OMG - Have a Shot (NZ Idol of its day - which looks like late 1940s, but it has to be after TV came here) has me wondering whatever happened to Ron Smith? You may or may not have heard his original song, "Reach for the Sky." I have.
And somebody should track down those two guys with kilts and accordian and hold them to account.
A sign of the times perhaps, though which direction the sign pointed is obscure, but "In An English Country Garden" seemed an odd choice of song for the Maori guy.
Earlier, I caught the much promoed Spartacus. I was expecting a softcore, but pornographically violent, Swords & Sandals romp. And that's exacrtly what the makers delivered, filmed in glorious Bucket-o-fake-bloodovision.
I got confused at one stage, when Craig Parker appeared to be approaching the Gates of Mordor with a Roman Army, but that wasn't important anyway. It's not for the squeamish.
I'll tune in next week.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
I set it free, and it feels good.
I've had a nice exchange on Trademe this week.
I'm shifting stuff around - I've lived spread around multiple properties for the last decade or so, I always seem to be shifting stuff around. But this is going to change. I am decluttering.
I didn't think I was a hoarder, but finally, after moving them around from student flats, to first home, then next home, etc, it is time to open up those old boxes at the back of the wardrobe & dispense with stuff that otherwise will stay there until some descendant comes to settle the estate.
This process requires patience, a dust mask, and a lot of city council rubbish bags.
Some stuff I will keep of course, but only that which I really shouldn't toss (say, with family significance) and that which I will dust off and actually use again.
There is the elegant steel butane cigarette lighter that I was given at my 21st (I doubt such a thing is an appropriate gift these days), it's been in a box for probably two decades - it actually lit on the first go, it must have some impressive seals in there. And another - a black Zippo I was given by my cats, the card had their inked pawprints (they also gave me my Swiss Army knife one year, I still use that almost daily). I have no idea what to do I'll do with the lighters yet. But they're tiny, they can keep for now.
I also came across the first watch that I chose for myself. It was a mission at the time, I knew what I wanted broadly (analogue face, day and date, alarm and waterproof), but the local models left me cold. In the days before Google and internet shopping, I somehow located the exact model I wanted in the UK.
Long story short, a relative visiting the UK, armed with exact specifications, and instructions NOT to buy anything else if the specific model wasn't there, picked it up for me. A Seiko Sports 100, gold analogue face, stainless steel body, with a discreet multi function LCD display, and waterproof to 100 metres. I used to tramp a lot, and frequent beaches for days or weeks on end, everything needed to be shock and waterproof. It is also a dress watch, small by today's men's watch standards. The almost indestructable (and waterproof, with day/date - cellphones do everything else I need) thing I wear now is easily twice its size.
I probably wore that Seiko watch almost constantly for the next 20 years. It never made it 100 metres underwater, but around half that & worked fine; it wasn't allowed in coal mines, because battery powered watches just aren't in case they spark, I had to hand it over; it's travelled around the world. It's pretty much been in a box for the last 15 years although a couple of times I did replace the battery to check it was working fine - batteries last so much longer these days.
I decided to sell it on Trademe.
I got a couple of pretty trainspottery questions about the model numbers and measurements, but years ago pal, I already checked it's not one of the mega-collectibles.
It sold to a woman who says it reminds her of one she lost. Her email showed she has a website.
I'm not particularly sentimental about possessions, but it's occurred to me that that watch was literally attached to me for 40% of my life. It pleases me it'll be back out there.
I'm shifting stuff around - I've lived spread around multiple properties for the last decade or so, I always seem to be shifting stuff around. But this is going to change. I am decluttering.
I didn't think I was a hoarder, but finally, after moving them around from student flats, to first home, then next home, etc, it is time to open up those old boxes at the back of the wardrobe & dispense with stuff that otherwise will stay there until some descendant comes to settle the estate.
This process requires patience, a dust mask, and a lot of city council rubbish bags.
Some stuff I will keep of course, but only that which I really shouldn't toss (say, with family significance) and that which I will dust off and actually use again.
