Itsy bitsy spider

$2 coin for scale. Maybe not big compared to say a tarantula or something, but certainly not itsy bitsy to have roaming free around my house. We first encountered this guy on tuesday night, when it eluded my attempts to trap it (Fi was reaching for the bug spray, but since I don't like killing things without trying other elimination techniques first I managed to stay her hand. Besides, I have a soft spot for spiders). Those big long legs mean it can move quite fast.

It wandered up to say hello last night while I was at the computer. And after recording its presence, I successfully captured it this time, and reintroduced it to the backyard.

Still diseased

I was forcibly reminded last night that despite how fit I may get, despite being able to ignore it most of the time, despite having the lung function of a 19 year old, I am still an asthmatic, and probably always will be.

Lung function is no good if your airways are constricted. More than two hours after the frisbee game ended, I was still wheezing and coughing, speaking in a low quiet voice and having to pause for breath at the top of the stairs (while good for my calves, living in a three story house at times has its disadvantages).

I'm not sure if there is anyone out there who doesn't at least have a schoolyard understanding of asthma and its symptoms (wiki wrap up here. So useful wiki). Contrary to most people's impressions it is not a lung condition. Asthma restricts the windpipe and airways through spasmodic contraction of the surrounding muscle tissue; the analogy of breathing through a straw is a good one.

I was symptomatic since birth, with a remission between the ages of five and ten. A lot of my early memories feature driving through darkened streets to the hospital, coughing uncontrollably, and often with the familiar wheeze accompaniment. I remember the oxygen masks and the hospital stays as well, contributing to my lifelong loathing of such places.

That said, I am only very mildly afflicted. It plays up when I have colds, or run too hard or too fast, or get exposed to the wrong kind of smoke, dust or vapour. 90 percent of the time I don't even notice it. I don't use a preventer inhaler, all I need to carry around is a ventolin puffer to use as and when required. For some it is a debilitating condition, and for others life threatening (remember Scarlet from 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'? The actress who played her died from an asthma attack).

I am just symptomatic enough to be aware of it, be occasionally frustrated by it, and for it to deny me my lifelong career ambition. I hate having it.

I'm not sure what the trigger was yesterday. I think my utter lack of nous when it comes to Ultimate Frisbee may have something to do with it. I'm not unfit. I'm not super fit either. Having a cold last week didn't help either, as I couldn't exercise as much with the cold, and my colds tend to linger no matter how mild.

The problem I have with Ultimate is I haven't yet figured out my timing, or where and when I need to be, which means I have to run too hard too often, usually meaning I wind up stranded at one end of the field with no energy while the guy I am supposed to be marking scores at the other end.

I haven't yet had the 'click' when it comes to Ultimate, the moment where everything clicks together and starts making sense. Others like Kate, Jon and Dave seem to have picked it up naturally, whereas I have never met a sport I didn't struggle with at first. I am not a natural athlete. I can catch the thing okay, throw it properly sometimes, but so far have only the vaguest notion about the subtleties of the gameplay.

I am in it for the running around with friends bit more than enjoyment of the sport itself. Not quite enjoying it yet as a game yet. I need to reach a certain level of competency before the fun starts. I'm trying really hard to enjoy it, but a lot of factors get in the way. Not being able to get to many games is a big one, that limits my skill and knowledge development.

I find it an odd game. I can see the point about not having umpires, but it would be nice not to have seemingly endless faffing around when a play is disputed, or players following some rules and not others if no-one calls them on it. Also nice would be players who can dispense the rules without being really condescending about it.

The organisation for this league at least is laughably amateurish. Telling teams on game day they have three games instead of one is simply incompetent. And noble aspirations aside, there is no way it is the all-weather sport the organisers would like to imagine it is. Highly skilled players might be able to compete in high winds and rain, but for the rest it is farcical, and running around on soaking wet grass in anything without sprigs can get injury incurring very quickly (speaking from experience as a former Touch player). To put it another way, Ultimate gets played in conditions that would cancel Touch, a game that has much less sensitive equipment.

