Adventures in Wellington

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 11:24:00 +0000

While it's cool to see the New Year before most of the world, we do miss seeing the ball drop in Times Square. Perhaps one of our TV stations will cover it later today..?

In any case, Happy New Year to everyone out there! May 2011 be even better than 2010. Who knows what could happen this year? (Maybe even more blog posts from us?)

Another Election, Another Vote

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 21:53:00 +0000

As many of you may know, the US had mid-term elections today. In my eyes, the results are quite disappointing, but not surprising. Ultimately, they only reinforce that we made the right decision to move far far away.

I still voted, even knowing that Maryland is almost always a "blue" state. My voting papers won't even arrive until a week from now, long after the election has been decided. Still...just in case we have a weird Gore/Bush (or Pendergrast/Ward) scenario, I want my voice heard. I will continue to vote as long as I am forced to file a US tax return!

It is odd to view the US news from a distance and see the weird cloud of stupidity and hatred that hovers over the US. I had a lot of hope when Obama was elected, but 2 years later, there is a crazy backlash of those who enjoyed themselves during the 8 years of Bush's horrible reign.

Good luck, America. You're going to need it.

It's Ours

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:49:00 +0000

All the newspapers headlined the "victory" of keeping the Hobbit here last week. Truthfully, it's a fight that never should have happened (and would not have happened if the Australian union had kept its nose out of the whole thing).

Prime Minister John Key convinced Warner Brothers to keep the movie in New Zealand by offering additional tax cuts and agreeing to change our Labour Law to make it more clear that independent contractors hired as such for films could not be considered employees at a later stage.

Of course, there are people (and the Labour Party in general) who disagree with the law change - which was enacted quickly in an emergency overnight session - and say that Warner Brothers "bought" New Zealand.

Ridiculous! As I've pointed out before, the law was ambiguous at best, and certainly needed to be cleaned up.

However...I completely expect a backlash from all the other industries (including the Oil & Gas industry) out there who regularly use independent contractors. I'm certain they will ask for the new law to include them as well. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out!

In the meantime, more and more people are expected to move to Wellington, even for just a short time. Those who work behind the scenes are breathing easier now, knowing that regular paychecks are coming their way for at least 2 years. And Middle Earth remains "ours".

To Hobbit or not to Hobbit

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:15:00 +0000

As some of you may know, there is a lot of controversy around the filming of the Hobbit in New Zealand. An actor's union from Australia (who has some members in New Zealand) decided to call for a blacklist of Sir Peter Jackson's (PJ) film unless he agreed to a "collective agreement" with the union.

Firstly, and most importantly, the "collective agreement" is illegal, as none of the union members are currently employees of any of the companies PJ owns. PJ refused to meet with the union, as their request was illegal, and the fur started to fly from there.

I read another poorly written "news" article in the Herald this morning, and I felt it was time to clear up some facts.

1) Weta, Three Foot Six (not "3 foot 7" as stated in said article) and other affiliated film industry companies hire their workers as contractors. This is due to many reasons, but mostly because they cannot afford to pay people if there is no work for them to do. Work on a film is sporadic, and subject to delays. This is a part of the business - especially in a small country - and one that Darren is quite familiar with.

2) Every article about this issue has referenced a (NZ) Supreme Court ruling in 2005 that held a former contractor who worked on the LOTR movies in miniatures was deemed to be an employee. I've gone back to read the ruling and this is what I discovered:

The person in question was hired as a contractor by Weta, and later seconded to Three Foot Six. A contract with Three Foot Six was not immediately drawn up or signed, but did eventually happen. When the work ran out, and the contractor was told there was no work for him, he decided he was "unjustifiably dismissed" (which can only happen if you are an employee).

He first filed a claim with the Employment Relations Authority, who did not agree with him. He then appealed to the Employment Court, who did find that he was an employee by applying particular tests within the law. Three Foot Six appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals which overturned the Employment Court decision, only for the 'employee' to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court simply stated that the Court of Appeal had not been entitled to hear the appeal (as there was no error of law), and reinstated the original decision made by the Employment Court. The Supreme Court did not set any laws around the distinction between Independent Contractor or Employee.

3) So. The issue at the heart of all of this is Independent Contractor vs Employee. This is an expensive issue, as potentially thousands of people in New Zealand will be hired to work on the Hobbit. If all of them decide they were actually employees and bring a lawsuit against Weta/Three Foot Six or Warner Brothers, the cost of the film could increase significantly. This is the uncertainty that Warner Brothers is worried about.

4) The Independent Contractor/Employee test is not a clear one, and instead is based on a long checklist. It's a series of subjective tests. This is the law that Warner Brothers came to discuss with John Key this week. They simply want assurances that if workers are hired as independent contractors that they will not be deemed as employees later on down the line.

5) Finally, the law is not a Tax law - it is an Employment law. If the law changes, it changes for all companies in New Zealand - including the one I work for. As my company also is in an industry that frequently hires contractors, we have already undertaken a risk-analysis of our contractor relationships.

I understand the Herald wants to keep the average New Zealander informed of the situation on a 'real time' basis, but they are skewing the facts for the story, and letting the idiots who head the unions (looking at you Helen Kelly) to comment on Employment law.

Adventures in Spa-ing

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 11:21:00 +0000

Even though we've lived in Wellington quite a while, we have yet to find a day spa that is top quality. Not that we've been looking, really, as we found a fantastic massage therapist years ago. However, after a couple stays at the amazing Westin Auckland (and several treatments at the equally impressive Senses Spa located in the hotel) I've been determined to find my "go to" place closer to home. I'd also like to be able to have a fun girl day with my sis-in-law when she comes to visit next year...

