My Itch: Conflict Diamonds

There is a new movie coming out. It's called "Blood Diamond" and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou.

No, I'm not doing a movie review. I'm not even sure when it is going to be released here in Godzone. What I am doing is scratching my itch again.

I have a diamond ring. It's my engagement ring. I have absolutely no idea if it was a conflict diamond. When we looked for a jeweller to make or buy a ring from it never even crossed my mind that such things as blood diamonds existed.
I hope to encourage this not to happen to others.

What is a blood diamond you ask?
Here's the UN's definition:

Conflict diamonds are diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council.

And here is the Wikipedia version:

A blood diamond (also called a conflict diamond or a war diamond) is a diamond mined in a war zone and sold, usually clandestinely, in order to finance an insurgent or invading army's war efforts.

So, basically this is kind of like the old ivory trade only the money is used to fund rebellion and political instability in countries that really, really could use a bit of peace and prosperity!

But don't think it is all about money. Because it isn't.
You might want to see what conflict diamonds can do to children living in these war zones. First take a visit to the World Vision website and scroll down this entry to the image of 14 year old Adaman. And if that's not quite enough to make you ask questions at your next visit to the jewellers, perhaps a visit to the UN's webpage about conflict diamonds and the photograph of the child with no hands might.

I didn't know any better. It isn't really a great excuse, but it is the truth.
If like me, you have some sort of social conscience, don't repeat my mistake.
Ask questions of your jeweller. If they can't answer your questions, move on.
The World Diamond Council even addresses this issue on their website. It can be quite fascinating reading to see what has been implemented in an attempt to curb the access to market of blood diamonds. Even though there is good work going on, it is always a good thing to be vigilant if Amnesty International's statistics are anything to go by. Apparently 67% of the stores visited were unwilling to discuss if they had guarantees in place for the diamonds they sold. What the??

If you are looking for a piece of jewellery, you can always read Amnesty International's Buyers Guide, and follow their suggestions.

Personally I have rummaged through my files and found the original guarantees / valuations and sundry other things to do with the engagement ring. There is nothing to say where the diamond was sourced or what its country of origin is. But I have found the website of the diamond's "trademark" and have sent an email requesting information.
I'm not particularly hopeful, but New Zealand is a participant in the Kimberley Process and I am pinning my hopes on that meaning there will be a trail for my diamond and that I can not only smile at my ring with fond memories of being presented with it, but also smile with a clear conscience that no child was maimed to have it sitting on my finger.

I'll let you know if I make any progress.

In the meantime, if you are lucky enough to be shopping for a diamond, remember to ask questions about origins, guarantees, and the Kimberley Process. Then happily take home your guilt-free diamond and enjoy that wonderful sparkle.

 

Singapore: Shopping

What to do? What to do?

Such a city, and so many places to shop.
Okay, so that was a bit of overstatement. But you have to cut me a bit of slack.
I live in a city of 1 million people at the end of the Earth. There really isn't that much variety, and we aren't close enough to take real advantage of the Tiger economies. At best we've been invaded by a few chains of the Kangaroo economy (pun intended).

Where should you shop in Singapore?
That's kind of like asking "how long is a piece of string?"

If you have the world's largest bank balance, then feel free to wander the big name designer boutiques in the shopping malls along the tourist strip known as Orchard Road. My Visa card may be my "flexible friend" but it doesn't flex that far without snapping, so I am a poor source of informative comment on the value you may get from visiting such plush outlets.

If, however, you are of more modest means and are willing to do a bit of 'tourist time' as well as 'local time' then there are quite a few places to visit.
First things first, before I start.

Rule 1: Know what you want to buy and why. (Especially electronic goods.)
Rule 2: Know what is "fair value" for what you want, in your home market.
Rule 3: Don't trust me, I almost always shop under duress. ;)

I hate shopping. I mean it. I really hate shopping.
But when I go overseas I can't seem to help myself.
It is almost like a compulsion. I must shop.
I mean, I must at least window shop.

I'd like to pass it off as something akin to "being interested in the local culture". Sadly, I don't think that fools anyone.
The reality is, I'm like a kid in a candy shop. Being the poor retail deprived soul that I am, it is like a whole new and wonderful world is opened up.
I can actually see myself prising open my wallet, evicting the resident moths, extracting my dusty but faithful credit card and actually buying something. And not just any old stuff, but nice things. Things I might actually enjoy buying, wearing, using, displaying and generally bragging about from my trip to Singapore.

So, what do I recommend?

If you are looking for electronics, computers, cameras and the ilk, take a visit to Funan DigitaLife Mall mentioned in my previous entry or make a trip to Sim Lim Square for a much more "local" electronics and IT experience. Or, if you really must, visit their website directly for more information. I am reliably informed by a friend who was an expat working in Singapore that Sim Lim is actually the place to go, so for geeks, this is your stop. But don't forget to walk down the street to Little India for more shopping and yummy food experiences ! Your life must not revolve around your iPod, okay!

Now on a slightly more girly topic, clothes and shoes.
Where should you go? Well, that depends on your taste and budget. Despite what I said earlier about Orchard Road, there are possibilities for those of us not quite so label addicted. But you must be patient. If you have a black belt in shopping, you will manage this without any great trials. If your attention span is a little bit shorter however, you might want to take a shortcut to this website and get an overview of what there is and what is going to suit your taste. Personally I have visited Parkway Parade, Marina Square, Millenium Walk, Suntec City, North Bridge Road, Orchard Road and Chinatown. I have my favourites, but I imagine yours will be different, so taste test as many as you feel you can stand.

This trip ended up being a bit about shoes for me. Here in NZ shoes can range in price from $40 to anywhere over $100, depending on what they are and where you're buying them from. If you want really nice shoes, in my not-so-humble-opinion, you need to be looking nearer the top end of that scale than the bottom. Imagine my joy when I discovered that I could buy shoes that were actually very nice, stylish and/or comfortable for S$50 or less.
Now, I don't own an Imelda Marcos collection of shoes, but I did succumb to the lovely designs and even lovelier prices and have taken my very first steps into that dark world of fashionable shoe ownership. In this instance my shoes came from Marina Square and Parkway Parade. This pretty much applied to my meagre clothing purchases as well.

I must make a note about clothes shopping, before moving on.
[Generalisation Alert On!]
Okay. I'm a fairly average woman of European stock. I don't rate an anorexia alert, but (hopefully) I'm not on the verge of requiring a muumuu to hide my faults either. Unfortunately for me I am probably in the muumuu wearing range for your average Singaporean woman. Don't visit this country and expect to buy "Medium" anything. If you share similar heritage/shape to me, expect your ego to be badly dented by an "L" and "XL" debacle or possibly a size "16" through "18" and on upwards nightmare. And be grateful that you were lucky enough to actually find them!
On the shoe front though, you might find that lo and behold you are the display size like I was with a size 37. No problem getting shoes then! ;)
[Generalisation Alert Off!]

On other shopping matters...
I fell in love with a shop.
I know, it shouldn't be acceptable in polite society, but I did.
If you haven't visited Oh Waily before, it is possible that you don't know that I am a bit of a bookaholic, but I am. In addition to this I am also something of a paperaholic - clearly a distinct sub-category of addictions to printed paper materials like books.
Therefore it should come as no surprise that I struggled mightily with a visit to the Prints shop in the Raffles City Shopping Centre. I was strong though, I came away with only one A4 size blank journal, but a horrible urge to request franchise details so that I can have my very own den of iniquity and constant fix of things paper and bound. Their site is partially complete, but if you visit the "Shops" tab you will get a small idea of what I was up against.

Now, on to the touristy stuff.
What are you going to take home as a "tourist" momento?
I'll own up to pilfering a coaster from Raffles' Long Bar. It was pretty, okay?!?
Then there is the choice of general cultural options. Pretty much everyone takes home a Merlion something from their first visit. After that, it takes a bit of thought. On the funny side, you can take home the "It's a Fine City" t-shirt that takes the mickey out of Singapore's stringent laws and fine system.
But it you feel that you want something a little less obviously touristy, then you might need to think about it a little bit more. Personally this has never been a problem for me. I have always had a fondness for Chinese culture, (don't ask me why - I have no idea), and their various art forms. This makes shopping for a unique take-home item that much easier.

