The long and winding road that leads to .......

Evolution  ... the very word strikes fear ( not really fear .... more like consternation) into the heart of many a good Christian.

I have some dear, intelligent, friends who believe that the earth was created around 6000 to 10,000 years ago.

This is a belief held in the face of evidences from just about every scientific discipline that the universe is some 13 billion years old and the earth itself some 4.5 billion years.

Now even if you are not a maths wizard, you will realise that there is a modicum of difference between 10,000 years and 4,500,000,000 years -- more zeros if nothing else!

The evidences of oldness spring from geology, cosmology, and so forth.

So why cling to such a belief? Well fundamentally, (and I use the word deliberately), the belief arises from a simple, literal interpretation of the Bible, and the Genesis accounts in particular.

The adage goes " God said it, I believe it, that does it."

It is a faith commitment. Thus the most patent scientific evidences will not budge such a believer. Any such evidences will be viewed as a 'lie of the devil'.

I admire such commitments. Usually, along with  a belief in a young earth, goes a belief in a world wide flood, wherein every species (around 2 million have currently been identified by science) of land dwelling life was safely conveyed for forty days on a boat of fairly moderate proportions. Seven of each type of 'clean' animals and two of each type of 'unclean' were escorted through the flood.

To hold one's ground in the face of overwhelming contrary evidences is both admirable and and wonderful to behold!

Now, I consider myself a person of Christian commitment, but, alas, sinner that I am, I have never believed such things as a recent creation or a world wide flood (or indeed the tooth fairy, but let's leave santa out of this for the sake of the kiddies).

The saddest thing about the various institutes that promote so-called "creation science" is the total lack of positive science and research that they publish.

The totality of their publications are simply popularist writings refuting the positive research that emerges on both micro and macro evolution.

So I believe that I have descended from the apes? Well no. The question simply misunderstands evolution. So don't ask it and try and make a monkey out of me!

Evolution rests on a few simple ideas:

Populations grow.
There is variation within populations.
There is competition within populations and among them.
Certain variations hang in there
Variation is to some extent heritable
Natural selection brings evolution. (There are other mechanisms)

Notice there is nothing random or chance about any of these.

It's now or never ..... just once in a lifetime ...

The tension is palpable in Nu Zulun!! You can cut the air with a veritable knife.

The All Blacks play the Australian Wallabies in the semi-final of the world cup. To all in tents and porpoises I say, this gayme in tantamount to the final.

The winners (France) of the other semi-final (last night) are, in current form, no match for either of the teams that play tonite.

Should the Wallabies win, Nu Zulun will become a totally unbearable place to live for the next month. An All Black loss will lead to endless recriminations and searching for suitable heads to roll.

It has been revealed by certain sources that the coach, Graham Henry, has a small jet waiting at a local airport to whisk him out of the country should the unthinkable happened.

All major hospitals have ramped up their suicide-watch facilities. Police are on guard over all bridges. All high buildings are being closely monitored.

It has also been revealed that an army of counsellors have been trained to cope with the major depressive illnesses that have been predicted to break out. Certain sources suggest that even some counsellors have been placed on suicide watch.

It has been statistically predicted that if the Wallabies lead at any stage extends to more than 10 points, hearts attacks numbering in excess of 67.789 may occur.

 I myself have built a little bunker to escape the carnage that may well ensue on the highways and byways of Nu Zulun.

But away wth such negagagagagtivity.

Go the All Blacks as they say!!!

It is a long time time from May to December ...

I see a Samoan centre has blown his stack over perceived mal-treament in the pool game schedule of da rugby world cup.

Pity instead of cussing he could of done some maths and made a case. And a case I think he indeed has.

