LOCAL NEWS
Well, there was no news on Tuesday except the funeral of Sir Ed. It went pretty well, saw bits of it. Diana went to the Domain during it and stood with a bunch of people watching a big screen. I wouldn't say they were mourners, because it wasn't sad at all, it was paying respect to probably the greatest New Zealander that ever lived.
Hone Tuwhare was also buried the same day, but got considerably less attention. Pretty bad timing really, a week earlier and he would have got plenty of time in the spotlight.
We caught up with other stuff on Wednesday, including the grisly discovery of two Keas nailed to a road sign in the south island (it's not even Easter).
A man near Tokoroa went mad with a chainsaw and charged at a group of people. He then sold the rights for the video nasty "Tokoroa Chainsaw Miscreant" which is likely to go directly to YouTube. One woman got a cut on her foot that did not require stitches. The manufacturer of the chainsaw issued a statement about sharpening increasing effectiveness and the need for regular maintenance of chainsaws. One witness was reported as saying "we are just relieved he didn't know how to turn it on".
Meanwhile a Nelson man flashed at a passing car, which turned out to contain a police woman. He said he thought it was his mates. The judge fined him $450 ($100 per centimetre). "It was cold", the offender said "on a warmer day my fine would have been nearly $600."
Big news this week was the chicken killing hedgehog that was sprung dragging a chicken out of the coop. New Zealand celebrated that we now had a decent predator out there. We've always felt that a lack of snakes and scorpions made us seem a bit wimpy.
Tokoroa then had a murder over the weekend and a 14 year old boy was charged. It’s been a busy week in Tokoroa. The policeman is at his wit's end. His parking ticket quote will never be met this month.
Then we had a murder in Manurewa, a youth was stabbed by a 50 year old man. The victim is believed to be a tagger. One can't help but wonder if the guy did a good thing by putting some fear into the little tagging bastards. (and yes, death may be a little too much but a few vigilante beatings of taggers in the news might slow the buggers down)
Despite the fact that we have had ten homicides in January (a record) police have re-opened an old case. You'd think that they would be busy, but I think they have made arrests in all of them already.
WORLD NEWS
I heard a report that high levels of flame retardant chemicals had been discovered in Tasmanian Devils. My first reaction was wondering whether they would start breeding them and extracting the chemicals for house construction. A house made of Tasmanian Devils would be pretty cool but the greenies wouldn't be happy. Even cooler would be Tasmanian Devils that had evolved to be impervious to fire running around the bush during a firestorm, they could be trained as firefighters. On further investigation though, turns out the chemicals are being absorbed by them from their environment - not manufactured by them. This means that they think the Tasmanian Devils are getting sick and getting something called devil facial tumour disease from their exposure to the chemicals. Shame, really, because flame retardant Taz would have been really cool.
Australian actor Heath Ledger died Wednesday, our time. Another River Phoenix type result, shame how the young rich and famous seem to get into the drugs so easily.
News on Thursday that we have an asteroid coming this Wednesday our time, which is a disconcertingly imprecise 150-600 metres in size. They reckon it will pass close, but beyond the moon. The uncertainty about the size does provide some doubt as to whether the proximity is really accurate. Anyway, should be a bit of a show, visible from home telescopes.
Suharto is finally dead, he did muck about a bit.
A landed shark attacked a fisherman on a boat off the coast of Australia, and tried to remove his leg but he was freed.
SPORT
Indians got a good start scoring well in their first innings, Tendulkar got 153 (about time). Aussies started solidly and by end of day two it was looking like a potential draw. At the end of the fourth day they were only on the third innings.
Man Utd beat Spurs 3-1 to make final 16 of FA Cup. I was wondering if they'd been knocked out already after a report recently that didn't mention them. Arsenal thumped Newcastle 3-0 to knock them out. Most of the usual suspects are still in the comp.
The head to head battle between single scullers Rob Waddell and Mahe Drysdale continues. There is a rule that only one can represent New Zealand at the Olympics (an Olympic rule). They are both Olympic Gold medallists in the sport, does seem unfair.
The retirement of Australian keeper Adam Gilchrist was pretty big news, the man is a freak.
MY SAD LIFE
A funny old week, really. Diana at work, Rory coming and going (although he spent more nights at home this week).
I had a dream Hannah was driving me through a main road in Sydney on the right hand side of the road and she started ignoring red lights (the first in front of a police car). She asked me why she should stop, to which I replied "Because it's a f&*king red light!", at which point I woke up and heard myself saying it out loud. I woke Diana, too.
Rory's friend Raf was sprung by Diana trying to pinch his Xbox one day. It was pretty funny (Rory did borrow his and possibly broke it (or contributed to it's lack of function). It is being repaired at the moment, so you could sort of see why he wanted to borrow it). A few days later he was visiting and I handed him a toaster. I told him he obviously didn't feel comfortable leaving our house without an electrical appliance.
Sarah is still pregnant, and the babies are reported to be over seven pounds now.
We went to the Bambis for a barbie on Saturday night. Was interesting. First time we'd been out there for a while, and Rory drove out there. He seemed to enjoy the open road driving. The place was crawling with kindy kids, which was a bit of a shock to the system, tears and tantrums everywhere. The pass the parcel game was just hilarious. We had dummies being spat everywhere, despite there being a little something in every layer. One boy stormed away, and when some concession was offered he turned and said "It's too late!" and disappeared. Another interesting aspect was the mums all hovering over the proceedings and kept hearing mutterings when they felt their precious child hadn't had their turn yet (I so wanted to say "Someone has to be last, lady"). Speaking as one who has their own personal pass the parcel trauma, I think it is time this supposed game was banned. Kathryn suggested a version where everyone has a parcel and they pass and receive at the same time.
Hannah's knees have shown considerable improvement, the physio was very pleased. She confessed that Hannah was her only patient showing improvement, not sure that's a good sign. We return again tomorrow.
We've been swimming quite a bit, every second day. Rory had not swum for about six weeks so he struggled a little but after a week he is getting better. Last night they got to throw a ball in the dive well, which they enjoyed.
Seem to have been doing a few things with just me and Hannah. We went out for yum-cha on Friday and went to the flea market on Sunday. We were bored on Saturday so we went up Mt Eden and walked around the crater, checking out what we could see from up there. It was interesting for Hannah because she was familiar with so many more landmarks than the last time we went up there (which must have been ages ago). I should have taken my camera. Have not really used the camera in a long time.
I am continuing to read a book called The Ancestor's Tale, which traces the human race back through common ancestors back to the amoeba. I am up to some invertebrates now, so getting close to the end, I suppose.
Diana and I snuck out to breakfast this morning, the kids were asleep. Was nice in the morning sun.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment