Winter is over, and we head into Spring then Summer......or do we? It is confusing because the weather is so changeable on the islands, and a surprising number of times the iPhone weather in Timaru, NZ and Fort Bragg, CA are nearly identical. Nevertheless, the calendar says it is spring, so we will go with that.
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| Wellington Harbour, September 2015 |
The end of September we treated ourselves to a long weekend in Wellington to take in the WoW (World of Wearable Art) show with our friend Florry O'Connell, always fun to visit. The WoW show is a long-standing New Zealand celebration of imagination and design that has gotten bigger each year since 1987. They currently are partnered with the
Cirque du Soleil to put on the show, and the results will be familiar with anyone who has seen a
Cirque production: music, acrobats, and a vague and enigmatic "narrative".
Our seats were not great, but it was worth experiencing the spectacle..
The unique part of the event is seeing the creative and fantastic outfits.Here are a few.
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| ‘Diva’s Dreamscape’ by Peter Wakeman |
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| 'Templa Mentis' by Daniella Sasvari |
There is always lots to see and do in Wellington, such as visiting
The Beehive", the affectionate nickname given to the New Zealand Parliament building. We made the time to take the informative tour and learned a bit more of how this system works.
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| A stately statue of Richard "Dick" Seddon, 19th C Prime Minister in front of The Beehive |
I snapped this picture of a NZ flag recovered from Ground Zero after 9/11, before I was informed photos were not allowed, .
To commemorate the centennial of WWI and New Zealand's participation in it, two large special exhibits have been staged.
The Great War Exhibition designed by Peter Jackson is a special presentation and runs through 2018,
Even more impressive is
Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War, a unique collaboration of the National Museum
Te Papa and the Weta Workshop, the award-winning special effects masters. They have chosen to tell the tragic story of the first major combat seen by the combined New Zealand and Australian ANZAC forces in Asia Minor through the eyes of eight real-life participants. At the centerpiece of each tale is a meticulously detailed sculpture 2.4 times human size. These works of art were taken from still photos and took over 24,000 hours to prepare. Surrounding displays embellish the stories of each of these ordinary Kiwis in extraordinary times and circumstances, and critical battles are illuminated using 3-D maps, projections, and dioramas.
Of course
Te Papa has more gentile exhibits too, like this display of
Tivaevae, traditional quilts from the Cook islands.
On a
much lighter note, before leaving town, Florry helped us pick out a Good Fortune Beckoning Cat for the new house. In order to activate the kitty, I had to follow cryptic instructions, such as "
One NO 5 battery providing the power, enabling to automatically beckon the hand for months, setting it at any position, never affected by the lights".
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| Chinese feline with its Mexican Tequila buddy |
On a sad note, but in the spirit of local reportage, Timaru made NZ national news when a mama elephant seal birthed a pup at Caroline Bay. It was very unusual occurrence and caused quite a sensation, but the baby was unwell from the start and
died after a few weeks.
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| Mother and baby in better times. |
As time goes by, the creeping influence of American popular culture, movies and TV mostly, conquers the rest of the world. So Guy Fawkes Day celebrations morph into Halloween. One of the Yank docs hosted a party October 31st. I decided to go as wounded All Blacks legendary loosehead prop Tony Woodcock. Notice the resemblance?
[As an aside, you
norteamericanos may not have noticed, but the very next day the All Blacks confirmed their position as the world's best rugby union team by becoming the first to win back-to-back World Cup titles,
defeating Australia in London 34-17. It has been our honor to be in NZ to see
Richie McCaw and
Dan Carter, two GOATs (Greatest Of All Time), at the end of their AB careers.]
Other famous characters showed up:
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| Lil' Darth V, packing a little extra heat |
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| T-man and Dorothy Gale |
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| Off-duty Batman chillin' with a brew and two Zombie Chicks |
One more feast awaited us. Last year, my fellow Americans in Timaru were pining for Thanksgiving so we had a turkey dinner and invited our friends. It was a big hit, but this year I decided to go back stateside for Thanksgiving. This caused a great deal of distress and, led by agent provocateur Dr. Camille Hemlock, we were told we were to have an early Turkey Fest at our new place. So this last Saturday November 14 we hosted about 30 people for a combination T-Day/housewarming.
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| I keep forgetting to take the "before" picture |
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| Desserts |
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| Victoria Horne, House Surgeon, displays the cake she made for the housewarming |
All in all, a very satisfying and memorable day. Tomorrow we are off back to the States through January 2016. I am guessing that airport security will be super-high after last week's attacks in Paris. What an unspeakable tragedy for all Parisians, and for everyone who has ever been or wanted to go to City of Lights. I process events like this, 9/11, and others in my own idiosyncratic way:
- Logically- It is impossible to make the illogical logical, but humans tend to act in certain stereotypical ways. People become convinced their path is the only true way, others are not fully human and their lives matter less, and in extremes that they are will to give up their own lives in murderous acts for future rewards;
- Trying to exam the lessons of history- These acts are not unprecedented, and are not even close to the worst ever. Study WWI or WWII, for example. We will get through this, but let's not go down the path to WWIII, if possible;
- It is the perpetrators, not the religion or the ethnicity or the nationalities. There are 2.2 billion Christians and 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. The overwhelming majority are more alike than different and desire the same things: peace, food, shelter, and to protect and provide for their families. In my life and travels I have had the privilege to get to work with, to know, and to like Muslims, Germans, and Mexicans, and to discover and dispel preconceptions and biases I didn't know I had.
- Travel is a great way to discover these things, but unfortunately will be decreased due to these events.
- Prudence and caution are wise, but try not to act and react out of fear. Fear, like pain, will cloud our thinking.
- Despite all this, recognizing and being disgusted by how awful our species can behave, I remain a cautious optimist. It will get better, people can get along; and least I want to believe that.
Sorry if that was a little "soapboxy", and forgive me if it was.
See some of you soon!
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| Spring in the Timaru Botanic Garden |
P.S.This should significantly brighten your day if you haven't seen it. It
is the most joyous thing I have seen in a long while:
Bruno Mars Uptown Funk mashed up with Golden Age Hollywood dance routines (by Nerd Fest UK). Magic!
