The passage of time in Wellington and elsewhere
The new member of the family. She came from the SPCA last week and is slowly acclimatising to her new environment.
Eleanor is desperate to be the one who is her best friend. Isaac does not seem to be doing as much care as expected while I dutifully sort out the ‘cat litter’.
She is quite small and certainly not like the previous ‘tigers’ in the house. However, hopefully fierce enough to make the mice move on.
The recent attacks by ISIS/Daesch have take place in Belgium. Aside of the violence and death I have left a bit cold or depressed. The reaction has been typical with more fear, more calls to violence and more grist to impose fear and loss of liberties.
I found Simon Jenkins article again insightful.
One would think that politicians and policymakers would come up with more thought out reactions than to talk of war and more security.
We need to look at ourselves more in what we do currently and how we should respond.
Paranoid politicians, sensational journalists – the Isis recruiting officers will be thrilled at how things have gone since their atrocity in Belgium
Source: The scariest thing about Brussels is our reaction to it | Simon Jenkins | Opinion | The Guardian
‘Those who live under freedom know it demands a price, which is a degree of risk. We pay the state to protect us – but calmly, without constant boasting or fearmongering. We know that, in reality, life in Britain has never been safer. That it suits some people to pretend otherwise does not alter the fact.
In his admirable manual, Terrorism: How to Respond, the Belfast academic Richard English defines the threat to democracy as not the “limited danger” of death and destruction. It is the danger “of provoking ill-judged, extravagant and counterproductive state responses”.
The menace of Brussels lies not in the terror, but in the reaction to the terror. It is the reaction we should fear. But liberty never emerges from a Cobra bunker.’
From the Guardian of course!
The result was announced as a ‘news flash’ across our tv screens last night- real drama- I think not.
In the end there was no emotion or real awareness of all this process, it had seemed to fade into the background. A 67% turnout though was good one could say.
I agree with the article below written by a Kiwi in London. It was a superficial process that ddi not involve the true wider issues of New Zealand’s constitutional position and the process was very badly done.
The motley opponents of the Kyle Lockwood-designed alternative, which came out on top in an earlier run-off referendum, made unlikely bedfellows. Among them were, yes, many conservative-minded voters, set against any idea of jettisoning the emblematic link to the mother country. Alongside them was another group eager to shake off the colonial vestige gobbling up a quarter of the flag, yet unable to stomach the alternative. For them the mishmash Lockwood flag – variously compared to a beach towel, a Weetabix packet and the logo for a chain of budget motels – was such an eyesore that they were driven to plump for the unsatisfactory but less hideous incumbent.
Others were against the alternative flag because they opposed the man most closely associated with it: the centre-right prime minister, John Key. Egged on by the opposition parties, who almost universally denounced this Key legacy project as a distraction, and a waste of NZ$27m, their objective, more or less, was to give the prime minister, unaccustomed to losing anything much, a bloody nose.
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2016/mar/24/new-zealand-votes-to-keep-its-flag-in-referendum
Following the news flash on TV1
A week late but all the same……
Four days away tramping the exquisite beauty of Abel Tasman, with beautiful weather and the company of your daughter.
It was great fun. Beautiful. Lovely weather. Huts were good quality. Good exercise.
Will do more in the future having learnt from this experience regarding kit and food.
Here is the photo gallery.
… to experience the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as it draws on its vast repertoire in Wellington, NZ.
Last night was an experimental musical trip to the Michael Fowler centre. Live jazz- not something we have done often. I am certainly not a big follower of jazz music but as with other things, sometimes it is important to try, have an experience and learn.
The music was great. A mixture of jazz classics from the past as well as pieces written or arranged by the orchestra themselves with as beautiful piece for the encore by the main man himself- Wynton Marsalis. He is well renowned in the jazz world. Kirsten said he was the best jazz/classical trumpeter in the world.
He, along with the other artists, could play so flexibly and make their instruments produce such a variety of sound. I was particularly impressed with the drummer- not someone who usually receives attention. Along with the pianist and bassist he provided the backbone of the sound. He plays constantly and the precision and subtlety of his playing was amazing.
So certainly a good evening and a further prod to experiment with listening to more jazz. Though as feared, listening via Spotify and the single speaker doe snot seem to do the music justice. The quality and the appreciation of the skill when watching and listening live does not come through with these means.
So another one comes around. Isaac makes it to sixteen.
As his dietary requirements are now more strict we celebrated at a restaurant that offers vegan choices. We went to a Malaysian restaurant in Cuba Street-Rasa.
A lovely evening in my eyes and good food with choices suitable for all.
A sumptuous vegan cake was produced with loving care for lunchtime.
The referendum is coming. Plenty of posturing so far.
A late update yet again.
It is the start of the international arts festival which we have attended lots of times before.
The opener which we went to on Friday was the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
As an event it is very well known and so we decided to give it a whirl. One needs to try different things. The programme included a mixture of military bands; of course the pipes of the Scottish regiments plus bands of other British regiments-the Royal Marines Portsmouth included. There were other choreographed performers too.
There were Kiwi military bands as well as other Kiwi performers.
The kapa haka group was great. The pipes were great. The Swiss drummers brilliant and the Norwegian Guards Band and Drill Team were fantastic.
However there did appear to be a reasonable amount of average quality filler.
A good evening and worth seeing something really quite different.
Not a cheap night out-$190 each!
