T h a t freezer door - was left open again

 

 

 

 

hmmmm - I had previously posted about the door to the Freezer room being left open - and - yup; you guessed it - once that happens then it gets cold in good ol' New Zealand.

 

In case you missed it - the ol' dude up there had a ball when he separated Light from Darkness and water from soil and so forth!!  He created Earth and everything that is in it - or better on it!!  

Our little paradise New Zealand - is often called Godzone (or phonetic as I think of 'Gods-own')! If you think about it - it has literally everything you can find elsewhere on the planet. Fjords / Sandy Deserts / Rain forests / Alpine regions / Flat plateaus/ long deep cave systems/ braided rivers to stunning narrow gorges/ Glaciers that retreat and grow (long-term weather depending), a Lake district, Geothermal activity (speak mudpools and geysers Ala Yellowstone Nat. park), stunning white (AND Black) sandy beaches - some so remote you can sit there all day long and be a hermit, natural hot mineral rich clear water springs, and yes - some very large powerful earthquakes etc.  

 

In terms of weather you can have every possible scenario - from month long droughts to monsoon type of rain, from heat-waves to snow - blizzards, crazy Foehn-type winds (with wind speeds from 110 - 300km/hr) vs long days of calm.  At any given day you can go from hot Fan-bake (+30c) to ice cold-snap freeze (5c) in less then an hour!  Houses used to be built on piles for the simple reason that anywhere - anytime, some 100-150 mm of rain falling inside 10 hours can happen.

The above picture is from windy.com and as you can see - the air comes of the big chiller room aiming straight at NZ!! Luckily for those further north - by the time it gets past the central plateau it will have sufficiently warmed up, to the point where we call anyone living north of Auckland - "living in the the winter-less north".  

PS - did you notice the MINUS 63 Celsius in Antarctica????   :P  

 

That cold air-mass can reach Brisbane (warming itself from the Tasman Sea) cooling them down to a "BALMY" 15 C !! It never reaches much further north - and we have friends in Darwin who say it is 30C year round - they just have a dry vs wet season!!! Ooooooh; to live in the Cook Islands where is a balmy 24 during a COLD day!!! :)

Anyhow - If you think you can design a landmass that can outdo NZ - feel free to get creative!  I happen to think that the Ol' Dude up there out-did himself and had a bit of fun with NZ and he just made it -- perfect!! 

Truly God-zone!!!



Have fun!

Humanity mistakes knowledge with wisdom

 

 

 

Sometimes I think the more we know the dumber we become - or at least make bad choices! There is also a certain amount of arrogance at play here.  

In the beginning when humans run round earth freely - everything was fine until that fateful day when a snake tempted Eve who tempted Adam. The moment we had eaten from the forbidden fruit - yeah THAT apple - from THAT tree - (of knowledge) - things sometimes have gone worse for
wear so to speak.

Being endowed with knowledge does not make you automatically smart.  And to pretend otherwise just makes you a wisecrack and arrogant. 

Communism sees the world as in imperfect place that only they can "fix" with central structure and thought! As is often the case - once bureaucrats make decisions there is a hit and miss on desired outcomes - and so often accompanied by unintended consequences!! 

Case in point - the Chinese (communist) leadership were afraid of uncontrolled population growth - so in their great wisdom they decided to "control" the issue, eventually leading to the 'one child' policy.  On the surface a good idea.  The unintended consequences are as follows: 

An imbalance of girls vs boys with boys being more "valuable" commodity in their society! Thus there is a massive imbalance within the current generation - by a factor of 2 to 1!! What will that lead too????? To visualize this - in a setting that's more easily understood - imagine an end of year party for a high-school class - with 8 girls and 22 Boys attending!! Who will dance with whom???? Who gets to choose?? Who will be left behind or miss out leading to resentment etc????

