tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4500351306236870482024-03-18T23:15:49.139-07:00Wozza's Place...Well we all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun.Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.comBlogger1232125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-57890766090110117112024-03-18T23:14:00.000-07:002024-03-18T23:14:58.145-07:00I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free. Mankind will surely not deny to Harold Skimpole what it concedes to the butterflies (Charles Dickens, Bleak House)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtWCDFbp2ISd6XSJ1X7XLedXaP95JgTz8h5Brt7UfiUD_iMoCYwY_6GEYb4NuTm5QiPgwJcC8VhyzKBlsiz1JNlm5kNLWYlatMMWfcfnVLpLVppgADONX1JVdifwFtmZBHIAEk6OaG51jbjR1nSkCOPU1n-ZT7-kXqXhSPFxuebuAatmQUIxDKOowSsUn/s871/Screenshot%202024-03-19%20190309.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="871" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtWCDFbp2ISd6XSJ1X7XLedXaP95JgTz8h5Brt7UfiUD_iMoCYwY_6GEYb4NuTm5QiPgwJcC8VhyzKBlsiz1JNlm5kNLWYlatMMWfcfnVLpLVppgADONX1JVdifwFtmZBHIAEk6OaG51jbjR1nSkCOPU1n-ZT7-kXqXhSPFxuebuAatmQUIxDKOowSsUn/w400-h256/Screenshot%202024-03-19%20190309.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House">Bleak House</a></i> is my latest Dicken's epic novel. I'm betting very few readers of blogs in 2024 have actually read this classic, let alone any Dickens.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4A1DUiQdwQ-SG1kuOg0fiwrrre4cR0O6ZX9lfm4WLp7Q8uVL5FbzQkI95GRSR3dp24niYdW5IVw8M8tmbIcqmWPFioAzAflpBM7HHuJ4rq9pS3BpOr7YIy0MzoOryAtU4RrxnElvslmShgWC0dsZM69HYz5EdeDqpIeOOwwmakG_ws5AhXdYwNP1vVeP/s417/Screenshot%202024-03-19%20191005.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="417" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4A1DUiQdwQ-SG1kuOg0fiwrrre4cR0O6ZX9lfm4WLp7Q8uVL5FbzQkI95GRSR3dp24niYdW5IVw8M8tmbIcqmWPFioAzAflpBM7HHuJ4rq9pS3BpOr7YIy0MzoOryAtU4RrxnElvslmShgWC0dsZM69HYz5EdeDqpIeOOwwmakG_ws5AhXdYwNP1vVeP/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-19%20191005.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Come on - show of hands - who's read this?</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Hmmm. Just as I thought.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">A few years ago, I was like you. Ignorant to the joys of Charles Dickens.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But no longer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">To be fair, it does take me 30 pages on average to get back into the rhythm of his writing. But by then I've laughed out loud plenty of times. He really is a very funny writer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So, that's me for the next few weeks - enjoying <i>Bleak House.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Just sayin'.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-36453395558398038802024-03-13T18:33:00.000-07:002024-03-13T18:33:29.977-07:00Hot meat, hot rats, hot cats, hot rits (Frank Zappa/ Captain Beefheart)<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OEC_h8YIiWAam9X5rSf21hFNrrzPgubocjAE0Y9J0EghS8Q7hG0rIVAdsGoKYJPiPsCOV5UAwuKwcE5MoQJejjahyZROs26R-8yjpHx6pcCsW7AL4fdasA7LQssdN-dvn_oLxXPC6JGyZSPNghtqajjy0utlWkLWLkCZYweeuRcKcyJnxoHlkyTvtSyV/s2669/alexas_fotos-gSYeFmQamuo-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2669" data-original-width="1898" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OEC_h8YIiWAam9X5rSf21hFNrrzPgubocjAE0Y9J0EghS8Q7hG0rIVAdsGoKYJPiPsCOV5UAwuKwcE5MoQJejjahyZROs26R-8yjpHx6pcCsW7AL4fdasA7LQssdN-dvn_oLxXPC6JGyZSPNghtqajjy0utlWkLWLkCZYweeuRcKcyJnxoHlkyTvtSyV/s320/alexas_fotos-gSYeFmQamuo-unsplash.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@alexas_fotos?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Alexas_Fotos</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/brown-rodent-eating-yellow-fruit-gSYeFmQamuo?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Rats.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I don't like rats.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I love autumn. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I love living in the country, without close neighbours. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I love Maple Grove (our 3 acre lifestyle property with a 5 bedroom villa that is over 120 years old).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But I don't like rats.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Autumn, it turns out, does have a downside, even though I hate to admit it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It's like the calendar ticks over to March 1st and the local rat family gets the signal to pack their bags and take shelter in our ceiling.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The first hint came a week ago with some scratching above us, so I reset all the bait stations (two under the house, one in the tack shed/garage, and one in the ceiling).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I'll need to check and refill them all this weekend, as the noises above and in the wall behind our bed have yet to abate.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The noises have woken us up each night (once, in our sleep state, we thought it was an earthquake). This is a pain, and needs to stop, and it does take time to get rid of the pesky visitors.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But, to be clear, I still love autumn.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-443371065285445962024-03-09T17:17:00.000-08:002024-03-09T17:18:25.121-08:00The sky cracked its palms in naked wonder (Bob Dylan)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXedmpaHith3RbmyGbP_wT3JCgNtU88F36fUnFUVmfEn6CTpVg55ufI2LUOnQRRceA9zyNZRp29-U0rZkGtFv44DM1Br_RVfD786XnNBFnJd2slXVWwIDAtlF53AlRbWP5JdTtLXMJWeoJg-mu0mZEVowcsiISi6omLNnG3pcXMAOnbrN2marFOF98EH_/s1600/IMG_7627.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXedmpaHith3RbmyGbP_wT3JCgNtU88F36fUnFUVmfEn6CTpVg55ufI2LUOnQRRceA9zyNZRp29-U0rZkGtFv44DM1Br_RVfD786XnNBFnJd2slXVWwIDAtlF53AlRbWP5JdTtLXMJWeoJg-mu0mZEVowcsiISi6omLNnG3pcXMAOnbrN2marFOF98EH_/w640-h426/IMG_7627.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gracie enjoying autumn at Maple Grove</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Autumn has officially arrived and my spirits have revived considerably as a consequence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We have wood ready for April's first fires at Maple Grove, the grass hardly needs a cut (cooler, darker days), leaves are starting to turn, shadows are starting to lengthen, and the garden furniture as well as the shade sails have been stowed until November.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It's all deeply sati</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">sfying!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Go<a href="https://wozzasplace.blogspot.com/search?q=autumn"> here </a>for more of my annual celebrations of autumn.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-9073203158755398142024-03-04T19:32:00.000-08:002024-03-04T19:32:11.331-08:00The mystery man got nervous an' he fidget around a bit (Frank Zappa)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSU-OcS5LT83yiDnJncdmGUGRL4OKDcXUR5HQg9eGgKT2i1Ep-KsfasXOjs5_OqXxHGC_tgNUIHNYMetPaoqewkMf070tU3-A-N1tDjhMdcp_O_HB54yTri7TVsYf9ezxYbs_Yxpz0ZBIx8381FhG0myOcAl9XJbm-mFAFVfcYIk5iPo6EpMt3C51yP97-/s475/13623806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSU-OcS5LT83yiDnJncdmGUGRL4OKDcXUR5HQg9eGgKT2i1Ep-KsfasXOjs5_OqXxHGC_tgNUIHNYMetPaoqewkMf070tU3-A-N1tDjhMdcp_O_HB54yTri7TVsYf9ezxYbs_Yxpz0ZBIx8381FhG0myOcAl9XJbm-mFAFVfcYIk5iPo6EpMt3C51yP97-/w265-h400/13623806.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">After finishing <i>Ladder Of Years</i> on the weekend, I picked up the next two on the overdue reading list:<i> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13623806-mick-jagger">Mick Jagger</a> </i>(Philip Norman) and <i>Bleak House </i>(Charles Dickens).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I think these two will go together well. Jagger has always seemed like a Dickensian character to me (especially of late). There is, after all, a lawyer named Jagger in <i>Great Expectations</i>!