The players are a slightly different mix from most social sports as well. To put it one way, in indoor netball you encounter players from virtually every other social code. For a lot of the Ultimate players I have personally interacted with I get the feeling that this is the only social sport they would ever consider playing, almost like "I wouldn't normally play sports, but I can play this one because it isn't really a sport" sort of vibe, like ultimate has some sort of plausible deniability attached and its too cool for school when it comes to other codes. Where this feeling comes from I am uncertain.

It is a hard perception to define, but there is definitely an explicit undertone of exclusive snobbery and disdain for other codes vibe with some players, which is present in all codes, but feels more obvious in this one. I might be wildly off base with this and no-one will agree with me, but that's my perception. You don't have to agree.

And while every sport has its uber serious players who leave their sense of humour on the side of the pitch (I know, I appreciate the irony of me writing about this), the "Look at me, are you intimidated yet?" factor somehow comes across much more ridiculously with a disc in your hand.

My long held opinion, and I'm sticking by it, is that any player who wears skins (linky) for a social sport is taking the game way too seriously. Like last nights opposition captain, who was not only witheringly patronising and anal about exactly precisely indisputably locating where an infringement took place and what particular rule section or clause had been broken, ordered his team about like a bunch of servants, was the first player I have seen invoke a time out (not once but twice) and generally seemed to be having no fun at all. And was wearing skins. There is another guy like him I play fairly regularly at netball, and like netball, I am glad I am not in his team.

This wasn't meant to be a rant about Ultimate. I can see how it could be fun and rewarding, and I want it to be fun and rewarding, but I am finding it really hard work at the moment.

Still, I get to run around and be silly with my friends, which I like.

'Twas a good lash*

There was sunshine,There were pretty buildings,

There were well dressed men,

There were even more well dressed women,

There were heaps of other people too,

There was food and drink,

There was dancing,

Oh and two really nice people got hitched as well.....

Congrats M+C.

Thanks for the occasion, a whole lot of good times, and letting us be a part of it all.

* Quoting a cousin of mine referring to my own wedding

Yellow

The colour of the Wairarapa in summer is definitely yellow
I took a detour through south Wairarapa on the way home from the airshow on Sunday

Being from a valley, I always enjoy epic sky scapes. Here a large cumulonimbus cloud is blowing itself out after losing all its energy crossing the Tararua mountain range.

This avenue of trees is near Gladstone. I have no idea why, but I love it anyway

Tree tunnels are just cool.

Church, Gladstone.

I also found a few more abandoned houses for my collection

This one has still colourful stained glass detailing aruond the front door, and an abandoned car in the tress nearby

Some houses are more abandoned than others.....

Heads up

Always read the fine print:

"Warning: Phenylephrine may cause sleeplessness in some people"

Got that right.

I have a cold at the moment, which I am reasonably successfully keeping at bay with appropriate over the counter meds, most of which appear to involve two or three doses a day.

Thinking I was being reasonably sensible, and not exceeding the recommended dose, I took some before bed last night.

Error.

The induced sleeplessness resulted in several hours of somewhat altered conciousness and perception as I drifted between wakefulness and sleep, never quite managing either. There might have been some delirium, and there were definitely hallucinations.

I recall feeling like my head was separate from my body. I often woke up not knowing where I was (which admittedly isn't unusual for me), but often also not knowing who I was, which I found quite disturbing.

Underlining this was a vague and disturbing dream that persisted most of the night, the contents and subject of which I have great difficulty discerning. It had something to do with the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980's. I'm not sure why or how, I just know. I am reading Robert Fisk's "The Great war for civilisation" at the moment, which probably has something to do with it, spending as it does a not inconsiderable period of time discussing the subject.

I think perhaps I may have been conscripted or something. The battlefield (I think thats what it was) was shrouded in dense mist, with isolated clearings filled with details I cannot recall, and my fellow conscripts and I were subject to imperatives and demands I could not understand.

I have spent most of the day trying to reconstruct the experience, but the best I can come up with are fleeting glimpeses and hints with no details. Confusing is a good summary.