The other unintended thing is - estimated that by 2030 - yes that is only 8 years from now - (hahaha apart from AOC's claim that the earth/humanity will cease to exist by then - sorry had to toss that in here) China's population will have a great imbalance in ages - meaning that it will have more people aged 60 or older then the rest of the combined  people which - once many of the older folks die away - that by 2050 the population of China will have halved - approximately.  That's still some 600 million mouths to feed . . . 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_China

I hear you - less people for the planet is a good thing -yeah - nah.

The world would be wise to start diversifying its manufacturing  business - and spread it all over the world. As far as I know, there is no social service pension at play inside China - meaning - as the saying goes - "No work No rice bowl"!! You either rely on the ever diminishing children / young people to look after you in your old age - or - you starve or work until you die!  What will that do to the society????

The dude in this Video has it right - as had the Tom Clancy Novel - I am convinced that they will at some stage make a land grab from parts of Siberia!!! They will follow Putin's lead and settle some of their folks - then claim it as "their ancestral land"" and defend it with everything they got!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Me2G6FJZMI&ab_channel=ChrisWilliamson

Brace yourself - for I fear that a few non-wise choices are being made!

Have fun! 

 

 

 

Ps - My wife says: - "Knowledge is knowing that Tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is knowing you do not add it to your fruit-salad!!!"    :)

That open freezer door has a lot to answer for . . . . .

yup - a rare occurrence - snow in Christchurch!!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300678783/live-snow-in-the-south-island-flurries-reported-in-wellington

Mamabear just had to release her inner child before heading off to work . . . . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have fun!

What happens when you forget to shut the door to the Freezer?!

Well - not really a rhetorical - urm - sensible question! 

The answer is blindingly obvious - you get COLD - right?! 

https://www.weather-news-in-NZ

Snapshot from today's windy.com - you can see the cold freezing air coming from deep inside Antarctica - and yes - it is minus 40 C. 

So - no real surprises there!!!  Time to break out the Gluhwein and light a fire and get the sheepskin rug ready and - hmm yeah maybe some soft music and smelly candles and - Hey Mamabear - wanna . . . . . . ^.-

 

 

 

 

 

 Never let a opportunity go to waste!!!

 

Have fun!

Why Mainstream news media can no longer report HONESTLY

Ok - our "Stuff.co.nz" site is a def left leaning news media - so far left that it is almost lying down . . . 

It just copies blindly many left leaning news "worthy" stories without giving it so much as an editorial check - - -no wonder then that many people no longer trust them (or any other main news organizations) to report honestly!!  AND most importantly - it has closed  its editorial mind on this issue - no questions are allowed to query the "human induced bad weather events" that make your life so miserable! Skeptics and deniers are banned from its news life cycle! Go figure!! Surely a healthy robust debate on its merits is the rock-bed foundation of a good healthy developing scientific debate!! Alas - no longer

Case in point - this mornings story about a cacti (copied from the Washington Post) :

https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news-cactus dies

Sure -- its demise is a sad thing - and especially so seeing it was a semi famous photogenic being!!  This story appeared under the "Climate change" section!

It goes on to suggest that climate change is "probably" not to blame --- THEN uses a "but" and uses a lengthy paragraph trying to prove that very point of changes in climate! 

Well - NEWSFLASH - this type of Cacti has an average lifespan of 150 years; so for it to have lasted just past an estimated 210 years or so - it has done exceptionally well.

A quick wiki search on this type of cacti will tell you the same - - - - It has died of OLD AGE - a natural occurring phenomena!! Nothing to do with Climate.

If only they had edited that story and included a paragraph on its expected life cycle to give some 'Balance" to the story . . . . .

The only good news in this story was of the continuing benefit to the immediate close environment (bugs etc)  it does provide from its post-demise!!

'Comments' section on the Stuff site - not available - wonder why??  Maybe they fear that someone like me might say something that they find  - what - shocking?!?!?!  Upsetting??  Balancing?? Truthful??  Or Factual without the emotions - ah yes - that might be it!!!

Have fun!

Just because you do not know does not mean it is terrible

Lots to learn - Much to learn you have!!!

Did you notice the 1.59 milli-second shortning????

