Thursday, July 24, 2025

A fickle sonance (Jackie McLean)



Wie geht's?

This one's about how I continue to live a charmed life - episode #563.

Last Friday afternoon, I went shopping at the Chemist Warehouse and while paying at the till I dropped my phone onto the floor.  The side pouch of the cover holds a number of cards.

Some time ago I grouped these cards into three sections (there are three slits in the side pouch).

First slot is for my Gold Card, second slot is for fuel cards and third is for my loyalty cards - bookshops, dry cleaning, car wash cards - that sort of thing.

When I dropped the phone I had a nano second thought that I'd maybe spilt some cards but when I glanced at the floor there was nothing there, so I didn't give it a second nano thought.

Blithefully unaware, I pootled home in the Purdmobile, my mind drifting away dreamily in my usual post school, Friday afternoon, brain of mush.

Getting home and emerging from my fog, I was mildly alarmed to find out that all of my loyalty cards were missing from the pouch.

Not the end of the world, right? But it was annoying, as I'd built up a sizeable $ amount on my Unity Books, and Slow Boat Records cards. Plus, the Real Groovy Records membership card was missing.

Not cool man. 

Anyway, realising I possibly did lose them at the Chemist Warehouse I called in on Tuesday during a non-contact period and wohsers - someone had found and handed in some of my loyalty cards - the car wash, Minton Books and dry-cleaning cards were present and correct!  Turns out they'd dropped into the chocolate enticements below the counter somehow.

The shop assistant's face was priceless when I asked if my Real Groovy card was also there. She smiled and I realised how weird the sentence must have sounded, so I had to embark on a lengthy explanation of Real Groovy Records.

Unfortunately, the Real Groovy, Slow Boat Records and Unity Books cards were still missing. 

I thought about seeking a replacement card from Real Groovy but realised I could pick one up the next time I was visiting Auckland.

At 3,10am the next morning, I half woke, and half remembered I may have put some of the cards in a drawer before travelling to Denver 4 months ago.

When the 4.30am alarm sounded I dimly remembered my hazy thought and went to the drawer. Bingo!

The cards that I'd thought missing were all there. 

Charmed life. What did I tell you?

Love and peace - Wozza

Sunday, July 20, 2025

"You're such a dirty louse. Go get out of my house". That's all I ever get from you. Your family ties, in fact I don't think I ever heard a single little civil word from those guys (Queen)



Wie geht's?

We've stopped watching Dance Moms halfway through season 2. I can only think of one more show that we have abandoned halfway through - Game of Thrones. Believe it or not there are some similarities in the reasons for these two decisions (apart from the fact that Jade is cancelling her subscription to Disney+ soon).

Basically, all the adults on display got super ugly. There wasn't any redeeming positive character left, and we started feeling icky.

In season 1 we enjoyed watching Abby Lee and the dancers with the titular dance moms (largely) on board.

But by mid-way through season 2 there were a succession of nasty scenes: notably when Abby abandoned the team after her star performer, Maddie, froze on stage; and when the moms subsequently became a pack of hyenas - baying for Abby's blood. There was also the side show of Kathy's Candy Apple dancers who were hell bent on revenge. Yikes!

So, all up - I could sense a Game of Thrones' red wedding scene coming. To that we said, 'No thanks' and therefore goodbye to Abby Lee who had become increasing cruel and obsessed with winning at all costs and goodbye to the entitled, jealous, self-righteous bunch of moms. Melissa caving in and saying she was a doormat was the last straw.

The only ones to come out of the show with any credit were the young dancers.

I'd also become sick of the weekly goal to beat others, rather than to strive for personal best.

The over-riding fear of losing, the fear of making a mistake and receiving Abby's wrath became too much for me. It no longer became entertainment and something pleasant and diverting to watch after a day at the chalk face. 

Instead, we'll concentrate on the much more positive Alone Australia where contestants do the best they can to survive the elements and receive bountiful personal rewards in the process. They are only competing with themselves, that's all they control, and they grow as people as a result.

Love and peace - Wozza

Monday, July 14, 2025

Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most (Buddha)



Wie geht's?

Back to school this week, which means kicking back into routines.

Richie McCaw's 'start again' mantra comes to mind as this happens, because every day - I do indeed have that 'start again' feeling. That daily reminder that I have to prove myself again today.  

For me, it's relatively easy to get back into familiar tropes - one of which is 'Mondays are hard'. And a Monday after two weeks of study break? Fergetaboutit!!

Nevermind. Start again.

Love and peace - Wozza

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

The more I get to know, the less I find that I understand (Porcupine Tree)

The coastal view looking towards NP from Oakura


Wie geht's?