Days between first and last game in pool matches:

Nu Zulun 23   (Theeze bois should be a frush as a daisy!)
Englun22        (Trust the poms to have their hand in the till)
Arguntina 22    (And fair enough)
Fiji 22      ( hey what!?)
Frunce 21   (Remember the Rainbow warrior)
Irelun 21    (A team with depth)
Italy 21       (A team with deeper depth)
Scotlun 21    (Could bring out the bag pipes to ....)
Wales 21       (Could just carry the day)
Australya19      (No wonder they are tiring)
South Africa 19  (A team to watch)
Cunada 19         ( A team to follow)
Georgia 18         (On my mind)
Romania 18        (Another team to watch)
Tonga 17           ( Yet another team to watch)
Japan 17            (Still yet another team to watch ... go JK)
USA  16           (Could spring a nasty surprise)
Russia 16         (A team with a lot going for it)
Namibia 16     (A team with a lot going for it on dry ground)
Samoa 16       (A team with the deepest depth)
Republic of West Transylvania 4 (unless it rains and then 5)
Clotsville  1  ( A team)

However, clearly revenue is at the forefront of the IRB scheduling decision.

Smile though your heart is aching, smile even though its breaking ...

The RWC Rugby World Cup draweth nigh in little old Nu Zulun.

We hope that the ABs (All Blacks) will win.

However, the real test for Nu Zulun is whether we are mature enough to host this competition. We are by all accounts a young country in the scheme of things. The RWC will test whether we have come of age.

The prospects of the All Blacks have been dissected, trisected, analysed, and pyscho-analysed. One commentator (Sean Fitzpatrick) warns regarding All Blacks that there is no room for playing games.

Have I missed something here? I thought, (silly me) that rugby was a game that people played.

Fitzpatrick, who, I admit, I have taken out of context hints indirectly at my point.

The RWC will only be a success if there is plenty of room for sport, playing games and having fun.

It will not be so successful if untold kiwis rest their their sense of identity and self esteem on an All Blacks victory.

So dare I say it?

"May the best team win!"

The answer my friend is blowing in the wind ...

Why did God invent wind?     To blow the leaves away -- gently, quietly, soothingly, naturally.

Leaf blowers?  Invented, of course, by the devil.

Last Friday, I was subjected to 1.5 hours of leaf blowing around and about my quiet little unit.

The young man had his requisite ear muffs on. Meanwhile, having shut all the windows, I contended with the endless droning. Finally the young man had collected a small insignificant pile of leaves, which he then proceeded to blow for miles down the driveway.

I, to my endless credit and self control, did not go out and make rude suggestions about what could be shoved where. I felt that the kind God who invented the gentle breeze was testing me. I vowed to come forth like pure gold, tried in the fires.

The following morning, as I returned from my training, there he was again, leaf blower in hand, ear muffs on.

I was, I must admit caught a tad off guard. The spiritual aura of the previous day had left me, and I asked him if he intended blow the tiny pile of leaves at his feet down past my unit.

Then I intimated, that if that was his intention - to blow the tiny pile of leaves with the leaf blower on full throttle past my little serene unit ...

I intimated where the leaf blower on full throttle might be shoved.

Brian Edwards sums up my feelings well ...

To add insult to ear injury, I noted that the following day, Sunday,  many leafs were back on the drive way.

Leaves do that sort of thing, you know.

Besides the health issues around leaf blowers are well doumented.

And we all know, why it is men who feel the need to grab one of these things ......

Baby its cold outside ...

 It has emerged that global warming is a reality.

Professor Henry Fudgedyke of the Academy for Research into the Science of the Environment or ARSE, said yesterday that “it’s been so cold that it must get warmer. Thus global warming is a fact”.

Fugdedyke went on to point out that every 24 hours, all over the globe things get cooler, and then they get warmer again. “It is a cycle,” he said “and it’s called the global warming cycle”.

He cited Auckland, Nu Zulun where temperatures fell to 2’C and then warmed again to 10’C.  “That’s global warming in a nutshell,” he said.

Finally, the Professor outlined the latest research of ARSE into ice-creams melting . He stated that incontrovertible proof could just possibly emerge out of ARSE's ice-creams that global warming caused them to melt.

