Waitangi Day - our 'national' day??

Today being the 6th of February is Waitangi Day. It’s the day we celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, which essentially is New Zealand’s founding document. So in essence Waitangi Day is actually our country’s national day. But I’m afraid to most New Zealanders Waitangi Day is not a celebration of our country – it’s just a day of protests. I think we must be the only country in the world not to have a proper national day!

I reckon many New Zealanders don’t give a damn about Waitangi Day and what it signifies – it’s just a day off for most people! The main celebrations just happen at Waitangi in the far north and not much else happens elsewhere around the country, and the celebrations at Waitangi are usually marred by controversy and protest. Here are some examples of what has happened in recent years:

2000 - Because of the level of protest that had previously occurred at Waitangi, the previous Prime Minister Helen Clark did not attend
2001 - The official celebrations were shifted from Waitangi to Wellington
2004 - Leader of the Opposition Don Brash was hit with mud as he entered the marae, and protesters succeeded in flying the Māori separatist flag above the other flags on the flagstaff by flying it from the top of a nearby tree.
2009 – As Prime Minister John Key was being escorted onto a marae, he was accosted by Wikitana and John Junior Popata, nephews of Maori Party MP Hone Harawira. Both admitted to assault and were sentenced to 100 hours of community service.
2011 - Wikitana and John again heckled Key as he entered the marae!

Good grief! This sort of thing should not be happening on our national day! No wonder many New Zealanders don’t care about this day anymore!

I spent a couple of years in Australia and Australia Day is a very important day over there. There are many, many events around the country which people participate in. And of course Independence Day in the United States is huge! Why can’t we have a day like this in New Zealand to celebrate our country – or don’t we care about our country?

In my church we are encouraged to be patriotic about our country. I remember in Australia on Australia Day and Anzac Day (or the closest Sunday to it) the national anthem was sung at church and the country flag was hung in the chapel. And in the States for the 4th of July celebrations at church are huge. But here in New Zealand Waitangi Day and Anzac Day are not mentioned at all in church. I'm not blaming anyone - it's just sad.

Another problem with these two holidays is if they fall on a weekend (or the same day as another holiday). Last year Waitangi Day was a Saturday and Anzac Day was a Sunday, so did we get the Monday off as we missed out on a holiday – of course not! The same thing happens this year – Waitangi Day on a Sunday and Anzac Day on Easter Monday. I know for a fact if Australia Day is on a weekend day then the Monday will automatically be a holiday. What is wrong with this country?? But we get extra statutory holidays at Christmas and New Year if they fall on weekends, so why not for Waitangi Day and Anzac Day when it really matters – it doesn’t make sense.

So in conclusion New Zealand needs a proper national day. Whether it be Waitangi Day or Anzac Day or some other day it needs to be a day we can all be proud of as New Zealanders! (By the way, Waitangi Day was called New Zealand Day for a couple of years back in the 1970s but was changed back due to protests – typical!)

CYBERBULLYING

The final stage of The Plaza redevelopment

Stage 3, the final stage of The Plaza redevelopment finally opened today so we went to check it out this afternoon. And I’m not as impressed as I thought I would be. Sure it’s bigger now and the new Farmers looks quite flash, but most of the new stores are just these “fashion” stores which mean nothing too me. Here are some of the names of the new stores: Dotti, Hartleys, James & August, K&K, Lippy, Max, Merric, Shanton, Shoe Connection, Temt, and Valleygirl. I mean, who cares! Why do there have to be so many fashion shops for women?? Well there’s a Subway in The Plaza now, but there’s a Subway within walking distance of my house, so I don’t really care about that. The Chocolate Lounge sounded nice, but the prices in there are just ridiculously exorbitant! Same with the handmade chocolates place called Munchkins. We bought two little chocolates and it cost us about $3.50 – you could eat them both in about two bites! Talk about a rip off! At last there’s a bank in The Plaza – Westpac. But most other shopping plazas I’ve been too have many banks in them and a post shop too! The “fly over” over Ashley Street isn’t that impressive – you can only see out of one side of it – the Church Street side. A view over the Fergusson Street side would have been much better. Although there is one store coming soon which I’m really excited about – JB Hi-Fi. I’ve heard good things about that store, especially the cheap prices. So I’m looking forward to that one! By the way, even though the new Farmers is very nice, it’s actually a combination of their two old stores in the city – the one on Broadway, and the Home Centre on Church Street – so the new store is much smaller in floor space. I’ve seen much bigger Farmers than this one!

