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

A Change of Clothing

Do you feel like you've opened the wrong blog this morning?
Maybe you haven't had your first cup of [insert beverage of choice] for the day, and you are wondering if your eyes have actually opened the whole way.

Nah. I'm just playing with you. On my Sunday spring clean day I decided that the old theme was just not me anymore. So it was out with the old and in with the new.

Choosing a new set of clothing for the old girl was fairly straightforward as it turned out. Wordpress.com have their set choices, and if I want to have pages, then just like Cluedo I just eliminate the non-contenders. No dagger in the library for this Miss Scarlet.

I like minimalistic websites and blogs as I have mentioned before, so Light turned out to be my only real alternative. But I am happy with the change so far. Only time will tell if I get fed up looking at this too. But since the lovely Wordpress team seem to be rolling out improvements regularly, including adding new themes, I'm sure I will not be waiting long should I want to fiddle with things.

Got an opinion on the change? Feel free to leave a comment.

Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War

This lovely British movie was this weekend's DVD viewing choice.

Starring the ever fantastic Pauline Collins as Thelma Caldicot, it is full of wonderful actors of that certain age, including her husband John Alderton.

The plotline is very much Shirley Valentine gown older. Thelma is a bullied and much-put-upon wife, who finally one day is widowed through her husband's own folly.

She feels free to systematically destroy or give away his prized possessions in a thumbing-her-nose-at-him and spirit-realeasing sort of way. You can just see the pent up years of frustration being gently and firmly expressed.
Unfortunately this release of her spirits gives her greedy daughter-in-law and son the opportunity to prematurely put her into a nursing home, where the inmates are kept drugged and docile.

The experience of seeing the cold-hearted, minimal treatment of the resthome management ensures that the earlier release of her individuality continues and she becomes "the worm that turned".

The film is lovely, yet it does stab at the heart. Are our older citizens treated like this? Drugged and docile, so the resthome owners can make a profit. Do families routinely 'dump' their older relatives into someone else's care, so that they are not inconvenienced?
It also seems to ask - who is to decide when a person's ability to gain joy and happiness in life is over? Convenience over quality of life? Cabbage every day over a fry-up?

This film does have a message, there is no doubt about that, but don't let it put you off. It is still funny and lovely and thoughtful. Your heart might be a little sore in places, but in the end you will have laughed and enjoyed the worm-turning journey with Thelma.

My rating: 3 out of 5

What's On The Bookshelf? - II

Welcome back to the second installment of What's On The Bookshelf?
This is where my compulsion to group authors together starts to go astray and my shelves begin to become a mixed bag of fiction and non-fiction.
Much more telling though is that this is the beginning of my public exposure as having what Buddhists call a Monkey Mind.

Small bookcase - Top Shelf, Second Half

• Metal Fatigue - Sean Williams


• Deception Point - Dan Brown


• Haunted - Kelley Armstrong


• Tales From Shakespeare - Charles and Mary Lamb


• A Small Death in Lisbon - Robert Wilson


• Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand


• The Richest Man in Babylon - George S. Clason


• Mulliner Nights - P.G.Wodehouse


• Angels and Demons - Dan Brown


• Six Thinking Hats - Edward de Bono


• Tactics - Edward de Bono


• Losing my Virginity - Richard Branson


• Geisha - Liza Dalby


• Digital Fortress - Dan Brown


• A Dog's Life - Peter Mayle

Still, at least the 18th and 19th century literature is now joined by modern thrillers, real people, mind expansion and yet another book about small hairy creatures.

