Not quite an intervention

IG always jokes about me packing up everything I've borrowed over the years, sending it back to him, keeping things nice and tidy, before I prematurely shuffle off this mortal coil. At last reckoning all I have of Ian's is a Staind and Season 2 Office DVD. I'd imagine he'd fair shit himself if I ever got around to returning them - all because he'd have no barometer with which to measure my mental pressure.

So when my cellphone rang with his number I expected much of what transpired.

[paraphrasing - but not by much]

"So, you'll pack up and send all those things of mine before you top yourself, wont you ?", he asked.

Note: Guys are sensitive creatures, and apt to tiptoe around the subtleties.

I explained that all was well, and that he wouldn't be receiving any unexpected packages in the mail. I continued to reassure him that although things were indeed strained at the moment, they were being dealt with and that hopefully some resemblance of normal would resume - probably after April 2009.

Undeterred he continued to press on the availabilities of other objects d'art that might come to light due a potential immediate demise on my part.

"So, remind me again, do I get your Capri, or does Matt?"
"What about the DVD Collection?" he pressed...

It'd times like this I'm once again reminded how dear my friends are to me, and what lengths they will go to to hold on to something I once owned.

Well that's how I'll be choosing to see it anyway.....

At times the negotiations would move outside, and much progress would be made in a more conducive atmosphere. This security cam picture shows a post coital beer and cigarette after the critical Capri landmark decision of 2008 was finally agreed to. *

* The car is to be crushed then set on fire - not set on fire then crushed as initially proposed.

Stuff I wish they'd told me

But they didn't


Laura Roslin: My only concern about you, is that you're so hell bent on doing the right thing, that you sometimes don't do the smart thing.
Lee Adama: Well - I'll try and be smarter, and wronger...

So, here's to being smarter and wronger ! :)

Nuff said

A powerful song for a powerful emotion.

There are few things in life to get worked up about; but this is one.





This one goes out to the one I love.

Back to the bard

I may have posted this before.
I am nothing, if not consistent

Simple emotions call for simple tunes.



And as always I love the bridge

I'm unclean, a libertine
And every time you vent your spleen,
I seem to lose the power of speech,
Your slipping slowly from my reach.


Happy weekend folks

Cynical Moi

It's easily to be cynical; because even if you get it wrong, the next moment you can always say "Wait until next time".
I used to be all about the Hallmark moments when I was younger. Now for me it wouldn't be so much about making a scene, but about making every moment count.

Saturday the 14th is when you'll see jewelery and flowers go up in price. At times like these I'm reminded that all this isn't so much about how much you're prepared to pay, but how much every other day should serve this purpose.

So perhaps instead of buying a card, flowers, or jewelery, you should remember the simpler things. Like the times you've thought of your loved one; perhaps before you dropped off to sleep at night, or when the day afforded you a break, and presto; there they were.
If you think of all those instants, and your possible inaction due to so many reasons, then perhaps now would be a good time to say how much they mean to you, rather than having the flowers say it for you.

Some of us don't have the luxury of that opportunity.

Always with you, always with me

When I used to listen to a lot of guitar metal, I fell in love with this song.

The part at 3:07 always makes me smile.
The whole song shows you how beautiful songs can some from any genre, and that love has no boundaries, at least where music is concerned.

The song breaks off at 4:25 before Joe moves into an interlude of "With a little help from my Friends", which may be a bit much for some tastes.

Go on - Embrace your inner "metler" - why don't ya :)

Finally

Saw this at the Spare Room yesterday...

A seven year old just back from the Dentist, after having a tooth removed.

THIS was how I felt last week - well kinda....

Because my Magic 8 ball told me to

Weddings - oh how I dislike you so.
Sorry, but even after all these years, I'm not entirely sure why yet.

I love the fact that one of my Auckland friends has made short work of what others may consider a major obstacle, to be with the one she loves.
The upside of this, another friend to brighten my day (and take my poker chips). :)

I love that fact that we all got to celebrate in your happiness, and share your day.

Somewhere there is a reason for my apathy, my reluctance ; but today isn't about me - it's about you.

Like I wrote in your card;

You two are the best
So it's no surprise you've found each other
Love always
Mark. x

Walking in slow motion

I'm walking through a mental soup, or so it seems these days.

For what seems an eternity I've been working a rather destructive combination of nights and days. The oppressive heat in my valley has compounded my sleeping issues, and like an unpicked jumper I am slowly unraveling: I know this because everything tastes of newsprint.

You see - In my younger years I worked in the publishing department of the Otago Daily Times. This is a fancy way of saying I loaded newspapers onto a truck. At the time I was still at school, and to this day I still recall waking up the next morning, exhausted, with the taste of newsprint in my mouth.

As the day draws to a close I find myself sleeping fitfully on my bed while the fan whirs in the background. It's 29 degrees Celsius in the house, even with all the windows open the humidity saps you of what energy remains. No rest for the wicked.

The weird thing about this all, is how unreal the world has become. It's like you've come off some mind altering drug, and only now see things as the really are. Of course you haven't, but the view is interesting nether the less.

So while it lasts, my days will be fill of caffeine, paracetamol, and other soup strainers. I have noticed a tendency to stay home and away from others. Absent friends are on my mind (specifically one), and I'm not entirely happy with my lot.