Visiting a new baby was one of the reasons for our recent trip to Taranaki in the second week of my study break. Kerry and Shamara's latest son is a bonny baby - all are looking good and doing well. Along the way we caught up with some friends and family, which was cool! 

I kinda realised (again) how many old friends we have in the 'naki - more than we can visit with in two days that's fersure.

One of the other reasons was to commemorate the anniversary of Patricia Smith's passing (Jacky and Michelle's mum). That meant a visit to one of her old haunts - The Teahouse in New Plymouth's majestic Pukekura Park. Unfortunately, they didn't have any lamingtons in their cabinet (a poor show). Never-the-less, it has become a fitting ritual. 

Rest in peace Pat. And thanks again, for producing two rather remarkable girls!

We missed seeing a few friends and I didn't get to A Records (a new shop in Fitzroy), so we'll need to revisit in the near future.

Taranaki!! A happening place!

Love and peace - Wozza

Saturday, July 5, 2025

I'm going to wrap my love around you (The Waterboys)



Wie geht's?

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I would sometimes  spend nights on my own at Ma's place in One Tree Hill.

Ma was my mum's mum. She lived alone at 11 Kawau Road and she could cook trout to perfection.

My brother is allergic to fish. I love fish.

So, from time to time, mum would drop me off at Ma's and I would do some gardening jobs and Ma would cook a trout meal for me and it would taste like heaven.

I'd sleep over, so together we'd watch some TV programmes that I was never allowed to watch at home, later than I was allowed to stay up at home. Most notably The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

I'm keen for Asher to have something like that experience.

Study breaks are a great opportunity for this. Recently, we picked him up from Palmerston North and he stayed overnight at Maple Grove. He even helped me out with getting the firewood in, so he earned $1.

We watched the first episode of Star Wars, the under-appreciated The Phantom Menace, up to the end of the pod race before he went to bed (a bit later than normal). We finished it after breakfast.

Will he love his times with Papa and Mema at Maple Grove as much as I did with Ma? I really hope so.

Love and peace - Papa

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

It's the energy between all things, a tension, a balance, that binds the universe together (Yoda)



Wie geht's?

Thanks to Star Wars, dualistic opposites continue to be on my mind of late. Particularly while watching TV programmes like Alone where survival opposites are either find food/stay warm or tap out, and Dance Moms. Yes - Dance Moms. It's a matter of winners and losers.

On the surface Star Wars is about an evil, sinister, power-mad Empire and a group of freedom-loving, worthy rebels with a Princess on their side, but it's way more nuanced than that.

Anakin, Luke, Kylo Ren, for instance, have on-going inner battles with their various instincts and emotions like anger.

Recently we re-watched Episodes 7 to 9, Solo and Rogue One. In each there is a clear interplay between truth and lies, appearance and reality, goodness and evil, being active and letting events play out. The key word being 'interplay'.

In Alone, the battle to survive the harsh elements is also of the inner variety. We've started watching Alone: Frozen (6 returning contestants need to last 50 days for a share of some prize-money). Very quickly two men decided they couldn't continue. The interplay between expectations, the pull of home and a knowledge of what was to come made them reflect on what they were doing in a freezing Labrador.

In Dance Moms there is a raging battle going on every episode within the moms - do they intervene? Do they swallow their thoughts? Do they confront Abby? And the on-going battles between the moms are fascinating as well.

Abby Lee Miller (the owner of the studio) is no saint, that's for sure, but she also doesn't hide her dark side or her intentions (win at all costs).

Nuances within nuances. That's what keeps me tuning in.

Love and peace - Wozza

Thursday, June 26, 2025

If you live among wolves you have to act like a wolf (Nikita Khrushchev)



Wie geht's?

Lately, we've been binge watching Alone - season 10, 11 and now 12. Samantha and Andrew got us started on this series and it's retained its appeal.

For the uninitiated: Alone is an American survival competition. It follows the self-documented daily struggles of 10 individuals as they try to survive alone in the wilderness for as long as possible using a limited amount of survival equipment. With the exception of medical check-ins, the participants are isolated from each other and all other humans. They may withdraw from the competition ("tap out") at any time, or be removed due to failing a medical check-in. The contestant who remains the longest wins a monetary prize.
The early episodes of each season are all about settling into who's who, and predicting who will tap out first. Once the ten has been reduced to about five, the show develops a different kind of intensity.

I hadn't realised that so far there were only two episodes of season 12 to view on TV One on demand, so we'll need to wait a while for it to stockpile more episodes before returning to this one.

In the meantime, we figured we would return to Dance Moms for season two. Oh my! This programme is so hilarious and frightening at the same time: Episode 1 and one of the moms calls Abby a whore!! Twice!! Yikes. 

These women are more vicious than any of the predators the contestants experience on Alone!

Must watch TV? Yessireebob!

Love and peace - Wozza