Last time it was a nice little scroll of Fu Lu Shou calligraphy.
This time it was a dirty great scroll with a One Stroke Brush Painting by Siong Shi.
We took the usual pilgrimage to Chinatown and I was very disappointed to see the changes since my last visit about five years ago. The main shopping street, Pagoda Street, was absolutely full of stalls. They weren't restricted to the shophouses as previously, and the entire street was just jammed full of cheap and nasty tourist junk. It was such a let-down.
Fortunately The Red Peach was still there, and it is truly an oasis of taste amongst the cheap and nasty. And after a long deliberation we came away with our scroll.

It is a "Fish Painting on Rice Paper".


Here is what is all means.
The calligraphy means "good fortune, abundance and blessings".
The fish is symbolic of abundant good fortune, prosperity, peace, happiness and success. A pair of black and red fish is symbolic of good things coming in a pair - blissful union.
Black is symbolic of warding off bad, negative forces or influence.
Red is symbolic of inviting all the good, strong positive forces, influence and luck.

Oh, and I guess I should mention that the entire scroll is just a touch over five feet long top to toe - so it's only just slightly smaller than me!

So now I am looking forward to Christmas and the New Year as I'm sure to have more good fortune, happiness and abundance of all sorts. Go the Fish!

My Super Ex-Girlfriend

This is another of the films watched in-flight on my recent Singapore excursion.

I like Uma Thurman, she can act and somehow manages to look good in vinyl.
As for Luke Wilson, I can watch him for hours without getting too badly bored.
I even enjoy tongue-in-cheek, mickey takes of genre. But this one unlike the title character, G-Girl, just doesn't fly.

The idea at its most basic has a lot of potential. A neurotic superheroine whose clingy, needy, suspicious nature drives her normal guy boyfriend to dump her. She then sets about exacting her revenge for being thus treated, using her superheroine skills. Opportunities for humour appear to be highly likely.

Sadly, though there are cute moments, it just doesn't deliver on its potential.
The best part of the whole movie is Eddie Izzard's portrayal of Professor Bedlam aka Barry.

He camps it up a bit and I mean that strictly with regards to the nature of the character. He takes the idea of a spurned first love becoming an arch-villain to his young-love's superheroine and runs with it. He plays it camp, yet subtle. Jealousy and possessiveness done with a deft super-villainous touch.

My advice:
Only rent this if you've seen every fun movie in the video store, or better yet, if it's free on TV and the rest of the channels are rubbish.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 (Eddie is worth 1 point, looking at Luke Wilson is worth 0.5 point).

Singapore: Raffles

There are many Tourist Spots you are encouraged to visit in Singapore, but none more famous than Raffles Hotel. It is so famous that if you Google "Raffles Hotel" you will find it has two websites, one here and the other here. The second encapsulates a whole chain of hotels based on the Singaporean original. Third on the same Google list is a very short, but pithy history of the great white ediface found at Wikipedia.

Now tell me... how many hotels do you know that have a museum of treasures about themselves on display for the public? I'd guess that you'd be able to count that on one hand, if not one digit. Yes, it is fair to say they take the heritage of this hotel fairly seriously. And after the mega-bucks renovation that was carried out a few years ago, I can understand why.

There are no ifs, buts or maybes about a visit to Raffles Hotel while you are in Singapore. It is pretty much central city. Just jump off at City Hall on the MRT, or take any number of buses stopping along Beach Road or North Bridge Road.

Personally I have my own tradition of each visit to Singapore including a pilgrimage to the Long Bar for a Singapore Sling. I guess it's one of those things - I don't even like cherry for goodness sake nor am I a pink girl. And considering the price they charge, I really should force myself to like the darned drink !
In the end however, all that matters is that I feel like I have stepped into a small part of Singapore's colonial history, almost hobnobbing it with such luminaries as Noel Coward, Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham and Liz Taylor.

So from this last visit I have uploaded a 30 second video clip of the Long Bar at Raffles. It's my first YouTube moment, so I'm hoping it works. If not, I'll set to work on it shortly. You should see a couple of Singapore Slings followed by the remnants of multiple peanut shells on the floor, followed by a scan across the Long Bar and up to my favourite feature - the fans. I hope you enjoy. (Better yet - make the time to visit, "tourist trap" and all.) And if anyone knows, I'd be interested to find out how they manage to roast and salt the peanuts in their shells.



If the video wasn't enough, I have loaded some still photographs to my Flickr account here if you want to take a look around. It's a pretty nice job they've done on the renovations, I have to say.

For reference, Raffles is across the road from a very nice shopping mall that I particularly like (Raffles City Shopping Centre which I will talk about later), next to the CHIJMES, just down the road a bit from Funan DigitaLife Mall, a short walk to Suntec Convention Centre (the Fountain and a couple more shopping malls - in case you were feeling bereft of yet more retail therapy), and if you are in hearty health and are willing to do your best despite the heat, you can walk to the Singapore River passing the following historic and/or interesting features:

• St Andrews Cathedral,


• Old Parliament House,


• Cavenagh Bridge (great place to start for the public art/sculpture viewing),


• The Fullerton Hotel (the old GPO and my next stop after we win the Lottery), and


• The Merlion

This is a particularly nice part of town, so it's worth making the effort to spend a bit of time here. Don't just fall for the hype of Orchard Road - take a wander through this area for a feeling of the old merged with the new. It really is one of my favourite parts of Singapore.

Singapore: What to do in Katong?

Day One of my Singapore holiday involved an early morning start to the day, courtesy of the 5 hour time difference that my body was attempting to adjust to. Personally I thought 6am was a fairly respectable lie-in considering that for my body it was nearly lunchtime, and I just don't understand John's muffled grumbling after spying the time on the bedside clock.

In the end I started the day with a news update. I know that's a sad thing to do while you are on holiday, but I'm not a Sky TV subscriber so things like BBC World are relegated to insomnia attacks in the wee small hours, and CNN is something that you only know from movie references and the occasional visit to the parents.

After that I was in danger of annoying my time-adjusted husband who was quite happy to have a darn good lie-in, local time. So I did my best wifely thing and took good advantage of the suite. I shuffled through to the living room and read through the Uniquely Singapore Walking Guide to Katong/Joo Chiat.

This turned out to be a little gem. It gave a nice background to the local cultures of this area, and to the history of the neighbourhood. It turns out that life here started out on coconut plantations, later becoming a seaside retreat for the wealthy, and finally after World War II it began to take on its more modern form.

There are 700-odd "conserved" buildings in this area, including single-storey terrace houses and shophouses. It is a pretty low-rise neighbourhood by my eye. While there are very large condominiums and what look like older HDB estates, they are not completely dominant in this area. There are many homes that would be called either semi-detached or townhouses. In a country where land is at a premium, it makes my eyes water to think of the price tag that many of these homes must fetch.

It is promised that if you are willing to take a stroll around the area you will be rewarded by a variety of architectural, cultural and foodie experiences. In the end I settled for an after-breakfast amble around the block that included stopping at a Peranakan store, the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple, and St. Hilda's Anglican Church. Other suggested stops were admired on my walk, but the sun had become a little less clouded behind the haze by that time, so moving with purpose towards shade and air-conditioning became a priority.

Here's a bit of information on Shophouses and below is a photograph I took of a detail on the top floor of a house just off East Coast Road.


I also stopped by at the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple and got a bit carried away with the elephants. The first photograph of which is a single panel on the huge entry doors.



The second is an elephant from the wall in front of the main entrance.


I really thought this guy was great. In just about any other society he'd be fair game for taking home as an oversized garden ornament. Might give the Gnomes a bit of a scare though.

For those who just need to know these things, the connection to elephants is in the name: Sri Senpaga Vinayagar. Lord Vinayagar is the Elephant God alternately known as Ganesha.

"Vinayagar is also known as Vigneshwara or Vighnaharta, the Lord of; and destroyer of obstacles. When we do evil things or when the time is not right, He places obstacles in our path. When we take the correct path, He removes the root of our troubles. Vinayagar is one who drives away all sorrows, difficulties and miseries. He confers happiness and peace on his devotees."
- Hindu Endowments Board website

Well, I'm thinking the choice of an elephant form is pretty appropriate for this particular Hindu deity. I wouldn't argue with him putting obstacles in my way, and I most definitely crack a smile whenever I get to visit the elephants at the zoo. What about you?