Suffice to say, for good period of time last night I was somewhat seriously rewired, got about three hours of good sleep once the Pep wore off (hang on a minute; in abbreviating Phenylephrine it occurs to me that this could be the origin of the phrase 'pep pill'. Confirmations on postcard please), and found the whole experience quite unpleasant and disturbing.

Won't be doing that again.

***

This post was to have had a second part, in the form of a heads up for a flyover of Wellington city tomorrow (as I write, but today (Friday 16th) as you read this) by a restored Spitfire.

Lots of people have heard of the name 'Spitfire' (potted wiki history here), and this was an excellent chance for interested city folk to see and hear one flying in the flesh (hear especially, it is a lovely sounding aircraft, with an unmuffled 27 litre V-12 engine up front. Think of the deepest rumblies V-8 noise you can imagine. Then add some more cylinders and a bit of crackle and pop).

That was the plan anyway, until this afternoon, when the aircraft in question suffered some kind of problem (as yet not determined) and crash landed in Masterton, from where it was planned to be flying to Wellington, and where I planned to be sitting on the fence watching it.

(Image copyright: Wairarapa Times-age / NZ Herald)

There will still be a flypast over the harbour at about 1300 today, there just won't be a Spitfire in it.
These things happen, nobody was hurt, and it looks like it should be repairable, but damn and blast. I will still be on the fence tomorrow, just slightly less interested.

Its been a while since I've seen a Spitfire fly, I haven't yet tried out my digital camera on one, and was really looking forward to seeing one again this weekend.


And while I am disappointed, its probably nothing compared to how the owners and show orgainsers are feeling right now as well as the WW2 pilot who was supposed to be in the back seat for the Wellington flight. There is a huge amount of material and emotional investment in restoring, owning and operating an aircraft of this kind.


Still, there is another due to fly soon in the Manawatu, and this one is by no means written off. If this had happened in 1943 it probably would be flying again within a week.


Then again, in 1943 the aircraft would have had a realistic expectation of a life expectancy measured in hours, compared to the more or less indefinite expectation of a restored example.


The near certainty of seeing two Spitfires in the air together in NZ this summer (which last happened in 1996) has now diminished to probably sometime later on. I am naively hoping it can be repaired by April and the event-of-the-season show at Omaka, which the other one is almost certainly going to be at, but its not likely.

Buggar.

Right then, back into it

Ah summer. A healthy 29 degrees on the porch thermometer last Thursday and all is well. It was actually showing 31 when we got home fifteen minutes before I took the photo. Mind you the thing has probably never been calibrated so who knows.

I am pretty sure I will look at this again in winter and sigh.

First post for the New Year, and in the best traditions of blogging, I have had squillions of ideas for posts, none of which I can remember when it comes to sitting down and writing the things.

Actually, thats not true, I have a few things in mind (like how far into the year can you get before 2008 wrap up posts are inappropriate?), but they will take a while and its already getting late tonight.

Also I found myself more or less taking a break from the whole active internaut thing over the last couple of weeks, choosing the consume rather than contribute angle. It was nice to have a break but I think I am ready to start posting again about the usual collection of miscellany that is this blog.

And on that less than certain note, Happy New Year everybody! (best said a la Dr Nick of the Simpsons I reckon).

Three figures

This is the 100th and last post for this year. That translates to one post every 3.65 days, or about every 87 hours. I have been less prolific this year, but somewhat busier, so have less time to blog.

Thanks everyone for reading and making this thing worthwhile.

The year has gone quickly, with highlights and lowlights, but I am ending it in a better place than I started.

So, see you next year then!

30 years ago

Its thirty years ago tonight that the Kaikoura UFO events occured, so I'd thought I'd mark the occasion by talking about it.

I tried to find a reasonable link with a precis, but even the normally reliable Wikipedia is let down in this regard by only quoting a book cover. There is a reasonable summary here (link), which I found after a quick google. Sensible discussion is hard to find.

