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Weekend social 30/01/2015

Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, January 30th, 2015 - 30 comments
Categories: weekend social - Tags:

Christmas truce 1914Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever.

No politics, no aggro, why can’t we all just get along?

30 comments on “Weekend social 30/01/2015 ”

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  1. greywarshark 1
    30 January 2015 at 3:14 pm

    I bought some stories about Moaville by David Hill. This is an example of his gentle humour in the Preface to Moaville Magic. I think we need to pursue the vision of life as he has described here rather than the glitzy one of the early 21st century.

    ‘THE first time i drove through Moaville, the draper’s shop had one of those bald-headed wax female dummies posed provocatively in its front window wearing a black negligee and matching gumboots. The first time i went to the bank in Moaville, there was a notice on the counter reading ‘Kumara Plants Now Ready. See Mavis.’ The first time I rang up the plumber in Moaville, there was a series of clicks at the other end and a voice intoned, ‘Ah yeah, this is Bernie Klenner’s answer-phone thing here. How are ya?…’

    Then David Hill says he wants to say in Moaville ’till I rot’. and ‘any resemblance in these stories to persons living or dead is intended as a tribute. ,,,If you recognise any of them, I’ll be delighted. If you know any more about any of them, then please let me know. That way i can get another book started.’

    That sounds like a place a person could be happy in. They might even still have civil servants who wear hand-knitted cardigans, the object of past derision by Bob Jones. They did need a shake-up, I know because I worked with some of them. But they got thrown out in the name of productivity which we never have managed to capture, like looking for the end of the rainbow. Those who want to make something good of NZ as in the old days, but dusted off and more efficient, better think about how we can give the humanity back to the NZ humans of the Decade Rua.

  2. Philip Ferguson 2
    30 January 2015 at 3:18 pm

    In a couple of weeks the Dr Who spectacular will be on in Auckland. Here’s an interesting take on the cultural degeneration of a time lord, how the good Dr has gone from being an anti-establishment figure to very much part of the status quo:
    https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/doctor-who-degeneration-of-a-time-lord/

    And again I’ve got to put in a plug for my favourite gigging musician, Seth Lakeman:
    https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/seth-lakemans-workers-lives-review-of-tales-from-the-barrelhouse-and-word-of-mouth/

    I must say I’m disappointed so few people in this part of the world seem interested in his sinewy 21st century folk music.

    Phil

  3. Murray Rawshark 3
    30 January 2015 at 6:02 pm

    Catching an A380 to Auckland tomorrow! Yay! Kiwi kai!

  4. Ant 4
    30 January 2015 at 7:59 pm

    A short way from Rangiora, -just,
    You’ll encounter the wee town of Cust.
    But I’d like you to know
    Its not far to go
    Beyond to Oxford, -a must!

  5. Ad 5
    31 January 2015 at 7:51 am

    We’ve just had 6 hours of soft rain in Auckland!

    • b waghorn 5.1
      31 January 2015 at 7:59 am

      Had 13 mm in Taumarunui in last couple of days not out the woods yet dry wise but its a good start

      • Ad 5.1.1
        31 January 2015 at 8:05 am

        The metvuw.co.nz 10 day forecast currently has the main tropical systems just missing the north island, yet again. But a few cooler fronts into the south island.

  6. John Shears 6
    31 January 2015 at 9:29 am

    The main tropical systems just missing the North Island yet again.
    Thanks Ad. You remind me that we used to get really heavy summer downpours in Auckland in past years but they seem to be a thing of the past now. Climate change ?? Welcome rain last night though.

  7. marty mars 7
    31 January 2015 at 10:52 am

    Check it out – language is interesting and perhaps a bit cyclic

    “Shun all oaths, great and small, for they gain a terrible hold over people,” writes James Wells in “Tarbell’s Guide to the International Sunday-School Lessons for 1907.” “I earnestly advise you to shun all little minced oaths, such as ‘by Jove,’ ‘by George,’ ‘good-gracious.’ Love pure, sweet, simple Saxon, and avoid everything that seems to unhallow or dishallow God’s name or make it hollow.”

    http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/gadzooks-the-truth-behind-not-so-innocent-phrases

  8. greywarshark 8
    31 January 2015 at 11:17 am

    There are some great collections of quotes. And sigh, people had everything all worked out centuries ago. If only we could catch up earlier. Here are some that caught me.