 

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/scientists-baffled-as-earth-spins-faster

below the full text - just in case

Scientists baffled as Earth spins faster than usual, making days shorter
2 Aug, 2022 06:34 AM
Scientist have discovered the earth is spinning faster than normal.
Scientists have been left baffled after discovering the Earth is spinning faster than normal - making days shorter than usual.
New measurements by the UK's National Physical Laboratory show that the Earth is currently spinning faster than it was half a century ago.
On June 29, the Earth's full rotation took 1.59 milliseconds less than 24 hours - the shortest day ever recorded.
Scientists have warned that, if the rotation rate continues to speed up, we may need to remove a second from our atomic clocks.
"If Earth's fast rotation continues, it could lead to the introduction of the first-ever negative leap second," astrophysicist Graham Jones reported via TimeandDate.com.
"This would be required to keep civil time - which is based on the super-steady beat of atomic clocks - in step with solar time, which is based on the movement of the Sun across the sky.
"A negative leap second would mean that our clocks skip one second, which could potentially create problems for IT systems."
Researchers at Meta said a leap second would have colossal effects on technology and become a "major source of pain" for hardware infrastructures.
"The impact of a negative leap second has never been tested on a large scale; it could have a devastating effect on the software relying on timers or schedulers," a blog post on the topic, authored by researchers Oleg Obleukhov and Ahmad Byagowi, claimed.
"In any case, every leap second is a major source of pain for people who manage hardware infrastructures."
Scientists Leonid Zotov, Christian Bizouard and Nikolay Sidorenkov claim the irregular rotations are the result of something called the Chandler Wobble, an irregular movement of Earth's geographical poles across the surface of the globe.
"The normal amplitude of the Chandler wobble is about 3m to 4m at Earth's surface," Zotov told TimeandDate, "but from 2017 to 2020 it disappeared".
Some (who are these ?? SOME?? experts) experts believe the melting and refreezing of ice caps on the world's tallest mountains could be contributing to the irregular speed.
"Earth has recorded its shortest day since scientists began using atomic clocks to measure its rotational speed," TimeandDate reported.
Some experts believe the melting and refreezing of ice caps on the world's tallest mountains could be contributing to the irregular speed.
"On June 29, 2022, Earth completed one spin in 1.59 milliseconds less than 24 hours. This is the latest in a series of speed records for Earth since 2020."
Zotov told TimeandDate that there's a "70 per cent chance" the planet has already reached the minimum length of a day, meaning we will likely never have to use a negative leap second.
However, Zoltov admitted there is no way to know for certain yet with current technology.
The negative second effect and its potential consequences echo back to Y2K theories, where many believed computers would not be able to handle the clocks ticking over into the new millennium.
Although Y2K ultimately proved to be no more than a mere hiccup in our heavily computerized civilization, another programming limitation was detected in 2014.
A vast majority of computer servers use the same system that stores the date and time in a 32-bit integer that counts the number of seconds since January 1st, 1970 — often referred to as the Epoch time.
On March 19, 2038, at precisely 03:14:07 (coordinated universal time) the clocks will reach the largest number representable by a 32 bit integer.
As things are, it is most likely that many computers will not be able to tell the difference between the years 2038 and 1970.
However, by the year 2038, many 32-bit systems will likely have worn out or been replaced.
Infrastructure is likely to be the biggest headache to fix, but planning the change far enough in advance should remove most major problems relating to time and date issues with computers.







Have fun!

What Prince Charles got wrong

Hey - future Monarch of mine - If I recall correctly - you had the pleasure of being down "to the Ice" as we locals here say- i.e. to Antarctica - right?!?!

Next time you wanna say something about climate change - ponder this image taken of today's i-net!! 

Do tell me, HOW LONG it would take for that continent to thaw out!!!

How many T H O U S A N D S  of years will it take?????

Get real . . . .

Notice the cold frigid air coming from Central cold store and just swiping NZ!! No wonder it is wintry cold and snow falling on the ski-fields!

Interesting too is the freezing point in the Andes - right up into the Tropics!!! Ponder that for a moment . . . .

Have fun!

Wanna do something nice for the planet - forget Climate change

DAMN IT     

    Do something local and look after the planet.

As my Grandmother once said - look after the little things and the big things will look after themselves!!  

It is not that hard - pick up your own rubbish - do not leave it for someone else . . . .

 

------->   https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/129249667/upsetting-scenes-as-trash-returns-to-previously-cleared-paradise-henderson-island

 

Have fun!

Why I am ignoring the GREAT LIE

Yup - I am ignoring it to the extent that I am NOT afraid of any future global climate change . . . 

 

Ok - now that you have taken potshots and vilified me - let me explain - if you are still able to hear me out!

 --------->    https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/300636133/new-research-shows-how-the-antarctic-ice-sheet-retreated-over-10000-years

Notwithstanding the Norwegian scientist who calculated that net inflow verses net outflow of Ice would amount to 0.01mm per year of Ice loss . . think about this for a minute - get your calculator out - - - - to get to ONE millimeter of sea level rise it would take urm - yeah about around a cool 100 years and for a full centimeter another - cough 1000 years.    Do you know where you will be in 1000 years from now???

Anyhow - this article talks about RAPID changes.  Well - ok in Terms of Earth time - it does seem rather fast!! In HUMAN terms - 

snip -- The first lesson is more of a warning. The period of ice loss from 10,000 to 5000 years ago was rapid, occurring at a similar rate to the most dramatically changing parts of the Antarctic ice sheet today.  

So that is from 10 000 to 5 000 years  eg, from 8000 BC TO 3000 BC- O K A Y

Where was our glorious humanity some 5000 years back -

 hmmmmmm  let me see - (consults google/wikipedia - need to get this RIGHT!!)   

oh yeah - we were still in our   S T O N E A G E ! ! ! ! ! 

Humanity was still being mostly hunter/gatherers!!!!! 

No Greeks / Egyptian / Chinese / Mayan societies. No Temples / No waterworks / No farming / NO RELIGION per say /  no o o o o o o etc etc

So why should I be worried that it might take 5000 years to flood me out!?!?!?!?!

All this even though they do not know why Antarctica is consistently getting COLDER and freezing more ice - these last 30 years . . . 

So - do you KNOW where you are going to be tomorrow / next month / next year????  Will you still be alive in 5000 years time??? yeah yeah - your great great great great great great great great - so forth grandchildren will thank you for it!!  Do you know who that might be???

Do you think that that neanderthal  (yeah that one - 50th to the left of that beautiful mountain) thought of YOU when he decided to eat cold meat because lighting a fire would "destroy" your  future environment????

I get the impression that this is just a "future funding keep my job secure" news article!!! 

 

F I V E   T H O U S A N D  Y E A R S  - - - - -          Dude - like really . . . . 

think about that number - 5000 years - what have we seen since 3000 BC?????

Get real!!!! 

Have fun!

Donald Trump with Adam and Eve

Ahhh yes - sometimes you just gotta laugh.

For a very long time now I wanted to see the Seven sisters - and so far they have been rather elusive!! Light pollution not withstanding - one day - yeah ONE day.

Here is a clue - and still I am missing out on seeing them - OR I have seen them and just not realizing it?!?!?!   

Note: Orion is doing a head-stand - as seen from the southern hemisphere!!! 

Anyhow - our Family has always had more then a passing interest in all things celestial!! One of those is - where exactly does our solar system sit / fit into the milky way?????  

Google to the rescue!!!!!!  What did we do before google came along you ask - well - ok - that's a story for another time!!!

Meanwhile I found a few interesting sites / pictures that highlighted the vastness of time and space.  It makes you realize how insignificant our lives and all complicated issues are - really!!!  

The more interesting thing that I had found out was - what we see with our naked eye (eg no help from telescopes etc)  - is only a tiny fraction of our Milky-way!!!   TINY!!!  T I N Y ! !  ok - assuming that the site I lifted this image is from - is100% correct.  