Small bookcase - Second Shelf

• Hot House People - Jane Walmsley & Jonathan Margolis


• Chronicles of Tao - Deng Ming-Dao


• Awaken Healing Energy Through the Tao - Mantak Chia


• The Taoist Ways of Healing - Chee Soo


• The Literature of Ancient Egypt


• The Ancient Near East - Volume 1 - James Pritchard


• The Seeing Stone (Arthur Series) - Kevin Crossley-Holland


• Dreams - C.G.Jung


• Quicker than the eye - Ray Bradbury


• The Jugurthine War / The Conspiracy of Catiline - Sallust


• The Histories - Herodotus


• Frankenstein - Mary Shelley


• Middlemarch - George Eliot


• A Little Book of Scottish Verse


• Tales of the Greek Heroes - Roger Lancelyn Green


• The Civil War - Caesar


• The Annals of Imperial Rome - Tacitus


• The Campaigns of Alexander - Arrian


• The Rise and Fall of Athens - Plutarch


• The War with Hannibal - Livy


• The Later Roman Empire (A.D. 354-378) - Ammianus Marcellinus


• The Instant Millionaire - Mark Fisher


• The Six Value Medals - Edward de Bono


• Lateral Thinking - Edward de Bono


• A Quiver Full of Arrows - Jeffrey Archer


• The Artist's Way - Julia Cameron


• How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life - His Holiness the Dalai Lama


• Complete Works of Tacitus


• The Twelve Caesars - Suetonius


• The Knights/Peace/The Birds/The Assemblywomen/Wealth - Aristophanes


• History of the Peloponnesian War - Thucydides


• Integrity Selling - Ron Willingham


• Monkey: A Journey to the West


• Tales of Edgar Allan Poe


• Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Edgar Allan Poe


• The Neverending Story - Michael Ende


• Flight of the Wind Horse - Niema Ash


• Surpetition - Edward de Bono

Now what was I saying about adding modern literature to the collection? Maybe I went into reverse mode? And it looks like I must have at least one book featuring a furry beast on each shelf. What's that saying about me?
I promise that the other shelves aren't quite as dry, really.

A monkey mind expressed through books? Most definitely.

Go the Wheel Blacks !

Perhaps you're aware that New Zealanders, in general, are mad about rugby.

Perhaps you're not so aware that New Zealand is currently the Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Champions. And perhaps you aren't aware that the World Championships are being held in Christchurch this week.

Check your newsfeeds people ! The Wheel Blacks are in the finals.

These guys are awesome. If you're a kiwi, then hopefully you tune in to Sunday morning TV and watch Attitude. If you do, then you are already familiar with the Wheel Blacks coach - Grant Sharman, and a member of the Wheel Black squad - Curtis Palmer.

You will also be aware that these guys train 20 hours a week, do the whole sports psychology thing, and are full on athletes. And finally, they are getting some media recognition for all the hard work, effort and success.

If you live in or near Christchurch, then get out and spend a couple of hours watching top class sportsmen going for a world championship. They are up against the USA, their bogey team, and no doubt would welcome as much local support as they can muster.

Go the Wheel Blacks !

Siu Lam Juk Kau (Shaolin Soccer)

This was another DVD choice this past weekend.
It is another comedy / kung fu / action movie from the stable of Stephen Chow. In this case it is a marriage of football and kung fu through the creation of a football team of ex-Shaolin adherents.

Each man has a specialty as revealed by their name: Mighty Steel Leg Sing, Iron Shirt Tin, Light Weight, Lightning Hands and Hooking Leg.

The female interest is played by Zhao Wei as a kung fu master who bakes buns for a living.

We have the traditional good vs evil, or in this case the hopelessly innocent and ignorant vs greedy, nasty evil. This plays out on the soccer field, with the story starting there and the action finishing there.

The humour is definitely off-the-wall material. It moves between the juvenile to sly spoofing. It is nearly all physical humour, as dubbing into a different language tends to lose the subtle language jokes. So unless you are a fluent speaker of Chinese and are watching an original version don't expect subtle puns.

While this was quirky, cute and funny, it was also slightly silly and a bit too juvenile for me. I would have to rate this a 2 out of 5.
If you want a good laugh, with a bit more to it, I would recommend seeing Stephen Chow's later work - Kung Fu Hustle - which in my opinion is far superior without losing the same sort of humour and charm.

