More imagery

Listening to: Chemical Brothers-Come with us

Apologies for the heavy image content, but I am in a sharing mood.

This is a stack of Smartcars in Railway square (apparently if you hire one in the central city you get free parking or something like that). If you look closely the second one from the bottom has a smiley grin marked on its dusty windscreen. I appreciate the effort that someone made to put that there.

View from my hostel window, Railway Square, Sydney.

Graffiti written in dust on a ventilation louvre, I forget which railway station.

The sky at 37,000 feet over the Tasman Sea. Air Travel is pretty surreal anyway, but the view out the window is the final touch. I love the colour of the sky up there, and the clarity. The deep deep blue you get when above most of the atmosphere (density wise at least) is entrancing. Would have shown up better if I wasn't shooting into the sun when I took these.

Imagery

Listening to: The rythm of the falling rain. My backyard is quietly flooding while I write.

Some Sydney imagery

Thunderstorm approaching Taronga Zoo from across the harbour on Friday. A few minutes later it provided a brief but intense downpour, which was quite nice, as it had been very hot and sticky up until then. Lots of thunder, but no visible lightning unfortunately. I like dramatic skies.

When one is travelling alone, one tends to take self protraits of oneself:

On the ferry to Taronga, Sydney harbour bridge above. I thought I was smiling. Need to work on that. Note also scar and general lopsidedness of my chin due to a spectacular cycling accident at the age of 14.

At the airshow on Saturday, wearing Notkates design. (If you don't believe it is me, check the scar).

Richmond airbase, where the show was, is about 60K west of Sydney. I got there by train, and thus here I am at Central railway station on Sunday morning.

Ones mascots also get a look in:
For the last several years whenever Fi and I have travelled we have taken a small cuddly toy as a mascot/companion/lucky charm. They are also handy for personalising photographs of scenery and sights. Snoopy (last seen modelling my one glove here) was planned to have made this trip, but got left behind when I was packing. So I bought a little Kiwi at Wellington Airport

Kiwi on Sydney harbour. Much warmer than it looks.

The Kiwi was joined by a Koala at Taronga. Here they are in front of the Bambi cloning facility (cunningly disguised as a spotted deer enclosure).

Kiwi minding my other camera at the airshow while waiting for the flying to begin, Saturday. The dude with the black cap on was one of those who prompted my rant about inadequate clothing. His two small boys got well rugged up, but by the end of the day still in only t-shirt and shorts he was visibly shivering to the point where I was wondering if he was becoming hypothermic.

Kiwi emphasising the red soil of the airshow location, Sunday.

Observations

Listening to: Ummm, Australian Idol in the hostel lobby. Yerrrgh. I feel unclean.

The details make the difference when you are not at home.
Sydney observations:
-The soil is a different colour. Red mainly.
-Given that the earth is a different colour, so is the majority of the brickwork. So the houses are a different colour. And they mostly appear to have shades above the windows and airconditioning.
-Eftpos here is very new and novel. I have seen several signs, mostly handwritten, explaining how it works.
-Drivers appear to be more aggresive, yet safer. This is based on two observations. Horns are more prevalent here. But when I have driven here (a few years ago) it felt less at risk from other road users.
-The public transport in this city rocks. It is efficient and works and easy to use for a noob.
-Everything is on a different scale. There are no earthquakes here (the 1989 Newcastle event/abberation aside), so nothing limits the height of the buildings. The Sydney suburbs go on forever. Around the train tracks at least, tagging is almost everywhere, including some impressively dangerous locations.
-It is odd being an islander to travel west and know if I kept doing so the next ocean I saw would be the Indian, a few thousand miles away.
-Going to an airshow by public transport is a novelty. Previously I have always driven or flown.
-Also novel is entering the airshow by crossing the only runway.

Airshow recap

Day two saw me use two more rolls of film, and pick up all the shots I missed yesterday. I also shared fence space with a cool Japanese guy with a grunty camera kit. Two Canon digital SLRs, at least four 16GB memory cards, a 400mm lens on one SLR, and a 200mm on the other. Moving between the two was a 4x teleconverter. Being digital both SLRs would likely have built in magnification ability as well. While quite expensive, the zoom capability on hand was awesome.
My 300mm lens looked quite inadequate. I tried to find a teleconverter (basically a magnifier for your zoom lens) to fit my camera before I left but this proved tricky as my camera is technically obsolete.

Still I think I got some good shots for an amateur.

Having done most of my photography yesterday allowed me more time to relax and gawp at planes the way I used to before photographing them became a hobby. "Damn thats cool" crossed my mind several times.
If any are adequate, shots will be posted later on.

Another early start tomorrow, this time to come home. I have Tuesday off. Most of it I think I will be asleep.

Smashtastic

Listening to: 'Family Guy' in the hostel lobby

Smashtastic is my new word. It combines 'Smashing' and 'Fantastic' to create a new superlative that I am probably subconciously recycling from somewhere else.
The Airshow today was smashtastic. I'm going back for another helping tomorrow, which is only sensible given that it is the reason for my trip here. I shooot about four rolls of film today. I'll be a bit more judicious tomorrow, mostly picking up good shots that I missed today I hope.
By the law of previous experience, from the amount expended (96ish. Hmm. Lets say 100. This isn't high in the digital age. The guys using digitals near me shot 200+. Film limits you in this regard.) exposures I should get a dozen rubbish shots, 80 okay, with 5-8 great shots. I should take out the shots of planes on the ground, since they are easy to frame when they are not twisting and turning at 500-900 k's an hour. Leaving them in bumps up the OK's and Greats unfairly, and skewers the bell curve. I am optimistic about todays efforts, provided using a slower film speed to reduce graininess didn't completely screw me. I'll have to wait and see what develops.

Sydney has gone from being hot and damp to being cold and wet. Tomorrow should be better. I might even need my sunscreen.

I've been going to airshows for a long time, and I never fail to be amazed by what people think is appropriate dress for standing or sitting in a field or on a bit of tarmac with no shelter from wind, sun or rain. Today was cold and threatening rain. This was evident since dawn, yet still I saw people with no hats, coats, or even second layers. When it's overcast and your are standing in a southerly breeze for a few hours, T-shirt and shorts just doesn't cut it. It's makes you cold and grumpy, let alone your small children who are similarly dressed. Do people just assume it won't be windy or wet? Or do they not understand that an airshow is an outdoor activity? Still working this one out. I thought I was prepared, and still froze my butt off.
End rant.

By the way I wore the T-shirt not kate made me to the show. I have a photo to prove it.

Waiting for happy hour

Listening to: 'Futurama' in the hostel lobby

Killing time waiting for the cheap drinks. No plans to get axed, too tired for that. Just a couple of nightcaps before sleep. I have had less than four hours sleep in the last 39 or so hours, which is always the way when I travel. I don't sleep much the night before the off.
I have been walking pretty much all day since I got to the Hostel. My feet and legs are sore.
I am mooching about in my flip flops at the moment (good suggestion Fi!), having finally taken off the boots I put on at 4am this morning. My body thinks it is 10pm. Actually it is coming up on 7:30pm. This was ok though, because I had second breakfast.
Got a little bit of shopping done, and finally made it to Taronga Zoo, which I have been looking forward to since missing out last time I was here five years ago. The zoo was cool. I made eye contact with at least four creatures who could rip me limb from limb without even thinking about it were it not for the impenetrable barriers between us. And its a great zoo as zoos go. And they had Tuatara.
So here I am in Sydney. It is humid. Worse than Auckland or even Fiji. There is always something fun about the first time you encounter the natural air of a place that isn't airconditioned or filtered. It is warm. Not really hot, but it doesn't really get cold. As you walk past buildings you can sense the cold filtered and scented air pouring out of them. The light rain is a relief from the mugginess. I thought I had acclimatised earlier, but not quite.

Travelling completely alone is a novelty. This is the first time I have travelled like this. This morning I felt out of place, but by evening I was OK. Sydney rewards walking around in it all day.

Pros: I have had no arguments yet.
Cons: I have no-one to talk to and share cool experiences with.

I am keeping a journal of sorts. I will try and distill them in a way that doesn't become another travel blog.

"It's a mynock. Chewing on the power cables"

Listening to Jakob-Cale and Drew. Nice call Billy.

We don't have mynocks in suburban Lower Hutt. We do have pet rats though, and after an unfortunate rat/laptop power cable interface the Hutt hacienda has been offline for a few days.
Hint: don't put a rat cage within pulling reach of anything you don't want to end up between the rats teeth. Despite munching on a live power cord, the rat is alive and well. Unfortunately the cord has been declared unusable, and laptop batteries really don't last that long.

I came up with several magnificent ideas for blog posts during the down time, most of which I can't remember off the top of my head.

Off to Sydney on Friday. Yay. Back on Monday in time for netball though, assuming we have a game (which I did back in July when I bought the tickets).