I do remember going to the observatory at St. Johns / Tekapo / NZ and they pointed the telescope right into the middle of the southern cross - and hey presto - what looked like empty space had about some 100's or so bright dots . . . .  which would kind of validate this image!! 

Yeah-yeah I know - you are just wondering where Donald Trump fits into this - right???

Bear - with me

While doing the research, I also found this site --->  https://www.basicknowledge101.com/subjects/space.html   

Which - is quite informative!  It does give a Timeline of the entire universe - with the last few paragraphs just focused on Earth (and may I say some Bias's included in that alone!) . THE last paragraph deals with -- well let me copy and paste . . .

Horrible Moments in History - 410 A.D. Barbarians sacked Rome - 1348 Peak year of the Black Death - 1644 China's Ming Dynasty collapsed and the Thirty Years' War raged in Europe - 1816 The Year Without A Summer, when a volcanic eruption in Indonesia blocked out the sun - 1838 Trail of Tears - 1862 The darkest year of the Civil War - 1919 The Spanish flu pandemic -  1929 The Wall Street stock market crash -  1944 The Holocaust was at its height - 1968 Assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy - 1962 The Cuban missile crisis -  2001 The 9/11 attacks - 2016 Donald Trump becomes president - 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic.

Yeah - I mean they are all undoubtedly not great moments in our human history. Still, of ALL the nastier characters that ruled / walked on Earth the author / owner of this particular website just HAD to include Donald Trump!!!  Talk about TDS!!!!! Why not Genghis Khan / Saddam Hussein/ Mugabe / Pol Pot / - and possibly one certain Putin ex Russia?! - who I would have thought - would have much better qualifications as "horrible moments" in our history!!  - yeah right - "Orange Man" is here and now and the others (well - with the exception of Putin) do no longer affect you personally!!  

Also - the Japanese might argue that dropping a couple of Bombs on them was far more traumatic then 9/11 and should be included if not replacing . . . .but I digress. I am sure you can add your own "horrible moment in history" to this list - right?!

The other point one can make is as follows: Why mention the "horrible" things in the first place - when one could  have written about  "good" things happening in our History???? Advancement of Medicinal knowledge - leading to less premature deaths for example . . . .

All this led me to the ponder - ALL this VAST knowledge!!!!! 

From Genesis 2 ---->  ¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” 

It has been some time since I read that - - so silly me has shortened that to just the tree of knowledge!! Period!!  That would certainly have put a different spin on things!!  I never believed for one moment that Science and Religion (or Creation vs Evolution ) are mutually exclusive! Rather I do believe that they compliment each other - IF you accept that Science tells us HOW things have evolved and Religion tells us WHY!!! How and why are different things even if they do lead to the same conclusive place!

Hendrick Goltzius - 1558 - 1617 

It is interesting (and yes - I am no scholar - just some old random dude), that the command for NOT eating from THIS particular tree came BEFORE Eve had been formed.  --- OK so I am NOT going to go into Eve and snake and apples . . . . 

Rather - I wonder why THAT tree was doing there in the first place?!?!  You will also have noticed that the fig-leaves came AFTER they had eaten an apple . . . .  hmmmmm what does that tell us???     right - pass the kiwi fruit?!?!?!

Genesis 3 --->  ²² And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” ²³ So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

As said before - no scholar here - so - a simple question for you - are humans the ONLY kind of species that had eaten some of the "proverbial" apple?????  Indeed are they the only living thing that had its use forbidden?

I'd say not! Have you ever seen the guilty look on your dog when he got found out, having done something, he should not have????  Does doing wrong equal doing evil??? Or is that just a question of 'morality'?????

If morality is that thing that you do when no-one is looking - does that make Donald and Eve equally guilty??  

Another question --  Will we ever be able to get BACK into the famous Garden??? 

Further - there is this whole 'I am your only God' (as in SINGULAR) theme running through the bible and then he says about becoming like "us" (as in PLURAL) so figure that one out!!!!