The Maltese Falcon

I'll own up before I begin. I love Humphrey Bogart films.
And this is where he gets his first major role.
This film is subject to enormous attention, a Google search on "The Maltese Falcon" generates 1,030,000 hits. It's popularity probably stems from the following reasons as described by the Moderntimes website:

The Maltese Falcon was John Huston’s first directorial effort and it went on to become a early Film Noir classic. It also provided Humphrey Bogart with his first significant role as a leading man, and he is matchless as the inimitable Sam Spade.

The film stars Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor. Supporting actors include Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Elisha Cook Jr. For a full cast list visit the IMDB entry for "The Maltese Falcon".

The plot is straightforward enough, but the outcome of Sam Spade's actions is not. He is the hero (actually an anti-hero in a number of respects) so in theory things should come out well in the end, but John Huston keeps you dangling.

The Moderntimes website has a great description of the entire film, almost blow by blow. Just don't visit if you don't like spoilers. However, the information on the filming, casting and comparison to the earlier film versions, makes a good read.

Bogart is gritty, egotistical, bad but good, and decidedly sly as Sam Spade. Mary Astor's character, Brigid, deserves a slapping from a modern woman perspective. She plays on her femininity hiding a decidedly nasty interior under a remarkably innocent, "butter wouldn't melt in her mouth" exterior.
Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet are great in their roles as Joel Cairo and The Fatman. The scene where Cairo visits Spade's office for the first time is just hilarious. I'm not sure that it was meant to be, but it is. Clearly Cairo is effeminate, and apparently in the book is openly gay - just try getting that past the censors in 1941 - and he is played beautifully by Lorre. The Fatman is also another great portrayal by Sydney Greenstreet, so visually unthreatening yet so completely ruthless.

I did find the film slightly odd and a little disjointed, especially around Sam's relationship with his just-murdered partner's wife. Watching this for the first time with no prior knowledge of the book it wasn't as smooth as it could have been.

On the whole I enjoyed the film and the actors' performances, but can only manage a rating of 2 to 2.5 out of 5.

Karangahake Gorge

Today took us through the Karangahake Gorge. On our way back through we stopped and took some photographs. I thought I would share a couple of them.

A quick geography lesson will tell you that this gorge is between the town of Paeroa and Waihi. Paeroa of L&P fame, and Waihi of goldmine fame.

I've discovered that this little piece of the country even has a website. Good grief, who'd have thought it. The map's a bit blurry, or it's my eyes - I'm not sure which.

Anyway, here's the first photograph. It's the view across the bridge over the Ohinemuri River leading to the heritage walkway through the gorge.



And this is the view upstream from the bridge.



The Paeroa community website has a nice little potted history of the area, including the Karangahake gold-rush. And the Tourism Coromandel website has a nice simple map showing this area.

It's a really pretty area to visit, and having walked about half of the heritage trail through the gorge a number of years ago, I can definitely recommend it.
It is a gentle undulating walk that is accompanied by the great sound of the running water.
It is also possible to swim in the river just off the parking area, but you will need to be hardy or extremely hot, and of course careful not to do so when the river is running fast. I was lucky enough to have lazed about in the river a number of years ago while living on a marae in Paeroa doing archaeological stuff in the vicinity. Ah, there's nothing like freezing your bits off after spending a hot day in a dusty hole scraping away at dirt with a small trowel. :D

Spring Cleaning Time Again

Yes, it's that time of year again.
As of the Friday before last we are *officially* in Spring. The fine and slightly warm weather lasted a couple of days and then nose-dived straight back into winter wet. So much for the arrival of Spring.

Anyway, what this time of year always leads to is the cleaning and clearing out of a winter's worth of clutter and avoided housework.
I've been doing pretty well on the one-day weekends we've been having over the last two months. So far I've managed the bathroom, the bedroom, part of the kitchen, and the hallway. In some respects it's been a bit pointless doing the kitchen and bathroom, since in theory they won't be in existence after summer. But what the heck, when the mood takes you... don't fight it.

What all this cleaning talk is leading to is my green streak.
Yes, I have a green streak and it's starting to get a bit wider. So, in the spirit of the cleaning season I thought I would share some green cleaning snippets from one of our local council's environmental "Big Clean Up" mailers.

