I'm a secret agent man (Devo)

It's been a bit of a barren spell culture wise of late. No reading aside from my monthly Mojo and Prog magazines; new music hasn't amounted to much as I have been buying classic album sets (I'm generally disappointed by new music - even Ry Cooder's latest live album was shaded by Show Time - released nearly 40 years ago); haven't seen any new films of any note; TV has been dominated by Homeland, Banshee and Game Of Thrones season 3 as a precursor for Season 4 which starts this week.

Unfortunately this dearth of high brow culture has resulted in me having a run of disturbing dreams.

I'm either being continually chased by CIA men (bizarrely in the form of various whanau members) or chasing others through all sorts of terrain. 

Poor SWMBO has had to deal with my broken sleep patterns and sleepy attempts to protect myself. 

Bizarrely - I recently dreamed that Randy Buckley was a dangerous CIA agent who had chased me into a house - I went to kick the door closed behind me. Unfortunately I kicked SWMBO in my sleep.

Last night I dreamed that someone was attacking me with a huge bundle of toilet rolls (I have no idea). I went to kick the bundle out of my attacker's hands but, yep - you guessed it - I kicked SWMBO in my sleep.

Thankfully we've finished Banshee and Game Of Thrones for a bit so I need to go back to Grand Designs and leave SWMBO alone for a while.

Love and Peace - Wozza

I had too much to dream last night (The Electric Prunes)

The planets all aligned this weekend. Also Sprack Zarathustra provided the soundtrack.

Arsenal managed to complete the double over our beloved neighbours with a win at White Hart Lane. It was a perfect score too - one nil to the Arsenal!




The alignment came when Chelsea and Manchester United both lost their games.

I like José Mourinho's casual arrogance and the way his mind works but I have no time for John Terry and the wilfully arrogant swagger that emanates from Chelsea's owner on down to the players. Chelski lose? Oh dear, how sad, never mind (sorry Jesse - there's still time to turn from the dark side though. I sense the good in you!).

The whole world hates United and who doesn't love where the Beatles came from? It was great to see a rejuvenated Liverpool side tear apart the bored squillionaires from MUFC.

Love and peace - Gooner Wozza

It's been a long long time since I heard my backbone crack (Artie Shaw)

I've gone gif crazy!

I was introduced into the google gif world by one of my Year 11 students. We use a profile picture on our Schoology pages (rebranded as Woodbook from henceforth).  She had a moving image as her profile picture and it looked cool - she took the time to tell me about gifs and now I'm hooked.

It's perfect for me cos I get bored easily with these things and with a gif you have to keep changing things up.

So far I've used a Star Wars image, The Silver Surfer and a wave (symbolising The Wave - the text we're studying in Level 1 NCEA). Coming up soon are these snazzy Beatle gifs.

Please let me know if you come across a cool one - always looking to mix things up - it's the way I roll.

Love and peace - Wozza

In a gadda da vida, honey, don't you know that I'm lovin' you (Iron Butterfly)

SWMBO has been getting regular night shifts of late which has, amazingly, coincided with me purchasing MAD MEN Season 6 on DVD. What are the odds eh?

SWMBO doesn't like Mad Men. I love it

Have I blogged on this before? Of course! Every time a new season emerges on DVD I have to have it immediately.

Why do I love it?

The advertising world fascinates me. I used to love thirtysomething (haven't bought that on DVD yet - it's very much of its time - the eighties, and I get stuck on the hair and fashion).

Mad Men is set in the sixties - so the hair and fashions are part of the shows appeal. Harry hasn't had a word to say yet (I'm about 3 episodes in) in this season but his hairstyle marks him out in every scene he's in.

The women characters are amazingly well written. Joan is an amazing presence in the office; Betty (January Jones) is all ice cool blond. The scenes where she tries to find her step daughter in a junky haven tenement were brilliantly written. The sub text at work in her acting was incredible.

The characters are an interesting mix of goodness and badness - Roger, Don, Peter - the power men of the show are not stereotypical, nor are they black and white. Only one show on TV would have the nouse to have Roger Sterling metaphorically curl up into a fetal position at his mother's funeral.

I've started off a colleague on Season one and he's hooked already! If you've somehow avoided the show until now - climb aboard!