So! To that end, I have been perusing the "one day sale" sites - Daily Do, Groupy, GrabOne etc. - and taking them up on whatever spa offers they may have.

Now, the first adventure was not intended as an adventure, and was not one that I bought discounted on the internet. Back in July, I wanted to treat Darren for his birthday and get him a relaxation massage in a nice spa. (And ok, me too!) I had heard good things about East Day Spa (purposely not linked) and without any other ideas, decided to book there.

Like many spas, East Day Spa (EDS) offers a massage treatment where couples can be in the same room together. It's a lovely shared relaxing experience. Well...it's supposed to be. I called EDS to book our massage, and being the accountant that I am, asked why the massage for two was $20 more than the price of two massages separately. I was told that there was a fee for requesting the one room that allows for two tables. Not one to pay extra for nothing, I immediately requested two separate rooms for our massages - only to be told that they did not have two separate rooms for the day that I wanted. No worries, I'll book for another weekend - but they insisted they could get us in on the day we wanted, in the double room. I agreed, but only at the lower price, as I was not specifically requesting that room.

(Please note at the Senses Spa, the cost of a couple massage is actually *lower* than the price of two single massages.)

So, we show up to the EDS premises in an office/retail building across from the bus and train stations. It's a couple of stories above street level, and as far as I could tell, relatively quiet. The reception area was nice and we were immediately shown to the relaxation room. I thought the room was fine, but Darren wasn't impressed. He said he could hear the staff room next door and other various sounds.

Eventually, one of our massage therapists met us in the relaxation room and talked to us about what pressure we preferred and scented oil we wanted. I generally do not like being massaged with oil, especially if the massage will include a head massage (as this one would). However, there didn't seem to be any other choices, so we picked our scent and were shown to our room.

The room was nice enough, although it was some odd mosquito netting above each table. There was a little box to put our valuables, which was a great touch. Once we were comfortable, our therapists came in and started to work. Darren's therapist put her oil bottle above his right shoulder, while mine placed hers against my side. While Darren was completely unaware of where the bottle was on his table, I was trying to figure out why my therapist has spilled cold oil all over my side and left it there. She hadn't, but eventually she did move the bottle.

However, Darren tipped his bottle over while repositioning his arm to be massaged, leaving his shoulder in a pool of oil for the remainder of his massage. This on top of the constant struggle with his therapist over the preferred pressure he had indicated earlier.

As we tried to relax, I noticed the music...light drumming leading to heavier and heavier war-type thumping with actual monkey screams in the background. Not relaxing! What are we supposed to do in that situation? Stop the massage and ask for different music? Would we still get an entire hour? I'm just not sure why war music would be played in a spa in the first place.

Towards the end of the massage, my therapist massaged my head (and thus my hair) with oily hands as fearfully expected. It took 3 shampoo-ings to get it out later that day. The worst side effect of the use of oil, though, was that we were both made to sit up 10 minutes before the end of the massage time to let our therapists wipe the oil off of our backs/necks/arms etc. with hot towels (which had to be retrieved from outside of the room). This not only took away massage time, but disturbed the relaxation and typical slow recovery from the massage.

On our way out, the receptionist asked about our experience. I was honest with her, and commented that it was not an ideal experience. She did not ask any further questions - just asked for payment. That inspired me to write a complaint detailing our experience on the EDS 'contact us' page of their website. Above the form, it states "We will do everything we can to reply within 24 hours". Three weeks later, I still hadn't heard back from anyone.

We live in an amazing world of technology, with several ways to connect with other humans, such as Facebook. Turns out EDS has a page on Facebook, so I joined it and left a simple message stating that I had not been contacted about my feedback. It seems the Facebook page is run by the Auckland or Bali spas, and they were efficient and friendly. They promised someone would contact me as soon as possible.

Not too long afterwards, I received an email from a person I assumed to be the manager of the spa. She stated that she had tried to contact me, but I was never home and she only reached my answering machine. No explanation as to why she did not leave a message (although later she claimed that she had!) or why she didn't email me earlier. In any case, she called me a couple days later to discuss my feedback.

The phone conversation began with her asking why I didn't feel comfortable asking for a product other than oil. I explained that it was the spa's responsibility to anticipate the needs and preferences of their guests. I explained that we are both experienced spa patrons and have been to some of the top quality spas in the country (and the world), including Senses at the Westin. She then went on to give me the detailed background of Darren's therapist and why we were wrong to think she didn't provide a top-quality massage.

[Let me just note that Darren is a trained massage therapist himself (and quite skilled, I might add), and is very picky. And when paying $80 for a 50 minute massage, he is allowed to be picky.]

The rest of the conversation was equally frustrating and not at all friendly. The manager (who actually turned out to be the owner) did eventually offer the partial refund I requested after first trying to get us back into the spa for a complimentary and sure-to-be-oily massage. Of course, that refund was initiated when I commented on the EDS Facebook page again 3 days later - not that afternoon, as promised.

The oddest part of the phone conversation was the very end - the owner quickly stated "We are not the Westin" before hanging up on me. To that I can only say, that is too true.

Your Vote Your Community

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 07:40:00 +0000

Those are the words imprinted on the envelope used to mail in our voting papers. Since moving here in 2006, this is the second New Zealand election we've taken part in. Unlike the US (and perhaps other countries), Permanent Residents are not only allowed to vote, they are required by law to be enrolled.

As you can see from the picture, this election was a local one and did not require going to a polling place. Instead, the voting papers were mailed to us a couple of weeks ago; we simply filled out our choices for Mayor, City Council and District Health Board and mailed the papers back in.

Well...Darren mailed his back in. I ran out of time and dropped off my papers at the ballot box set up in the Public Library.