The Academy of Research into the Science of the Environment (ARSE) hopes to soon be sponsored by the IPCC (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

“We are hoping that the IPCC will support ARSE,” he said. “If they don’t, we are happy to change our research findings so that they will eventually fully back ARSE”.

Professor Fudgedyke then had to abruptly end the interview stating “gosh, it’s cold enough to freeze spherical objects of a brass monkey!”

Put you sweet lips a little closer to the phone, lets pretend that we're together all alone ...

It has been brought to my attention by semi-reliable sauces that I have been hacked.

My sensitive smart little MOTOROLA with the stunning Android-thingy-whatsit has been emotionally invaded!

Details of my private life have been leaked to the Press (It was only a matter of time).

Of course the details are a tissue of filthy lies and in-you-end-doe  that bare only some minor and insignificant relationship to the truth (whatever that might possibility be).

First of all, I want to clearly state that I was not seen last Friday running out of the New World Supermarket in Birkenhead in the green dress.

The dress was in fact aqua-marine.

Secondly, I did not have a brown paper bag over my head.

The bag was in point of fact a delicate sort of clayish shade.

Thirdly, there was in actual fact no actual third point to be addressed.

In fact, it was an envelope that was addressed.

Finally and fifthly, contrary to what some say, I can count to ten.

The likeness is remarkable

Brother, can you spare a dime ......

Take it away Bing .....

Money is only a text away with Ferratum.

Within minutes, the ever-so-kind Mr Yoon will pop a few hundred smackers into you bank account.

What a lovely, kind tender-hearted, generous man is MR Yoooon.

Let's see now ... you want $500 spondolicks in a hurry. Then you text Fair-rat- uuuum? Give them your details (first mistake).

Now some are concerned  .. why?

Well if you borrow say $500 for 1 week, then after 7 days you get to pay back $590. This is an interest rate of 18% for 7 days which is equivalent to quite a lot over a year. Let's say you had to keep the money for a year at that rate. The interest of course compounds every week.

At the end of one year (52 weeks) you would owe $2,734, 225.85.

That can't be right  ... I hear you say. Well  ... it  ^%$#@y  well is!

500 X 1.18 = 590  (1 week)
500 x (1.18)^2 =  696.20 (2 weeks)
500 x (1.18) ^3 = 821.52 (3 weeks)
500 x (1.18)^4 = $ 969.39  (after 4 weeks you almost owe twice as much as you borrowed!)

  and so on my dear friends .... by the way the symbol "^" means "to the power of"  thus 3^3 = 3x3x3= 27

500 x (1.18)^52 = 500 x 1.18 x 1.18 x 1.18 x 1.18 .... and so on  ........ = 2, 734,225.85

Well all I can say to those who borrow is happy landings on a chocolate bar!

Now I am not saying you will have to pay that back. I am simply saying that an interest rate of 18% per week 0n $500 is equivalent to 500 x 1.18^52 over one year.

The company says: "We are driven by our passion for innovation and we have an ambitious growth strategy".

 Aint that the %#%@ truth

How did they ever get registered with the government!
NZ Government Registered Financial Service Provider No. FSP 70021.

To fair you can borrow $100 for a month and pay backonly $152 dollars at the end of 1 month. But again, that is equivalent to paying back
100 x (1.52)^12 =  $15,209.78


Enough already ... I have just thought of a scheme to get rich quick!!!!


After all, if I could just lend you $500 at 18% interest per week for ten years
the amount you pay me pay back would be:

500 x (1.18)^520 = 1.2 x10^40 dollars  (ten to the power of 40 folks)

roughly $12,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Which, as you all know,  is 12 quadrillion septillion dollars.

or in lay person's terms 
12 thousand million, million, million, million, million, million dollars. or perhaps


12 thousand billion, billion, billion dollars.

Which is a tad more than I make in a year!

Woman in black Ooh, ooh, woman in black ...

Billy Connolly suggests there is an reason some women dress completely in black - it is know by the very medically technical term as "fatness".

Connolly argues blackness hides fatness.

We lay people know it simply as "obesity".