After spending some time at the temple I moved on to St Hilda's, which is a little white church just a bit further up the road. From there I wound my way back to the main road through a series of narrow suburban streets featuring townhouse-style buildings, most of which were separated by a back alley. Cats and children evidently using them as a defacto playground, with left-for-later toys and kittens visible from the street.

As I had already stuffed myself on a buffet breakfast, I didn't stop and partake of the nonya laksa at the local stalls selling breakfast nor did I expand my waistline by sampling the large choice of confectionary on display at the bakeries either. Tempting though some of it was.
Instead I finished my walk down Still Road past the former Grand Hotel (scroll to the bottom of the article),  looking a little less grand these days and back along Marine Parade Road to the hotel.
Hot, damn hot, but a good couple of hours sightseeing on foot.

Time for a short dip in the pool.

Singapore: A quiet start

I arrived in Singapore late on Sunday evening to find the same lovely huge airport, and the same darned boarding gate at the furthest end!
Thank goodness for the travellators.

I don't lightly make the comment that Changi Airport is lovely - it actually is really nice. We all know how tedious the process of international travel can be now that we must go through much earlier check-in and then the various other screenings, so to find a welcoming feeling in the departure/arrival area is very pleasant indeed.

This landing mirrored my previous experiences here - quickly off the airplane, on to the travellators (love those things!), and down through the shopping precinct to customs and baggage collection. The one-person queues at customs belies the fact that this is a very busy airport, much busier than Auckland and yet that much less fuss. Then the usual wait for the bags ensues, but the delay doesn't matter quite so much because the wall between you and the "real world" is glass and you can see family or friends waiting for you. Together you can share the patience test that is the baggage carousel.

Finally I have my luggage and it is out through the glass doors and to John, who has already been in Singapore for a week.

There are many forms of transport to your abode of choice, but the simplest is the humble taxi. For those new to Singapore it can be somewhat of a revelation that you can go from nearly one side of the island nation to the other for less than S$ 30. My taxi (sorry, Corporate Cab, as I was corrected by my driver) from home to the airport in Auckland was NZ$ 40 and that is a 15 minute drive !!
So we took the stress-free option and joined the taxi rank queue, which took about a minute to melt away (pardon the pun - it is the tropics after all), and we were on our way.

As we were staying on the south coast in an area known as Katong, the trip was swift and easy on the East Coast Parkway. This is a suburban area, and not really a tourist spot. ie. It isn't anywhere near Orchard Road.
In compensation we get a view of the ocean from the hotel, and the parking lot for shipping that are the waters around Singapore; access to East Coast Park should we want a bit of greenery during our stay; and easy (and cheap) bus rides to the central areas of town whenever we wanted to go.

A surprise at the end of my 15 hour odyssey from New Zealand to Singapore was to find that John had been given an upgraded room because he was staying for two weeks. We had the luxury of a Junior Suite.
Now don't get all excited, it isn't one of those types of hotels you see on the travel shows. It is nice and simple, and not glitzy 5-star luxury with gold tapware and silk beadspreads. But it was rather a bonus to have a kitchen and another whole room to make a mess of, I mean enjoy the use of.

And, as for John's dire prediction of waking up at some ungodly Singapore hour due to the 5 hour time difference between my New Zealand bodyclock and the local timezone, that didn't really eventuate. I'm not much of a night person normally, so arriving in Singapore at 9pm (2am NZ time) was a surefire guarantee that I would manage at least 8 hours sleep without so much as a murmur.

The only problem - what to do with the morning hours between 6am when you wake up and 10am when the retail sector of Singapore opens up?
Ah, that's right, read the tourist literature that John picked up at the airport while waiting for me, catch up on world events through the eyes of CNN and BBC World, have a leisurely buffet breakfast and take an amble around the local streets. This time of day being most suitable for outdoor ambling due to the slightly cooler (mid-20s celsius) temperature and slightly weaker sunlight.
Finally take a dip in the pool, while trying to work out the physics of why in a tropical climate the pool water should feel like you have just stepped into iceberg infested waters.

Then you are set up for a day of sightseeing and/or shopping, whichever takes your fancy.

Cars

Right at the outset I need to let you know that my flight inbound to Singapore was spent in an aisle seat next to a portly (but very nice) Frenchman. And I had to watch Cars in black and white.

In all fairness to childrens animated films, that is probably not the best way to view them. Although I did do a quick check on this film on my return flight, and I might be wrong about that comment as the colours seemed to be excessively gaudy. Perhaps someone who has seen this film on a screen larger than that in the back of an airline seat headrest could confirm that either way for me.

The premise of the story is simple - there are three racing cars trying to win the coveted prize, The Piston Cup. One is a rookie - Lightning McQueen; one is the current champion "The King"; and the third is the perpetual runner-up Chick Hicks. As a three-way tie occurs, the option is a "race off" to be held across country in California.

Lightning McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson, is the central character. He is proud, brash, mouthy and unappreciative. And in his rush to be the first to the new track, he manages to get himself lost in a small dusty old town called Radiator Springs. And it is here (of course) where his life lessons begin.

He slowly begins to appreciate others, gets a grip on the concept of friendship, and finally learns the unusual lesson of respecting his elders.

While many of the themes of animated movies are similar - friendship, appreciation and the value of a family, Cars actually manages to add in a new one. The most wonderful Paul Newman voices Doc Hudson, the local old-timer Judge with a secret history. Lightning goes from thinking of Doc as a crusty old Judge to admiration and on to valuing the wisdom and talent of his older counterpart.

Lightning's final act of redemption occurs in the last few minutes of the film, along with his reward for following the "higher path". And this also stems from his new sense of empathy, appreciation of friendship and respect for others. It is also a glaring lesson in opposing the sporting mentality of "winning is everything, at all costs".

I enjoyed this film. It's not excessively funny, sloppy, silly or annoying. It is formulaic, very few kids movies aren't, but it adds a few nice touches of its own to the genre. It will also appeal to those kids brought up in a home that adores the Indy 500.

Don't rush out to hire the DVD, but if you feel like something light and animated, it could be an option. And no, I won't be adding this to my collection.

But the list of great talent who lent their voices to this film deserves mention.
Owen Wilson is Owen Wilson - animated car or not.
Paul Newman is fantastically understated as Doc Hudson.
Bonnie Hunt strikes a nice counterpoint to Owen Wilson as Sally Carrera.
And of the "minor characters" my favourites were:
Larry the Cable Guy as Mater (absolutely fantastic) will bring into being a whole new sport - Tractor Tipping !!
Tony Shalhoub as Luigi does a very nice turn here.
John Ratzenberger takes the mickey out of himself. (As a result of how many characters he has voiced for Pixar!)

It rates a 2.5 out of 5.

The Wanderer Returns

Hello all,

I thought that I had better put forth something on the blog or you might all make the assumption that the warm weather of Singapore had inspired me to stay forever.

We got back on Monday, and haven't stopped since landing. We travelled to Tauranga to collect our boys from their holiday with Grandma and Grandpa, and then yesterday we made the same trip again but in this case to collect my Dad from his angioplasty operation in Hamilton.

Whirlwind. Yes, it has been a bit of one.

Singapore was as expected, with the exception of easy internet access. This would be why the blog has had a week of being an accomplished hermet.

The silence should end shortly, and all the observations I have accumulated will be sent forth to your RSS feedreaders in orderly succession. I even managed to take a few photographs, and yes, some of them are even worth sharing.

In between doing the following:

• laundry;


• cleaning the house;


• mowing our new hayfield (the neglected back lawn);


• buying a new refrigerator (old one is on its last legs - you know what I mean, like the wobbly marathon runner who really has hit the wall, gone through the other side and you can't look away from because it is just too awful);


• and most importantly - sleeping.

I promise to try to start my Singapore serial.

The travel bug is back

It's almost summertime, and those pesky darn travel bugs just keep biting at me. They finally got a good big bite in, and as quick as you could blink I'd called my travel agent and I'm off on holiday from this weekend and returning a little over a week later.

Details for the curious:-

Destination: Singapore
Why: Where do I begin on this one?

