Xmas Sales begin

OK anyone who wants a chefs toolbox party in the next 2 months you know where I am. This weekend I had fun with a stall at the Glendowie Primary school fair and funnily enough one of the other stalls had bought the house mould and was selling made up christmas houses so neat to see the product being used. I also had a bit of fun with coconut throwing and bottle cap fishing - had forgotten how much silly fun you can have at a fair.

The end of an era

Well I am not ashamed to admit that I cried on hearing that Helen Clark was stepping down as leader of the labour party. I have been a firm supporter of her and Labour since I was given the right to vote. I admire her tremendously as a person and as a leader of our country in my eyes one of the best. She represents strength, community, wisdom and integrity and I am very sad she has decided to stop heading the party.

Thankyou Helen for being such an inspirational role model to me over the last 9 years.

On the upside the other party I support the greens has increased their profile and shown that we are moving away from being so heavily driven by 2 parties and more towards individuals we see as right to speak for us.

I now have my own city run by a mayor I dislike and an MP I have no faith in - it will be interesting to see how they fair.

However in saying this I am glad I live in a country where you have a voice and the country has spoken so I trust this direction the majority wants will work out.

Happy Guy Fawkes

I love fireworks and getting to choose and set them off yourself is even more of a pleasure. Last night a band of 7 of us had great fun letting off some small, some large, some loud and some scary fireworks. Can highly recommend getting them from the switched on gardener much more exciting than the ones from the warehouse. We managed to keep our show going for almost 3 hours not a bad effort.

I hope we are allowed to keep this tradition in New Zealand.

PS. sorry the pics are not the best but this is due to the fact I was often to awe struck to remember to take them or we had underestimated their power so was madly running out of the line of fire.

Obama Obsession

I'm not sure if everyone is experiencing what I am but at work today all anyone can focus on is how fast Obama can win the election they have even gone so far as put posters up, screensavers on and I have even heard one staff call himself Calbama. What interests me is that none of them have any power to effect this election - our own election however on Saturday no one seems to know anything about. Their votes seem purely based on either what their parents decide or who seems cooler in the media - a little depressing for me that the next generation is so disinterested in the future of their own backyard where they can – have an effect. (Oh and this post does exclude one employee who is American so she can focus on it as much as she pleases)

I am happy that he has won though as it is a sign that there is still freedom of choice in the world and that anyone can become president - next step a woman. I truely believe the world will be a better place when the woman at the top out number the men - or atleast it would be nice to see how it would be.

Congrats to Mish

Not sure if I am allowed to call Melissa that anymore but old habits die hard. A big congrats goes out to Melissa and Ben on the successful arrival of their Son Flynn a whooping 11bs 2ozs (5kgs) so a big effort on mums part.

Gingerbread houses

I finally made my first gingerbread house and boy are they alot harder to make than they look, but very satisfying to see the finished result.

Basil Beattie

Today I wagged from work to a slightly extended lunch break to go and see a very established artist Basil talk about his work. As always it is so fascinating to have a peek into the different ways artists come about their final product, in Basils case I liked most the fact that he would tell stories about the paint and canvas itself leaving windows and doors open to one or the other but at the same time putting roadblocks there so you can never quite escape inside.

The works he has on exhibition at two rooms currently I love because they remind me of one of my fav activities which is staring out the car window at the lovely landscapes on my way somewhere different, I have many photos which have the windscreen as a frame. I also liked the way they were simultaneously still enough for the mind to wander but had movement to direct your thoughts. He revealed that one of the things hes see in his works is a reference to Auschwitz and the railway but as this is not something from my memories I see other things - he successfully fits into artists I like as I love any work that tells me a story whether the one intended or not.

My first strawberry

mmmmmm! there is nothing like the taste of something you have grown yourself.

My cousin Sam turns 18

wow doesn't it make you reminisce back to when you were just allowed to vote and drink only for me it was 20 but hey. My life was so different back then it revolved around lots of camping - playing music in an orchestra - studying art history at Uni and waitressing at the Carlton Hotel.

Anyway I digress Happy Birthday Sam hope its a great start to your legal tegal years.

Congrats to my friends Dympna and Colm

It is definately baby time in my life as all my good friends seem to be reproducing at a rate of knots.

Congrats you guys - what a cutie.

My first tent

I am very excited to announce that I have finally purchased my very own tent after years of borrowing my parents I felt it was time to go and get one of my own and now all I want to do is set it up in the park outside my apartment and give it a test run. Guess I will have to wait until xmas though. A friend said as it is a Kathmandu tent I am now inducted into the basecamp club.