Quick Lowdown:

On the night of 20-21 December 1978 a number of unusual sightings occured of lights in the sky of the north eastern coast of the South Island, and in the southern reaches of Cook Strait. They were seen by people on the ground at Blenheim, by people in the air, and on radar at both Wellington and Christchurch. The lights seen were unsual, out of place, appeared to be controlled and not random, and rare for being observed on radar at the same time as visual observations were being reported. Being the silly season, this provided good news fodder for a while, so much so that an Australian TV channel arranged for an in depth follow up story to be produced.

It was thought that footage on board one of the aircraft involved would be useful, and so a reporter and camera crew were arranged to accompany a flight along the same route where the sightings took place, the route in question being a nightly freight run from Blenheim to Christchurch and back. The filming was set up for the night of 30-31 December.

The reporter and crew got more than they bargained for, as the lights returned, at times appearing to track and react to the aircraft. Again they were also seen as radar targets, and now they were filmed. For about two hours this went on.

In UFO history this is fairly rare, to have UFOs simultaneously observed visually, tracked on radar, and filmed.

The story and film made world headlines, and attracted a fair amount of both serious investigators, and dedicated debunkers. The Air Force put a Skyhawk on standby to investigate any further occurences, and sent an Orion to explore the area a few nights later.

The New Zealand government produced two investigations, one by the Air Force, and one by the then DSIR. Both came up with conventional and prosaic explanations for the sightings, which was convenient, but in many instances the explanations simply did not account for the observations, resulting in disillusionment for the witnesses, and accusations of a whitewash.

Thirty years, two investigations and two books later, there still isn't an explanation that fits. From my own background in science, based on what I have read of both the observations and the investigations that followed, the investigative methodology used was shoddy at best, and seems designed to fit pre-determined conclusions. I'm not saying there was a conspiracy or anything (unless the government genuinely knew what was going on), more a case of investigators not being able to find answers and trying to make the questions go away.

I'm interested in a lot of things, but have always been interested in the odd and mysterious, things like ghosts, sea monsters, UFOs etc. I found out about the Kaikoura events about fifteen years ago, and have followed it ever since, mainly because it happened in my own backyard, and appears to be genuinely unexplained (unlike about 95% of UFO sightings).

At the time I was a two year old living in Hamilton, so don't remember any of it first hand. That said, at least some of the activity should have been visible from the south coast of Wellington; it was a clear night, and sometimes I imagine myself there, seeing something genuinely mysterious.

I don't hold with the idea that UFOs must be alien spacecraft, and get quite frustrated with that now seemingly automatic leap of logic. The U stands for unidentified. Thats all. By definition, if something is known or suspect to be a spacecraft, it isn't unidentified.

When it comes to UFOs I am open minded, but tend towards them being somebody's secret technology, or something science hasn't caught up with yet. The other world explanation, while possibly possible, is vanishingly remote without access to technologies we can barely imagine, let alone understand.

To mark the occasion tonight a charter flight is out there now as I write, retracing the route, with enthusisasts and some of the principals on board. I toyed with buying a ticket, but didn't for cost reasons (cost aside, it would be something interesting to do). And with the weather as it is tonight I am glad I didn't (in fact I wonder if they are flying at all).

With the strong northerly (often so endearingly described as 'fresh' by TV weathergirls in Auckland) it will be very rough going in the air between here and Christchurch tonight and not at all comfortable, no matter how curious.

Sundown

Good sunsets are like a post-it from God that says "PS, enjoy the light show".

Windless rain in the sky tonight suffused the light and made it look like the air itself was glowing.

The high stratus with a clear horizon helped as well....

Asking the big questions

Given that the conditions in Minot, North Dakota, USA probably look like this right about now,
this is probably as good a time as ever to ask:

Why not Minot?!

PS Image cribbed from a calendar. Apologies to the vast majority of my readers who won't get this.

Rolling Christmas

Heres how we roll on Christmas Eve:
Heavy rain and traffic making a less than two hour drive stretch into more than three

The reason for the drive being to visit Fi's sister and family in Balmy Palmy:
And a wet dog

And to assemble a trampoline at night in pouring rain:

And this is how we roll on Christmas Day:

Unwrapping with the whanau at the family home;

Before proceeding to the ancestral manse for lunch and shenanigans,

which was excellent

and included Charlotte's first swim.

