Now a young man's gone, yet his legend lingers on (The Beach Boys)

Wie geht's?

Recently, Jacky and I attended the funeral of a whanau member (Sam Moore) who had passed away in tragic circumstances in a car accident on the 17th of December.

I'm not good at funerals. I can feel myself withdraw from what's happening and all the funerals I've attended in my life start stacking up. I can't help it.

For good or for ill, I was spared attending funerals as a young child. I reflected on that fact while watching Sam's four young children climbing on his coffin in front of me. Times have changed and this now seems a perfectly normal thing to do.

As an adult I have had to attend quite a few funerals for young people, including former students, 19 years ago George Moore and now, 19 years later, his younger brother, Sam.

As we drove to New Plymouth for a family Christmas, the day after the funeral, the radio at one point played Tom Petty's Free Fallin' and I was immediately back at the Howick funeral for former Macleans College student Andrea Holmes (also killed in a road accident).

The two former students who took their own lives also flashed into my brain - one when I was Principal at Stratford High School, the other a student I taught at Woodford House.

Sam's funeral was the fourth in the Moore family and the third in as many years. The first tragedy was George, which his parents never really recovered from. 

That kind of history is devastating and tough to recover from (sadly, Tim never did). But recover from it we must and will (I know something about this).

Sam was made of solid stuff - a deep loyalty, an amazing work ethic, and a fierce love for his family drove him. As he grew up to be a man, he turned himself into the best father possible. His story is inspirational in that regard.

I will miss you Sam. Rest in peace.

Love and peace to Jen (also made of solid stuff), and their children - Jordan, Rebecca, Elizabeth, George, and Alexandra.

When I grow up to be a man will I dig the same things that turn me on as a kid (The Beach Boys)

Father and son - December 19, 1984

Wie geht's?

Last week's Jewels For The Thirsty mentioned that Keegan's birthday completes this subset of the Purdys for 2025, appropriately begun by Jacky in April.

[In order: Jacky; Samantha; me; Jade; Adam; Keegan]

Keegan's origin story is here and it's worth re-reading, even though it was written in 2016!

Keegan turned 41 last week and that just seems wrong - I can vividly recall holding him in the palm of my hand (as I wrote in that origin story): 

The whole experience was completely overwhelming and draining. Jacky slept, while I sat beside her in an armchair and held onto this new life in my hands and was drenched in pride and tenderness for both Jacky and Keegan.

It's one of those moments. 

So, to think that happened 41 years ago is a mind blown moment.

Happy birthday Keegan!

Merry Christmas to all the Purdettes, their families and partners!

Love and peace, now and forever - Dad

Hope is never mere, even when it is meager. When all other senses sleep, the eye of hope is first to awaken and last to shut (Gil-Galad)

Wie geht's?

This week's Jewels for the Thirsty blog mentioned that we have watched the first two seasons of The Lord of the Rings TV spin-off - The Rings of Power.

It's been a struggle.

Generally, the tendency to stretch out a thin prequel plot (Sauron's rise to omniscient power thousands of years before the events in the novels) means it's quite slow moving at times. There's still at least one more season to go. Peter Jackson has a lot to answer for. He's not involved in the TV show, but his lengthy LotR films set a precedent (I forgive him though because Get Back wasn't long enough).

While it looks good, there are far too many characters to keep track of and the one hero most likely for us to form a bond with (the Amazon woman/Elf - Galadriel) is a churning mess of guilt and thoughtless aggression. 

Actually, the other heroic figure I could like is the ninja like wood Elf - Arondir. He keeps popping up at crazy times to kill orcs with his bow and limitless supply of arrows, but he arrives without exposition and then drifts off once the action is over. Frustrating.

It's all very hard to keep track off as the locations shift continuously. There are so many times we have wondered where and when we are in the story. Then there's the wizard (a.k.a. the stranger, a.k.a. Gandalf) who's arrived from a different planet it seems. Whaat?

Unfortunately, once we'd watched one season we are committed to watching the rest.

It doesn't help, I guess, that my brain has wandered away from Hobbits, Elves and rings. 

I read The Hobbit and the three books that make up The Lord of the Rings when I was 15 - 16 and loved their world. I've re-read them once when the films came out and I didn't enjoy them as much as I did when I was a teenager.