But I am not so sure this is the reason.   Anyhow, back to the beginning...

Every morning, on my bus, I gaze out of my window on a sea of black. Now , I realize males have to wear black suits - though I disdain them.

But why, oh why are there so many women attired from head to toe in black.

Just exactly, ladies, where is the funeral?

I suspect, the reason goes deeper into the female psyche than Billy Connolly suggests.

You see, dear reader, the phrase "All Black" has been profoundly and indelibly etched into the Nu Zulun sub-consciousness.

It is undeniably the case that  women cannot qualify to be a member of the All Blacks, so (in their lust and envy), the very latest research suggests they do the next best thing and dress in all black.

In psychology, this is called a defense mechanism termed "compensation". (or was that condensation??)

However, it has also emerged that women can in fact break free of this "psychological bondage" to black.

Sally Arbuckle, leader researcher at the Academy of Black Clothing (or ABC), reports that all a women has to do is sally forth in bright, cheerful, heart-warming colors.

Arbuckle said, "Clothes not only maketh the man, they doth maketh the woman as well. As your color is, so will your psychological mood be". She added that the chief reason for so many depressed women, was black clothing.

So come on women, you have nothing to lose but your gains ......

And remember, mood spelt backwards is doom!

My old man said, "Follow the van, don't dilly dally on the way!" Off went the cart with the home packed in it ....

Moving house ( rather than home)

They say, that moving home (as distinct from moving house) a stressful occupation. It is. But that, dear reader, is exactly what I did last Queen's Birthday long weekend down here in old Nu Zulun.

With the help of some semi-abled old friends the dastardly deed was done.

Bill, Bruce, Murray, Ray and yours truly loaded the van, whilst Mary and Graham did a monumental bang up job cleaning the atrocious mess I left in my wake.

Atrocious mess left behind

It was a shift form a 1960's one-electric-socket-per-room unit to a 2011 eight-electric-sockets per-room unit.

Haven't we come a long way technologically speaking!

Welcome to my world (no... not really)

Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away ...

Well, it is Monday May 23rd and nobody I know has been raptured - Not even the most handsome Harold Camping.

Now this raises folks a few possibilities.

1. Camping was right and that a few true  ... really true .... christians have really been really really raptured!

However,  these are so very few that nobody knows who they are! And also, Harold Camping ain't one of them cos he is still around.

2. Harold may have got his maths wrong about May and the rapture is at another date which Harold may yet calculate. Some believe there are two raptures which require two different mathematical models.

Now let me see:  1 Corinthians + 2 Corinthians = 3 Corinthians ... (no that's not right uuum)


3. There is no way of calculating when the rapture may be cos Jesus said no one would know the time .... this bit is in Mark's gospel (13:32) and Matthew (24:26).

4. That there is no such thing as a rapture in the New Testament. Many Christians believe this and say the those who are rapturistic in their thinking have misinterpreted the Bible. Some go so far as to say that the rapture is a lie of the devil.

 Just like chocolate being bad for you is a filthy lie of the devil!

5. The rapture is mentioned in the inspired Bible, but it is meant to be taken figuratively.

5. ( 6 is a bad number - so we can't use it) There is no such thing as a rapture cos the Bible is just another book of religious ideas. It is not, they say to be taken literally.

7. The word rapture is in fact in code. It is decoded to an anagram ... eruptar. Harold camping is in fact going to erupt.

Of course interpreting the Bible in terms of so-called END TIME EVENTS has been the life-time hobby of many amateur theologians.

No wonder many outside the church look bemused as "Christians" prattle on about the combinations and permutations and indeed confabulations of last day rapturistic possibilities.

Time we got back to more basic theological questions like:
1. Which way is up?
2. Could heaven be down if you live in New Zealand?
3. and ....Why are two men standing on the roof opposite me? Haven't they heard the rapture is off this week?

The way you wear your hat, the way you sip your tea ...

Popped into a church the other Sunday - one of the happy-clappy sorts.  Came the time in the service when we had to meet and greet one another.