I got in too, but there are no photos.

And thats how we roll at Christmas around here.

PS: While Christmas in NZ tends to be weather variable, cheer up. At least its warmer than here

Festive Spirit

Firstly I have two questions:

Does anyone get any meaningful work done in the last couple of days before the christmas break, when most things are winding down, everything is quiet and and most people have already gon on their leave?

And is the 9 minute re-mix of 'Halcyon and on and on' by Orbital the best music to drive to work to on a fine and sunny summers morning?

Mentioning music brings me to my main topic this morning:

Christmas Music

Why do normally respectable artists succumb and produce horribly cheesy and schmaltzy christmas singles to be inflicted on us year after year?

I can normally let it abide, but when we heard a lounge version of 'Little Drummer Boy' in Whitcoulls the other day, I was moved to comment, as well as leave the store as soon as possible. Although if pressed I will admit to preferring Tori Amos' version, it is still far too twee for my liking (although I will admit to a vague affection for 'Last Christmas' for no known reason).

Then while driving somwhere else Classic Hits (where the DJ's take special courses in inane patter) announced that they were going to play all of 'those Christmas songs you love' and then launched into 'Grandma got run over by a reindeer' or whatever that particular monstrosity is called. I changed station after a few bars.

My yearly challenge of not hearing 'Snoopys Christmas' each year is well documented, although I had a close shave this weekend when active started playing a ringtone version of it (however I feel the song could be completely redeemed if say, Nine Inch Nails covered it).

I can sort of get why this genre exists, but I hate the incessant insistence that if we are considerate enough to want to buy gifts for our nearest and dearest, that foisting it upon us in our shops and malls will be somehow endearing and encouraging. I get encouraged, encouraged to avoid the malls and shops altogether, and find alternative gift sourcing opportunities.

That said, I know, out there somewhere, there are people who if the malls weren't playing christmas music, would ask why not, and request it.

Maybe we need to be reminded it is Christmas? It not like the decorations haven't been up since Halloween or anything. Maybe we won't spend money on presents if we don't have 'Mistletoe and Wine' in one ear and 'I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus' in the other?

The genre represents to me all the commercialisation and money making aspects to Christmas.

Anyway, this isn't what Christmas is about.

Setting all the 'reason for the season' brouhaha aside (which may be debatable), Christmas shouldn't be about running around packed malls stressing about the perfect gift, or organising the perfect party, or spending squillions to get it.

At the risk of getting schmaltzy, it should be about spending time with friends and family, catching up, sharing stories, creating new ones, remembering Christmas past, and not worrying too much about Christmas future.

Like the complaints division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation says; "Share and Enjoy"

Happy Christmas wherever you are

Liking it

This photo published for no other reason than I think the clouds made for a very cool looking sky on Thursday afternoon
Like I need more reasons to love summer, I love that in these parts you can take a photo like this with a bright western sky at 10 o'clock at night

That is all

Mini Rant

More of an addendum to my rant post

Like all newish parents, we have a brag book for those who are interested, including the above pic of my girl at about half a day old, wearing a t-shirt procured for her by her auntie (who is excellent at gift matching like this by the way).

So far two people have responded to this pic with utterances of "Oh that's terrible!" or "How could you do that?" in a "I sound like I'm joking but I'm really not" sort of way, like we should be embarrassed or just joking ourselves by stating so boldly we we are from.

Two is a small number, but it is enough for me to ask,


What the fcuk is up with that?


I've touched on this issue before, but now I have wider interests at stake I find this response a bit miffing. I'll be very nicely asking the next person to respond in this way to explain themselves.


Or am I just over-reacting?


Answers on a postcard please

Who's your daddy?

Listening to: The Real Thing-Midnight Oil. In an Oils phase at the moment.

Here is the aforementioned cutest/smartest/funniest baby in my world.