Still, all is not lost. This project wont last forever and there's always the chance that tonight my sleep apnea will finally kill me :)

Poetry Corner

I'm not much for poetry but I've always loved this one;


Brown Penny

I WHISPERED, 'I am too young,'
And then, 'I am old enough';
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
'Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair.'
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.

O love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.

William Butler Yeats

Rough Justice for the RIAA

Oh - this is classic!

BOSTON - Fourteen news organisations are urging a federal appeals court to allow online streaming of a hearing in a music downloading lawsuit the recording industry filed against a Boston University graduate student. The Recording Industry Association of America is appealing a Boston judge's decision to allow the webcast, which it says goes against federal court guidelines on cameras and threatens its ability to get a fair trial.

New organisations argued in their brief there was "nothing inherently harmful" in camera access to oral arguments, and countered the RIAA's claim that online streaming could be manipulated, saying the potential to edit video is no different from the potential to edit transcripts or a reporter's own notes. The news groups said the webcast would allow for more accurate reporting.

The news groups filing the brief includes Associated Press, New York Times Courtroom Television Network, Dow Jones & Co., Gannett Co. Inc., The Hearst Corp., Incisive Media, National Public Radio, NBC Universal Inc., Radio-Television News Directors Association, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, The E.W. Scripps Co., Tribune Co., and Washington Post Digital.

Is there anyone in the RIAA's corner in this?

They have to be the most hated regulatory body in the world.

Swimming Pool Therapy

I stood at the edge looking down.
After a moment I knelt.
I reached in; the water warm and clear.
I hung over the edge; arm up to my elbow, I stirred the warm waters.
As the chlorine quietly rose from the surface, the memories of what seemed like a hundred summers past soared upward, destroying the funk, that to that point, had ruined my day.

It's all about flying kites

Warning: Dont watch the vid - you'll go blind.

But the music on the other hand is all you need to know about flying kites - and that's about all I gunna say about that.




Big blue skies and an open field
My right hand on the steering wheel
Two young lovers runnin' wild
We bought string and a brand new kite
We couldn't wait to watch it fly
But it flew too high, it flew too high

Here comes the wind let your string unwind
Run as fast as you can in your mind
Back to a place that you never forgot
Before everything was lost
I don't remember when we ran out of rope
When we did we lost all hope
And we just stood there cryin'
That what's we learned about flyin'

So I took your hand and you took mine
And we waltzed togheter in time
But looking back I guess I didn't know
That I was in love and you were letting go
It's funny how your mind plays tricks on you
Seemed like the higher and higher we flew
You took off and I was made of stone
I was made of stone

Here comes the wind let your string unwind
Run as fast as you can in your mind
Back to a place that you never forgot
Before everything was lost
I don't remember when we ran out of rope
When we did we lost all hope
And we just stood there cryin'
That what's we learned about flyin'

Here comes the wind let your string unwind
Run as fast as you can in your mind
Back to a place that you never forgot
Before everything was lost
I don't remember when we ran out of rope
When we did we lost all hope
And we just stood there cryin'
That what's we learned about flyin'

What the hell were we thinking?

Ahhh the 80's



It was fun while it lasted tho - right?

My own private Idaho

I have an accord at home.

This may a scary statement to make, especially for those of you who know I live alone, but I have an accord never the less.
Well; actually i had an accord: now, not so much.

The opening act of aggression started yesterday while I was driving home on the North-Western motorway; a daddy-long leg spider swung from my sun visor causing me to swerve ever so slightly in my lane.

Understand this:I hate fucking spiders.

In recent years, however, I've grudgingly accepted they do a lot of good around the house, so as long as they leave me alone and don't invade my personal exclusion zones I'm pretty OK with the status-quo.

After my return from three weeks in Dunedin, any onlooker from afar would have been shocked to see me madly run from one side of the house to the other; raised broom in hand, swearing vehemently and loudly.

People: there is nothing as icky as walking into a simple strand of web in the dark.

During my three weeks away a couple of spiders had taken squatter rights above my shower, near the roof. After two days they didn't take the hint and leave so I ushered those two particular arachnids to the afterlife, only to find others return in their place.
Still, all this aside, I cleaned my space of webs, and awaited their response.

I contemplated the coexistence of man and spider over the next couple of days. I pondered our unspoken agreement, specifically around my personal space. I reasoned that they didn't pay rent and made a bloody mess about the place; but still, I hesitated.

But when that prick of a spider flung itself into the field of my peripheral vision, on its suicide mission toward my genital region, all thoughts of a peaceful outcome were moot.

Upon returning home, I nuked the fuckers!

As I see it

Right



Wrong

Forgetting

I keep forgetting;
How bad music videos were in the 80's
How great the bass track is for this song
How ridiculous dating was when I was younger
How pathetic it still is now
How complex mainstream music was once
How bad most mainstream music is today
How i felt when it never worked out
How i ended up making the same mistake more than once.

How ironic that this song reminds me of so many of the above.

One thing I'll always wonder though - How do men with beards EVER get laid?
It cant be personality - right?

Preemptive Strike

Disclaimer: I DID NOT read DeadlyJelly's post before writing this.