The particular voting system for local elections is a complicated one - it is called the Single Transferable Vote System. You can read more about it here, if you are so interested.

It was exciting to vote, even though the elections didn't turn out exactly as we hoped. It is empowering to be able to have a say in our chosen country, even though we are not (yet) citizens.

Funny Wellington Video

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 01:19:00 +0000

We came across this video a couple of weeks ago and had a good chuckle. Much of it is true, and all of it is tongue-in-cheek. We love this odd little city!

We're Back! With some changes...

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 01:09:00 +0000

Hello to anyone who is still reading this blog! As you can see, we've made some changes...to the layout, the background picture (snapped by yours truly) and most importantly the blog title.

Occasionally, we peruse the Blogger "stats" and saw that we were attracting some odd readers due to their unusual google searches. Beyond that, though, we wanted the title to better reflect where we are now - four years into our adventure. We continue to love Wellington and hope to write more posts about the city in general and our experiences as we continue to explore this gorgeous place.

So, stay tuned! For now, it's a beautiful spring day and we are headed outside to enjoy it!

Where the hell are my teeth???

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:54:00 +0000

Technically they are currently residing in a pill bottle in my bag after having 5 of them removed last night. Yep, after a few weeks of misery I finally went through with it and had teeth removed. Now this is my first time, so I can not compare the event to one in the US, however I am attempting to explain how it worked here in NZ. For the purpose of time and energy (I am a bit tired today) I will omit anything regarding insurance info, etc.

For this to work I have to start a few weeks back. I was having tooth pain and one of my teeth cracked (don't ask). Anyway it was a pretty annoying, throbbing kind of pain that got worse and worse. Finally I broke down over the weekend and called Dentist #1 at Symes Desilva. As it turns out there are a few Dental places that are open on weekends, but this was the one I could get an appointment with in an emergency and wasn't ridiculously priced. That day I was brought in and advised that 4 wisdom teeth and the broken tooth had to come out. I was then advised of the price, at which point I laughed (hard to do with a mouth full of cotton and tools), went home and decided to see if insurance would cover this. As a side note, Symes De Silva was very efficient, and very good. The bedside manner was a little lacking, but what do you expect for the price and timing? The final price was about $90. Not too bad in an emergency.

I had then decided I should seek out alternative options in the " knock me out and get this thing out of my head category", since Symes De Silva only does pills and locals(not enough for me), and I was still waiting on insurance.

I then headed to Dentist #2 - The Gentle Dental (no website just contact #'s) for a 2nd checkup and got my 2nd opinion verified plus full X-Rays and a referral for about $100; also not bad. If you do go here, don't let the building or front office fool you (it doesn't look that posh), they are very good, have a great chair-side manner and are very helpful. The dentist even went over all of the particulars with the digital X-Rays, so there were no guesses involved.

Afterwards, I found out that insurance does in fact cover at least some of the operation if:

a) it is NEEDED

b) it is performed by an oral surgeon

c) you are fully unconscious

OK that last one wasn't so much an insurance requirement as a Darren requirement.

Next Stop? Oral Surgeon. Wayne Gillingham of Wellington Oral Surgery Ltd was very good, very efficient (if not a little too fast) and knew what he was doing. Though he spoke and worked very quickly (I felt a little rushed) I was very comfortable and relaxed as he explained both the good and possible bad points of the operation. I was advised at this point that I could be FULLY UNCONSCIOUS. Woohooo! I walked away nervous but happy to have it finally on its way and for only $200 (which insurance will cover a large portion of, thankfully).

The final stop was yesterday afternoon's trip to Boulcott Hospital at 3:00pm for a 5 part tooth extraction. Big Fun! Was I nervous? Yes. Was I hungry/thirsty? yes (nothing to eat or drink after 7:30am), was I drugged? Hell yes! After going over the paperwork and telling Dawn I loved her I was taken to the operating room, where the best IV I have ever had ( I literally felt NOTHING and that was pre-drugs) was put in, we talked for a few minutes and then I was out cold.

I woke up with what was described to me as short term amnesia, having no idea where I was or how I got there for a few minutes. My brain began functioning in its semi-normal state and all was well. I was returned to my room and loving wife to pass out intermittently for a few hours.

They gave me my teeth, took out the IV, walked me through the plethora of drugs I could take to dull the pain and swelling and called for our friend Mike to come get us. (Thanks again bro!)

My teeth were given to me in a pill container (which I apparently, though, have know memory of doing), shook them at Dawn just to gross her out. Yep even drugged out I am a sick bastard.

So... now it is the next day not quite 24 hours since I went under the knife. I am a bit swollen and eating soft foods, but feeling much better. The slight pain I feel now I know will get a little worse but will still be better that then agonizing pain I was going through, so that's nice. Hoping all will be well for Tuesday when I go back to my students. Oh yes... I am teaching now, but that will be for my next post to explain. Check out the ice-pack/head gear I get to wear - very sexy.

In the end I learned not be afraid of Dentists, they are not all bad and do a shit job for a decent amount of money (like lawyers, only without the tails and horns ... hehehe). Thanks for reading and hope it helps some of you. Drop me a line if you have any questions or want referrals to anything.

[Editor's note: the surgery and surgeon consultation costs were covered under the general surgery clause of the private insurance I receive through my employer. We have not opted for dental insurance, and even private health insurance is relatively rare in New Zealand. -dawn]

Music you probably never knew existed.

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:35:00 +0000

... and maybe you will be happier for it, but what the hell, I like it.

Ok seriously, you ever decide to go to a concert and the headlining band is pretty good or even great, but one or two of the opening bands leaves you standing there with your mouth wide open? Well this one goes out to all of "those bands". The ones that you probably have never heard of and probably should because they are awesome.