In the Bathroom

Mirrors - Apply eucalyptus oil with a wad of newspaper to stop mirrors fogging up.
Toilets - Make a paste from borax and lemon juice to clean toilet bowls.
Grout & Mildew - Dip an old toothbrush in vinegar and scrub the tile grout to remove mildew and mould, and to prevent new growth. (A toothbrush? Sounds like a lot of work - an old nailbrush sounds like a better idea.)
All-purpose cleaner - Clean tiles, sinks, toilets and baths with baking soda applied with a damp cloth. (This applies in the kitchen too.)

In the Living Room

Window cleaner - Add half litre of white vinegar to a litre of warm water and wipe windows with a damp cloth. Use wads of newspaper to dry and polish.
Carpet cleaner - Sprinkle baking soda on carpet before vacuuming to deodorise. To remove stains, make a spray from quarter cup of borax and 2 cups water, spray on and wipe off with a damp sponge. Alternatively, try lemon juice or undiluted white vinegar, or immediately rub with soda water, or sprinkle salt or cornflour on the stain and vacuum after 30 minutes.
Air Freshener - Simmer vinegar or herb mixtures in water or try cinnamon and cloves.

In the Laundry

Bleach - Use a cup of lemon juice in half a bucket of water and soak overnight.
Stain remover - Use eucalyptus oil to remove stains before washing. Simply apply a few drops and let it evaporate.

Now, before you rush off to try out any and/or all of these little hints and tips...
Remember, we're all grown-ups here. Test these hints out before you go whole-hog. I don't want to see angry comments about beautiful silk scarves totally ruined by the application of eucalyptus oil to remove a tiny invisible-to-the-naked-eye stain. Okay ?!?

And of course it goes without saying that if you choose to try out the soda water cure for carpet stains in plain view of your children, I really don't want to hear about the subsequent Coca-Cola-ising of Grandma's handwoven, heirloom rug.

Are we all agreed on this? Good.

I have some more snippets for the garage, but that can wait until next week when I finally get around to cleaning out our dog wagon. I'll be giving the baking soda a run for it's money then, I can tell you.

And finally, in the spirit of spring de-cluttering you might want to have a quick read of this from my last spring cleaning drive.

Merry Spring to all of you Southerners, and Happy Autumn to all of you Northerners. Enjoy the new season !

Evocative childhood memories

I think I'm getting old.

Okay. That's a no-brainer. Of course I'm getting old.
What I actually mean is, I'm getting to an age where looking back on my childhood is suddenly becoming a regular feature in my life. I'm no longer in my teens, when nothing seems important outside of friends and the latest trends, nor in my twenties where my life still seemed to stretch out in front of me as far as I could see and I was going to conquer the world.

I'll confess. I'm in my thirties and not the front half either.
This isn't to say that I think I'm on the downhill slide, don't get me wrong.
According to the NZ Statistics Department I have somewhere between 43 and 48 years left on my clock, so I'm not quite at the halfway mark yet.

But today it is raining. And that provides a direct link back into my childhood.

Once upon a time, some thirty years ago, I was a small child living in a small town. We lived 2 or 3 kilometres away from my primary school, and just across a churchyard from my best friend Elaine.
Every morning Elaine and I would meet at the corner of my road and the one that led to hers. We would walk to school together, rain or shine, warm or cold.
Because we were in the same class, we would walk home together most afternoons as well.

One of the best and most evocative of my childhood memories is of walking home in the rain. To this day I still love it when it rains, especially in spring or summer. I think that there is nothing quite like splashing around in warm rain. As an adult it's not "the done thing" to indulge in that sort of behaviour, but I have to confess that the mood takes me every now and then and I just have to go out into the back yard and open my arms to the heavens and enjoy the feeling of raindrops hitting my face.

