donation of points to a charity). Yesterday was my final chance.

My intention was to buy more than I had points for, which would mean using all my points and paying a bit, too. Basically, I didn’t want to leave any points un-redeemed, and that seemed like the best option. I could’ve bought store vouchers (like for a supermarket), which would be useful, of course, but I’d have had points leftover. So, I decided to buy a bit of tech instead.

When Nigel was in his last days, he told me I needed to get a MacBook Pro and a dock so that I could do my work anywhere, and also connect it to a real keyboard and mouse. I did that, and, at the time, I didn’t realise that neither the 2019 Macbook Pro I bought, nor the dock I also bought, had any way to connect to an older external monitor. While the display on my MacBook Pro is excellent quality, it’s also small.

So, yesterday I decided to complete Nigel’s instructions (his intent, if not specific direction) and buy an adapter to allow me to connect an HDMI monitor to my MacBook Pro. I have two HDMI monitors (my own and Nigel’s), but newer Macs have moved to a different standard. I intend to upgrade my Mac Mini in the next year or so, and that’ll mean getting a new HD monitor (something I also want), but thanks to that adapter, I’ll be able to use my old monitor(s) with my MacBook Pro until they stop working. I had to pay an extra roughly $14 to get the adapter, but if I saw that in a shop I wouldn’t have thought twice about spending that much (it’d have been more in a shop…), so, why not?

I spent far too much time scrolling through their website to pick what I wanted, but, in the end, I got something I can use, I used up all my points, and can see the demise of Flybuys while losing nothing. Well, nothing apart from the flights to the USA that Nigel and I originally hoped to get from the programme—they turned out to be nothing. Still we did get some stuff over the years, and that was good. And, at the end of the programme, I got something that Nigel actually had in mind for me in his final days, or that’s in line with those intentions, but also something that I somehow didn’t quite grasp at the time.

Maybe it’s actually true that all’s well that ends well.

Update – December 17, 2024: The adapter arrived today, two business days after I ordered it, complete with a cute little suede-like travel pouch:

The news unleashes a memory

This morning, I got a news alert that “The Amazing Kreskin” has died. I vaguely remember him being on TV a lot either side of 1970, but I don’t remember much about his appearances or even what his voice sounded like. I think part of the reason for that is that I was far too young.

The first thing I did think about was “related merchandise”: When I was a kid I was given his game (or whatever it was), “Kreskin’s ESP”. The game was released in 1967, but I have no idea when I was given it: It could’ve been Christmas that year or a later year. However, I didn’t think it was very interesting because it was very easy to manipulate the egg-shaped thing on a chain.

There was another thing about that, though: I don’t remember ever playing with it with a friend, and if it was 1967 or 68, that figures: In 1969 we moved to another town, one where there were a lot of other kids in my neighbourhood, but in the town we moved from, there weren’t. So, up until late 1968, I spent a lot of time by myself, and that could explain why the “Kreskin’s ESP” thing didn’t really stick in my memories.

To be clear, I didn’t hate the game, and I absolutely remember playing with that egg-shaped thing on a chain and the cards that it swung over to supposedly revealed answers to questions. It’s just that it didn’t stick with me, and that might simply be because I was playing with it alone.

I think that my parents gave it to me, and if so, it goes to show that back in those days it wasn’t automatic that preachers rejected all non-Christian supernatural-ish things. However, I do remember my parents being angry about the movie of Rosemary’s Baby, which they said was mocking the Jesus birth story, and they were concerned that “The Exorcist” (the book) might encourage some people to imitate some devilish (literally) behaviour, something that never actually happened. By the late 1970s, they were past that sort of reaction, around the same time the fundamentalists were ramping things up.

Another thing the memory of the game reminded me of is that I later found out it was also easy to manipulate a Ouija board, though that was definitely with friends. Maybe I was born a sceptic. In any case, my parents certainly didn’t prevent the growth of my scepticism, and I think that’s the bigger gift they gave me.

It’s interesting the path one’s mind can meander along, especially, like today, when it’s sent on its journey by a random news alert about someone I barely remember. Being human is pretty weird.