You Don't Scare Me!

Another Day Another First- First Snow

It was another one of those "mountains sing out loud" days. Fresh snow and a beautiful crisp clear day saw us heading up to Arthurs Pass for the boys first "mountaineering" expedition. They loved it. They weren't sure about the snow thing though...as the picture shows!

It was just a perfect Good Friday.

Someone Started Crawling Yesterday!

So now no remote control is safe!

Christchurch- Number One

Stuff.co.nz has confirmed that Christchurch is the safest place in NZ to live. Having lived in a few other places in NZ I have to agree. Full article here.


We have had a glorious summer to boot...as I speak its sitting on 25 degrees and its meant to be the middle of autumn, got to love that.


Posting here has been quiet lately, kids have been sick, so we've had a massive amount on at home. On top of that I think I've just got through the busiest working week of my life, with two major tenure review submissions going in. But when you are dealing with iconic landsacpes that inspire you, its really not that hard to stay motivated.


Heres one of those landscapes I've had the pleasure of working on lately- the Kirkliston Range in the Hakataramea Valley, South Canterbury.

Haha!

From The HeraldSun:

A STUDENT has some scrubbing to do after his parents discovered he'd painted an 18m penis on their roof. Rory McInnes, 18, decided to make his family home stand out after watching a documentary about Google Earth. Armed with a tin of white paint, he climbed on top of the $2 million home in Berkshire, south east England, and set to work. His artwork remained unnoticed for 12 months until a helicopter pilot spotted it and swooped down low so his passengers could take photos. Dad Andy thought it was a prank call when a British newspaper contacted him about the painting this week. "It's an April Fool's joke, right? There's no way there's a 60ft phallus on top of my house,'' Mr McInnes told The Sun. He confronted his four children, finding his answers when he reached Rory over the phone in Brazil. Part-way through gap-year travels, Rory could not hold back his laughter as he confessed: "Oh, so you've found it then.'' The image has been compared to the Cerne Abbas Giant, a 55m-high naked figure carved into the hill at Dorset which is said to attract couples seeking to have children. Mum Clare said: "We don't want any more children, so the idea of sleeping under a giant fertility symbol is rather worrying.'' Mr McInnes added: "We don't want to lie in bed at night and hear couples at it above us. "When Rory gets home he will be given a scrubbing brush and white spirit and he can go and scrub it off.''

Running in Porridge In Paradise

Lake Hawea the day before for Work

Sunset over the Crown Range for Play

Its taken a while to post this thanks to sick Mum and Dad and sick boys too, but we are all on the mend now.

Well the Motatapu race was a cracker. I had a really difficult day, feeling fit but for some reason lacking energy to really crank into top gear- like the title says I felt like I was running in porridge. Consequently I was nowhere near Madman Marvin (well run Glenn- you were on fire!) but I have to be happy that after 5 hours and 12 minutes I just felt like keeping running at the end. So the endurance was there, which augurs well for the Routeburn, hopefully. I'm sure with some good preparation and a few decent sleeps beforehand that the speed thing can be found next time.

The weather was magic, and it was fascinating to see what a few million bucks can do to a Pastoral Lease. Shania Twain and her ex hubby have got these stations in absolutely pristine condition, it really got me thinking about my Tenure Reviews while I was blatting across- what do we really want for our High County outcomes?

A few pics of the day, just magnificent. It was one of those magical autumnal days where the colours of Central Otago just explode, and the mountains sing out loud.

An honour and a privilege to be lucky enough to be there.

Razor - Marvin Trophy Clash tomorrow

Thus time tomorrow morning Madman Marvin and I will thrashing it out accross the Otago High Country on the Motatapu mountain marathon from Wanaka to Arrowtown. The race crosses three high country stations, Motatapu, Soho and Glencoe. Shania Twain is the leaseholder for the first two, although I don't imagine she'll be there given the marriage meltdown.

Can I regain the trophy? Glenn must be firing on all cylinders but training has been good the past few weeks, so as long as the dodgy knee holds together I'll give it a good shake!

Main objective otherwise is to beat Finance Minister Bill English, who's in the mountain bike sectin.

Will report back after the event...

The Epicentre of a Property Crash

In response to this Stuff.co.nz article... (clickety here)

Aucklands downtown apartment industry was a primary focus for greed and overdevelopment up to about 2 years ago. You could see the bubble starting to burst in 2006/07 but now it seems the sector is in complete freefall.