It's warm.
I love the ease of getting around.
I know it from previous business trips.
John's already there. [Work, again!]
The variety of cultures.
The food.
The calligraphy.
The shopping. [Choices, not really the prices anymore]
The heritage.
The food.
Oh, and did I mention... it's warm there?

Gee, how tough a choice is that to make then? Not very!
And yes, you can probably expect a few movie reviews. It is a 10+ hour flight, I will need to watch at least one film to relieve the tedium. Hopefully they'll have a selection of kid's cartoon films again; they were much better than some of the dry adult offerings for entertainment value.

I might even manage a few photographs to share too as my dear mother has loaned me her recently purchased Olympus 725 SW digital snapper for the trip. Since that's a bit of a step-up in megapixels from our old Canon, they might actually be worth sharing.
However, I offer no promises on the photograph front as I am under strict instructions that this is to be a "relaxing" holiday. Apparently I am not allowed to drag "he who should be obeyed, yet strangely enough is not" around every sight on the entire island. I really don't see the problem with that myself.

Anyway, if there is something that you absolutely love about Singapore - and you feel that I must not have a holiday there without seeing it - please just leave a note for me in the comments.

The Singapore 2006 Travelogue will begin Monday 13th November.

Fantasy Triptych - October Progress

Yes, the picture clearly shows that I was mad to suggest that I would get the entire section of the Castle finished this month.
But I will say that I managed to get over half way there, which is an improvement over the last couple of months.



This month's goal is to finish what I said I would do by now.

Next week is looking promising for some quiet, at home time with the cross stitch. And as this weekend is Guy Fawkes I will need to be sitting home at night with the TV up loud to try and mask the banging and whizzing noises from my sookey old dog; what better to do when your evening entertainment is a shivering dog who is trying to sit on you and marginal TV choices - that's right, cross stitch!

What's On The Bookshelf? - IV

This is bookshelf number 4. It contains a mixture of my own books and a range of books 'gifted' to me that I may or may not have read, so I do not claim them to be a true reflection of my character or taste.

Fourth Shelf, Small Bookcase

The gift books:

• Reader's Digest Condensed Book, containing:
  
  
  
  • Daddy - Loup Durand
  
  
  • First Light - Carol O'Biso
  
  
  • Death Train - Robert Byrne
  
  
  • A Gift of Life - Henry Denker
  
  
  
  


• Challenge - Warwick Collins


• Gorky Park - Martin Cruz Smith


• Dangerous Lady - Martina Cole


• Blood Red, Snow White - Diane Henry & Nicholas Horrock


• Death of an Angel - Warwick Collins


• The Tears of the Tiger - Christie Dickason


• Wolf Winter - Clare Francis


• The Legacy - Lynda La Plante


• Eternity Road - Jack McDevitt


• Red Crystal - Clare Francis


• Looking for Trouble - General Sir Peter de la Billiere


• Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow - Peter Hoeg


• Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd


• Compelling Evidence - Steve Martini


• Loves Music, Loves to Dance - Mary Higgins Clark


• A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth


• The Hope - Herman Wouk


• The Talisman - Lynda La Plante


• Bella Mafia - Lynda La Plante


• The Cuckoo's Egg - Clifford Stoll


• Take No Farewell - Robert Goddard


• Bridget Jones's diary - Helen Fielding

The books that are my choice by purchase:

• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock - Vonda McIntyre


• Life, the universe and everything - Douglas Adams (John's book actually)


• The Complete Stories of Lewis Carroll


• Olympia - Complete Guide


• The Alhambra and the Generalife (Tourist guide)


• Wild Swans - Jung Chang


• Living Dangerously - Ranulph Fiennes

And the shelf ends on that derring-do note.
What does this entry tell me?
Boy do I keep a lot of unread books around the house!

If anyone wants to give a strong recommendation for any of the gift books, feel free to leave a comment. Of that list, I think that Bridget Jones is the only one that I have read, and that was because it was a gift for my 29th birthday. What was the gift-giver thinking, I ask you? :D

And because I like balance in my world, if you have comments on the gift books that contain phrases such as: "run away", "use it as a doorstop" or "burn it" (sacrilege, so be very sure before you go there) ; feel free to leave expletiveless comments too.

Oh, and before I leave you to your day, I thought I would give forewarning that this is the last of the small bookcase. The next "What's On The Bookshelf?" will be bigger, and the shelves after that have books stacked two deep across the entire length. Did I mention I'm a bit of a bookaholic? That I can't leave the public library without at least five books? That I have to be dragged out of Borders with glum backward glances if I don't have a little plastic bag bulging with a new addition to the collection? No? Okay...

...perhaps I should have mentioned that at the start.

Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett

This is the latest addition to the Tiffany Aching series.
This Young Adult series is set on the wonderful Terry Pratchett creation, the Discworld.

Tiffany once again deals with human created "stories" in this tale about the changing seasons. It also involves young love, er... maybe not so young in the case of the Wintersmith, ice roses, limbo and the irrepressible Nac Mac Feegle led by Rob Anybody.

There are themes running through these books, one of which is taking responsibility for your actions; which is what witches like Tiffany do. They take responsibility for and deal with not only the mundane things in life, like going "around the houses" and tending to the sick and dying, but also standing up to elementals like the Wintersmith or the Queen of Fairyland.

And throughout it all, Terry Pratchett throws in his usual dose of light relief in the form of the Nac Mac Feegles and a range of very witty one-liners and sly observations.

I have never yet read a Discworld book that I did not enjoy. Some are more memorable than others, as you would expect, but I have never felt let down. This follows on through this latest addition. You can't really go wrong with a book when you find yourself reading passages aloud to your other half because you laughed so much you just felt the need to share the humour.

In saying that, I don't rate this story amongst the most memorable - Wee Free Men, definitely; The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, of course; and Pyramids, completely. Don't get me wrong, this is a good read, if somewhat predictable. And to be fair, predictable should be the norm when the story is about folk stories. If you are a Discworld fan you'll be getting this book from the library or the bookstore no matter what I say here, but if you're a neophyte then I recommend starting at the beginning with The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. Work your way through the series until you have met Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, then jump over to Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith. It will make much more sense if you are familiar with Granny and Nanny, and the way of witching on the Discworld.

So my rating is a 3 out of 5 for this Discworld adventure.

And before I go, I want to "read aloud" some passages to you:

First is the general outline of the Feegle's approach to life...

'Ach, people're always telling us no' tae do things,' said Rob Anybody. 'That's how we ken what's the most interestin' things tae do!'

Then there's the Feegle way of life.

'See...first ye get the boozin' an' the fighten' an' the stealin', O.K. An' when you get back tae the mound it's time for the tappin' o' the feets - '
'Ooooooo!'
' - an' the foldin' o' the arms - '
'Aaaargh!'
' - an', o' course, the pursin' o' the lips and - will ye scunners knock it off wi' the groanin' before I start bangin' heids together! Right?'
All the Feegles fell silent, except for one:
"Oh, waily, waily, waily! Ohhhhhhh! Aaarrgh! The pursin' ... o' ...the -'

And finally, the Feegle outlook on the Underworld and crossing over with the Ferryman. [for neophytes, Death in his many incarnations, speaks in capitals]

The Feegles swarmed aboard the rotting boat with their usual enthusiasm and cries of 'Crivens!', 'Where's the booze on this cruise?' and 'We're right oot in the Styx noo!' and Roland climbed in with care, watching the ferryman suspiciously.
The figure pulled on the big oar and they set off with a creak and then, regrettably, and to the ferryman's disgust, to the sound of singing. More or less singing, that is, at every possible speed and tempo and with no regard at all for the tune.

'Row row your row boat boat
row yer boat down the merrily stream
like a bird on the boa-'

WILL YOU SHUT UP?

' - bonny boat row stream stream
boat boat row yer boat down
the merrily stream row merrily merrily boat - '

THIS IS HARDLY APPROPRIATE!

:D But it is totally Feegle. Irreverant, individualistic and "damn the torpedoes". That's what makes this series a good read.

Hearts and Family

I thought I would put a short note in here so that you don't think I have disappeared into a Spring hibernation.