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I've also been playing <i>Hackney Diamonds </i>(The Rolling Stones album released last year) on high rotate. It's brilliant and Mick's voice is uncannily unchanged after 60 years of performing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">How does he do it? I am hoping that Mr. Norman will give me some clues.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">First revelation - Michael Philip Jagger was born on July 26th, 1943. My father was also born on July 26 (a few years earlier). Two more unlike people would be hard to find!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I am totally engrossed. I usually much prefer autobiographies but that seems very unlikely in Jagger's case, but this biography is superb.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p><p><br /></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-59071385477419940552024-02-28T10:08:00.000-08:002024-02-28T10:08:45.035-08:00The four building blocks of the universe are fire, water, gravel and vinyl (Dave Berry)<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4jpkk-UN_G5XNNdyYVlwTG64AcHEk6ghlkgB2X3EuCT8ik4vlAAthZZWl2-DZrkrIH7U_fpXqwU6f76yTN-GOl4WBm3tJePw4DbGtIax5hX2FIA2_dVRP2bhW2Glj8d0VKFifQojplv8P2HkU9KjUUhmMvK0FP6D32APoJ-y1y8hQymKG-cGFXkqrvje/s2380/Dulc%20003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2380" data-original-width="1924" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4jpkk-UN_G5XNNdyYVlwTG64AcHEk6ghlkgB2X3EuCT8ik4vlAAthZZWl2-DZrkrIH7U_fpXqwU6f76yTN-GOl4WBm3tJePw4DbGtIax5hX2FIA2_dVRP2bhW2Glj8d0VKFifQojplv8P2HkU9KjUUhmMvK0FP6D32APoJ-y1y8hQymKG-cGFXkqrvje/s320/Dulc%20003.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vinyl is in mt DNA</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Just lately I've been buying care packages of records every couple of weeks from my regular haunts. The latest this week came from <i>Marbeck's Records.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I mentioned this in the staff room when someone asked what I was looking forward to most this week. "Records from <i>Marbecks", </i>was my instant reply.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">"Oh Marbecks", they said. "Why is that a highlight?"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So, I said, "Do you really want to know?"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">And they said, "Yeah, it's a slow morning".</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So I embarked on an explanation that took in my mother working at Auckland's <i>Lewis Eady's</i> in the record department and having to walk down to the Queen's Arcade where <i>Marbeck</i>'s has always been, to see Mr. Marbeck about record orders; my own time working for the Marbecks family with Roger Marbeck in the jazz and pop side, during my university days; my taking my pay in records; our two growing families being close while our kids came along and grew up, and our taking holidays together; to today where I am still happily buying online from the greatest NZ record store. Not much has changed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">For the record (ha ha) the package included some Van Dyke Parks and War albums (a couple from when they'd finished their association with Eric Burdon).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Long live <i>Marbecks Records</i>!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-50921007342157220682024-02-24T11:59:00.000-08:002024-02-24T11:59:21.575-08:00Smoke and dust, the stuff of simple myth trying to be legend (Marcus Aurelius)<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9PWnTH-8xvK5ydFEW0ZXhGYv-EWHuFTlYc9nZYYk0qxyzCPeWWKVnt9r0fjH9mR9gImQJVP_NL4xK11ubw4L7XWmy36zzvDo3CcxEaQXhi3v9VWPkV6hmof5rpCSydJdKRMw4TQoxGXQ2p-AEefOby-FemZPWQiHYsCw-MRlxypzxX5WxDU9HQjG5YnS/s5184/christian-sterk-PvPayVQwUiA-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9PWnTH-8xvK5ydFEW0ZXhGYv-EWHuFTlYc9nZYYk0qxyzCPeWWKVnt9r0fjH9mR9gImQJVP_NL4xK11ubw4L7XWmy36zzvDo3CcxEaQXhi3v9VWPkV6hmof5rpCSydJdKRMw4TQoxGXQ2p-AEefOby-FemZPWQiHYsCw-MRlxypzxX5WxDU9HQjG5YnS/w400-h266/christian-sterk-PvPayVQwUiA-unsplash.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@christiansterk?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Christian Sterk</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/man-hiding-in-smoke-PvPayVQwUiA?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I rarely get deep and meaningful on this blog but I do start each day from that position. As part of my morning routine I read the daily entry in three deep and meaningful and cool books.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">As long-time readers know, one is Venerable Master Hsing Yun's<i> 366 Days With Wisdom</i>. The other two are <i>The Daily Stoic </i>and <i>365 Days With The Saints</i>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Interestingly, they often coincide in their foci. Seldom all three, but very often two of the three focus on the same theme or idea.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Today Yun and the stoics were looking at the concept of legacy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Marcus knew that no matter what we do when we're alive, it's like building a castle in the sand, soon to be erased by the winds of time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Happily, Hsing Yun points out that a legacy is not necessarily something visible, solid or valuable to be left behind but by living well and enjoying the brief time we have and not being enslaved to emotions that make us miserable and dissatisfied, we can still leave behind our humane spirit and wisdom to our future generations (as Marcus has done, and, maybe, just maybe, this weblog).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-51332358404092672292024-02-18T10:34:00.000-08:002024-02-18T10:37:40.458-08:00I don't want to settle down, all I need is the right reaction (Dragon)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlvpRWwqg1f6qzRTaCF2_BEmrGC0JnlXX36TAC_hPcQ38wU1Z2bruFebcddyNCStPSrHMqfX8DJ24dJcYwWQPRo36yumeOEgazNtjIPGodnmHS_WEPdFvVe9yN2Ptl7-tv1oNtYNz3Y4tGdckbLNIx0-NExHAh7YOXIoYZZmRD1FhBEjQcZRK5eiMIstnK/s800/Tobias-George-Smollett.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="657" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlvpRWwqg1f6qzRTaCF2_BEmrGC0JnlXX36TAC_hPcQ38wU1Z2bruFebcddyNCStPSrHMqfX8DJ24dJcYwWQPRo36yumeOEgazNtjIPGodnmHS_WEPdFvVe9yN2Ptl7-tv1oNtYNz3Y4tGdckbLNIx0-NExHAh7YOXIoYZZmRD1FhBEjQcZRK5eiMIstnK/s320/Tobias-George-Smollett.webp" width="263" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I've seldom been so happy to finally finish a book. In fact I feel a bit giddy with the feeling (or that could be the two <i>Export Ultra</i> low carb lagers I've just had to celebrate).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Yes, I finally put <i>Roderick Random</i> in the finished pile, ready to take back to a secondhand book shop.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Frankly, it's been a struggle re-reading this after 40 years, but I stuck with it. So much goes on in the novel - he's up at the end, but mostly he's either down, or really down throughout the 468 pages of small print.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I'd also forgotten there was an episode involving Random profiting from being on a ship transporting slaves towards the end of the novel, before he is reunited with his long-lost father. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It's a gulp moment that must have generated a lot of heated discussion back in 1980 at Auckland University's MA common room. Sadly, I don't remember the nitty gritty of that phase of my education too well.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Tobias Smollett's <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Roderick_Random">The Adventures Of Roderick Random</a></i> was first published in 1748, well before the odious practice ended, or even peaked. I'm sure this fact figured in our university tutorials in 1980.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It's a curious part of the adventure because, as well as sharing in some of the profits Random (Smollett) sniffily calls it <i>'the disagreeable lading </i>(i.e. loading) <i>of Negroes, to whom. indeed, I had been a miserable slave since our leaving the coast of Guinea'. </i>So, Random and Smollett don't redeem themselves at all.