And lastly -  not to put a finer point on this - Lord  - like really -  WHY OH WHY did you put those damn tress there in the first place??????

Johann Wenzel Peter

 
So - old dude up there - do tell . . . . . 

 

 

Have fun!

What Shakespeare got wrong:

 

 To be or not to be . . . . -- is not the question one needs to ask themselves.

We ARE – from conception on-wards. End of story! Ok – almost!

       

There is that magical 5 minutes where sperm meets egg and all genetic material is rearranged in order to form a new life form! There is no human control over this – totally random and unpredictable – well almost. More on that later.

    From that magical 5 minutes forward – basically and to put it brutally – this new life created faces up to a certain future-yet-to-be-determined date with death.

        There is a lot that can go wrong for the first 9 months – not to mention abortion. We are 100% dependable on a friendly host to sustain us – food, shelter and warmth! Even after we are born – we depend on someone to help us grow! However – as said before – there is a lot that can go wrong at any one time! The WHO stipulates that malnutrition is the leading cause for under 10 year olds – or least an underlying condition contributing to a premature demise!

        If we are lucky – we avoid death by snake bite / being eaten by crocodile (sorry Jade) / struck by lightning / facing the 200 plus idiots driving on the wrong side of 2 lane one-way highway / struck by an errant golf-ball / fixing that loose live electric cable / drowning / flying etc, etc, etc. Heck – even the simple act of getting out of bed is a cause for a pre-mature departure from life! Weather and Earth events (speak natural disasters ) feature in the WHO report too - oddly enough – though the rate of death as a % over the population is 0.01 % - So I am perfectly fine strolling up to a raging volcano!! Hmmmm

        Anyhow – to recap – the Thursday before Easter this year – I – at the point of going to bed – experienced severe stabbing chest pain and also broke out in a big sweat – similar to what my wife endures due to her hormonal midlife changes!! In the last few years I used to get one or the other but never together and also usually less severe! Anyhow – I asked Pam to take me to the After Hours clinc in town. There, they poked me here there and everywhere – drew blood – listened to all things and by 1 am sent me home with the advice to go and see my usual doctor!! The Doc from the after hours place who examined me, entered into a brief sms-txt conversation – re-assuring there is nothing critical / urgently wrong! So Easter Weekend was spent in our Campervan at Wakanui Beach – doing some catching up on things needed for the van and just trying to NOT think to much about recent events. 

As it happened, we were scheduled to go to the West Coast that weekend – glad we did not – as – we met a lovely couple in another Motorhome and struck up a friendship. Funny how things have a habit of working out!! So – the appointment with my local Doc was made/ saw my doc/ – more blood donated and a referral was made to Chch Hospital Hematology Unit!!

Yeah; I KNOW – T H A T unit!!!

        Seems that genes can transcend 3 generations. My father had a form of leukemia and as we know to well, our son Michael is also a Leukemia patient (with two bone-marrow transplants) – thus I was really hoping that it would skip a generation!! Alas – seems it is not.

So it seems I got CLL --

https://www.leukaemia.org.nz/information/about-blood-cancers/leukaemia/chronic-lymphocytic-leukaemia/

H O T D A M N ! !

        This in from Wikipedia ----> CLL affected about 904,000 people globally in 2015 and resulted in 60,700 deaths. In 2021, the estimated incidence of CLL in the United States is 21,250 new cases and 4,320 deaths. The disease most commonly occurs in people over the age of 65 due to the accumulation of genetic mutations that occurs over time. Men are diagnosed around twice as often as women (6.8 to 3.5 ratio). It is much less common in people from Asia.  Five-year survival following diagnosis is approximately 83% in the United States.  It represents less than 1% of deaths from cancer. <---- Well there is something to hold on to!!

        So -I have resigned myself to the fact that, if nothing else will prematurely remove me from this planet (fingers crossed), – then the CLL will – in the end!!! I most definitely will not die of old age . . .