When we visited The Plaza this afternoon I decided to take a few photos. However, after a while Paul Blart Mall Cop came up to me and said “Why are you taking photos? You can’t use a camera in The Plaza.” What???!!! It’s not like I’m the only one and it’s not the first time. Why am I taking photos? Because I want to promote your Plaza to people online with some nice photos – that’s why! What a frickin idiot! Your loss mate, not mine!

Even though The Plaza is bigger and flasher it’s still pathetic compared to other shopping centres I’ve been to around the country. Sure many of these are in bigger centres, but I’m sure PN can do better. Except for Farmers, The Plaza is only one level! And another thing that is pathetic is the charging of the car park. At the moment it’s 2 free hours, but after the 3rd of May it will only be free parking for the first hour! Good grief. That’s Palmerston North for you – always after more money from your pockets! Most shopping centres I’ve been to around the country have free parking such as Sylvia Park in Auckland, Westfield Chartwell in Hamilton, and Westfield Queensgate in Lower Hutt (which is free parking for 4 hours!) I know Centre City in New Plymouth charge for their parking, but it’s very cheap.

So go and check out the new stage of The Plaza, but don’t hold your breath!

My top 10 movies of 2009

Here it is folks, my top 10 movies of 2009. These are movies that were released this year that I have seen


1. Star Trek

2. Avatar

3. 2012

4. Up

5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

6. Angels & Demons

7. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

8. Monsters vs. Aliens

9. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

10. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

No more Santa Cave after 90 years

As you may have already heard the Santa Cave in the Farmers department store is closing after 90 years. This is because Farmers are moving to their brand new building at The Plaza next year. The Santa Cave is an institution in Palmerston North as it has been around for so long. Both my parents went to it as children, I went to it as a child, and I have taken my own daughter to the cave – that’s three generations of my family that have been to this Santa Cave as children! So today three generations of my family visited the Santa Cave for most probably the very last time. The cave hasn’t really changed at all throughout my lifetime and I’ve been happy with that. It’s good that it has stayed the same (and it has only cost 50 cents each to get in for as long as I can remember).

The building was originally Collinson & Cunninghame and this is what I remember it as when I was a child. In 1983 Farmers took over the building and decided to keep the Santa Cave more or less exactly the same as it was. But now that Farmers is moving next year the Santa Cave is no more. I’m not sure what is going to happen to the building. But all is not lost. The Santa Cave is moving to Te Manawa – Manawatu’s Museum. This will be a great new home for it and I hope they keep it as close to how it is now as possible.

So make sure you go to the Santa Cave in the Farmers with your kids before Christmas as it may be your last opportunity to see it as it is. Photos and a couple of video clips from today will be posted on my Facebook profile soon.

CNN Political Ticker

Newstalk ZB or Radio Live?

I like listening to talk radio so I can keep up with the issues of the day. I usually listen to Newstalk ZB, as I’ve tried to remain faithful to them as they are a part of The Radio Network and I used to work for this company a few years ago. However, recently I’ve been giving Radio Live a go. This is the other news and talkback radio network in New Zealand. This is for the following reasons:

1. Newstalk ZB appears to have far too many commercials, especially during the news. And they appear to repeat the same ads too often.

2. I don’t like Leighton Smith too much. He’s far too right-wing and some of his ideas are just absolutely crazy!

3. Newstalk ZB is only on AM in Palmerston North; meanwhile Radio Live is on FM

4. Radio Live broadcasts 3 News at 6pm every night which is very useful if you’re out and about

5. There’s far too much sport on Newstalk ZB in the weekends – isn’t that what Radio Sport is for??

Newstalk ZB always does much better than Radio Live in the radio listening surveys. For example in the last survey in the Manawatu, Newstalk ZB rated 8.6% and Radio Live only 5.5%. Nationwide Newstalk ZB is the number one station with 12.9% and Radio Live only 3.4%. Now this could be because of what I call the “TV One Syndrome” where people listen to Newstalk ZB because it’s always been there and are unwilling to change for any reason – just like TV One viewers. I used to call Radio Live “Radio Dead”, but now I’ve decided to see what it’s like. The new survey results come out at the end of this month so it will be very interesting to see if there are any changes in the ratings.

Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont?

Someone I know has gone up to Taranaki for the weekend and they sent a txt back to us saying "I can see Mt Egmont today". Now I don't like this name but apparently that's what their family and friends up there still call the mountain. I prefer to call the mountain Mount Taranaki as this is it's original name.

Time for a little history lesson. For many centuries the mountain was called Taranaki. Captain Cook named it Mount Egmont in the 1700s after John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont. John Perceval was a British politician, political pamphleteer, and genealogist. He was one of Captain Cook's corporate sponsors, and a syphillitic Lord who never set foot in this country! In other words Captain Cook thought he should name something after one of the people who helped pay for his trip! What a crazy person for a marvellous mountain as this to be named after!

In the 1980s it was ruled that the official name is Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont. However, I think the mountain should be called Mount Taranaki - it's original name. It gives the mountain the mana that it deserves (a weird name like Egmont certainly does not!)

Trouble buying Freeview

I'm looking at buying myself a Freeview box for my current good old CRT TV. And for something that's supposed to be "free" I'm not having much luck finding one at a decent price. I went to Dick Smith, Norman Ross, Harvey Norman, and DTR and prices for satellite and terrestrial boxes ranged from $230 to $500!! To me that's not a very cheap alternative compared to Sky TV. One guy said they aren't getting many Freeview boxes in now because TVs are coming out with Freeview built in. That's fair enough, but I don't have a spare $2000 right now to buy a new TV! Some of us have to pay rent and buy food! And why are TVs with Freeview built in about $1000 more than TVs that aren't - doesn't seem quite right for something the is supposed to be "free"!

In the USA they have already switched off all analog TV broadcasts and all their TV now is digital. This is going to happen in NZ within 3-5 years, so prices of Freeview boxes and TVs need to come right down if everyone has to switch over to digital. In the States people were able to get a voucher from the government to buy a digital box which covered most of the cost. I'm sure this will happen in NZ too - yeah right!

By the way, I'm keeping my CRT TV for a while. My picture quality is much better than what I have seen on some of these new LCD TVs!

The new self-scanning machines at New World are useless!

I usually do my grocery shopping at Countdown or Woolworths (or Pak n Save when I have a lot to buy), but today I decided to go to our local New World supermarket for a change. When I got to the checkout I noticed they had these new self-scanning machines so as I only had a few items I thought I would give it a go. I also thought that I would be able to find a problem with their new system – and I did! I had three cheese buns in a bag and as these didn’t have a barcode on them it didn’t work on their scanner. So the staff member helping made me take out each roll one at a time and put it in a different bag. I had to search on the screen for this item and add each of them one at a time! What a fuss! I’m sure there is a much better way of doing this. I felt very uncomfortable about taking my buns out of the bag one at a time and putting them into another bag – that seemed very, very odd. Well, I won’t be going back to do my shopping at New World for a while.

Terrace End School 125th Celebrations – 20-22 March 2009

The following is my report on the 125th Celebrations of Terrace End School in Palmerston North (1884-2009). I’m sure it was an enjoyable weekend for most (if not all) of those who attended.

This story begins 25 years ago in March 1984. I was just 10 years old and in Standard 4 – my final year at Terrace End School. I spent my whole primary school days at this school (starting in 1979). March 1984 was the centenary for the school, 100 years since starting in 1884. I remember being involved in the celebrations being a student at the school back then. I was thinking at the time that I wanted to be around for when the school would be 125 years old. Of course back then 25 years seemed such a long way away!

Fast forward now to 2008. In May my daughter and I moved back to Palmerston North after living in the Waikato for about 12 years. We managed to get a flat in Church Street and discovered that the nearest school was Terrace End School – my old school! So we went along to check it out. I was surprised when I discovered that Graham Rolfe, my Standard 4 teacher, was now the principal of the school. So I enrolled B’Elanna at Terrace End School. After being here for a couple of months one of the Board of Trustee members asked me to be a part of the committee for the 125th. I knew it was coming up so I thought it would be a good idea to be involved.

Over the next few months committee meetings were held every 2 or 3 weeks to start organizing the weekend. Among my many tasks were delivering flyers to letterboxes, setting up a display at the Palmerston North public library, creating a Facebook page, and scanning about 500 photos!

Once 2009 came around and the holidays were over it was back into the committee meetings much more regularly – like once a week. I continued scanning photos, along with ex-classmate Tracey Slade, to create a Powerpoint presentation for the celebrations. It was our job to create a display for the 1980s, as this was the decade in which I attended the school and a decade I am very familiar with. The Powerpoint presentation ended up being 450 slides and most of these slides were scanned photos! The presentation took a long time to create and contained class photos from the 1980s as well as photos from school events from each year (courtesy of an excellent photo album that I found at the school), and a section on the 1984 Centennial (courtesy of another excellent photo album). The presentation was just completed on the morning of the first day of the reunion! When I attended the Freyberg High School 50th Jubilee about 3 years ago they had “decade rooms”. The 80s room had 80s music playing, so I thought this would be an excellent idea for our display. I made up a MP3 CD of 80s music which played continuously next to our display throughout the weekend. We also put up photos from the 1980s (mostly class photos) and the Centennial. Part of our display was newspaper ads from the 80s showing prices of clothing, food, etc. Amazingly some prices have changed (particularly food) and some haven’t.

The day arrives – 20th March 2009. The kind people at work allowed me to have the afternoon off. I got to wear a nice new Terrace End School 125th shirt (which included a pocket for my cellphone :-). My daughter wore my T-shirt from the Centennial 25 years ago – it doesn’t fit me anymore! I was very proud that she was able to wear this. My first task on arriving at the school in the afternoon was to set up the laptop and projector for my Powerpoint presentation – it looked good. I knew there wasn’t going to be many ex-classmates from my era there, so I was more excited about meeting some of my former teachers and seeing if they remembered me. I met one of them pretty quickly – Margaret Palmer, who was my principal for most of my time at the school. And guess what, she remembered me (is that good or scary??) She was quite easy to recognize and I had a brief chat to her then. I was at the school for about three hours in the afternoon running around doing stuff. I also picked up my registration pack which contained a nice pen and a mug – cool! I got to meet three ex-principals that afternoon – Margaret Palmer, Ian Roberts, and Graham Rolfe.

On the Friday evening was the first official event of the weekend – the Mix n Mingle. There were a quite a few people there which was good to see. Throughout the evening I wandered between the memorabilia room in the admin block (the old Open Plan) and the hall and gallery (where the food was!) I got to meet up with some of the former teachers from my era – Helen Warner, Judith Longworth, and Gloria Kilmore (the office lady). Even though none of them taught me they all remembered me – and I must say they a look quite different from the 1980s. I was with them when they were going through one of the photos albums at our display. It was fun pointing out people that we remembered. I also met my Standard 1 teacher Stuart James. He didn’t quite remember me but once I pointed myself out in the class photo from that year he knew who I was (yes, I know – scary!) He looks older of course but still sounds the same. I got to give a short welcome to the people over the PA from the stage in the hall – don’t know if many heard me, but hey, at least I gave it a go. The evening didn’t finish too late – about 10pm. I helped with the clean up by using a vacuum cleaner that didn’t suck!

Saturday the 21st of March was the main day of the 125th Celebrations. It was an early start to the day – down to the school at 8am to make sure all was ready for the official ceremony. Even though it was a cool start to the day we were blessed with a beautiful fine day, and as we all know this is a rare one for Palmerston North! It was also a normal school day for the children, so my daughter came with me. Don’t really know what they got up to in class, but one of her jobs was to show visitors around the school – don’t know if she had any takers. Anyway, it was my job to help set up for the official ceremony. As it was a fine day we had it outside in the courtyard. We set up a stage along with all the seating.

