Always remember that you are absolutely unique - just like everyone else (Margaret Mead)

Wie geht's?

All things Covid-19 hog our thoughts these days. As most of NZ is aware - some anti-vax/anti-mandate protestors have based themselves close to the Beehive in Wellington (notice my admirable self-restraint with the adjectives there?) and claim to represent me (as a Kiwi). No thanks.

Now, I'm struggling to understand the world at the best of times but those protestors who then get Covid and must go to hospital on the taxpayer dime take the biscuit. 

Plus - Anti-Vax people are worried they will catch Covid from me (because I'm triple vaxed). Say what??

Am I once again in Bizarro world?

My beef is mainly with the news media though - there will always be unhinged people among the hoi polloi. I have to wonder how long a few nutters with tinfoil on their heads would last if they weren't making the 6 o'clock news each day. They love an audience, and unfortunately the media obliges them all too readily. 

In other news - Mr V Putin (of Russia), in a classic bully move, invades a democratic neighbouring country, then claims he's being attacked and puts his nuclear arsenal on high alert - thus ensuring a heightening of tension and the possibility of mutual oblivion.  

Sigh - just another day on Htrae (a.k.a Bizarro World).

Love and peace - Wozza

We skipped the light fandango (Procol Harum)

RIP Gary Brooker

Wie geht's?

Coming to you from Gisborne again as I am visiting the Gisborne Campus.

Sad news released today about Gary Brooker's death, from cancer. He was 76.

I have turned into something of a Procol Harum completist in the last 5 or so years. When I say completist, I mean that I'm keen to collect all of the albums they recorded and Gary Brooker's solo albums.

There is something other-worldly about their music and their appeal. Marty Scorsese is also a fan, particularly of their A Salty Dog album and he once suggested that 'the point was not so much what the songs were saying, specifically, as what they were suggesting to each of us, individually'.

Mmm - yes, I know you could say that about many bands and their songs but Gary Brooker's vocals just seem to float dreamily into the atmosphere while also being anchored by a bluesy-ness. 

Attention will predictably focus on Whiter Shade Of Pale as that was a huge and enduring hit but go behind that and there is a huge treasure trove of Procol Harum and Gary Brooker songs.

I will leave you with three representatives: A Salty Dog; Homburg; and the 1971 live version of Conquistador.

Love and peace - Wozza

Just the trees, Johnny. Just the trees (Seinfeld reference)

Wie geht's?

There are a few hands-on jobs on the list for this weekend - dealing with that tree for one thing. Which is good. After five weeks of school, I'm out of practice with physical labour and unfit for yard work (as the Americans call it).

Trigger was nosy,

Strikes me that I write about trees quite a bit on this blog. I love trees. Plenty of times we have written off a prospective property because of the lack of trees, or else it has been a clincher when buying a property (like at Maungaturoto).

We have a lot of them here but they also feature on quite a lot of art work around Maple Grove*. So this post is devoted to all that stuff around the place relating to trees (lovely misty morning provided a nice backdrop today).

Love and peace - Wozza

*BTW - the property wasn't named by us, not sure the provenance on that, but it fits!

Through violent storms and peaceful dawns we find ourselves in balance.

Wie geht's?

We (as in New Zealanders) have been battered by a storm over the last week or so. Loads of rain and wind which means flooding and power outages.

We (as in Jacky and I) live on the east coast of the North Island so we have a buffer from the worst weather thanks to the Ruahine mountain range. Still - at Maple Grove, we have had enough rain to overflow the rain gauge and enough wind to blow over a sizeable tree in the back yard in a row of macrocarpa trees. They are pretty hardy trees!

On closer inspection last night after work, I saw that the tree was quite rotten where it broke off and when viewed away from the trees that were on either side of it, quite spindly and without much foliage.

In other words, nature decided enough was enough, so it blew the tree over - providing us with some firewood in the process. All good.

Balance. 

Love and peace - Wozza

It's amazing what happens when you put your interests out into the universe and make it known what you want (Lana Del Rey)

Three Hollies' albums came to live at Maple Grove this week

Wie geht's?

Yes. This post IS about records, but it's also about so much more!

I love sorting through my uniquely compiled record collection. It's a truly unique collection - no one else on the planet has exactly the same combination of records that I do.

If it's not a record I bought brand new, I often wonder about a record's provenance as I'm gazing at the cover. I know where I bought each one and when. But the origin story and the previous owners of the record are unknown to me, a mystery - even if they've made a dick move by adding their name to the cover (an absolute no no).

Having just come back from New Plymouth and an obligatory visit to Vinyl Countdown, I have been wondering about a trio of Hollies' albums I picked up cheaply. All are NZ presses and in truly mint condition. One dates from 1965, another 1969 and the third from 1979.

The covers are in excellent condition - no names or marks on them. 

Someone, or a succession of people, looked after these records really well for a long time and didn't play them much. Curious! Certainly, they never took them to parties or loaned them out. 

This is rare - I have picked up a number of Hollies' albums second hand over the years and none of them are in this pristine condition.

Eventually the three turned up at Vinyl Countdown where they sat for some time before the management reduced them in price to shift them. Then I came along.

I like to think one person owned them and loved them and kept them safe. Some people are like that - they care. 

To whom it may concern: Thank you for taking great care of them and passing them on to Vinyl Countdown in such great condition. I have given them a new home in my unique collection. They will be played, but I will also take great care of them while they are in my possession. Until they eventually head off into pastures new, that is.

Love and peace - Wozza

The key to serenity is trusting that the universe has your back (Gabrielle Bernstein)

Photo by JFP in the passenger seat

Wie geht's?

Coming to you from New Plymouth for this edition, where we are visiting Jacky's family including our nephew plus partner's very cool new baby - Rami.

New Plymouth is wet today - been raining constantly all day - that steady, heavy rain that Taranaki can produce with ease. Love it!

Sadly, that means no walk along the shoreline or a visit to Pukekura Park - those items were high on our list of to-dos, but, happily, it does mean a slow down, a catching of the breath, a pause.

Love and peace - Wozza