Friendly handshakes   ... St Paul's injunction to greet one another with a holy kiss is no longer in fashion.

Fella with a big warm-type motor cycle jacket came over   ... shook me hand  .... chatted and then said "now you know if you wear that hat you can't pray or prophesy  ... cos you'll dishonor God.

I, of course, was wearing my black trilby  ... as you do ... on Sunday mornings.

Now...  I am not entirely unfamiliar with the New Testament and St Paul's writings. The fella in the jacket was referring to 1 Corinthians 11:2-16.


I told the guy, that this church was then in serious trouble.

The same passage which says men should not have their heads covered also says that the women should have their heads covered.

I pointed out there was not a women in the church who was obeying that injunction of our dear St Paul.

He agreed and limped away.

The fella didn't know me from ADAM.

I spoke with the Korean pastor afterwards. His opening words were "I like your hat".  I told him of the incident. He laughed and said no such rules applied in that church.

Legalism is a reality that not only still haunts the corridors of Christianity, but also the realities of modern life. Some folks are just sticklers for the rules.

Others want to look beyond the rules to the deeper meaning   .... to the spirit of the law.

The great sufi mystic Rumi said:

"Beyond what is called good and what is called evil there is a field  .... I will meet you there."

On the ball, on the ball, on the ball ...

It has emerged that the Rugby World Cup being held in Nu Zulun this year is not the most important thing on the planet.

Intensive research points to natural calamities being higher on the agenda.


In spite of these findings, unnamed sources suggest that the Nu Zulun media is utterly obsessed with the Rugby World Cup.

One unnamed anonymous source that cannot be named for legal reasons has intimated that most Kiwis are more concerned with the Christchurch victims of the recent earthquake.

The unspecified source said “The media bombard us with World Cup trivia, when people are still suffering horribly in both Christchurch and Japan”.

The undisclosed source went on to suggest that “if Rugby is indeed a religion in Nu Zulun, the media are the high priests”.

Sally Arbuckle, researcher at the Academy For All Sports Other Than Rugby (ASOTR) said “the evidence suggests that far more youngsters play football than rugby”.

She went on the say that a recent survey showed that most people prefer a round ball that bounces reliably.

It has also been revealed that black arm bans are being manufactured in the eventuality that Nu Zulun (the All Blacks) does not win the World Cup.

An important source said that both psychologists and psychiatrists are being specially trained to counsel distressed fans.

It's only words and words are all I have to take your heart away.

What follows are my views and not those of the Institution I work for.

Eduspeak (I coin the phrase) is ruining education in Nu Zulun

I got the latest Newsletter from Ako Aotearoa in my little pigeon hole dis morning.

Shortly it is going to be filed as they say. But before it is, I shall quote firstly Peter Coolbear the Director.


"The move to evaluative quality assurance by self-assessment is potentially one of those critical system changes that will precipitate a step change in the the quality and effectiveness of tertiary provision"

aaah I said .... yes indeed ... I said ... of course ... I said ... I should  have seen it before ... I said   .... but what on earth does that mean I said?

I'm a great fan of Winnie the Pooh ... and I am very sure Poohbear would have read it and said ...... huh? ... and then said .... just so ... and then ......  "after all I am a bear of very little brain"  .... and then he might say

Pass the honey someone!


Weasel words  Check this website out sometime

The falling leaves drift by the window The autumn leaves of red and gold...

Autumn Leaves

The last two morning in Auckland town have had a distinctly autumnal feel to them. Morning grow darker and colder and nights draw in.
I don't want to be the bearer of sad news but the winter of our discontent draws near.

Nat King Cole, among many others, sang the song above. He also sang "bring back those crazy hazy lazy days of summer"

The Autumn exquinox falls on the 20th of March this year.

Those with SAD (seasonal affective disorder) will be planning their trips to warmer climes as the cold, harsh, severe realities of winter begin to bite.

I must say that in mid winter I wish global warming would get a move on!. 