On the weekend just past my parents were on their way home from holiday in Fiji. On the flight to Auckland my Dad experienced chest pains, and on landing was taken to the local hospital for precautionary care. A heart attack being the obvious initial potential. Apparently this wasn't the case, as there was no sign of an indicative protein in his blood tests, but the chest x-rays have a "shadow" that will shortly be investigated further with a CT scan. Angina is the current suspected culprit.

We will all know a little bit more next week after the scan has been completed. He is in no discomfort currently and has more tablets and sprays than most pharmacies.

As an obvious result of this, I have been busy with things other than writing this blog. And it turns out that life will be changing, irrespective of the scan results, as my Dad has decided it is time to retire. The regulars will know that we run the family business, so this change will have an impact on life for John and I. What and how is not quite clear, but the time frame starts now.

Anyway, just in case I don't manage to sit in front of the computer as frequently as usual, I thought I would let you know why I may go a bit quiet for a while.

Hugs & best wishes to you all.

The Full Cupboard of Life - Alexander McCall Smith

Another lovely book from the The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.
This is the fifth installment in the life of Mma Precious Ramotswe.
In this episode we are given more time in her private life and amongst the main characters.

McCall Smith's writing is still soft and welcoming. It is like picking up a quiet conversation with an old friend. There is no drama, no hurry, and there is a companionable feeling to the whole reading process. I still find the main characters charming, and the reading completely effortless.

There are small moments of philosophy and profound comment scattered throughout the book. But for a Professor of Medical Law involved in bioethics, it shouldn't really be surprising to find that the author has thought a lot about humanity and community values.

I have excerpted some passages I enjoyed below:

'They almost didn't believe that boy,' said the cousin. 'He was a boy who was always telling lies.  But happily somebody decided to check.'
'That boy will grow up to be a politician,' said Mma Ramotswe. 'That will be the best job for him.'
The cousin shrieked with laughter. 'Yes, they are very good at lying.  They are always promising us water for every house, but they never bring it.  They say that there are not enough pipes.  Maybe next year.'

The difficulty, of course, with standing up to women was that it appeared to make little difference.  At the end of the day, a man was no match for a woman, especially if that woman was somebody like Mma Potokwani.  The only thing to do was to try to avoid situations where women might corner you.

 She had never been able to tolerate dishonesty, which she thought threatened the very heart of relationships between people.  If you could not count on other people to mean what they said, or to do what they said they would do, then life could become utterly unpredictable.  The fact that we could trust one another made it possible to undertake the simple tasks of life.  Everything was based on trust, even day-to-day things like crossing the road - which required trust that the drivers of cars would be paying attention - to buying the food from a roadside vendor, whom you trusted not to poison you.

This is a great series of books for those who want to experience a bit of a difference in their choice of prose, but still be drawn in to the lives of the book's characters.  I took the first two of these to Fiji on my last holiday and absolutely romped through them in a couple of days.   I was hooked. 

If you are interested in reading the book cover excerpts, the author has a website here.  When you decide to go ahead and try the series out, start at the beginning, it will make all the difference to your understanding.

My rating:  4 out of 5.

Papamoa Beach

The weather was lovely yesterday afternoon, so on my way home from work I pulled over just before my turn-off and took the short walk to the beach.

This is what is at the end of the cul-de-sac I parked up in...



And walking over the dunes you get to see flowers like this...



Finally you get the view "north" to Mount Maunganui - yes the beach does stretch all the way to the Mount.


Then you get the view "south" and get some idea of just how darn long this white sand beach actually is.


I use the term north and south loosely, as I am not a girl guide and don't actually carry a compass with me. I am guessing that north is more, or less, straight out to sea. But it orients you "up the coast" and "down the coast".

Not too shabby, huh?

Lost in Translation - The Shipping Industry

Those of you who have tip-toed through this blog, or have generally loitered in the corners while I have been writing away, will know that my business is marine safety stuff. (Shameless plug for work website here.)
Most of our business is "B2B" with large shipping companies, ship managers and their ilk. Part of my job is to keep tabs on the vessels calling in NZ and that entails spending a lot of time chasing down potential clients and keeping our contact records up to date. Now this is usually pretty dull stuff. Routine, in fact.
But you may not have factored in the idea that many vessels are owned by non-English speaking companies. Can you see what's coming?
Yes, this is the quirky, funny and plain bizarre world of commercial ship names.
I kid you not, all of the below names are actually painted or embossed on the rear end of a commercial ship somewhere near you.

Note: If at first you don't get it, repeat the name faster and with a slight slur.

• Deja Bhum


• Kang Fu


• Mass Wits


• Peng Wen


• Yong Tong (almost a Goons moment)


• Bum Ik


• Sobre World (hopefully on this vessel anyway)


• Pu He


• Millennium Falcon (for the sci-fi buffs out there)


• Please Please Me


• Joyoboyo 1


• Funky (and it's sister ship...)


• Smarty


• Fart (this is a very old tug(1907), from Finland, perhaps the age explains all)


• Man Kee (for those with an appreciation of Scots slang)


• Man Shun (for those without spellcheck)


• Sunko (maybe not such a good choice for a ship name)


• Itchen


• Monkez 1


• Flipper (great for a dolphin, but just asking for trouble as a ship name)


• Santa Claus (a chemical tanker of all things! Whatever he's bringing, I don't want it.)

And this is just from my whip around the 'net today.
Feel free to share any "lost in translation" items in the comments. I'm sure my industry isn't the only one with quirks of translation.

A week in the country

Well that's a bit misleading.  And a bit of a JAFA moment, if truth be told.

The "country" being the Bay of Plenty, specifically Tauranga, even more specifically Papamoa; and I'm here for the week while my lucky parents are having a sunny time in Fiji, in company with John's folks.

My job is to house-sit their home and business-sit our Tauranga branch office.
And as I am currently typing away on dial-up internet, entries and comments may be a bit thin on the ground this week.  Please don't think that I am ignoring you all.

Other than the diabolical dial-up internet, there aren't too many down sides to this week away from home.  I get a bit of peace and quiet in the evenings and I get to forget the horrors of housework.  I'm also able to make some headway on my current work-in-progress, Fantasy Triptych. 
The other major upside is access to Sky TV.  Well, the Food Channel on Sky, actually.  As someone who loves to eat, this is great fun.  Unfortunately, I am embarrassed to say, John is hoping a week of access to such culinary inspiration will do something to improve my rather feeble gastronomic efforts at home.  He insists that I am a good cook, just that I don't cook often enough.  I keep trying to convince him that I am a "three meal wonder"*, but he just doesn't seem to want to buy that.  So, this week I am cosying up to Jamie, Rick, Nigella and anyone else who looks like making an interesting bit of nosh. 

On the work front, our Tauranga branch is a pretty quiet place too so I am actually getting to do all that important work stuff that gets run over and squished by the very pushy "must-have-your-attention" things.  You know the sorts of things I mean. Customers. Suppliers. Petty annoyances like those.   Instead I get to read and plan and gather information.  And pretend like I know what running a business is all about.  And while we're on the subject of business (briefly, I promise), I've just signed up to start a BBS.  Part-time. Slowly. Back into study-mode.  Noticeably, just like interest rates I appear to have an educational cycle of approximately 8 years. Almost exactly 8 years after completing my BA, I rejoined the educational establishment and did a post-grad diploma.  Now it is once again 8 years on and I am signing up for the big brother of that diploma. Hmmm.  Predictable, who's predictable.
At this rate I'll manage a PhD by the time I'm 60.  8O

Okay.  That's enough for one entry.  This dial-up thing is gonna kill me.
If the weather clears up, I'll head the two minutes up the road to the beach and take a couple of snaps for those of you who aren't familiar with this part of Godzone.  Trust me, if you like beaches, this is the place to live.

---
*  Lentil Shepherds Pie (to die for, even if you're a carnivore)
*  Sweet and Sour Chicken (an ancient recipe, but you can't go past fresh pineapple in SnS sauce)
*  Homemade pizza (crispy, chilli-spiced crust, with pesto^ and/or tomato base, and any luxury topping you can think of)

^  Idea stolen from Becky.

Good Manners/Bad Manners

Oh boy, this is a doozy of a topic for me at the moment.

The manners to which I am referring relate specifically to Family History research, but could just as easily apply to many other hobbies involving lots of personal time and research.