Plus, I am conflicted over the films. I prefer the worlds I created in my teenage imagination. For good or for bad, my fascination for elves and fairies (and fantasy fiction) has passed. 

Regardless, I'll still watch season 3 when it drops.

Love and peace - Wozza

Will you still love me tomorrow? (The Shirelles)

The white pebble is from Rishikesh -
thanks to friends Christine and Paul

Wie geht's?

Obsessed? Moi?

It may look like that from the outside (Jacky posed a question t'other day - You'd cut your arms and legs off to bring John Lennon back wouldn't you?) but on the inside The Beatles have been a constant powerful presence and loyal friends who've been alongside me since watching them on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 (my memories here as well plus a clip of I Want To Hold Your Hand). And they keep on showing up!

I'm not alone. It's also not my fault (okay - yes, my music rooms surround me with Fabs posters/prints and memorabilia such as in the above picture).

Mojo Magazine regularly have cover stories on them, books like Ian Leslie's John & Paul keep coming on a regular basis (I warmly recommend his book as it takes a fresh look at that seminal relationship - my playlist is here), records keep appearing (Anthology 4 is the latest) and their musical and cultural influence persists (I use the word Beatlesque to describe a lot of music on my music blog).

Imagine a world without The Beatles? No thanks.

Love and peace - Warren Ono Purdy

P.S. I Love You...erm...I mean - I'll always be true (to answer The Shirelles question).

Adam Purdy Day

Ashleigh, Adam, Andrew, Samantha, Jade, Me and Jacky -
Peregian Beach, July 2022

Wie geht's?

December 11 is Adam Purdy Day in our whanau.

The third big Purdette birthday of the year (one to go) sees our special little guy creep towards his fifth decade. Yes, Adamski turns 39! Whoop whoop.

His origin story is here if you want the deets.

Adam will no doubt be spoiled rotten by Ashleigh and Poppy Mae this year - no less than he deserves.

Regardless, treat yourself to a record Adam!

Love and peace - Dad

Meditate often on the swiftness with which all that exists and is coming into being is swept by us and carried away (Marcus Aurelius)

Palmerston North, Saturday December 06, 2025

Wie geht's?

Nu Zild is made up of a finite number of small towns where Kiwiana is alive and well in 2025.

On Saturday we joined Jade and her family to witness Palmerston North's Christmas parade.

Love the spelling of NZ by the makers of this montage

Watching the annual Santa parade on a blazing hot Saturday afternoon is part of the NZ experience, right, like taking the children to see Santa in his grotto - a rite of passage. 

We each reflected on our own past experiences with these rituals while watching the parade. For instance, I can distinctly remember watching with mum and dad and Ross, the Farmers' Christmas Parade down Queen Street as a young padowan in the early sixties.

Auckland 1965. Trying to get a view from the fifth row back was always part of the experience.

Then with my own children we'd continue that tradition. It's only fair.

Palmerston North's latest version had all the requisite Kiwiana touches: classic cars; bagpipes; big trucks with tinsel on them and mostly bored looking youngsters riding on the decks; fire engines; police cars with sirens; water pistol packing kids on those trucks; brass bands; dance troops; local ethnic minorities dancing in colourful costumes; Real Estate companies getting some free publicity via their floats; the local Star Wars devotees in costume; loads of kids handing out lollies (Asher held his hat out and got more than he could comfortably eat).

Ivy is only three months old, but she sat patiently through the whole thing with a bemused expression, wincing at times at those blasted air horns. Her first Santie parade - bless her.

Love and peace - Wozza

You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today and then one day you find ten years have got behind you (Pink Floyd)

Wozza eating a luverly sundae

Wie geht's?

Christmas is within sight, again. Thought I'd take a trip back in time for this post - back ten years in fact, to 2015.

Where were you and what were you doing in 2015? [or: Who were you? and, Where were you going? if you prefer]

Can you tell where I am in that photo? A hint? Think Anaheim. The happiest place on Earth. Got it?  

Yes, that's right - Disneyland. The full post is here from 2015.

I can recall this time vividly because we'd flown to Auckland and on to LA straight after junior prize-giving at Woodford House. We were heading to the UK for Christmas. That was good actually - like a Band-Aid - rip it straight orf.

Anyway, back in 2025, it's nearly holiday time - time to break out the Christmas jumper again. I thought I'd wear it to prizegiving on Friday, but it doesn't really go with my pink hood. What to do? What to do?