It didn’t take long for 11am to roll around for the start of the ceremony. The seats started filling up with those registered and other visitors. My father turned up as well as my brother and his wife. My brother said that reunions are only for old people so I’m glad that he showed up. My job during the ceremony was to make sure the sound was working OK. I had to make sure that the microphone volume was at a good level and play the CD for the national anthem and a song the children sung (I positioned my seat at the front near the speaker so I had a good place to sit :-). Speeches included Sue Allomes (the current principal), Cara Lockwood (the BOT chair), Ian Roberts (former principal and chairman of the reunion committee), an ex-student (not much of an ex-student if you ask me cause he only attended the school less than 10 years ago), and a current student (from Year 5). The main speaker was Steve Maharey. Now I don’t know in what capacity he was speaking – it could have been as an ex-student of Terrace End School, former MP for Palmerston North, former Minister of Education, or current Vice-Chancellor at Massey University! He gave a good speech anyway – mainly about his days at the school. (So there is another famous ex-pupil of Terrace End School besides me :-) The cutting of the 125th cake happened during the ceremony as well. The oldest ex-pupil and one of the youngest current pupils cut the cake. It was a nice chocolate cake which I got to have a couple of pieces of. At the end of the ceremony our local photographer got up on the roof of the admin block and took a photo of everyone in attendance. The camera guy from Tararua TV was also there. I don’t know when it will be screened on Tararua TV but it will be interesting to see (better fix up my UHF antenna!)

Straight after the ceremony were the official decade photographs. I helped to coordinate the groups for the photos. I would announce over the PA system the next photo decade group to come up and then I talked with the photographers to tell them which group was up next. It started off with the current pupils and teachers of the school, then the 1920s & 1930s, and so on down to the present day. Because I attended the school from 1979 to 1984 I was in two decade photographs – the 1970s and 1980s. Actually the last photo was 1980-2008. My daughter was still around so I stuck her in this one as well (as she started at this school in 2008). Trouble is the photos are going to cost $15 each. I’m going to have to find $30 for the two photos I’m in – or share the cost with someone. During this time I met another of my former teachers – Ivan Gore (he looks a bit like Santa now!) It was great to meet him again. He was at the school for so long. He remembered my name which was good. I also got a photo with my principal Margaret Palmer and my brother. She remembered my Dad too when he spoke to her.

We got through the official photographs quite quickly, so as I hadn’t previously ordered Subway I went home for lunch and a break. Then it was back to the school just on 3pm for the wreath laying ceremony. This was held at the memorial gate out the front of the old swimming baths. The gates list former school pupils that died in World War 1. A wreath was laid by someone from the RSA and the Last Post was played on a trumpet. (It was good to see that the “R” has been replaced in the word “Memoriam”. For as long as I can remember it has said “Memo-iam”.) It was a nice short ceremony. And then after a bit of clean up that was it for the day. I also closed down our Powerpoint presentation in the memorabilia room as this was the end of the activities at the school for the weekend.

Speaking of the old swimming baths, they were open up for people to have a look through them. What a mess they are now. It’s quite sad really to seem them in such a state of disrepair, but I understand it would cost far too much money to keep them maintained. I can’t believe I used to get changed in those filthy old changing sheds. But I have a lot of memories swimming in that pool. During the summer months when I was a child we had a key to the pool and used to go there for swims in the evenings and weekends. I always remember though that the water was freezing cold! One of the aims of the weekend was to find out from people what to do with the old swimming baths. Is it going to be demolished or restored by someone? Whatever happens the memorial gate out the front will need to stay. (Perhaps they could demolish the baths and extend the memorial – something I just thought of).

The final event of the day was the Dinner and Dance at the Palmerston North Convention Centre on Main Street. Pre-dinner drinks started at 6pm but I showed up about 6:30pm (after picking up one of the committee members on the way). We were seated for dinner just after 7pm (not too bad). I sat with a few others from the committee (including Gibby who caused us a bit of laughter!) Each table went up one at a time to get their food (buffet style) and of course my table was one of the last – that always seems to happen to me and then all the good food is gone – but it was OK this time. I must say that the food was very nice – good selection of meats and stuff. However, there was a huge disappointment. After everyone had got their food they cleaned up the rest of the food and took it all away! How dare they! This meant no seconds. I thought the idea of buffet was you could go back and eat as much as you want (i.e. eat till it hurts!) I know there were a few others that were disappointed that they couldn’t have seconds. Dessert followed straight after and that wasn’t very exciting. It was pre-dished up and was one piece of lemon meringue pie and one piece of chocolate log, so I put lots of cream on it to make up! Gibby from our table grabbed some extra desserts in case someone was still hungry! (For what we paid for the dinner it should have been much better – I always compare it with how much food I would get from McDonalds for the same price :-) After dinner the band started playing (I think their name was “Sweet As”). They were OK – playing a mixture of contemporary music. A few got up to dance – I didn’t. However, after the dance had been going just for a little while, just after 9pm it would have been, someone collapsed on the dance floor. The band suddenly stopped playing and one of the singers said to call 111. It appeared that 2 or 3 people were calling 111. It was hard to see what was going on but someone came to our table and asked if anyone could do CPR. I learnt it about 3 years ago, so probably wouldn’t be too confident to do it now. We were soon ushered out of the room and I could see they were still doing CPR on him. The principal, Sue Allomes, appeared to be heavily involved with it. When we were ushered out into the lounge there were two ambulances outside (must have been because more than one person called for an ambulance). We knew something was up when we saw one of the ambulance workers walk in with a white sheet. After about half an hour or so Sue came out and announced that he had passed away. Wow, what a shock to us all, to have someone die on the dance floor while we were all there enjoying our reunion! Even though the principal said we should get back onto the dance floor because “that is what he would have wanted”, I don’t think anyone did. So it was a sudden end to the evening – I was home about 10pm.