Since I didn't comment on the Uchoose on Sunday, and I know some folk emjoy my ruminations on such, here are my favourite New Zealand music videos. Limited to one per artist for the sake of room.

Emma Paki, "Greenstone". Cool storyline, nice visuals.
Concord Dawn, "Morning Light".
Concord Dawn, "Don't tell me". Mainly because Concord Dawn is in it, and by their own admission they can't dance for shit, which is brutally recorded for posterity.
Shihad, "Stations". "You want a crucifixion? We can do that."
Salmonella Dub, "Long time".
Trinity Roots, "Home, land and sea". This recording done at their last gig makes me wish I had been there.
Gramsci, "Complicated". Paul Mclaney walks while the scenery morphs around him.
Bailterspace, "Splat". One long take. Played backwards. Awesome.
HLAH, "I'm on Fire". I saw the filming of this while watching a one dayer at the Basin (they used helicopters). I love how the song ends, then they play it again only faster. Great cover of one of my favourite songs. Much missed.
Goodshirt, "Blowing Dirt". Again a single take, again played backwards. Goodshirt reassemble a Mazda 929 (my family had a similar 929 back in the day. Two in succession actually. We were loyal customers) with sledgehammers, don Scuba gear and drive away.
Kitsch, "Memory of me". How many musicians can you fit on one soundstage?
Netherworld Dancing Toys, "For Today". Not because it has any great qualities, but it evokes the mid eighties really well.
Dark Tower, "The Baggy Trousers Project".
Voom, "Relax". Man walks down street and removes clothes. Cooler than it sounds.
Fur Patrol, "Beautiful". Julia Deans. Strapped to the front of a truck. Striking.
Scribe, "Dreaming"
Crowded House (Not really a New Zealand band mind), "Fingers of Love"
The Mockers, "One Black Friday"
Supergroove, "Sitting inside my head"
Straightjacket Fits, "Down in splendour"

Back tomorrow, it is pumpkin time

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

Awww.

Attitude adjusting

Listening to/watching: Silver Ferns v Australia. Anyone remember the Havoc-Newsboy jingle? "Silver ferns! They catch and throw and catch and throw the ball again!"

T for the week is the Bad Attitude from the early '90s. It's a bit geeky this one. The image is of an attitude indicator (commonly known as an artificial horizon) instrument such as you would find on the instrument panel of an aircraft. It is used (in concert with other instruments) to indicate the direction an aircraft is oriented relative to its direction of flight (known as attitude), which is not always the same. Blue represents 'up' usually, with brown, orange or red to indicate 'down' below the horizon in the middle. The face is gimballed so the the artificial horizon parallels the actual one outside the aircraft.

Got that?

Anyway, the gag is, if your attitude indicator looks like the one in the image, your aircraft is banking to the left, upside down, and diving toward the ground.

Which is a 'Bad' attitude, as it will sooner or later involve sudden and probably violent contact with the earth. Being upside down, the undercarriage won't matter (although one guy in the states a while ago bolted a spare undercarriage to the top of his plane, enabling him to take off and land upside down).

Never worn to work.

Weather
"Did you actually want to talk about the weather or were you just making small talk?"
One of the many great lines from "Groundhog Day", even if approximated because I can't remember it exactly.
The march of the hail bearing cumulonimbus on Tuesday was an awesome spectacle in Upper Hutt. Fine and sunny at work, while Mount Climie a few kilometres away was swathed in strokes of falling hail, with deep purple grey skies above blending into blinding white anvil headed clouds.
I like weather. I'm crap at small talk.

House Hunting
After one weekend of serious house looking I have some observations:
-It is simultaneously exhilirating and depressing, when you see something you might like, something you do like but can't afford, something you don't like in a location you want, something you like in a location you don't want, something you like in a location you like.
-The last one is most exciting.
-I am sick already of hearing about how glad people are that they bought when they did, how good a price they got, and how glad they are that they are not buying now.
-I am also sick of smiling fast talking real estate agents.
-I hate how many ads are geared towards attracting 'investors' rather than people who just want somewhere to live.
-I like exploring new houses.
-I like the thrill that 'the one' might be the next house we look at.
-The 'property' supplement of the Dominion Post is USELESS and largely irrelevant for first time buyers.
-Compromise is essential.

The World
So North Korea has the bomb. Meh. Despite all the hysteria and posturing, in the big scheme of things it really doesn't change much. Nuclear weapons are more politically than militarily useful, and blowing up a mine shaft is a long way from having a weapon you can attach to a missile or aircraft. While military action against North Korea would be impractical and insane, military action by North Korea would be in a similar vein in terms of outcome.
Some of the reportage about current and past members of the nuclear 'club' and how long they have been so has been hilariously inaccurate.

not after all, as it happens

Listening to: The Uchoose 80's anthems. Much "I remember this" between Fi and I.
Even for the 80's the video for Blondie's "The tide is high" is terrible. And whatever happened to the wierd breakdancing guy, and the tough haka kid from the "Poi E" video? And someone really needs to explain to me how 'Imagine' by John Lennon, which was released in 1971, qualifies as an 80's anthem.

Not going to court tomorrow as there was an adjournment.

Not playing Superleague this season either, due to not enough numbers being around to fill three mixed teams. As Fi and me fell into the third team, we don't make the cut.
I have mixed feelings about it. Happy to not be spending the time or money, both of which are considerable. Disappointed at not being able to make a team that will actually get to play. I wasn't really up to speed skill wise at trials, so I am not surprised or feeling wronged, but a little disappointment is inevitable.

So I need some other summer sport. Anyone know of any Touch rugby teams or the like that need personnel?

In other news, with birthday gift vouchers I bought the new Killers album (I'm so cool, the Killers named an album after me), and an A-ha singles collection.

Does anyone get the "Move to Dunedin" ads? Seriously. Anyone?

Crime Fighter 2

So after I fought crime in late June (check my archives, I haven't got the link to post thing sorted yet), today I impressed my workmates by being visited by a Policeman who delivered a summons for me to be a witness in court. I fight crime more.

I'll bet this won't be as exciting as it looks on TV.

This week's T and a wardrobe malfunction

Listening to: Heather Nova-Oyster

This week 1.21 Gigawatts?!

That wacky Doc, always getting into crazy adventures with Marty and Einstein. This post partly inspired by a dream I had last night where I was driving the DeLorean. Not in a time travelling sense, but in a way faster than anything else on the road sense.
I saw 'Back to the Future" twice during its initial cinema release in 1985. Once at the Odeon in Lower Hutt, the second time at The Paramount in Wellington. I had been lining up to see "The Rats of Nimh" (I think. Definitely a Nimh movie of some kind) at the St James (old school Wellingtonians may remember that the St James was a cinema for a while rather than the stately theatre it was meant to be), but that turned out to be sold out (it was the school holidays), so my Dad gave up his ticket for "Back to the Future" and I saw it again with my two sisters rather than roaming Courtney Place on my own for two hours. I'm sure Dad saw the movie eventually. Visiting the set in 1989 at Universal Studios in LA was way cool, especially as the sequel came out a few months later.
I love "Back to the Future" as much as for it reminding me of a particular time in my life as well as being a great movie in its own right.

Now, as promised, a wardobe malfunction involving problems with acid.

Here's what happens when you spill 10% sulfuric acid solution on the thigh of your jeans folks (don't ask how. It's complicated, and I can't discuss it in this forum anyway). Strangely, aside from a slight discoloration, the coverall fabric the acid soaked through to get to my jeans is unaffected. As was my skin. Incidentally, this sort of damage takes a few days to develop at this strength.

Don't try this at home kids.

Tell me why I don't like Mondays

Listening to: Concrete Blonde-Bloodletting

I was sick of a lot of things on Monday night. Monday was fine until I got to work. I slept in, hung out with the divine Mrs H, and chilled out. Then I got to work for evening shift. I think I jinxed it by asking one of my co-workers at handover what calamities had befallen us today. EVERY DAMN ONE of my regular tasks had something wrong with it that required extra attention. And then there were the irregular spill over from day shift tasks, that also amazingly, had things wrong with them that required more time and attention.
I wasn't actually that wound up when I skipped out for an extended lunch/dinner break to play netball. The stressful "am I gonna get there on time or not" drive, and our opposition who spent as much time showing off as playing sort of tipped me over the edge. I gladly let also late Ken have another quarter instead of me; I was pleased to be leaving the court. My team was ok, I just knew that I was getting too frustrated with my own game not even getting out of first gear (getting slapped in the eye because of clumsy opposition defence didn't help) and it was inevitably going to end badly, either at the hands of the opposition or umpire. I'm getting better at not being a grumpy player, but I still haven't got the bountiful well of calm thing going for me yet.
Back at work, everything just got worse. I think the single worst thing was going to use a small but important piece of equipment just after midnight and finding it missing. It had been taken a away for a routine service I later found out. Without checking if it was needed for use. Or telling the people who would be using it. Or providing a backup. A lot of swearing and throwing of unbreakable objects at other unbreakable objects was done. By the time I finished after a 12 hour shift at 0245 I was wrung out in every way.
So much so that I called in sick yesterday on grounds of exhaustion (Fi will testify to this, and if your wife thinks you should call in sick, there is probably something to it). Actually, in my job if we feel too tired or otherwise unfit, the onus is on us to pull the plug, primarily for safety reasons. There are lots of ways for sloppy people to hurt themselves at my work.
So instead of going to work I gave blood (filling the bag in under four minutes, which is quick for me. I have taken as long as fifteen to fill a bag, but usually average 5-10), went to Talladega Nights with the Hutt crew (Okay movie. Makes NASCAR look interesting, which is no mean feat. Quite funny too, even if some of the best lines are outtakes over the credits ("98% of people will die at some point in their lives") I prefer watching Formula One. That oval track stuff bores me stupid. Says a lot about the must be entertained psyche though), and watched Fi play netball.