I have recently become a victim of an ill-mannered, and thoughtless individual.
At least, I hope that is the type of individual he is. Otherwise I might have to use words like mercenary, selfish, self-centred and any other word applicable to a male that would involve me using @#!*% symbols in order to keep my blog entries family friendly.

Here's the story of this Bleat!

I belong to a pay-to-join genealogy website.
The premise of the website is that you enter your data, as does everyone else, and then they have a search function that looks for individuals with the same names and dates in other people's trees. Very efficient it is too.
On top of that, your communication with other members is through the website so your email and information is secure. This is also nice.
Once you establish with another person that you do have a common ancestor, through the site's mailing system, it is up to you to allow your correspondant to see your tree or not. So here is where the real Bleat! begins.

I've been accumulating research on my family for 20+ years now. And I am most happy to share that with family members, both close and distant.
I'm such a trusting soul. I'm also somewhat of a fool. After hearing other people's tales, it still didn't really strike me as likely to happen to me.
But now it has. **

I've had my 20+ years of research "harvested" from my online tree by someone who told me that he was "related by marriage" to a shared distant ancestor. Thinking no ill of the man, even though the correspondance was extremely basic, followed by a brief "can I see your tree?", I consented believing him to be a distant cousin. I asked for the same privilege in return, which was granted. I had a brief look and wasn't clear on how we actually related, but life got busy just about then and I didn't have the time to sit peering through this man's tree. I also didn't think that it was a big issue to leave my tree open to him.

So now, some months later, I have time to pursue things again and find that he pops up on my Matches list with an individual who might be useful in identifying a missing relative. I do a quick check, and his tree is closed to me unlike mine which is still open. So I close my tree, on the back of a bad gut feeling.
Then I send off an email to this man with a simple question - "I have someone with the same name, born in the same year, can you please tell me who your individual's parents are?" (So I can eliminate him quickly, before asking about finer detail and wasting anyone's time.)
The response received? "Can you please open your tree?"

Uh, no.

I'm now highly suspicious, but decide to give our man a few days to send the really short email that this sort of question normally elicits from members of this site..." X Smith and Y Jones".

About a week has passed, and I'm thinking nothing of it. So he's not the usual friendly type that you meet when doing genealogy, I can live with that. Each to their own.
Then a couple of days ago the site's regular "Matches" email arrives and who should pop up with another 5 matches with my tree? You guessed it. Mr Unfriendly.

What has disturbed me, and continues to do so as I work my way through this, is that the 5 names on the list are: Me, my mother, my father and two of my grandparents.
Once I pulled my jaw back up off the floor I took a look at our full matches list and find that we now have 71 matches in common, where a few months ago we had maybe 2.

Hmmm. Manners? What manners?
Permission? What permission?
Privacy? What privacy?
A specific clause on this site indicates that all living relatives must have given you permission to list them (which I have received for my use). This guy wouldn't know me or my family to fall over on the street. He has even listed John, and half of my paternal family tree which has no bearing on the supposed shared ancestor, who is on my maternal side!

[Parental advisory notice: expletives unsuitable, though probably used regularly by your children, follow.]

Can you say "outraged"? Can you say "seriously pissed off"?
Can you say "needs a bloody good slap up side of the head"?
Can you say "bloody bastard stole my information and has reproduced it in a manner which would lead others to believe that it is his hard work and time that generated it"?
Can you say "no reply to my 'why am I listed on your tree along with other close members of my family? email' "?
Can you say "tosser" ?

Can you say...."ouch, Lynn is seriously angry, back slowly away towards the door without losing eye contact and no one will get hurt"?

Yup. Not a happy camper sitting writing this. Not at all.
He's getting one more day to give me some sort of answer and then I'm calling in the abuse cops (site admin).

Just for the record, I've met a number of distant relatives here and a couple of closer ones. Not one of them, although they have had completely open access to my tree for months, has reproduced my information on their online trees.
The manners involved here are not just copyright ones, ie giving credit where credit is due, and not giving the impression that information displayed is your own, but also of common courtesy like politely asking if it is okay to reproduce the information before doing so. And verifying what the supplier of information is happy for you to use it for, and where it will be used.
All information that I have collected from cousins over the years are clearly documented in my notes, and sources are listed in all the reports my software generates. If I find new family members, I introduce them to my other distant cousins too. See my sidebar for two such groups.

But apparently for some individuals in our societies, the "common courtesies" are not "common" to them.

But you know what? I'm a great believer in karma, and it's slightly less "multi-lifed" version of "what goes around, comes around."
Mr Unfriendly will no doubt get his comeuppance in due course.

Here ends the Bleat!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**(See my previous work-based Bleat! about the "It won't happen to me" attitude. They do say pride comes before a fall, after all.)

Over the Hedge

This was our DVD choice last night.

The trailers for this film looked promising, and since we both love animated children's features we decided it was time to get this one out of the video store.

It is the story of a raccoon (RJ, played by Bruce Willis) who gets on the wrong side of a bear (Vincent, played by Nick Nolte), and then goes about using the naïvity of a family of critters who are newly awakened from hibernating to get himself out of trouble.

Interestingly both raccoons and possums are meant to be nocturnal animals, and as far as I know the possum doesn't actually hibernate and I'm not so sure any of the other animals in this animated family group do either. But in the interests of film-making that is pretty much ignored.

Perhaps I'm feeling a bit grouchy this weekend, or perhaps I'm a little bit jaded over the anthropomorphising of animals. I don't really know.

Actually, I do know. This movie is a rip-off of Ice Age, which incidentally, was the Saturday night movie on TV last night. The morality theme was pretty much identical - that of using people for your own means followed by the awakening of a "spirit of family". It is also the second movie I have seen this year that uses the hyped-up squirrel motif in conjunction with caffeine intake - see a much funnier version in Hoodwinked.
The casting didn't really do the film any favours. For the most part the main characters were fairly blandly voiced, with the exceptions of Wanda Sykes (Stella), William Shatner (Ozzie) and Thomas Haden Church (Dwayne).

I'm getting fussy in my old age. I've been spoiled with the cleverness, intelligence, uniqueness and inventiveness of the Shrek and Ice Age franchises, and then on to the parody that is Hoodwinked. These really are films that both children and adults can enjoy. Over the Hedge is a pale imitation of any of those predecessors.

My rating:
Despite all of the comments above, this movie has some very funny moments and for kids they probably won't care about some of the stuff I have mentioned, so I'll rate it a 2.5 out of 5.
For adults wanting to enjoy a movie alongside their kids, and hoping for a multi-levelled offering, I have to rate this a 1 out of 5. This one won't be an addition to my DVD collection.

Family History: A New Blog

I was wandering through Papers Past on the National Library of New Zealand last night, and I thought to myself, what a wonderful source of community and family history.
I have been looking for relatives for other people in these archival papers and in the process decided to transcribe a few of the articles and relevant sections to send to a couple of New Zealand Rootsweb lists that I belong to. Through doing that I discovered that not everyone is able to access the information, or at least not in the fullest manner possible. And I have to confess that I get great pleasure reading what was going on in our communities over 100 years ago. Our ancestors certainly had a good dose of humour judging by some of the writing.

Personally I have family who were in "trade" and I would love to be able to find any reference to them in their local papers, so I thought I could "pay it forward" to those looking for information to flesh out their family history in New Zealand.
I was also encouraged by Lorelle's posting about her plans to use the blog structure for her family's genealogy. In no way am I creating anything on the scale that she is planning. My pretentions are only to provide a place for people to visit and maybe leave comments about the archival newspaper entries or the named individuals. A bit of a glorified webpage really, but hopefully one that will encourage others to participate in making some of our wonderful community records available.

It will be a learn by the seat of your pants experience (and blog) so if you do visit, please be patient as I develop it. At the moment it is one entry big, with an About page. The tags will be the Newspaper's name, but perhaps in time this might need to be changed to include the year of the entry.
But considering the search facility available with Wordpress.com I don't think finding an entry with your family name attached will be too difficult. Maybe a lot to go through (once I add more transcriptions) but that's not a bad thing in genealogy.

Any feedback on how you would search such a blog - by surname, location, year, etc. will be willingly accepted and considered.

