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The other day, my computer was giving me a problem or 10, so I took it to a techie in the Christchurch suburb of Halswell. His abode was in a relatively new housing development with the grandiose name of Country Palms. The thing is, post earthquakes, that area’s gone from being “country adjacent” to one of the First Four Ships Town’s largest suburbs. So, it’s not in the country and there aren’t palms. At least, there aren’t palms plural. There is one solitary palm, singular, which must have given someone quite a bit of grief nurturing it to maturity through the Canterbury winter.
But calling the area Suburban Palm wouldn’t have appealed to any developer. No, they like a grand name to get cut through and compete with all the other developers, who coin names that gild the lily just a wee bit.
Bu hikaye New Zealand Listener dergisinin January 3-13 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye New Zealand Listener dergisinin January 3-13 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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A hint of mermaids
Erin Palmisano's latest novel once again has food and romance at the heart of its well-plotted story.
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Execution over innovation
Big and bold ideas are fine, but being the best beats being first.
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Something's wrong with all of them
Engaging dissection of the 20th-century novel likely to send the reader in search for the book under discussion.
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Cell warfare
A NZ trial using immunotherapy to beat a form of blood cancer is expanding after promising results – and it's hoped the 'gold standard' treatment will soon be widely available.
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The virus that stole all the smells
In this edited extract from The Forgotten Sense, Jonas Olofsson traces the rise in anosmia as a result of Covid-19 infections.
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When caring is ‘woke'
Some years ago, I sat in a small plane circling over Punta del Este in Uruguay. There was a delay and we sat in tense silence until we began our descent. Outside the tiny airport, a taxi ferried us past private Lear jets; these had been the cause of the hold-up. The driver pointed to two planes side by side. \"This one is a Trump plane.\"
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Getting along swimmingly
The presenters of Endangered Species Aotearoa spend a fair bit of time on and in the water in the second season.
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That clingy feeling
Our pets display the same types of attachment behaviours as we do, or so it seems.
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The famous furred
A peaceful little spot in LA is the final resting place for the pets of some of Hollywood's biggest names.
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Gone girl
She wandered in on Thursday morning looking very wan, and climbed into her bed. I sat on the edge and stroked her back.