Shiny thing though. During my day off, the rest of the weeks schedule was canned for technical reasons, so work tonight was blissfully unpressurised.

Back to the world

Listening to: Under one roof-Hunters and Collectors.

I'm a sucker for sunsets. The moodier the better. Like say this one from our recent Taupo sojourn with D3vo, Morgue, My other half, and others:

The suck thing about holidays is coming home. Taupo was fun, even if the place itself is a little soulless these days. The accomodation was brilliant. The nightlife was awesome:

Because it was someones birthday or something, a whole bunch of our party decided to go skydiving. Fi and I didn't. I'm more in tune with flying planes than jumping out of them, and ultimately couldn't decide if I actually wanted to do it or not. Listening to everyone rave about it afterwards was kinda depressing though.



The plane they went skydiving from had teeth and eyes painted on it. All machinery looks better this way I think. The exhaust pipes are supposed to be crooked if you are wondering. I suspect you weren't.

Taupo was kinda fun. The Huka Jet was definitely fun, if not actually scary. The nightlife was better than I have given it photographic credit for. I liked the see-through beer dispensers at the tables, and the TV screens under the taps. The drive by homo-ing at breakfast time was quite strange, but entertaining nonetheless. Frisbee in the park was cool. I am way better at catching with my left hand than I ever used to be. The peaceful dawn on the lakeside was nice.

I enjoyed my long walk back to the motel from the centre of town. I say long because the brochure said '10min', when the reality was 5 times that. I wasn't really up for the direction the night was taking, so I left the crew to it. I think I needed some serious alone time at that point, so it was convenient. I walked past million dollar mansions nestled next to weatherboard batches. I disturbed sleeping waterfowl. I discovered geothermal outlets into the lake, which raise the temperature of the lake at the beach to around 50C. It was peaceful. When I got back to the motel I tried to have a spa bath, but something kept tripping the pump out so I was out of luck. Either the water was too hot or I had too much of it, or not enough.

Driving up was entertaining. I have driven to Taupo many many times, but seldom at night. At night you lose all of your scenery cues, so only the meandering of the road tells you where you are. At night, all is the road. At one point on a Desert Road straight I got a little spatially disoriented. I had to convince myself that we were going as fast as we were, that my speedo and tach were reading correct, since it felt slower. I felt somewhat disconnected from the car at that point, which was a little uncomfortable. Once I found some corners and effectively recalibrated my sense of speed things returned to normal. Apart from that I really enjoyed the drive up (apart from the traffic at Plimmerton, which stopped us for half an hour). We completely accidentally ran into D3vo and Brendan at Paraparaumu, and convoyed for the rest of the way. D3v0's eyewitness reporting of our nearly being buried was quite entertaining (we were hit by falling rocks and mud near Taihape, which was attention getting. My car now has a new scratch or two).

Watching the skydiving was fun. I got to answer questions about something I actually know something about for once, even if I was later to be mocked for my knowledge. I enjoyed the chief photographer role, and I think I got some good shots. I have been taking "proper" photos for about ten or so years now, in the not just taking happy snaps way. Having a decent camera helps enormously. I make an effort to compose images and think and stuff these days. Not that others don't, I am just getting more concious of it.

It was a good weekend, but I think I caught the hangover on Monday.

Next sojourn: Sydney in two weeks. I'm going to kick the airshow season off with a bang by spending two days looking at and photogaphing planes. Freaking Geek. There, I said it so you won't have to. One day will be spent exploring and shopping. Anyone want any duty free? Believe it or not, attending an airshow in Sydney is now cheaper than attending the Wanaka airshow that people always ask me if I have been to (I have been to four).

Going to be a great airshow season this summer. Two major events within easy reach at Blenheim and Masterton, plus Sydney at labour weekend.

And the Big Day Out line up looks extremely promising.

Some days you are the cue, some days you are the ball

Listening to: Idle Faction-We are not apes

Some days I really shouldn't leave work to play netball. Today was one of them. The fact that I have just got home and it is now 0306, when I normally get home from a twilight shift at about 2330, should illuminate just how crap an evening I have had.

Theme music

Listening to the Uchoose gretest movie soundtracks

So I tune in in time to catch 18, 17 and 16. "Everything I do", "Can you feel the love tonight", "I will always love you".
Two Kevin Costner movies, and a soundtrack whoring Elton John. Eltons modern stuff just makes me sad, given how cool his 70's stuff is. The Lion King's animation seems really dated now. And Simba bears an astonishing resemblance to the Wellington Lion's captain Rodney So'oialo, which is a healthy coincidence I think.

Kenny Loggins is in at 13 with 'Footloose'. Now there is a terrible movie, although I have fond memories of putting the soundtrack cassette on high rotate in the summer of 1984 (for cheesy 80's movie pop, its not that bad). Loggins is kinda the king of the soundtrack song. He was everywhere in the 80's. He soundtracked for "Footloose", "Over the top" and "Top Gun", and maybe one of the Karate Kid movies, and that's just the ones I can remember of the top of my head. "Danger zone" is my pick for number one if it hasn't been in already.

Oh jeeze. "School of Rock" at number 12.

Thinking of my favourite uses of pop/rock in the movies now, but I will do so from bed, where I will watch the rest of the countdown. I'm tired after all the shenanigans and stuff, of which more later.

U2's "Elevation" at 11. Alright song, great video, terrible movie.

Dai Henwood is insane.

"Greased lightning" at 10. Maybe I won't keep watching.

Must dash

Listening to: Soulstice-Shapeshifter. Mmmm Hmmm

No time to talk, I'm off to Taupo for hi-jinks and shenanigans.

To entertain you in the meantime, here is Lucky the wonderdog.

She isn't in Taupo. She is in Kuata resort, in Fiji's Yasawa Islands, but that is another story.

(She really is a wonderdog. When she isn't asleep....)

In memoriam

Sort of related to the post below, Fi's half-brother Steve died a year ago today. Not much else to say really, except I'm sure he's having a good time wherever he is. Beer in hand most likely.

RIP Steve

Reali-T

This week, your very own cotton reality check. We all end up the same in the end, regardless of how much crap we accumulate on the way.

Coming soon:
A post about what happens when spilling sulfuric acid on yourself goes horribly wrong.

On my mind

Things on my mind this week

I had the idea of William Shatner covering The Muppets "I'm in love with a big blue frog". I'm. In love. With a big. Blue. Frog.

The Thai coup was interesting. Military coups are normally bad, but this one seems to have popular support, which is cool. I find it humourous that they waited until the to be ousted PM was out of the country.

I wonder if the Pope now has new media minders. Does anyone else find the comment/reaction ironic?

Not-Kates continued bad flatmate karma. Yerghh.

I'm working on a Tao (for lack of a better term) of indoor netball, in a determined effort to take the game less seriously.

The band on the treadmills video.

New and interesting and old and interesting music I'm planning to acquire.

Interesting to see that the debacle that is the disbandment of the RNZAF's combat element, and the non-sale of the aircraft got some media time this week. I don't know if the misinformation and occasional flat out untruths issued by the government on this issue for the last five years is deliberate (they may just be badly informed), but it is frustrating. It may or may not have been the correct thing to do, but it was clearly motivated by political considerations rather than practical ones, which is also frustrating.

Utterly fed up with the non-story over this Brash-Clark name calling he said she said BS taking so much airtime. How about running the damn country instead. I don't care if an affair was had or if so and so is gay. I really don't. We have no need or right to know. Judge these people on how they do their jobs, not who they sleep with.

Canterbury lost the Ranfurly shield. Fantastic. I love it when the shield goes on the road. I hate it when one union grabs it and dominates.

Can anyone explain why we have the franchise based regional netball competition, and the national championships, with apparently the same teams? Answers in 15 words or less please.

I am planning some kind of cull of my library. I have been planning this for some time. I will possibly be planning this for some time to come.

