RobiNZ Personal Blog

The Day I Drove All The Ferraris

Not me unfortunately… The Day I Drove All The Ferraris : Xtra NZ: Motoring: David Linklater “When the official event [F599 Launch] was over, our hosts also offered the Australasian group a day to do whatever we pleased in the rest of the range: F430 coupe and Spider, plus the four-seat 612 Scaglietti with the new GTC handling pack. The verdict was unanimous: back towards Berceto, please. So that's how we came to have the drive of a lifetime: hot laps of Enzo Ferrari's first-ever racing route, in four of the finest cars ever to bear his name.” Read more →

Money Will Not Make You Happy?

If money doesn’t make you happy you’re buying the wrong stuff! Businesspundit: A Wheelbarrow of Money Will Not Make You Happy Read more →

Bad Astronomy and Superman Returns

The Bad Astronomer reviews the current hit movie Superman Returns revealing some “Bad Astronomy, some Bad Physics (duh, he flies), and some Bad Engineering too”. Superman Returns Review - bad astronomy.com “This is my first movie review since that nutbag Tom Cruise thetaned his way through "War of the Worlds", and Superman was a lot more fun to review” Read more →

Guide to blogging

It’s based on the wine business but this is excellent advice for blogging on any topic. The stormhoek guide to wine blogging - gapingvoid Read more →

Watch out for Space Rubbish?

NASA are dumping space junk in our region. It didn’t hit New Zealand but 3,900km is getting close! Radio New Zealand - Rubbish from International Space Station dropped into Pacific Ocean A spokesperson says the debris that did not burn in the atmosphere; fell into the sea, 3,900km southeast of New Zealand. Read more →

LJK Setright - Goodbye to a Genius

I started writing this post after hearing the sad news back in September 2005 but couldn’t finish it then. I wanted to write about one of my favourite authors and now I’ve finished reading his last book the time is right. It was going to be a review of the book but in the introduction, LJK Setright outlines his motivation for writing Drive On! : A Social History of the Motor Car: Extract from “A Preamble”, Drive On! LJK. Setright "We need a book to show us - especially those of us too young to remember - what good and... Read more →

Fiat 500 Spy-shots!

Spy shots of the new 500 Trepiuno. It’s heavily disguised but clearly similar to the concept cars. Fiat 500 Spy-shots - www.eurocarblog.com Read more →

Petter Solberg stays put

I’ve always been impressed with Petter Solberg and it’s been sad watching the awful season he’s been having. It was a real, pleasant, surprise to read he’s signed up with Subaru thru till 2009. Thanks to clashes with other travel it’s been a few years since I chased the Rally New Zealand WRC round but I hope to see it this year. Petter Solberg re-ups with Subaru WRC team until 2009 - Autoblog Read more →

Nancy Cartwright in Auckland

I saw Nancy Cartwright's (Bart Simpson) One Woman Show show at the comedy festival. It’s a mixture of Simpsons sketches, behind the scenes tales/trivia and how being America’s best known 10 year old boy changed her life. The vocal performances were just amazing but one thing had me puzzled; Why did a theatre full of Aucklanders erupt in laughter at Ralphs inane cry “I’m Idaho!” in this sketch? * Principal Skinner hands out awards at the geography pageant; Skinner: And special awards go to the two students who obviously had no help from their parents: Lisa Simpson and Ralph Wiggum.... Read more →

Furl the Main Topgallant?

When a boat has 15 sails they all need a name! So which is the Main Topgallent? See the full list at: fenderkicker: So many sails, so NOT confusing Maltese Falcon “The Maltese Falcon’s DynaRig is effectively a square rig, the mast is freestanding and the yards are connected rigidly to the mast, in this case each mast supports six yards. The sails, when not deployed, furl into the mast & are trimmed to the wind direction by rotating the mast.” Read more →