For the Calliope Club, it will mean the shift track running to cross country.  I have never been a fan of cross country, but I know fellow club members who simply adore thrashing about it the mud.

I just end up getting my running shoes sucked off. Most of the time I can get very little serious forward motion
in a cross country race.

Anyhoo here's to muddy winters days.

Ya need a lot of assiduity to get through winter.


'''Title:''' Autumn leaves '''Taken on:''' 2004-10-31 11:36:33 '''Original source:''' [http://www.flick)

You're the top, you're the Mona Lisa, you're the top, you're the Tower of "Pizza"

The Halberg awards are for the top Nu Zulun sports men and women. Again this year I was not nominated.

Even though I am a semi-extinguished athlete! I was devastated, I can tell you. After all, I was winner of the Bill Taylor Trophy at Calliope last year and third this year! What more do they want?

The All Whites won some stuff including the Pizza supreme award.

Now I love football ... don't get me wrong. Indeed, I much prefer it to the other code.

But the Halbergs have trodden into dangerous territory and controversy.

I cannot, for the life of me remember an occasion when the award did not go to an individual or a team who ranked pretty well best in the world.


Sadly, no matter, how much you love them, they are no where near the best in the world.

Now, I know the arguments.

Fantastic achievement in the hardest and greatest competitive code in the world after all, a gazillion countries play football and only a handful play that other code.

Relatively speaking it is the same as being .... and all that Jazz.

I remain unimpressed.

They need an award like .... now what would you name it? The relatively supreme award.

Turn your magical eyes. Round and around, Looking at all we found.

No wonder how kids are bamboozled with maths.

I have been out on the web today and countless times I am told that a ratio is the same as a fraction and means the same as division.

Now folks this is pure unadulterated poppycock.

A ratio bears some relation to a set of fractions and division can be used to sort out ratio problems. However ratios, fractions and division are all conceptually different.

Any decent cook will tell us that or bookie or mechanic.


Take the simplest of problems. To mix some yucky orange cordially you mix 2 parts of concentrate to 8 parts water.

 How much concentrate should be used to get 20 litres of cordial?

Ratio 2:8
Total parts 10
Associated fractions: 2/10 and 8/10.

Answer 2/10 times 20. Which is 0.2 x 20 or 4 Litres of concentrate.

Or what ever way you want to calculate it 2/10 x 4 = 40/10 = 4L

Or 2:8 = 4:16 which will yield 20L of cordial

fighting vainly the old ennui and i suddenly turn and see ... your fabulous face

I woke in the night and thought of the phrase "facebook fatigue". Later I googled "facebook fatigue" and sure enough there it was.

Some basic facts folks
Average FB user has 120 friends, most of which  whom they have never met.
I have 51, all of whom which I have met FTF (face to Face).

There are too kinds of FB fatigue (FTF) at least.
Type A FBF people whi are phyically exhausted by untold hours on FB

Type B FBF people who find some material posted as trivial beyond degree and wonder ...


Anywho, to check out the signs of FBF check out this site

The cure to FBF?

Firstly FTF (face to face) interaction.

Which reminds me, I am meeting a friend for lunch. He's not on FB, but we have hung out since high school days.

I can however boast that some of my FB friends have over 700 FB friends. So you see some of my friends are very friendly, gregarious, outgoing types.

Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet ....

Folks the answer is lemons - more and more lemons as this graph clearly illustrates.
R² = 0.97 means that 97% of the variation in the Road Toll is accounted for by the variation in amount of fresh lemons being imported into the USA.

It is, of course, and inverse relationship. Thus the more lemons imported, the fewer road fatalities. 

Now this is no joke - it is a true relationship.

It is a good example that correlation does not mean causation. There is an important moderating variable (not shown). What might that be.

So sad to say importing a lots more lemons is not going to reduce our road toll.

There is another important issue here that brings forth such a large R² .

The variances for the two variables are vastly difference. And that is a big no-no when examining correlations.