And I said I wouldn't post about her. I should have added 'much' to that sentence.

I think this is my favourite photo of her so far. This was Fi's idea a couple of weeks ago, trying to get some slightly more formal portrait shots. The black and white suggestion was Fi's, and she also took this photo.

I love it because it really captures her emerging personality. I wish I could see what her eyes do. She started smiling about three weeks ago, and now does it spontaneously without mimicing others, which is really nice because I get a smile first thing in the morning, and when I come home from work.

Tonight we went back to the ante-natal group and told our story to a bunch of new parents to be, with Charlotte chipping in at times. Fi told her part, and then I spoke to all the Dads about what they can do. It was interesting seeing a group in a phase I was recently in, but feeling a vast gap between us and them all the same.

I think we were reassuring.

We got invited back anyhow, maybe as an example of how things can not go quite right, but still turn out right in the end.

Rambler

Listening to: Blue Sky Mining- Midnight Oil. Underrated follow up to the huge Diesel and Dust, this release saw the Oils move further away from their post punk origins, and try a few new things. When you listen to the earlier Oil's stuff, you can hear that Dust was quite a change in sound, and Mining went further down that road. Being the follow up to a huge success, it was a pressurised recording, and doesn't always work, but as with a lot of their work, the really good stuff isn't the singles, but buried in the album tracks.

Almost ten days since my last post. Not the longest absence (which I think is somewhere around 14 days), but enough to give me the guilts about not updating the thing. The last post incidentally confirmed a suspicion I have had for some time that I have people who read this that never comment (for various reasons, probably not least of which are my troll discouraging comment settings, which unfortunately bar casual commenters as well.

The absence is down to two things. Been busy, and trying to go to bed at sensible hours. Busy with socialising, modelling, sporting, working chillaxing etc. Noticed that even though I am not getting up to do the feed at 3am, my sleep still gets disturbed, hence the emphasis on sensible sleeping hours. Since most of my best writing is done after 10pm, naturally this is an impedance.

I also never seem to have enough time in the day to do all the things I want to do. Work, watch the news, hang out with the babe, play some sport, make some models etc etc. And those are just my hobbies (babe excepted, she is more of a vocation).

The other reason is that I haven't really had anything to blog about in the last week. Some of you might say "But you have a new child, that must provide oodles of material', and she does, but I don't want to turn this into a "my baby is the cutest/smartest/funniest" in the world blogs. She happens to be all of those things in my world, but I don't want to inflict that particular flavour on the dear reader at the moment. I am enjoying being a father, even if most of the time I feel hopelessly incompetent at it. It has its moments, and I often think back to the times a while ago when I worried about ever finding a partner, or ever being able to pass on my family name.

Being aware of the irony that I am currently blogging about not blogging, what can I blog about?

-I could rant about 'Everybody loves Raymond' replacing 'The Simpsons' at 5pm weeknights on TV3. Even if repeated ad nauseam, it is still nice to come home from work and chillax for half an hour with a favourite show, which 'Raymond' is most certainly not. It embodies everything I hate about american sitcoms. Ultra conservative (note that no character has sideburns. Small point but telling), and too guaranteed not to offend anybody. Everyones hair is perfectly styled, clothes spotless. And the kitchen is ugly ugly ugly. While it garnered numerous Emmys, I can't find anyone in my immediate circle who will admit to 'loving Raymond', hence don't understand its popularity.

-I could rant about the hating on John Key. I didn't vote for the guy either, but am over the incessant negativity about him from some quarters, some of it quite petty and childish. Constructive criticism is one thing, but unmoderated vitriol gets old, and puts people off message.