    Quotations by Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman Statesman, Born 106 BC. … The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. … Let us not listen to those who think we ought to be angry with our enemies, … The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.
    http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/marcus_tullius_cicero.html

    http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/poverty
    “There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”
    ― Mahatma Gandhi
    “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
    This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.”
    ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Churchill seems so RW and yet contrarily comes out with things that speak truth and understanding as well. A complex person.
    9. A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.
    11. A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
    12. Once in a while you will stumble upon the truth but most of us manage to pick ourselves up and hurry along as if nothing had happened.
    14. It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.
    15. You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.
    http://listverse.com/2007/11/22/top-25-winston-churchill-quotes/

  9. Philip Ferguson 9
    31 January 2015 at 12:54 pm

    Nice weekend chillout version of Neil Young’s wonderful ‘Cortez the Killer’ by Grace Potter and Joe Satriani: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paeNnR33i5Q

    A recent discovery – I heard the guy on National Radio (he’s been around for yonks) – is Alejandro Escevedo. My favourite song of his is ‘Wave’, about migrant workers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV-0uE64-LA

    Phil

  10. weka 10
    31 January 2015 at 1:10 pm

    We had a discussion in OM yesterday about the powerdown as action in the face of CC and peak oil etc. This being the idea that we need to go back to older, useful technologies and behaviours to find the ways of being on the planet that are sustainable and resilient and that detach us from the paradigm that is wrecking the planet.

    I’m wondering if people would like to share any things they are doing over the weekend that are part of the powerdown and stepping out of the consumerist society/perpetual growth economy. It could be big (deciding to start/starting a garden) or small (repairing a piece of clothing instead of throwing it out, choosing to not drive to wherever and to walk/bike/public transport instead).

    I hope this is ok in Weekend Social. I’d like to stay away from the politics and focus on the ordinary, at home, in our daily lives stuff many of us are already doing but don’t talk about so much.

    I’m going to repair a top that’s been sitting around for a few weeks waiting for me to decide whether to repair or send to the opshop.

    • joe90 10.1
      31 January 2015 at 1:37 pm

      SaveMart this afternoon to do my yearly shop for work wear and then to the dump shop to hopefully find some more salvage timber.

      • weka 10.1.1
        31 January 2015 at 1:54 pm

        Savemart are a boon. I didn’t realise they were all over the country, and thanks for the link because I see they are NZ owned 🙂

    • vto 10.2
      31 January 2015 at 1:45 pm

      salvaged old cool shoes that would have ordinarily gone to the dump and been replaced by the next set….. gave them a good scrub, bit of dubbin, then a gold old polish with black nugget….. et voila, a cool pair of shoes that look so good even the younger and more fashionable have commented on them.

      did that a few months ago but you have inspired me to dig out another old pair of goodies I have been meaning to do the same to

      …

      another downpower is not weeding the garden – you know, saves the dumpster some additional weight….. not sure of this one though, despite its allure

      • weka 10.2.1
        31 January 2015 at 1:53 pm

        I just found someone who can repair shoes, so got some sandals done recently. I’m so chuffed about this, because anytime I buy new shoes I think about people in shoe factories getting their health destroyed for bugger all money 🙁

        Do you have a compost? You can put weeds in a bucket of water for a month and make a compost tea too. Water it down before putting around plants, and use the gunk as mulch.

    • Ant 10.3
      31 January 2015 at 2:02 pm

      Yeah, very cool.
      The recycle store in Amberley has a box of 200 or so knives which they sell at 50 cents each. Around 1 in 20 is a high quality piece and over the years I bought a number of them (primarily kitchen knives).

      Its been enlightening reading online info concerning their brands. These days I use them cyclically in the garden, kitchen, fishing and shed, always maintaining the blades with a formidable edge.

      This weekend I’ll put fresh binding on the handles of some of them, using quality cord and finishing off by sealing with varnish. Good for grip, appearance and that ‘personal’ feel.

      • Neil 10.3.1
        31 January 2015 at 3:24 pm

        Some of the best knives I’ve ever used were made out of steel from Ford Escort leaf springs, They have a high carbon content in them & will keep a keen edge on them for ages, in fact they can be to sharp as I found out taking the tip of my thumb one day & not even feeling it till I saw the blood.

    • r0b 10.4
      1 February 2015 at 1:09 pm

      I’m starting to organise the leftover building materials (and a few bits of old furniture) to put up on freecycle soon:

      http://nz.freecycle.org/

  11. b waghorn 11
    31 January 2015 at 6:57 pm

    Warm rain trickling down
    Filling cracks in the parched clay
    Drought averted maybe

  12. phillip ure 12
    1 February 2015 at 8:08 am

    (just found this – thought it wd fit/be appreciated here..)

    “..10 films kids will love – and so will you..

    ..Sick of talking animals – boy wizards –

    – and cutesie animation?

    Here are 10 grown-up movies for all the family to enjoy..”

    (cont..)

    http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/31/10-grown-up-films-kids-will-love-classics-family

  13. adam 13
    1 February 2015 at 4:35 pm

    Well must say mildly disappointed – But George was always a slow writer. This could be an interesting turn of events in television history as well.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2015/01/31/there-is-now-no-chance-george-rr-martins-books-will-outrun-hbos-game-of-thrones/