Tanyas new job in hospitality

Well you all know that I don't get paid much and as such rarely have much left over for a life so recently I started working for the party plan business Chefs toolbox which has provided a bit of extra cash and now I have a third role to add to my jobs which is waitress as I have picked up a regular monthly bar job through my sisters gallery and through that have now done a wine tasting and 20th Birthday. It is quite fun to feel like I am young again as the last time I did this kind of work I was in my late teens early twenties so it makes me feel like I am back in that stage of my life.

Wine launched was called Dolbel - can't recommend it as didn't actually get to try it but it might be worth a look

www.dolbelestate.co.nz

Tent

I have been a patron of all kinds of Dance since I was knee high to a grasshopper and one of my favourite NZ choreographers is Michael Parmenter. I used to hang out like you wouldn't believe for his next work so you can imagine how happy I was to hear he had a new one out as I haven't seen anything since I left NZ way back in 2002. However, I hated it and mum mustn't have been 100% riveted either as she fell asleep. Instead of the dark moody yet beautiful works of old we had reggae and dance music with people playing mock netball games and sin of all sins talking It felt more like a bad play than a good dance and as for the rather misleading advertising which never appeared in the show as they wore summer beach outfits throughout. Needless to say bring back the brooding Michael old.

NZ Heralds review
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10537450

DINZ annual best awards

My very special dad shouted the whole family (and murray who can't quite be called a member yet until he pops the question to my sis) to the annual design awards. It was an interesting night and a good chance to have a peek at the who's who of creativity in NZ. Big winner of the night would have to be Alt who seemed to constantly be going up on stage to collect their prizes. Highlight of the night for me though was seeing my dad beam at getting the chance to meet one of his all time heroes Laurie Davidson the designer of many amazing boats including team NZ's Americas cup boat.

Its good to get some inspiration every now and again to help you strive to be better.

www.bestawards.co.nz

Final cooking class

well the last 5 months of classes at main course in victoria park have been amazing but as with all good things have finally come to an end. We learnt souffles, home made curry sauces and Millie Flourie all fiddly but so worth the effort. can't wait to see what yummo classes I can find to do next year.

Sad farewell to Angela Wolley

Was a very sad day today when I found out that one of my loveliest clients Angela from Tower was killed by another driver on her way to her holiday and wine course in the Hawkes Bay. Turns out not only is he horrid for passing on a yellow line but he was also up on charges for scalding his toddler. It always saddens me when someone so nice and young as she is only my age has their life shortened by such a mean person.

She will be missed.

FOR ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO LEAVE COMMENTS FOR HER FAMILY/FRIENDS PLEASE GO TO

http://angelawolley.blogspot.com

http://www.3news.co.nz/Home/News/Display/tabid/209/articleID/76378/Default.aspx?src=email
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10538365

Congrats Hayley

congratulations go out to my friends Hayley and Callum on the successful arrival of their first baby Phoebe Hazel. the pic attached is her dressed in the same outfit her mum wore 32 years earlier when she left the hospital - love that kinda heirloom whimsical stuff.

apologies

OK so there we go I have almost updated my blog for September - there are a few missing links like waitressing at the gallery gossip and movies I seen, amazing books I read but as you might have guessed I have been pretty busy so will try and get the detail back in this month. Oh and I got a kinda promotion as I now manage 10 people.

Noahs parade

OK so we all have one an animal crazy friend. Mine is Michelle who had heard that on Sunday there was to be a parade of animals up Queen street to the St matthews church where they would all be blessed. So of we went to see the animals but to be honest it was a smelly affair and most were dogs - there was a particularly scary white bulldog with bright red mouth and knarling teeth - didn't get a photo due to being too scared to get any where near it.

my garden

OK so I decided it was time I expanded my love of cooking into its offshoots and have planted a full herb garden on my balcony along with some strawberries and some tomatoes. Now all I have to do is not over love them as this has been my habit in the past. They even seem to be surviving the high winds we seem to have been experiencing ever since I decided to plant them.

notice in the tomato before and after pics how much my little babies have grown in only 2 weeks.

Leannes first home

My friends leanne and Matt just brought their first home and it is fabulously full of crazy old wall papers hopefully I will get some pics to post as they range from flowers to naked indians. The house now looks amazing its incredible what ripping up orange carpet, smoothing sparkle plaster ceilings and some fresh paint will do. On the tinny side their new home is right next door to my god mothers dads house where I have spent several chrismas's.