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Anyway. On to Anne Tyler and some palate cleansing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-73349805561170566602024-02-14T08:09:00.000-08:002024-02-14T08:09:54.487-08:00Win the rat race, you're still a rat.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDyOnjGXL4LfZZON7rBfPQKGDzT00uqUBmSEUwvMAkbhaluhxcfDR1DIoF0eVL-yZ3Z4Hr1kShFyS4OtufCXm5FJZ07YSqJC01yHX-O4PpGEapUhdUth503uOIQpU5S9eAMXVWduF0YZD3jGATKQQeaNgoxmh_Pg2jjyolpdP46ha5SWSUi2xtRme1crPo/s1000/1c7a4143-ca93-43a5-8c5d-3ab3c0096caa_1.01b70c96508e798bad118598e61f94e3.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDyOnjGXL4LfZZON7rBfPQKGDzT00uqUBmSEUwvMAkbhaluhxcfDR1DIoF0eVL-yZ3Z4Hr1kShFyS4OtufCXm5FJZ07YSqJC01yHX-O4PpGEapUhdUth503uOIQpU5S9eAMXVWduF0YZD3jGATKQQeaNgoxmh_Pg2jjyolpdP46ha5SWSUi2xtRme1crPo/s320/1c7a4143-ca93-43a5-8c5d-3ab3c0096caa_1.01b70c96508e798bad118598e61f94e3.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Rinse and repeat.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Recently, that's how a colleague described the cycle of weekly morning routines>work>evening routines>sleep>morning routines>work>evening routines>sleep>...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It's a cycle (some may want to refer to this as a treadmill) that we all fall into some extent unless we've won Lotto, are Taylor Swift, or happily living without the need to pay for rent/ mortgage/ transport/ clothes/ food etc.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The trick to life, as James Taylor knows (Tay Tay is named after him), is to enjoy the passage of time. Even through the brainless drudge.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Actually, enjoying the routines and rituals of daily life comes relatively easy to me. As I've previously indicated, I don't mind mowing lawns, ironing shirts, or emptying dishwashers (I draw the line at vacuuming though). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">To me, that's good thinking time. My brain isn't mindful of the task especially. Instead, it wanders lonely as a cloud.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Okay. Blogpost done. What's next?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza.</span></p><p><br /></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-26486501950451477512024-02-08T12:12:00.000-08:002024-02-08T12:12:05.033-08:00If things start happening, don't worry, don't stew, just go right along and you'll start happening too (Dr Seuss)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh3CaNIn7m-XFT2k_aZwi7qZ93KlV9lBl-ngtfim2N7c0Vpkgq2gq98oGkVhez3xKm6PZoArRb0oZqjQETutCZm0JpNnAyBe01QJBbl608ana2KodL5pO0KebkPXmSzn7i3KlmrWBLtOWfZLQudYjPWUeO0EqfgmQNE0kJzrFk7XI35WuhFikkYMiFkJ-S/s4951/sergey-vinogradov-qEvRQt1xsS4-unsplash.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4951" data-original-width="3300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh3CaNIn7m-XFT2k_aZwi7qZ93KlV9lBl-ngtfim2N7c0Vpkgq2gq98oGkVhez3xKm6PZoArRb0oZqjQETutCZm0JpNnAyBe01QJBbl608ana2KodL5pO0KebkPXmSzn7i3KlmrWBLtOWfZLQudYjPWUeO0EqfgmQNE0kJzrFk7XI35WuhFikkYMiFkJ-S/w266-h400/sergey-vinogradov-qEvRQt1xsS4-unsplash.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@vinogradovspb?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Sergey Vinogradov</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/a-person-covering-their-face-with-a-white-cloth-qEvRQt1xsS4?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">All good? Great.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Me? Somehow, I picked up a cold in the middle of summer. I've tested each day for covid and it's negative. So, a common garden variety old fashioned cold it is. A non-covid style virus in other words.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It has had all the hallmarks of an upper respiratory tract virus: sore throat for a couple of days, sneezes, runny nose (onto my second tissue box), headache and zero energy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">A classic seven dayer (sore throat started on Saturday so Thursday was day 7), it made me wonder where all that river of clear fluid comes from.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By the way, the medical term for a runny nose with thin, clear fluid is <i>rhinorrhea.</i></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">According to Doctor Google - A runny nose happens due to an increase in the production of nasal mucus. While a runny nose can have many causes, it often occurs due to inflammation of the tissues inside your nose. This is known as <i>rhinitis.</i></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Why does this happen? Well, the virus</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> attacked the tissues of my nose and throat. In response, my nose produced more mucus to help trap and wash viral particles away. This caused a persistent runny nose with clear fluid.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Two boxes of tissues later (the dry-me-up meds didn't seem to help much) and seven days later it's dried up.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Someone obviously passed the virus to me at school. </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The incubation period for the common cold is typically between 1 and 3 days. This is the time period between exposure to the virus and when you begin to notice symptoms, and I spent all of last week at school.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In this instance, my immune system didn't kick in for some reason.</span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><blockquote><i>One of the amazing aspects of the immune system is that it is compensatory, meaning that when one part is weak or non-functional, typically another part can step in. Think of it like a trip to the grocery store. If you need to go to the store, but your tire is flat, you may go by another method of transportation — another motor vehicle, a bicycle or walking. The substitute may or may not be as efficient, but it still allows you to complete your task.</i></blockquote></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">That didn't happen this time though. The virus slipped past my defenses and whammo! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Meh. Just one of those things I couldn't prepare for (there's no vaccine for the common cold), or control (I'm no bubble boy).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and, sniffle sniffle, peace - Wozza</span></div>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-72211633273728935282024-02-04T10:21:00.000-08:002024-02-04T10:21:40.241-08:00Is it really the same? (Keith Jarrett)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_VzYaebCSGnPikqA3zi63oZcrptzlzp2cyarV7j_-KEHDOufH2lyO9iPMoaCiVum-k2OH5YjkD3QAXXrmDPr_uD7MRfs4_6dncAN9WmQq5mGpWOtZO4CTHm8eA9VWFi64a8SDmHfQU012Lxp_FBtiCX_znMzv2IbVMJPlp3rR86mUBrZMlJvFouiXPz8/s2880/the_good_doctor__2017__serial_tv_004_freddie_highmore_jako_dr_shaun_murphy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="2880" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_VzYaebCSGnPikqA3zi63oZcrptzlzp2cyarV7j_-KEHDOufH2lyO9iPMoaCiVum-k2OH5YjkD3QAXXrmDPr_uD7MRfs4_6dncAN9WmQq5mGpWOtZO4CTHm8eA9VWFi64a8SDmHfQU012Lxp_FBtiCX_znMzv2IbVMJPlp3rR86mUBrZMlJvFouiXPz8/w400-h250/the_good_doctor__2017__serial_tv_004_freddie_highmore_jako_dr_shaun_murphy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr Shaun Murphy</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>Netflix' The Good Doctor</i> continues to grip our </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">attention. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">Autism is a fascinating topic and a fresh one for a TV show, especially a medical drama.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We binge watched on Sunday when it was unseasonably cold and wet outside. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's easy to continue to talk like Dr Murphy after a show</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> and then start thinking.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I sometimes think everyone is on the spectrum in some way. <a href="https://psychcentral.com/quizzes/autism-test#take-the-quiz">A good test for yourself is here </a>. Thanks to my dad, I certainly often reflect on my own tendencies in this direction (I scored 24 out of 40).