I am now disturbed at the similar nature of the two articles - however I take solace in the fact mine is better due to hers; she having fewer references to meaty goodness. :p

Anyway onwards McDuff.....

My Generating Excellence tutor once told our group a story.

It seems in the days of old, bushmen used to sit under a shady tree to eat the spoils of their latest hunt. Over the following days their bellies would swell with the meaty goodness before they would once again set off in search of new prey and sustenance.
During their hunt they would never stop to eat; their belly fat now gone, having supplied them with the necessary energy to hold them over until their next meal.

Question: Is it modern mans fault that there is now a McDonald's within easy driving distance of their last meal?
I THINK NOT.

Moving on...

While working off our belly fat is high on the list of things to get around to (Exhibit 1: the sales of Abflex machines), it is a sad fact that the modern man has now also become a victim of self image. Preening and fawning over moisturiser, clothes, and fashion, the line between the sexes blurs even further - and all because we're supposedly "worth it".

However; for what it's worth, there is an underbelly (heh) of resistance.
The last bastion will not bow to the machinations of the media.
I believe the last battlefield will be around restaurants without meat.

Take today for example - the lovely Deadly Jelly maneuvered me toward an unassuming orange building with "Organic's' written on the side. I must admit to some trepidation seeing the sign as we crossed the road, however her dulcet tones around the quality of the pizza therein were strong indeed. 1.

Upon arriving inside it came to pass that the hither to highly spoken pizza contained no meat products WHATSOEVER. While on the inside i recoiled in horror, outwardly I barely made a sound. This abomination was pizza only in the same way that the Pope was a cannibal !
The tribesmen, if they were alive today, would have surely wept for my condemned soul.

Given my rapidly diminishing options amongst the myriad of organic grains, and vegetable shakes, I steadied myself before choosing the manliest item on the menu - a Chocolate Brownie (albeit made of spelt flower). The day will soon be amongst us men...perhaps sooner than one thinks.

Organics - Glen Eden - Fellow tribesmen, you have been warned!

And she has the cheek to call Brad Pitt smug !

1. Truth be told there is only one object that will make the hunter gather man in us drool whilst eating pizza - that being the thought of MORE, and possibly VARIED pizza.

2. The company was most excellent however :)

3. My belly fat was in no way added to by the experience - in fact it is highly possible that in my raise state of awareness I burnt even more calories than normal.

Caro

I remember as clearly as if it was yesterday. I was driving a flat mate somewhere with Alanis's "You Learn" playing on my car's CD player.
When we got to where we were going, and I pulled to the curb and turned to say farewell, only to see two tracks of tears down her cheeks. Music can touch you, and take you places where others shouldn't intrude - I waited, but she never told me why, and I never asked.
I'm only saying this because I'm looking to be moved; not to those extremes mind you, just moved a little; to add a little colour in what has been thus far, a grey week indeed.

It's just that I live for the colour - it makes life worth living I guess. For better or for worse I believe we need to move though this life; to mix it up.

Some may blend vicariously, but I'd settle for a single drop of red and a little agitation to get the process underway - I've always been a bit of a slow starter.

Like today. Today I lay on the couch, and as the wind blew in and out, I dreamed as this music lifted me high on the summer breeze. No tracks of tears, but one small step for man-kind one hopes.

Run

Sometimes a cigar isn't always a cigar. Heard this at Matts a week or so back - it's really growing on me.

To think I might not see those eyes
Makes it so hard not to cry
And as we say our long goodbye
I nearly do

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Pony - Kasey Chambers

I'm off the opinion that there's not enough yodeling in music these days....



OK - I can't really back that up :)

If you happen to be interested in the history of New Zealand Yodeling, you couldn't go any further than the Topp Twins.

Sleeping and my Head

Another type of nightmare entirely

The first two nights back have been interesting to say the least.

On the first I dreamt I had entered into an arranged marriage.
I tried my hardest to be happy; after all she was a lovely girl, but at the end of the day I just had to admit my heart belonged to someone else - and no one else would do. But she was my wife, and she loved me, so in my dream I remained regardless.

In the morning I awoke with such a feeling of dread, it took almost all my energy to pull back the covers. Less than ten seconds later, when I realised it was all a dream I was so bloody happy...

Last night however, a different dream was delivered. This time I dreamt I was with a girl I really cared about. It felt right in so many ways, and when I awoke it felt like the weight of the previous "dream" had been lifted from my shoulders; it took almost no energy to pull back the covers. Ten seconds seconds later .... well you get the idea.

The funny thing about all this is that my mind has a way of getting the important messages to me, even when I don't seem to listen. In this instance I think what my dreams are telling me, is to be true to myself, and not to accept something I know wont make me happy.

So; more of the single life for me I guess - and believe it or not I'm pretty happy with that decision, given the current climate.

Sorry Mum and Shars - I can hear your sighs from here :)

2009: Year of Happenstance

So - I am back in Auckland.
Now I'm here I cant help wonder what gems 2009 has in store for me here?

While some people harp on ad-nausium about making your luck (i.e. yours truly), it's also worth pointing out that luck can happen through other peoples action as well.

Not that I'm asking what you are going to do to make my 2009 memorable...