Mention of the jumper reminds me of talk this week in the clubhouse (the Tier kitchen where all the cool kids sit, a.k.a. the maths and English staff). Somehow, chat centred on Love Actually and other Christmas movies.

[BTW our Purdzilla family hardy perennials are: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation; Die Hard; About A Boy; Love Actually; It's A Wonderful Life; The Grinch; Polar Express].

The general consensus was we each miss a northern hemisphere Christmas - one that makes sense. Wistful, meditative even, it was (rare for mathematicians but part of the DNA of English teacher types).

Oh, before I forget - here's a picture of my Christmas jumper in case I chicken out on Friday:

I hope my readership approve of this post. It has food, a festive theme, even has a Christmas tree, Die Hard, a Christmas jumper, and the happiest place on Earth without any mention of Dickens. Actually, he wrote a cool Christmas story, didn't he?

Love and peace - Wozza

Jade Purdy Day!

Mature, self-assured and happy

Jade by Jade

Wie geht's?

In our family tree, November 28 is Jade Purdy Day.

Jade Purdy Day started back in 1991 (you can read all about that special day here). Ever since that auspicious day, 34 years ago, I have instant flashbacks when November 28 arrives each year.

Not only that day each year, but every day - I am exceedingly proud of how JMP has developed into a confident, beautiful, intuitive, feisty, strong, very serious person.

 

Happy birthday DLG!

Love always and forever - dad

I wonder how it happens that when I am work, work, working here, all alone in the summer-time, I smell flowers (Jenny Wren in Our Mutual Friend)

Jenny Wren and her father (Mr. Dolls)

Wie gehts? 

What's that syndrome called when amputees still feel their limb as if it's still there? Phantom Limb Syndrome maybe? [Ha! I just searched it up and that's exactly what it's called!]

Having finally finished Our Mutual Friend yesterday, I am experiencing a hybrid condition called Phantom Dickens Syndrome.

I've been living with John Rokesmith, Bella, Lizzie...and Jenny Wren (to name four of the book's many characters) for some weeks now (I started it October 6) and suddenly - they've gone!

Over the last couple of days, I've reached for the phantom book and it ain't there. Phantom Dickens Syndrome.

Speaking of Jenny Wren: McCartney's song is a cousin of Blackbird (it's done in a similar style). The wren is a small bird in England and Jenny Wren is a character from Our Mutual Friend - so it's a nice play on words.

I think I now understand why Macca was fascinated by this character. Jenny is a young innocent girl but is also quite worldly (she has layers - is mature and self-assured). She creates a way of tolerating her father's alcoholism by reducing him to a child and treating him as such, and although she is physically challenged (John and Paul would have called her 'crippled') she manages to find love right at the end of the novel with Sloppy.

Her resilience and optimism are traits that I admire. She's sometimes not seen and so is often on the periphery looking on - again - things I can relate to (I like sitting at the back - in the outer rim, observing).

I'm with Macca; I like Jenny Wren.

Love and peace - Wozza

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

Wie geht's?

Tis the season to be jolly!

This might be a record for us - it's still November, but we spent a couple of hours putting up our Christmas decorations yesterday.

The reason for this sudden festive spirit? We have an open home today and we figured - why not. 

The large Christmas tree certainly adds a cozy, homely atmosphere to Maple Grove. No doubt, potential buyers will immediately be able to see themselves snuggling up at home by the tree while the snow piles up outside, and the fire's warm glow bathes them in earthly delight.

Yes, it's 30 degrees and summer, but THAT'S how good the ambience is in our lounge.

Love and peace - Wozza

Animate London, with smarting eyes and irritated lungs, was blinking, wheezing, and choking (Charles Dickens)

Wie geht's?

Well the unlikely has happened. I've fallen for Our Mutual Friend. It only took 419 pages, but I finally got there.

What changed? It seems Dickens decided that enough was enough and revealed a major plot change amid a dramatic chapter titled 'More birds of prey'. Get this: a character that readers had been led to believe had drowned, was in fact alive!!

Suddenly John Rokesmith becomes a character I can hang my hat on. It turns out that he was John Harmon, who, through a complicated set of circumstances, survived an attempt on his life in the very first chapter. He then decided to disguise himself as Rokesmith to suss out people and watch events unfold. Genius!

