It surprised me the response I got from this one. It seems to be a real issue that is not being addressed.

Luckily thanks to our wonderful healthcare system both Rosie and baby are doing well and I’m looking forward to having a new nephew to spoil rotten.

Rosie told me she had chosen a name but she sounded pretty heavily medicated when I talked to her so I will wait to announce the name.

We will have a “wetting the baby’s head” party soon. Watch this space.

I watch that corner every day and it surprises me there aren’t more big smashes with the way people run the red turning arrow.

Be careful everybody and drive safe.

Click here for a link to this week’s Press column.

I felt it was time to say something positive as I don’t want to use the column as a avenue to moan each week.

We just received a delivery of Mata Beer in the post. We are big fans of these guys and used to stock their Manuka way back in the Goodbye Blue Monday days.

Gloria from Mata has been phoning and hassling me to get it in the fridge and it is only through her perseverance that she managed to get past my uselessness and laziness.

So we now have the Manuka, Artesian, Blonde, Brown Boy and Black Bru beers. I’ve got them priced at a really competitive $8 so that you can give them all a try and we can see if everyone else likes Gloria’s beers as much as I do.

Friday is here guys. With nothing too interesting to report I thought I’d use this post as a plug for my old buddies James and Jock.

James and Jock run Landscapes Unlimited and have been worked off their smelly little feet since the earthquakes.

They do decks, drives. lawns and all that crap that is outside the house. If you need any landscape work done I will be deeply offended if you use anyone else. I think they are great and so will you if you use them.

Give them a call on 0508 30 30 30 or you can find them at their website if you click here.

This feels like an advetorial but I promise I did this just because I back them.

So join up and we can all burn fossil fuels together.

I’m glad they managed to publish this one without a photo of my ugly mug.

I’m really enjoying having another forum in which to voice my opinions. It seems to be pissing people off and making people happy in equal measure so I suppose I’m doing something right.

This weekend (May 4 & 5) Smash Palace will have been open for a year.

We’ve had laughter, we’ve had tears, we’ve had happiness and most of all we have felt very loved by everybody that has showed up and supported our daft little exercise in getting on with it.

We seem to have discovered a real community of people who aren’t satisfied with all the other crap out there. These people will put up with a bit of cold in order to have a place that they feel represents them and is the sort of place that they are proud to tell people represents Christchurch.

Goodbye Blue Monday lasted two years before getting smashed out of existence. Smash Palace probably won’t make it to its second birthday. By this time next year I predict we will be gone, located on some as-yet unknown site somewhere else in the city.

Some come down and celebrate what may well be our only birthday on this site. I’m DJing on Friday night and DJ Missy G will be spinning shit up on Saturday. We’ve got drink specials for all those that have supported us and it should be a right old knees-up.

Thanks for all the love.

So finish up what you’re reading and come down and talk about it with like-minded nerds.

Smash Palace Book Club this Wednesday May 1at 8pm. See you all then.