5 Great Buffet Restaurants in Christchurch

Oh look, I have a blog!

Sorry it's taken so long since my previous entry.  I've been rather busy.  More on that another day.

For now though, I want to shine a spotlight on a few of the restaurants in my home city that I think are worth looking into for a decent feed.  In this list, I'm focusing on buffets.  I don't need to say much more about what they are as I'm sure that everyone reading this is more than familiar with the concept.

I will state though that this list will be specifically talking about buffet restaurants that provide a wide variety of dishes.  Any that I don't mention probably fit into their own category.  For example: Top in Town, or Tony's Teppan Yaki are restaurants that are exclusive to their own cultures (in this case, Indian and Japanese).  I may talk about them in another buffet blog at a later date, but for now I will be looking at the ones that have a lot more than just one culture group.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The prices mentioned in the list below are based on what they were on 31 July 2023.  They may change in the future, especially with the cost of living crisis at the moment.

Also, the list will be arranged from least expensive to the most.  Let's begin!

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#5 - Nor'West Buffet.

 

This restaurant can be found in the northwest suburbs, of all places, at the Papanui Club.  Their current rate is $29.50 per person, and kids are $1 per year of age up to 11 (kids over 12 are full price).  I must also point out that they're only open from Thursday to Saturday from 5:30pm and from 5pm on Sunday.

It may not be the biggest buffet I've seen in terms of floor space (the food area - there are plenty of tables and seats), but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of food.  You do still get a decent amount for what you pay.  The atmosphere is also quite nice.  Plenty of room to move around (nobody likes when tables and chairs are too close together when you're trying to get in/out of your own).  I highly recommend this one.

#4 - Chalmers Buffet

I have to confess here that this entry is actually one I haven't been to (yet), but I've been meaning to.  As the image above suggests, this one is $35 per person, children at $2 per year of age, up to 12.  The only thing is that it's open once a week on Sundays from 4:30pm.

As mentioned earlier, I haven't been to this one yet, so I'm unable to say much more about it at the moment, sorry.  Think of this as an honorable mention of sorts. 😊

#3 - Gengy's Mongolian Buffet

This one is actually the reason I'm doing this blog, because I went here for the first time last night to celebrate my lovely wife's birthday (more on that in a moment).  Firstly, I know I mentioned earlier that I wasn't going to focus on buffets with an exclusive culture, but in my opinion, what I ate from here last night could be a combination of more than just Mongolia.  I can see a few others in there with some of the selections (the sauces especially).

The current rate is $41.95 for adults, $34.95 for teens (13-17) and seniors (65+) with ID, $39.95 for army and police tertiary, $7 + $1 age for children (3-12), but if you're celebrating your birthday (within 7 days on either side of the actual day), you only dine for $1! 😍  They are open from 5:30pm onward.

You can find them on Cranford Street next door to Empire Chicken, sharing the same carpark area as Cobb & Co.

Based on my first visit, I strongly recommend going to this one.

Also, it's pronounced Gen-geez, as in Genghis Khan.  It's not Jenjis Khan, so your argument is invalid.

#2 - Garden Hotel & Restaurant

Located on Marshland Road in Shirley, this one is open for both lunch and dinner.  Their current rate is $29 (Wed-Fri lunch) and $35 (weekend lunch), $27 (Wed-Fri lunch) & $33 (weekend lunch) for Super Gold Card holders (65+), $42 (Tues-Thurs dinner) and $45 (Fri-Sun dinner), and $40 (Tues-Thurs dinner) and $43 (Fri-Sun) for Super Gold Card holders.  Adult prices start from age 13 onward.  For children, it's a little complicated.  Instead of me typing it all up, I recommend looking at the prices here instead.

This one has always been the go-to for my family and friends.  In recent years, it's probably one of the most well-known of Christchurch buffet restaurants.  My family and friends have been going here for special occasions for a number of decades now.  As one of the city's most popular buffets, I highly recommend this one as well.

#1 - Valentine's

The old favourite that came and dominated the buffet scene in the 90's, then seemingly vanished for a lengthy period of time before its inevitable comeback in recent years.  My first experience dates back to the 90's, but that was the initial incarnation of the franchise.  Valentine's as it is now is slightly different, but still enjoyable.

Located beside The Hub Hornby on Chalmers Street, between Subway and St. Pierre's Sushi, their current rate is up to $31 for weekday lunch and $37 for weekend lunch, and up to $47 every day.  For the full details regarding children and seniors, go here.

Also, added bonus, this one is actually open 7 days.

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So, which of the listed buffet restaurants are your favourites?  Are there any I've missed?  Let me know as I'm always keen on learning more about buffet restaurants around here.  After the quakes in 2010/11, they almost vanished completely.  It's always great to see a revival.

I will end this blog with a list below of honorable mentions of past buffets that are no longer with us.  These mentions are ones that have come and gone for whatever reason, but they will always be in our hearts.  If only they could be in our stomachs as well:

The Cabbage Tree - Took over from Valentine's when it was on Moorhouse Ave.  Site is currently used by McDonald's.

Riverview Buffet - Often mistaken for Oxford on Avon (which was actually the restaurant downstairs), this one was on the upper level and it was brilliant.  Sadly taken from us by the 2011 quake.

Sequoia 88 - As a restaurant, the venue actually still exists, but not as a buffet.  It was once a strong competitor for the Garden Restaurant, but sometime in the past decade, they ditched their buffet menu for pizzas instead.  Probably lost a lot of customers in the process as the buffet was the main reason most people went.

Rumpletums - One of the first buffets I dined in and most likely what started it all.  Disappeared sometime in the 90's, its original site (Avonhead Tavern) is currently occupied by the One Good Horse, another decent restaurant franchise.  By the way, it was never "rumble tums".

April Fool's Day 2023

Well, it's that time of the year again!  I was so impressed by the online pranks in 2022, I thought I'd share my favourites from this year as well.  There weren't as many as last year though, but there were a good amount for a blog entry, so there is that.

So here are what I considered to be the best April Fool's Day jokes from 2023.

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1. The Hub Hornby.

I imagine the sound this would've made would be less of a boom, but more of a "tink".

2. The Drawing Room Ltd.

The Scots would LOVE this.