D3vo's flatmate has bought a church organ on trademe. Like his house parties weren't interesting enough already :)

'Who let the dogs out' is a terrible, terrible song. It's not funny, just nasty and malicious.
(watching the U-choose 40 again). Almost as bad as 'Mambo no.5'.

Does anyone else find the use of 'Bittersweet symphony' ironic in a bank commercial ("you're a slave to the money then you die...")?

The BSA has not upheld complaints about the toddler driving the SUV commercial. I find this surprising, as it kinda horrifed me when I first saw it. Small children trying to drive a car is apparently clearly implausible, along with bulls driving a Hilux.

My Wednesday night pub quiz team won on umm, Wednesday, with the score of 99 out of a possible 110. I think this is a record, as I can't recall ever breaking 100 in all my years of participation with many teams. That said, a lot of the questions were gimmees. That also said, we beat our nearest rival by 8 points; I though it would be lot closer.

I have yet to be convinced that the Hilton on the waterfont is a good idea.

Right now, I am the physically fittest I have been in years.

The uchoose list of one-hit wonders has a high commonality with last weeks list of fashion disasters.

Mentioning the u-choose seems to generate more comments than the subject of the post the reference appears in.

Milo is a good hangover preventer.

That is all.

T for the week

I am honouring Not-Kate, and possibly her minions if required by making her lovely birthday gift this week's profiled T.

I actually used to do this as a child. I still 'fly' my models occasionally as I am building them, but much more whimsically and more importantly, silently.

This will make great apparel for the airshow I am going to in Sydney next month.

Great T-shirts were also presented as gifts by Steve, Laura, and my sister Sarah.

And a good time was had by all

Listening to: Uchoose 40 fashion disasters. Somehow I think Nirvana won't win this one, unless the video for 'Lithium' makes an entry. Devo is at 19 with 'whip it'. Excellent video.

Thank you to everyone who got to my party and made it go off in the way it did. You are all excellent. Having it in a bar on a friday night probably helped. People had a good time, and my CD's seemed to work, in that people thought the selection was good, which pleases me also.
The tattoo whip around was very touching and almost overwhelming. Thank you to all who chipped in. Of course this makes me irrevocably commited to it now; one cannot let down this much support.

Good lord, 'I was made for loving you' by Kiss is in at 13. This is the very first music clip I can remember, if any further proof of may age is needed.

Anyway, if I failed to describe my design properly, here is an early concept drawing.

I'm not putting the final-ish drawing up here lest it get nicked. I know that is unlikely, but I'm not up for the risk. Also why the copyright is there. Revisions differ a bit, most notably in that the bird assumes a more realistic stance.

You'll have to wait for the ink to see the final design.

Oh jeeze, 'YMCA' is in at 10. It can only get worse from here.....

What are the odds?

So as I was driving to work yesterday at about 1450, I was passed by a speeding Range Rover. When leaving work at 0425 this morning (long shift....I had to wait for things to happen), I was passed by the same speeding Range Rover (I recognised the number plate from pass 1). What are the odds of that? Or is there a ghostly Range Rover haunting State Highway 2, terrorising unsuspecting late night workers?

I have had about one hour of real sleep and about four hours of fitful dozing in the last 24 due to my heroic efforts at work last night, and attending a work training session this morning. I am tired. I know I am tired because as I was returning to work this morning, I was playing Incubus' "wish you were here" in the car, and it was a beautiful morning and a complete kodak moment and I nearly cried and got shivers down my spine because it was such a perfect gelling of music and scenery. I don't normally get that emotional about driving to work. I have to stay up though, becuse if I sleep now and not later tonight I will be even more out of whack, and it will mess up my sleep patterns for the entire weekend.

Preparty nervousness is now setting in. Will people turn up? Will it go off? Will my music work? etc etc etc. In the back of my mind I know it will be alright on the night, but I am jittery nonetheless.
Off to finish the CD's now.

Things I like about me

In belated response to a Notkate post from umm, ages ago, here are maybe ten things I like about me. If I can think of ten.

1. I know when to talk, and when not to talk.
2. I know lots of stuff, but actively try not to bore people with it. I often answer questions, post comments etc in a way that answers the question simply without information dumping. I like to think I am not arrogant or show-offy with my knowledge of various things. I have refrained from correcting people because I didn't want to embarrass them.
3. I generally know when to walk away, and when to run.
4. I am good in a crisis. I remain calm when it really matters (sometimes it does not). This seems to run in my family, as my siblings have also demonstrated sang-froid at times.
5. I will generally try to do the right thing, or what needs to be done, even if it is something I find unpleasant or intimidating.
6. I am very good at my job. I have a strong work ethic when I am paid to. I believe in doing things right first time in my work.
7. I am loyal and trustworthy, and discrete. Tell me a secret and it will stay secret.
8. I am honest. I hate lying and being lied to.
9. I am usually thoughtful.
10. I will admit I am wrong when I am proved to be so.

Didn't think I'd make ten.

T Shirt and other stuff

Ha! You all thought I'd forgotten to post a T didn't you! Better late than never.

I believe the above cartoon represents a true and accurate representation of my dancing ability. The random movement thing, not the score. I can do a fair Peter Garrett impersonation. I generally only dance to various forms of electronica, with fairly high BPM. I can't get the hang of slow stuff, although I enjoyed dancing at my wedding, and that was fairly slow.
I like the idea of "well, we don't know what it is, but it sure dances well".

Other stuff

I've been busy mixing CD's for my gathering on Friday. There are rules to making a mix CD. Keep a flow. Never artist block (group songs by artist). Have strong opening and ending tracks. Don't put too many slow songs together.
I am mixing in a fairly random way while still obeying the above constraints. I generally think of the next song to add while I am ripping the one before it. I have no set lists, but am thinking of additions while at work, and compiling from memory. I am trying to be representative of all my tastes. At the same time, I have thrown in a few songs specifically for people I know will be in attendance. I enjoy making comps. It reinforces the fact that I have no favourite song. I have about a dozen self made compilation CD's of favourite songs though. A trend I have noticed about my comps is that they tend to be quite upbeat. I like a slow mellow or sad song as much as the next man, but they don't seem to make it.
Incidentally, I am ripping from my CD collection, 99% of which I have paid for, so no malarkey about stealing alright? I hate collections that consist of burnt CD's. The packaging is a big part of the album's character in my opinion. I burn for compilations.
I am open to requests (subject to approval) if there is anything particularly desired by attending readers. You have about 36 hours to comply before the last CD is mixed.

Also it has come to my attention that some are assuming that all parties must be on Saturday and planning accordingly. My party is on FRIDAY. Not Saturday. You could turn up on Saturday but myself and the people who actually read the invitation won't be there. Remember, assume makes an ass out of u and me.

I was going to write something thoughtful about September 11th, but decided against it. Some may have noticed a lack of world events or political discussion on my blog. It is deliberate. Other people do that much better than I could.

I have a kind of blog envy at the moment. After reading a number of blogs today, they all seem more interesting than mine. Kind of like when everyone elses food looks better than yours at a restaurant. I guess I just don't have as much to say as other folk, and don't say it as wittily. I don't post punctuating links often, primarily because I don't actually spend a lot of time surfing. My online time is quite focused.

So I spend all evening at work looking forward to a cold beer when I get home, and what do I find? No beer in the fridge goddamnit. Warm beer in the laundry. Sigh.

A co worker had a minor car accident while picking up pizza last week. Apart from having aquired the nickname 'Crash', he can say he was hit by a pizza driver from Hell and have it be the literal truth.

Netball last night was fun. I have noticed that I get so focused on the game that I don't notice when regular players are entirely absent. Implications of this are as yet unclear.

My beard is now longer than my hair. I will probably shave it off before Friday though.

To further mark the occasion of turning 30, I have decided which new tattoo to get. I'll go see a tattooist on Friday to discuss. I got my first when I was 25, five years later plus three decades of existence seems a good excuse to get a Kiwi design planted on a shoulder. I like tattoos. I like seeing what people choose to imprint on their skin in order to express themselves. My first tat is a celtic design, which is my particular ethnic heritage (I love the traditional Maori and Pacific Island tats, that can have a symbology and language all of their own, and sometimes have to be earned rather than chosen). The second is about where I'm from. The third will be more for fun. Why? I don't really know. I think it is about establishing my identity by customising myself. There are a lot of celtic armbands out there, but I have seen none like mine.

In reaching 30 alive I have proved my first girlfriend wrong. Still, we were angsty teenagers at the time she said that, and get on much better now.

bummer

Bad week to be an Australian legend.

I wasn't really into the Crocodile hunters antics, but it was cool how he raised peoples awareness on conservation and wildlife issues.