        Not that this will matter too much. What does matter now is HOW I live my life ‘till then!! Actually really this would be a matter since conception – right??  So you see – to be or not to be is indeed misleading – it should be more like – I am, so what do I do now -- with my life ‘till I am no longer . . . .

        Okay, Dear Lord – If you have it in your will that I should win some $$$ in Lotto – please make it earlier then later – as a week b4 my departure is of no use to me! I would rather Pam could retire earlier and we can spend some quality time together in our Old Age and we can grow OLD together. Growing old is only fun if one can stay healthy. So ol’ dude up there – about our little understanding – you remember that???? I stay faithful no matter what and you look after me. I am holding up my end of the deal!! Just letting you know! I am also holding you to your end, as ..... what do you mean, you are looking after me no matter what as well??? When did that change happen??? Ahh Lord - there is never any use in arguing with You! You are always in the right. OK - Your will be done.

        Meanwhile if you please – it is full steam ahead with the enjoyment part of life!! As I am typing this we are sitting at a campsite in the middle of nowhere and admire the blue ocean. Wine / Mushroom / Nutella and other things have been stored away and at some stage I should start a fire to bbq the steak . .
  

Oh BTW – Lord -I have at home a template for a coffin – any idea how soon I shall start working on that??? I already got the cross for it made and I am thinking of Rimu timber as a base with some Totara inlay and the handles in Matai or southern Rata - - excuse me – say what – you will let me know later when the time is right? . . . . oh, okay . . . waits . . . .

 

Meanwhile – folks – please do and go and have some fun.

You never know when life throws you an obstacle on your journey . . . .

OH Yeah - Happy 61 Birthday Papabear - some birthday!!!!!

Have fun!

And the winner is . . . .

Ok not me

However

With all the changes in my life - I did some research - and have at a loose count seen about 180 of the movies that have won either or both - Best picture / Best actor male / female and best supporting actor male / female!  Some heaps more to catch up on.

Watched last night Tootsie!! Priceless

 

Meanwhile - some interesting stats to ponder:

 

The Oscars were interesting - for  the absenteeism

 

No Oscar (actors - male or female) winners in any Movies from :

Star Wars / H Potter / James Bond / Bourne / Indiana Jones series /

No Oscars for Dean Martin / Sammy Davis Jr / Elvis P / - (though Frank Sinatra did win for his role in "From here to Eternity" - epic) / Arnold Schwarzenegger  (don't think he ever got nominated) / Bob Hope /  Clint Eastwood (never as an Actor but 4 from Directing etc) / Harrison Ford (nominated for male lead in "Witness" but no win!) / Rock Hudson / Doris Day (nominated for "Pillow Talk" only) / Tony Curtis / Cary Grant / John Wayne (one from True Grit) / Sean Connery (only one as best supporting male actor) / - there would be other  famous names!!!

Spencer Tracey and Tom Hanks the only 2 Actors to  EVER win Back to Back Oscars - in modern times! 

Apart from ---> There were the original first years back in the dark ages  of 1927 with Email Jannings (male) - 2 / Janet Gaynor (female) - 3 winning - from 12 Films made (1927/28), so not a lot of choice back then there.

Noticeable too is the fact they are running out of ideas with lately a lot of Biography films being made - Winston Churchill / Queen / Ford vs Ferrari / Bohemian Rhapsody etc etc

From the blockbuster movies . . . 

• Lord of the Rings (The return of the King) -- (nominated 11 - won 11 - no actors)

• Titanic (nominated 14 - won 11 - no actors)

• The last Emperor (nominated 9 - won 9 - - no actors) 
  

• Braveheart (nominated 10 - won 5 - no actors)

• Schindler's list (nominated 12 - won 7 -- no actors)

• Dances with Wolves (nominated 12 - won 7 -- no actors)

• Out of Africa (nominated 11 -  won 7  -- no actors) 

• Sound of Music (nominated 10 - won 5- no actors)

• Doctor Zhivago (nominated 10 - won 5- no actors)  

• The English Patient (nominated 12 - won 9  -- incl best female support actor only)

