Hello world, today I feel like someone (The Tremeloes)

Christmas 2017 is in the books. So too, soon, will be 2017.

Highlights: Seinfeld with Jade; McCartney with SWMBO; holiday in Keri Keri courtesy of the Purdettes; Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi; first year living in Roch-dene (Maungaturoto version); seeing Dunkirk with SWMBO; Christmas with three of four Purdettes (any time we touch base with members of the whanau is a special highlight).

SWMBO/Woz, Fanfa, Adam/Ashleigh, Jade/William

Things to look forward to: Christine and Tom arriving in January; new goals for 2018 (hop over to Baggy Trousers for the details. Go on - off you go); starting each day with Venerable Master Hsing Yun's 366 Days with Wisdom (seen in the Keri Keri motel and ordered from the Buddhist Temple in Auckland); planning for Christmas 2019 (no idea where beyond a northern hemisphere location - exciting)

Be here now: today, right now - seems I have picked up a cold from somewhere; Arsenal are live within the hour - playing Crystal Palace; SWMBO has a cracked rib from a recent farm accident and is feeling sore; I'm about to have some brekkie:

Love and peace and happy new year - Wozza

Rebel scum (Finn)

Star Wars: Episode 8 - The Last Jedi

Three reasons why I think it could be the greatest edition yet to the saga. If not that, up there with Episode 5 - The Empire Strikes Back.

1 Resonance - it acknowledges the Star Wars universe and history seamlessly and naturally. When Luke needs persuading to help train Rey, R2D2 shows him the original Princess Leia hologram that she sent to Obi Wan. Perfect. Some sort of dust molecule must have got into my eye at this point. Yoda's reappearance feels natural and he provides focus for Luke as a character (there's always a bigger fish), as well as perspective - same old Luke - always looking to the horizon according to Master Yoda.

2 Depth - it has layers. More integrated layers than any of the other films (with the possible exception of Empire Strikes Back - interestingly, another Jedi training middle-of-the-trilogy film). The idea of growing through failure (a favourite concept of mine) is woven through the film. Many characters 'succeed' and/or 'fail' even when they think they don't. The sub-plot involving Finn and Rose's doomed attempt to discontinue the trace on the rebel's command ship through light speed is great because they are doing their best to succeed. Poe's dreadnought 'win' is deemed a failure that he can't understand until later in the film. 

3 Hope - I love this theme (but I would, wouldn't I). The final image of the film is a beautiful image of hope. Aligned to the hope is love. The humanity within the Star Wars universe gives us all the universal connection that we yearn for in a film. It's largely why we believe in and love these characters. And is one of the key reasons this is the greatest franchise in movie history. Chewy, Luke and Leia, Han Solo in absentia and now Rose and Finn, Rey and Kylo Ren. It's about people, people!

I'm ready for my third viewing now. The first was special - with a party including Jade, Jacky, and Fanfa (all of whom have been my Star Wars viewing partners over the years). Second was awesome too, with Adam and Ashleigh - who shared my enthusiasm and love for this film.

If you haven't seen it yet, I envy you.

Love and peace - Wozza

P.S. Merry Christmas everyone out there in my little corner of the outer rim of the blogosphere. Many of you I know. Many are strangers. All of you deserve  the peace and love that comes with this time of the year.

In the immortal words of George Costanza - take it easy.

The eyes were too deeply set in their pockets of shadow to be seen (Sourdust's eyes)

Re-reading the Gormenghast trilogy is a daily joy.

A joy that will last for a while. In more ways than one! The version I have compiles Mervyn Peake's three masterpieces into one volume of 1023 pages. That's a lot of joy!

This is the third time I've read these books.

Way, way back, when I was a teenager, I bought the three books as a boxed set, using a book voucher from a Christmas gift.

Second outing was about ten years later, as a young man at university (pre SWMBO and children). Improbably, it was a set text in one of my papers; writing an exam essay on it in the Old Arts Building at Auckland University is a very vivid memory. I wish I had a copy of that essay!

Almost 40 years later, here I am for the third time. 

I had an urge to reread it and found this copy at The Piggery in Whangarei.

Aged nicely, its pages are framed by a variety of browns, the heft of the book is also impressive. Even the fact that the binding is very delicate is oddly appropriate (pages 1 to 28 have already liberated themselves).

The experience of luxuriating in Peake's gothic castle and his descriptions of the vast grotesque cast of characters is superb. I am finding myself exercising mindfulness to a deep degree to understand and visualise everything Peake is communicating.

Speaking of the characters: I need to keep a record of them, if only to remember their glorious names.

• Rottcodd - the curator of the Hall of Bright Carvings
• Mr Flay - the Earl's butler
• Abiatha Swelter - the chief chef
• Steerpike - one of Swelter's kitchen hands
• The Grey Scrubbers - they scrub the kitchen walls
• Doctor Alfred Prunesquallor 
• Irma Prunesquallor - his sister
• Pellet - their servant
• Lady Gertrude, the seventy-seventh Countess of Groan
• Lord Sepulchrave - the seventy-seventh Earl of Groan
• Titus Groan - their baby son, just arrived
• Fuchsia Groan - their 15 year old daughter
• Nannie Slagg
• Sourdust - the old librarian and advisor to Lord Groan
• Keda - the wet nurse for Titus
• Pentecost - the head gardener
• Shrattle - of the armoury
• Springers, Wrattle, Spurter - kitchen boys
• Cora and Clarice - Sepulchrave's sisters (and twins)

Perhaps, I say, perhaps, you can now see why I needed to write them all down.