...but what are you going to do?

It's OK if it's a secret - I absolutely love secrets.

Haven't thought of anything yet huh . . . . . :)

Dont mention the War.

I loved you in Wall Street!

I think now, looking back, we did not fight our choices; we fought ourselves. The enemy was in us. This holiday is over for me now, but it will always be there, the rest of my days. As I'm sure Dunedin will be, fighting with Auckland for what some may call the "possession of my soul." There are times since, I've felt like a child, born of those two cities. But be that as it may, those of us who have had to move on have an obligation to build again. To learn from our previous experiences, and to try with what's left of our days to find a goodness and a meaning to this life.[1]

:)

It's been a great break, and more than a part of me would love to stay. Sunday, I head to my other life in Auckland, and by doing so, become the other half of myself.
John commented to me just yesterday that he never seen someone who lived so far away fit so well back into his Dunedin life. The truth is, my path has always been made all the easier by the lovely people I surround myself with. Such is life.


[1] Platoon - well mostly :)

A classic love song

I will come for you at night time
I will raise you from your sleep
I will kiss you in four places
I'll go running along your street
I will squeeze the life out of you
You will make me laugh and make me cry
We will never forget it
You will make me call your name and I'll shout it to the blue summer sky

We may never meet again
So shed your skin and lets get started
And you will throw your arms around me

I dreamed of you at night time
And I watched you in your sleep
I met you in high places
I touched your head and touched your feet
So if you dissapear out of view
You know, I will never say goodbye
Though I try to forget it
You will make me call your name and I'll shout it to the blue summer sky

We may never meet again
So shed your skin and lets get started
And you will throw your arms around me

What I really meant to say was ....

California's comments the other day, were oddly timed.

A couple of days ago I got a text from a friend asking if my post was directly related to her - in this case her concerns were unfounded, but I was still perturbed that something I wrote could have potentially upset someone I know personally.

The problem with writing about your life, is that eventually you run the risk of upsetting someone. This blog was initially a way of venting my frustration, keeping in touch with friends, and trying to learn how to write - now I wish I'd never told anyone about it.

Why?

Because, my friends, it limits what I write, and perhaps more importantly HOW I write.
There are things that I would love to share in the comfort of not only my anonymity, but the subjects as well. Given the current state of this blog it would be moot, and more than a little crass to do anything else. Simply put: I'm not wired that way.

All this is leading nowhere fast - but I just wanted to say how much I admire those who courageously open themselves to the blogsphere, and share more intimately than I would ever dare.
They are the true pioneers, and history will learn more from their writing (and their lives) than from anything I scribble here.

Yep, you heard it here last, but regardless; Jay simply rocks.

Nope - no sin here

It seems to me so many people hold on to grudges just for the sake of doing so. Events that may have happened many years before seem to be reborn; as if to justify some sort of moral stand, even when a conversation centers around something else entirely.
I wonder in these specific cases if it isn't all a "look at me... looook at meeee" type of thing. A somebody done somebody wrong song.

Boy is THAT's a tune that never goes out of style. [1]

Although my generosity doesn't extend in any way to serious crime, I'm happy to consider we all have our moments where we could have done things differently. Forgiveness is underrated, and in cases where we have no direct relationships to the issues at hand it's all so easy to take a side, when in actuality we have no right to judge at all.

Judge not, lest you be judged, or so it's said. It's just that I'm not sure I could stand up to a cosmic security check.

How about you?

[1] This isn't about Team Aniston btw.

Clarity '09

In what could be considered a rare moment of clarity, I've been thinking how nice it must be to truly except the things we cannot change, and spend our precious emotional energy on things we can.
All that energy wasted for no reason, but for the biggest reason of all.

Home by the Sea - Goodbye 2008

Images of sorrow, pictures of delight
Things that go to make up a life
Endless days of summer longer nights of gloom
Waiting for the morning light
Scenes of unimportance, photos in a frame
Things that go to make up a life

Blast to Taieri Mouth

The incoming salt air sneaks past my open collar, cooling my chest before bleeding outward, down my arms and out.
The roar from the engine rises in pitch as I change down and pass a dawdling Sunday driver. He's running late: it's Tuesday already.
Shifting up, I lean into the approaching left-hander; up and over the rise to meet the coast. As I roll into the sweeping right, I watch the breakers fall on the shore, and the toi toi's flash by in a blur. The sun shines on, and the air smells of kelp, as the throttle rolls on to 100.

OK - It used to be a bigger number; a much bigger number, truth be told, but these days I'm feeling a lot less bullet proof, and a hell of a lot more respectful of the law.

And right now I'm feeling very very old.

New Year thoughts

Sometimes lyrics are all you need; especially when the music doesn't quite make the grade.

Take all of your wasted honor
Every little past frustration
Take all of your so-called problems,
Better put 'em in quotations

Say what you need to say

Walking like a one man army
Fighting with the shadows in your head
Living out the same old moment
Knowing you'd be better off instead,
If you could only . . .

Say what you need to say

Have no fear for giving in
Have no fear for giving over
You'd better know that in the end
Its better to say too much
Then never say what you need to say again

Even if your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open

Say what you need to say

Um... about the photo on this post. Just a tip for 2009. If you don't do anything else - rent or buy Spaced. You wont regret it.