I left my heart in San Francisco ...

or was it  ... I love Paris in the Spring time?
or perhaps .... A foggy day in London town?
then again .... LA is my lady ....
or even ..... Chicago ... the town the Billy Sunday could not shut town!
no it must be .... New York New York ... if I can make it there ....

Anyhoo folks be in to win!!

Below lies a quiz.

Everyone who answers the questions correctly gets 3 city walk iPhone applications to cities of their choice. 

Just send your answer to:

quiz@gpsmycity.com

1. What was the name of the horse that the Duke of Wellington rode at the battle of Waterloo?
a) Copenhagen
b) Paris
c) London

2. Wellington is the world's:
a) sunniest capital
b) most southern capital
c) most densely populated capital

3. Wellington has the most hectic ... in the South Pacific.
a) Airport
b) Port
c) Nightlife

4.  Who are the biggest contributors to New Zealand's Tourism earnings:
a) the British
b) the Australians
c) the Americans

5. How many national anthems does New Zealand have?
a) 2
b) 3
c) 4

 6. New Zealand is one of the world's leading exporters of dairy products. How many kilograms of butter does New Zealand produce per capita?
a) 50
b) 100
c) 200


7. Wellington has ranked … in the world in a quality of living survey held by Mercury in 2009:
a) 7th
b) 22nd
c) 12th

8.Wellington became the capital of New Zealand in:
a) 1905
b) 1865
c) 1795

9. Name the oldest building in Wellington. It was built in 1858.
a) the Colonial Cottage
b) the Futuna Chapel
c) the Opera House

10.One of the curious facts about Wellington is that it has more … per capita than New York.
a) pubs
b) shops
c) cafes

Money, it's a gas, grab that cash with both hands... and make a stash

Quite a lot of democracies are in fact ludocracies (ludicrous democracies). Nu Zulun is no exception folks.

We are a ludocracy in our own precious little way - an ant among elephants.

Now don't get me wrong - this is not a criticism of our beloved pollutions. politicians. No, no never.

What makes us a ludocracy - pure and simple is our adherence to modern "economic science" and its maze of contradictions.

We are currently being told to save more - after all,  we stand on the edge of a chasm of vast overseas private debt. Saving more combined with a GST hike to 17.5% is proposed. We are almost the worst savers in the OECD don't you know.

However folks, we are also told to consume more (and thus spend more) so that we avoid a recession and keep our GDP in positive territory. Economic growth of 2.5% maybe even 3% --- that's what we need they say.

Every school child taking NCEA 2 economics knows:
GDP (Y) is a sum of Consumption (C), Investment (I), Government Spending (G) and Net Exports (X - M).

So there it is:  Save more please and spend more please!

Now folks, this can be done via your garage - quantitative easing. But you have to be a rather brilliant counterfeiter.

You could get a job with more pay  ....

Another way you can save more and spend more is by stealing money - but that's is unadvisable and incidentally illegal.


You could of course borrow. Then you could be seen to be spending more and wandering to your the local bank to save more ... but then you also owe more.

No no .... that will never do. You simple must come into money (money must find you), if you are to fulfill a ludocracy's wishes.

Lotto perhaps?

An inheritance from Aunt Ada Fogbottom?

Growing a money tree???

Keep you mind on your drivin, Keep you hands on the wheel, Keep your snoopy eyes on the road ahead

Scrape the surface (just a tad) of Nu zulun and you will discover Britain. We drive on the left ....

During my six year sojourn in the Philippines I had to drive on the right.


Many a time, when in a bout of non-concentration, I was horrified to see a vehicle bearing down on me.

"Who is this idiot," I cried  ... only to realise ...  .The real idiot was moi.

Why does Britain drive on the left?

Well the story goes ... in days of old ... when knights were bold.... and the horse was the means of transport  ... the rider rode on the left so his right hand was free to grab his sword from his left hip and engage in battle with the fella coming the opposite way. Cos most Britons were right handed.

The rider's right   ... the fellas left.

The same was the case for those walking .... you walked on the left  ...sword on the left ..


You see the British were brave sorts! Any opportunity for a good duel.