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">He was a very precise person - a place for everything, and everything in its place. His work benches and materials where he did his electronics hobbies were carefully ordered and precisely labelled.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">When I look at my record collection I can see where I got my need for order from (interestingly, his own record collection was just a willy nilly pile of records, but he did look after them well).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Like him I'm into rituals and routines. I've written about this before. When I mow our lawn I subconsciously follow the same pattern each time, when I iron shirts, when I brush my teeth, when I wash dirty records...I could go on.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Although, in many ways, I'm not like my father at all. My work benches are often piled up with stuff, I wear work clothes to mow the lawn and so on while dad never owned any. His chemist brain measured everything carefully, I'm much more slap dash, like my mum (she never measured anything when she was cooking and it always turned out amazingly well). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Some things bug me - crooked pictures, dirty dishes in the sink, clutter accumulating on the kitchen bench, but it's all small stuff. Generally, I like to think I'm pretty cruisey.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But I did score 24 out of 40.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-80682276408435547232024-01-30T22:55:00.000-08:002024-01-30T22:55:00.606-08:00We are family, Hey, hey, hey, hey, yeah (Sister Sledge)<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0Va_c4Q3NpichDgQp942dblsLDxDnZ0tIWfyPI4JiM08qq-w1-IJTnYFljCuAe9RHvXiFBgSFRg1PUw9C2JV92gnghIXQGK_G6Al2b1ZbP7P0vd99fEumyrs51fWHGMcwPsRJoFYwQbdzB6T3NgRBkyq4N6HxVoqrEHnmyUN74oMylBIR39keEZOTv1L/s4000/20240127_172422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0Va_c4Q3NpichDgQp942dblsLDxDnZ0tIWfyPI4JiM08qq-w1-IJTnYFljCuAe9RHvXiFBgSFRg1PUw9C2JV92gnghIXQGK_G6Al2b1ZbP7P0vd99fEumyrs51fWHGMcwPsRJoFYwQbdzB6T3NgRBkyq4N6HxVoqrEHnmyUN74oMylBIR39keEZOTv1L/w640-h480/20240127_172422.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris, Jade, Andrew, Poppy, Samantha, Wozza, Asher, Jacky, Ashleigh, Adam.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I'm still buzzing from our family catch up last week. I love how we all share an air BnB and pitch in with meals, activities, childcare and clean up. It's a joyful experience sharing space with my children, their partners (the plus ones) and grandchildren.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">To be fair it was tough getting a turn with Asher and Poppy - they were in demand!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I glanced around at one point (and the photo bears this out) and noticed how we have grown as a family, and this is without Keegan and his girlfriend Jennifer joining us. Jacky and I had little clue when we started courting back in 1983, that we would have such a wonderful effect on the future.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Monday was a hard one after all of that joy, but the week has picked up as I've clicked back into daily routines. Getting a couple of nights of sleep has been helpful. The recipe is: full on day at school with brain overload; get home, have dinner, listen to a record, watch <i>The Good Doctor</i>; head to bed at about 10.00pm - sleep through to my 4.30am alarm.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Easy peasy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-38941398381496117222024-01-25T09:47:00.000-08:002024-01-25T09:49:41.522-08:00It's such a crazy squeeze (Toy Love)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCpoBx0yPyNW6UNuvEpN5JRRYdOFA4ESpI2T9B7jpRGxeGwaWObyrp-m7JU1sWQV9jIBnWvoHkKGrmJ0ti48isLrkzuVsJCmn9snHez_1Et-WE5pNw8Fa5uVzw3r1lDmf_Ao4vPrGUYhJDbWquHtY2Dh1ysYOApT6YFUOKz4WB0FbE3h6WmFNHksmolhb/s2016/received_1571361283697264.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCpoBx0yPyNW6UNuvEpN5JRRYdOFA4ESpI2T9B7jpRGxeGwaWObyrp-m7JU1sWQV9jIBnWvoHkKGrmJ0ti48isLrkzuVsJCmn9snHez_1Et-WE5pNw8Fa5uVzw3r1lDmf_Ao4vPrGUYhJDbWquHtY2Dh1ysYOApT6YFUOKz4WB0FbE3h6WmFNHksmolhb/w300-h400/received_1571361283697264.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poppy and Papa show some knee action.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">You find me in New Plymouth with most of my side of the southern hemisphere subbranch of the Purdy clan: Jacky Purdy; Adam, Ashleigh and Poppy Mae Purdy; Jade Purdy with Asher Purdy-Hodge and Chris; Samantha Purdy and Andrew.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We're all holed up in an air B'n'B together, enjoying some great family time. We don't often manage to get the majority of us together, the last time was our visit to Noosa for Jacky's 60th birthday. Keegan wasn't able to join us for either event so, unfortunately, we have not been united in toto for six years.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Tricky when our four children live in four different countries.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The reason for this clan gathering? Actually, there are two: the scattering of Pat Smith's ashes (yesterday) as per her wishes, and our nephew's wedding on Saturday. Both are combined with the other side of the Jacky's southern hemisphere subbranch of the Smith clan. Families have their own lovely organic way of multiplying and morphing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">One sombre but absolutely respectful occasion and one happy celebratory event. The balance of life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-48436098253300272802024-01-20T12:06:00.000-08:002024-01-20T12:06:31.560-08:00I made it through the wilderness, somehow I made it through (Madonna)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkp-WsTXcp5Ex45oo01dN-Ql2wi68l01GX0HTNk8n2uLtW5HIxRj_QKzHmXSDId0CntJzCiDWszc_lQi9JgUtmvy7EBE4px1-GdYUsT-Tr4BVar8Bqq9Q1ZpmnwYjzXNw7lvHdTuC6wBsvh2POaduSLKhyphenhyphenFgwx3dkgX0OEagcaQkTldGXxtaqoqqlFDNxZ/s640/received_1570449383798012.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkp-WsTXcp5Ex45oo01dN-Ql2wi68l01GX0HTNk8n2uLtW5HIxRj_QKzHmXSDId0CntJzCiDWszc_lQi9JgUtmvy7EBE4px1-GdYUsT-Tr4BVar8Bqq9Q1ZpmnwYjzXNw7lvHdTuC6wBsvh2POaduSLKhyphenhyphenFgwx3dkgX0OEagcaQkTldGXxtaqoqqlFDNxZ/w640-h480/received_1570449383798012.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Last week and change was spent sorting through and cleaning up a large number of old records owned by the brother of a friend.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">He was moving house and needed someone to take them away and deal with them on his behalf. Wozza to the rescue.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It was quite a task, but for me, a labour of love.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHf8XSy3EJRKQz6REASpn46Yq9CriVORH8rYN6sSMEWOSlpukcsQ-TQQtxdTdfdv68SaYqIZ8MUkBNq5Ml4F1R2l6Xa42B65GR3YPwOyM0DBLo6BvHixWouACpYkIcGcIvrYV4dYW0NA8xqZHDROQG6UMGZhyphenhyphen6TOTwKSUTT-5Sv1KljkNRS-ASbwfQ1wt/s4000/20240116_105111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHf8XSy3EJRKQz6REASpn46Yq9CriVORH8rYN6sSMEWOSlpukcsQ-TQQtxdTdfdv68SaYqIZ8MUkBNq5Ml4F1R2l6Xa42B65GR3YPwOyM0DBLo6BvHixWouACpYkIcGcIvrYV4dYW0NA8xqZHDROQG6UMGZhyphenhyphen6TOTwKSUTT-5Sv1KljkNRS-ASbwfQ1wt/s320/20240116_105111.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Ninety percent of the 45s and 100% of the 78s had to be chucked. Old shellac 78s break easily and no one has the equipment to play them these days.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">He was a record reviewer in the eighties, consequently he was sent a lot of product to review. Mostly from <i>Festival </i>and WEA labels.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Sadly, he didn't look after his records well so there were plenty of casualties, records without covers and covers without records. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In the end there were 340 albums ranging from fair to mint.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The eighties. What springs to mind for you? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">For me - skinny leather ties, mullets, loud fluro clothes, big hair....and the music. Synths and drum machines were everywhere and one listen to something like ABC's <i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/7abGerACQx9G1OBqHYFKAb?si=e2125abc452c4734">Poison Arrow</a></i>, Ultravox' <i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/2LXjhNee4iPRVemx9NSZQ3?si=c80308b4d91743e9">Vienna</a></i>, or Human League's <i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/3L7RtEcu1Hw3OXrpnthngx?si=fdf5908910724bf7">Don't You Want Me</a></i> throws you right back to the eighties in a nanu nanu second.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">There was some great music in the eighties - don't get me wrong. And those great moments ignite a lot of memories.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So, I've had a pretty nostalgic week returning to a time of great change in my life: my teaching career kicked off; I met Jacky and we were married; three of our four children were all born in that decade. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I was a little worried when the big cheese at <i>Real Groovy Records </i>was only interested in the mint copies - as he put it: </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>Only about 10% are good fast sellers, the rest will hang around and clog our bins unless we fast-track them through the letter codes.<br /><br />Sadly, the up-and-coming generations just aren’t interested in soft rock.</i></span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But, getting rid of all of the albums proved relatively easy in the end, as a local music store owner bought them all.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Righty ho - off to put on the material girl's <i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2IU9ftOgyRL2caQGWK1jjX?si=l8y6NDiCS-SrBxHxt55wxw">Like A Virgin</a></i> - released in 1984.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-53103038589262841902024-01-15T10:06:00.000-08:002024-01-15T10:06:52.870-08:00Play that funky music white boy (Wild Cherry)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OZODgObHDFt1kwz1uazy-3k9t8WFwObZbrI-1ybnEakTufrgCyMj8nH-K8O2HC2j9YiC-ZbK6eYZTj7bkHYuuFABZSu0FxFgGzvfwSCDDjqKWHArysj0nqQIPMh3xCtJyk_wO4SQ1varVIRnvhffXNLV96veZ_qwJZxesgoe7rbJbzKistocUTc5nMOA/s1713/Sp.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1713" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OZODgObHDFt1kwz1uazy-3k9t8WFwObZbrI-1ybnEakTufrgCyMj8nH-K8O2HC2j9YiC-ZbK6eYZTj7bkHYuuFABZSu0FxFgGzvfwSCDDjqKWHArysj0nqQIPMh3xCtJyk_wO4SQ1varVIRnvhffXNLV96veZ_qwJZxesgoe7rbJbzKistocUTc5nMOA/w640-h192/Sp.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Recently a friend of a friend gave me his record collection to sell on his behalf. Which I'm working on.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">He didn't look after his records particularly well though so I've had to throw quite a few away, including a large number of singles (a.k.a. 45s).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">An internet artist I subscribe to once told how he came across a whole bunch of singles left out at the curbside - subsequently they had all melted in the sun but he took them home anyway and made a <i>Spotify </i>Playlist called <i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6TEXkQmMZZDurxToRup3Si?si=00edf6d0f2c64eeb">Melted 45s</a></i>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I loved that idea because the music of someone else's collection is totally random.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So, I decided to make a <i>Spotify</i> playlist of the unplayable singles I was about to throw out (I hate throwing away books and records!!)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Here it is - <i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/56SEooPk4VKrEDBFRknH5Y?si=0c1205e5d6dc4e0d">Wozza's Found 45s</a></i>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">While I was at it, I also decided to make a playlist of my own singles collection (all playable but how often do I play them all? Never!) </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It's a big collection so I split it into <i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0San6S9S5MXWseCQ62ALh7?si=1ad0c0e9396445fd">Wozza's Fab 45s</a></i> (non Beatle related) and <i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3mXGkoAUxw4zPyrEXELfaV?si=41df69abb0cc43a9">Wozza's Fab Four 45s </a></i>(solo Beatles and related).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozzaaa</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-74643245036765344092024-01-10T11:23:00.000-08:002024-01-10T11:26:14.644-08:00The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time (James Taylor)<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLbG5DRJC66z72EvfRLkVoltmOQ7exZYj9IssFbJikVxPNbj9tnQznDIbhoVch83oJ4mvfW1b_7Gy7zO_U_mtep0Vfmt_kHWGI8mrLSIhOG8ZbAmQTXdi8d-z-DEvvXElqMMVlBMyxNOX3IY7m-MR340ZS8OqF2zePf6GK-xAnywWW5cuDbQcjTUd27pxs/s6000/folco-masi-shUdd_GMMnY-unsplash.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6000" data-original-width="4000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLbG5DRJC66z72EvfRLkVoltmOQ7exZYj9IssFbJikVxPNbj9tnQznDIbhoVch83oJ4mvfW1b_7Gy7zO_U_mtep0Vfmt_kHWGI8mrLSIhOG8ZbAmQTXdi8d-z-DEvvXElqMMVlBMyxNOX3IY7m-MR340ZS8OqF2zePf6GK-xAnywWW5cuDbQcjTUd27pxs/w266-h400/folco-masi-shUdd_GMMnY-unsplash.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@folcomasi?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Folco Masi</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/gray-padlock-in-chain-shUdd_GMMnY?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">When Mrs Purdy and I were discussing something the other day, I said something along the lines of - <i>oh you've done that for about 20 years</i> - and then we revised that estimate to maybe the last ten years.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Nothing of great consequence but it did make me realise that 2024 contains a few key milestones for us.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">On February 26 it will be 41 years since I met Jacky Smith at a fancy dress party in New Plymouth (co-incidentally, it will also be 41 years since I met Patrick Cameron at the very same party).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">An equally momentous date this year will be April 21 - our 40th wedding anniversary.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Forty years is a long time, well over half our lives have been spent in a continuous mutually monogamous relationship. Yes, something to celebrate but, my point is, it hasn't felt like 40 years at all. That number is weird ( and there will be no gratuitous jokes here either thankyou - along the lines of - feels like longer).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">That previous conversation I mentioned (20 years, no, 10) came as something of a shock. Twenty years is a fair chunk. But 40!!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Crazy talk - feels like a few, for sure, but not 40.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Speaking of that number - o</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">ur eldest child turns 40 this year as well (December 19) and I know he's very thoughtful and aware of that milestone. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Scarlett Johansson, </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Mark Zuckerberg, </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Prince Harry also turn 40 this year. Just sayin'.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Who and what else turns 40 in 2024?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The Apple Mac was unveiled in 1984 by Steve Jobs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Remarkable. That certainly was one giant leap for mankind, but still, it pales into insignificance compared to 1984's effect on my world.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Mr Purdy</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">P.S. Book update - one down, six to go.</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-16714668605406771242024-01-06T09:31:00.000-08:002024-01-06T09:31:15.546-08:00Yes, I told you that the light goes up and down, don't you notice how the wheel goes 'round? (Cream)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBrjemZKC-uodmJuLJg1nCTbYHDm0xewFRMOOHWV5seyq3W-8v_mJOfZTh2yDn6kzTq3zr7b1g-60yoavcacmCXtPugl-knR1mDGBbRkEuyQQNJT3pSiHKxyWffXpsjQqgm9DjiFV_M8m8Uw-Q5i-fsOgSh1nYZNNRVFa_QWghfP8_cHlIzQJXOyGSS61L/s4000/20240104_191620.