3. New Zealand 1980s Memories and 1990s Memories / Burger King

I couldn't find this on any official BK page, but the nostalgia page mentioned above shared it, so maybe one of the admins did some Photoshopping?  Either way, I don't see this product hitting our shelves anytime soon...unless it's like one of those Beef & Chocolate pies that I tried from MetroMart a while ago (that one was actually real)...

4. Airline Secrets Exposed

Whether it would be a useful add-on or not, it looks rather pathetic, if you ask me.  Trust me, I'm a bit of an aircraft fanatic.

5. Grace Vineyard Church

If you think Christians don't have a sense of humour, then you're wrong.

6. The Royal Albatross Centre

Fly, my pretties!

7. Christchurch Casino

Casinos: Helping you hit rock bottom since ages ago.  Now available in Fast Mode.

 

8. How to DAD

Since this one is a video, I can't really show you the joke with a screenshot, so you'll just have to watch it here instead. 

9. Rick Astley.

I saved the Rickroll for last.  Literally, a warm and fuzzy one to end my list with.  Don't worry though.  He's never gonna give you up.

And that concludes my selection of April Fool's Day jokes for 2023.  It seems that this has become an annual thing, so let's do this again in 2024 as well.

Stay tuned for more blogs in the near future!

My Civilization 7 Wishlist

Every so many years, gamers from all around the world start preparing for the next chapter of their favourite game franchise.  Once an announcement that the current version will no longer be receiving any updates, new material, etc, the game's community then all start to speculate over what's to be expected in the upcoming version of the title.

In the case of Sid Meier's "Civilization" series, this is all very common.  Once we all know that there is a new version of the game on the horizon, we start to create our own "wishlist" of what we'd love to see in the next game.  Although it's unsure (to me anyway) of how long the latest ("Civilization 6") has left until it's fully complete (in the past few months, new additions to the game appeared when we thought it was over), people have already started bringing forward their ideas of what they want in the inevitable "Civilization 7".  Including myself.  I haven't made my thoughts public until now, so without further delay, here is my wishlist for "Civilization 7".

Before I begin, I just want to state that some of the features I'll be listing are ones that have existed before but have since been removed from later titles.  Of course, I'll be including new ideas as well.  Let's do this.

1. Civil War

From Civ1 to Civ2 (maybe Civ3?  I can't remember), there was a feature that allowed you to literally split your enemy's empire in 2.  If you were successful in capturing the capital city of a large civilization, half of their cities would become a new faction of its own, while your enemy has half its empire and no capital city.  This feature was quite fun, and it was disappointing the first time we discovered it had been removed in later games.  It should make a comeback.

To make it more interesting though, the new faction could be an instant ally of whoever triggered the civil war.  They should also be given a name associated with the original civilization as well.  In older games, it seemed weird that (for example) the German empire was split in 2 with the other half becoming the Egyptians.  That's ethnically inaccurate.  In this case, perhaps it should be half the Germans becoming Prussian or Bavarian?  Something to think about.

2. Workers Building Roads

I never really liked when Workers (or Builders in Civ6) lost the ability to build roads.  These days, it's either up to Traders to do it or Military Engineers to build railroads (and Roman settlers by simply building a new city).  Sometimes I like making roads where I want them to go.  The way it is now can be rather messy (infrastructural OCD, much?).  I'd like to see these units build roads again, pretty please.

3. Palace / Throne Room Improvements

I'm not the only one in the Civilization community to say this.  We want the Palace improvement feature back.  From Civ1 to Civ3, every so often we were able to do some renovation of our own palace.  Mostly exterior, but Civ2 decided to take it indoors and improve your throne room instead.  Whatever version we played, we loved and miss it.

4. Multimedia Cut Scenes

It's all very well that later versions have animations of a Wonder of the World being constructed, but in Civ2 we were greeted by some short video clips.  These were always fun to watch.  It would be nice to have something like this again.

Not only that, the empire's Advisors (The High Council) got their own videos in Civ2.  In all other versions, they were just still images with text.  The Advisor videos from Civ2 were very entertaining, from the gung ho attitude of the Military Advisor to the Elvis-impersonating Attitude Advisor.  These were fun.

5. Superhighways

Once a city structure in Civ2, perhaps this could make a comeback as a Worker feature?  Like a normal road, but better (increased movement points, etc).  Available later in the game, maybe.

6. Leaders of Both Genders

Introduced in Civ2, we were given the option of playing as 1 of 2 leaders for each empire.  Similar features have been done since, but there are still later versions that lack a second option (e.g. There is only 1 leader for the Aztecs in Civ6).  I know it's probably hard to find a complete list of historic leaders for every empire, but it would be nice to have this if there is such a list.

7. SAM Battery

In some early versions, a SAM Battery is a building to add to a city's defense.  These days, it's a mobile unit.  While having a mobile version is very useful, particularly in the battlefield, it would be good to have stationery ones within cities as well as the other.

8. Civics (Improved)

Civics were introduced in Civ4 and I enjoyed this feature a lot.  However, over time I think some of the civics haven't been very helpful.  In my opinion, the Theocracy civic was a great feature in Civ4, but there's been nothing like it since.  The Civ4 Theocracy civic barred any missionaries from spreading the beliefs of a religion that was not that civilization's state belief.  This feature needs to make a comeback, because - let's be honest - when the AI uses missionaries or apostles, they become the most annoying units in the game.  It's like a constant flood.  In Civ6, I find most of my combat is of the religious kind and not the military.  Bring back the Civ4 style Theocracy!

9. Hit Movies, Singles & Musicals

Also from Civ4 came the use of Hit Movies, Singles and Musicals as resources you could trade with other civilizations.  I think it should make a comeback.

10. Inquisitors

Going back to the religious units here, in Civ5 the Inquisitor could actually REMOVE an opposing belief from a city.  It doesn't seem to be like that in Civ6 (unless I'm doing it wrong?).  Either way, the Civ5 version did it better and I would like the Civ7 equivalent to be just as powerful.

11. Districts

Introduced in Civ6, I was very excited about this feature when it was announced.  In earlier games (Civ5 especially), a lot of the building placement on the map was at random, and kept changing every time the city got bigger.  In a lot of cases, land-based structures found themselves being plopped into the sea or a lake nearby.  Civ6 fixed this.

The reason I'm bringing this up is because some people - for reasons known to themselves - don't seem to like them.  I don't know why.  Districts are cool.  Keep them!