There is the elegant steel butane cigarette lighter that I was given at my 21st (I doubt such a thing is an appropriate gift these days), it's been in a box for probably two decades - it actually lit on the first go, it must have some impressive seals in there. And another - a black Zippo I was given by my cats, the card had their inked pawprints (they also gave me my Swiss Army knife one year, I still use that almost daily). I have no idea what to do I'll do with the lighters yet. But they're tiny, they can keep for now.
I also came across the first watch that I chose for myself. It was a mission at the time, I knew what I wanted broadly (analogue face, day and date, alarm and waterproof), but the local models left me cold. In the days before Google and internet shopping, I somehow located the exact model I wanted in the UK.
Long story short, a relative visiting the UK, armed with exact specifications, and instructions NOT to buy anything else if the specific model wasn't there, picked it up for me. A Seiko Sports 100, gold analogue face, stainless steel body, with a discreet multi function LCD display, and waterproof to 100 metres. I used to tramp a lot, and frequent beaches for days or weeks on end, everything needed to be shock and waterproof. It is also a dress watch, small by today's men's watch standards. The almost indestructable (and waterproof, with day/date - cellphones do everything else I need) thing I wear now is easily twice its size.
I probably wore that Seiko watch almost constantly for the next 20 years. It never made it 100 metres underwater, but around half that & worked fine; it wasn't allowed in coal mines, because battery powered watches just aren't in case they spark, I had to hand it over; it's travelled around the world. It's pretty much been in a box for the last 15 years although a couple of times I did replace the battery to check it was working fine - batteries last so much longer these days.
I decided to sell it on Trademe.
I got a couple of pretty trainspottery questions about the model numbers and measurements, but years ago pal, I already checked it's not one of the mega-collectibles.
It sold to a woman who says it reminds her of one she lost. Her email showed she has a website.
I'm not particularly sentimental about possessions, but it's occurred to me that that watch was literally attached to me for 40% of my life. It pleases me it'll be back out there.
Friday, August 6, 2010
The Interview
The imposing building in the middle of a football field sized carpark was a real bastard to get to. A wicked southerly was coming in from the beach, and an icy rain was beating in sideways. You'd think these guys would have a tunnel or something.
The reception area was spartan, but comfy. Whites and a few splashes of primary colours, no pretentious or novelty artworks.
A woman came to meet me, she led me through a door that seemed to sweep gracefully open at her approach. I was sat in a functionally furnished interview room.
Presently, a nurse joined us to hook me up to what I think was a polygraph machine, and to manoeuvre something that looked like a small camera up to within a few inches of my right eye.
With my left eye, I could see my interviewer and the nurse poring closely of the image of something on a laptop.
"We have some questions to ask you, and also some tests to administer."
I saw the nurse check the contents of her bag. I felt a cold sweat coming on, "Hang on, I did the Myers/Briggs for the agency!"
"We have our own testing methodologies here at The Corporation. They've served us well over the centuries."
I was asked my name, my date of birth, and sundry questions about my experience and suitabilty for the job.
I was told I would be asked a series of psychological questions next, and to answer honestly and sincerely.
"Question 1: You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?"
"Uh... can I ask questions as we go?
"You will just answer the questions. Now, question 2: You are given a calfskin wallet for your birthday..."
The reception area was spartan, but comfy. Whites and a few splashes of primary colours, no pretentious or novelty artworks.
A woman came to meet me, she led me through a door that seemed to sweep gracefully open at her approach. I was sat in a functionally furnished interview room.
Presently, a nurse joined us to hook me up to what I think was a polygraph machine, and to manoeuvre something that looked like a small camera up to within a few inches of my right eye.
With my left eye, I could see my interviewer and the nurse poring closely of the image of something on a laptop.
"We have some questions to ask you, and also some tests to administer."
I saw the nurse check the contents of her bag. I felt a cold sweat coming on, "Hang on, I did the Myers/Briggs for the agency!"
"We have our own testing methodologies here at The Corporation. They've served us well over the centuries."
I was asked my name, my date of birth, and sundry questions about my experience and suitabilty for the job.
I was told I would be asked a series of psychological questions next, and to answer honestly and sincerely.
"Question 1: You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?"
"Uh... can I ask questions as we go?
"You will just answer the questions. Now, question 2: You are given a calfskin wallet for your birthday..."
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