The next day I found out a bit more about what had happened. His name was Doug Lewis and he was about 80 years old (committee member Ray Carter knew him quite well). Apparently he was dancing away with his wife and really enjoying himself. Then he had a heart attack and collapsed and hit his head. Sue Allomes was right next to him and immediately started CPR. When the ambulances arrived they used their defibrillators etc but this obviously didn’t work cause he died. The band wanted to go back in and collect their equipment but they couldn’t because they had to wait for the police to arrive as it was an expected and sudden death. They also had to wait for the coroner/undertaker to arrive to take away the body. This was after 11pm so obviously the band didn’t play again and no one danced again (personally I wouldn’t want to go back on a dance floor that someone had died on.) I heard that the principal (Sue) was quite involved with it all and offered to have his wife stay with her (as the couple had come down from Gisborne in a campervan). Terrace End School is so lucky to have such a great principal. I guess one unfortunate thing is that the Terrace End School 125th Celebrations will be remembered because of this.

The last day of the celebrations was Sunday the 22nd of March. It started off with a church service at 10am at St. David's Presbyterian Church just round the corner from the school on Main Street. They’re a community church so I guess that’s one reason they were able to have us there. I assume their local parishioners were there as well, but I bet their congregation was a lot bigger this time! I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and attend church there every week so this was a little bit of a different experience for me. I tried to join in with the service as much as I could – I even recognised a couple of the hymns. The service went for about an hour and a half but it was a nice simple service with readings and hymns. The sermon was quite interesting but probably went over the head of a lot of people – lots of facts and figures about the universe and stuff (you could say it was a sermon about “Life, the universe, and everything”!) Of course the man that died last night was mentioned in the service. Part way through the service the children went out for their own Sunday School/Primary type thing. My daughter went with them and said she enjoyed it. There was a nice morning tea afterwards (which I don’t think they have very often) – with more of the 125th birthday cake.

So that was it for the weekend of the 125th celebrations. There was supposed to be a family fun day at the school in the afternoon but whoever was supplying the bouncy castle etc obviously didn’t turn up (and the weather was looking a bit dodgy).

So after all the planning and waiting for 25 years I feel that the celebrations for 125 years of Terrace End School went well. (TES is only the 2nd school in Palmerston North to have reached 125 years. And did you know that 125 years is known as the Quasquicentennial.) I was disappointed that there weren’t more ex-students from my era, but I guess it’s correct what my brother said that only old people attend reunions. However, it was great to catch up with former teachers and see how they have changed and if they remembered me.

I really enjoyed going through all the 1980s photos while preparing for the weekend. It brought back some interesting (and scary) memories. I came across some photos of me and my brothers (even a couple of photos with my Mum and Dad in) which I had never seen before. As was mentioned another committee member and I scanned about 500 old photos from the school (mostly from the 1980s). I plan to put all these on a CD, along with the photos taken during the weekend, and give it to the school for their archives. Scanning all these photos will hopefully preserve the life of them a bit longer.

Here’s one thing I thought was quite amazing. I was in my final year at this school (Standard 4) during the Centennial celebrations, and now 25 years later, my daughter is also in her final year at the same school (Year 6). Isn’t that amazing!