Peter Brock was the definition of a legend. One Wellington street race his car broke down. By the time his pit crew fixed it, he was way way down the field, with no chance of victory. Instead of just putting in the laps and going through the motions like a lot of drivers would, he drove the hell out of his machine, with the result that the television coverage started focussing more on him than the leaders, as he ripped through the field to finish way higher than anyone expected him to. A lot of it was done with his elbow on the windowsill.

Bookfair a go go

Listening to 'Permanence'-Gramsci

I love bookfairs. Mainly because I love books, and the reading thereof. There is possibly a causal link between this and my skill at quizzes. A quick glance around my place reveals four books that I am reading concurrently, not counting magazines. I treat books like TV, changing channels/books depending what I feel like. I don't generally use bookmarks. I just flick through until I find where I was at.
Its very mild tonight. I have the dryer on, so the back door is open, and it isn't even cold. This and other portents, like my car being covered in pollen mean that spring is here. This also means that my annual purchase of antihistamines and preventers is due.
Anyway, I was talking about bookfairs. I love the not knowing quite what you'll find, and the thrill of the hunt as you chase down a book you have been looking for for years. Several books in my library have been sourced from bookfairs, after long quests. I don't like the crowds, or the fanatical hard core collectors who carry boxes around and get in everyones way.
The two biggest fairs in Wellington are the Downtown Community Mission fair in the Queens Wharf event center, and the Upper Hutt Rotary fair, usually held at CIT.

On Saturday in company with regular fairers Rich, Dennis and Fi, I hit up the DCM fair.
$34 later, this is what I came up with.

A selection of magazines, mostly related to model aircraft. I spend more time reading about building them than actually making them, which is a habit I need to reverse. Still, the magazines are a great source of hints and tips, and most importantly, inspiration. I get a cheap thrill from looking at the close up photos of the subject of an article and knowing 'I can do better than that'.

'Treasures of the National Air and Space Museum', $1
Pocket size companion to the US NASM, located in Washington DC. Basically if it is a historically important air or spacecraft, it is there. The Wright Flyer is there, along with the Spirit of St Louis and the Apollo 11 Command Module. Very impressive place which I hope to visit someday.

'Metamorphosis'-Mike Wilks, $2
Basically an enormous spot the difference book. Every page is doubled; the double has differences. As this includes pages of text, as well as detailed paintings, this one could take a while to peruse if I have the patience.

'I learned about flying from that'-From the editors of 'Flying' magazine, $1
A compilation of columns from an aviation magazine where pilots describe near-misses, incidents, accidents, and how they got into and out of them. Lessons about complacency, over confidence, lack of preparation abound. I find it interesting as I like flying and work with complex machinery, so some of it cross pollinates. Plus they are usually pretty good stories in their own right.

'Contact'-Carl Sagan, $1
Source novel for the movie. Read it ages ago, enjoyed it, so I picked it up.

'40 Squadron RNZAF, To the four winds', $1
Brief paperback history of the RNZAF's transport squadron (the ones that fly the Hercules and the Boeing 757's, which I have heard referred to as 'Helen's broomsticks' in certain circles). Interesting little publication from the early 80's.

'The riddle of the Titanic'-Robin Gardiner and Dan van der Vat, $1
Despite the naff title, this is a very interesting mid nineties analysis of the Titanic disaster, origins and aftermath. I have always been fascinated by the 'Titanic' and her story, from as early as I can remember. The well researched book examines the myths and legends versus qualifiable reality of the ship and her fate. It also considers the consiracy theory that it was not the Titanic that sank, but her sister ship the Olympic, the identities having been swapped after the Olympic was made uninsurable by a collision in 1911. The Olympic had a long and peaceful career, finally being scrapped in 1937. Third sister the 'Britannic' wasn't so lucky, being sunk by a mine while serving as a hospital ship in 1916. At least one of the crew to survive the Britannic sinking also survived the Titanic disaster.

'Swirly World'-Andrew Fagan, $4
Mocker's lead singer Fagan buys a tiny yacht and makes solo voyages all over the place, including setting the record for the smallest craft to complete a double crossing of the Tasman according to the blurb. If his musical and DJing style is anything to go by, this should be an interesting read. The blurb lists partner Karen Hay's occupation as 'novelist'. I didn't know that. I just thought she was a former TV music show host and killer of good radio stations.

Modern Fighting Aircraft, Bill Gunston $6
Not so modern as it turns out, being published in 1984. This is a large format reference book, with details and illustrations of military aircraft. I have the equivalent volume from 1977 also. I devoured these things when I was a kid. I find them interesting now, as they are reflective of the time they were written, at the height of the cold war. Planes that were still current then are now history. While western types are pretty well documented, anything from the Soviet Union, China or the Eastern Bloc is reduced to fuzzy blurry photos, speculation, ridiculously inaccurate in hindsight 'artists impressions', and in one case a satellite photo (a lot of Chinese stuff still falls into this category occasionally). They are fun in that things that are widely known about now were still very secret at the time. The Stealth fighter, which was operational in 1984, gets one paragraph of rumours, a completely inaccurate sketch, and an incorrect designation. It's also fun for me in seeing how the great projects of the time have panned out twenty years later. Some things that were ultimately never built are anticipated in great detail. Others show how complex and complicated defence projects can be. The French 'Rafale' fighter is an example. In 1984 it was known as the ACF, and is shown in model form, as it hadn't been built yet. Where is it in 2006? In the process of entering full scale service, after twenty years of development. Plus Gunston is one of my favourite aviation authors. He really knows his stuff, and often manages to get some humour into fairly dry topics.


'Above Wellington'-James Siers with Alex Veysey, $5
Probably the best buy, this 1985 book consists of aerial photos of Wellington and its surroundings. The photos are all from the early eighties, and are of a Wellington that I remember. Some parts are still familiar, others are very different. The picture of central Lower Hutt has no Queensgate mall or Huia pool. Where the mall is now there is a patch of waste ground that I remember as a good source of treat plants for our pet rabbits.
The thing that struck me the most, and which took me a while to figure out, is in a lot of the shots of the central city in particular, there are very few cars. I wondered where they all were, until it occured to me that in the early eighties, there was still no Sunday shopping, and Saturday shopping was only until noon generally. On the weekends the city was a ghost town, so I figure a lot of the pictures were taken on a weekend, hence no cars.
I love books like this, and am amassing a small collection of them. It helps connect you to the place you live when you see how it used to look, and you can remember the time when it looked like that.

Dinner Party

Tonight Fishy and I hosted her sister Carol, neice Megan, and the Rich/Kirsten Gestalt for dinner. I cooked. All day I was looking forward to getting home and cooking. Odd.

Menu
Entree
Chilli philly with rice crackers. The cook had scorched almonds, not liking chilli philly or rice crackers.

Main
Crumbed beef schnitzel. Crumbed with egg yolk, breadcrumbs and secret herbs and spices. Accompanied by 'perfect' boiled rice.

Sides
Mushrooms pan fried with butter and cajun seasoning.
Steamed broccoli and peas.
Omelette from leftover crumbing egg

Drinks
Steinlager, Chardonnay, pinot noir and apple juice (I wasn't hammered, but I could see it from where I was. Lucky I was sober enough to cook.)

Dessert
Saucy chocolate ice cream.


Yum

Good time was had by all

Flying High

My favourite plane movies, largely based on accuracy as I understand it (as a plane nerd). This combines two loves, planes and movies. Inspired by a comment on my snakes on a plane post, this is where I get all nerdy on yo asses.

Flight of the Intruder (1991)
Based on a book by someone who was there about the latter phases of the air war over Vietnam, well, it works better as a book (the book is something of a benchmark in the 'telling it like it was' scheme of things). The movie isn't that great plot wise. The planes however, are exactly right, right kind of plane, correct colour scheme for the period, even correct weapons load under the wings for the mission being depicted (something usually ignored by film-makers). Also all of the in cockpit instruments look like the real thing.

Empire of the Sun (1987)
Great book, not quite as great movie, but still has my favourite movie shot of all time, the track-pan from behind Jim that keeps both him and the Mustang flying past him in shot. The airfield attack shown is pretty much how it was done for real.

The Battle of Britain (1969)
Again, the planes look right, and is in general as authentic as the film-makers could make it. Notable for a shot where a low flying aircraft is seen to climb in order to not collide with a fence. Also great for the soundtrack during some of the takeoffs. An unmuffled V-12 aero engine will always sound better than any V-8, turbo or rotary. Always (I'm not really into Ford v Holden because of this).

Terminator 2 (1991)
On the list solely because the helicopter chase down the freeway was filmed for real and not faked, including the bit where it flies under the overpass.

BlackHawk Down (2001)
If the book is anything to go by, what you see on screen is pretty much the way it went down.

The Dam Busters (1954)
Again, pretty much as it happened. The Peter Jackson produced remake will likely be more realistic, as some details of the 1943 mission were still secret in 1954.

Goldeneye (1995)
The bit where 007 skydives to catch the plane is technically possible.

