I've got a feeling, I think that everybody knows (The Beatles)

Happy 30th to DLG

Wie geht's?

Thanks to Peter Jackson and Jade Purdy the weekend was a super lovely one. 

We celebrated Jade's 30th birthday with her on Sunday. BTW I love that photo above - beautiful!

This means the Purdettes pictured below are all now in their thirties. As a mate said to me recently - who would have thought we'd have children in their thirties? Feels strange given I still feel 22 inside but there you go.  

And Peter Jackson? Well, there are no words of gratitude adequate enough.

I watched the three episodes of Get Back over three days with a permanent grin. The culmination of the rooftop concert makes even more sense as a climax now. Maybe even Macca will agree with that - at the time he was really unsure about the roof as a venue - he was aiming for a more conventional audience.

I loved it and I'll be watching it again.

That brings to an end, for now, celebrations of the original Let It Be album and film. Phew - records, book and the three Get Back episodes. 

Job done!

Love and peace - Warren Ono Purdy

The five colours blind the eye. The five tones deafen the ear. The five flavours cloy the palate. Racing and hunting madden the mind (Lao Tzu)

Photo by Arno Smit on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

There isn't much that you would call 'exciting' happening in Wozza's World right now. That's a good thing.

As Lao Tzu says, 'Racing and hunting madden the mind'.

Two weeks left of the school year, Nu Zild is in a holding pattern with containment efforts for the spread of covid-19 actually working so far (we're moving away from lockdowns and into a traffic light system that no one seems to understand), and spring is holding on - sharp coolish mornings in Central Hawke's Bay that eventually go sunny and warm.

It all feels like a kind of a lull and that's welcome - life can't be full bore, pedal to the meddle, 24-7.  

These are the crucial times of tranquil restoration that Wordsworth talks of in Tintern Abbey:

In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
And passing even into my purer mind,
With tranquil restoration.

In my case, rather than think of the area around Tintern Abbey, it's a daily recollection of my friendship with two chums and how our lives, our friendship and love of music are intertwined.  

Love and peace - Wozza

There you go, and baby, here am I (Buddy Holly)

Photo by Roberto Martinez on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

You find me alone again naturally in a Gisborne motel room. I wasn't intending to come back to Gisborne until Term 1 next year but needs must.

I always like it when I get here but it's such a mission - four hours drive with a stop off in Wairoa for a coffee and a few muffins for the crew at the Gisborne campus (today's carrot ones were amazing).

I'm not used to my own company these days and a day at the Gisborne campus after a long drive (thank goodness for Greg's WTWMC* Spotify playlist), with dinner alone followed by writing this in a motel room - is all a slight shock to my system.

I'm okay doing this a couple of times a term but neither Jacky nor I would cope with any more than that.

Love and peace - Wozza

* Stands for Wander To Wozza's Music Club - with exclusive membership limited to three amigos. The world can enjoy our superb taste in music though by checking it out here.

Life is a rollercoaster, just gotta ride it (Ronan Keating)

Wie geht's?

Is it just me or do you also see increasing numbers of glitches in the matrix?

We live in challenging times, do we not? I sometimes feel like I'm experiencing a really bad dream but I keep waking up and this seems to be my reality.

Gone are the 'be nice to each other' messages as Covid-19 retightens its grip - a half-nelson I feel.

There are protests, roadblocks, border checkpoints, patrols, inducements to get vaccinated and test test test and recriminations.

I see Kiss bassist Gene Simmons has called the unvaccinated 'the enemy'. 

I can't do that - some of the unvaccinated are my friends, but there is the argument posited about that the unvaxed pose a potential risk to themselves and others (so, me).

It seems that both sides of the argument around vaccination can't see the other side's point of view.

The Auckland borders (another glitch - I still find it hard to believe there is such a thing as a border in NZ) are about to open and the consequences of that are pretty plain and grim.

Already cases have crept to our Central Hawke's Bay doorstep as the weekend saw reports of cases in Woodville - a little town about 40 minutes away on our way to Palmerston North, on our side of the Ruahines.

So it won't be long before it's everywhere in Nu Zild. It's inevitable, as Smith says in The Matrix.

Me? I'm still going to attempt to play nice - even though I share some of my fellow Kiwi's frustrations. I really don't want to think of my fellow Kiwis as enemies. As Yoko Ono says - try not to be angry, it is not good for your health.

Life is very much a rollercoaster - especially in 2021 NZ.

Love and peace - Wozza

That was 'I Dig A Pygmy' by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf-Aids! (John Lennon)

Wie geht's?

The Beatles Get Back book was supposed to be released back on Oct 15 but it was delayed, delayed, delayed.

I kept ringing Whitcoulls because I figured they'd get it the same time as the online providers and I'd rather buy local if I can. So, I kept bugging them. And bugging them.

Eventually, on Monday I figured enough was enough so I searched for it on The Book Dispository, Fishpond and Mighty Ape - all of which I've used successfully before. 

Mostly the price was $90, although the highest was $143 for some reason (on Mighty Ape I think). Okay - but the delivery times were all 15 plus days away - from around Nov 26 onwards.

So again, I looked for it on the Whitcoulls site. They had it for $90 and were promising a 3 to 10 day delivery.

This is stoopid I thought - so I rang them figuring if it was only 3 days, they should have a copy soon at the Hastings store.

I rang and the shop assistant said, "Just a sec, I look it up on the computer". A few minutes drift on by and she comes back all bright and breezy and says, "We actually have a copy! We'll hold it for you".

"I'll be right there", says I - a nano second later - I'm handing over my loyalty card and getting $5 off the purchase price!

Jolly hockey sticks! At last!! 

I exited the shop (masked of course) holding the book aloft with two hands, punching the air like Rocky Balboa. YEEEEES!!

Now I just need to hook up Disney Plus to my device for the 6 hour Peter Jackson extravaganza. Sheer bliss.

I hope it's easier to do than obtaining the book has been.

Love and peace - Wozza

Time goes by so fast, people go in and out of your life. You must never miss the opportunity to tell those people how much they mean to you (Karen Blixen)

 

Nita with dad in Queensland 1994.

Wie geht's?

Last Saturday, my stepmother, Nita Purdy, passed away.

Nita is, was, the last person on earth who knew me from birth to now. She was chosen as one of mum's bridesmaids in 1953 so was all class. 

When mum passed away in 1983 Nita got in touch with dad to offer condolences and eventually things became romantically entwined and she became dad's second wife in 1987.

I was best man and did a speech at their wedding. My mother was a great judge of character and so I had no problem welcoming her (genuinely) to the whanau.

The marriage didn't last though and by 2009, when dad passed away, they had been separated for some time.

But, for a while there, they were a happy couple, and Nita was a terrific grandmother to the Purdettes.

However, she was a real technophobe so there was no way I could email her or have a relationship via Facebook. Instead, Nita was old school - landlines and letters via NZ Post.

As things sometimes happen, we lost touch with each other over the last few years, which I regret. When her niece got in touch with the news this week I was rocked a little.

She was a very genuine person, with a great sense of humour and an infectious laugh. She was very empathetic and cared for people. Surprise surprise, my mum picked a good one to have as a friend.

We are all richer for having had Nita in our lives. May she rest in peace.

Love - Warren