https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/feed/
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Nine Queens Against Martin: Chess HilarityChess was something I adored in my schooldays. It’s not, alas, something I have much pursued in my post-school life, but now and again I...
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2023 More Reading: August (+ Old Phuul update)Completed reads for August: The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell A Visit from St. Nicholas...
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Southern Neglect: Dunedin’s Vanishing MPsAs I have noted before, Dunedin is a city in decline. After 140 years we’ve gone from the commercial centre of New Zealand to...
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The Auckland Apocalypse and the Two New Zealands: A Speculative Election HypothesisTwo months out from the 2023 general election, New Zealand politics is seeing public distaste for both Labour and National. Copious...
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A YouTube Surprise: the Rongahere Tragedy, and Family HistoryWell, that’s something you don’t see every day. A YouTube channel called Darkest Dunedin has put out a video about the Rongahere...
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Of Home and Hearth: Tolkien and The Wind in the WillowsThese past couple of years have seen some re-reads mixed into my reading diet, specifically books that I haven’t touched in a long time. The...
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2023 More Reading: July (+ Old Phuul update)Completed reads for July: Medea, by Seneca the Younger Sand, by Algernon Blackwood Ancient Lights, by Algernon Blackwood...
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The Song of Saqua: Volume IITime for a write-up of the continuing adventures of my little D&D aquatic vampire. It’s been two months:...
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Oligopoly Paintjobs: Countdown’s $400 million RebrandIt seems that the University of Otago is not the only major entity these days with money to burn. Countdown supermarket – part of New...
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The University of Otago, That Logo, and the Fine Art of Sticking One’s Fingers in One’s EarsYou might recall that before the University of Otago dropped its giant financial crisis upon Dunedin, it was engaged in the petty, yet weirdly...
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Review: Bored of the Rings (1969)Harvard Lampoon’s Bored of the Rings is an interesting beastie. For a good half a century, it has filled the role of the pre-eminent Tolkien...
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A Warning Shot: Funding Dunedin HospitalI have previously noted that Dunedin is not in a happy place, right now:...
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Decline and Fall and Television: Fashioning History into StoryYou might recall that I’ve done a couple of interviews with Reading Tolkien in my time (...
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2023 More Reading: June (+ Writing Update)Completed reads for June: Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens The Senchus Fer n’Alban (The History of the Men of Scotland) The...
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Finally Beating Hades (Game)I am not much of a Gamer, at least when it comes to non-turn based stuff. Turn-based, I can do, especially roguelikes like Sil (...
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Orosius Oddities: Fanboying the Worst (Western) Roman EmperorBack in September 2020, I took a stab at listing my choices for the Worst Western Roman Emperor:...
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Dunedin 2023 Midwinter Carnival: Ebenezer Scrooge EditionAs I have noted before, Dunedin has a tradition of running a Midwinter Carnival around this time of year. Lantern Parades, Hot Drinks, and so...
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Of Elois and Morlocks, Universities, and Dunedin: Musings on The StandardThe Standard, one of New Zealand’s premier political blogs, has its own particular quirks. Being a collaboration of...
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Auf Wiedersehen: The End of German Language at the University of OtagoIt was inevitable, perhaps. When the proposed changes to Otago’s language instruction were first announced, I thought a decent case could be...
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An Expanded Tolkien Letters!A truly lovely bit of news. A new Tolkien book, of sorts, is coming out in November, and not one that will be scraping the bottom of the barrel....
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King’s Birthday Grumpiness: ‘Dame’ Jacinda ArdernToday is New Zealand’s first King’s Birthday since 1951. It’s not Charlie’s actual birthday, any more than Queen’s...
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2023 More Reading: MayCompleted reads for May: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift...
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A Postscript to the Scribes Bookshop ClosureBack in December 2020, one of Dunedin’s local icons was closing its doors. Scribes Bookshop:...
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The Song of Saqua: Back to D&DIt has been a while since I last did a write up of my D&D shenanigans. Part of it has been motivation, part of it has been that the more...
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The Dream of Florian Neame: PublishedMy 2500-word science-fiction piece about a dodgy alchemist is now out in the wild as part of the Spring 2023 edition of New Maps Magazine:...