Thunderball (1965)
Another Bond movie where things looked right. Bond movies generally suck in terms of things looking right.

Memphis Belle (1992)
This one is interesting, as it is inspired by the first US bomber (the 'Memphis Belle') and crew to survive a tour of 25 missions over europe. It is interesting because a documentary was made about it at the time (1943), and so there is ample scope for comparing fiction to reality. And it stands up OK.

King Kong (2005)
Clearly made by someone who is into aircraft (as Peter Jackson is) and cares about the details. If you look closely in the bits when Kong is on top of the Empire State being attacked by the planes, you can see the control surfaces (rudders and stuff) on the planes moving as they manouvre, which is only stuff which will be seen by the viewer that is looking for it. The effort put into the aircraft in King Kong gives me great faith for the remake of 'The Dambusters'.

Executive Decision (1998)
Cool in that some of the plane stuff was filmed for real and not faked. There is a great shot of the F-14's turning to intercept the 747, from behind the F-14's as the 747 shoots across the frame in front of them.

Airplane (Flying High) (1980)
Awesome in so many ways. Particularly when the plane (jet) is shown with the soundtrack being of a propellered aircraft, which is very different.

Tora Tora Tora (1969)
A US/Japanese co production about the Pearl Harbour attack. They actually built a fleet of replica Japanese aircraft for this one, many of which are still flying today. Lots of great unfaked flying in this one, including an unplanned crash landing that didn't happen historically but looked so good it made it into the final cut, and a scene where the extras are literally running for their lives in a not acting kind of way, due to a completely out of control replica aircraft.

Dr Strangelove (1965)
The US Air Force wouldn't let Stanley Kubrick anywhere near an actual B-52, so he reconstructed the interior from aviation publications, and did it pretty well. Also funny as hell. And my mum wagged a uni lecture so she could go see it when she was a student. How cool is that?

True Lies (1994)
Cool again in a mostly filmed for real and not CGI'd way. Also the Harrier vertical take-off and transition into forward flight shot is very cool (I have seen this in real life, it is very impressive. And noisy).

Apocalypse now (1979)
Hueys thundering over the surf. 'Ride of the Valkyries'. Apocalyptic. No CGI.

The Bridges at Toko Ri (195?)
About US navy pilots in the Korean War. Great flying sequences, unbelievably good effects for the time, and a hero killing downer ending. Great movie.

Plane movies that make me laugh

Too many really to list.
General points about planes in movies:
Soundtrack (engine noise) is often wrong for the plane shown, or for what the plane is doing.
CGI jets often have afterburners, regardless of whether or not the real plane has them (an afterburner injects fuel into the jet exhaust, doubling the thrust, but quadrupling fuel consumption. If you see a jet with pretty yellow or purple flames coming out the back, it either has afterburners on, or is actually on fire). Real aircraft do not fly around with afterburners on all the time, but use them only as required. This would be like driving your car around with the accelarator at full throttle all the time. The main reason planes don't do this is because they would run out of fuel too quickly. If you have to ask why this is a dumb idea in your car you shouldn't be driving.
CGI planes often do things that are aerodynamically impossible.
Being able to successfully loop a helicopter is determined by the way it is built, not by the incredible skill of the pilot (sorry 'Blue Thunder'. Cool movie though).


Top Gun (1986)
Probably the best aerial photograpy ever, in any movie. I love watching this for that reason. In terms of accuracy, it is not so good. The film-makers suffered from the limitation of having to keep everything in frame, so the distances between the duelling aircraft are somewhat closer than in real life, but swirling dots don't make good cinema. From what I understand of air combat tactics, Maverick's trademark pull up manouvre would probably get him killed in a real fight. Also most of the F-14s (Maverick's jet) are seen dogfighting with their wings swept forward, which is unlikely in a real fight. Wings forward means slow; in reality there is a saying 'speed is life' (speed can be traded for height, turning, or escaping. If you have energy you can use it to better your position, if you don't you run out of options), which means F-14's dogfighting properly would have the wings swept back for speed, maximising their aircraft's good abilities to neutralise their opponents good abilities (the Skyhawks (Jester, Viper) could easily out manouvre an F-14 at slower speeds, but could not compete with an F-14 in terms of outright speed or climbing ability).
According to the commentary on the DVD by the actual Top Gun pilots who did the flying, there is only one realistic combat manouvre on screen (a 'rolling scissors', which is kinda complicated to explain, but I know what it is). Also according to the commentary, the way Goose dies actually happened to someone. Yes I have the DVD. It's brilliant. I used to hate this film, but I have learned to love it again.

Iron Eagle (1985)
Terrible in many ways. Kind of the evil twin of 'Top Gun'. Not realistic. Interesting in that while it is an american movie, the F-16's used for filming are actually Israeli (the camouflage paint scheme is unique to Israel, and very different from US F-16s). I'm not sure if it was filmed in Israel, or in the states before the aircraft were delivered to Israel.
The sequels are worse.

Pearl Harbour (2001)
Dire. Just dire. Maybe ten seconds of good flying stuff in the whole movie. Mostly a cartoon really.

Executive Decision (1998)
Hmm. On both lists. The Stealth plane that delivers the commandos to the 747 as depicted has no room for engines. Still, Steven Seagal's character dies because of it, so maybe it is a good thing.

Stealth (2005)
Didn't actually see this one, but the trailer showed fictional 'stealth' aircraft zooming around at low altitude and in daylight, which isn't that stealthy if you think about it.

Airforce One (1997)
I've seen better CGI on a PSone. In 1997. Also exhibits the 'afterburners all the time' syndrome.

Freakin Nirvana

Nevermind is predictably number one album you should own according to C4 voters. At the risk of cynically incurring a controversy, Nirvana made great music, but I wonder if they would be on the pedestal they seem to occupy if Kurt Cobain wasn't dead.
I like the Uchoose top 40, even if the top 10's tend to be a little predictable.
It is gratifying to note that I own a healthy proportion of tonights top 40, although once your CD collection gets big enough this is probably inevitable.
Last time I counted I had over 350 CD's, but that was a few months ago, so I have no idea how many I am carrying at the moment.
I know a guy who had 1500 CD's, but that was ten years ago, who knows how many he has now.

Snakes on a plane

Listening to: You choose top 40 albums you must have. 'Rumours' by Fleetwood Mac is in at 20. They are playing a recent live version of 'Go your own way', which is my second favourite Mac song after 'Dreams'. 'Go' is one of the best driving songs ever. It's just such a good track. And yes, I have a copy of 'Rumours'.

So I wound up at the above on Friday night, despite having a publicly stated non desire to see it. And I enjoyed most of it, which is good. Having an audience willing to shout and clap helped immeasurably.
I don't generally like horror stuff, and found most of the various snake related dispatches disturbing no matter how wildly implausible. I enjoyed what I thought was a knowing effort on the part of the producers to include every disaster/action/horror movie cliche they could think of.
It reminded me of the time D3vo and I went to see 'Last Action Hero', and Rich and I went to see 'Starship Troopers', and how both times we were the only ones in the audience who got the joke.
Since a plane is important to the plot, and some readers will know my tendencies, here are some plane inconsistencies, in a not at all serious way. This probably contains spoilers.

-There is no avionics compartment below the cockpit in a 747 as shown in the movie, as the flight deck is directly above the forward main cabin and there is no room. So all the people getting bit down there couldn't happen.
-If the snakes were released in the cargo hold, which is below the passenger cabin, how do they get into the roofspace above the cabin? Ducting maybe, but for that matter, how do they get into the cabin at all, prior to the dropping from the ceiling stuff?
-How come the snakes use the roofspace to get into every part of the cabin except the forward section?
-The upstairs first class section appears to be too big, but its been a while since I've been in one of those, so I could be wrong.
-The decompression thing probably wouldn't work, but it does look cool.
-The flight simulator teaching you how to fly thing actually has some basis in reality. I know this from personal experience, having several hundred hours on various simulators, and one or two fying an actual aircraft. I have been told by instructors that time on a good PC flight sim does give you more of a clue when it comes to the real thing, and I found that to be true in practice.

The above in no way detracts from my enjoyment of the movie.