The whole experience of walking home in the rain at certain times of the year was enhanced by arriving home to my Mum, ready at the door with a towel to dry me off. Once towelled to a mild state of damp, I would be whisked off to a warm shower to warm up and once again enveloped in a big fluffy towel to reach a final stage of warm dryness. Once my mother's seal of approval over my 'no longer going to get a chill' dry state, I would be the lucky recipient of the occasional snuggling up on the sofa under a pile of warm blankets with a bowl of steaming soup and the television tuned to an afternoon movie.
Strangely enough, connected with this memory, are the old black and white Tarzan movies starring Johnny Weissmuller. And to this day, I'm not sure whether it was this wonderful way of experiencing old adventure movies that has inspired my love of the films traditionally labelled "nostalgia".

I hope you can see why I love rainy days. It connects me to a period of my life where I was warm, comforted and loved. Who would have thought that something as simple as a walk in the rain, a warm shower, some hot soup, an old movie and a snuggle on the sofa would have had a thirty year impact?

So if you'll excuse me, I'm just off to stand on my back deck in the rain, after which I will be taking a warm shower, putting on my fluffy bathrobe, taking my bowl of soup to the living room, putting on my DVD of The Maltese Falcon, and snuggling down for a great evening under my duvet on the sofa.

I hope your evening is as wonderful as mine is about to be.

What's On The Bookshelf? - I

Okay, I had a weird thought tonight while I was reading through my regular blogs (the sidebar has details) and perusing the backlog of blogs in my pending list.

What is it that makes me read these blogs? Why do I enjoy these insights into other people's lives and experiences especially if I don't actually know them?

Actually, those questions haven't just popped up tonight. I've been thinking about them pretty much since my visitor numbers (according to my blog stats) got beyond the list of friends and family I know I told about this little online escapade.

I can't honestly say my life is exciting or unusual. I have had the good fortune to have travelled recently, which is something I absolutely love to do. But that's not the sort of thing that keeps me reading other blogs.

What I've concluded is this:- I actually like to connect to the real life, opinions and experiences of other bloggers.
It's interesting getting to know someone through their writing, almost like making a long-distance friend. It's actually a bit of a testament to the writing, no matter how mundane the subject, that draws a reader back for more connection. Humour helps. After all a smile is always welcome.

So, where is this taking me you ask? To my weird idea, finally. :roll:

I thought that I would start another ongoing series of entries.
You see, I believe that my library of books and I aren't really separate entities. Anybody out there studied Symbolic Archaeology? No? Why the heck not?
Anyway, here's the short version:
You can tell a lot about a culture (person) by their artefacts (books).
Much more than you might at first believe possible. So I thought I would share a little bit of me with you, through my book collection.

This idea, along with being slightly offbeat, is also fairly scary. What does my collection of books actually say about me? What impression will I be giving, and how fast will people run away? I guess I won't know until I put it out there for reader consumption, so here goes...

Small bookcase - Top Shelf, First Half

• Emma - Jane Austen


• Lady Susan/The Watsons/Sanditon - Jane Austen


• Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen


• Persuasion - Jane Austen


• Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen


• Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen


• A Celtic Miscellany


• The Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan


• Milton, selected poems


• Three Gothic Novels
  
  
  
  • The Castle of Otranto - Walpole
  
  
  • Vathek - Beckford
  
  
  • Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
  
  
  
  


• The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde


• Men at Arms - Evelyn Waugh


• Vile Bodies - Evelyn Waugh


• The Mysteries of Udolpho - Ann Radcliffe


• A Sentimental Journey - Laurence Sterne


• Just So Stories - Rudyard Kipling


• Tennyson, selected poems


• A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens


• A Wordsworth Treasury


• The Hobbit - J.R.R.Tolkien


• Freedom in Exile - The Dalai Lama

There, I've started it.
And we learn that I am slightly compulsive - must have books by the same author shelved together; and at some point in my life I went through a phase of reading 18th and 19th century works. Hmmm.
But in my defence, there is a place on my shelves for odd and funny tales about animals, as well as epics involving short, hairy humanoids.

Maybe this was a bad idea. :?