12. Tunnels

Where the districts became useful, the same goes for tunnels.  Don't ever abandon this feature!  But if you want my input on them, I think they need to be available earlier in the game and not just a modern feature.  Or at least make something similar to the Qhapaq Ñan (Incan worker improvement) for other civilizations after a certain point.

13. Palace Relocation

Civ6 can't do this and that needs to change with Civ7.  Sometimes you might want to move your capital elsewhere at some point.  No fun if the game won't let you.  Sure, you can do it if you play as Carthage, but that's hardly fair.  Let us use this feature again.

14. Scenario Building Makeover

This has been one of my most frustrating things in the series.  I love to make scenarios based on historic events, as well as hypothetical ones.  However, I've always had a love/hate relationship with how the series approaches this.  Leaning more towards hate in the Civ6 WorldBuilder.

When I discovered you could make scenarios in Civ2, I was over the moon.  I had a lot of fun in doing so.  When Civ3 came out, I found the scenario-building feature to be a little hard for me to get my head around.  I don't know what they did to it or why, but I never actually made a scenario for Civ3 (I did touch up some maps though).  When WorldBuilder was introduced in Civ4, I actually found it hard at first to figure out how to make a scenario.  I had to seek help online as it wasn't very clear in-game.  However, once I got my head around it more, I found myself building scenarios a lot easier in Civ4.  As for Civ5...well, it's OK, I guess.  Knowing and remembering where to save the files is the hard part, I think.  Also, as much as I like the WorldBuilder of Civ5 (SDK), it would probably be a lot easier if I could see what it would look like in the game WHILE EDITING, like the In Game Editor (IGE) mod for the Mac platform (which is easier to look at - however, very hard to figure out how to save as a scenario).  I'm still trying with Civ5.

As for the Civ6 WorldBuilder, it may look promising at first, but whose idea was it to remove the ability to rename cities while editing???  I know you can do it while playing the game, but if you want an accurate scenario, you NEED to be able to rename the cities accordingly.  The scenario builder for Civ7 needs to fix this.

15. Alphabetical Order

Since Civ5, I've had an issue with the order of the civilizations in the menu when starting a new game.  Why are they all listed in alphabetical order by the names of the leaders instead of the empires?  I don't know who else struggles with this, but for me personally, I find it harder to remember the names of the leaders for some civilizations than the names of the nations themselves.  Please, in Civ7, go back to listing it as C for China INSTEAD OF Y for Yongle of China.  I didn't even know who Yongle was, but I do know China.  Please, keep it simple.

So, these are the main features I'd like to see in Civ7.  But it doesn't end there.  The following lists are to do with units, structures and Wonders of the World.  Some old, some new.

A: Wonders / Projects

Darwin's Voyage - In Civ1, this gave you 2 new tech advances.

Hoover Dam / Three Gorges Dam - Provided power to every city on the continent it was built.

Magellan's Expedition - Was very useful by adding an extra movement point for all of your ships.

SETI - Could make a comeback as a project (like International Space Station), or just contribute towards your space-related improvements?

Women's Suffrage - Could increase happiness in your cities.  Happy wife, happy life?

Cure for Cancer - More likely to come back as a project of some kind.  Could increase happiness and growth, maybe?

West Point - Could grant units extra XP when built in the same city?

Mount Rushmore - Perhaps it could increase tourism?

Borobudur - Granted you missionaries upon its construction.

Great Mosque of Djenne - Maybe increase the abilities of religious units built in the same city?

Himeji Castle - Could be a defensive bonus.

Porcelain Tower - Generate a Great Scientist.

Red Fort - Defense increase.

Sistine Chapel - Tourism & faith increase?

Uffizi - Tourism increase, Great Artist, etc?

Brandenburg Gate - Great General and extra unit XP from that city?

Louvre - Art and tourism.

Neuschwanstein - Tourism.

Prora - Tourism and happiness.

Pentagon - Unit XP.

CN Tower - Tourism.

Hubble Space Telescope - Great Scientist and science increase, space-related buildings cheaper.

Circus Maximus - Tourism, happiness.

Leaning Tower of Pisa - Tourism.

[NEW IDEAS]

Auckland Sky Tower (NZ) - Tourism.

Öresund Bridge (Denmark/Sweden) - An underground and underwater tunnel that can cross from one landmass to another.  Much like the Golden Gate Bridge in Civ6, but you only see the entrances/exits.

The Beehive (NZ) - If not a Wonder, perhaps if the Palace feature returns, they could all be of a design unique to the civilization you're playing as?

Ryugyong Hotel (N. Korea) - Tourism or housing, maybe?

Marina Bay Sands (Singapore) - Tourism.

Trevi Fountain (Rome) - Tourism.

Cappadocia Cave Houses (Turkey) - Tourism or housing?

Ice Hotel (Sweden) - Tourism, only built on snow tiles (obviously).

Hadrian's Wall (UK) - Defense, similar to Great Wall but on a smaller scale.

La Sagrada Familia (Barcelona) - Faith increase.

Temple Mount (Jerusalem) - Faith.

Burj Khalifa (Dubai) - Tourism and housing.

[RELIGIOUS]

In Civ4, the religion feature of the game was introduced.  Along with the missionaries, etc, came buildings associated with specific beliefs.  I think they should make a comeback.  They were:

Solomon's Temple (Jerusalem) for Judaism.

Church of the Nativity (Bethlehem) for Christianity.

Mahabodhi (Patna) for Buddhism.

Kong Miao (Qufu) for Confucianism.

Kashi Vishwanath (Varnasi) for Hinduism.

Masjid Al-Haram (Mecca) for Islam.

Dai Miao (Mount Tai) for Taoism.

Perhaps with this in mind, certain Wonders that are religious in nature could be reserved only for civilizations that follow a specific belief?  For example, followers of Christianity could build the Sistine Chapel.

Also, maybe the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem could be an added building to the game.

B: Natural Wonders

Barringer Crater - Science and tourism.

Krakatoa - Science.

Old Faithful - Science, tourism.

Rock of Gibraltar - Tourism.

Cerro de Potosi - Gold increase.

Mount Kailash - Faith.

Mount Sinai - Faith.

Sri Pada - Faith.

Lake Victoria - Tourism.

[NEW IDEAS]

Lake Hillier (a.k.a. Pink Lake, Australia) - Tourism, science.

Grand Canyon (USA) - Tourism.