Dickens also has shady characters like Mrs Lammle developing a conscience - yay - I can also root for her! I'm glad I persevered. The pay-off took a long time to arrive, but it did arrive.

His writing sharpens up noticeably as well from page 419 onwards.

The 24 year old Miss Pleasant Riderhood is introduced and described thus: 

She was not otherwise positively ill-looking, though anxious, meagre, of a muddy complexion, and looking as old again as she really was.

That last bit is superb. Looking as old again as she really was - she's 24 but looks 50ish. Wow. That short description provides everything you need to know about her 24 years - misused and beaten by her father (Rogue Riderhood) and being left fifteen shillings by her departed mother 'before succumbing to dropsical conditions of snuff and gin, incompatible equally with coherence and existence'.

I kind of gasp when I read brilliant descriptions like that.

There is new impetus to continue reading Our Mutual Friend, and you find me engrossed, having reached page 538.

Love and peace - Wozza

But the day will come, Jenny Wren will sing, when this broken world, mends its foolish ways (Macca)

Five dollars from the
Little Red Bookshop - bargain!

Wie geht's?

I continue to persevere with Our Mutual Friend. At the time of writing, I'm on page 354 (of 1,000). So, not even halfway.

The struggle comes from a lack of a strong plot. Little has happened in those 354 pages aside from various characters making appearances in a series of interwoven minor plots. That equals a certain amount of confusion. I had to consult my Dickens Encyclopedia a lot in the first few hundred pages - now, does that sound like a fun thing to do?

Clearly the novel (his final completed one) is about wealth and power amid the social classes in London of the 1860s. There is plenty of satire and biting commentary but by 354 pages I have found myself agreeing with E.S. Dallas who wrote in an 1865 edition of The Times that:

"On the whole... at that early stage the reader was more perplexed than pleased. There was an appearance of great effort without corresponding result. We were introduced to a set of people in whom it is impossible to take an interest, and were made familiar with transactions that suggested horror. The great master of fiction exhibited all his skill, performed the most wonderful feats of language, loaded his page with wit and many a fine touch peculiar to himself. The agility of his pen was amazing, but still at first we were not much amused."

Yes, some of the writing is extraordinary, and I continue enjoying Dicken's stylistic flourishes with the English language, but I wish there was a character I could root for and embrace.

Why do I persevere with what is quickly becoming my least favourite book of his? The same reason I started reading it.

Paul McCartney.

Specifically, I wanted to know why Jenny Wren (a character in Our Mutual Friend) fascinated Macca so much that he wrote a song about her. 

I don't know the answer to that yet, so I'll keep reading.

Love and peace - Wozza

I got a bad scratch fever, the cat scratch fever (Ted Nugent)

Photo by Alberto Bigoni on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Thankfully, this week saw off Guy Fawkes' night. 

Jerry especially hates the loud noises from the neighbourhood fireworks, and Laney has come inside early each night to curl up close to us on the couch for extra protection.

Poor Laney. She's had a traumatic few days, so she needs the soothing predictability of nights inside watching Hunted with us.

A few nights ago, I went to put her into her laundry bedroom as usual, and two things happened simultaneously that lead to a third thing happening.

First thing: the outside security light failed to come on and...

Second thing: a loud noise happened in the bushes near our back door.

Third thing: in fright, she attacked the person holding her - me - biting and scratching like crazy to get away.

Her frenzied actions meant I had blood dripping from a variety of wounds to my hands. Cat bites take ages to heal but the plasters are now off as the healing process kicks in.  

Love and peace - Wozza

We know the game and we're gonna play it (Rick Astley)

Wie geht's?

Recently, on the three amigos' latest playlist (WTWMC - Tragically unhip), I chose a song by Rick Astley. It was Never Gonna Give You Up, of course. It's by no means his best song, but it's mos def his best known.

Coincidentally, I saw his autobiography, Never, in Whitcoulls and decided to have a flick through it. It looked pretty good so I bought a copy.

Blimey - I can't put it down. I started alternating chapters with My Mutual Friend but I enjoyed his company via Never so much that I'm exclusively reading Never.

As is my wont, I also created a playlist of the songs he mentions along the way - Wozza - Never (Rick Astley). There is also a playlist out there created for the book that is worth a listen as it features a lot of the prog stuff he grew up with (as did I).