Sure the music may not be to your usual taste, but give it a try, check out a few songs and yes (shameless plug) buy their stuff and keep them playing.

Let me also say that it has taken me a long time to write this, so please excuse any punctuation and/or spelling errors. This is music class people, not english. That's next period!

First I will start of with my friends. What, come on you would too!

Sirsy has been around for quite a few years now. I met them at a gig in Upstate New York, in Albany during Artscape. While the number and range of the band has changed dramatically over the years, the sound that they produce has always managed to jump off the stage and wrap you up in amazingly tight rhythms, lyrics and general stage presence.
Check out their media page and listen to some of their work. If you like pop/Rock and can't resist a female vocalist that can croon like Nina Simone as well as howl like Janis Joplin (yes really), you will really dig Sirsy.

So, anyone who knows me (and Dawn as well) knows I love Irish and Scottish Music. Give me bagpipes and a fiddle and I am a very happy listener (again, yes really). Now say you want to throw in a banjo, an accordion, some drums, a bass and a few kick ass riffs on a guitar and what do you have! Awesomeness! Or on other words, the Dropkick Murphys! Dropkick has been around for a long time and have evolved from low end punk band to amazing Irish roots band that moves between genres, from Dylan-esque rhythms to the sex pistols crunch and yells. How good are they, well in the middle of poor health and the death of his wife (Deirdre), they managed to get Ronnie Drew (from The Dubliners), Spider Stacy (from The Pogues) and their whole band together to record their own amazing take on the tradition all Lannigans Ball (Flannigan's Ball). This once in a lifetime compilation is loud and raucous and features both Ronnie and Spider's unique voices alongside Dropkicks' Al and Ken. This band aside form being all very talented musicians are also class act, stand up guys and a lot of fun to hang out with. We opened for the a few times and would never miss a show if they were close enough. Thanks for the music guys!

While we are on an Irish kick and talking about friends, if you like something rockin' but not so heavy as Dropkick, check out Flogging Molly. This band mixes traditional instruments with guitars and the like to give a punk-lite show that merges from bluegrass to rock, all with a a very liberal/Irish flair. They put on a great show and always aim to get their audience up and about. In fact the last show we saw them at, lead singer Dave King had the flu and managed to hold it together for a couple of hours of playing. What a professional!

Now those that really know Dawn and I know our often STRANGE tastes in music and this next band is NO exception.

Gogobordello is essentially a pirate circus put to music and run through amps till you have no choice but to walk the plank, the tight-rope or just scream at the top of your lungs. The best part is that if you choose the later you may find your fitting right in with the rhythms of this amazing Gypsy punk band. Seriously, this is one of the most amazing and most bizarre shows I have ever been to and if you know me you know I have seen some crazy sh*t! Don't believe me that this is some amazing nutty stuff? Check it out and listen for yourself! Remember this is louder stuff and unique because of it's band and lead singer Eugene's Russo-Ukranijano-Romano heritage.

Gypsy punk is a genre I had never heard of until they opened for Flogging Molly and Dawn and I went crazy for them after that. Seriously people, even if the music doesn't really appeal to you, go see this show, you will be amazed!

OK, so that wraps up part 1 of Music you probably didn't know existed. I am certain there will be a part 2 to this post, but since it has taken be the better part of 4 months to get off my butt and finish this post, it may be a while. Let me know what you think of the bands and if you want any recommendations about sings or albums to check out, give us a shout.

Fringe Festival 2009

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:42:00 +0000

What is the Fringe Festival? From the website, the Festival is described as:

Incorporated in 1993, The Fringe Arts Trust will be presenting its 16th Fringe Festival in 2009. The festival has grown from small beginnings to over one hundred events in more than 50 venues all over the Wellington region.
Fringe Festival is recognised as a unique creative launch pad for the arts in New Zealand. Fringe is an open access festival, meaning anyone can produce a show or a creative project and be involved in this annual event.
Hundreds of volunteers and local members of the community donate their time to helping promote and produce the festival each year. We are a much loved part of the New Zealand arts calendar, with a strong brand that is recognised internationally for innovation in art and the creative spirit of Kiwi ingenuity.
The New Zealand Fringe Festival releases the most concentrated mix of new talent, in all arts mediums in the greater Wellington region – 3 exciting weeks of pure Fringe creative genius! Approximately 60,000 festival-goers are treated to the sharpest stand-up, theatre, visual arts, live music, basement productions and cutting-edge multi-media.

Our first Fringe was back in 2007, just a couple of months after moving here. We had no idea how extensive it was, or even which plays to choose from. We ended up going to one of the best plays we have ever seen (to date!) - Lovers of Central Park (I wrote about it in this post.) - which cemented our love for the Fringe.

Last year we were better prepared, and saw some fantastic plays and comedy acts. This year, the Festival covered the entire month of February with heaps more shows than years prior!

We have already seen 9 plays/comedy acts, and have one more to see this weekend. Some have been good, one was terrible, and another was easily the best show in the Festival. Since most of the shows we saw have ended their runs, I'm only going to review the best show in the Festival (and lucky for all you Wellington readers, the show is still running!).

The show I speak of is Adam Page Solo at the Downstage Theatre. The description on the Fringe website was enough to pique our interest, and admittedly, this was the one show that Darren looked forward to the most. Defying the odds, it surpassed all expectations!

