brainsluice

Textathon

2009-02-26T21:56:00.003+13:00

I've always been in awe of my Mum's ability to cram an amazing amount of news into one text message. In today's missive I discovered:

She was at the hairdresser.
Life's busy.
She'd seen my sister's baby scan picture.
It was beautiful.
The weather was bad.
She's going to Queenstown this weekend for a colleague's wedding.
My uncle's fiancé's shop opens this Monday night.
The cleaning lady (CL) turned 60 today.
She and her friend brought said CL a facial as a present.
She hopes CL will be able to stay still long enough to enjoy it.
She wanted to know how one of my work projects was going.
She'll call me soon.

Not bad for 335 characters!

Silence is golden

2009-02-23T20:54:00.003+13:00

Well, roughly a year's gone past since I last put finger to keyboard here ... thoroughly appalling, I know. So what exactly's been occupying me for the past 12 months?

After Laos, the big Asian trip headed into heady Vietnam and amazing Cambodia - both were spectacular in completely different ways ... the stormy motorbike ride through the countryside near Hue was one of the best parts of the trip, and the temples surrounding Siem Reap were completely absorbing. The whole trip went way too fast and definitely left me hanging for more - overall, a succession of beautiful, tranquil moments mixed in with the general chaos and craziness that is modern Indochina.

I was lucky to get a great tour group as well which always makes things so much more enjoyable - my previous trip to South America was also fantastic, so hopefully the next one will be equally as charmed (Central America or Japan/China are the contenders, but who knows if that'll come to pass in '09?).

On the work front, to say a lot's been happening would be the understatement of the year - I celebrated my sixth anniversary at work in October, which is a scary thought in and of itself. My boss also departed to head up another team around that time, which left me in charge ... and, eventually, to applying for his job and then getting it! The new Government has set a rip-snorting pace and I've been pretty much chasing my tail ever since ... it's nice to have a new focus, but I'm hoping to get some 'head space' at some point so I can properly adjust to this whole managerial thing.

I was also lucky enough to take a trip to England for work in June, to attend a couple of conferences, meet our 'sister' agencies over there and generally learn a bit more about the UK health system. The NHS is an interesting beastie, and one with a fair amount in common with ours, so it was a great opportunity all in all (and one again which went far too quickly). Of course, it was a lot of fun seeing a good number of the old London crew again over a lager or two ... it's beyond strange to think that it's coming up to nine years since I first set foot on those fair isles (and yes, the grey hairs are beginning to make an appearance too, which was another new experience in 2008!).

I also managed to squeeze in a few trips around New Zealand (home, weddings, concerts, weekends away, etc) and welcomed/caught-up-with people in Wellington too, which was great. The lovely Tom and Meg were in town for Webstock last week (and it was lovely to meet the charming Matt too), so it's been fantastic catching up with them and generally reminiscing about the good old days circa the turn of the century.

So, that's about it really ... a busy year all in all, with another one to come - roll on 2009!

Sabaai dii

2008-02-06T21:09:00.000+13:00

Just a quick post to check in from beautiful Luang Prabang in Laos. Have had a fantastic trip so far ... Michelle and Brodie's wedding back in Invercargill was a brilliant day and my MC-ing went down really well so I was chuffed with that (a few pics here; more to come later).

Since then, I've managed to survive the madness that is Bangkok, go elephant riding and bamboo rafting in Chiang Mai, take the slow boat down the Mekong River, hike through the jungle and swim in a waterfall - so many amazing sights, sounds ... and smells (have some great pictures already and it's only the end of week one!).

We have a few days here in Luang Prabang, so it's nice to relax for a while. We're staying at the Thongbay Guesthouse, overlooking the Nam Khan river ... very tranquil, and great to watch Lao life go by. Had a lovely tasting plate of local food last night at L'Elephant, then went for a few drinks at the Hive Bar - the bars all shut at 11.30pm for the town's curfew, so we had to carry on at the local bowling alley! (as you do). Time to get out and about again I think - a visit to one of the many temples in town and climbing the 300-plus steps to watch the sun set from Mt Phu Si await ...

Up, up and a-way-ay ...