I got to make some good friends among the reunion committee members and enjoyed spending time with them over the weekend. I’m sure I’ll stay in contact with them too. A few ex-students have popped up on the Facebook page I created to find out how the weekend went. They weren’t able to attend because they live overseas. The only students that were there from my era were Tracey and Tony Slade, Mindy Foothead (Lockwood), Daniel Lockwood, Michael and Michelle Hebditch, and my brother Josh for a little while on the Saturday.

So now we can look forward to the Sesquicentennial in 2034!! Let’s hope that most of us, and the school, are still here.

Photos of the event can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=45842540739&view=all

3 News or One News?

Previously I have mentioned that I don't believe New Zealand TV ratings, and another example of this is the ratings war between TV One's news and TV3's news. I cannot understand how One News is so popular when 3 News is by far superior. Currently TV3's news anchor, Mike McRoberts, is in Gaza, reporting from the middle of the war zone. Where is TV One's news anchor, Simon Dallow? In his comfy studio of course. Could you ever imagine him in Gaza, or Afghanistan - never! And then there's the 7pm current affairs show. Last night Campbell Live on TV3 had John Campbell broadcasting live from Washington DC. Meanwhile on Close Up on TV One Mark Sainsbury was excited by his new set and had a story on a rest home and a story about pigs! 3 News is by far the superior service, and who knows when NZ's viewing public will realise this.

My review of 2008

Yet another year is over - 2008. It hasn't been the greatest year for me as I was made redundant from my job earlier in the year, then made a move to Palmerston North. But this entry in my blog is to review the year in local and world news.

Of course most of the year was the campaigning and build up to the United States Presidential Election in November. The year started with primaries for both the Democrats and the Republicans with a number of candidates from both parties; and then one by one they dropped out of the race until there were just two - Barack Obama for the Democrats and John McCain for the Republicans. It all culminated in the election on November 5th (NZ Time), and it was just so awesome when Barack Obama was voted in as the first African-American president! I still remember the emotion I felt when Obama passed the magic mark of receiving enough electoral votes to become president. It's just so great for America and for the world. Only 20 days now until he actually becomes president, so I really hope he can live up to the vision and change he has promised.

Just 3 days after that election was the NZ General Election. And again I was happy with this result as John Key, leader of the National Party, won the election and became our new Prime Minister. Again it is showing another country needs change after Helen Clark and her Labour government of 9 years! I voted for National so at last my vote counted!

Another big event of the year was the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Now there was all sorts of controversy before these Olympics to do with human rights, etc., but these Olympics seemed to go off without much problem. New Zealand ended up 26th on the medal table with 3 gold, 1 silver, and 5 bronze - not too bad for a country of only 4 million people. If you were to rate the medal table based on population then NZ would be near the top.

Of course a number of well know people die each year. Here's a list of some of these people that died in 2008:
Sir Edmund Hillary, Heath Ledger, President Gordon B Hinckley, Roy Scheider, Arthur C Clarke, Charlton Heston, Bo Diddley, Tim Russert, George Carlin, Estelle Getty, Bernie Mac, Issac Hayes, Paul Newman, Majel Barrett,and Eartha Kitt.
(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008 for the complete list)

Let's hope that this new year, 2009, will be a better year for everyone, especially those suffering from last year's economic crisis.

If you'd like to see a video clip of the New Year's fireworks in Palmerston North this morning then go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEMI0T0Zpio

International cricket scores

Crazy Boxing Day shoppers!

I went to the movies this morning and after I came out I couldn't believe how many people were up town. I reckon there were more than on Christmas Eve! As we were coming out of the Downtown shopping centre people were just pouring in! Boxing Day shopping is something I just can't work out. It's like the shops have been closed for 7 years - not just one day. Hasn't everyone's money run out before Christmas? Sure there are sales on and people get money and vouchers for Christmas, but it's just crazy how many are up town. Today was a nice fine day too - why aren't people out enjoying the sunshine instead of pounding the malls? And I thought people would leave town for their holidays the day after Christmas? Hey, I've just worked it out - they're all shopping for my birthday in two days time!!!!

For more on the Boxing Day shopping madness:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Boxing-Day-shoppers-turned-out-in-force-despite-recession/tabid/309/articleID/85515/cat/41/Default.aspx

STAR TREK

Madagascar 2

I saw this long awaited movie today - very funny!