He has a wonderful dry northern sense of humour that comes through in his writing (he was assisted by Alexis Petridis but it feels like Rick is the writer). He's also not a former drug addled rock star which is a very refreshing change.

I notice he has a podcast that I must check out next, and Never is available as an audiobook. I prefer to read rather than listen but it might be fun.

Love and peace - Wozza

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they've gone (Sunscreen)

Photo by Meg on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

The advice about knees comes in Baz Luhrmann's Sunscreen and it's a key piece of the puzzle. 

It's advice that's always worth bearing in mind, as I sometimes forget to look after my knees. Yesterday, that message flooded back to me in a torrent of emotion as a rush of blood to the head had me running through the rain for about 50 metres. 

I immediately regretted it.

Friend and colleague Clare and I were heading to the main staffroom to get essential supplies for the maths/English departments' staffroom (tea, coffee, milk, sugar). 

Unfortunately, we needed to go across the field to get there.

Now I need to explain about the asbestos. 

Ongoing building improvements to our school library have revealed the presence of asbestos. Apparently, on the long weekend it somehow got loose and now poses a health hazard. A wire fence has been extended to contain the outbreak.

I can't believe I just wrote those last two sentences - as in, it all looks and sounds totally implausible. I'm shaking my head in disbelief.

Anyway - our usual avenues of access have been forbidden, hence our going cross country in the rain, hence my knees being savagely abused. 

Damned asbestos!

Love and peace - Wozza

Whispering grass, don't tell the trees 'cause the trees don't need to know (The Ink Spots)

Wie geht's?

Thanks to strike action (Thursday), Hawke's Bay Anniversary (Friday), and Labour Day (the coming Monday) - you find me in the middle of a five-day weekend! Weird.

The recent stormy weather and high winds have left plenty of branches and even a couple of trees down at Maple Grove. Consequently, we've spent a few of those days cleaning up. 

The most dramatic example was a large pine, centimeters from our boundary, that crashed down onto the road, wiping out power lines on its way down.

Again, I'm wondering about the decisions made long ago and far away to carry power to people overhead via poles and strands of wire, where they're vulnerable to damage from mother nature. That seems absurd, but what do I know.

After the local council workers cleared the road and the power people restored the lines, our neighbours cleaned up all of the damage the next day (big tractors help). We did our bit by picking up three bags of pinecones that had embedded themselves in our lawn. It's an ill wind...

Love and peace - Wozza

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy! (Robert Burns)

 

Wie geht's?

Recently, we almost sold Maple Grove, and almost bought another house. 'Almost' is a tricky word. It's not quite, very nearly.

It's a state of being where things don't quite work out the way you'd planned. That feeling has generated a large number of idiomatic phrases. Robert Burns captures that idea well.

• Don't count your chickens, until they are hatched.
• It's not over until the fat lady sings.
• It's not over till it's over.
• Don't get your hopes up too soon.

Those idiomatic phrases all express that vague warning but still, they don't quite prevent that empty feeling when plans don't quite work out.

But, as I have said many times: 

• You have to take the crunchy with the smooth.
• Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.
• You can't always get what you want, but sometimes...you get what you need.

Recent events mean that the maple leaf has landed, and Jacky's cute nose is feeling warmer.

Love and peace - Wozza

Instinct is the nose of the mind (Delphine de Girardin)

Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy
on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

House selling is such a stressful activity. We had Maple Grove on the market for almost a year with no luck so we took it off the market and relaxed. All that presentation prep without reward equals stress.

Six months goes by...until, out of the blue a couple who had viewed it in January reignited their interest - stress returns!

According to last night's news, your nose gets colder when you're stressed. Huh! The nose knows. In the current situation, Jacky told me she thinks her nose is going to fall off! She has a really cute nose so this would be a tragedy.

Hopefully, we'll have a resolution one way or the other a.s.a.p. and her pretty little nose can warm up.

Love and peace - Wozza

Every thought I send with love (Shade Smith)

Wie geht's?

Jacky and I enjoyed a date night last week at a Readers & Writers event as part of this year's Hawke's Bay Arts Festival. Both authors (Diana Wichtel and Ali Mau) read from their recent work - Unreel (Diana), No Words For This (Ali).

It was great to see an old friend (Diana) and hear them both talk about their creative process. I had previously bought both of Di's books, but I also seized the opportunity to buy Ali's memoir book about her family.