2008-01-21T21:15:00.000+13:00

Goodness, what a lot of radio silence that was! Let's just say that life got inordinately busy in the latter half of oh-seven. Still, it's a new year now and hopefully there'll be a new lease of life around these here webbed parts. Two major things are going on with me right now - my baby sister Michelle's wedding is this Saturday and yours truly is MC-ing (just the regular speaking thing, not showing off my rap stylings you understand). It's all very exciting and should be a grand old occasion ... can't wait!

The second biggie is an upcoming jaunt to South East Asia for basically all of Feburary, with the requisite Sydney stop-off for the Mardi Gras madness on the way home. Given the South America trip's success, I'm going down the tour group road again, this time with Intrepid Travel on their "The Great Indochina Loop" tour. Here's the route map:

So, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, here I come. There's loads of things I'm looking forward to seeing on this wee sojourn - far too many to go into here - but you'll hear all about them in due course no doubt (or feel free to give me a gentle prod if things start looking dreadfully stale again). Any travel hints/tips/must-sees will also be gratefully received in the comments!

The good island

2007-09-16T20:37:00.000+12:00

Just back from a lovely weekend down south in Christchurch, hanging out with Tracy and Scott (and Riff Raff the dog). After work down there on Friday, Tracy picked me up and we headed back to her place - a nice little house she and Scott have owned for a couple of years now (I think). We had a good old catch up over some drinks and tasty treats and turned in relatively early - everyone was a bit jaded after a busy week!

Saturday rolled around and after picking up Tracy's friend Anna, we headed through the tunnel to Lyttleton for more culinary goodness at the local farmers market. Very busy it was too, and a great array of fantastic produce ... picked up some nice brie, and plum and walnut spread and some rainbow olives (and scarfed a mini bacon and egg pie on the way out). We headed in to the city after lunch and had a bit of a look around the Arts Centre (nothing really grabbed my eye, or opened my wallet) and then the new(ish) city art gallery - some great exhibitions there, including Bill Hammond's eerie bird works and Ans Westera's brilliant photographs.

Saturday night arrived and we headed out for dinner (with Anna and Ross, who I hadn't seen for years) at The Flying Burrito Brothers - a buzzing little Mexican place and an offshoot of the one here in Wellington. It was margaritas and mole all round, then back to Tracy and Scott's to watch the All Blacks hammer Portugal - no contest really!

It was a lazy start to Sunday (a quality PJ session!) and then off on the road as we headed over to Banks Peninsula for a bit of a look-see. We stopped at The Hilltop Cafe for a late lunch - a delicious garlic prawn linguine - and soaked up the magnificent view, right over Akaroa Harbour on a beautifully warm sunny spring day. After we'd had our fill, we jumped back in the car and drove back to the city, just in time for me to grab my things, head to the airport and then wing my way back to Wellington. A great weekend away and just the ticket to recharge my slightly depleted batteries!

P�ques life

2007-04-09T23:12:00.000+12:00

Just back from a fantastic Easter trip to Auckland to see the lovely Weaver clan - Byron, Briar and wee Finn (who's sprouting up and chatting away at a fantastic rate). Plenty of family-related activities were attacked with gusto: mucking around on the beach, with lab Mia in tow; barbecuing and lunching with friends; noshing on an assortment of chocolate goodies; and a trip to Auckland Zoo thrown in for good measure (pics on flickr). Great weather, great mates, great Easter!

Pink bits

2007-03-18T11:39:00.000+12:00

Well, it's now fading into memory but this year's trip to Sydney's annual Mardi Gras (aka Gay Christmas) was fantastic! It was great to get back to all the fun and games after a break last year (the 'big trip' took priority in '06), dossing at Jo's place with Iain once more (conveniently located a couple of blocks from Taylor Square). It was lovely to see them both again!

General highlights (in no particular order) are as follows: seeing Hedwig and the Angry Inch performed live at last, by the brilliant iOTA; noshing on the delicious ricotta hotcakes at Bill's; pizza and beers at Kerry and Michael's, along with a madcap bunch of Perth ladies in town for their 10th M.G.; doing the Oxford Street shuffle, including the Columbian, the Midnight Shift and the (newly renovated) Oxford; good being dazzled and entertained by the Parade; dancing (communing?) and people-watching at the Party (pics on flickr); sating my Wagamama cravings (hurry up and get to Wellington already); shopping shopping shopping (but only buying one shirt - a very nice Ben Sherman job though); catching up with Luke and Monika (schnitzel is good recovery food) and Cheryl too; and finally, copping a little attention from randoms, which is always flattering!

