Martin
@mandab.com
Beer, cooking, tech, kindness, music. He/him/his
Auckland / Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa NZ 🇳🇿
Also on Mastodon at @mgbridges@mastodon.nz
Auckland / Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa NZ 🇳🇿
Also on Mastodon at @mgbridges@mastodon.nz
Very glad to see that Woolworths Browns Bay have moved (most of) the craft beer selection (including my beloved Tigermilk) into the chiller.
November 12, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Very glad to see that Woolworths Browns Bay have moved (most of) the craft beer selection (including my beloved Tigermilk) into the chiller.
Auckland North Shore peeps: the new NZ Blood donor centre is very comfy, right next door to Constellation bus station and has plenty of parking. Get yourselves in there and, if you can donate plasma, please do coz they're having to import it.
November 11, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Auckland North Shore peeps: the new NZ Blood donor centre is very comfy, right next door to Constellation bus station and has plenty of parking. Get yourselves in there and, if you can donate plasma, please do coz they're having to import it.
Just had my first free MMR jab. Need to go back in a month for the second. As a child of 1970 I have no idea of my immunity status so it makes sense to play it safe.
November 11, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Just had my first free MMR jab. Need to go back in a month for the second. As a child of 1970 I have no idea of my immunity status so it makes sense to play it safe.
Can anyone recommend a tool to design a simple flyer that ISN'T overflowing with AI garbage?
November 10, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Can anyone recommend a tool to design a simple flyer that ISN'T overflowing with AI garbage?
Despite living in New Zealand for the last 18 years I was unaware of our involvement in this piece of aviation and world history theupfront.media/flying-blind...
Nice work @garius.bsky.social
Nice work @garius.bsky.social
Flying blind: The remarkable journey of the California Clipper, Part 2
What Pan Am were asking of Ford, his crew and his aircraft was to do something that no commercial flying boat had ever done before: complete a circumnavigation of the world.
theupfront.media
November 8, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Despite living in New Zealand for the last 18 years I was unaware of our involvement in this piece of aviation and world history theupfront.media/flying-blind...
Nice work @garius.bsky.social
Nice work @garius.bsky.social
Really struggling to deal with how bad my dad is doing. He desperately needs a hip replacement. It got canceled a couple of months ago because he got a chest infection. Rescheduled for 20th of November. Everything crossed it goes ahead because his quality of life is non-existent.
November 8, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Really struggling to deal with how bad my dad is doing. He desperately needs a hip replacement. It got canceled a couple of months ago because he got a chest infection. Rescheduled for 20th of November. Everything crossed it goes ahead because his quality of life is non-existent.
This Flor de Cana rum is extremely nice
November 8, 2025 at 9:35 AM
This Flor de Cana rum is extremely nice
What a cracker of a T20 series so far.
November 6, 2025 at 9:47 AM
What a cracker of a T20 series so far.
Reposted by Martin
That's Not Beer! New episode of our podcast is live, featuring another Q&A session recorded at Beervana. This time we feature Three Sisters Brewing and Duncan's Brewing talking about smoothie sours & pastry stouts.
linktr.ee/third.pint.t...
linktr.ee/third.pint.t...
The Third Pint Theory podcast | Instagram | Linktree
View third.pint.theory’s Linktree to discover and stream music from top platforms like YouTube, Spotify here. Your next favorite track is just a click away!
linktr.ee
November 5, 2025 at 10:27 PM
That's Not Beer! New episode of our podcast is live, featuring another Q&A session recorded at Beervana. This time we feature Three Sisters Brewing and Duncan's Brewing talking about smoothie sours & pastry stouts.
linktr.ee/third.pint.t...
linktr.ee/third.pint.t...
Took advantage of working from home, the dog being at daycare and a few days of good weather to get a coat of teak oil on the outdoor furniture before my first meeting.
November 3, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Took advantage of working from home, the dog being at daycare and a few days of good weather to get a coat of teak oil on the outdoor furniture before my first meeting.
Busy day, for a non-working (well, not getting paid) day. Life admin (laundry & food plan for the week), gym session, weekly supermarket and veg shop, then some Google AI training. Currently crashed on the sofa with a beer before starting on pizza making.
October 31, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Busy day, for a non-working (well, not getting paid) day. Life admin (laundry & food plan for the week), gym session, weekly supermarket and veg shop, then some Google AI training. Currently crashed on the sofa with a beer before starting on pizza making.
It was awesome to catch up with Ben, as well as Rob from PhatHouse brewing. We called in at Ben's brewery in Hikurangi on the way home; definitely worth checking out if you're up on the Tutukaka Coast.
At the weekend Martin attended the Northland Craft Beer, Wine & Spirits Expo in Waitangi, and was happy to catch up with Ben Heaven from Heaven's Brewery. We featured an interview with Ben in one of the earlier episodes of our podcast. Link to episode below:
open.spotify.com/episode/6vMt...
open.spotify.com/episode/6vMt...
October 28, 2025 at 8:34 PM
It was awesome to catch up with Ben, as well as Rob from PhatHouse brewing. We called in at Ben's brewery in Hikurangi on the way home; definitely worth checking out if you're up on the Tutukaka Coast.
Any other Orcon customers in Auckland having broadband issues? I've been sitting in their telephone support queue for nearly an hour.
October 27, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Any other Orcon customers in Auckland having broadband issues? I've been sitting in their telephone support queue for nearly an hour.