Adam has had several good reviews, but the one on texture says it best:

As well as being a demonstration of a phenomenal musical talent, Adam Page Solo is side-splittingly funny. You're taken on a genre-spanning musical journey - one where you suspect neither performer or audience knows what will happen next. Indeed, a good portion of the show is clearly improvised; throughout his set you constantly feel as if Page is deciding on the fly which instrument (there are 15 of them) he'll play next. And one major set piece features him asking the audience for musical genre suggestions, then mashing them all together. On my night, this resulted in a genius combination of "nursery rhyme", "Bollywood", and "techno!"
As per the poster, Page also busts out a vegetable. Normally I understand he uses a carrot - for New Zealand audiences he's selected something different. A local favourite if you will.
I'll sum it up like this - if you love music, you must go and see this show. You might even find that your new favourite band is made up of just one guy: Adam Page.

During our show, he combined Swing, Broadway musical, Gregorian Chants AND Punk - all in one song! And it was fabulous. Adam has a great stage presence; he is very comfortable performing (it's almost like watching a big kid playing with his favorite toys), funny and quite nice too.

If you haven't seen him, book your ticket now! He has 6 more shows at the Downstage Theatre starting tonight. Just to give you a bit more incentive, here is a video (taken with his permission) of him playing a local vegetable.

Yes, that's right...as well as playing 15 other instruments, the man makes an instrument out of a frickin' vegetable and and plays a song with it. Convinced now?

New Year's Holiday: Picton

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:27:00 +0000

Part 2 of 2! Most of our holiday was spent in Kaikoura, but we did stay over one night in Picton. We arrived in the early afternoon, so I planned for us to go on a twilight kayaking tour. This was a big deal for me, since (1) I can't swim, (2) the kayaking takes place in the sea, and (3) I don't like to be in water where things live.

We had a few hours to roam around after we checked into our (seemingly) lovely hotel, so we decided to go to the highly touted Aquarium. EcoWorld Aquarium - what a great name, right?They had lots of cute signs outside of the building and cute advertisements in NZ travel brochures. Since we had such a great experience at the Christchurch Aquarium last year, we were ok with the entry price of $17. Besides, this aquarium had a preserved giant squid! And Tuatara!

Once we walked through the doors, though, we knew we had made a mistake. The aquarium can only be described as a very sad, very old, repurposed YMCA. All of the fish and reptiles seemed to be begging us to kill them (or at least set them free). We initially thought these turtles were confused about sex, but we decided the one climbed on the other to try to crush him to death as an act of mercy.

Look at those eyes pleading for freedom!

We didn't take a picture of the "giant squid" because we couldn't see it. The (very, very dirty) glass case where it was encased could have contained anything - or nothing at all - there's no telling, really.

They did have a video called "In Search of the Giant Squid". We caught it late, and watched for about 10 minutes or so until it ended....with no giant squid in sight. A couple in front of us had watched the entire 30 minute video! To be fair, the video wasn't called "Finding the Giant Squid", or "Hey Look, There's a Giant Squid"...

To get over the horror that was 'EcoWorld', we wandered around the lovely Picton waterfront until it was time for our kayaking tour. Like Darren's horseback riding picture, my first-time kayaking picture is equally non-existent. But here is Darren with the kayak after the 3 1/2 hour tour.

During the tour, we kayaked out to the little island in the foreground. It was a gorgeous evening! Turns out I really like kayaking once I forget that I'm on the open sea where a shark could turn over the kayak and eat me.

After a sleepless night in our lovely hotel that happened to be a block away from the railroad tracks and an (apparently) all-night skateboard park, we wandered around the beautiful waterfront of Picton before catching the Ferry -

On the way to the Ferry landing, we passed this old boat that is being restored (or has been restored..?). We could have spent some money to get more information, but we didn't care that much.

On our way home, with one last look back to Picton...

New Year's Holiday: Kaikoura

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 03:00:00 +0000

Yes, our holiday was well over a month ago, and I even uploaded these pictures right after we got back from our trip. It's taken me all this time to think of some clever commentary to go along with them (hope you aren't expecting too much!)...

As some of you may remember, we were in Kaikoura for one night over New Year's last year. This year we stayed a few more days in hopes of going whale-watching. Well, not so much 'hope' as 'determined', but in the end the result was the same as last year: the water conditions were too harsh for the boat.

We loved our time in Kaikoura despite the choppy sea and the inefficient whale watching company. It's a lovely little town halfway between Picton (where the Ferry lands) and Christchurch (the place where people base themselves to see surrounding towns because it doesn't have much to offer).

Kaikoura, literally 'food'(kai)/'crayfish' has it all: snow-capped mountains, beaches, and an un-ending view of the ocean. Oh! And a Monteith's bar. :)

Like most towns in New Zealand, Kaikoura has a skate park for kids and adults alike. This one has a spectacular view:

A little ways down the beach is this awesome chair...

...with its own fantastic view.

We don't have a car - this isn't news, right? Our favorite hotel in Kaikoura is about a 40 minute (flat, straight) walk from town. Along the way are many other hotels/B&Bs, as well as private homes with front gardens. Check out these flowers!

One evening, we headed out to the afore-mentioned Monteith's bar, and discovered they had a beer tree! An entire tree of BEER! It included 6 of the Monteith's beers and one other beer they have on tap. I think I drank two, maybe 2 1/2. Darren graciously finished off the rest.

On the way back, we noticed a couple of people staring at a tree...only to find a few birds (Shags) were all lined up on the branches:

Darren had never been horseback riding before (called simply horse riding, or horse trekking here), and it had been on his list of 'things to do' for quite a while. I found the Fyffe ranch online - they offer treks into the woods/across rivers, as well as sunset rides into the mountains (when it's not too windy).

This is the only picture we took! The camera was stowed for safekeeping, and in our rush to get back to town for our whale watching cruise that was (later) canceled, we didn't snap a photo of Darren on a horse. You'll just have to believe us.