Love and peace - Wozza

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me: a partridge in a pear tree.

Apart from the lack of snow...

Christmas means digging out that long box that houses our Christmas tree and the other box of decorations we've accumulated over the years.

For the last two years we haven't used them because we've spent Christmas in London at Patrick and Randy's house.

Last year we had Christmas dinner at Acoustic, the cafe opposite their house in Stoke Newington. Freezing cold outside. Lovely and warm inside Acoustic. A great meal. Just me and my best girl. 

Great times.

So...the Christmas tree and box of accumulated decorations has been stored in various garages we've owned over the last three years (Otane, Waipukurau, Mangaturoto).

But this year we have family flying in from the U.S.A. (Fanfa), Oztraya (Adamski and Ashleigh), and Palmerston North (DLG and William).

Christmas at home meant I went in search of the Christmas tree in the long box and the other box of accumulated decorations. I remembered where they'd been stored - the tool shed.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. Over the years, various rodents had visited the box it appeared. Tell tale little blue pellets on the top of the long box. Boy did it stink.

When I opened the long box I immediately saw why it stunk. At some point in the past three years, Ratty had made his or her home in the fake branches - mixing scraps of cardboard with string. 

A very dead flat rat lay underneath the fake branches.

Doh!!

2017 version

For some reason SWMBO wouldn't entertain me cleaning off ratty's home and water blasting the branches. 

So, off to the Warehouse we went. The last one in the store became ours.

We constructed the new Christmas tree and unpacked the accumulated decorations (separate box and not penetrated by ratty).

Looks good huh!!

Its now sitting decorously and calmly in the lounge, waiting for the Purdettes and their significant others to visit.

Roll on Christmas.

Love and peace and ho ho ho - Wozza

If I could save time in a bottle (Jim Croce)

Photo by Corey Blaz on Unsplash

Taking stock.

I gave myself two goals at the start of this year: 

1) Continuously work on a couple of post for each blog in advance, so that my writing improved (more drafting = more thinking = better writing).

2) Read 50 books in 52 weeks so that my reading discipline would improve (I love books but eeking out time to read has been an issue). 

Your focus determines your reality (Qui Gon-Jinn). 

These goals have been in the front of each blogging/reading week and that's lead to a certain impact on my psyche.


Not a bad thing (relentless positivity) but the clock was ticking all year and I did feel the pressure at times.

Time is always the issue. I knew it would be.

'Eeking' was the right word to use up there. Time snatched before school, after dinner, during found moments. Getting a balance has been tough!

Apart from 'me' time (that includes dancing to music time), there's relationship time, school work time (huge chunk of the week), making and drinking tea time, chore time, walking the dog time, project time (horse yards sort of stuff), eating meal time, socialising with colleagues time...you get the idea.

So, how did I do?

Hmmm. Not so well with the first. Although I still managed (for the most part) to maintain the post a day regime, I only managed to keep ahead of the publishing date with three blogs, but Wozza's Place and Baggy Trousers posts were often started the night before and second draft before posting in the morning. Not good enough!

But, there was great success with the second goal.

Week 47 is just getting underway. In the last month I've read two books and started another two. 

Book 46: Submission (Michel Houellebecq) from The Piggery (Whangarei). I really enjoy reading books in translation - they provide a great edginess. Houellebecq can be frightening. If you've never read him try this one for openers.

Book 47: The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz (L. Frank Baum) $2 from a Hospice shop in Waipu. Yes, the inspiration for the movie - great little book in its own right. 

Book 48: Platform (Michel Houellebecq) also from The Piggery (Whangarei). An exercise in examining a thoroughly unlikeable protagonist.

Book 49: Thank You For Being Late (Thomas L. Friedman) was mentioned at a conference earlier in the year and I noted the title, bought it online from Mighty Ape. Great - up there with Velocity (high praise indeed).

Book 50 (and onwards 51 -52): As I've mentioned previously - I want to finish the year (and this exercise) by re-reading the Gormenghast trilogy (Mervyn Peake).

Love and peace - Wozza

Well, we all have a face that we hide away forever and we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone (Billy Joel)

In the company of strangers - it's a good title for a blog (interesting that, among other things, it's the name of a fashion label in Nu Zild).

For a blog, it sums up my daily ritual of conversation, as I publish a post and send it out for the viewing pleasure of strangers.

As Seth Godin says: More than ever, people, lots of people, hordes of anonymous people, can watch what you do.

They can see your photos, like your posts, friend your digital avatar.

An essentially infinite collection of strangers are in the audience, scoring you, ranking you, deciding whether or not you're succeeding.

If you let them.

The alternative is to focus on the audience you care about, interacting with the person who matters to you. Your audience, your choice. One person, ten people, the people who need you.

Everyone else is merely a bystander.

My audience, my choice.

I'm not sure it's as binary as Seth indicates - either bystanders or those who know me (even then...).

This blog started out as a means of communicating with my immediate family. It's grown, and sometimes that gets in the way. I need to be careful, after all.

Some may get the wrong impression, for some things I need to respect privacy.

My audience, my choice?

Love and peace - Wozza