I believe this was a primary driver in the storm that has swept through the Property Sector and has now been overtaken by the Global Credit Crunch.

Once this "correction" is complete we may start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in NZ- I think this is the image of the property downturn bottoming out.

At least I certainly hope it is!

Some You Tube clips from the ChCh Maiden Gig

I still can't beleive they were here..... The Trooper and a clip from the Ryme of the Ancient Mariner

From the Stuff Website... outstanding story...if any prick tries to break in here they will feel the full force of the Razor Blade (cricket bat)

Pensioner strikes back: Intruder hit with rolling pin

Crying teen found in his boxer shorts

Stuff.co.nz Tuesday, 03 March 2009

Hamilton police are praising an elderly woman who fought off an aggressive youth with a rolling pin as he tried to break into her home.
The woman successfully managed to keep the 15-year-old at bay in the early hours of Saturday morning by repeatedly striking him on the head with the rolling pin after he smashed a back window and tried to reach around to unlock the door.
Constable Chris Mankelow said officers arrived at the woman's address to find the offender embarrassed and wearing only his boxer shorts.
"The woman who is aged in her seventies and lives on her own was awoken about 3.30am by a man swearing and banging on her door, claiming he lived there."
Despite the lady's assurances that it was her home, where she has lived for 30 years, the boy would not leave and call centre operators could hear him yelling abuse at her, police said.
"So he's stuck his head in and the victim has promptly struck him on the head with her rolling pin, she noticed he was still there so she's hit him a second and third time," Mr Mankelow said.
"When we arrived we found the offender crying. He'd had had a wee 'accident' and stripped down to his boxers and was pretty keen to be taken away."
He had been bailed to his parents' address and referred to Youth Aid.
Mr Mankelow said responding officers were impressed by the pensioner's bravery

One last thing for today....

Type your name and "needs" into Google and enjoy the results

Its a laugh and three quarters

The Science of Sleep

Its pretty simple, apparently

Running To The Hills- Iron Maiden Razor Review Inclusive

I know its going to come as a great shock to most of you, but I went to Iron Maiden last week.

It was more than just a gig however, it was a story that took a whole weekend to unfold, after waiting a lifetime for the opportunity to see the band that I have constantly been blown away by since I started listening to music some 25 years ago.

The first highlight was getting involved with the Maiden Fan Club who had organised a bus trip on gig day as a fundraiser for Canteen, to fight cancer affecting kids. What a cause. We even got some kids into the gig, preferential seats, backstage, etc. They deserve every good thing we can give them, what a privilege to be involved.

The first mission was on Saturday to meet the crew of "Ed Force Two" as our bus was lovingly christened, and pick up my t-shirt, et al. Josh and Jordan came along, and did a great job of sweet talking a couple of young blonde lasses. Problems ahead in 15 years I fear....

From there Saturday night morphed into a very nice dinner for Paul who was back from OZ for the weekend. And then out on the town...never before have so many Iron Maiden T-shirts been present in downtown Christchurch. What a night. We even ran into Tall Paul...tramping buddy from the Jaffabowl, who I have a habit of running into in the most unexpected situations!



Ah....the Crew :) As always thats Razor in the thick of it.

This guy from Sweden had the dudes from KISS tattooed on him, thats devotion above and beyond...

So anyway, gig day. People had come from Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Germany, Australia, and I'm sure many other places just to see the tour. The devotion of Maiden fans is up there with that of the top British soccer clubs, its just complete madness! We had two buses on Sunday, Ed Force Two and Three and did the rounds of ChCh for several hours, including a surreal BBQ at Scarborough where a Brass Band just happened to be playing. Lets just say we weren't sure how popular 100 Iron Maiden Fans were in this setting, but the good folk there really pitched in to the Canteen Fundraising. Hats off.

Eventually it was gig time, and after a long and entertaining drive across ChCh in Ed Force Two (you heard us before you saw us) we set about auctioning off everything that wasn't bolted to the bus, and then in we went. The Obligatory Warm Up Act from ChCh, Tainted, played a solid set. Lauren Harris, Daughter of the Maiden bass player Steve Harris followed with a very tight set- and her guitar player is I swear the spitting double of Zakk Wylde.