John Key visits Palmerston North

Yesterday when I was up town I met the local National candidate, Malcolm Plimmer, and he said John Key (leader of the National Party) was coming to Palmerston North. So I went down to the Terrace End shops this morning at about 9am to wait. There were quite a few assembled there including the media, National supporters, and Labour protesters. Just after John Key arrived I got to shake his hand! I told him I was voting National for the first time tomorrow. It was great to be able to meet him. I would like to have gotten a photo with him but he had so many people to meet. He spent about half an hour or so greeting people and walking into shops. I followed him around and took a few photos which you can see here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/zl2fox/JohnKeyVisitsPalmerstonNorth#

Now about the Labour protesters. They were idiots. They were saying that Key is the anti-Obama. Now that really pissed me off. I'm a huge supporter to Obama and they were saying that John Key is totally opposed to him. Key is promoting change in New Zealand, just like Obama was in the States. Can't Labour see that red is also the Republicans colour and communist colour!! The protesters were shouting when Key was trying to speak. How rude! Labour are getting desperate now (just like the Republicans were). There was almost some violence:
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=147509

I was brought up in a Labour family but I feel it's time now for me to vote National. We need a change in this country as 9 years of Aunty Helen is far too long! So why else am I voting National this time around, especially as I'm currently a single father on the DPB? Here are some reasons:

-Lower taxes
-Faster broadband
-Getting people off welfare and into jobs
-Cracking down on violent crime

We do not want another 3 years of the same - a Labour led government. Helen Clark is one of the reasons why NZ is in an economic crisis now, and an experienced business leader like John Key will really help the country! Labour and the Greens want to get together. Can you imagine the Greens in government?! We'll all be riding horses and hugging trees! Hell!

So tomorrow please give two ticks to National. If you want change in this country then voting National is the best way - any other will be a wasted vote.

For more information see:
http://www.national.org.nz/

PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!!

Two days later I'm still in a buzz about the tremendous and historic win this week of Barack Obama - now the new President of the United States of America! I watched the coverage on CNN from midday our time (6pm EST) right through to 5pm (11pm EST) when the announcement was made. I jumped for joy! It was so emotional (I nearly cried :-) And then an hour later Obama's amazing speech to 100,000 people or so in Chicago. I have never seen anything like that in my life! It was incredible!

I was getting a bit worried earlier on in the vote counting when a few states started going to McCain. But of course the rural votes were coming in first and they usually go Republican. It was funny when Utah results came in and Wolf Blitzer said that was no surprise and the Utah is one of the most Republican states in the country. But when Obama started winning states such as New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Florida I was much more confident. And then California put him over the top! Obama currently has 349 electoral votes and McCain only 163, so in the end it was a thrashing!! (I thought it would be much closer).

As I said this is an historic moment in history. Barack Obama is the first African-American president - and just 40 years ago blacks in America will still being segregated against. I hope the redneck Republicans in America can accept him and won't try and assassinate him. Now here's something that is quite amazing - the new president is African-American, the majority leader of the senate is a Latter-day Saint (Harry Reed), and the speaker of the house is a woman (Nancy Pelosi). It was great to see Democrats increase their lead in the senate and the house too.

I hope those Republicans keep quiet now and let President-elect Obama do his job. I've been watching a little bit of Fox News and they are not happy at all that Obama won. They are still putting a negative spin on him. Republicans can be so nasty (did you know the day before the election some of them were saying Obama killed his grandmother!)

It was a great day for the Democrats, and great day for America, a great day for the world, and a great day for me!

For more results see:
http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/

YES WE CAN!

TV Guide TV ratings are rubbish!

I always knew that the "Top 10 TV" listed in the TV Guide each week (listing the Top 10 watched TV programmes of the week) was rubbish, especially of the bias towards TV One programmes, but now I am totally convinced! New Zealand's Got Talent is a show on Prime TV at the moment and I was sure it would be in the Top 10 this past week. I know heaps of people that watch this programme. But I had a look at page 60 of the TV Guide that came out a couple of days ago and New Zealand's Got Talent is no where to be seen in the Top 10! So yes, the TV ratings in the TV Guide are a load of rubbish (and I've never been surveyed my whole life!)