Iguazu Falls (Argentina) - Tourism.

Mount Roraima (Venezuela) - Tourism, science.

Niagara Falls (Canada/USA) - Tourism.

Yellowstone Park (USA) - Tourism, science.

Yosemite Park (USA) - Tourism.

Angel Falls (Venezuela) - Tourism.

Mariana Trench - Science.

When Memes Become Unfunny

There's something I've been noticing on social media over the past few years or more (especially on Facebook) that doesn't seem to be showing signs of going away.  It's something that's been bugging me for some time now, and I'll explain why in just a moment.

Take this scenario.  Somebody creates from scratch what would become the next trending meme.  Let's say, for example, a witty one-liner on top of a photo of Morgan Freeman, as if to make it look like something he quoted (since those ones seem to be quite popular still).  This new meme does the rounds on Facebook for a bit, people sharing it all over the place to the point where it becomes the next funniest thing since 5-minutes ago (social media addicts secretly have ADD, I think - it's not very long before they move on to the next one).  Now, not too long after this new meme explodes out of nowhere, the next phase of the trend kicks in - copycat memes.  What are they, you ask?  Well, it's basically the EXACT SAME WITTY QUOTE, only it's NOT on a photo of Morgan Freeman.  Instead, it's on someone else's photo, or it's just simply a quote on a bland background provided by Facebook itself.  Once these copycats rise up, they all start doing the rounds as well, so now you have multiple versions of the same thing filling your screens, thus causing a near-impossible-to-avoid case of repetition.  Also, that poor sucker who created the thing in the first place is now almost forgotten and doesn't get the credit they deserve, to the point where there's almost no way of telling how it all began anymore.

So, the reason this bugs me is because, firstly, the fact that the origin of the meme is now no longer important, lacking the credit for doing a good job in the first place.  This is something I take personally because, quite often I've been that guy.  Not necessarily with memes, but in something as simple as a quote in a conversation or an action I took to make something happen.  The results, in my cases, ended up being a misquote (someone thinking somebody else said it, when it was actually me - leaving me feeling underappreciated), or something I've done to help with something that also got ruled out as something someone else did (e.g. Something work-related that was helpful, only for someone else to get credit and no thanks to me for the effort).  I don't want to come across as selfish at all, because that's not the case.  It's just that I have a problem with inaccurate details, especially when they make everything get blown out of context.

The second reason the meme thing bugs me is the repetition, which is the main reason behind this blog entry's title.  When you see something that's funny at first pop into your news feed for what feels like the millionth time within a few days, that witty quote doesn't feel as funny anymore.  In fact, when seen more than enough times, it could possibly get to the point where you start hating it.  All these copycats are ruining great posts.

If any of you follow my Duckman page, you will notice that when I post memes, a lot of the time you can tell that if it's not one I created, it will still be linked to the page or person who shared it originally (which is, of course, hard to know if it's actually them, because they could've copied/pasted it from a third party - but I still give credit no matter what).  In cases where it's not mine and it's not linked, it's probably because that person/page didn't have their settings set to public.  However, there have been memes that I've created, and I usually tell you if it is.  I don't know if anyone's tried to copy my memes yet, but I'm sure they will in due time, in which case I'll probably be annoyed at them for it, knowing where it could lead.

So, if you wish to spread the funny, witty meme you just discovered, share it from the original person who posted it.  If you feel the urge to make your own version of it, please do us a favour and log off immediately.  All I'm asking is that we get some originality out there for a change.

Let me close by putting it this way - Would you rather watch the first "Star Wars" movie, or would you prefer "Turkish Star Wars"?  I rest my case.

First 2023 Blog Entry

 Hello everyone!

Welcome to my first blog entry for 2023.  I have a few things to talk about, so I'll just get straight into it.

Within the past week, I made an announcement on my n-Somnia page on Facebook.  This announcement gave an idea of what to expect from the n-Somnia project in the future.  The amount of info I shared on FB was limited, because I wanted to save it for this blog entry, but what I did share shows that I've got a lot of things lined up.  Here's what's going on:

The short version - n-Somnia has got 10 (yes, 10!) releases planned in the near future.  They are in the form of 4 EP's, 1 compilation and 5 albums!  Now that you know the short version, let's get into the more detailed one.

For a while now, I've already had the 4 EP's and 1 compilation planned ahead.  As for the 5 albums, that was a decision made only recently.  To get a better idea of how the future of n-Somnia will be played out, I will explain this in their planned order of appearance.

First of all, the next n-Somnia release will be an EP.  This one's going to stand out the most out of all n-Somnia releases, past and present.  Mainly in visual form, but for a short time it will also stand out more when it comes to the audio as well.  What I mean by this is that the genre is going to be very different to anything I've done as n-Somnia before.  But what I mean by "for a short time" is that I have plans on doing something similar after this release.  It won't be as unique once the second recording of this kind makes an appearance.  However, it will still be unique in visual form.  How?  It's all in the names of the songs and the EP itself.  The titles are all going to be in a foreign language!  Don't worry though, fellow English-speakers.  There will be translations available for the titles.  Also, they will still be instrumentals, so you won't need to worry about needing to learn a new language to understand it.  This EP having a different language in the titles is kind of a way of trying to reel in an audience from another culture.  I don't know how successful it could be, but we'll see.

The second release - and the 2 to follow - will also be in EP form.  It may not sound that special, but here's the deal.  Each of the next 3 EP's will be a different genre to each other.  The first of the 3 will be in a similar style to artists like Enigma, Clannad, Enya, etc.  It'll be mostly digital, but a lot softer than most of the releases I've made before.  Don't worry, there will be some beats.  Just expect more keyboards than usual.  The second of the 3 is where I bring the beats back, but even more so.  With this EP, I will be diving deeper into the techno, trance and drum 'n' bass genres.  Most of my past releases were inspired by the likes of 80's industrial, new wave and synthpop, but this time I will be getting more into the 90's and 2000's electronic scene.  In saying that, you may remember me creating a track in 2003 called "Trancelation", which was never properly finished.  That song will be completed and feature on this EP.  It's time to do it some justice.  As for the last EP, this is where things get very interesting.  This is the EP that makes the non-English one less unique, as it will have a similar genre style...but even more so.  The first EP will be using more instruments.  This one, however, will also be doing that, but it'll be a little heavier...  That's all I will be saying about it for now.

