Happy Birthday Brian

To quote Elton John, "Your candle burned out long before your legend ever did" Its a shame we had to lose you the way we did, but it happened to so many bright young legends of our time.. What an amazing band we have on the heavyside layer now.... Joplin & Morrison on vocals Hendrix on lead, Brian on rhythm, Keith moon on drums, The Ox on bass.. And on we go.. The Rolling Stones were originally Brians band, which says a hell of a lot for his talent & ability to put together a winning combo. While its sad to have lost him, its also nice to be able to remember him as a fresh faced youth of amazing talent, which you must agree is better than remembering a wrinkly old fart falling out of a cocoanut tree. Happy Birthday Brian, & rock on wherever you are.... On the funny side of today,(Well I think it is anyway,) Did you know that QANTAS now stands for Quickies Available Now in the Toilet, Ask Staff...

Happy Birthday John..

Johnny Cash (born J. R. Cash, February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an influential American country and rock and roll singer and songwriter. Cash was the husband of country singer and songwriter June Carter Cash.

Cash was known for his deep, distinctive voice, the boom-chick-a-boom or "freight train" sound of his Tennessee Three backing band, his dark clothing, and demeanor, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black." He started all his concerts with the simple introduction "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash."

Much of Cash's music, especially that of his later career, echoed themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption. His signature songs include "I Walk the Line", "Folsom Prison Blues", "Ring of Fire", and "Man in Black". He also recorded several humorous songs, such as "One Piece at a Time", "The One on the Right Is on the Left", and "A Boy Named Sue"; rock-and-roll numbers such as "Get Rhythm"; and various train-related songs, such as "The Rock Island Line".

He sold over 50 million albums in his nearly 50 year career and is generally recognized as one of the most important musicians in the history of American popular music.


Thankyou Wikipedia for that. I guess I must have started listening to Johnny Cash when I was about 10, & I dont guess I have ever really grown out of the habit. One of my favourite Cash tracks is his cover of "Danny Boy" he spends about 5 minutes before the start of the song relating the depth of meaning in the lyrics & the special place that song has in his family's history. Its very moving.





As he aged, he mellowed as we all do, eventually making the cover of Time magazine. There is a lot I could say about him. I have a lot of his music. Not as much as I have of his friend Bobby's but a fair stack none the less.. I think I should really let him have the last say. The visuals in this brought tears to my eyes when I saw it the first time.. Happy birthday Johnny...

Have YOU been touched by his Noodly appendage?

Yes folks, I have truly seen the light, & so will you when you visit the web site of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti monster. You can find it at http://www.venganza.org/ It truely is the one religion. Become a pirate & do your bit to halt the current trends in Global warming.... If the one true religion is too much for you, you can always join one of its more lenient sub branches & become a pastafarian. Save the world now. Become a true believer & experience the love of his noodly appendage..

Didnt we have us luverly time...

On Saturday, we went to Auckland for a number of reasons. One was to collect herselfs eternity ring, another was to pay for our rental car down in Dunedin. The main one was to be at our Grand daughter Renee's 5th birthday. This is her blowing out the candles on her cake. We all had a lovely time. Its nice to have family that loves you. On the way home, we stopped at Manukau & had dinner at a restaurant called "Catch" Very nice it was too.












On Sunday, Herself was doing her thing at the Hospital, so I phoned one of the lads from work & we went fishing. had a great time & caught 12 snapper & 1 tarakihi. We also saw a pod of 6 or 7 dolphins. This is supposed to be a picture of them, but with the brightness of the day & the self tinting factor in my glasses, its very hard to see the screen on my phone. Hence, no dolphins. I decided to put the picture up anyway, because it shows what a pretty playground that we have in the Hauraki Gulf. This is where I go to fish. its called "Spot X" The first time I went there I painted a cross on the side of the boat so that I could find it again.. Anyway, jokes aside, we had a really good weekend. Not easy to go back to work on Monday, but gotta support ya habits I guess.. Later

Winter draws on...

Or so it would seem. In my job you dont need to experience a change in temperature to know that the global clock is turning for the winter cycle. Even the fact that Tigger Puss is sleeping under the blankets on our bed.

I did the late run to Auckland last night. Where we have been picking up barbeques, we are now picking up log fires. Personally, I would rather uplift barbeques.. They're a damn sight lighter for a start. Hopefully, the snapper will finally start to run & the weather on the weekends will be conducive to putting my little boat in the water.. Hmmmmm.. Pigs might sprout wings as well..

What are you doing Dave ?????