La vie en rose

Well I finally got around to thanking my carpark benefactors Mike and Steve in the style they deserved by going to the year on year award winning French Cafe. It was the most wonderful experience location was great, decor superb, waitors impeccable and the food - if only you coud see my face you would know how good it was. Even the toilets were delightful with fresh rolled towels and beautiful smelling creams. Who says money can't buy you happiness as every detail of the night was perfect except the price it was without a doubt the most expensive dinner I have eaten. Now I want to do it again and this time with the chefs 11 course set menu mmmmm!

this is what I ate (but I also sampled all the guys meals as well :)

ROASTED FRENCH GOATS CHEESE
caramelised onion, beetroot and fig tart, red wine syrup, rocket leaves
CRISPY ROAST DUCKLING
sweet spices, steamed bok choy, mandarin puree, kumara mash, jus of oranges
PASSIONFRUIT CREME BRULEE
marinated strawberries, lime leaf foam, strawberry puree, white chocolate sorbet

www.thefrenchcafe.co.nz

Womenz Night Out take 3

It was that time again when all the ladies come out for a great night of information and inspiration. I also was there being an ambassador for the chefs toolbox which was fun as had a great partner Shona we worked well together I was good at bringing the ladies in and Shona was good at talking to them as my voice was too soft to project over the elvis singer.

Speakers were Dr libby Ellis, Gail Ludlow (love songs to midnight), NZs motor racing journalist whos name escapes me and my fav Peta Mathias. We were also treated to a beautiful musical session by two Auckland University music students. Loved that Peta wanted to title her latest book beaten till stiff - can't understand why the publishers thought it would be rejected by the public.

All speakers were fabulous and inspiring and the night really makes you come away feeling so proud to be a lady.

Thanks to Katrinas vision for setting these up and keeping them going.

Goodie bag stuffer extraordinair

So I think I have talked about my ever so talented friend Emma before who is the right hand gal to NZ fashion designer Cybele well I figured when she asked for volunteers to help stuff fashion week goodie bags that by association and taking part I was also one of the fashion in the know. Just kidding you can take a geek to the the stylist but you can't make them dress :). It was very interesting though seeing the politics of A, B and plebs bags contents and seating arrangements glad I don't have to play with so many personalities.

Tuesday was the big day so my sister and I got all glamed up in our best Cybele outfits and headed to the catwalk to watch the show. It is such a great thing to watch and as always Cybele had some show stoppers. I have already put my order in. see pics the jacket and dress will be adorning my limbs from Feb next year yippee.

http://www.runwayreporter.co.nz/collections/collectionsdetail/articleid/1023.aspx

Radioactive mum

weird title but true - I didn't even know you could swallow radioactive liquid until my mum did - don't worry it is just for an overactive thyroid but still was weird having to stand 2 metres from her for over a week. Lord knows why anyone with the gift of being able to eat to your hearts content and stay slim would want to change - I would love that.

Kylie Minogue fanclub 1987

Hope my sister doesn't kill me for writing this but back in her youth she and her best friend of the time Kylie were avid fans of both Kylie and Jason and as such they formed their very own fan club with newsletters and scrapbooks etc... so when I heard the lady herself was coming to NZ finally and arriving two days before my little sis' birthday I couldn't resist so can't wait for December 8th when dad, Chanty and I will all be singing along to our Kylie favs like - I should be so lucky and locomotion and I just can't get you outta my head.

The Cocktail Caper

So my friend Emmas partner Greg thought we were all getting a bit shabby in our dress so he organised a flash cocktail party where we would not be allowed in the door unless we passed his strict dress code - I made it but our friend Josh didn't so Greg lent him one of his crazy ties - it was kinda the tie version of the frilled front shirts of the 70's very funny. Also had my first teenage house party flash back when a guy walked in on me in the loo - very funny as he was so focused on getting his drink out of the bath that it wasn't until he was on his way out that he noticed me.

Congrats to my cousin Zoe

so our family is a bit of a trade one so my sister and I were the first to go through uni and get degrees but seems our gorgeous cousin Zoe has joined the ranks and will be doing her teaching degree next year. Congrats chick - education is cool.

Final 2 cooking classes

OK so my absolute basics classes have finished now and we went out with a bang making savoury souffles, homemade curry and mille-feuilles so good. I am starting to get the idea of the science behind cooking which is making it much easier to work out ideas on my own without having to always check recipes.