In a lifetime

A visit to Deadlyjelly's house is always an education. Upon entering there is the compulsary kissing of the house "blarney stone", before venturing upstairs to the dulcet tones of one of the many possible Enya songs on offer, until you finally come across the house shrine to Bono.

While this can be a shock to the uninitiated, you can often miss it when you're so away from home. So with all this in mind I dedicate this Youtube clip to Hunkahubby and Niamh - so far away from the comforts of home, especially as witnessed by the body language in this photo.




Grab the kleenex. I wont tell a soul !

Affirmations

I'm in Dunedin.

I say this as information, but also partly as an affirmation; all this because it doesn't feel like I'm actually here yet.

Hitting the ground running after arriving late, I find myself missing something. Today, in the madness of Boxing Day sales I was less than enthused with the wall to wall people. It occurred to me that perhaps I had become a stranger to this city; this life, and that I could no longer be taken from one existence, and dropped into another.

That and the fact I saw NO ONE I knew.

I know this too will pass, but right now I crave some normalcy. My friends have also changed - I am beginning to suspect they have been swapped like in some Z grade Sunday afternoon movie plot - Invaders of the Body Snatchers or some such ilk.

For example: Matt has a totally new hair style - and I'm pretty sure there was no "product" in there AT ALL .... and IG... Well IG is going camping for goodness sake. Camping - with tents and shit - if that isn't enough to keep you up at night......Cats my Dogs!

Coupled with all this madness is the impending realization that another year has passed, and I will soon have no choice but subconsciously grade myself on my 2008 experience.

I have to say plan B is looking a much more satisfactory option; I just need to find the proper balance of vodka and red wine - tricky, since I failed so dismally last new years eve. Turns out this old dog can learn some new tricks;

1) You CAN have too much of a good thing actually.

and

2) The resulting bad can last for days.....

Merry Christmas

Bloody Forrest Gump

Jenny died on a Saturday morning....


Christmas (love it or hate it), is a time when we often find us measuring ourselves to times past. Destiny weighed and poured; is your glass half empty, half full, or spilling from the brim ?

If you cant change the past, and the future is unwritten; the only thing you can live is the here and now: just make sure it's the here and now you want.

Don't tie yourself to any resolutions for a tomorrow that never comes. Make the smallest of changes today; right here, right now.

Or don't ....

The point is, it's your life to make, or to break. Just don't look back in anger when it didn't have to be that way. I don't wanna say I told you so next year, OK ? :)

Don't worry - I wont - trust me :)

No one is to blame - really!

Back in the 80's I made Fonmeister laugh when I suggested this could be the song of my life.



All these years later I have to admit, the joke is wearing a little thin. :)

Lyrics (will pop up in another window)

I was there first !

In the early 80's I spied a double cassette of Bruce Springsteen's "The River" at a friends house. I always wanted to listen to Springsteen ever since I saw the cover of "Darkness on the Edge of Town", but I was still in school earning $2 an hour part time in the weekends. It's a sad state of affairs when a $9 LP became too much a stretch of faith for a 16 year old.


I regret the fact I couldn't muster more faith on an album cover when Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell was in such demand. In retrospect Springsteen would have been a far more astute choice.

A few years later I had my own copy of The River. I brought Nebraska on a whim, before cementing my musical relationship with Bruce in 1986 when I purchased "Born to Run". Sure - I died a little when "Born in the USA" came out - the cat was out of the bag, and Springsteen had finally hit the mainstream.

I hated "Glory Days", loved "My Hometown" and begrudgingly accepted that "Dancing in the Dark" was probably Bruce's best attempt at a commercial pop release, even if I hated the fact they thought he needed to prove something by writing it.

For me, Springsteen as always been the brooding poet; the political musician with a dream and undying love for his country. His voice, so distinctive; a new generations Woody Guthrie.

I was trying to find my way home

But all I heard was a drone

Bouncing off a satellite

Crushing the last lone American night

This is Radio Nowhere

Is there anybody alive out there

This is Radio Nowhere

Is there anybody alive out there

As he gets older he just gets better - and although some fan's admiration may fade as his backside begins to sag, those of us that remain will be in good company. :)

[Just kidding Ms Jelly]

Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin' round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleepin' in their cars in the Southwest
No home no job no peace no rest

The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

Language

My Hands Are Tied
Oh I Could Be A Victim
When My Tongue Won't Move
You Have Tied With Your Heartstrings
When I Needed You Most
I Couldn't Find The Language
When I Needed You More
I Couldn't Say A Word

Dave Dobbyn may be an acquired taste, but the guy's a genius in my book.

Group

"So", he said."I cant really talk about it".
"Why not", she asked.
"Well, It's really awkward", he replied.

"Maybe I'll write about instead", he mused.

And, he did.


When I embarked on what would be my first attempt at serious alcohol consumption since New Years Eve 2008, I could never guess at the horror that awaited me at the end of the evening. Truth be told, it would be far happier affair; hands wrapped around a porcelain bowl, asking to die.