After the third and final failed attempt to go whale watching, we headed back to the hotel. The whale watching company is in the same building as the tiny railway station, which has a gigantic parking lot where people seem to just hang out.

And we came across this scene...and just imagined that the seagulls were waiting for the woman to drop the baby...!

Back at our hotel, we walked the few feet to the beach to capture the beauty of Kaikoura.

Pictured here: not a whale.

With the windows open at night, we could hear the crashing surf -

Night-night, Kaikoura!

Vast

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:22:00 +0000

When Darren and I decided to move to New Zealand, one of the big questions we had to answer was "do we bring all of our furniture, or sell everything and replace it in New Zealand?" I think many people moving across the world struggle with that question.

In our case, we did have some very nice furniture that we definitely wanted to bring with us - our bed suite, a chaise lounge and our coffee table/trunk. Other items were older (my 10+ year-old couches and dining room table) or too large/unstable to move (IKEA desk).

To get an idea of the kind of furniture in New Zealand, we did a basic search for furniture stores online. We found very few sites, as bandwidth in New Zealand is quite expensive. Since we were also looking at Real Estate listings for places to rent, we began to use those listings to get an idea of how people were furnishing their homes here.

We were frightened! We saw big fluffy flower-patterned couches, and cheap dining room tables. (And no, sadly I cannot find examples now. Guess you'll just have to trust me!).

Knowing there is no IKEA here in New Zealand (and there may never be...), we decided to go ahead and bring the old couches and the assembled entertainment centre. And they have served us well over the past two years, allowing us time to explore the furniture stores in Wellington. The one glaring exception has been what Darren has been using for a desk: an old dresser I bought for $50 when I was a poor university student. The drawers were quite useful for storing desk stuff and other random bits and pieces, and the top was spacious enough for his computer and peripherals. You can imagine, though, that it was in no way ergonomically pleasing for him to sit there.

Said dresser was kept in the dining/kitchen area, as it wouldn't fit anywhere else in the apartment. Yep, it looked a bit strange, but it was useful. More useful than a dining room table? No...we haven't actually eaten at a table (other than the aforementioned coffee table) in our own apartment since we moved here. We sold the one we had in the US because we didn't love it enough to ship it here, and most of the dining tables we've come across were cheaply made, very expensive or both. Not that one would fit in the dining area with the dresser, anyway.

Then Darren found Vast. It's not on our usual walking route through town - it's pretty far down a road that leads out of town. One that we only see from a bus window as we make our way North to the Hutt Valley. There are heaps of furniture stores on this road (Thorndon Quay, for you local readers), and Darren decided to check them out one day. Turns out most of them are quite expensive (read: Freedom)! But Vast was different.

Vast is an Australian chain, although each store is independently owned by franchisees who can buy from whichever suppliers suit them (which explains the less than robust website).

So, you're thinking we found a desk, right? No, but we did fall in love with a gorgeous solid mangowood table, and four matching leather chairs. The salesman was very friendly, and gave us very detailed answers to all of our questions. (Turns out he is the owner!)

Luckily, we have a Mac, and it looks great on the table/desk. And Darren finds it much more ergonomic!

The story doesn't end there, though. Once we had cleaned out the dresser and moved it to the garage (hey, anyone need a dresser?), we found we had some desk 'stuff' that we needed to store...somewhere close to the table/desk. Back to Vast we went! Mainly because they were having a one year anniversary sale.

And we found this beautiful side table sourced from India. It is solid wood, with old shutter doors that have been refurbished, then treated to look "old" again. It was more than we wanted to spend, but I stared at it until it said "take me home". I'm not about to argue with a cabinet.

Here it is!

The detail on the doors -

Even the inside of the door is beautiful!

The best part, is that the side cabinet works well with the table and holds desk stuff (for now). If we ever find "the" desk, the cabinet can easily be used for dining room 'stuff'.

Oh, and we can't have a vase without any flowers! Darren found this wild bouquet at the supermarket. For $4! I love this country.

Oh, and if you're wondering about prices, just send me a note through the blog. I don't mind spilling since I feel we got a great deal on both pieces, but thought it would be a bit brash to state the prices in the post. And if you are really interested in the store, make sure you pay them a visit during their sale, which is on through the rest of January.

Watching History (live!)

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:41:00 +0000

As live as a blog post can be...

We woke up at 5:30 this morning - 15 minutes ago - and actually had a choice of TV stations in which to watch Barack Obama's inauguration. Incredible! Since we didn't live here during the last inauguration, so I have no idea if Bush received the same coverage (anyone know...?). The two bigger channels here (TV1 and TV3) have a lot of commentary on the morning shows, but Al Jazeera is carrying live coverage.

The crowd on the National Mall is both impressive and my personal nightmare. It is not a small space...I have walked the length quite a few times. I've always wanted to be there for 4th of July, but knew the crowd would be just too much. Still, there is no way any 4th of July crowd has rivaled the crowd there today.

And there he is! I clapped too. :)

....

Damn, this prayer is going on way too long.

...

Ooooh, Aretha! Nice hat! Well, from the side...eh...gorgeous voice, though.

...

Wow - the only time I've seen Yo Yo Ma live. (Does this count as live?)

...

The oath!!! Finally - here we go! That was short. Why was Biden's longer?

Ok, now for the speech....

...

Wow...I like that he included "non-believers" in his speech after Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus. Nice.

"..judged based on what you build, not what you destroy". Love that!

...

And we have a new president! A well-spoken, intelligent president, who isn't afraid to let everyone know just how tough the road ahead will be.

UPDATE: President Obama's inauguration speech (written version): Click here

Why We Moved...