I expect that's why the Japanese drive on the left - the Samurai!

Unlike the continentals who rode and walked on the right so they could avoid a good fight. (Although, it probably had something to do with Napoleon being left handed.)

Countries in blue drive on the left.

Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone, lets pretend that we're together all alone ...

Scrape the surface (just a tad) of Nu zulun and you will discover Britain.

We drive on the left (this is for a future post), our lifts start at the ground floor, and we used to have the glorious British red telephone box on the street corner.

When I were young lud, the red telephone box was the nearest thing to the mobile phone - only the phone wasn't mobile - you were.

You need to speak to Tom. So you go to the red telephone box around the corner and queue up.

If the person already ensconced in the box is happily gossiping and oblivious to your need, you rat-a-tap-tap on the glass windows of the red telephone box around the corner.

Your turn finally comes. You enter the red telephone box and close the door behind you. You take the requisite number of pennies from your pocket and enter them in the slot.

You dial your number. If a person answers, you press button A.

 "Hello, is Tom at home?"
"He's out at the moment, luv."

 Bugger, a few more pennies down the tube!

If there is no answer, you press button B and get your pennies back.

Sometimes your pennies don't come back and you bash the red telephone in the red telephone box.

If you don't know the number, you rifle through the dogged-eared pages of a telephone directory provided in the red telephone box. Time spent doing this can annoy the next person in the queue.

But the good-old-British-style-red telephone box around the corner has gone (apart from a few preserved as historic monuments).

Why?
Initially, rabid vandalism.
Then the penchant of drunks and others to use them as urinals.
 And, of course, technology.

Apparently, some red telephones box in Britain were sold of privately and reincarnated as shower cubicles, greenhouses, giant goldfish bowls, garden sheds and small bars (O'Meara, 2007).

I am sure there is the odd red-telephone-box toilet as well.







Omeara, T. (2007). A miscellany of Britain. London: Arcturus.

Photo above courtesy of Philip Blackwood

Fame and fortune how empty they can be ....

Fame is not all it is cracked up to be.

Fortunately, I am one of those blessed people who is not famous.

I am not even remotely famous.
Why isn't infamous the opposite of famous?

I get to do dumb things and it is not splashed all over the newspaper.

Take the case of - a world Champ 400 metre runner. He was caught out doping and his excuse. Well enough said ... Suffice to say he is paying the price of fame.

Like many, my emails occasionally get spam trying to peddle stuff the appeals to male vanity. No... I haven't bought any!

I'll stick to my vitamins. But I have done dumb things and said dumb things and I am sure glad not to have the paparazzi prying into my life.

Even as youngster I once pushed a piece of meccano into a wall socket and got blasted half way across the room.

In fact, as I said on face book, I have received the DONZ (disorder of NZ award).

The price of fame is too high for an intelligent man or women to pay.

I feel sorry for the 400 metre runner.

Here's to anonymity - long may it last!

I do have a friend who was once described as a semi-distinguished athlete.

And if you do hear anything - it's all a filthy rumour!!!!

Nice and easy does it every time ....

It takes to me almost two weeks to unwind into the summer holidays. Now, I am at the stage where I can curl up (as they say) with a good book and a Sandwich and not feel that I "should be" doing something productive (somewhere, somehow).

In my late-middle-age, history has become my penchant.

I just been sailing with Jamie Cook on his three epic voyages. Didn't even get sea sick (unlike Joseph Banks).

It's a good time for catching up on some training - fortunately the weight did not ballooooooon over the foistive season.

In this new year, I have ENDEAVOURED to make no RESOLUTIONS .... Captain my Captain.



I am due back at work late January.  I am not the sort to arrive back "all at once". Too much of a shock! (I go back in pieces - usually the brain is last of all)

(To many forgotten passwords and door codes).

I shall ease back in (as in the shallow end of the pool).  A few hours here, a few hours there - gradually upping the ante.

Thus by January's end, hopefully I will have once again acculturated (call it rewinding).