Reposted by Martin
It was excellent to catch up with Ben from Heaven's Brewing at the Liquid Gold festival in Paihia today. Have a listen to our interview with him: open.spotify.com/episode/6vMt...
Knocking on (Ben) Heaven's Door
open.spotify.com
October 26, 2025 at 9:36 AM
It was excellent to catch up with Ben from Heaven's Brewing at the Liquid Gold festival in Paihia today. Have a listen to our interview with him: open.spotify.com/episode/6vMt...
Up in Paihia for a bit of a beer festival.
October 26, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Up in Paihia for a bit of a beer festival.
Reposted by Martin
Martin will be attending the Northland Wine, Craft Beer & Spirits Expo in Paihia on Sunday. If you're in the area, it should be a good time.
October 24, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Martin will be attending the Northland Wine, Craft Beer & Spirits Expo in Paihia on Sunday. If you're in the area, it should be a good time.
New socials, who dis?
The latest episode is now live, featuring an interview with Luke Nicholas (Epic Beer) and Steve Plowman (Hallertau).
linktr.ee/third.pint.t...
linktr.ee/third.pint.t...
The Third Pint Theory podcast | Instagram | Linktree
View third.pint.theory’s Linktree to discover and stream music from top platforms like YouTube, Spotify here. Your next favorite track is just a click away!
linktr.ee
October 24, 2025 at 12:29 AM
New socials, who dis?
Apparently it's hosing down at Eden Park, so no cricket. Not a drop of rain here in Torbay.
October 23, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Apparently it's hosing down at Eden Park, so no cricket. Not a drop of rain here in Torbay.
I hope my friends further down the country are keeping safe. It's getting a bit windy here, but nothing compared to what those down south are having to endure.
October 23, 2025 at 4:24 AM
I hope my friends further down the country are keeping safe. It's getting a bit windy here, but nothing compared to what those down south are having to endure.
I'm thinking I might need to put together a simple website for my podcast. Nothing fancy - links to episodes, bit of expanded description (footnotes etc.) and a comments/feedback facility. Can anyone recommend a straightforward tool and inexpensive hosting provider?
October 23, 2025 at 2:28 AM
I'm thinking I might need to put together a simple website for my podcast. Nothing fancy - links to episodes, bit of expanded description (footnotes etc.) and a comments/feedback facility. Can anyone recommend a straightforward tool and inexpensive hosting provider?
It's podcast time again - a new episode of The Third Pint Theory has just dropped, and I'm really pleased with how it came out.
It's a bit of a dive into the rise of craft beer in Aotearoa in the mid 2000s through an interview with Luke Nicholas (Epic) and Steve Plowman (Hallertau).
It's a bit of a dive into the rise of craft beer in Aotearoa in the mid 2000s through an interview with Luke Nicholas (Epic) and Steve Plowman (Hallertau).
October 22, 2025 at 10:00 PM
It's podcast time again - a new episode of The Third Pint Theory has just dropped, and I'm really pleased with how it came out.
It's a bit of a dive into the rise of craft beer in Aotearoa in the mid 2000s through an interview with Luke Nicholas (Epic) and Steve Plowman (Hallertau).
It's a bit of a dive into the rise of craft beer in Aotearoa in the mid 2000s through an interview with Luke Nicholas (Epic) and Steve Plowman (Hallertau).
Hoping that my friends around Aotearoa stay safe in the winds today. It's peaceful here in Tāmaki Makaurau, and I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere else.
October 22, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Hoping that my friends around Aotearoa stay safe in the winds today. It's peaceful here in Tāmaki Makaurau, and I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere else.
The Amazon outage meant that I had to turn my lights off at the actual switch, rather than talking to Alexa. Oh, the humanity!
October 20, 2025 at 8:53 AM
The Amazon outage meant that I had to turn my lights off at the actual switch, rather than talking to Alexa. Oh, the humanity!
Reposted by Martin
Good news everyone, my review of the new cask Boddington’s *is* out today, which includes my thoughts on the beer itself, but also a little history to explain why it’s still very much The Cream of Manchester.
wb.camra.org.uk/2025/10/10/b...
wb.camra.org.uk/2025/10/10/b...
Boddingtons is back
I rarely take the opportunity to review a beer properly. However, the recent relaunch of Boddingtons Bitter on cask – brewed in Manchester by JW Lees...
wb.camra.org.uk
October 19, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Good news everyone, my review of the new cask Boddington’s *is* out today, which includes my thoughts on the beer itself, but also a little history to explain why it’s still very much The Cream of Manchester.
wb.camra.org.uk/2025/10/10/b...
wb.camra.org.uk/2025/10/10/b...
Reposted by Martin
This is an excellent assessment of the new cask Boddingtons. I agree completely with Matt's conclusion. Well worth reading.
Good news everyone, my review of the new cask Boddington’s *is* out today, which includes my thoughts on the beer itself, but also a little history to explain why it’s still very much The Cream of Manchester.
wb.camra.org.uk/2025/10/10/b...
wb.camra.org.uk/2025/10/10/b...
Boddingtons is back
I rarely take the opportunity to review a beer properly. However, the recent relaunch of Boddingtons Bitter on cask – brewed in Manchester by JW Lees...
wb.camra.org.uk
October 19, 2025 at 8:05 AM
This is an excellent assessment of the new cask Boddingtons. I agree completely with Matt's conclusion. Well worth reading.