So after a great refresher, I'm very much looking forward to next's years edition - the 30th anniversary so I'm sure it'll be huge. Happpppy Mardi Gras!

All stop

2007-02-20T22:24:00.000+13:00

You can't fight nature, as this abandoned rail car proved (snapped in the Peruvian jungle near Machu Picchu Peublo). I reckon it's a great example of nature reclaiming technology and therefore a good match for JPG Magazine's current 'Entropy' category ... if you think so too, then feel free to vote for it to appear in Issue 10. Muchas gracias in advance!

Bah lovebug

2007-02-14T22:24:00.000+13:00

NZ Herald readers have been submitting their best and worst VD stories and some of them are real pearlers ... to wit:

"My boyfriend and I had (note the past tense) been going out for a couple of years. Usually for Valentine's we did cheap but thoughtful gifts - heart-shaped cakes, treasure hunts round the neighbourhood, that sort of thing. Last year he told me he had the best idea yet. I was pretty excited, but knowing he was working with a student budget I assured him it didn't need to be expensive or extravagant. He assured me otherwise, but 'knew I'd love it'.
Come Valentine's Day, I come home from work to find a treasure hunt. 'How nice', I think, 'maybe there's a bunch of flowers at the end'. Oh no. At the end I find my boyfriend. Handcuffed to the kitchen table in his undies. Along with his younger brother. Goodbye, boyfriend."

Goodbye boyfriend indeed! As my antithetical contribution to the day's 'celebrations', I cooked a delicious dinner for two hot women. So there!

Oh l'amour

2007-02-05T22:43:00.000+13:00

It's always a pleasure when something you had a small hand in creating manages to stand the test of time. So it is with Be My Anti-Valentine, a seasonal site which takes a loving pot-shot at the rampant annual commercialism of VD (that's Valentine's Day, not the other less palatable acronym). Take that Teleflora!

As always, my cardiac cup truly runneth over for the wonderful Meg (ably assisted by her equally brilliant hubby Paul) for keeping the BMAV fires burning for yet another year. Now, go have some fun saying it with ... bile.

Alive and kicking

2007-02-05T21:32:00.000+13:00

Hello, hello, yes hello, hi over there, hello hello, etc etc ...

As you can see, the rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated - the prolonged radio silence was entirely unintentional but these things are wont to happen in blogville from time to time!

For those who were wondering, the 'big trip' was fantastic - it all seems like a distant memory now but I had a brilliant time meeting old friends and new, while seeing some of the most spectacular places on Earth. I'll get round to writing things up eventually and 'backfilling' the blog but for a moment, feel free to check out some of the evidence (which I am extremely happy with for a mid-priced camera!):

Enjoy!

Up up and away!

2006-08-09T11:51:00.000+12:00

Well, I'm here at Auckland Airport, 40 minutes away from jumping on the big steel bird and setting off on the big trip. A lengthy 27 hours awaits before I touch down at Heathrow but it's a small price to pay really! See (some of) you on the other side ...

Diminishing returns

2006-08-02T23:31:00.000+12:00

On Monday, our small change got significantly smaller:

The 10c, 20c and 50c all shrunk dramatically, the 10c gained a coppery hue and the 5c has now gone the way of the dinosaur. Oh, and taxpayers will save $3 million per annum too they reckon. It's almost enough to drive a man to resurrect a certain website ...

Superb timing

2006-08-01T23:13:00.000+12:00

I had a call from our landlady yesterday who announced that she was putting our flat on the market. Oh, bugger ... just when I'm settled in a flat I really like and when I'm about to leave the country for close to two months. Impeccable, no?

The valuers are scheduled to traipse through this Saturday morning, so I guess it's all systems go from that point on. Still, thanks to our excellent tenancy laws, we have 42 days grace from the day any sale goes unconditional before we'd have to vacate the premises, so that's something at least. I'm hoping for either (a) a lengthy period on the market or preferably (b), that any new owner would want to keep us on as tenants (plus we're in the bottom flat in a split level, which is a better position to be in than our poor upstairs neighbours I think). Fingers crossed!