Oblivious to all and sundry, I had my bottle of Kim Crawford Unoaked Chardonnay (thanks NFG) for company. I didn't see the other couples wax and wane - the dynamics of power shift from side to side. I didn't hear the terse tones rise above the sizzle of the sausages on the BBQ.

My bottle had a screw top, and all was well with the world.

At the end of the night, my second bottle running desperately low, we retreated like the sun before us, to the lounge to continue what we started.

Before I had realised it, a solid core of friends remained.

If I tried my hardest, I still couldn't remember how it happened: but the deal was this. Everyone in the group had to take their part in turn and say something positive about one of those who remained. When the group had done its round, the next person got to hear.

But my wine bottle had a screw top, and all was well with the world.

Then the kind words came; a group of friends who had known each other since primary school. All the energy of those words stored, the tears that followed flowed in a flood, sweeping aside barriers like matchsticks. From an outsider looking on, it seemed all at once I was a peeping tom. I didn't belong here, I was only six years old.

It was about then I forgot about my damn screw top, and realised that I too was expected to contribute to this emotional maelstrom; and worst yet, receive.

You have to understand what it means to be a New Zealand male.
You have to understand how difficult that would be for me.
There are ways, and there are ways.
But walking away from this truth would speak more about the person I would be,
rather than the person I could choose to be if I stayed.

"So", he said."I cant really talk about it".

And now you know why.

Honesty

Into the Christmas Spirit so to speak . Translation - I'm pissed - actually, everyone's hammered.
An evening with alcohol is not always a safe choice, but honest - never the less, when it comes to the ones we love.

Change of Pace

Back to the 80's for 3:41.
It wasn't all Duran Duran and shoulder pads :)

Forget our fate
The pedlar sings
Set up to sell my soul
I've lived a life for wealth to bring

And yet I'll gaze
The colour of spring
Immerse in that one moment
Left in love with everything

Soar the bridges
That I burnt before
One song among us all

The Vanilla Vegetable

During the long summers of my childhood, lunches consisted of a seemly never ending Christmas ham, boiled new potatoes and lettuce salad. God I miss iceberg lettuce.

Back in the day, a kiwi salad consisted of broken up iceberg lettuce, with sliced hard boiled egg and tomato on top. The mayo was a kiwi mixture of Highlander condensed milk and vinegar.

Running into the house, covered in dirt and grass stains, you would pick and choose from the table before running out the door again; lunch, a brief intermission from a grand summer adventure.

But today we have matured as a nation; we have mescaline, and what a pathetic excuse for a salad it is.

It was like the salad "project brief" was to go out to the garden and find anything green that wouldn't kill you. The second, more immediate preference, seemed to be to find as many leafy items of different size and shape as possible - the more artistic the arrangement the better it seemed. It was a shame taste wasn't a part of the dynamic - the bitter aftertaste in my mouth speaking volumes today.

Upon walking away from my completed BLT at lunch this afternoon I noticed most people seemed to have followed suit; those "lovely" mounds of shapely leaves relegated to a mere garnish; something parsley had done well enough all those years ago, but with much less effort and wastage.

Grrr

Rubberneckers

It's like you know you shouldn't look; but you can't help yourself.

After my famous run in with a psychic in Sydney many years ago, it seemed to me that actually knowing shit about your future was an excellent way of making sure it didn't happen- if you catch my drift.

So when my mum recently visited the latest psychic d'jour I made a distinct point of making sure she didn't tell me anything about my personal life.

[Note: Of course I didnt care about stuff that was going to happen to others. But it kinda bothers me that so far a lot about what she said about others has since come true.]

To my chagrin, Mum still sends the odd comment my way every now and again - comments I try immediately to forget; with little success it appears...

"He loves his job, even if it's a bit stressful at times", she said.

Hah - recently I've been asking myself if I do in fact still love my job.

Last night, after waking from a nightmare involving a complex set of computer machine language instructions, (to perform a complex work function THAT WAS A COMPLETE LOAD OF SHITE), I'm starting to see the stressful side of the coin.

It was then, in my fragile state of mind, I pictured myself in a me-oriented variation of a John Kirwan advert for mental heath. Satisfied I was in fact only mildly derranged, or at worst dead tired, I turned over, looking foward to what remained of the night.

This shit I could do without.

So, were the pearls of widom from Mum's soothsayer coming back to haunt my subconcious; along with my current workload, creating in turn some version of the truth?

Or was it just good old fashioned stress ?

Ironically I'm unsure if tapping in to the "psychic hotline" makes a difference or not..
But with not knowing, at least I'm not in control of my life again -

And thats the really important thing - right?

I miss my second

Life is a margarita.
Presented in crystal for some,
plastic for others.
Contents a clash of flavors and memories;
around it all the constant possibility of a little salt circling, should you foolishly think the flavour has faded .

Still;
counting the pluses and the minuses,
through the myriad of possibilities -
regardless,
an experience to cherish;
gone far too soon.

Never to be taken alone.
With a second, an entirely new perspective emerges.
If life is a margarita; make it so.

Angel Dream - Tom Petty

Hope this inspires you on your way today..



Musical posts will abate soon :)

Letters are mostly all there - just need to arrange them from their nonsensical musings.

Where is my mind?