Then there's the compilation album.  The plan is for it to be a direct sequel to my previous one, "Singularity".  It's already got a title - "Duality".  This compilation will cover the current chapter of n-Somnia's story, starting from the release of "Red Alert 20" in 2019 and ending with the last of the 4 EP's.  The compilation will also have its own exclusive song featured along side of these promo tracks.

So, by now you're probably wondering about the 5 albums, and why they won't be acknowledged on "Duality".  There's a very good reason for this, and here it is...  I'm going back to my roots.  Not just as n-Somnia, but as a musician overall.  Allow me to explain.

I want to give a bit of an overview of my origin story.  Not necessarily what I listened to as a child and as a teen, but more of the result that came from listening to these songs in the first place.  We should all know by now what got me interested in playing music in my early years, but a very small percentage of you will know how it all began.  Very few people got to see my early work back then, but there was really only a small handful that got to look deeper into this.  One person in particular had better access to my early works than everyone else, and that person just happens to be my former Kingrow & Ducksel Comedy partner, Forbes King.  In the early years of my music career, Forbes was there to witness it all.  The first writings from my hand onto paper, Forbes saw it.  In fact, he contributed towards my material quite significantly.  With that being said, you could say we were kind of involved in a music project as a duo, less than a decade before Kingrow even existed...  But this project would be short-lived.  It was only about 6 months later when Forbes and I stopped writing music together (temporarily, of course).  I would continue to do so, of course.  But then along came an opportunity to form a band that would eventually call themselves Supertrip, and what I was already doing up to that point would be put aside for a while.  Forbes and I would briefly get back into it in 2001, contributing towards it off and on up until about 2006.  By this time we saw more potential in what we were doing as Kingrow, so much of what we'd written on paper was put away once again.

So, what happens now?  It all comes down to those 5 albums I mentioned.  I am happy to announce that in the near future, I will finally be unveiling 5 albums worth of songs that were written between 1995 and 2006!  This ambitious project, most commonly known as Swede, would eventually lead to a huge backlog of song titles and fictional album tracklists.  To give you an idea of how big that backlog is, I figured out (in 1997 anyway) that I had created close to 600 titles alone!  Not many of which had any lyrics, mind you, but that's still a lot of names, at least.  As of 2006, there is easily the equivalent of roughly 60 albums worth of tracklists.  You're probably thinking by now, "How are you going to release that many albums worth of material when you're in your early 40's already?"  It's simple - I won't be.

Even though I generated that many song titles in my lifetime, I won't actually be using them all.  As time goes by, you start to look back at some of the things you've said or done and begin to question your mental stability.  "What was I thinking?" and all that jazz.  Swede had its fair share of cringe material, which is why a huge chunk of it will be discarded.  When I say that, I don't mean it won't be used at all.  It just won't be used by me.  In due time, all of my rejected material (all being titles) will be made publicly available for anyone to freely swoop in and take what they want for themselves.  I don't mind.

But with the material I will be using though, it's been crunched down to 5 albums worth.  The best of the best, if you will.  Here's a brief overview of what's to be expected of these albums:

#1 - This one will be based on an album concept that I wanted to do from Day 1.  Most of the titles from that concept will be used, plus a few from its fictional follow-up to fill any gaps left from rejected titles.  This album should be an interpretation of the kind of style that got me started as a musician.  I plan to do my best to recreate the sound of Jared from late 1995.

#2 - Named after a fictional "series" of albums, this one will be a collection of ballads I wrote in late 1995 and the first half of 1996.  Each song has been hand-picked from various fictional albums from that era.

#3 - This album will feature songs that were NOT ballads, but came from the same era as the chosen songs on the previous album.

#4 - The songs picked for this one originated from late 1996 to the time I joined Supertrip in 1997.  An era that Forbes and I call "The Dark Ages", this will also be the title of the album.

#5 - To bring this series of albums to an end, I will be featuring tracks written between 1998 and 2006.  It could've been 2001-06, but I remembered a few songs I wrote in 1998 while I was with Supertrip, but were never used by the band.  So I will be bringing these tracks into the list as well.

And there you have it.  Looks like I will be busy for several years yet.  n-Somnia is definitely going places, and it will be heavily experimental as well, considering the list of genres I have set aside for these releases.

I will end the blog here as I've gone on for a while already.  There are other ideas that I've come up with since my final 2022 blog, but they're worthy of their own entry.  So until then, stay safe and may your kitchen be blessed with a tray of fresh eggs very soon (if you know, you know).

2022 - A Year in Review

 Hello!  I'm still here.  It's just been very busy this past month or so.  It was Christmas time, so it's best to expect delays on the blog around then from now on, I think.

Today I will be briefly going over something I would normally do on my private page on Facebook - my annual review of the year we just had.  I've been doing a review of years (and decades) for some time now, but recently decided to bring it more into the public eye instead of just among my friends.

So, 2022.  What can I say about it?  Before I go into detail for each month, I will state that there was a chunk of it that was kind of a blur.  This has happened in previous reviews, and the best way to explain these blurry moments is that those particular times were most likely to be rather forgettable...because I did forget.  Whatever happened in those moments, it must've been "meh".

 Let's get into it then...

JANUARY

The only thing I recall, really, was my youngest niece turned 18 this year.  Apart from that, I don't remember much else.

FEBRUARY

Still a bit of a blur.  I know that restrictions due to the pandemic were still a thing in NZ around this time, so maybe this contributed to my "meh" days this year?

MARCH

Who knows?

APRIL

I turned 41 this year, but before that I had the most entertaining April Fool's Day online.  The pranks and fake posts on Facebook were so good, I ended up doing a blog entry for it (you can find it under my April listings for 2022 on the right side of this page).  I can tell you now, if it happens again in 2023, there will probably be another blog on this topic.

MAY

My old high school, Linwood College, was rebuilt and reopened as Te Aratai College, and I attended their Open Day to see the new facilities.  This is also a good time for me to mention that prior to this event, I had been working on a website for the school to showcase their photo archive.  You can view it here.

JUNE

It may not be the actual anniversary (I never took note of the date), but in June I celebrate (officially) the beginning of my music project, n-Somnia.  This year was special though, as it marks 20 years since that project began.  To celebrate, I released an EP called "Eliminator", named after the first song I created as n-Somnia back in 2002.  It contains all of the versions available, including remixes that were made exclusively for this release.  Two of which were by me, and a third by my friend, Tim Wood.  It was released along side of a compilation album - an extended version of an EP I released in 2011 - called "The Early Years".  This Anniversary Edition contains pretty much every digital music track I did between 1999 and 2006.

JULY

Aliesha's birthday this month, and on top of this we actually moved next door!  We're still in the same area as the flat we moved into in 2012, only over the fence.  Our old place is under renovation and the one we're in was (at the time) recently finished.  Upon moving, we decided it would be best to stay put even when the old place is completed.

As a result of this, we're (finally) in the process of going through our garage (we have to move our belongings from the old one to the new).  Considering it contains not only our stuff, but the belongings of my in-laws, it's a big task.

AUGUST

My mother's birthday this month.  Can't remember much else.

SEPTEMBER

Not much happening, is there?

OCTOBER

Yet another Halloween I didn't take part in.

NOVEMBER

This month sadly saw the passing of a close friend of my family, Margaret Clark.  I wrote about my memories of her in the blog entry that came before this one.

My n-Somnia song, "Robot Lover From Mars" was released 20 years ago this month.

DECEMBER

Finally, something I can talk about!  This year was different for Christmas.  Aliesha and I actually hosted!  We invited my sister-in-law and her husband, along with my father-in-law to join us for lunch and dinner on the 23rd, as this was the best time we could do it.

On the Sunday prior (a week before Christmas Day), we did our bit with my oldest niece and her family since they were doing things with her in-laws a week later.  Meanwhile, we went to my sister's house on the day for our present exchange.

Very busy December this year!

Also, "Robot Lover From Mars" 20 years ago this month would hit the #1 slot on one of the charts on BeSonic, so I celebrated with a Facebook post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's pretty much it.  Seems 2022 was, in most parts, a throw-away year.  However, there were some very important events that took place either way.

So, what will 2023 bring?  It's anyone's guess, the way the world is right now.  Either way, I'm treading lightly as I enter.

If I don't post in the next day or so, I hope you all have a safe and happy new year.  😁

In Memory of a Close Friend of the Family

If you already follow my Duckman page on Facebook, you may know by now that my family and I, among many others, recently lost someone very special.  In my initial post, I shared a photo of the NZ flag at half-mast and said little about it except that if I didn't post much over the past week, this was why and that I would most likely talk more about it in a blog.  So, here I am now to share some memories and stories in remembrance of who I would consider to be one of the loveliest people anyone would've had the opportunity to have known - Margaret Clark.

When I first met Margaret, I was only a toddler.  From what I remember being told, my mother started going to church when I was around age 1 (this would be around 1982).  We first attended at Linwood Baptist Church in Christchurch.  It was here where we would eventually meet the Clark family (Linwood Baptist would also happen to be where another family, the Johnsons - who lived down the street from us - were also regulars).  I have no memory of how we met the Clarks exactly as I was only little, but I'm told by my mother that it was one of those "Turn around and say hello to someone you haven't met" moments.  My mum and Margaret hit it off and became good friends pretty quickly, apparently.  It's been said that they had to be told to take a seat as they were still talking to each other after the greeting section ended.  From this moment, the bonding of the Clark and Rowbotham families would be sealed.

The Clark family at the time was made up of Margaret with her husband, Malcolm, their sons Darryn and Shane, and their daughter Lavina.  I was only a few years younger than Lavina, so I became a good friend of hers first.  Kids tend to hang around their age range often.  As I would get older and attend high school, I would also find myself becoming a good friend of Darryn as we had a lot of similar tastes in music and on-screen entertainment.  My second oldest sister, Carma was also a good friend of his, but it would become harder for her to keep in touch after she moved out of town shortly after leaving school.

Now that I have added some context to my stories, we now return to more about Margaret herself.

As well as being very friendly and welcoming, Margaret was often found in the kitchen (when she wasn't in the garden).  She had become very fond of cooking and baking.  By the time my family were in the picture, she had gained a reputation for baking what I would consider the best cheese scones in town.  Trust me, they were awesome.  I haven't had a scone from anywhere else that has ever come close to matching.

While on the subject, it got me thinking about this over the last few days.  It seems that I've associated quite a few food items with the Clarks.  Particularly Margaret's side of the family.  For her it's the cheese scones, with her mother (Agnes) it was Griffin's MallowPuffs, and her father (Harry) it's toast (if you're a family member or a close friend, you will understand the meaning behind that reference).  Speaking of food memories with the Clarks, the name Janis Juice comes to mind as well (something you'd have to ask them about to get the full picture).

Some of my early memories involve going to the Clarks' house in Linwood after school, spending a few Christmas events together at their house or dining out.  While growing up, it's as if they were my second family.

As time would progress and times change, relocation would eventually take place.  After living in Linwood for many years, the Clarks would eventually move to the Parklands area.  We may have all moved to a longer distance by this time, but that didn't stop visits taking place.  I was an adult by this time, and I would often take the bus to their home near Bottle Lake Forest.  A nice quiet area.  While visiting, Darryn and I would often listen to music or watch DVD's and have pizza or whatever was on offer that day.  Something that we would start doing semi-regularly while they were still living in Linwood.  Fast forward a few years, I meet my then future wife, Aliesha, and have the honour of introducing her to the beloved Clark family I'd told her about prior to their meeting.  Aliesha always felt welcome in the Clark residence whenever we'd go to see them.  It would eventually become a tradition to meet up each year with them and my mother for our Christmas gift exchange.  Not necessarily on the day (most likely due to their extended family getting bigger by this time), but usually meeting up somewhere public either before or afterwards over a meal.  The visits would become a little more difficult as time went on as the Clarks would eventually move out of Christchurch to one of the neighbouring towns (I won't say where for privacy reasons).  We would still visit from time to time, usually with my mother, but less frequent as it can be quite expensive to go that far on the bus.  We'd still meet up for birthday or Christmas events though.

There's not much I can really say about the reason behind what happened with Margaret and her health later in life.  Mainly because that's a private matter, but also that I'm not 100% clued up on the details anyway.  Either way, it's not my place to say the medical history of the recently departed.  What I can say though is that for many years, Margaret had been a fighter, and a strong one at that.  That's a key word for her - fighter.  Whenever something came up and she was under the weather or worse, she would always bounce back at the other end.  For many years, it seemed that she was almost invincible.