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 01:17:00 +0000

Most of you already know the reason (or at least one of the major reasons), but here it is summed up by Keith Olberman in 9.5 minutes:

So this is was Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:26:00 +0000

This past Christmas was our third here (third! can you believe it?!), and the warmest year yet. It was so (unusually) warm, that I just couldn't bring myself to decorate the house in the typical holiday fashion. We lean more towards the pagan celebration of winter solstice than the religious holiday of Christmas, so it was a bit weird for me to think about putting up a tree, furry stockings and greeting cards with snow scenes when summer was just beginning.

Darren and I thought we could perhaps put up more of a 'summery' tree (which still is against the whole point anyway), and did manage to find some cute summer-themed ornaments and fake Pohutukawa blossoms.

Pa-hoo-a-wha? Right - the Pohutukawa tree. Also known as the "New Zealand Christmas Tree", as it is endemic to New Zealand and the bright red flowers bloom right around Christmas each year. From a distance, they bear a resemblance to Poinsettias. Up close, however, you'll see that the flowers are made up of lots of little hair-like strands that definitely look like hair when they fall to the ground. Our friend Arthur highlighted these beautiful trees in a post/video(around minute 2:10) on his blog.

The trees can be found all over Wellington and gave me just one more excuse not to decorate. Instead, we took heaps of pictures:

Not so pretty once the blooming period is over. Luckily, the tree is just a large green tree the rest of the year (it is an evergreen).

We spent part of Christmas day with our friends Darrel and Merrin, playing Apples to Apples and eating a large BBQ'd dinner. Sorry there is no photographic evidence of the lovely day - we were too busy eating Merrin's yummy food!

As usual, most of Wellington shut down (especially restaurants and shops) and buses and trains were free to ride all Christmas day. Even though we are a week into the New Year, many restaurants and cafes are still closed while their proprietors are taking holidays overseas or just out of town in a bach. And while it is nice to live in a country that doesn't frown on any holiday over 2 weeks long, I really reeeeeaaaally miss my favorite sushi place!

Some cafes won't be opening up again, sadly, due to the difficult economic times. I saw this sign today while trying to find a poor substitute for my beloved sushi:

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:48:00 +0000

Hi everyone! Just a quick note to wish everyone a happy 2009 and to make promises of future posts. I have a couple in the works about our 2 year anniversary here (as of 28 November), the lovely city of Wellington, as well as our holiday in Kaikoura and Picton last week.

As a teaser, here is a picture of gorgeous Kaikoura -

The Lost Files: Spring

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:47:00 +0000

It is now officially Summer here in Wellington (and it's been quite a beautiful Summer so far!), but since I uploaded these pictures a while ago, I may as well share them!

The seasons aren't markedly different here; most trees are evergreen, and the birds don't disappear for months on end in the winter. Outside of longer days, there are few visual clues to remind us that spring has once again arrived.

There are only a two trees on our block that are deciduous, and one is a lovely Sakura (cherry blossom) tree. I took these pictures in late spring - the equivalent to May in the Northern Hemisphere - so the blossoms are fading a bit.

Incidentally, these pictures were taken on New Zealand's election day (which is always a Saturday - how civilized!) As I walked out of the closest polling place, I couldn't resist capturing the harbor and city from my viewpoint.

Interesting facts: voters are not assigned specific polling venues - everyone is welcome to pick the most convenient. If a voter will be out of town on election day, he/she can vote earlier in the week at select locations.

One of the best (and cutest!) signs of Spring is the arrival of baby animals. There are heaps of ducks all around Wellington's waterfront, and apparently they were busy in the past couple of months! There were at least 20 furry ducklings in the waterways near Te Papa, some older than others...

So cute! Can I take him home?!?

As there are no native mammals in New Zealand, there are birds everywhere in varying sizes. These (finches?) are easy to find and make for adorable pictures -

With Spring comes sudden storms as well. Just a week or so after the above pics were taken, I happened to be home when an afternoon storm barreled in, rained a bit, and left just as quickly.

Hopefully we'll get around to posting Summer pictures before Winter comes back...

A Chocolate Tour of Wellington

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:23:00 +0000

Yesterday, we took the best tour of Wellington: gourmet chocolate shops. Our friend Merrin came up with the idea, and it was such a fabulous one, I'm not sure why we hadn't thought of it before! Mike and Michele joined us on the journey as well...

We started with Melting Perfection on Featherston Street. Merrin suggested getting one piece we knew that we would like, and one 'experimental' piece. I love dark chocolate, so I bought their "Dark Mendiant", which is a thin piece of 70% dark chocolate with assorted nuts and fruits layered on top. I also bought the limited edition "Santa's Secret Trifle" (in dark - 53%), which included a hazelnut mixture and a liquidy fruit filling surrounded by the dark chocolate.

Darren experimented with the "Chili Ganache" and "Santa's Addiction" (in milk chocolate).

Overall, I was quite impressed with this shop. They had a huge selection of chocolates, and the chocolatier was very knowledgeable about all of them. She didn't hesitate for a second when I asked the percentage of cocoa used in their dark chocolate offerings. The prices were a little higher than the other stores, but the pieces were larger too. I liked the Dark Mendiant the best of the two pieces I purchased, but mainly because I'm not a fan of liquidy anything in my chocolate.

As for Darren, he reports that the Chili Ganache was quite good, but very spicy. He enjoyed the special edition Santa's Addiction much more. He describes it as "a caramel covered soft brownie wrapped in a chocolate egg". Yum! I'll have to go back for the dark (53%) version...

We headed down the street to De Spa in the Old Bank building. This shop is quite tiny, and has an equally small selection. The shop girl had no idea about the percentage of cocoa in the dark chocolate offerings, but did answer quite a few questions about the chocolate selections.