This part of Hastings by the Opera House has really improved its ambience. On the night we visited from Maple Grove, there were portrait artists, a live band, shops open beyond their stated trading hours (go you good thing Little Red Bookshop) and loads of families enjoying a Rush Munroe's iced cream on a warm Friday evening in town.

Lovely warm fuzzy feelings!

Love and peace - Wozza

Jenny Wren will sing when this broken world, mends its foolish ways (Paul McCartney)

Wie geht's?

I've been mowing through the reading pile of late - thanks to not buying any new books for a while (apart from Suzanne Lynch's terrific autobiography - Yesterday When I Was Young - which I bought as a birthday present to myself and immediately read). 

Recently, I've also had two weeks of study break so that meant some increased reading time.

Which means I can no longer put off reading Dicken's final novel - Our Mutual Friend. Over the last few years, I've been buying a lot of his work, and they've often sat in the reading pile for a lengthy period, until the moment is right.

That's not through a lack of enthusiasm but they're often big novels and the idea of reading Dickens can be intimidating. However, as soon as I launch into one, I'm immediately caught up in his world.

So, it's the turn of Our Mutual Friend. Why that one? Easy answer is Paul McCartney. Specifically, his song Jenny Wren. Jenny Wren being a character in OMF.

The story opens with a deeply impressive scene on the Thames with two figures in a rowboat scavenging for what they can get from the muddy water. Okay, I'm on board (pun intended).

Then chapter two introduces a plethora of new characters and does so via writing that is quite challenging (very different to Suzanne). Probably didn't help that I was reading it during my Sustained Silent Reading period after lunch with my Year 13 students.

I shall persevere and report back.

Love and peace - Wozza

I'm glad it's your birthday. Happy birthday to you (The Beatles)

Love this photo!

Wie geht's?

The ancient concept of celebrating an individual's completion of a year's trip around the sun came to Nu Zild with the European settlers.

Apparently, one reason for the birthday celebration was that, just as the actual moment of birth is a dangerous thing for mum and baby - so the annual celebration of that moment with friends and family helps keep away any evil spirits lurking around. Which is why it's important to wish a person well on their birthday. I like that idea!

Of course, having a party is also part of that tradition - especially when we're young. Those kids' party years are pretty brief, though.

I love that photo above with all my family present and correct. Dad was right there - he took the photo, Ross is looking on/ helping me celebrate as he still does, and mum is the one holding me back/ protecting me - maybe she was concerned that I was going to dive into her cake without blowing out the candles (I do love cake), but I prefer to think she was watching over me, as she still does. 

Thanks mum.

Love and peace - WNP

P.S. huge thanks to friends and family who helped celebrate with me - I really appreciate your good wishes and your ongoing efforts to help keep those evil spirits at bay.

Time is never time at all (Smashing Pumpkins)

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Daylight saving time change in Nu Zild means a few things at Maple Grove.

Gutter cleanout is number one - not a nice job - mainly because in a 120-year-old villa they are many and they are high up and they are dirty and they are smelly. It took all day, but they are done.

Irrigation is number two because spring has been fairly dry so far. Again - a painful task because the only way to check that all the nozzles are working is to put the watering on. As it's a faff going backwards and forwards to shut it off - I choose to get wet. Meh. Tick.

Garden furniture is number three - cleaning and putting out all the outside furniture and enduring the seasonal kerfuffle about the state of the large umbrella that goes over the six-seater. I think it's fine btw.

Leaf blowing is a sundry item - Jacky is doing that as I type.

Oh yeah - and the clocks go forward. Always a pain changing the times in the cars.

Roll on spring. Go you good thing (btw the amigos' spring playlist is here if you need cheering up).

Love and peace - Wozza

That's the 7 O'clock edition of the news, good night (Simon and Garfunkel)

Photo by mp ilp on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Our recent family zoom had a discussion about watching the news. A few of us don't watch the news cycles on TV anymore - too depressing in their fixation with Trump/ death/ and violence, but a few of us still do.

I choose not to pander to Trump's insatiable need to dominate the conversation, instead I get my daily world news from the BBC headlines and The Morning Brew - a newsletter that visits my email inbox each day.

Simon and Garfunkel's poignant song on their 1966 album (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme) called 7 O'Clock News/ Silent Night explains why I choose not to watch nightly news broadcasts better than I can. It also shows how little the news has changed in its approach.