Then the main event. I won't dismember it song by song, but suffice to say the sold out Westpac Arena spent 2 and a quarter hours in complete and utter awe. I had high expectations, and they were all met. Some wag wrote in the media that the only problem with the gig was that its going to be impossible to go to any other gigs this year as the bar has been set so high. I completely endorse that statement!

There were more pyrotechnics than I thought possible, especially indoors- at one point they pretty much had the whole stage on fire. Bruce had the crowd in the palm of his hand for the entire set- there aren't many frontsmen in rock who carry that sort of charisma. Loved his two fingered verbal salute to the establishment hot on the heels of Maiden being named "Best Live Act" at the Brit Awards.

All the expected songs were there, outrageous guitars, the galloping bass of the finest technician of the rock world, and Nicko hidden behind his drum kit going berserk for the whole set.

In a nutshell, they delivered the perfect gig. My highlights? Hard to nail out anything in the mix of excellence, but Phantom of the Opera, The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and Hallowed Be Thy Name were my personal high notes among many.

And the best news, they are coming back in 2010/11!

I'm going to stop before I lose my entire blog readership from boredom, but this was special. A concert of a lifetime.

So it has been written, so it has been done. :)

UP THE IRONS!!!!!

Razor Rating: THE MAXIMUM POSSIBLE

No I Haven't Been Kidnapped By Iron Maiden

Although the option of a flight to Easter Island with Captain Dickinson was tempting...

No I've actually been away in Dunedin for work and training hard for the Motutapu, and in between having some quality family time.

Review coming tonight for those who were asking!

It's Official- Maiden are the Best!

Just as Ed Force One touches down in Auckland, hot off the press we hear that Iron Maiden have taken out the Award for the Best International Live Act at the British Music Awards. They beat out the bedwetters in Coldplay, The Verve, Scouting For Girls and Elbow to take this prestigious gong.

Three more sleeps and I get to see it all for myself!

Up the Irons!

They dared to go where eagles .....

The Boys First Crusaders Game

Well that box is ticked.

Josh and Jordan have now been to first up wins by the Canterbury Cricket team and now on Saturday they added the Crusaders into the mix. First game for Toddy as coach, first game for the boys. They loved it...all from the luxury of the Corporate Lounge of course!

Couple of other pics included just for fun :)

Spare a thought for Victoria

This video clip on the Sydney Morning Herald is perhaps the single most frightning piece of imagery I have seen of the devastation over the ditch.

And to think that some piece of excrement deliberately caused this, its completely overwhelming.

The wheels on the bus go round and round

One week till Maiden....getting excited now!!!

It looks like I've secured a seat on "Ed Force Two", a fleet of buses that will be travelling around the NZ venues the day of the gigs...and raising money for Canteen, to help the good fight agaisnt kids cancer. What a stunning cause.

Meanwhile, look for Captain Bruce Dickinson who will be piloting "Ed Force One" through your skies very very soon.....

Life is hard at 9.5 months

I'm not sure what the joke was....probably laughing at Dad being a spastic again

It would be good to tap into that uncomplicated enthusiasm for life that wee ones have for all of our three score and ten years though, don't you think?

A Moment of Introspection

Well another weekend ripped by with two 30 degree days. Took the boys out for runs on both days, had a yum lunch in at the long lost SOL Square and revelled in watching the cheating Australians get tipped up by the Black Caps last night. Marvellous stuff.

However, not so good to turn up to work today and hear of the death of a colleague, drowned in the Rakaia River mouth on Friday in a fishing accident. He was a genuine man of the land, like me someone lucky enough to be able to combine his career with his passion for the outdoors.

People say sometimes at least they were doing something they loved. But at only 58 years and with so many things to achieve, well words don't really say it.

However out of such events it serves to remind how important it is to keep living life and following your passions. We are supremely lucky in NZ that if you are into the outdoors everything is only just up the road, whether it be mountains, lakes, rivers, whatever.

A couple of weeks ago I watched an amazing movie that double underlines all this called "Into The Wild." Its a true story with a sad finish but an inspirational message. As my good mate Wazza alluded to recently, if theres a story that sums up how my fabric, nature and motivations are driven by Aotearoa's incredible backyard, then its that amazing tale, although it has to be said the personal motivations of Mr McCandless were extreme, selfish and wrong in regards to his notion of family- not something I'd respect in a person at all.

So, without being preachy folks, don't forget to follow your passions and keep on rocking.