Office politics played no small part in my day.
Dipping my toe in the big boys pool, idly checking the temperature, I was invited in to play.

I should have stayed in the kitchen. It would have been much safer with all those knives about.

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
If there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself....

Observations from the Edge #1

Happy smiles shouldn't be about clean, straight, white teeth.

...but they are.....


.. that and bra's - obviously !

[disclaimer]

This post came from the many advertising images hanging in our shops this Christmas.

Everywhere you look, there seem to be beautiful people with nice white teeth, looking extremely happy with their purchases. I wonder if in real life, if the owners of the type of bra above would burst into smile and joy upon putting it on - if so, I should point out that in my local shopping mall there is a huge poster of a girl in a bra looking positively orgasmic - can I suggest that one instead?

These images could be the reason so many of my (girl) friends confide in me that their husbands like to try of their bra's.

Never tried it myself tho....

Life in New Zealand

Ducks crossing Palmerston road cause accident

4:40PM Wednesday Nov 26, 2008

A mallard duck that led her ducklings into the path of an oncoming car is thought to have been the cause of a two-car smash in Palmerston North.

The ducks crossed Centennial Drive about 9.15am yesterday, causing a car to swerve into an oncoming Honda Odyssey van, the Manawatu Standard reported.

The impact rolled the van and sent it spinning sideways down the road, with the male driver escaping out of the driver's side window.

Both drivers were unhurt. The duck is also believed to have been unscathed.
- NZPA

Mountains to climb

Can we climb this mountain
I don't know
Higher now than ever before
I know we can make it if we take it slow
Let's take it easy
Easy now, watch it go

Acceptance be damned

As I walked into our local mall today, I came across a mum walking out, with her young daughter in tow. The little girl was howling mercilessly as her mum walked calmly to their car.

I suspect by the time we leave school, we've almost been conditioned to accept how unfair the world is.

Every time I see a crying child who hasn't got their way I'm reminded that although we're not the center of our universe, we bloody well should be.

Damn right - it's so unfair!

Running to standing still

You know wall, every now and again, a title in your DVD collection will come back to haunt you.

Last night I was struggling with a choice of DVD - it was Friday night and the thought of something loud, abrasive, or confrontational didn't sit well with me, after a week that I'd rather be rid of.
After staring at my collection for over five minutes I realized in my current state of mind it was entirely possible that my once cherished romantic comedy section would never see the light of day again. That, and I was seriously lacking a genre somewhere in that mass of 500 DVD's. I'll have to get DeadlyJelly to have a look and check.

So, with a complete lack of enthusiasm and the whimsy dial turned right up to eleven, I chose Shirley Valentine.

When I watched this film well over ten years ago, I realized a wake up call in the films message, and even though the finger might have been pointed at another demographic entirely, that message was still relevant. All these years later I'm not sure the message really took hold.
I must be the most stubborn person I know. Where other people seem able to change mid-stream; I don't: I point blank refuse to.

That's not to say my life situation hasn't changed with my six years in Auckland. In many respects I am a different person - but I haven't changed direction at all - I've just for fulled a little more of my potential. Hopefully there's a little more blood left in that stone.

Running to standing still is a concept that bothers me - regardless of how many hours we work, how much hair and sleep we lose - how fast we run, how far do we actually move? I cant help but think that regardless of my achievements, I'm effectively running like a mad idiot in the same spot, and have been for some time.

Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
I dont know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels
I look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through
Looking into their eyes I see them running too [1]

The weird thing is, I could have sworn there was momentum all around me, and any minute now I'd get swept up in it and dragged away with the masses. Problem is, I'd probably cut off my nose to spite my face if I thought too much about it.

Damn you Shirley Valentine!


[1] Running on Empty - Jackson Browne

The Killers

Some days you just need to listen to a song that immediately makes you smile, AND learn to play the drums.

Yes - even air drums :)

And when there's nowhere else to run
Is there room for one more son
These changes ain't changing me
The gold-hearted boy I used to be

Pirate Metaphors Ahoy

A better match than "Orlando" IMHO

I cant really be arsed, would have been a more honest answer to the question asked.

Thankfully age and experience has afforded me many a stoic face, stored away for occasions when friends ask if they can set me up.

How can I say that I'm interested, when I don't know the person concerned? Then, moments later, they admit that they don't even know her either....

"She's a friend of my cousins - she doesn't have any baggage", claimed my friend.
"I think she's thirty six or something - no kids".

On the inside I'm not even running for the hills; I cant be arsed you see.

Though all my years here I've realised a few things about what I want, and more importantly what I don't want. There's nothing in my strike out list that rules out baggage, kids, or age; my list is much, much more specific. Those other things don't matter.

I know what I want.

While I'm not that open to meeting people with a view to a long term relationship, I am into meeting new people. This faux "arranged marriage" only benefits those looking on - perhaps feeling they are doing their bit to save you from a life of solitude.

I have something to tell you; single it's not as bad as it's cracked up to be.

So what do I want ? All I ask is a ship and a star to steer her by. Who's to know where, or how long this journey will take. I know this feels right for me now - hand on the tiller with the occasional sharp coral reef lurking just below the surface.

Did I mention the bloodthirsty sharks?

I broke the back of love for you

Twisted like a pretzel I am.