Alices waffle house

The lovely alice our account manager here at marker is celebrating her last day today and to treat us she made everyone waffles the aroma throughout the building is devine. I must say one is enought though as I am ssooooo full.

MMMMMMMMMMM!

Kimonos on show

Went to see a kimono show with my mum and sister on Wednesday which was alot of laughs as even though the garments were beautiful the show was set to magnum pi, miami vice type 80s music and super loud. So very funny. My sister and I were glad we were at the back as the fits of laughter we had may not have seemed appropriate otherwise.

art in the capitol

I had a wonderful long weekend spending two of the days down in wellington catching up with friends and going to the two female legends of art. Congrats to Aaron and Bridget on their feb due babe and also to Callum and Hayley goodluck for your birth in 4 weeks time.

I finally saw one of my all time fav NZ artists Rita Angus work in the flesh after writing about her at uni years ago but only having seen about 3 actual works it was amazing such a huge show. What can I say I still love her and her work some are so real you feel like the characters are going to begin talking to you. Her skill with watercolour is incredible and she really captures our landscapes personality so well. Highly recommend it.


Also saw one of my fav aussies Fiona Hall whos work is technically so amazing and inventive but also appeals to me as it is loaded with meaning and symbolism - I am particularly curious to know how she got her hands on so much greenback to shred and make nests and objects out of.

hell pizza living up to their name

In NZ we have a pizza chain called Hell which when it first emerged was fantastic all the ghoulish advertising was hilarious and their weird mixes of pizzas delish. Recently they were bought out by a big chain and as such the marketing departments thought they would capitalise so they reworked the website. One can only presume to be more interactive and more image word saturated however they have made it so hard to use that the essential function of ordering a pizza is lost and for me made me use their competitors in the end from frustration.

So again using all the bells and whistles is not always the way to go. Also if it ain't broke don't fix it would seem to apply.

www.hell.co.nz

RSS presents

so how web savvy am I that I have an application that I run that gets feeds of all updated posts to my favourite blogs. One such blog is kinda a design kinda craft but very cool blog that I thought I would share with you as it has so many posts everyday that it is kinda like getting presents in the post the old fashioned way.

www.designspongeonline.com
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/08/regional-roundup-melbourne-part-1-of-4.html

and they have just done a Melbourne expose for all my fellow design geeks across the ditch - I will certainly be checking some stuff out next visit. I have enough points to fly one direction so its just a matter of figuring out when to plan my next trip maybe next year. I have run out of Koko Black hot chocolate mix so will have to be soon.

observations

Have you ever noticed that somedays stand out from others due to extremes. Yesterday we had ice winds but beaming sunshine, Heavy rain but Rainbows, I got my car fixed after someone slammed into it and on the way to the beaters slammed into another car, and finally because of said car was feeling down when I received an email from my friend Kathleen that she was coming over for a visit so started the day bad and ended very happy.

Semi Permanent 2008

Ok so its that time of year again when the heavy weights of Graphic design descend upon Auckland for the annual conference. This year it was held over two days so I was able to see three speakers on Friday and six on Saturday. Below are my thoughts on them.

Marian Bantjes - www.bantjes.com
What a horrid thing being the first speaker of the conference but she was great - good pace, a mixture of serious and some funny anecdotes and superb work to back it all up. She also started what would prove to be the unofficial theme of the weekend. Mid design life crisis that one needs to do probono or self driven work funded by commercial stuff to keep the balance and sanity in their careers. Also loved the fac that someone who creates just poetic, feminine and intricate work would chose a khaki mens jacket as her favourite clothing item.

Design by Pidgeon - www.pidgeon.com.au
this guy did the most wonderful work full of creative ways to do the unusual with small budgets and how amazingly he could cross over into fine arts, hospitality and architecture. but his speaking was extremely monotonous so hard to focus.

Joel Gethin Lewis - www.joelgethinlewis.com
As much of a fire ball as last year but with the background of watching him last year knew what to expect so wasn't quite as wowed as previously. Still his work on the Christmas lights was such a nice idea and for a christmas junky like me an added bonus.

Collider - www.collider.co.au
didn't actually get to see his speech but ended up having lunch with him on Saturday where we all compared client horror stories and also some tricks of the trade. Turned out he was born in South Africa bred in Invercargill and Napier prior to being based in Sydney. So needless to say an interesting lunch.

