Arty Boys

As well as Willowbank the lads got to watch some club cricket and go to the art gallery over the weekend. They slept at the cricket, but really enjoyed the gallery, not a peep and some very serious looking at stuff as we did the rounds. Sush!, can't you see we're busy???

My brother the light addict

Taming the Cass Lagoon Track in 7.5 hours

Had an absolutely stunning training run over the weekend, 33km in just over seven and a half hours. I might just be ready for the Kepler now...less than three weeks to go. I took a camera around the Cass Lagoon, and having tramped it twice before it was great to travel light and hoon around the mix of trail running, boulder hopping and pass bagging. Magic day, perfect weather, if a little hot at over 30 degrees. Gulp!


A few pics....and hopefully a movie from the Lagoon Saddle showing the panorama around the Main Divide though Mt Rolleston, Avalanche Peak, Arthurs Pass, etc

Heading up the Cass

Who puts a loo in the middle of the main track???

Looking down to Hamilton Hut (The Hilton) from Cass Saddle 1430m asl

Unnamed peaks about Cass Saddle

Heading up the West Harper, looking at the back end of the Craigieburn Range

View From Lagoon Saddle looking up to Arthurs Pass and Mt Rolleston

Here's the wee movie flick of the panorama, the nor'wester was picking up so it may be a bit noisy and a little bit shaky

Boys on Safari

We had a great Show Day...bailed on the queues at the show, went to Willowbank instead. Gorgeous day...I'll leave the pics to tell the stories :)

As always here if you click on the pic it blows up to full screen

The Boys First Dinosaur

Mum's friends, including the mate of the Llama that spat all over Mummy

Canadian Wood Duck- very spectacular plumage

I can and I will eat my clothes since my parents never feed me enough

Darth Jordan feels the force

Razor Review: Southern Amp 2008

Midnight Youth were great, but to be fair teenybopper girls aren't their target audience

I've heard of talking horses, but rock star horses??

All the fun of the circus

My first attendance at a Southern Amp, thanks to my wonderful whanau, and for the first time a truly international flavour at this fledgling South Island music festival. What a great day out, in fact I'd go as far as to say we had a BIG Day Out... which I certainly won't be doing at the ever increasingly lacklustre Big Day Out festival in January. But thats another blog post....

Lindon Puffin warms up the crowd with a giant CD release

We arrived soon after lunchtime and quickly familiarised ourselves with the 4 stage set up. One big one inside, a dance tent to the south, the NZ tent to the west, and a small but highly enjoyable Christchurch stage to the east. Overall I have to give a bouquet right from the get go, the organisation was great, no long queues, a great vibe and easy access to each of the stages all day. Hats off, we probably got to see 2 or 3 extra bands due to the fantastic set up and staffing.

We spent the first few hours grazing on up and coming and established NZ acts. In a whirlwind walkabout we saw snippets of highly promising bands such as The Exiles, Clap Clap Riot, Midnight Youth, Audio Empire, Goodnight Nurse, the newly reformed Weta, and the Lyttelton Legend that is Lindon Puffin. I am suitably reassured that the future of NZ music is in wonderful hands, I was truly impressed by each of the above bands, particularly Midnight Youth- a real Pulp feel to their set.

Who the F&ck is Luck????

Then after a cold one it was back to the main stage to check out where Jordan Luck and Band are at these days. Any sign of an album Mr Luck??? Mr Bell??? They played a typical set, parts dreadful, parts engaging and entertaining, even unhinged, and some real diamonds interspersed. Victoria and Christchurch (In Cashel Street I Wait) still cut the mustard in a big way. Jordan Luck is truly the Keith Richards of NZ rock, a true living legend and it was great to see him live for the 400th time.

After Jordan we went to check out the end of The Valves set. These guys are truly stunning and gave one of the three biggest highlights of the day. Part Shihad, part AC/DC, the packed NZ stage just went mental. If you haven't seen these guys do it soon. At that point it was time for a quiet beer next to the dance tent that was bouncing vigorously to the sounds of Tiki Tane, who always plays a varied and surprising set. From all accounts Southern Amp was no exception.

The Dandy Warhols should have headlined

Then it was time for the first international acts, The Charlatans followed by the Dandy Warhols. Two completely different bands, one a British pop institution who dragged in us oldies with a gorgeous set of classic songs mixed with new ones from their recent release. The Dandys followed with trippy psychedelia, including all the big hits. I have to say the Dandy's were Major Highlight Number 2 for me in a very strong lineup. I must hunt out their back catalogue. And yes Rat, she was great on keyboards.

The Charlatans...Madchester memorabilia

The Living End thrashing away mightily

After refueling (again, no queues!) it was back to the NZ stage for Fur Patrol, then the main stage for a snippet of the Living End, and back to NZ Stage for a truly stunning set from my highlight of the day, Dimmer. Shayne Carter, rock god extraordinaire, and with the highly talented James Duncan (also in SJD) it would be fair to say all watching (including Paul's future wife Julia Deans) were all completely entranced by the Radiohead-like set of pure and unbridled majesty.

Mrs Christensen

Thats God playing lead guitar

At this point I was quite knackered. So any comments about Seether are probably a little bit overly-scathing, but really, to be a headline act you should not be a mediocre covers band. Lets face it, these guys are ripping off Kurt Cobain with every breath they exhale. To the point that they covered a Nirvana song, and the irony was not lost on me that they chose Rape Me...talk about turning in ones grave. They even flogged the music to Come As You Are, note for note, and changed it to their own words. They should have been run out of town- we left early.

So in summary, apart from Seether, Southern Amp was a great day out and I'm still buzzing now. I hope the growth of this festival continues next year with some international acts of note. Its a great venue, well organised and I have to say it, far more attractive to me than next years Big Day Out (apart from the Neil Young bit)

Seether truly was unbearable

Christchurch

....is now New Zealands second most populous city, relegating Wellington to third place.

All the cool people are living here. And to be fair, I guess some of us are breeding a little over efficiently!

It truly is the best place I've lived, recommend it to anyone.

The Best News in the History of My Blog

Ch-Ch and Auckland

February.

Stunned.

(Southern Amp pics and review to follow over the weekend, promise!)

Review of the 2008 New Zealand Election Campaign

There really is little difference between most of the parties running. One picture tells the stories of a thousand candidates....

Speaking of the Election...

Another Youtube Gem from the CTU

Kermit does Nine Inch Nails

Thanks Rat :) Not for the kids so much though folks...

We have two tracks today for your viewing pleasure courtesy of Kermit the Frog, who has clearly hit a rough patch. Makes for great Youtube though!

Firstly we have one of the most evocative songs in history "Hurt" By Nine Inch Nails (also covered by Johnny Cash)



And secondly we have "Creep" as first sung by Radiohead. Miss Piggy has much to answer for.



At least its a break from the never ending elections!

The Flagpole Run-up

Today marked the next phase in Kepler 5 training. A 20.6km run in the Canterbury mountains up and over a 900m peak called the Flagpole, down the other side and back through a stunning gorge in the headwaters of the Selwyn River.

It was hot norwest and sunny- at times so windy the Selwyn River looked like Cook Strait on a rough day with spray flying up everywhere, just crazy!

The run went well, got my target time of 2hrs 30 mins and felt not too knackered at the end. Ran into a couple of old mates while there too.

Its a wonderful course to run, and the fantastic news for those who care is that the organiser, Chris Cox, confirmed the Avalanche Peak race at Arthurs Pass is back on the agenda, fantastic!

A good day. Go the AB's!