Quick grab-bag

2006-07-25T21:40:00.000+12:00

As follows:

Make a pipecleaner dance.
I pity the fool who doesn't watch Mr T's new homespun advice show, I Pity The Fool.
Struggling to make a jester hat in time for ye olde locale Renaissance faire? Well, stress no more.
A brilliantly simple idea, Littlewalks is a tots-eye view of a stroll around New York (with, presumably, DVDs of other cities to come).

That's it!

Shocker

2006-07-23T17:59:00.000+12:00

Ahh, the internet. Such a boon to humanity. But with the highs also come the lows ... like finding out your online girlfriend of six months is actually your mother: "Dad was ticked for a while and he forbid Mom to talk to anybody on the Internet ever again," said embarrassed Daniel." Quite right too!

Yummy and nutritious

2006-07-23T17:43:00.000+12:00

For some reason, I doubt that this show would rate particularly well with UK audiences.

1981

2006-07-23T17:39:00.000+12:00

"In 1981, New Zealand was populated by 3,195,800 people and 69,884,000 sheep. It was an election year and the year the New Zealand Film Archive was established. Punk was fashionable and so were knickerbockers. That year, the feature Goodbye Pork Pie was released, the documentary Patu!, was filmed and the music video Tally Ho screened on local TV ..." - check out the New Zealand Film Archive's excellent guide to 25 years ago.

Hoppy birdy

2006-06-28T23:19:00.000+12:00

Well, there goes another year ... 32 today and still going strong! I had a very pleasant time of things - Bert and Ernie birthday balloon in the morning, followed by my morning tea shout (cheese rolls, see recipe below), then a nice bagel lunch followed by some actual work in the afternoon, then beers and Japanese food in the evening. Lots of excellent presents as well - travel items from the family, and the new Buzz quiz game from Kyle. And phone calls, text messages and emails from lots of lovely folk too, with extra special festive wishes going out to my birthday twins, Travis and Jen. This getting older business isn't such a bad thing after all!

* * * * *

Cheese Rolls

A Southland tradition, these are a great winter snack and go particularly well with a bowl of your favourite soup.

250g grated cheddar cheese (mild or tasty)
1/2 375ml tin Carnation evaporated milk
1/2 packet Maggi onion soup mix
1 loaf white sandwich bread

Heat cheese, evaporated milk and soup mix over a low heat until melted. Allow to cool a little - mixture will thicken. Spread over one side of each slice of bread, then roll up (ie, fold over the bottom third, then fold that double layer onto the top third). Grill until toasted. Enjoy! (oh and any excess rolls can be frozen, if you don't want to eat the whole loaf in one go).

The big chill

2006-06-19T22:52:00.000+12:00

Urgh, winter. Things are seizing up around here as the cold settles in and time marches inexorably towards another birthday for yours truly. Still, bear my South Island compatriots in mind who've had to face this over the last week or so ...

Not a good time to be down that way. I've also just seen off a cold and am battling an obstreperous wisdom tooth this week, which doesn't add to the general mood of things. On the plus side though, I've finished all my necessary shots for the big trip so will now fare slightly better if hepatitis A, typhoid, tetanus or yellow fever decide to come knocking. And a blood test revealed I'd somehow acquired natural immunity to measles and mumps, without ever contracting them (an unexpected bonus). Come on South America, do your worst!

Maroon mustelids

2006-05-23T00:07:00.000+12:00

John Bennett - an old colleague and pal of mine from back in London days - recently published his first novel, Sea Otters Gambolling In The Wild, Wild Surf, and a bloody fine tale it is too. Take one bored teenager, add mother's credit card and an insatiable curiosity about a questionable pink statuette, light touch paper and stand well clear. Felix's global journey in search of the truth behind the mysterious, eponymous pink figurine is a ripping good yarn - equal parts funny, witty and touching - making it well worth your time indeed (plus, John's a top bloke and well deserving of your hard earned cash). Read without delay!