Derek Henderson - www.derekhenderson.net
Really enjoyed his talk and the answers to some of the questions he was asked - What is your most stimulating subject matter? - Naked girls What conditioner do you use? - why what is wrong with my hair I thought it was looking pretty good he reminds me of other fav photographers of mine like Bill Henson and Robin Morrison look forward to seeing his book when it comes out.

Sea Design - www.seadesign.co.uk
this guy for me was the most boring as his work seemed to be good based on the calibre of clients and budgets as opposed to the ideas. They did do a funny project though asking for people in the public to come in and art direct their own naked photo shoot which brought about some funny results.

Dumbo Feather - www.dumbofeather.com
Such a cute pixie of a lady in her black tutu and bare feet. She had a nice message which was don't be ordinary as there is too much of that already. Walk your own path and the scarier the better. I have since brought a subscription to her mag so will let you all know what its like in future when I receive the first copy.

Debaser - www.debaser.com.au
two guys with loads of energy and very hands on and inventive at getting visually rich results for their clients. I loved the video Bernard Fanning did and it was great to learn it was based on the 2d design they worked on. Also loved the fact that they took strange requests from their clients and made it work like combining film noir with Mexican day of the dead art. These two in terms of their work would be the stuff I would probably most likely collect and display.

Danny Yount - www.dannyyount.com
Its always a nice surprise when without even knowing it you find you were a fan of one persons work as so many of the title designs for films I love have been made by this guy. In particular one of my all time favourite shows Six feet under. As you all know I adore film and was just so cool to hear a talk from a hollywood biggun who I think quite nicely was from Kansas maybe he is the wizard of LA.

his show reel on you tube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oeLzw1fGiE

Stefan Sagmeister - www.stefansagmeister.com www.thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com
Well this man is called the rockstar of designers and I have seen him before and loved that talk but this time I came away with a bad taste in my mouth as he said a few things I didn't agree with and he seemed to come across as just so unbelievably arrogant. making fun of the sign language interpreter (by making him sign blow job blow job blow job over and over again) then criticised one of the other speakers and then landed his colleagues in a situation with the authorities in the USA and leaving them to deal with his mess. I admit due to baby sitting duties I had to run out at 6:10 before he had finished so maybe he might have redeemed himself for me during that time it just seemed to me that all the rules for life he was teaching didn't seem to reflect the way he lived his life. I don't think he is aware of how lucky he is that he has such a big profile that people do so much for him that they would never dream of doing for most.

wanted to see others thoughts on the weekend but haven't found any posts yet so if anyone sees any let me know.

All in all I had a good time and found a bit of inspiration.

Lady Marmalade

Nivin at work brought some grapefruits in so I took this opportunity to have a go at making preserves. It was not as hard as I thought but the bottling is a pain all the sterilising and pouring of hot liquids into small pots gets messy. However in the end my dad who loves Marmalade tried some and deemed it successful so worth it.

Holy Melancholy

Went to Curvy and Miseries opening nigh at Webbs gallery. Just love her work reminds me so much of the imaginings of my childhood. One day will hopefully have enough cash to buy one.

08.08.08

love that google can turn their logo into into anything - be it art or celebration. makes their corporate face almost like a person. Their artists are very creative. Also love the date today and am looking forward to the opening ceremony to the olympics as that and the closing are generally all I watch - predictable for me as I am into arts not sport.

bugger!

How funny is it to look out your office window and see a man who's car is illegally parked on the grass and because of rain is stuck in the mud and then tries desperately to get out - in doing so sprays mud all over the cars parked next to it. Glad my car was inside.

mmmmm finger lickin good

I had a much needed break on Friday and went to the annual food show with my mums friend Rosalie. It was great. I got to try lots of yummy food and drinks, talk to some celebrity chefs, watch them in action and then try their creations and so on. I enjoyed it so much went again on Sunday with my sister and her partner. all in all spent 10 hours over two days there. Oh and bought lots and lots of stuff like dripping gorgonzola cheese from Italy and beautiful silk bagged tea from america can't wait for next years.

bowling and brewbar

we had our usual fun team event on Thursday at Newmarket tenpin bowling and then the very posh Nuffield Macs Brewbar - I was ranked 12th out of 15 so not very good but not the worst either.

the attached is a photo of one of the gruesome anti smoking campaign pictures - I am not pro smoking but I say either make them illegal or let people who choose to smoke live with it there is no need to make them vomit - imagine if every chocolate bar or pound of butter had pictures of obese problems.

wild and windy weekend

Well apparently Auckland had the worst cyclone in years hit in a bomb type formation but have to say me in my little apartment didn't notice a thing apart from the usual rainy windy winter day. On Monday though when I saw reports of the damage realised it was pretty severe as several roads were flooded, loads of areas were without power and so on - I guess one good thing about being up high is flooding isn't usually an issue.