Love and peace - Wozza

I wasn't cheating (The Sundance Kid)

Wie geht's?

In celebration of The Sundance Kid (a.k.a. Robert Redford) who passed away this week - aged 89.

It's a slightly surreal feeling - thinking he's not going to be part of Wozza's World on Planet Earth from this point onwards.

He's been a constant - threaded through all of our lives (a river running through it even).

He began his career in 1959 on Broadway. I was 2 years old, so not yet aware of his presence. That would happen ten years later with his iconic role as The Sundance Kid in George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (written by my hero - William Goldman). What a combo: William Goldman, Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

From then on, his films have been constant touchpoints through the years up to his last acting appearance (Avengers: Endgame) in 2019. Sixty years of remarkable quality.

I know many of his movies inside out, but I never get tired of them. This weekend, I think I'll opt for one such to honour his life and his talent -  1972's Jeremiah Johnson. I love that film!

Goodbye Sundance. Look after Butch.

Love and peace - Wozza

When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes (Erasmus)

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash

Wie gehts? 

Sadly, during a recent parent interview night a number of parents genuinely and seriously asked me how their son could improve.

I answered with a question of my own: do they read?

Their response was entirely predictable.

Their sons have X station boxes, and the latest smart phones. But they don't read. Compared to all those tech costs (and time costs) a book is relatively very cheap (there are excellent secondhand book shops in Napier and Hastings).

Of course, I'm biased and yes, I've always been a reader. But, really, c'mon - there is always a price to pay.

Currently I'm reading a Haruki Murakami novel that I've somehow missed. I love his writing.

I recently attended a Hawke's Bay English Teachers' Association (HBETA) meeting and a presentation on dyslexia got me and my colleagues thinking.

Do we read in pictures? Or do we read in our own voice?

I tend to read in the voice of the character, or the author, and that does include pictures. When I read students' work I read in their voice (if they don't have one I tend to comment on that and suggest they do). Apparently, I am a bit of a freak.

Seems most people read in their own voice. Hmmm. Who knew?

Love and peace - Wozza

Hey, you, with the pretty face - welcome to the human race (Electric Light Orchestra)

Wie geht's?

A huge blogosphere welcome to our latest grandchild! Ivy Dulcie Fenn!

Names are important, right, and I know I'm biased, but our latest grandchild may just have won the first-equal best grandchild name of all time award (along with Asher and Poppy).

It looks great in print, too. 

The middle name specifically honours Ivy's great grandmother/ Jade's grandmother/ my mum.

It's a wonderful name and it totally suits Ivy.

BTW symbolically, Ivy represents fidelity, eternity, and enduring attachment due to its evergreen nature and tenacious climbing ability. Historically, it was used in wreaths for newlyweds to signify loyalty and in ancient cultures for its associations with immortality.

Dulcie is derived from the Latin word meaning sweet. It was a hugely popular name in NZ around the time my mother was born (1930) and coincidentally, it has enjoyed a resurgence since 1997 in England and Wales.

Significance of the third of September, 2025: 

• Ivy is a Generation Alpha, 
• Her Chinese zodiac sign is snake 
• Her star sign is Virgo.

Three famous others born on September 3:

• Beach Boy Al Jardine 
• Model Kaia Gerber (she's got the look, but she's not in the same Ivy league - sorry, couldn't resist) 
• Automobile designer Ferdinand Porsche.

A couple of events that happened on this date:

• In 1936, Britain's Malcolm Campbell set a land-speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah, averaging 301.129 mph in two runs.
• In 1939, Britain declared war on Germany and was quickly joined by France, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.
• In 1942, Frank Sinatra began his solo singing career after leaving Tommy Dorsey's orchestra.

5 current hits of the month

• Billie Eilish - Birds Of A Feather
• Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - Die With A Smile
• Justin Bieber - Daisies
• Coldplay - Sparks
• BLACKPINK - Jump

Big movies right now:

• Hamilton
• Weapons (a horror which your mum and dad went to recently, Ivy)
• Freakier Friday 
• Caught Steeling 
• The Roses 
• (And in a throwback to the old days) - Jurassic World, Jaws, Superman, Naked Gun and a Fantastic Four movie are also out and making money.

Finally - A thought for the day: 

"Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push -- in just the right place -- it can be tipped." - Malcolm Gladwell

Love and peace - Papa