Time is never time at all (Smashing Pumpkins)

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Daylight saving time change in Nu Zild means a few things at Maple Grove.

Gutter cleanout is number one - not a nice job - mainly because in a 120-year-old villa they are many and they are high up and they are dirty and they are smelly. It took all day, but they are done.

Irrigation is number two because spring has been fairly dry so far. Again - a painful task because the only way to check that all the nozzles are working is to put the watering on. As it's a faff going backwards and forwards to shut it off - I choose to get wet. Meh. Tick.

Garden furniture is number three - cleaning and putting out all the outside furniture and enduring the seasonal kerfuffle about the state of the large umbrella that goes over the six-seater. I think it's fine btw.

Leaf blowing is a sundry item - Jacky is doing that as I type.

Oh yeah - and the clocks go forward. Always a pain changing the times in the cars.

Roll on spring. Go you good thing (btw the amigos' spring playlist is here if you need cheering up).

Love and peace - Wozza

That's the 7 O'clock edition of the news, good night (Simon and Garfunkel)

Photo by mp ilp on Unsplash

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Our recent family zoom had a discussion about watching the news. A few of us don't watch the news cycles on TV anymore - too depressing in their fixation with Trump/ death/ and violence, but a few of us still do.

I choose not to pander to Trump's insatiable need to dominate the conversation, instead I get my daily world news from the BBC headlines and The Morning Brew - a newsletter that visits my email inbox each day.

Simon and Garfunkel's poignant song on their 1966 album (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme) called 7 O'Clock News/ Silent Night explains why I choose not to watch nightly news broadcasts better than I can. It also shows how little the news has changed in its approach.

Love and peace - Wozza

I wasn't cheating (The Sundance Kid)

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In celebration of The Sundance Kid (a.k.a. Robert Redford) who passed away this week - aged 89.

It's a slightly surreal feeling - thinking he's not going to be part of Wozza's World on Planet Earth from this point onwards.

He's been a constant - threaded through all of our lives (a river running through it even).

He began his career in 1959 on Broadway. I was 2 years old, so not yet aware of his presence. That would happen ten years later with his iconic role as The Sundance Kid in George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (written by my hero - William Goldman). What a combo: William Goldman, Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

From then on, his films have been constant touchpoints through the years up to his last acting appearance (Avengers: Endgame) in 2019. Sixty years of remarkable quality.

I know many of his movies inside out, but I never get tired of them. This weekend, I think I'll opt for one such to honour his life and his talent -  1972's Jeremiah Johnson. I love that film!

Goodbye Sundance. Look after Butch.

Love and peace - Wozza

When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes (Erasmus)

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash

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Sadly, during a recent parent interview night a number of parents genuinely and seriously asked me how their son could improve.

I answered with a question of my own: do they read?

Their response was entirely predictable.

Their sons have X station boxes, and the latest smart phones. But they don't read. Compared to all those tech costs (and time costs) a book is relatively very cheap (there are excellent secondhand book shops in Napier and Hastings).

Of course, I'm biased and yes, I've always been a reader. But, really, c'mon - there is always a price to pay.

Currently I'm reading a Haruki Murakami novel that I've somehow missed. I love his writing.

I recently attended a Hawke's Bay English Teachers' Association (HBETA) meeting and a presentation on dyslexia got me and my colleagues thinking.

Do we read in pictures? Or do we read in our own voice?

I tend to read in the voice of the character, or the author, and that does include pictures. When I read students' work I read in their voice (if they don't have one I tend to comment on that and suggest they do). Apparently, I am a bit of a freak.

Seems most people read in their own voice. Hmmm. Who knew?

Love and peace - Wozza

Hey, you, with the pretty face - welcome to the human race (Electric Light Orchestra)

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A huge blogosphere welcome to our latest grandchild! Ivy Dulcie Fenn!

Names are important, right, and I know I'm biased, but our latest grandchild may just have won the first-equal best grandchild name of all time award (along with Asher and Poppy).

It looks great in print, too. 

The middle name specifically honours Ivy's great grandmother/ Jade's grandmother/ my mum.

It's a wonderful name and it totally suits Ivy.

BTW symbolically, Ivy represents fidelity, eternity, and enduring attachment due to its evergreen nature and tenacious climbing ability. Historically, it was used in wreaths for newlyweds to signify loyalty and in ancient cultures for its associations with immortality.

Dulcie is derived from the Latin word meaning sweet. It was a hugely popular name in NZ around the time my mother was born (1930) and coincidentally, it has enjoyed a resurgence since 1997 in England and Wales.

Significance of the third of September, 2025: 

• Ivy is a Generation Alpha, 
• Her Chinese zodiac sign is snake 
• Her star sign is Virgo.

Three famous others born on September 3:

• Beach Boy Al Jardine 
• Model Kaia Gerber (she's got the look, but she's not in the same Ivy league - sorry, couldn't resist) 
• Automobile designer Ferdinand Porsche.

A couple of events that happened on this date:

• In 1936, Britain's Malcolm Campbell set a land-speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah, averaging 301.129 mph in two runs.
• In 1939, Britain declared war on Germany and was quickly joined by France, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.
• In 1942, Frank Sinatra began his solo singing career after leaving Tommy Dorsey's orchestra.

5 current hits of the month

• Billie Eilish - Birds Of A Feather
• Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - Die With A Smile
• Justin Bieber - Daisies
• Coldplay - Sparks
• BLACKPINK - Jump

Big movies right now:

• Hamilton
• Weapons (a horror which your mum and dad went to recently, Ivy)
• Freakier Friday 
• Caught Steeling 
• The Roses 
• (And in a throwback to the old days) - Jurassic World, Jaws, Superman, Naked Gun and a Fantastic Four movie are also out and making money.

Finally - A thought for the day: 

"Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push -- in just the right place -- it can be tipped." - Malcolm Gladwell

Love and peace - Papa

I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune (Seneca)

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Before you know it, this happens:

Interesting that the same basic circular formation was replicated in Denver this year - with Jacky, who took that first photo, standing in for Keegan. That is - me at the top, then Adam, Jade, Samantha. I love the closeness in each family grouping. This was all done absolutely spontaneously - we all just formed into a tight knot for Adam's timed photo.

You can tell we love each other.

Quite rightly, what you don't see are all the early days hardships behind those family portraits. Jacky and I often wonder about how we survived those early days on one teacher salary with four young children under 7: trying to make payments, feed everybody, and learning by doing. There are no manuals for young families aside from what you know based on experience.

Luckily, Graham and Dulcie Purdy were superb role models for me, but still - mistakes happened often. Along the way, I aimed to learn from those mistakes and, having gone through difficult periods, those experiences have become badges of honour to some degree. We made it, and remain relatively sane.

As we become grandparents to the children of Adam, Jade and Samantha, I know we aim to do the best we can as Mema and Papa and pay forward the good role modelling into the next generation.

Love and peace - Papa