Due to the weather I had another weekend in doors.
Friday saw Samuel Flynn Scott live at the Whammy bar which was fun his lyrics are so off the wall. Not sure what to call his style as sometimes he sounds like the pogues others like cats stevens and others almost country. I guess if I had to choose a word reflective as all his sounds make you think of something else from your memories.

Then Saturday had a chick flicks day with my sister can you believe 5 in a row. Blonde Ambition, The Bucket List, The Golden Compass, 27 Dresses and Suburban Girl. Quite exhausting.

Sunday more movies - Respect yourself the story of Stax records - very interesting as had heard the motown story but not stax. Then Get Smart which I loved so funny I even snorted I was laughing so hard. Finally The romance of Astrea and Celadon - worst pic of my fest movies and by a french master no less really struggled not to walk out.

Oh and saw mamma mia - for a plunkett fundraiser and not expecting anything as I'm not the biggest abba fan but loved it almost felt like getting up and dancing and singing along alot like I do with grease and sound of music.

Needless to say once I have seen Dark night I might chill on the movie front as even for me this was a bit of an overload. Time to pick up the books again.

Auckland International Film Festival

Anyone who knows me well knows that no matter how many I see or how old I get there is something still inherently magical to me about being told a story on the big screen. This year I am the poorest I have ever been but I still managed to save and spoil myself with 6 films at the festival. So below are the first few I have seen and my thoughts.

1. The Savages
Was a bit let down on this one as with Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman two actors I rather admire I thought it had to be good but I felt it tried too hard to be the typical quiet overcome tragic childhood drama didn't really move me.

2. Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr Hunter S. Thompson. I have loved this man since my early twenties when I first read his book fear and loathing in las vegas. He had such a different way of looking at the world around him. He made me feel like I wasn't alone in my way of imagining oddities. Sadly though like so many of us who deeply hold the pain of the worlds wrongs on our shoulders he eventually couldn't take it and I believe gave up or gave in. Another loss to the world of the different and another win for the banal and mainstream. check out this website for the amazing illustrations of hunter www.ralphsteadman.com

"For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled."

3. Mongol - Indulging my fascination with history and trying to figure out the massive legacy of people before me that have shaped the world I now live in I went to this film about the life of Ghengis Khan. It was a fantastic movie and so beautiful to see the ever changing landscape but in the theme of the movies I have been watching of late shows that humans haven't learnt much in thousands of years as we are still fighting over love, land and power and it seems for every great leader for the good of humanity there are many more bad ones waiting in line to ruin their hard work.

"Do not scorn a weak cub,He may become a brutal tiger."

4. Patti Smith - this was the last for this weekend and yet not the least it had a profound effect on me I laughed – I cried and I came away deep in thought and feeling part of a larger consciousness of people saddened by the pain in the world and trying to do their part to change it. It reminded me why I always try not to ignore the forgotten people the people outside our walls. She spent ten years making this auto biography and it was just simply superb.

"When time, blissfully awry, spreads milky arms across the black expanse, to sleep, of what does time dream. And, thus unraveled, of where does time long.

In the wake of such delicious oblivion who presides over the edges of our sleep and the parting star and the hour under glass... "

So highly recommend all bar one of the films I saw. Just hope the remaining two are as inspiring.

Party in Bombay

Well considering the price of petrol at the moment a party in Pukekohe the last stop south on your way out of Auckland was a long way to go but I am glad I made the journey as was able to have some very intereste=ing conversations with a man who has lived all around the world but spent 12 years in Israel an area I am becoming more interested in as I get older. I also got to dance like a teenager to all my favourite songs from when I was that age too like madonna and Cindi Lauper. So thanks Steve for turning 45 and inviting me to help you celebrate.

Burns and Horns

Well last night I managed to burn all the fingers on my right hand at 250 after catching a falling oven door - freak accident I know. It took a massive 5 hours at A&E to get the heat out, I had never known what an amazing insulator skin was once the heat is in there it doesn't want to come out. Anyway the nurses did an amazing job and you can barely tell I was burned (I think the fact that I melted all the frozen things in my fridge and applied loads of lavender oil helped.

This morning after a crap night I was woken to a symphony of horns as all the trucks began their protest on petrol taxes conveniently all round my block - sometimes being in the heart of it is not so fun. Lets hope they were successful.