A must see!

I've just watched the most brilliant movie. Not my typical movie choice but one my lovely wife chose and it rocked.

It is called...

August Rush is a 2007 drama film starring Freddie Highmore (Charlie Bucket from the latest Willie Wonka movie), Keri Russell, Johnathan Rhys Meyers and Robin Williams to name a few.

I was going to embed a trailer from the movie but I feel it gives to much away. So I will say no more, nada, nyet, nope, uh-uh, no way, no how (period).

Mandrake, if you haven't seen it, I recommend it for your next date night!

Wassup with kite surfing?

I been into most forms of surfing type sports...like...

• Surfing obviously
• Skateboarding
• Snow skiing
• Snow boarding
• Wind surfing (a small endeavour)
• Wake boarding (most recent)

But one I have never got into or even tried for that matter is Kite surfing. I've seen it and thought that it looks like fun but I've always been a little dubious about it's safety.

One day down at Orewa, N.Z (on the way to Auckland) we stopped and watched these crazy fellas kite surfing in really windy conditions. One bloke couldn't even get his kite to come down after finishing his ride and ended up getting dragged along the beach much to our amusement.

However that was nothing compared to this crazy chap...

I like getting 'air' but it's these kid of shananagans that will never get this fella combining surfing and kites (both very fun activities in their own right by the way).

A Coffin on Wheels

Leaning against my 1st car in my Black Supertaper Levi's, High Top Pony sneakers and sporting an emerging mullet, I felt like the Man.

For those in the know my first car was a 1975 Mazda RX2 Rotary. It had been pimped out old school styles and had an RX7 5-speed gear box. It pretty much had straight pipes and was as loud as you can get a car!

There are so many stories I could tell about this car...

...like travelling so fast the speedometer needle had gone past the 220km/hr mark and was jiggling about pointing straight down.

...my car being so loud the neighbours decided to trash it in their annoyance, slashing my seats and smearing pizza on the windows.

...cruising with the stereo blasting (the only way you could hear it the car was so loud) from Hamilton to Whangarei and back and absolutley being the fastest thing on the road. Needless to say this had numerous close calls.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't always a hoon, just when I was behind the wheel.

I do want to focus on one story in particular regarding my beloved car. I will preface this story with my Mum's response when I showed her what I'd bought.

"Hey Mum, what do ya reckon about my new car?"

"It's a coffin on wheels son." (Mum's response)

That response didn't deter me from enjoying all that my new baby had to offer. But unfortunately it did prove to be somewhat prophetic.

I was 20 and was living in Hamilton (Waikato) New Zealand and was studying (yeah right) for what turned out to be a BSC majoring in Earth Sciences...useful I know!

I was enjoying life and partaking in all that the Waikato had to offer and had even worked on my mullet somewhat.

Yes that is my real hair!

So one particular evening I had been sucking on a Keg of Waikato's finest since lunch and decided that it was time to go and get takeaways for our evening meal.

"Jump in boys, let me show you what this baby's got!"

Alcohol + High powered vehicle + showing off attitude + wet road... equals...

This is not the real photo, but you get the idea. Bricks on the opposite side of the house had flown up to 30 m, I'd shifted the house off its foundations, totalled a NICE car, scared the elderly occupants of the house and landed myself in a whole heap of trouble.

No one was seriously hurt (thank you God)

A special thanks to my sister who helped me through the tough times that followed...big sisters are awesome.

Shame, loss, court, fines (big fines) and huge regret that i'd let people down and that my once pristine RX2 had almost become my coffin on wheels.

I love you Mum.

My Music

Being born in the early 70's in this fine town of Whangarei, I grew up listening to some absolutely classic music.

All those Time Life info/commercials advertising those 70's and 80's music CD's that you groan when you hear them...I love 'em. Check this out...

Classic Bonnie Tyler! ahhh, it brings it back. Innocent times full of laughter and joy. Enter...bad company. It is said that bad company corrupts good morals, and this was very true in my case around the age of 16 yrs.