Stress manifests as an ache in my jaw that seems to last for about 5 days.

The chemist looks at me with suspicion as I ask for codeine laced ibuprofen - well not in so many words, but you get the idea; I need the strong stuff.

As the ache subsides, people become more tolerable, but the drugs only take the edge off.

I'd give anything to worry a bit more while I was awake; clenching teeth in my sleep - I hate being a hypocrite to my subconscious; even if it's only once a year or so.

If not for this - what would life throw at me for a little serenity?

I feel tomorrow will see me in a better place :)

Soulmates

An ethereal song, much like the concept perhaps.

Understated moments

There aren't enough simple songs, or simple emotions, in my humble opinion.

Power of Advertising

Yeah - you're the man dude!

Where: In a local department store the other day, watching the kids (and grown up kids) play Guitar Hero on the XBox 360.

Thinking: How cool it would be to play the game and be a guitar hero.

Thinking: About absolutely sucking at the game.

Realization #1: I can actually play a REAL bloody guitar.

Realization #2: I must be watching way too much TV !

July 16 1969

We measure progress by so many rulers, that it's no wonder we so often come up short.

Four days after this launch the first humans set foot upon another planet.

Today, right now, we couldn't do it if we tried. This "archaic" technology got us there - but the knowledge has been lost.


Watch the launch in slow motion....





7.823 Million pounds of thrust and a lift capacity of 118,000 kg to 1374 kilometers; and I was alive to see it, in a world called 1969.

And to think they thought we'd be on Mars by the late 1980's.

Vanquishing Demons

I will probably never be able to fully explain why I need to make some old things new again.

Perhaps it's because true beauty never grows old; at least when things (and perhaps even people) are seen, not as they are, but what they can be.

Everything I learned was wrong.

If I was to cast my mind back less than three years ago, placing myself at a table with IG and Matt, the conversation would always invariably turn to cars. (Yeah, I know, thats where most guy conversations go to eventually - but in the case of IG and Matt the subject was almost afforded pornography status.)

Normally I can hold my own in most conversations, including car conversations; but compared to these two, my car knowledge is infantile.

"You know I really love the [insert car here]" said Matt.

"Yeah, thats a great car, and a really good buy right now. You really need the [insert specific model here] with the [insert lengthy specification] engine produced from [insert obscure data here]", IG would retort.

"Yes", Matt would say, in an almost James Bond way, raising his eyebrow and bourbon in appreciation.

I swear, it was like watching that TV program Mastermind, with a specialist subject in Car-ography - a wonder to behold, at least in a train spotter kind of way.

I was warned...

Thought their verbal jousting I came to learn that every car I ever liked (or brought) was really a pile of shit. Even my current car; a SW20 3SGTE Toyota MR2 with a 2 liter turbocharged engine was a poor choice; especially when IG went to great pains to inform me that CAR magazine led their front cover review of my Toyota with the subtext "How Toyota ruined the MR2".

Classic Beauty of the Karmann Ghia

Matt always wanted a Karmann Ghia, and Ian's latest car is a cool old Mercedes. I once wanted a 2.8 Injected Capri. So went those summer days all those years ago; they laughed at my uninformed lack lustre choices, and all was right with the world.

At least until this week.

I admit I've been worried about Matt since he started talking about family cars. I understand owning a family car is important - I understand you have to be practical about these sort of things - you really cant judge a person because of his "situation" [read: kids].

The chatter didn't stop though... it's as if the cars he once dreamed no longer have no meaning.
Just the other week Matt told me he was looking for an 1600 cc car for the family; his car would probably be a 1000 cc variety. There was no warning - I was waiting for a punch line that was never delivered.

He was SERIOUS.

I have to tell you I was concerned. I immediately rang IG and he confirmed my fears; I didn't know what to say - I still don't. It was then that IG admitted to me that he was looking to buy a Holden Commodore.

There's an interesting livery behind today's Commodore

It is finally the beginning of the end. There's no point of getting up tomorrow.

Case in point? I wouldn't buy a Commodore - because even I know how uncool that would be.

Artist impression of IG's new outfit.

Sap alert - # 4 - You have been warned

There is no reason for this, except to say I hate special limited versions of albums that contain extra tracks that cant be downloaded off iTunes - and can't now be brought.

It turned out I actually have Pete Yorn's "Music for the Morning After" - but as you've probably guessed, not this particular song which is (sometimes) Track 15.

Time out for clarity

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

W.B. Yeats (1865–1939)

Sweet as

Sweet as - Kiwi translation "Everythings great"

Ca

Don't worry. There are no rules. Sure there will always be someone better, but rest assured also someone much, much worse.
The important first thing, is to make a difference for yourself.

I've blogged before about people who give up because they think they don't have enough talent. My soul lifts a little when I see someone sing horrifically at karaoke; not because he or she sang poorly, but because regardless, they got up and sang - their joy in the song is the important thing to behold.

Sure - it's hard to find your stride, but like a baby's first steps turn into a wobbly run, so too should we expect a rocky road to our success. And how, after all this, do we measure our progress? Simple: from where we started.

California - You have a great insight, and even better taste in the blogs you visit. :)
I hope you start writing online soon, and send me a link.