-I could rant about stupid drivers, which I have done before, and probably will again. Like the one who almost caused a pile up on the motorway on Tuesday morning in the rain. I was only doing 80 due to the heavy rain, and being tailgated by someone who obviously thought I should ignore the conditions and go faster. When I gently braked to intercept a slow line of traffic ahead, I looked up to find a mirror rapidly filling with car with nowhere to go. Still braking I moved to the right of my lane, while the fidiot moved left, missing me by about a metre. The fidiot then had the audacity to give me a toot like I had done something wrong. Fidiot.
Just like it seems practically everyone who can't see the 70 and 50 kph limit signs when driving through the constructions at Maungaraki. Honestly, I feel like the only one who bothers, since when I stick to the posted limit in these areas, I instantly generate a queue of tailgaters, combined with people zooming past me like the limit doesn't apply to them.
What is it with drivers in this country, that when temporary changes to speed limits (or less than temporary, these signs have been in situ for months) occur, they simply can't cope. Driving is treated too much as a right in this country rather than the privilege it should be.

-I could rant about txt english, and how much I hate it. I can live with it in text messaging, but anywhere else it is just annoying and lazy. Formal written english (which I think I am fairly fluent in) is almost a separate language from vernacular english anyway, but my concern is we are raising a generation of people to whom correct and competent written english is a foreign language. This was illustrated to me by a couple of high school kids who recently began posting on a forum I frequent. It's great that they are engaging in this way, but disappointing in that they demonstrably cannot type coherent english. I'm not talking about mere txt speak, I'm talking about complete incompetence, requiring several reads aloud to be understood. It's depressing that they can't even be bothered to proof read what they are writing, let alone write it correctly in the first place. I worry for these guys when it comes to writing covering letters.

-I could rant about players who feel the need to coach their teams loudly and precisely on court during the game. You're not big, you're not clever, and even your own teams want you to shut the hell up.

-On a similar note, I could rant about how I seem to have gone from really good form to not quite so good in my own game at the moment. Sometimes I feel like a really, really good player, other times like tonight I feel quite rubbish. Frustrating, as is the continual soul searching about whether team mates think I am playing well or not.

-Alternatively, I could not rant, and talk about how much I love summer. Summer is nice.

-I could not rant and talk about how cool my wife is for completing a Triathlon less than three months after having a baby.

-I could not rant and talk about how happy I am that Real Groovy survived its brush with receivership. Their new CD's may have been overpriced, their staff sometimes too cool for school, but nobody does sales bins like they do.

-Christmas is coming. I am looking forward to the break (which I will get this year, unlike last year when I was working in a stupid job), but haven't done any shopping yet. However my annual challenge to get through the season without once hearing 'Snoopy's Christmas' is going well.

Right that's enough. Now engaging the sensible bedtime option.

Watching this space

Listening to: Come on feel the Lemonheads - The Lemonheads. I quite like how this album doesn't really end. they just muck around in the studio for a few tracks.

Just in case any of you have been looking west at dusk in the last few days and wondering, "Gee, what are those two bright stars? Have they always been there?" etc etc etc
There be a conjunction happening in the skies. The three brightest objects in the sky are hanging out in the same bit of sky at the moment if you care to look. They be the planets Venus and Jupiter, and the Moon.

Which actually is the moon. Not a space station.

Anyway, here they are from my backyard. Venus is the brighter one, since although Jupiter is a gazillion times bigger than Venus, Venus is a gazillion times closer to us than Jupiter, and more reflective to boot.

28 Nov
30 Nov. Cresent moon shows up for the get together. Note how the planets are changing position relative to each other....

02 Dec (Tonight). The moon has passed through. If it hadn't been raining last night we would have seen it pass in front of Venus, which would have made for a cool series of pictures, but it was raining and hence cloudy, so you will just have to imagine it.

Included for no other reason than I though that trees blowing around at dusk would make a pretty picture.

More scientific info about the conjunction here (Linky).

So which house is yours then?

Why the one with the smiley face mown into the front lawn of course!

Charlotte the Eskimo

Wrapped up snug in her pink blanket and hat, Charlotte is a happy little eskimo lolly;

Well, most of the time at least......

Tough job being an Eskimo

Just remember.....

You saw it here first. I don't normally go in for self promotion, but this is pretty cool.
From page 80 of The Hutt News for 18 Nov 08.

Kudos to Fishie and JudgeJury for the idea and encouragement.