• Forrest Gump (nominated 13 - won 6 -- incl best actor only)

• Amadeus (nominated 11 - won 7 -- incl best male actor only)

• Unforgiven (nominated 9 - won 4 -- incl best male support actor only)

• A Passage to India (nominated 11 - won 2 -- incl best female support actor only)

• Terms of Endearment (nominated 11  -won 5 -- incl best female / best male support actor only)

• Gandhi (nominated 11 - won 8 -- incl best male actor only)

• Tootsie (nominated 10 - won 1 -- best female support actor only)

• My Fair Lady (nominated 12 - won 8 - best male actor only)

There are many others like this - big blockbusters - but no actors or only one . . . .

Moral of the story  - stay away from big blockbusters?!

Have fun!

Dancing with The Stars returned - was it worth it???

 

 

So after a short hiatus the show had returned.

After the first episode the headline screamed:

Stuff       Mon 25 April --  DWTS Recap: First couple sent home from Dancing with the Stars — yes, already
NZ Herald   Mon 25 April  --  DWTS  A kiss, a spell and a millionaire-maker goes home

 

    So I decided to flag this - and more importantly (just as a fun project) to faithfully copy the headlines from our major online news media; - I wanted to see how they were "SELLING" the show in the future!  You know how this works - a good product sells itself - the more awful a product the more outrageous the advertising!  

Nero had it right - Bread and games to keep the masses happy.... just not sure if this is the "right" games . . . ok before you get your knickers in a collective online twat - it is my personal opinion. I am sure there are far more important issues to get our head around . . . . or better ways to chill out . . . . 

Anyhow

Further headlines as the happened  below:

Stuff       Tue 3 May    --  Dwts Recap: Huge upset on Dancing with the Stars   
Stuff       Tue 3 May        DWTS shock elimination of Eli Matthewson: 'That will change a lot of lives'
NZ Herald   Tue 3 May    --  'Gutted': One of the biggest shocks in DWTS history - top contender eliminated

NZ Herald   Wed 4 May --    DTWS Shock elimination: What went wrong for Eli Matthewson?

Stuff       Mon 9 May      --  DTWS: Is Dancing with the Stars party already over?
NZ Herald   Mon 9 May      --  DTWS NZ episode 5: Perfect 10s and a rule change after shock eliminations

Stuff       Tue 10 May  --    DWTS: New elimination method boots Kerre out
NZ Herald   Tue 10 May   --   DWTS: Broadcasting legend sent home in first dance-off

Stuff       Mon 16 May   --    DWTS Recap: The audience is the winner on Dancing with the Stars this week
NZ Herald   Mon 16 May   --    DWTS:   episode 7: A night of grinding, glitter, 10s and 'bad juju'

Stuff       Tue 17 May  --    DWTS Recap: A confusing elimination for Dancing with the Stars
NZ Herald   Tue 17 May  --    DWTS Episode 8: Tears flow as reality TV star Alex Vaz is sent home
                                  DWTS Devastated Vaz makes cheeky dig at Eric Murray after elimination

Stuff       Thur 19 May  --   DWTS: Eric Murray out of the competition due to Covid-19

NZ Herald   Sun 22 May   ----     Kerre Woodham reveals brutal reality of DWTS return: 'I've never cried so much'

Stuff       Mon 23 May  --     Covid-19 can’t stop the strange joy of Dancing with the Stars
NZ Herald   Mon 23 May  --     DWTS: A night of 80s throwbacks and epic comebacks

Stuff       Tue 24 May  --    DWTS Recap: Few surprises in Dancing With The Stars semi-final
NZ Herald   Tue 24 May  --    DWTS  NZ episode 10: A savage bottom two as our final four are revealed

NZ Herald   Sun 29 May  --     DWTS  final hit by another Covid-19 infection

Stuff       Mon 30 May   --  Dancing with the Stars 2022: Jazz Thornton takes home the gold
NZ Herald    Mon 30 May  --   DWTS finale: A sexy kiss and a new champion is crowned

Have fun!