Now on to the blog. It is called rather unimaginatively, but accurately "NZ Newspaper Articles - For Your Family History Research". And it can be read here and clicked to through a link in the sidebar of this blog. I hope that in time it will become of use to some of you.

Family History: Tiffney

I have once again updated the Family History page.

Today I have added a page about my Tiffney family.
One thing about this new Wordpress theme is that I don't have to compromise on the ugly box of sub-pages in the sidebar, which is great.

To access all the family information, just click on the tab at the top of your screen that says "Family History" and then choose the family links on that page.

Currently the following families are available:

• Beattie / Betty


• Lunn


• McWilliam


• Steedman


• Tiffney

If any of the other names are of interest to you, please leave a comment and I will get in touch.

What's On The Bookshelf? - III

The beginning of this, the third installment of What's on the Bookshelf, are the books that perch on the edge of the shelves. Followed by the regular inhabitants of this shelf.

Third Shelf, Small Bookcase

• Materia medica


• Roget's Thesaurus


• Sketch for a Theory of the Emotions - Jean Paul Sartre


• Women and Power - Rosalind Miles


• How to stop worrying and start living - Dale Carnegie


• Man and his Symbols - Carl Jung


• Four Archetypes - C.G.Jung


• Memories, Dreams, Reflections - C.G.Jung


• What Not To Wear - Trinny Woodall & Susannah Constantine


• Fast Feng Shui for the Soutehrn Hemisphere - Mai'a Martin


• Whose Body? - Dorothy L.Sayers


• Mansfield Park - Jane Austen


• The Dark Room - Minette Walters


• Your Money or Your Life - Joe Dominguez & Vicki Robin


• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R.Covey


• Early Socratic Dialogues - Plato


• Three Men In A Boat - Jerome K. Jerome


• The Magician's Nephew - C.S.Lewis


• The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S.Lewis


• The Full Cupboard of Life - Alexander McCall Smith


• In the Company of Cheerful Ladies - Alexander McCall Smith


• Friends, Lovers, Chocolate - Alexander McCall Smith

The Alexander McCall Smith books are on loan from my mother, but I just love the Precious Ramotswe stories (The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series) that I know I will add them permanently one day.

• Striding Folly - Dorothy L.Sayers


• Hangman's Holiday - Dorothy L.Sayers


• Magician - Raymond E.Feist


• Practical Thinking - Edward de Bono


• The Te of Piglet - Benjamin Hoff


• Get Rich, Stay Rich - Martin Hawes & Joan Baker


• The Folk of the Faraway Tree - Enid Blyton


• Walking the Talk - Carolyn Taylor


• The Wicked Day - Mary Stewart


• The Last Enchantment - Mary Stewart


• The Hollow Hills - Mary Stewart


• Stormy Petrel - Mary Stewart


• Madam, Will You Talk? - Mary Stewart


• Nine Coaches Waiting - Mary Stewart


• The Lord of The Rings - J.R.R.Tolkien

There ends Shelf Number 3 and on an epic note too.

I note that the theme of having at least one book per shelf with stories about animals, or small hairy creatures continues. And we see the start of my love of last century whodunnit authors. At one time I had the entire collection of Agatha Christie novels in hardback, but I have since divested myself of those.

I have to confess that at first I thought this would be a quirky, but interesting way for you to get an insight into my world. But now I have discovered a desire to set aside a pile of books for re-reading, finishing and in a couple of instances actually starting.

Hmmm. Maybe the next few book reviews might be Ex Libris.

If you missed the first two shelves, they can be found here:
Shelf One
Shelf Two

And if you are keen to see the full list I have added my library to LibraryThing. You can search for me in the "Search users" box by the name Twoflour. Be warned, I haven't tagged or rated everything yet, but I am planning to get there.
A big thanks goes to Vicky from Gone to the Dogs who mentioned LibraryThing in her post My night-time reading canon.

May you all have many happy hours reading.

Back To The Gym

That was the story from this morning.

John said that he was going to go and I struggled with my conscience before finally getting out my trackpants and running shoes. Struggle? Conscience?
What actually happened was I had an internal argument with that part of my mind I like to call "The Cellulite Queen".

The CQ is that part of me that likes to sit on the sofa watching old movies eating caramel popcorn, or if pushed to effort then sitting in front of the computer with a cup of coffee and the maximum exertion involved in mouse-clicking.
She is my evil twin, convinced that sweating is something other people should do, but not us. Provoked by suggestions from my conscience that perhaps it is time to start the process of getting back on the fitness bandwagon, I had to put up with excuses and delaying tactics from the CQ.

• Oh, I don't feel up to it.


• It's really early, maybe later today.


• I'm tired.


• I wanted to do...[insert any activity imaginable]

But I am pleased to report that the CQ did not win this battle, and off to the gym I went. But I won't lie, I was nervous about what six weeks off was going to do to my fitness level. And what the pain level was likely to be.

I reprised my first "speed inducing" workout from Cris's schedule. Not much speed to be had, I have to admit. My hatred of the exercycle continues; burning thighs, lowering the level and just sheer stubborness got me through the warm-up. I was gutted, but not surprised, that I had to lower and then raise the intensity level just to get through five minutes. Aargh. Not a good confidence boost then.

I got off the evil exercycle and felt like I'd been sticking needles into my thighs. Good grief. Six weeks. That's all I've been away for, and I'm a wreck.
Once my legs stopped burning I waddled over to the treadmill to start Phase II of the warm-up, walking on a 10% incline. I was more than a little dubious about this on the back of the exercycle incident but managed pretty well and unlike the evil cycle there was no nasty burning.

And finally I arrived at the running bit of the session. Thankfully this is on a zero incline and was only to last a whole twelve minutes. I was a chicken though. I did the first half a couple of speed levels down from the target. Just before the halfway mark I finally convinced my Internal Doubter that the worst thing that could happen if I tried to run at target speed was that I would have to slow down again. And with that I ran the remainder of the time at full speed.

Not only did I not keel over at the end, I even managed to do most of the obligatory stretching. And I surprised myself by still being able to reach my feet during the hamstring stretches.

However, I will try not to feel too smug about surviving the start back session until I have survived the next three days of what is euphemistically called "delayed onset muscle soreness". Normally this is visited upon us mere mortals as walking like we've been on a horse for a week, and not being able to tackle steps in any form - up or down.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Fantasy Triptych - September Progress

Here is the work in progress as of this morning.
The left-most tower is pretty much completed, and so is the neighbouring one. It's not nearly the amount of progress I had wanted to make, but at least it is progress. I guess. :|



All up it is probably only a couple of hours worth of stitching and blending time which I figure I could do each week, but I seem to manage to distract myself with other things instead. You know, small things like work and sleep. :P

So I have decided that September is the end of the excuses. No more updates claiming work or life getting in the way of a bit of stitching. I will publicly state that this time next month I will have managed to complete this section of the design (no not the entire castle - just this section on the chart) which should mean that another three and a half towers are complete. That should take the castle to being half finished in total.

Am I mad? At my current stitching speed - completely!

Springing into Spring

I love this time of year.
It is easily my favourite season.
Not that I have anything against the other three you understand, but how can you go wrong with the stirrings of growth, renewal and warmth?

This was brought home to me last weekend as I lazed in the car at Wattle Bay while John went for a wander around the coastline looking for a place to fish from. This lovely and quiet spot is right at the top of the Awhitu Peninsula and just around the coast from the entry to the Manukau Harbour.

Sunday was a beautiful Spring day, sunny and warm. There was a light breeze coming off the harbour and small fluffy clouds were gliding along overhead. The locals headed down to the beach to enjoy the start of the warm seasons. And clearly this was a spot for fishermen, with at least a dozen rod carrying bodies passing by in the two hours we were there.

I had a fantastic view across the Harbour to the Waitakere Ranges and there was that beautiful country silence - just the water lapping up on the beach, terns swooping by and the breeze. Days like that just remind me how great it is to live here, and how much Spring gives me a sense of promise and future greatness.

I had come prepared with books and a thermos of coffee, as you never quite know how long a fishing expotition is going to be and how far from good coffee it might take you. And as we had missed the tides by a matter of half an hour or so, I settled into the passenger seat of the car and lapped up the sunlight in an inspired moment of Spring-warmth-dozing, while John perservered with his fishing.