But as you would expect for everybody, this wouldn't happen forever.  Over the past year, she had been in hospital a few times.  One of those times, she had an unexpected and very pleasant visitor.  One of New Zealand's own national treasures of the entertainment scene, Christchurch's own Jason Gunn.  As it would appear, he was visiting someone in the hospital.  It was during this time, he decided to pay a visit to some of the other patients in the ward.  Margaret being one of them.  Because of this and that he was popping in from time to time for his own personal reasons, he would check in on more than one occasion.

Margaret would eventually leave hospital after this time, but we wouldn't know until later in the year that this would be the final battle she would overcome.  In early November, she returned to the hospital and this time it wasn't as promising.  On November 7th - a week before her 77th birthday - she passed away.  It was a sad day for all of us.

It was decided to have her funeral on her birthday (14th) not just to say goodbye, but to celebrate her life in the process.  Many people showed up.  Even Jase attended, which I find very touching considering his high profile and (most likely) busy work schedule (if you happen to be reading this, Jase, we're thankful you could be there with us - very much appreciated).

As sad a day as it was, there were moments of joy and laughter as we heard stories from Margaret's past.  There were even some things I learned about her that I hadn't known before.  For example, I didn't know she once worked for Hay's Ltd.  The department store that would eventually become Farmers, and once had the awesome rooftop playground in central Christchurch.

As I draw to the end of this blog entry, I will close with some thoughts.  To me, Margaret was a loving, welcoming and very pleasant person to be around.  I never left the Clark residence unhappy...or with an empty stomach.  She is sorely missed, but in the end we can't help but smile at what her legacy left behind.  Definitely a sign that whatever she was doing, she did it right and did it well.

Rest in peace, Margaret.  We will see you again soon.  Keep the cheese scones warm for us. 💖

Joy to the World, I Found That Song

Hello.  Long time since my last blog entry.  Yada, yada, yada.  Let's get into it.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you, in your adult life, remembered a song from your childhood, but couldn't remember the name of the artist/song, and when you try to describe it to someone (in some cases even trying to sing it with no lyrical reference to guide you), only to have them look at you funny?  If you answered no, you're wrong.  At least once in our lives, we'll encounter this problem.

For me it was the case of a song that shared its title with (at least) 2 completely different tracks.  In other words, there were 3 different songs with the same name as each other.  When I mention the song "Joy to the World", which one comes to mind?

Song #1:  Would it be the Christmas carol?

Song #2:  Could it be the 1971 rock classic by Three Dog Night (a.k.a. "Jeremiah was a bullfrog")?

Chances are, you've all heard both of these completely different songs called "Joy to the World" in your lifetime (if not, play the embedded videos above).  But for me, I grew up with the knowledge of a third and more obscure song of the same name, and for decades it would plague my mind, sometimes in the form of an earworm, pestering me as if to say, "Go on then, Music Man!  Who sings me?"

When this happens, after having it go on for so many years, you sometimes wonder if you're going crazy.  "Did that song even exist?"  "Is it a song I subconsciously wrote in my head without realising?"  For me though, I knew for sure that I didn't write it in my head, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone I described it to was thinking that about me instead.

Jump to a few months ago.  I was yet again randomly thinking about this third "Joy to the World" I was trying to identify.  As I sat there pondering how it sounded, I got to thinking about who the singer sounded like.  Something I probably should've done in the first place, because moments later it dawned on me...  "Hmm...he kind of sounds a lot like the guy who sings "Poetry in Motion"...  Off to Google I go!"

It was here where I would finally crack the case.  The ever so evasive version of "Joy to the World" is in fact by none other than Johnny Tillotson!

Finally, I can sleep at night!

I'm curious.  What are some of the songs YOU have tried to identify?  Feel free to comment on this.  Also, if you're currently struggling with this issue with another song, you're welcome to ask me about it.  I may be able to help.  You won't know until you ask. 😀

Top 20 Most-Viewed "Nostalgia Duck" Uploads on YouTube

 Some of you may already know by now, I have 2 YouTube channels.  One of them (Stuffed Duck Productions) focuses on videos that I've had a hand in making, from sketches to video games among other things.  The other (Nostalgia Duck) is an archive of videos that I didn't make, but most people (at least in NZ) should know about them as they all come from TV.  Particularly the commercial breaks.

I've been uploading classic NZ TV commercials (more specifically, ads that ended up on NZ screens but were not necessarily made here) since 2011.  So, right now there is more than a decade's worth of uploads.  I don't post videos on a regular basis like most YT channels, however, and there are some long breaks in between batches, but there is still a lot that I've shared.  Quite often uploading a huge batch within days (or even hours) of each other when I do.

As I was going through my statistics, I was curious how many views some videos now have (as of 16 August 2022).  I then wondered what the most-viewed video overall was, leading to an idea for this blog entry...

Today, I would like to share with you the Top 20 Most-Viewed "Nostalgia Duck" Uploads on YouTube.  I will be counting down from 20.  The title and the total views, as well as the videos themselves embedded in the list below.  So, without further delay, here's the Top 20 list:

 

#20 - "Fresh Up" (Marc Ellis & Matthew Ridge)

Views: 9,546.

"What's the name of this creek again?"

#19 - "TV2 Ident" (circa 2000)

Views: 9,763.

 

"You'll only wanna be with 2."

 

#18 - "Hudson Toffee Pops" (circa 1992)

Views: 9,759.

 

I always wanted a couch like the one in this ad...but not one that could eat me.

#17 - "Lotto - The Name of Our Game" (circa 1995)

Views: 9,885.

 

New Zealand's Saturday evening earworm.

#16 - "Chesdale Cheese - The Reunion" (circa 90's)

Views: 10,024.

 

Ches and Dale have a singalong.  Also introducing Little Ches.

 

 

#15 - "Smokefree Rally New Zealand 1997"

Views: 10,314.

 

"Aww, check it out.  Two moons!"

#14 - "Cleopatra Soap" (circa early 90's)

Views: 12,248.

"Sensual as a perfume."
 

#13 - "Sunraysia Cranberry Juice"

Views: 13,253.

"Where's the cranny, Granny?"

 

#12 - "Cadbury Take 5"

Views: 14,570.

One of many Cadbury products that are yet to make a comeback.
 

#11 - "Timotei Shampoo" (circa 1997)

Views: 15,769.