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBrjemZKC-uodmJuLJg1nCTbYHDm0xewFRMOOHWV5seyq3W-8v_mJOfZTh2yDn6kzTq3zr7b1g-60yoavcacmCXtPugl-knR1mDGBbRkEuyQQNJT3pSiHKxyWffXpsjQqgm9DjiFV_M8m8Uw-Q5i-fsOgSh1nYZNNRVFa_QWghfP8_cHlIzQJXOyGSS61L/w300-h400/20240104_191620.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jan 2024 to-be-read</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I'm not making much of an impression on my to-be-read pile am I?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">That's because I keep buying new books that take my fancy and even reading a book a week isn't denting the book tower.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgXn-7VoH20vmlpp4TL8cG8KhZXLxn0AWxSKeJRr3i0NOpURNg_IYOoiS5pzvbb1fqYwQBMocObJqm8k0kcEvfRfoy8aBFqdd0hmDGcucxC6b7fguu4QdCXUVNAu__KQGgoM1Ejs66l-cIKlAs9QS5yF8-ltSzIhV8A7Ll1beNsRP-6LrAbH6iBnpqLoU/s4624/20230115_113151%20(1).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="3468" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgXn-7VoH20vmlpp4TL8cG8KhZXLxn0AWxSKeJRr3i0NOpURNg_IYOoiS5pzvbb1fqYwQBMocObJqm8k0kcEvfRfoy8aBFqdd0hmDGcucxC6b7fguu4QdCXUVNAu__KQGgoM1Ejs66l-cIKlAs9QS5yF8-ltSzIhV8A7Ll1beNsRP-6LrAbH6iBnpqLoU/s320/20230115_113151%20(1).jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It has made me compare that pile with one I had a year ago (pictured right) and while I've read the vast majority of those, I'm ashamed to admit that there are seven books common to both piles.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">You're bound to have spotted them, but for new readers, they are:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Elton's <i>Me</i> and the Jaggar bio </span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>Roderick Random</i></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Anne Tyler - <i>Ladder of Years</i></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Emerson and Murakami</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Dicken's <i>Bleak House</i></span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So, my new mission is to read those seven in the next six or seven weeks. Just need to finish my current two first - Laurence Fearnley's <i>Room</i>, and Billy Connolly's <i>Rambling Man </i>(good combo that - <i>Room</i> is thoughtful and sobering while the Big Yin is hilarious).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">A stunning January resolution, I think you'll agree!!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-30050851318655885332024-01-01T10:28:00.000-08:002024-01-01T10:28:34.993-08:00Ring out the old, ring in the new (George Harrison)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVzIMIG7VnV8GPndCIfyr3y_d1RIgt9uSU9Ec85WRIrpzrQIOtEt3SkpHnhApwejZVlaFiP6v3JICYBKhkldUyXGZ8QuWtuXBjqspGCcuiaSGtUm204dt3PjFQFZggX9mFtgvcYWwq_0pFSGoE0UL9AJ6LOGrrlmbGYaFCcgyp3OQ-yKDk6LPF-nPeolk/s4000/20240101_071630.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVzIMIG7VnV8GPndCIfyr3y_d1RIgt9uSU9Ec85WRIrpzrQIOtEt3SkpHnhApwejZVlaFiP6v3JICYBKhkldUyXGZ8QuWtuXBjqspGCcuiaSGtUm204dt3PjFQFZggX9mFtgvcYWwq_0pFSGoE0UL9AJ6LOGrrlmbGYaFCcgyp3OQ-yKDk6LPF-nPeolk/w400-h300/20240101_071630.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It's a new year! The pages in my three key daily texts have returned to page one again.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I have started every day for the last few years by reading <i><b>366 Days with Wisdom</b></i> (Venerable Master Hsing Yun) and <i><b>The Daily Stoic</b></i> (Ryan Holliday). When I can, I also read the day's entry in <i><b>365 Days with the Saints</b></i> (Carol Keely-Gangi).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Yes, I get wisdom from where I find it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Here's what each of them has for their January 1st entry:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><i>366 Days with Wisdom </i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>Each day one needs to speak kind and gentle words.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>Each day one needs to do what is beneficial.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>We are successful only when we begin today.</i></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><i>The Daily Stoic</i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control</i> (Epictetus).</span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><b>365 Days with the Saints</b></i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Mary of Nazareth is today's saint.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>From Mary, we learn to trust even when all hope seems gone</i> (Pope John Paul II).</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">And away we go...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-13740173315811012132023-12-27T09:04:00.000-08:002023-12-27T09:07:58.132-08:00The pause that refreshes.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLDpGvEc5Fe12Wqeu7-aYXyTqIPQ8CuC-O8_8OCfsNYpVh6jTv4vbUYaXZEOdFSe00alc-w3HANfD_snzuPmWgxLXJTrwp98_C6LhZSviNysbegdJyPjO-rI2c9b5Pv4kcytrvAmd0Opi8afrngCO_dTJnzG5UjJ0eiXgX1uGXxdx1hW4_sMYe2bSlFrid/s4000/20231226_064131.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLDpGvEc5Fe12Wqeu7-aYXyTqIPQ8CuC-O8_8OCfsNYpVh6jTv4vbUYaXZEOdFSe00alc-w3HANfD_snzuPmWgxLXJTrwp98_C6LhZSviNysbegdJyPjO-rI2c9b5Pv4kcytrvAmd0Opi8afrngCO_dTJnzG5UjJ0eiXgX1uGXxdx1hW4_sMYe2bSlFrid/w300-h400/20231226_064131.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Each Christmas this tree in our back yard loses all of its leaves at the same time, and grows new ones at the same time (well - roughly - over the space of about two weeks).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I like this idiosyncratic tree - it has grown up with two trunks! Gotta have respect for its sense of adventure and originality.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The leaves thing has us flummoxed because we are in the summer season and consistently experiencing warm days (mid twenties).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">What it does do is give us a visible symbol of renewal leading up to the new year.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipr5j5lAq0PgLJ_yRDf6er8QCfSBO0jXoAp7Wck_C06sHsEw0rcOAr-Tk9W-4C4I0rCQ5ilOBsuadqXTTQpnU9lmgNOXPGdwZ-5uWfwR20-m3LJv0B6grFB5YBCI1SzhGz7Mz1i8P0azhf2WXJhni3spg1Kw3S-4qk3F3z1ahtJHD0d-2c6VWFR0vT0JuO/s450/refreshing-pause-coca-cola.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="338" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipr5j5lAq0PgLJ_yRDf6er8QCfSBO0jXoAp7Wck_C06sHsEw0rcOAr-Tk9W-4C4I0rCQ5ilOBsuadqXTTQpnU9lmgNOXPGdwZ-5uWfwR20-m3LJv0B6grFB5YBCI1SzhGz7Mz1i8P0azhf2WXJhni3spg1Kw3S-4qk3F3z1ahtJHD0d-2c6VWFR0vT0JuO/w150-h200/refreshing-pause-coca-cola.jpg" width="150" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Seneca in <i>On Tranquility of Mind</i> says:</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><i>The mind must be given relaxation - it will rise improved and sharper after a good break.</i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I think that's what our tree is doing. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It clearly can't handle being in full leaf for the duration of the summer so it is t</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">aking a break, relaxing, and rising up again, with new leaves - improved and sharper after a good break.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I am having a relaxing Christmas break (with painting jobs added in, as previously indicated) and hope you are too, wherever you are in the blogosphere.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-80101671371419787082023-12-23T09:08:00.000-08:002023-12-23T09:08:23.658-08:00A beacon of light shines all through the night just for me (Susan Cowsill)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_xClGZcKuOZIA9Qaw0MNcVviHP7s0pieSEmzyriNj5WHTobY18cdrjOQsaL_kZJZrcK3sztgOk2PM7ftPTWfmz5fve8v3M4sV3D1l2CQ6Hkl8V5Sa2A_HZkV8A0zinU397J3hHgsSFkzL2ZXbZN7t9Be1HbKr2TSIEgRRBmkwzW0oMZCljMOQ7jM5DBa5/s400/57094309.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_xClGZcKuOZIA9Qaw0MNcVviHP7s0pieSEmzyriNj5WHTobY18cdrjOQsaL_kZJZrcK3sztgOk2PM7ftPTWfmz5fve8v3M4sV3D1l2CQ6Hkl8V5Sa2A_HZkV8A0zinU397J3hHgsSFkzL2ZXbZN7t9Be1HbKr2TSIEgRRBmkwzW0oMZCljMOQ7jM5DBa5/w264-h400/57094309.