SEX, DRUGS, and HEAVY METAL (rock'n'roll sounded to cheesy)

So here I went down a very slippery path (although I didn't know it at the time).

Late 80's came the advent of Hair Metal. It deserves a mention just because...

...need I say more?


Perhaps the closest I got was Iron Maiden and AC/DC in the late 80's, although they would not strictly be called Hair Metal. Still as you can see the Maiden had a good bit of hair goin' on.




Then I tended toward Hair Metal's rival of the day...Grunge. Nirvana, Alice in Chains etc. Then slipping further down toward The PIT I began listening to Pantera and Sepultura...not so much innocence now.

One never knows how far they have fallen until they remember a time when they weren't so far gone. Nevertheless, as I have found out many times, there is always further to fall...now there's a comforting thought.

The Invitation

Who would have believed an invitation to attend a church service would have been the catalyst to bring about so much change in a person's life.

The moment I said 'Yes' to God, surrendering my life (as sad as it was) to Him...

• Addictions instantly gone!
• Forgiveness washes me clean
• Joy enters
• Relationships restored and strengthened

...to much to tell. Needless to say I have a thankfulness and gratitude to God and to all those who had a hand in me saying 'Yes' to Him.

It was funny how My Music suddenly changed. Gone was the angry / depressing / hopeless music (a few hundred dollars smashed! Don't give it away or sell it to some other poor person), and in came powerful local homegrown Worship sounds.

Symon, Nina, Kate, Brendan V, Jason V...all those songs you wrote were and are soothing balm to my soul. Keep going is all I can say.

I've got a new song in my heart...a song of praise to my God. It is my hope that many people will see and hear it and put their trust in the one true God.

Note the hair...haha...Thankyou Jesus!!!

Playing outside

I lived next to a main road (Otaika) when I was a kid growing up in Whangarei. The same house for the 1st 17 years of my life.

Now married with children of my own, we live next to a fairly busy road.

It's amazing how carefree we were as kids, and our parents must have been as well, to let us roam free. We didn't get into much trouble...

Well, not unless you count...

1. My sister pushing her pushchair up the centre line of the aformentioned main road at 4 years of age.


2. My mate and I hurling copious amounts of mandarins at cars travelling along the main road, then running and hiding when cars stopped.


3. Walking up to the bush (500m away) and making 'mantraps' (grass tied together over the bush track).


4. Lining the width of the road with rocks so cars either had to stop or run them over...heh heh heh.
   

See, just good wholesome fun.

As much as I liked TV when I was a kid, those times in front of the 'idiot box' (as my Dad would call it) are not my most treasured or powerful memories. Playing outside with my neighbours, running, jumping, skidding bikes and getting into trouble. Those were the good times! Not the TV.

So even though we have a small, steep section next to a busy road my kids are allowed to play outside. And they don't care because their imaginations are so big that the size of the section doesn't matter at all.

Getting dirty on the muddy winter lawn - that's what i'm talking about.

Happy kids enjoying themselves, learning, playing, exercising...nothing better. Well maybe a deep bubble bath full of toys at the end of a cold afternoons playing is a bit better. The kids seem to like it too.

Photos taken in summer...come back summer!

Whadaya do for a crust?

Jobs...there are so many! We live in such a specialised society. You name it, someone specialises in it...crazy!

Back in the day when life was far more simplified people just did basic jobs you know? And their names reflected it.

Hey Mr Baker.
Hi Mrs Taylor.

Wassup Mr Shoemaker.

You know what I mean. Actually there is a name(s) for this occurence funnily enough...(man we live in whacked out times)

Nominative determinism, aptonyms, jobonyms, perfect fit last names etc.

Here is a list of my top 5 favourite aptonyms. (these are real people by the way)

1. Dr. Richard (Dick) Chopp - a urologist specialising in vasectomies.


2. Anna Smashnova - the Israeli tennis player
   


3. Jonah Fisher - a BBC reporter assigned to the Greenpeace ship tracking the Japanese whaling fleet in January 2008.


4. J.W Splatt and D.Weedon - urologists who published several papers on incontinence together.


5. Cardinal Sin - former Archbishop of Manila

But seriously now...as a health professional I deal directly with the public, and sometimes they are in quite a vulnerable state.