While I was in Paeroa doing deliverys this morning, I was taken by an overwhelming urge to reduce water pressure. Normally, I do this at the North end of town at your very basic kick the glass bricks in & write on the wall sort of loo. As I happened to be at the South end of town & heading for Hamilton, I decided to give the new hi tech bogs, (pictured) down by the L& P bottle a whirl.

Now, quite aside from the flashing LED's to inform you of the status & quite aside from them looking like some form of cosmic transfer station & quite aside from them being the most scrupulously clean & tidy public loos I have seen the inside of, & in my job, you get to see a few, they bloody well TALK to you. You see, once inside, you push the button to lock the door & there is a sound like a Star Trek door closing & this pleasant Americanised male voice tells you that the door is now locked & you have 10 minutes to do your bizzo before the door automatically unlocks. Yes Dave, you can manually unlock before that if you wish to. THEN the damn thing starts playing mood music till the door is unlocked. I'm not certain what it is, but Handels Water Music would be a good option. Even the flush is an electronic push button. I hope they have some sort of fail safe system in the event of a power failure. I would purely hate to be locked in for 3 hours with nothing but elevator music to pass the time....

I hate myself

really, I do, but I cant resist Youtube.. Especially when someone posts something like this.... True.. I do hate myself.. really

On the bright side

I have been fighting a losing battle with a leaking fitting on my spa pool pump. I attempted repair on my own & it wasnt going all that terribly well. In desperation, I contacted the local repair shop & pleaded with them to come & sort it out. They told me that i had to bring the pump in. I couldnt understand why, as the offending fitting was on the pool. Anyway, after a week & a half, I gave up & attempted one final repair involving much bad language & some 5 minute araldite glue. I came home intending to put the pump back in & test it.. Guess what ? Pump was gone. Went to the shop to check that they had it Friday & guess what .. Nope..... Visionsof a phantom spa pump thief... A trip home & a closer inspection revealed that the fitting had been replaced & the pump reinstalled. One very sheepish visit later to the repair shop later & alls well.... Now for the replacement of the spabeque, I have a fiendish plan involving a length of aluminium wire, the old sidewall off the gazebo, the existing shade sail & a blue tarpaulin from the warehouse... Hehehehehehehehehe

Damn you Morticia.....

damn you for all the ooooaaarrrs.. I caint get em outta my head.. here is a kickass little number for ya... Waaaahahahahahahahahahahahahaha an some reall good pickin here ..

RIP The Spabeque

Yes folks, requiescat in pace the spabeque. after some 18 months of battling the elements & effecting repairs with duct tape , bits of plastic tube, assorted cable ties, bits of aluminium, screws washers, pop rivets & cable ties , I have finally admitted defeat & dismantled the gazebo over the spa pool. The vagiaries of the weather last night were just too much for the poor old thing to bear. So tonight, with a heavy heart, a cordless drill, a pair of sidecutters and a certain amount of regret, I dismantled said erection & quietly folded it all up.. So long oh true & faithful friend, you will be missed.

On a lighter note....

Conversation overheard at the big red shed tonight....

Security Guard.... So, did you celebrate Waitangi Day yesterday ?
Maori Chap with heavily tattooed face..... Errrr No bro.....
Security Guard...... Why not ??
MCwhtf...... Errrrr, cos we the silly buggers that gave it all away eh boss...

Exit sniggering very softly....

Garage Sales

Herself & I decided to go garage saleing yesterday. There was this one sale out at Ngatea that looked intriguing.. 30 years worth of accumulated stuff by him & her. Turns out that they were selling up to go live in Pukekohe to be nearer to their family. I scored mightily. A Stahlwille 1/2" socket set for $60.00, that his son told me was the first set of tools his Dad bought when he started work. Dad is now 77. The set is like brand new, & still in its original case. Thats quality..

At one of the other sales we went to, I had the good fortune to acquire a heap of sci fi books. I'm nearly as dotty about books as I am about LP's. Amongst them was a book called "Starship Trooper" by Robert A Heinlein . Yep, you guessed it. The story around which that infamous film of the same name is VERY LOOSELY based. The original story is, surprisingly quite good. There is a lot more philosophy in it than the film & some valid points to ponder. One of them concerned the term "juvenile delinquent" by definition, the term doesnt really add up. If some is is delinquent it means that they are in neglect of or in violation of their duty. So tell me how that relates to kids. Probably more to the parents I would think. Its worth a thought..

As for the question of wether or not we should fly the Maori flag at the top of the harbour Bridge, which one should we fly ????










I mean , there really is quite a choice isnt there ? Personally, I would rather see this one being flown.....