I can't recommend highly enough the practice of finding time in a peaceful, beautiful place to lie back and contemplate the world. It's like Spring Cleaning for the spirit.

After a couple of hours John decided it was time to pack up the rods and head on home. We took the long road back to Waiuku, which turned out to be a good decision as we drove past a number of wonderful photo opportunities and then ended up at the Signal Station at the entrance to the Harbour. And by good luck we were there a day after the new replica Lighthouse was reopened.

What a day - contemplation in the sun, photographic inspiration and a bit of local history to visit !

And the fish and chips for dinner in Waiuku was a treat too. ;)

Wintersmith is coming

As a fan of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, it should be no surprise that I have my HarperCollins author tracker set to update me when new things TP are announced.

And this past week the arrival of "Wintersmith" was announced.
The Tiffany Aching series has a special place for me, as it is the source of this blog name, courtesy of the Nac Mac Feegles and one of their sayings.

I'm not 100% certain about the local release date for the book in New Zealand, but I can guarantee that I will do a review of it once I get my sticky fingers on a copy.

Skinny Bitch - Follow-up

As a brief follow-up to my review of the book "Skinny Bitch" I thought I would find some links that you might want to take a look at.

E Numbers:

Can be found in most processed foods. In New Zealand the number doesn't have the 'E' in front, and this may be the case in other food safety jurisdictions.

• UK Food Guide's free guide to E Numbers can be found here.


• The Vegetarian Society's Guide to E Numbers can be found here.


• UK Food Standards Authority can be found here.

Allergies
Two of my young nephews have just been diagnosed as Coeliacs, so I thought that I would add information for those who may be interested in additives and food allergies. Take a look at the following links:

• UK Food Standards Authority website - Allergy & Intolerance page.


• Coeliac Society of New Zealand website.


• Coeliac Society of Australia website.


• The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network website.


• Food Intolerance Network website.

In my own childhood I went through a long series of exclusion diets designed to identify what might have been causing bad hives, welts and eczema attacks, so I have every sympathy for those of you who might need any or all of the websites above.

Finally, on another note, "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser has now been turned into a movie and I happened to catch a short interview with him on Campbell Live tonight. He sounded like he had his feet on the ground, with no axe to grind. And I'm now in no doubt it is another book that I don't really want to read, but really need to read.
I'll let you know what it's like when I get to it. In the meantime, bon appetite. ;)

Scents, Unguents, Lotions and Oils

I was looking through my files tonight and came across a compilation of aromatherapy concoctions and I thought I would share some of them with you.

The manner of use is described after the listing of essential oils.
All the usual disclaimers apply - these are not "cures", and you should consult your doctor etc, etc. Other than that, enjoy the wonderful world of essential oils. Remember, that these are not to be taken internally - they are to be used in burners, massage oils, and similar.

Anti-Arthritic Blend
Frankincense - 10 drops
Eucalyptus - 15 drops
Juniper - 10 drops
Lavender - 10 drops
In 90 mls Olive / Macadamia oil.

Anti-Cellulite
Fennel, juniper, lemongrass and lavender.
Massaged firmly into the skin.
Massage encourages absorption of the oils, using a loofah helps this even more. Most beneficial if used regularly after a warm bath.

Anxiety, Tension & Stress
Lavender - 2 drops
Bergamot - 2 drops
Cedarwood - 2 drops
In a burner

Chafed or grazed skin
Patchouli - 4 drops
Bergamot - 2 drops
Tea Tree - 4 drops
In 180 mls distilled water.

Colds & Flu
Lavender - 2 drops
Lemon - 2 drops
Eucalyptus - 3 drops
In a burner.

Eczema / Dermatitis Blend
Lavender - 15 drops
Bergamot - 2o drops
Cedarwood - 10 drops
In 90 mls Jojoba / Avocado Oil

Harmony & Relaxation
Rose Geranium - 2 drops
Lavender - 2 drops
Orange - 2 drops
In a burner.

Headaches, Mental Fatigue
Orange - 2 drops
Lavender - 2 drops
Rosemary - 2 drops
In a burner

Indigestion
Peppermint - 2 drops
Fennel - 1 drop
In 5 mls Sweet Almond oil.

Skinny Bitch - Kim Barnouin & Rory Freedman

Before you wonder about the title of this post, be assured that I am still family friendly (this book title being an exception).

And as it turns out, this book intends to be family friendly too.
It's catch line is:

A no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!

The language used in the book is blunt, often crude and probably offensive to many. I'm betting that this is a book that you get the point of the language choices of the authors or you don't. Personally I decided to get this book out of the library after coming across and reading the first chapter on the internet. I laughed so hard tears streamed down my face.

Despite it's name and the catch line angling for those looking to trim down and shape up, it is actually quite an interesting read from the perspective of what you feed yourself and your family. If I lived in the USA I would be very keen on following up on a number of the claims made throughout this book. And to be frank, I would be pretty worried about my food options.
I was particularly bemused and horrified about the section of the book that dealt with the FDA approval of aspartame.
As it is, I don't live in the USA, and I am now interested in looking into food safety issues here in NZ.

Please note that there is at least one chapter that will make your stomach turn, but I have to agree with the quote used from Linda McCartney in association with this section:

If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we'd all be vegetarians.

It is a mix of absolute common sense - soft drinks are "liquid Satan" and suggestions that will probably rub against the grain like ditching meat and dairy from our food choices.

I would recommend that you grit your teeth and read this book.
Even if you have no interest in losing weight, vegetarianism or veganism, you do eat food and therefore it doesn't hurt for you to be prodded out of your cosy reliance on "the government" to protect your health.

In my own business life I know not all products are created equal, and that "the government" we all rely on to keep us safe doesn't actually do what we would logically expect them to do on our behalf - that is, make sure that the highest standards possible are applied in our best interests. In fact, the opposite could be said. I often wonder if governments go for the lowest common denominator, the least cost and the bare minimum standard.

Cynical? You bet. As the ladies of Skinny Bitch say, "Trust no one."

My rating: 4 out of 5.
My reasons:

• I read this book in less than 4 hours (190 pages)


• It made me revisit my choice to revert to flesh eating.


• It made me realise that I take important things - like my food, and therefore my health - for granted.


• It provoked me. I love milk and cheese - how could they be bad for me?


• It lost a star because I think the language will alienate as many people as it attracts.

My Itch: Meet the Kids - I

It's been a little while since I last wrote about My Itch, so I thought I was overdue for another installment.

This one will be a little bit more personal. There will still be statistics, but there will be a face for you to associate with those hideous numbers.

We have two kids now.
Nemiya is 8 and lives in Gajapati, India.
Naomi is 11 and lives in Blantyre, Malawi.

We received Nemiya's annual report a couple of weeks ago, with his updated photograph, and he is looking really well. He has moved up a class in school, his favourite subject is Oriya and his dream in life is to become a doctor.

Meet Nemiya...



Now I'd like you to meet his community.

Life expectancy: 64 years
Under 5 mortality: 85 / 1000
Adult literacy: 61%
Gross National Income per capita: NZ$ 955 (US$ 620)

He's a cute kid - there's no doubt about that. And what's great is that he is getting an education, his community is getting clean water, the kids are being immunised and the farming conditions are being improved through irrigation.

All in all, not bad for a whopping NZ$ 40 a month.

Okay, so not everyone is in a financial place that can support a child through programmes like World Vision. But considering the wide range and life state of child sponsors I know of and have met, it might actually be easier than you think. Most people who work in the western world would not miss NZ$ 40 a month. That's one takeaway curry, a latte and a slice of cake, a bottle of wine and one magazine a month that could be redirected to a small boy or girl living in poverty.

Hmmm. Here's the win-win of this. No curry, latte, cake and wine is not only great for kids like Nemiya - I'm also doing my waistline a favour! And what are libraries for, if not to browse through a magazine that I'll read once at best and then throw into the recycling?

Yep, I'm glad that I got over my excuses. I like being a couple of kilos lighter, and knowing that an 8 year old boy might just have half a chance to become that doctor because of me.

If you've ever thought about it - take the next step, visit your local World Vision website and see what is involved and where your community is helping globally.
If you are a Kiwi, check out World Vision New Zealand, you can arrange sponsorship online.

"Be the change that you want to see in the world."
~~ Mohandas Gandhi