one week later

155 confirmed dead and 240 predicted...not as many as napier 1931. i had an inservice course today and i was a bit annoyed i couldn't be with my class for the two minutes silence. i was in a cafe at 12.51 pm today and the people next to me just kept on talking...i wanted to jump up and talk to them about being respectful...but i didn't cos that would have been undignified and disrespectful...besides, i don't think ignorant people deserve my time...

the earth shakes

nearly six months ago there was an earthquake. it struck at 4 ish am. in another island i felt it. it was 7.1. while it was a shock it happened (and 7.1 is a beauty), it was a new fault and never meant to happen where it did (as you can see by the blase-ness and only passing mention of my post), we were all thankful there was only damage to buildings which are replacable and no loss of life apart from a lemur.

flash forward to 22/02/11 at 12.51 pm. a 6.3. in the same city. smaller but shallower and closer. 113 dead and counting. 228 missing presumed dead. the greatest tragedy on nz soil since napier 1931 (ironically at about this time).

my people are safe (my uncle and the people i know and the family of the people i know). three of the guys who were working on the organ in the durham st methodist church damaged in the sept 4 quake (2 days after my birthday so that's why i remember it) also worked on the organ in my church when someone set fire to it. they didn't survive the quake. i did not know them. i knew of them in passing. but i feel for their people. my ex vicar's church is gone. new zealand is such a village (six degrees of separation be damned...down here it's two) that everybody knows somebody who was affected by this thing.

christchurch was not meant to get this. wellington was...and the most endearing and poignant image i see (for me) is of the cathedral. it is a beautiful building. but is just a building.

i said to my students yesterday that the christchurch they know is not the christchurch that their children will know. that got me too.

here are some pics that i found while trawling through trademe. my favourite (for wont of a better word) is #39. but #40 and #43 get me too...

christchurch. our thoughts are with you. there but for the grace of god go the people of wellington. we will learn from you and we mourn your people. all my people are safe...i hate being helpless but you will be back...

OMG...

...do not mess with whaleoil...

and your life is not secret anymore...beware of the internet.

go the fox!

i like this story...

happy new year!

i've covered a lot of kilometres so far this year... (well, since christmas day)

home to wanganui (195 km)
wanganui to marton (38km)
marton to rotorua (296 km)
rotorua to mount maunganui and back (152 km)
rotorua to auckland (253 km)
auckland to marton (501 km)
marton to home (160 km)
1,595 km in fact.

that's a lot of time sitting down...no wonder my bum is sore!

it's week 9 of term 4

so anne tolley...current minister for education...why, if i only work 9-3 and have so many holidays, am i still working a full 6 hour day on a saturday?...please explain.

cos i've seen...

...blue skies, through the tears in my eyes...

here are my reflections on the latest installment of RH (no P for the stage version) S.
while i do enjoy my boys big and brown...i prefer my frank n' furters to be a bit less muscly and a bit more camp.

having said that...they could all sing and they all performed more than adequately. the costumes were great, the set was simple and the transylvanians who moved the stuff around were funny.

i'm with the dompost reviewer though (sorry can't find the link) and was a bit bemused by the ladder thingy going on. don't think this show needed a gimmick...it had richard o'brien. that was enough.

ah...our richard...what can i say. loved the denim tuxedo. he did a nice job...not that he had to do much...he's richard o'brien. and sure, he's a one hit wonder...but what a hit... and i know he's not the best of singers...but i'm going to forgive him that...he's richard o'brien.

i enjoyed it, but it was all over too soon (it is after all only 2 hours and 5 minutes long...and that included a 20 minute interval).

the encore was great. i am not among the (i'd like to think few but really) many who can say they've done the timewarp with richard o'brien. he received a fantastic welcome. and despite the government's best efforts to keep him out i'm glad he came back. he makes me almost nearly get over missing rob muldoon as the narrator cos i think he went and died or something (can't remember but check out the wiki link here and go down to the 80s bit...russell crowe was in it and steve from shortland street) and we ended up with john banas as the narrator and not even the better super sub billy t.

and he proves that there is at least one interesting thing to come out of hamilton (apart from our dan).