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Ron Howard and his brother, Clint Howard, have been a constant in my life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I've just finished their Hollywood and family memoir <i>The Boys</i> and I felt again a real kinship to Ron as I read it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">[Although I also grew up watching Clint on<i> Gentle Ben</i>, I can't relate to him in the same way. I have never been drawn to excess, apart from record collecting, so his story of alcohol and drugs is completely alien to me].</span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But Ron, he's like my older brother (he is three years older than me and Clint is like my own brother - two years younger).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Although a world away in America there are some similarities:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Loving parents who stayed together until our mothers passed away.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The family dynamic is similar - Ronny and I are the older brother, with no other siblings.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Ron and I have both sustained long marriages to one person, and we both have had families of four children.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I even feel our personalities are similar - calm and even tempered, driven to succeed. but retaining our moral compass and values.</span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Of course, I've grown up with him as well thanks to the medium of Television.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">My early memories of the sixties include watching <i>The Andy Griffith Show </i>on NZBC's one channel. Ronny Howard (as he was billed then) was my buddy - Opie Taylor. Or he would have been if he was real and lived in my Royal Oak neighbourhood.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">My friends at Royal Oak Primary were all like me and Opie - friendly, quiet, generous with affection, funny, caring, sporty, respectful to our parents and adults in general, and not so clever at our schoolwork.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Then came <i>American Graffiti</i> (1973) and <i>Happy Days </i>when I was a teenager. I was a regular viewer of Richie, Potsy, Ralph and The Fonz.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Richie was again like me as I related to my friendship group: not the smartest tool in the shed, a bit vague and clueless but still like Opie grown into a teenager, battling all the things teenagers always battle. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Reading <i>The Boys</i>, reminded me again how I am intertwined with other guys like Nick Hornby and Ron Howard - guys who I'll never meet, yet they feel like family.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-70009695951110096312023-12-18T10:49:00.000-08:002023-12-18T10:51:46.994-08:00Fly me out the window somewhere far away, news on the radio, happy birthday (Concrete Blonde)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2Z-1dO6tppLgT8wUJC66haxgsDFz6LrNBmCKlOLPKQKRn-ngNwcOjzMxYn0Cpteh8Y6A9dozrApxBk_OWVRCBdrI-Ynh6ik4YlP24xQt-YOXvMqfZRQxY9utZNQQpxVEMirxzhjKo9I6t8dRjFNrWkXu9pUwH7TQbVKX6wcQQfVGqAQqsWZ35RCvhRc8/s4000/20231219_074035.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2Z-1dO6tppLgT8wUJC66haxgsDFz6LrNBmCKlOLPKQKRn-ngNwcOjzMxYn0Cpteh8Y6A9dozrApxBk_OWVRCBdrI-Ynh6ik4YlP24xQt-YOXvMqfZRQxY9utZNQQpxVEMirxzhjKo9I6t8dRjFNrWkXu9pUwH7TQbVKX6wcQQfVGqAQqsWZ35RCvhRc8/w300-h400/20231219_074035.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Adam Lennon Purdy (in Australia) and Keegan Warren Purdy (in China) had birthdays in the last week or so - ALP on the 11th and KWP on the 19th, so this is my customary birthday post for these two mischief makers, wascally wabbits and brothers-in-arms from the mid-eighties.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Happy birthdays to our special little guy (37) and his big brother (39)!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - dad</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-61429016686014187882023-12-13T11:05:00.000-08:002023-12-13T11:05:04.112-08:00I'm never really lonely in my excentrifugal forz (Frank Zappa)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9zOd8NdE9pCRgWxCuvRciqrdE1hJPV2v5-9ETTxDTIsen8BEvaQnM8_1wnje7wIiFPbc077zy3NL1FOfSgltPcPKR9BCZD_kMXl8pj18yC4rYQn3KD6Hv3yjmKIUxlQo2nMjhOqmV_i3ApEoEHFV0WSjyNswgfI-ccGhXyCTCFdNZQNDpVKzQTTticoG/s3937/alice-dietrich-FwF_fKj5tBo-unsplash%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2625" data-original-width="3937" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9zOd8NdE9pCRgWxCuvRciqrdE1hJPV2v5-9ETTxDTIsen8BEvaQnM8_1wnje7wIiFPbc077zy3NL1FOfSgltPcPKR9BCZD_kMXl8pj18yC4rYQn3KD6Hv3yjmKIUxlQo2nMjhOqmV_i3ApEoEHFV0WSjyNswgfI-ccGhXyCTCFdNZQNDpVKzQTTticoG/w400-h266/alice-dietrich-FwF_fKj5tBo-unsplash%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not that kind of painting, silly!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Holidays are here which means a chance to catch up on those jobs that have been on our list for a few years:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Sanding and painting the outside window frames; cleaning the verandah roof; water-blasting and painting the verandah - that kind of thing.</span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Thanks to shifting record boxes, I have had a sore back for a large part of the year (MRI coming in January) so I am very strategic about these jobs - anything that involves bending over is a no no. No chainsawing up logs for me for a while.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Instead, because standing straight is much more preferable to sitting down or bending, the windows are at a perfect height for attacking and so is the verandah stuff.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">If anything, I think the exercise is improving my back, as well as the battery of exercises from the osteo guy that I do every second day. Cautiously optimistic I am.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Anyway, must dash - the sun is shining and I'm burning daylight.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Woz</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-34564270163642511482023-12-09T12:54:00.000-08:002023-12-09T12:56:52.713-08:00What a dream I had, pressed in organdy, clothed in crinoline of smoky burgundy (Simon and Garfunkel)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixT3JUCp_rno5GBeyQEDKwbr85xU_X3KYyV7rrK5IJ5FW8Rd8qIMiFkdYjchW1CAr2_D_WBlkOimfHQztWPeIG21Lywn7b-gqfzTNBXWimiFkiF68H4ylHqASDVXzbksCajZZLh0RXDPa34hrGdTaKN4HzjjKb0WJfRTzO2Bc1Ypcs_Qo_j8ZmE_5kl28J/s6720/marcus-bellamy-LG53ZixprjM-unsplash.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3780" data-original-width="6720" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixT3JUCp_rno5GBeyQEDKwbr85xU_X3KYyV7rrK5IJ5FW8Rd8qIMiFkdYjchW1CAr2_D_WBlkOimfHQztWPeIG21Lywn7b-gqfzTNBXWimiFkiF68H4ylHqASDVXzbksCajZZLh0RXDPa34hrGdTaKN4HzjjKb0WJfRTzO2Bc1Ypcs_Qo_j8ZmE_5kl28J/w640-h360/marcus-bellamy-LG53ZixprjM-unsplash.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@marcusbellamy?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Marcus Bellamy</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/brown-mountains-LG53ZixprjM?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">A vivid dream that came to me a while ago has haunted me since.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Even more so since I found that scarily accurate picture above on <i>Unsplash</i> to accompany this post!!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Jacky and I were in her car, driving along a deserted road; I was driving. We crested the top of a hill and gazed down on a landscape exactly like that picture - </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">jagged </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">bronze-coloured rock formations leading down to water in the far distance.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We rounded a corner and the road tapered away to a dead end that was in the form of a school gate and wire fence (on the other side of which was lawn).