Love and peace - Wozza

I'm like a one eyed cat peepin' in a seafood store (Big Joe Turner)

Okay - confession time - I've always considered the Gluten Free aisles of the food market to be the ones the trendy poseurs go for.

I've built up a stereotype in my teeny tiny brain of the tree hugging mung bean brigade making up the clientele for the Gluten Free products.

Wrong wrong wrong!

Such ignorance!! Unbelievable!!

They aren't alternative types looking for a healthy option. Gluten (and the removal of it) doesn't work like that.

What is Gluten anyway? Well children: Gluten is a protein found in grains such as wheat, barley, rye and triticale (a cross between wheat and rye apparently).

Why do I know this and why is it confession time?

Because I have joined the ranks of the Gluten Free. Not because I've been diagnosed with celiac disease but because I wanted to see if I have a non-celiac gluten sensitivity/ intolerance to Gluten (means I feel bloated after eating 'normal' meals which over time has increased my weight into 12 stone territory for the first time - scary). 

This has been going on for years. SWMBO knows this. She has told me about this stuff. Before. Apparently.

Why have I finally listened to her? Well, you see, I have a pair of trousers that I would love to get into again. I bought them while I was working in the Middle East. I was thinner then because of the diet there (mainly caused by the heat - I didn't have big meals but ate dates and Arabic coffee on a daily basis).

The me I want to be

Anyway since returning from the sandpit in 2012 I haven't been able to get near them (the trousers? Yes the trousers). I try them on from time to time but denial takes over. Like a David Crosby style crack addict who needs to bottom out completely before they change their ways, it's taken me a while to realize that - der - something must change for me to get into that pair of trousers.

It's been three weeks so far and so early days but I feel better already. I have GF cereal for breakfast, a GF lunch at school (Woodford House caters for all sorts) and I've been trying to keep to as much of a GF evening meal as I can. I'm avoiding things I love - potato chips, fish and chips, chocolate and sugary drinks as much as I can.

Here's a list of stuff that doesn't contain that nasty protein:

• Beans, seeds, nuts in their natural, unprocessed form
• Fresh eggs
• Fresh meats, fish and poultry (not breaded, batter-coated or marinated)
• Fruits and vegetables
• Most dairy products

Other stuff I'm aiming to avoid:

• Barley (malt, malt flavoring and malt vinegar are usually made from barley)
• Rye
• Triticale (a cross between wheat and rye)
• Wheat

Wish me luck and look forward to seeing me in that pair of trousers soon! I tried them on this morning and - yes - progress has been made!

Love and peace - Wozza

Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible (Francis of Assisi)

The F of A quote is my March 2004 quote. If that makes no sense to you you'll need to read this blog more regularly!

I don't like the quote much - it doesn't make a whole lotta sense to me. As if you can 'suddenly' go from the possible to the impossible! What's that about Frank?

It's accompanied by a caveman cartoon showing the evolution of a wheel from a bolder to a car 'tyre'. Huh? That's only possible in the Flintstones fer crying out loud.  

Living on Red Phoenix Farm has its moments and many of them revolve around animals. Last week we sold off last season's lambs, continued to learn about our new cat - Rocky, and moved the horses apart after Max kicked a couple of fences to bits. Oh what joy!

Rocky? But I thought the cat's name was Seven! Sadly Seven couldn't deal with being among dogs - in particular Dookie. The SPCA staff had assured us that she was dog friendly. Ar - no! The weird thing was Seven decided that attack was far preferable to defence (poor Dookie just wanted to make friends) - no backward steps! As SWMBO observed - Seven rolled up her sleeves and went for it.

So we took Seven back to the SPCA and picked up Rocky (having tested out his dog friendliness carefully). So far so okay. He's no Waffles but then again - no cat is. The good is that he is friendly, the bad is that he's learnt from somewhere that it's okay to use a sink (or bath) as a toilet, and the ugly? Well he's not named after Rocky Balboa for nothing!

As for the fencing...well that was something of a mission too but SWMBO and I pulled the broken rails off on Saturday and rebuilt them on Sunday.

Sounds easy huh? How to play the flute - blow in one end and move your fingers up and down on the outside bit. Easy peasy.

Love and peace - Wozza