Why do people send an e-mail asking for your assistance but then have some weird block on your reply.

What kind of bounce did you get?

I found this on the net (so it must be true):

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Middle-aged /Mid"dle-aged`/, a.
Being about the middle of the ordinary age of man; between 30
and 50 years old.

Other, presumably newer, online dictionaries say "between 40 and 60" or "roughly between 45 and 65 years old". The shift over time makes sense, and so does retirement at 55 in countries like Indonesia.

Ok, better stop there. Damn this irksome RSI.

Graham, I think it was called the 'Pod' among other names.

Yeah, Pod - was that in Canterbury arcade? I've been away for a while.

A flatmate in the mid 90's played there with his band "Spine". He could play Chuck Schuldiner solos note for note by ear. Man he could play. His original stuff was great too. Their gig was replete with a backstage fight, supposedly "justified" by a competing band's slight.

This stuff sounds so foreign living in Japan now. Never seen a fight here - it's not really in the Japanese mentality. At any large gigs they have big black guys for security, though they're almost unnecessary. Foreigner's cause some trouble, but you're probably out of the country if you get arrested, so it's rare. Anyway a bit OT, sorry.

Love the example about why is ok to label a child as catholic, but is not ok the say he is a postmodernist.

I think it is naturally and absurdly ok: a child can be catholic. It just has to believe what it's told, like any other catholic.

So *that's* the house that Jack built! No wonder everyone's talking about it - definitely something to be proud of.

Here's a toast to all the old boys in our life who we don't get to see enough - or at all - and to the memory of the hardships they endured for us. Being away from family can be arduous but inuring.

My eyes too were strangely damp at the end of that piece.
Thanks Russell, and merry xmas to all.

Wow, nice chart Tom!

Go Otoroganga! Their district council homepage "Local Attractions Gallery" isn't representative of the population, then.
Local Attractions Gallery

They should add "Men".

where do all the eligible men hang out these days?

The ones that aren't married are overseas, in "the provinces", or in the ground, according to The Herald and Statistics NZ in this recent article:

Man drought deepens
"Demographers say several factors are causing the increasing gender gap, including the Kiwi tradition of the overseas experience. More young men leave New Zealand than women, and the men stay away longer.

In addition, more men die in their 20s, from accidents, suicide, illness and conflict. Added to that, immigration figures show that more women arrive in New Zealand than men, filling jobs such as nursing."

Here's another one that delves more deeply into women's concerns:
Single women ask 'Where have the good fellas gone?'

Perhaps the make-up artist would have more luck if she shed the "eyes like piss-holes in the snow" look.

... hang-up answering the “so where did you two meet” with anything that ends in a “dot co dot en zed”.

Time to get over that one, I think. Is it really the case that "at a friend's party" (omitting "after which we had drunken monkey-sex") is somehow more deserving of respect? I suppose it depends on what you're looking for.

You can only meet so many people through friends, or in bars, and often you risk poisoning the well when things go bad. How many potential lifetime partners have you met in bars?

Computers were built to collate and search data. Data like core beliefs and life goals. You can either use this power to your advantage, or you can work your way through the list of people who frequent the same establishments as you - at random.

A friend of mine met his wife through a computer dating service, and it's going great. As for me ... I met my wife at a friend's party. ; - )