So being the cheerful guy that I am, I attempt to strike up a conversation. This brings me to my next random point.

Phatic communion.

They are a couple of words I learned at school. Basically it means: a conversation opener using language to establish a mood of sociability rather than to communicate information or ideas.

My favourite example of phatic communion when on the job is:

So, what do you do for a crust?

This usually elicits all kinds of responses from which a nice relaxed conversation happens. Desired effect achieved.I'm not sure where the saying came from but it may have a biblical origin. Check this out...

If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 2 Th 3:10b (NKJV)

Kinda puts a new spin on the saying, 'Whadaya do for a crust?'

As for me you say...Well, my wife would say I don't do much. My mate would say I yawn a lot. But I like to keep busy in my job. Sometimes I do this by taking funny pictures of myself while at work.




Soooo, whadaya do for a crust ? (leave a comment)

Spot X

'Hey let's stay the night in the cave' suggested Mandrake. And against my better judgement I agreed.

So a plan was hatched, permission gained from DW's and the preparation began. We packed our rods, tackle, warm clothes, sleeping bags, water, gas burner, fry pan, cell phones and sunblock and hit the road. 'Nah, we won't need food...we'll catch all we need' Mandrake again.

A thirty minute drive, followed by a 25 minute walk and we were there. (Check out the photo at the half way stage)

Mandrake always gets his line in the water 1st, and today was no exception. I was just about in the water when the heavens opened and it pelted down. 'Oh no! My sleeping bag' - i like to be comfortable. If we're going to stay in a cave overnight the least I want is a dry sleeping bag. So I stash my pack in a little cleft about 3 metres up the rock face. It'll never get wet there...heh heh back to fishing.

Crash!! My pack had tumbled down the 3 metre drop - oops! I hope nothing's broken. A quick check revealed that something had in fact broken...my frying pan...my pyrex frying pan. I know, who would take a glass frying pan to the rocks!!! 'We'll be alright, we'll cook the fish on sticks' Mandrake again.

Hmmm, back to fishing.

We ended up with 5 nice sized Kahawai and a good sized Trevally.

Cooking fish on sticks?? Hey lets ring Tim, he's just crazy enough to want to come out at short notice and stay the night in a cave.

'Hey Tim, watcha doing? Ahh, waka ama practice...whatcha doing after that? Nothing? Sweet, wanna come out and spend the night in the cave with us? Yeah, awesome. Oh, hey, can you bring a frying pan? Shot bro, later.'

Long story short...we met Tim and his frying pan and made our way to the Cave.

We hastily set up our sleeping spots and then proceeded to clean and fillet the fish...all the fish (5 kahawai and a large Trev). We were absolutely starving. Out came the gas burner and the New frying pan (on ya Tim) and the cooking began. Mandrake had a secret ingredient...Lemon pepper! Oh yeah. Fresh fillets lightly sprinkled with Lemon pepper and fried in oil...deeeeeelicious.

3 blokes ate the whole lot...all gone in one sitting. Yep, undo the belt a notch and lay back looking at the stars. Mandrakes ADHD qualities wouldn't let him lie back. He prefered to chase a sting ray around the encroaching tide...good times.

Despite myself bringing a blow up Lilo matress to sleep on and the boys pulling up a few rocks for theirs, I had the worst sleep listening to a couple of logs snoring all night. Such is life in the Cave.

We fished the next morning with not much success, but we were still full of the previous nights glory to let that bother us. We trooped home feeling blessed to be able to have had an adventure such as the Cave provided. Nice one Mandrake.

As a finishing comment I might add that the photo heading this blog ended up in our local paper. I sent it in with a little blurb about the Cave mish unable to keep such a wonder to myself. Low and behold if the next time we went out to our Spot X it had decidedly more people there, with one of them yelling out, 'Hey weren't you the bloke in the paper? Where's this cave you talked about?'

Oops, sorry Mandrake. We might have to find another 'secret' location.