Double J in the house

John arrives tomorrow for a couple of alcohol-fueled weeks of mayhem.

Muay Thai- muy beuno

After weeks of training frivilous aspects of kickboxing, such as footwork, blocking, jabbing and such, we finally get on to the real stuff- elbows, kness and punching combos. Tis fun.

Mr Popular

This blog has now had 1090 visits and 2100 page views.

Come on, admit it, you all love me

Tastes good

I found a supermarket in town which carries vegemite. Tonight I am going on a toast-buttering, vegemite-scoffing carb-fest.

Is there anything better than vegemite on toast?

Things you can't say

The NZ ambassador to Canada has caused quite a flap of left-wings by saying that Maori tribes in New Zealand fought and ate each other. The exact words he used were:

"There were seven canoes that came in 740 from Hawaiki, so there are seven tribes. They all held each other's hands to stop them from sinking on the voyage. Once they got to New Zealand, they started fighting and eating each other so there have been Maori wars ever since then"

While this may be overly simplistic, it is essentially true. But of course you are not allowed to say this. However, it is permissible, even encouraged to wallow in shame about all the bad things that colonial Europeans did when they arrived in NZ.

Lets be realistic. Both Maori and Europeans did some pretty awful things, both to their own people and to others, but this in no way reflects on people today. Why is it ok to dwell on historical offences by one section of the population but not another?
Can't we all just get along?

What doing

So what am I doing with my time? Each day I am spending a good portion of time exhausting the job banks and applying where I can. Until I can get some actual work type thing, I am painting up models and selling them on ebay as a nice little sideline.

I have Thai boxing and the gym every week day, so that keeps me sane.

Lately I have stepped out to enjoy some of the cool non-indoors stuff that Vancouver has to offer- a couple of walks, some time on the beach and what not.

It's sweet. Now I'm not worried that I won't find work, but that I won't ever want to go back to working!

Nimbys

The damn Nimbys (Not In My Back Yard) are at it again. Plans have been announced for a massive wind farm in Makara near Wellington, and already the Nimbys have announced that they will fight it to the end.

How can it be that everyone is in favour of cheaper energy, more prisons and more hospitals, yet no one wants any of this infrastructure to be built near them? I remember a suburban community in Wellington holding public meeting to protest plans to open a Maori language school in their community. A school for fuck's sake.

Mind you, people are at least consistent. In the same way they complain about the traffic on the roads at peak times, but it should always be someone else who has to carpool or take the bus.

Cashing in on the whole Jesus thing

There's always been a lot of money in religion- just look at the wealth that the church built up during the middle ages that still sustains them today. But it's always funny to see the latest way that entrepreneurs find to fleece funds from the faithful.
A couple of grocery items recently caught my eye:

1. Ezekiel 4:9 cereal. This breakfast food is derived from verse 4:9 of Ezekiel which states "take unto thee barley and oats and beans and lentil" and contains only those ingredients. The box is emblazoned with not "as seen on tv", but "as described in scripture." Now you too can eat just like a 1st century A.D. Israelite! Gotta love those literal interpretations of the Bible.

2. His essence candles. You can also buy aromatic candles that "release the scent of Jesus". A Messianic psalm refers to when Christ returns and his garments will have the scent of myrrh, aloe and cassiaf. Naturally the candle is infused with these aromas which are released when it is burned. Unfortunately, myrrh, aloe and cassiaf must have been the designer perfume of the Biblical world, as the candles will sting you a cool $18 each. I think "His tipple" vino could be a hot seller.

No word on whether God gets a percentage of sales.