Useless 747 trivia
-It is an icon. The term 747 needs no explanation when used in conversation.
-It is aparently possible for a 747 to achieve supersonic speed (which it isn't designed for) in a dive. I'm not sure anyone has actually tried this and survived, but it has been done with its older the Boeing 707. The 747 has the fastest cruising speed of any airliner now that Concorde has been retired. A 747 brought down by a bomb in the 80's reputedly went supersonic as it dived into the ocean.
-A 747 has performed a loop-de-loop (not intentionally) and remained intact. One was caught in extreme turblence over the Indian Ocean. Later analysis of the flight recorder showed that the plane had technically completed a loop. It had a load of passengers aboard, which must have been a hell of a ride. It is theoretically possible to barrel roll a 747 (also done with a 707, also done in a Concorde), but again I'm not sure if anyone has tried it.
-The main cabin of a 747 is longer than the Wright Brothers first flight.
-A 747 briefly became the world's largest glider in 1982, when one flew through a cloud of volcanic ash, which caused all of the engines to stop one by one. Eventually once clear of the cloud the engines were able to be restarted.
-A 747 holds the record for the most passengers ever carried on one aircraft, after one evacuted 674 people from Darwin after Cyclone Tracy in 1974.
-A 747 has recently been trialled as a water bombing aircraft, for the purposes of fighting forest fires. Air Force One is a 747 (actually there are two Air Force One's. They only officially become 'one' when the president is aboard). The 'Doomsday' planes are 747's as well.
-Boeing took possibly the largest commercial risk in manufacturing history when it started developing the 747. If it had been a failure in the marketplace the company would have failed with it. It essentially created its own market.
-It is one of the few aircraft that still makes me stop and stare when I see one in real life. It has spent 30 years as the largest airliner around. Only the new Airbus A380 is bigger.
-Contrary to popular belief, 747's can be flown in and out of Wellington airport safely, and Qantas did just that in the 70's and early 80's. They don't come here for economic reasons, as the length of Wellington's runway limits the maximum weight of the aircraft (heavier planes need longer runways), and thus reduces the amount of weight available for important stuff like fuel or money making passengers and cargo. The 747's that Qantas flew here were special models that weren't as affected by the weight issue. They were replaced by 767's in the 80's, which have since been replaced by smaller 737's, for money reasons rather than performance ones.
-When it comes to the 'Waynes World' thing of sitting on the end of the runway as a plane fills the sky above you, a 747 is pretty hard to beat. Never managed it myself, although I have sat under a few 767's, which are almost as big. Wellington is unique in it's opportunties to fill the sky directly above your head with fast moving metal, with roads close to both ends of the runway.

I want you

Rolling out another oldie here...

From mid 1997, its Darth Vaders recruiting poster. Saw a guy wearing this at the cricket at the basin reserve (us vs Zimbabwe I think), and being an star wars fan, had to have one. I got it at Ground Zero as it was, in the James Smith's market. This was at the height of the hype surrounding the re release of the special editions of the original trilogy. At that time Ground zero had a fairly complete collection of all the original kenner Star Wars toys on display which was cool.
The text reminds me of Private Jokers interview in 'Full Metal Jacket' ("meet interesting people and kill them"). I don't have too many memories specific to this T. It was my netball T for a while. It has seen a lot of court time. For some reason I was ultra conservative in my 90's T shirt purchasing, so the thing is an XL, and doesn't get out much these days, unless I'm wearing something else under it.

It's all a conspiracy

Listening to: 'Further down the Spiral'-Nine Inch Nails


Popular conspiracy theories I believe in:

UFO's.
I have seen enough to be convinced that there is definitely more governmental knowledge about this phenomenon than is in the public domain. This does not mean I think they are alien spacecraft. The automatic UFO=Alien association really hacks me off. Think about it. If an Unidentified Flying Object is an alien craft, well, its not unidentified is it? Lots of things could be UFO's. In the absence of decent evidence beyond observation, speculation is useless.

Area 51.
Very loosely tied to the above. There is likely to be lots of stuff going on there that we don't know about, and possibly never will. Top of my list of places to go if I had unrestricted access to anywhere. Do I think there is a secret alien base there? Possibly (in the sense that it probably isn't impossible), but I doubt it.

Oil as a pretext for invading Iraq.
No brainer.

Alternative technologies are being suppressed by Oil companies.
Again, a no brainer.

Popular Conspiracies I don't believe in.
To my mind, these make evidence fit hypotheses, and rely on too many assumptions. Good investigation is the other way around, making hypotheses and theory fit the evidence, with few or no assumptions. Scientific investigation was a big part of my tertiary training, and is a big part of my job also. The government and then DSIR reports into the 1978 Kaikoura UFO sightings are classic local examples of making evidence fit.

The moon landings were faked.
My stated opinion that I'll happily stand by and argue is that it would be easier to actually put astronauts on the moon than to fake it to the degree required to withstand intense scrutiny. EVERY piece of 'evidence' I have seen for this theory has explanations that don't require a conspiracy (think Occam's Razor. Simplest explanation with fewest assumptions is usually correct).

Various 9/11 theories like 'The missile', and 'The pod'.
Again, a lot of 'evidence' for these does not survive Occam's Razor. I'm not going to get into details but I have spent some time looking into these as they do intrigue me. There was a conspiracy that day, to hijack airliners and crash them into iconic structures. Two of them collapsed completely due to the damage caused by the collisions. I have seen no reason to doubt that this is what happened.
Before and after the event, however, I am open to skullduggery occuring.

The Masons/Illuminati/Knights Templar/Osmonds control the world.
Too many people required to keep too many secrets. Secret international treaties are much more likely, and infinitely more plausible.

Stealth and other high technology has been reverse engineered from alien spacecraft
We shouldn't sell ourselves short like this. Not plausible, and unnecessary (stealth for example isn't really that complicated at a theoretical level).


Conspiracies I am undecided upon.

JFK
Lone gunman is just as possible as Cubans/Mafia/Military industrial complex/whoever

The KGB orchestrated the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II
Both plausible and possible.

KAL 007 was allowed to be shot down.
This was the Korean airliner shot down by the Soviets in 1983. Murkiness and nefariousness in order to protect ongoing intelligence gathering operations is possible. Or that the Soviets were trying to make a point.

Aliens are among us
Too intriguing to dismiss entirely, how matter how unlikely

Pretty much all of human history will involve high level conspiracy in the form of secret plan making at some point. The problem is in the definition of 'conspiracy'. I am conspiring to go to Sydney for Labour weekend. Not-kate, Fi and I are conspiring to go to her 80's quiz on Friday. I am conspiring to leave work early in order to attend.
None of those things are secret but I'm sure you get the point by now. Are conspiracies such because they are secret? Lots of secret stuff exists that isn't necessarily conspiratorial. There are good reasons for some things to be secret. Conspiracies exist in the eye of the beholder I think, and people see what they want to see.
I am open minded, but demand proof, which a lot of 'conspiracies' either don't require (in the sense that they can neither be proved or disproved) or can't provide.
A lot of 'proof' I have seen is people encountering stuff out of context, saying 'WTF', and accepting it as unusual, when it often has completely prosaic explanations the observers were unaware of or simply hadn't encountered before.
I'll close with an observation. Every form of media is a conduit for what other people want you to see and hear. Newspapers, TV, the internet, all are identical in this respect.

I look like...

Since I shaved my head on Friday I have been compared to:

Billy Corgan
Andre Agassi
Bruce Willis
Kojak
Some guy called Shawn

I'm getting used to it. It took a few days, and a few times walking past the mirror saying 'who is that and why does he have no hair?' The first couple of days were cold, now I have desensitised enough not to notice. I like how long it takes to dry in the mornings. I like not having to worry about bed hair. I have been as short as #2 comb before, but the enthusiastic fourth form girls shaving my head on the stage at UHC didn't even ask if I wanted a number before plowing in with the #0, and here we are. I like supporting my wife in this way.

In other news, I joined d3vo, Fish and Curtains for the becoming regular run in Petone. Ran about 3+ K and didn't die, or have to stop involuntarily. I am way fitter than I think it seems. I also made the crew think I was going to jump off the end of Petone wharf, which was fun. Half of the way I ran along the top of the seawall, jumping gaps and on and off the wall as required. A passing jogger called me a smartarse in a respectful way. I love moving around on top of walls, rocks and things. Fi called me 'Dances with mountain goats' while I was clambering over a rock pile at Castlepoint once. I seem to have a natural affinity for it.

I did the 'Daily' crossword in todays dom in about five minutes today. To be fair, the daily isn't that hard, but my wordsmithery impresses my workmates (I also do the back page much harder crossword, the target, and the codecracker). Most common questions: Do I read a lot? Yes. Do I use a dictionary? No.

I don't do Sudoku. My verbose mind can't handle all those numbers and shit. Actually I probably could do Sudoku, but don't apply myself.

Long video

The previous post was composed and published entirely within the length of the extended 'Thriller' video.

Reminds me of the time I got through a complete 15-balls sunk game of doubles pool within the length of the 'Macarena' a few years ago.

This week's T

Listening to: The U choose top 40 again. This week it is 'Most shocking videos'. But 'Thriller' is at no 14. 'Thriller'? Shocking? Please. It's too camp to be shocking. Good bass line though. I am old enough to remember a time when seeing the full video gave you kudos.

This week: "Fast Food"


Kind of self explanatory really. For the record, I actually quite like cats, despite their native bird eating ecological disasterousness, so any cats reading this shouldn't take it personally.