Every shampoo ad is Timotei, according to my friend, Gary.

 

And now for the Top 10...

 

#10 - "Commodore Amiga 500" (Full Promo)

Views: 16,243.

Before uploading this one, the only version available was a heavily edited one to suit YouTube's now defunct 10-minute limitation on videos.  I was the first one to upload the full near 15-minute promo for the classic computer, so it's no wonder it has so many views.

 

#9 - "Energizer Batteries" (Space)

Views: 17,849.

"Hey!  What took you so long?"

 

#8 - "Codral Cold & Flu" (Soldier On)

Views: 18,020.

Another earworm for you.  I uploaded this within the last couple of years, so it's no wonder it caught some attention in the comments section, considering what the world's been going through since 2020.

 

#7 - "Telethon NZ" (Thank You Very Much For Your Kind Donation)

Views: 18,720.

"Thank you very much.  Thank you very, very, very much."

 

#6 - "Raid Odourless Low Allergenic"

Views: 21,757.

 

#5 - "Duracell Bunny - Boxing" (circa 1995)

Views: 23,810.

 

#4 - "Whiskas Vita-Bites" (Bungee Jump)

Views: 24,696.

 

 

#3 - "TV3 - Clear & NZ on Air " (circa 1995)

Views: 43,931.

 

#2 - "Lux Body Wash"

Views: 76,060.

For what it's worth, I deliberately chose this screenshot as the thumbnail to grab attention.  Judging by the number of views, it worked.

 

 And the most viewed Nostalgia Duck upload is...

 

#1 - "Whiskas Vita-Bites" (Dancing)

Views: 307,044.

 

 This one actually surprised me.  I did not expect this to be my most viewed video, especially the huge jump in numbers between this and the #2 video.  I guess people love dancing CGI mice.

 

Reminder: All info in this blog entry is based on data collected on 16 August 2022.

The data will have changed after a long space of time.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

 Many apologies for the long gap in between blog posts this time.  It's been a hectic month-and-a-bit since my previous one.  I won't go into a lot of detail about it as it might take a while.  Instead, I'll just make a brief update on what's happened and things on the horizon.

Firstly, my wife and I have moved from our flat in Hornby.  We were there for almost 10 years.  A part of the reason why we moved is because our landlords have been busy with some renovations of other flats in our block, and this time it was our turn.  We had the choice of moving back once it's finished, but we decided to let someone else take it instead.  I won't say too much, but we needed a slight change of environment after being there so long.  So, where have we moved to, you may ask?  Well...next door, actually!  One of the flats over the fence was vacant and had already been renovated, so we were offered it and said yes.  We've been in this place for almost a month now, and it's doing well so far.  The floor plan is basically the same as where we were, but it has some distinctive differences here and there, apart from the new features that's been put in.  This was the main reason why I've been so busy and hadn't blogged in a while.

Secondly, 'tis the season for family birthdays.  My lovely wife, Aliesha had hers a couple of weeks ago, my mother a few days ago, and my oldest Great Niece just recently turned 4.  Almost time for school.  We'll be going to her birthday party this coming Sunday, which will be nice.  We don't get to see my relatives very often, as most of them live out of town.  It's really just me, my mother and 2 of my aunties that live within the city.  Maybe an uncle here and there, but I haven't seen them in many years.  No idea where they are, to be honest.

Lastly, an update on what's to come in the near future.  Since moving into flats, I've been working on making my music creation more active than I was able to in the old place.  I've deliberately refrained from storing my musical instruments in the wardrobe and blocking the door with who knows what, denying me the access needed.  I now have sitting on the floor, next to the computer, my guitar amplifiers.  The guitars are nearby, but there's still some unpacking to do in the spare room yet.  Once that's done, accessibility of the guitars (and keyboards) will be a lot easier, and will be more likely to inspire me to pick them up for a play around more often.  Maybe even some recordings...  About that, I have made some plans for future music releases.  Ones that may take some people by surprise, if they're used to all the digital stuff I've been doing for the past 20 years.  I'm not going to give any spoilers tonight, but let's just say that I'll be going back to my roots for the next chapter.  That'll do for now...

On that note, I should finish preparing for my Great Niece's birthday party tomorrow.  I promise to blog a little more, now that we're starting to get more settled in the new place.

P.S. If anyone can give me tips on how to stop my computer mouse from double-clicking without my permission, that would be great.  I've tried slowing down the speed settings, etc, and it's still doing it.  Any help would be much appreciated.

Celebrating 20 Years of n-Somnia

 Greetings, one and all.  Sorry it's been over a month since my last blog post.  I've been rather busy.  With June being the month of celebrating my solo music project, n-Somnia, turning 20 this year, I felt that I should be prepared.

 Well, actually, it was a combination of that and the fact that I've been playing the campaign missions of "Watch_Dogs", "Watch_Dogs: Bad Blood" and "Watch_Dogs 2" one after the other.  Took me about a month all up.

But with all that out of the way, the time has arrived to celebrate n-Somnia turning 20.  To do so, I re-released a compilation that started out in 2011 as a 7-track EP, called "The Early Years".  Now it's a 21-track compilation album, filling in the gap that was a list of tracks that were either remixes or songs that I moved over to my other project, Kingrow, back in 2006.  This 20th Anniversary Edition is a more complete collection of the music I made when n-Somnia started out.

Along side of this compilation album, I also released an EP called "Eliminator".  This, of course, is the track that kicked off the n-Somnia project back in 2002 ("Red Alert" was 1999, but n-Somnia wasn't around for another 3 years after).  With this EP, I take every version of "Eliminator" and put it in one place, including 3 new remixes that were made over the past year or so.  One of which being a remix that was made by an old high school friend of mine, Tim Wood (listen to the Ersatz Remix of the song - it's very good).

To listen to my new celebration releases, you can find them both on n-Somnia's page on Bandcamp.com. 

Regarding the 20th anniversary of my first hit, "Robot Lover From Mars" (November/December), there won't be any remixes made for this song like "Eliminator" has.  As big an event as it was back in 2002, I think doing what I'm doing now is enough for the 20 year mark.  I will, however, acknowledge the fact it became a hit when the time comes, but nothing new will come out of it.  Just a heads up, in case you were wondering.

That's all I need to say at the moment.  Sorry again for the long wait.  I plan on blogging a little more often after this.

Enjoy the music!