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We stopped and I went to reverse but the road had developed a crater like hole behind us, so we were stuck!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Jacky went off to search for some car-jacks because we weirdly/illogically thought we'd be able to bridge the gap that way. I waited and waited for her return. She eventually turned up and so had a crowd of spectators who watched in silence as I jacked up the car. Then I woke up.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Feel free to have a field day analysing all that!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-3597092423182631592023-12-04T10:17:00.000-08:002023-12-04T10:17:50.562-08:00Happy birthday to you! (The Beatles)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4TK9QL9RaZ7sNVmcJoLBjT6vc6J7BOZzhKnHCuBgJRMwK9TshL8V3OGAi6x6_IQONBpyoJDciLeWmnNGdZ7dA7sDhyphenhyphenTF2OeICfzU59M2q3TvOBXOdYWnsFgyzvZd1qFB1S8a3boIa2QP393TpvKu8NgXqUxLsDqwjzOuiSIW8kqgLfBqf4wNQdKDOjM6R/s1036/15443082_219380525175054_606166104830350828_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1036" data-original-width="1036" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4TK9QL9RaZ7sNVmcJoLBjT6vc6J7BOZzhKnHCuBgJRMwK9TshL8V3OGAi6x6_IQONBpyoJDciLeWmnNGdZ7dA7sDhyphenhyphenTF2OeICfzU59M2q3TvOBXOdYWnsFgyzvZd1qFB1S8a3boIa2QP393TpvKu8NgXqUxLsDqwjzOuiSIW8kqgLfBqf4wNQdKDOjM6R/w400-h400/15443082_219380525175054_606166104830350828_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Nineteen ninety-one is thirty-two years ago.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Here are a few important things that happened in 1991:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The Soviet Union was dissolved</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The world wide web was launched</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>Terminator 2: Judgment Day</i> was the year's highest grossing film</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Metallica had the best selling album of the year</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The New York Giants were the Super Bowl champs, the Minnesota Twins won the World Series, Arsenal won the First Division title, Australia won the rugby world cup, and the Pittsburgh Penguins clinched the Stanley Cup.</span></li></ul><p></p><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Clearly overshadowing all of these things, though, was the November 28 arrival of Purdette # 4 - Jade Michelle Purdy!<br /></span><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I love that photo taken at Taupo - she was super cute in that bob, but now she's a stunningly beautiful 32 year old (she takes after her mother).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Happy birthday DLG!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love - dad</span></p></div>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-9934434556442041442023-11-29T08:09:00.000-08:002023-11-29T08:09:17.717-08:00Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand? (Steely Dan)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1St6_fCqbayJ8ieb15AzreZrblE9A3PkhjUI6xr_8b-1sFsP3e8IU7Z1_Zi9sA8ptenhOafQOGzqhlWAbyd7lqtbLDkVg64bRUB5pHLi8ScaLGbbjiK7H0AOYdDHqTQCvNgJzZ6ckGjTQ4zXxvQeUGlL_Gg94dLIwnEQ2V7E4PQj8pl2yxo9PmvKsq-Z6/s7952/victoriano-izquierdo-JG35CpZLfVs-unsplash.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5304" data-original-width="7952" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1St6_fCqbayJ8ieb15AzreZrblE9A3PkhjUI6xr_8b-1sFsP3e8IU7Z1_Zi9sA8ptenhOafQOGzqhlWAbyd7lqtbLDkVg64bRUB5pHLi8ScaLGbbjiK7H0AOYdDHqTQCvNgJzZ6ckGjTQ4zXxvQeUGlL_Gg94dLIwnEQ2V7E4PQj8pl2yxo9PmvKsq-Z6/w400-h266/victoriano-izquierdo-JG35CpZLfVs-unsplash.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@victoriano?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Victoriano Izquierdo</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/man-on-front-of-vending-machines-at-nighttime-JG35CpZLfVs?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Today's word is '<i>Prohairesis</i>'. Roughly, it means - our capacity for reasoned choice.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">For example: <span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">if a person says something critical to us, <b>that is not bad</b>; or, if something complimentary is said, <b>that is not good</b>, because such things are externals and not in our power to control. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">By exerting the power of choice, it is possible to maintain </span>equanimity<span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"> in the face of either criticism and praise, which is a moral good. On the other hand, when people become troubled by criticism, or elated by praise, that is a moral evil because they have misjudged impressions by thinking that things not in their power (such as criticism or praise) have value, and by doing that they place a measure of control of their own life in the hands of others.</span></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">This makes a lot of sense to me and helps explain my aversion to flattery.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">I'm a bit like Karl Pilkington when confronted by the Great Wall of China - I'll decide if it's great or not thanks.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">Similarly, this helps with taking negative feedback from others. Maybe you don't agree with something I've written. All good. Being troubled by the feedback is unnecessary and wasteful, because it places a measure of control in the hands of others.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-450035130623687048.post-47279654256195688362023-11-25T10:53:00.000-08:002023-11-25T10:53:57.750-08:00Yes, we have no bonanza (The Three Stooges)<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTMqfBgCXKdpWkIwFoyCn-kSXvY5Wc8G-5se0Z4l3En0sbMrSCC0TViQHbhfqNtAZLj58Eggf7hA8vFEzQqaC89mGMAnwxBEUlyqQzAoxpzVAWEioq2GnWm3sGROWh8INx1dDwQEjtBG-pRtzz9i2a8aMLLo96QtgjRX-9fumX0r-XvgekV9F81bErnlcV/s956/956full-the-three-stooges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="956" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTMqfBgCXKdpWkIwFoyCn-kSXvY5Wc8G-5se0Z4l3En0sbMrSCC0TViQHbhfqNtAZLj58Eggf7hA8vFEzQqaC89mGMAnwxBEUlyqQzAoxpzVAWEioq2GnWm3sGROWh8INx1dDwQEjtBG-pRtzz9i2a8aMLLo96QtgjRX-9fumX0r-XvgekV9F81bErnlcV/w400-h318/956full-the-three-stooges.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L to R - Seymour, Luxon, Peters</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Wie geht's?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In case you missed the big news - in their wisdom NZ voters recently went for a historic triple act coalition for their next government. Sigh.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The leaders (Larry, Curly and Moe - pictured below) ironed out an agreement recently called <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_Nuts">'Plane Nuts</a></i>', and have now retreated to the Beehive to enjoy '<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_and_Pretzels">Beer and Pretzels'</a></i> while leaving us all '<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_Drunks">Punch Drunks</a></i>'.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf8XlIFteNfASKTFjAV7GKaqBQJJFvcHPs2X_y9_zY9P1A086XfIEGlokcPFLMqBj5j_1L5CkwRbwwkWQ9Hnzjtm1lKH8v0UqnBJd6MCHz-rib4gQdGe8GR0zuBANWUzpX2FS-uINCgt7PvFaV_akXCzvzLNjqiTKYRqjZUBHhQCpWhNV0ESf9SW_kP9bZ/s1514/3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="775" data-original-width="1514" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf8XlIFteNfASKTFjAV7GKaqBQJJFvcHPs2X_y9_zY9P1A086XfIEGlokcPFLMqBj5j_1L5CkwRbwwkWQ9Hnzjtm1lKH8v0UqnBJd6MCHz-rib4gQdGe8GR0zuBANWUzpX2FS-uINCgt7PvFaV_akXCzvzLNjqiTKYRqjZUBHhQCpWhNV0ESf9SW_kP9bZ/w400-h205/3.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Nu Zild is likely to spend many future <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restless_Knights"><i>'Restless Knights'</i></a> wondering how these '<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Dumb_Clucks">Three Dumb Clucks'</a></i> came to power.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">What a farce.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love and peace - Wozza</span></p>Wozzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308022023634574732noreply@blogger.com0