Short sentences

Listening to 'Seeds'-Brother Cane

Cutting off all my hair was very cathartic.



My birthday celebrations have so far been excellent. I have received great thoughtful gifts.

Birthday dinner with my family last night was fun. Roast beef followed by chocolate cake and sweets.

And mum made me a plate of chocolate fudgecake to take home. Which is delicious.

I also bought myself a new pair of boots. I didn't find the camera equipment I was looking for.

Something monstrous is coming to life on my workbench

I am having an excellent weekend.

Happy birthday to me

Why is the blogger homepage logo a dog with a party hat on today?

Hmm. Maybe its because today is my birthday.
Today I turn 30. Well technically, according to family legend I don't turn 30 until about 1630 this afternoon, but a date is a date. Also Sean Connery's birthday. But I am cooler and suaver than he.

Anyway.

I was going to bombard you with some interesting statistics from my life in the past three decades, but that will wait for another post, as it is 0247 and too late to think of that kind of stuff. When you do three hours of overtime on an evening shift, this is when you get home.

So instead of the stats (which I know will crush you with disappointment. Later bloglings, later.), here is my plan for the day.

In about four freakin' hours I will get up and drive Fi to work (cue the V). This is a tradition after my week of evenings, it lets us catch up after five days of not really seeing each other.

After that I will head into the city for some breakfast at the small cafe around the corner from Felix, across the road from the Town Hall which I can't remember the name of but does a great mix grill. Anyone who reads this early enough is welcome to join me. I'll try to get a window seat so as to be visible to random wanderers. ETA at the Cafe is 8-830ish.

Once breakfast is done, I will do some shopping. For camera stuff, footwear stuff, magazine stuff, music stuff and model stuff. That should take most of the morning.

At lunchtime I will head back to Upper Hutt for Fi's head shaving. And hopefully get shaved myself. It's a solidarity thing primarily, but also very cathartic on such a momentous day.

After schools out I expect we'll go to the pub with all the other teachers.

After the pub we'll be heading to my folks place for roast dinner with the family, which should be noisy and entertaining with all the niblings in attendance.

After dinner an amble into town is kind of on, a workmate is having a leaving dinner, no doubt followed by drinkies.

By that time I'll probably be drunk or asleep or both, so home will no doubt be beckoning.

T-Shirt of the week

Listening to: Top 40 power ballads on C4 (though I'm not sure that Metallica's 'One' is technically a power ballad).

This week, to entertain you on a Monday, the Caution:Mosh Pit.

Worn at the Big Day Out in 2002. The image captures perfectly the heaving sweating ecstatic crazy mass of people that is the mosh pit. I have been the poor dude on the floor a couple of times. I have crowd surfed. I was never dumb enough to stage dive. I moshed through most of the nineties. I don't anymore generally. I feel I have earned the priviledge to stand back these days and focus on enjoying the show rather than trying to remain standing. I don't have anything left to prove. Being at the gig is the main thing. That said, I still pit occasionally.
I bought this one because I thought it was funny and understood it perfectly.
I like the Caution label, they've done lots of cool stuff.

Mosh pit survival tips:
Wear hard footwear. Your feet will be stood on. If laced, double knot them, and tuck the bows inside your shoes/boots. An untied shoelace can be dangerous. Just bending down to tie it up puts you in danger of being jumped on. Worse, if someone stands on it, and the crowd moves you away, you're going down, where you are in real danger of incurring injury. To most of the people around you you will be an extra squishy bit of floor.
Empty your pockets if you can. You don't want to be dropping stuff on the floor.
Wear stuff you are happy to get ripped.
Keep your fluid levels up. Lots of mosh casualties occur through dehydration. It gets very hot with all the jumping around and other shenanigans.
Remember to breathe. Seriously. It's really easy to start hyperventilating, given that you're basically in a supercharged aerobics session. Start hyperventilating and going into oxygen debt, and sooner or later you'll be on the floor, which we've already established is a bad place. Asthmatics like me can find this breathing thing difficult. It's very hot, and there isn't a lot of good air around. If you're going to mosh, take your ventolin, before, during and after.
Don't mosh drunk. Be hammered by all means, but seriously drunk no. You'll probably get into some bad karma which will involve physical violence, never mind the increased potential for faling down.
If the crowd moves, move with it. Be split from your friends if required. A moshing crowd is basically a fluid entity, with tides, currents and eddies. It doesn't care that you been standing in the best spot in the venue for the last four hours. If you don't move with the crowd, bad things happen.
If you're a petite, pretty girl, find a nice boy who will earnestly try to prove his manliness by giving you a shoulder ride. You'll get the best view in the house.
Avoid slam dancers. Mutants.
Ignore being groped, boys and girls. The groper probably doesn't even know they have groped you.
If you are being crushed at the front, get a bouncer to rescue you. That is basically their job, apart from stopping stage divers, and if they are doing it well your distress will quickly be spotted. You'll lose your spot, but you will survive. People have died from being crushed in this way. I was in the crowd at the 2000 Big Day Out during Blink 182's set when things got really out of control (they had to stop playing to calm things down), and it was damn scary.
Stupid people will call you weak and unspirited, and they are kind of naff and uncool but earplugs are worth it. You don't lose any sound quality, and your hearing is worth more than a night's entertainment. Your ears will respect you in the morning.
Crowd surfing is fun, and looks cool but can be very dangerous. I've done it, but would absolutely not do it again unless under quite specific circumstances. Getting up is easy, but getting down is the thing, and if you are unlucky you will land on your head from a height of six or seven feet. Prevalent throughout the nineties, it is somwhat less practiced now, as at a lot of gigs if the bouncers get their hands on you post surf you tend to be kicked out of the venue.
Scream, dance, yell, wave the metal salute, sweat through all your clothes, and lose yourself in an experience you'll remember forever.

Mosh etiquette:
There isn't much really. If someone falls, pick them up. Don't use others as launch pads for pogoing. If you care about pogoing that much, pogo on the off beat. That way everyone sees you and you get a momentarily spectacular view of the crowd below as they compress after landing from their own pogoing efforts. Don't slam dance unless everybody else is. It's an excellent way to start a fight after you accidentally punch someone in the face.
Waving a lit cigarette lighter is a really good way to burn your fingertips, and set someones hair on fire if you're really lucky.
Don't hang at the back of the pit waiting for your favourite song and then try to rush to the front. It will take you half the song to get there, and you'll annoy the hell out of everyone you blunder past.
After the gig has finished check out the floor as you leave. You'll find all kinds of interesting stuff, usually in the form of money that has fallen out of peoples pockets.

Favourite Mosh Pit memory:
Being very near the front for Supergroove's set at Mountain Rock in 1995. They opened with "You Freak Me", and the crowd went apeshit. The guy next to me shared his rum and coke. In my top ten favourite all time gigs. It was legendary. That gig also had to pause for safety reasons.

Worst mosh pit memory:
The aforementioned Blink 182 fracas. They were playing the stage by the entry stairs. People were flooding down the stairs to see Blink, preventing anyone going up them, while at the same time hundreds of people were pushing from the back. Lots of people wound up with nowhere to go (including me and Fish), and it got genuinely scary for a few minutes. People were getting squashed around us, 40 meters from the stage. I think people were injured closer to the front. We forgot about watching the gig and instead concentrated on not getting hurt, which was quite difficult. Being in a crowd like that is like being in a rip. You have to remain calm and move with it while looking for a way out. We managed to escape, and took a time out under the bleachers to recover. I think after that the organisers reduced the number of tickets sold for future events. There were way too many people in Ericsson Stadium that day.
Second worst memory is the mutant redneck with the broken arm at a Shihad gig in 2003, who was going to get to the front during his favourite song and wave his arms around, regardless of whose head(s) he bashed his cast on. Mutant.

Love and Hate

Watched some Rock Star Supernova tonight. Difficult to find the words to describe how much I HATE it. Can't stand it. Shithouse covers of good songs. Performances that are more about swagger and looks than important things, like say, remembering the lyrics. Dude sang Peter Gabriel's 'Solsbury Hill', one of my favourite songs, and couldn't even get the first verse right. Chick sang 'Cat's in the cradle' and munted the lyrics on that too. I've got nothing against the people performing in it, I just hate the concept that brought them there. This and Idol have nothing to do with picking the best person. They are about picking the most popular person. Can you imagine say, Joe Strummer or Billy Bragg or P J Harvey winning one of these things? Neither can I.

Anyway, enough of the hate, on with the Love.

I love how at night, noisy busy places become quiet and peaceful.







I love how electric lights come on at dusk as the sunlight fades.









I love how at dusk things can take on the colour of their surroundings.





I love how mist holds light, and makes it surround things








Top left: The Terrace from the Benny Party
Top right: Paraparaumu and Kapiti Island from Paekakariki Hill Road lookout
Lower Left: My car at the Paekakariki lookout
Lower right: My street on a cold misty night