Photographic Inspirations - I

When I was in the process of blogging about our trip to Hong Kong, I had cause to take a look around for good night time photographs to share.
While I was doing that I was fortunate to come across a number of excellent sources of inspiration for my photography. And that led on to looking for more inspiration. Damn that Flickr !

Unfortunately the only time I am currently getting with my camera is the five minutes before work in the morning in which to take updates on my cross stitch (see previous entry).

And let me be clear about this - I am a hack photographer. If I take my time and think about it for a moment, then I can manage to create a reasonable composition. But I'm technically weak, so one of my goals for this year is to get a grip on that aspect of photography.

In the meantime, however, I am on the outlook for inspiration. And I thought it would be selfish of me not to share what I have already found. So here is a taster for you...

• The Eagles are Guarding


• Spider Web Gate


• Nearing the shore


• Yo down there!


• Wharf


• Shing Mun Reservoir


• Lotus


• Kwai Chung Container Terminal (sorry - work related)

Or take a stroll through these albums. I have many favourites here, including İshak Paşa Sarayı, Tokomaru Bay Marae, Sandscape and Jerash.

I hope you enjoyed these too. If you have any inspiration that you want to share just leave a note for me and I'll visit.

And to finish, here is one of my old ones from 1989. It's a pre-digital moment, so cut me some slack for the quality of the scan.

Fantasy Triptych - August Progress

This month's update photograph mirrors the long working hours of recent weeks. As I have mentioned previously this is our busy time of year and although cross stitch is often a very soothing way to spend time, it also requires concentration (especially for a Teresa Wentzler design like this) otherwise a very tired mind/eyes/body may make mistakes. This isn't a good look - mostly because you only tend to notice mistakes once you are fresh, awake and buzzing on caffeine. This may be several weeks after the initial cock-up. And this can lead to much frogging and swearing.

And no one needs to see or hear that !

So, here's the updated photograph. Only changes are to the turret area, and very little of that.



Now that the excessively busy few weeks are coming to an end, I've got my fingers crossed for a bit of progress in September. Check back at the beginning of October.

High Five - Ken Blanchard & Sheldon Bowles

High Five! is another management book told in parable style. This time the lessons are about teamwork.

Alan Foster and an old highschool teacher, Miss Weatherby, are the central characters. Alan learns about teamwork after being fired from his job for not being a team player. He is brought into the coaching circle of his son's ice hockey team and learns the skills of team building and team participation from the ancient and retired teacher/coach, Miss Weatherby.

We are taken through the journey of skill acquisition and application, although there are no specific examples of how certain steps are actually achieved. It is the only real downfall of the parable style, that the authors are telling a story and therefore do not give 'examples' for application in the real world.

In saying that, the concepts are imparted in a pleasant style and in a "feel-good" way. I would really like to see both Gung Ho and High Five followed up with real-life examples in a traditional management text format, as a further assistance to take the concepts into practice.

I enjoyed the read, got value from the concepts and will probably be adding this little book to my library.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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A quick note: I have added an Amazon store to my sidebar today. It's there to give you easy access to more information, including a price guide and more reviews. The "Featured Products" will only ever be books I've read, enjoyed and would recommend to others. The Similar Items just come with the store (sorry).

Have you ever seen a 101 person liferaft?

There are not only 101 dalmatians, there are also 101 person liferafts.

This is what they look like when they are inflated, and are undergoing their annual survey.


Big and orange, huh?

It's quite funny how after working on only one half of the full MES system for this customer, we have all become accustomed to the huge size of the rafts and their containers. So much so, that when a normal 6 person commercial liferaft came in for survey it seemed almost toy-size. Actually I might take a comparison photograph of the size person when it's finished (it's kinda mucky right now, since it's spent the last 12 months on an ocean going freight carrier) so you can see what I mean.

And if the photograph above doesn't really give you a proper feeling for scale, I made arrangements for yours truly to take some smart-ass comments about modelling from the guys and be the scale model in the photo below. See what I do for you?



So, that's a 101 person liferaft. Next time you're at sea on a ferry or similar, take a look at those big round containers and you'll have some idea of what's inside them.