On the road again

2006-05-04T23:57:00.000+12:00

In August and September I'll be takin' a bit of a trip. It goes a little something like this ...

That's 51 days (9 August to 29 September) and if that map's a little 'busy' for you, the itinerary is as follows:

Wellington - [Auckland] - [Hong Kong] - London - Montréal - New York - [Dallas/Fort Worth] - Las Vegas - [Miami] - Lima // Santiago - Buenos Aires - [Santiago] - [Auckland] - Wellington

The break between Lima and Santiago is a 22 day overland tour, Intrepid Travel's Southern Divide, which runs:

Lima - Cuzco - Ollantaytambo - Machu Picchu/Aguas Calientes - Cuzco - Puno - Copacabana - La Paz - Sucre - Potosí - Uyuni - Salar de Uyuni - San Pedro de Atacama - Santiago

To find out where I'll be on which dates, visit my Yahoo! Calendar, or if you're down with the tech, hook into my Google Calendar (XML, iCal).

So, it's all fan-bloody-tastic I reckon! :) I'm absolutely stoked to have the chance to do this - and to have such understanding employers - and hopefully I'll be able to catch up with a few readers along the way, along with good friends of all makes and models, current and ex-colleagues (both English and Noozlelandish) and even a cousin thrown in there for good measure.

My español is progressing quite nicely too, thanks to the Hugo: In Three Months Latin American Spanish book/CD set - a 12 week course and currently only £16.50 on amazon.co.uk. Bargain.

Now, please please please leave a comment on this post with your top tips, must-sees, can't-misses, great hang-outs, cool consuming/imbibing joints and any other reflections on your own travels in any of the above spots ...

I'm particularly interested in hearing about Montréal, Las Vegas, Lima, La Paz, Santiago and Buenos Aires as I'll be losing my big city cherries to them on this trip. I've lived in London and have briefly visited New York before, but anything new and noteworthy in/on those two would be welcomed. Oh, and any recommendations as to good books or music to travel with would be ace as well. And if you don't want to use comments, I'll happily accept an email too!

The floor's all yours ... hop to it and with any luck I'll see you soon!

Sassafraction guaranteed!

2006-05-01T23:41:00.000+12:00

Currently rocking the iPod hizzy is the fantabulous Feast of Fools podcast. Beamed to your brain direct from Chicago five times a week (and just celebrating its 300th episode - that's like 9000 in gay years), Fausto, Marc, Miss Ronnie, V-Marr and the rest of the mixed-up crew put out a delightfully frank, bitchy, sassy, punchy and just downright funny show. It's well worth a listen but don't go confusing it with this site, which is quite a different kettle of fish altogether.

Hey hey, it's May

2006-05-01T23:23:00.000+12:00

Well, it's May so it must be New Zealand Music Month - a fine opportunity to celebrate all manner of Kiwi choons. April was a fun month too ... the Easter break was spent doing not very much at all, which was quite nice thank you very much. Yours truly is busy saving for his extended vacation this winter (more on that soon), so the bank balance appreciated the general lethargy too. My pal Andy and his lovely ladyfriend Robyn paid a visit the following weekend, over from Perth for a bit of quick tour of Noozild. It was great catching up, drinking a few bevvies and noshing out on some fine French food. Oh and we've moved offices at work too and are now a whole lot closer to the main part of the city, as well as having stunning views of the corridors of power and down onto Wellington Harbour. A good month all in all!

You're nicked

2006-04-05T22:37:00.000+12:00

Who says stuffy old journal editors can't have a bit of fun now and then? Apparently the British Medical Journal likes to ham it up every Christmas, lightening its worthy but otherwise staid publication with such gems as The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute. The study's results are as follows:

56 (80%) of the 70 teaspoons disappeared during the study. The half life of the teaspoons was 81 days. The half life of teaspoons in communal tearooms (42 days) was significantly shorter than for those in rooms associated with particular research groups (77 days). The rate of loss was not influenced by the teaspoons' value. The incidence of teaspoon loss over the period of observation was 360.62 per 100 teaspoon years. At this rate, an estimated 250 teaspoons would need to be purchased annually to maintain a practical institute-wide population of 70 teaspoons.

Science, is there anything you can't teach us?