I bought the "Hazelnut Devil", Darren tried the "Strawberry Creme" and we both tasted the "Brazilian Nougart" and "Cinnamon Biscuit (cookie)" in dark chocolate. The prices weren't too bad - the pieces averaged about $1 - but the chocolates were a bit smaller than Melting Perfection's. As for taste, all of the selections (except the cookie) were incredibly sugary. Not impressed at all! The cookie was very yummy though, and in addition to the cinnamon, there were hints of ginger spice.

We continued on our way down Willis street to Butler's Chocolate Cafe. Butler's is probably best known in Wellington for their hot chocolate drinks (get a free piece of chocolate with each one!). They do have some tasty-looking chocolate cakes and other assorted baked items on the counter, as well as a small collection of assorted chocolates. Once again, the counter person knew exactly the percentage of cocoa in the dark chocolate (bonus), and I immediately purchased a piece of "Double Chocolate".

The price was similar to the other stores, and while not nearly as sugary as the chocolate from De Spa, not nearly as tasty as the chocolate from Melting Perfection. But perhaps I was distracted from the taste because I had to watch myself eat the chocolate from three different viewpoints - the walls in the cafe are lined with mirrors! I understand this is supposed to make the place feel larger, but no one wants to see his/her reflection when indulging in chocolate.

The last stop in our tour was Shoc Chocolates on Tory. Aptly named, I think, for the prices. Their chocolates are very pretty and colourful and are a great alternative to the average box of chocolates gift. There wasn't a huge selection, but enough to make us feel we had enough to choose from.

I tried the "Apple and Cinnamon" chocolate. Very tiny, but well decorated and tasted just like the description. Darren tried the "Peanut Butter" chocolate which he described as 'meh'.

Shoc also has a large selection of chocolate 'tablets', but we were too full of sugar at that point to try them. Looking at the website, I may have to drop by one day and taste a couple of the bittersweet offerings.

I've heard good things about the attached cafe that serves hot chocolate and other chocolate drinks. Perhaps the next tour will be a cafe tour?

In the end, the first shop (Melting Perfection) wins the prize for the best chocolate in terms of value and taste. Good thing, too, as it's just a couple blocks from my office!

UPDATE: I dropped by Shoc today and tried a couple of the 'tablets'. I absolutely adore the Sea Salt/70% dark chocolate tablet! Pricey, but totally worth it!

A Vote for Hope

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:54:00 +0000

Yesterday's election was indeed historical. The most obvious reason being, of course, that the United States finally elected a Black person to the highest office in the country. As my friend Ray so eloquently pointed out, Black children all over America have a new role model; a new goal. There is a family in the White House that looks like their own families.

There are many many happy people in the US today, and all over the world. There are quite a few bitter people, too, though. I've already seen the backlash from McCain (and even Bush! Really?!?) supporters who think America got it all wrong.

Clearly I don't agree with the bitter people. Throughout the election process, I saw hatred and anger spewing from McCain's supporters. It's quite telling that death threats against Obama increased after every Palin rally. In the end, though, it was the hope that far outweighed the hate, racism and fear. Hope for a better life? Hope that Obama will fix everything? Does it matter?

This election is momentous to me because Americans made a decision based in hope instead of fear. Fear has been ever-present in American politics for almost 8 years straight now, and has been used to get American citizens to agree to a false, never-ending, economy-killing war as well as the loss of their civil liberties and freedoms. The current president invoked "9/11" anytime he felt he was losing an argument or the attention of the American populace.

Ages ago, Buffalo Springfield sang "For What It's Worth". Written and recorded in the late 60s, the song still rang true for me over the past few years, one verse in particular:

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

I feel like the cloud of constant fear has finally been lifted, and America can get on with living. It will be a long, difficult road, but the new President-elect is no stranger to the struggles of life. Hopefully the country can make great strides with this new positive energy.

The Week of Change

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:22:00 +0000

Lots going on this week, personally, but my primary concern involves two major elections - one in the US and one in New Zealand. It's pretty cool (but also weird) how these two countries still play such a large part in my life even though I only live in one of them.

Darren and I can vote in both elections, and have in fact already voted in the US election. As US citizens, we can only vote in presidential elections (not primaries) and we do this by the 'absentee ballot' process. Since we lived in Maryland before we moved to New Zealand, our votes are counted there.

As permanent residents of New Zealand, we can also vote in the elections here. I find that astonishing, actually, as expats in the US are considered "resident aliens" and do not have any voting rights there.

While I'm sure it's clear by now just where I stand (*cough* bleeding-heart liberals *cough*), I haven't addressed the upcoming elections or other special votes taking place this week. No good excuse, just busy with life and work, and it's easier to let our friend Arthur do all the heavy lifting.

I could spend several blog posts explaining why I think it's time for the Democrats to take the White House back, or why we should all be very afraid of McCain/Palin and their rallies filled with hate, but the subject I want to discuss most is the (anti) gay marriage bill up for popular vote in California tomorrow.

First, let me be clear. I am not a lesbian, and I do not wish to marry another woman. In fact, I didn't personally know any homosexual men or women until university (I think...it wasn't a clear and defining moment for me).

So why am I so interested in this subject? For all the things my parents did wrong, the most valuable lesson they taught me was not to discriminate against others. They fostered the innate acceptance of others in me when I was a young child. I truly believe every human should be treated equally regardless of color, sexuality or gender. It's that simple, and for me the argument ends there.

But it doesn't end there for so many other people because religion comes into the equation. Religion has been used throughout history to hate or discriminate against other people - because of gender, sexuality, color or even the particular sect of the same religion. Wars are raged and people are killed because of the differing times of day a person believes he should pray!

I'm not particularly "religious" (in the most strict sense of the word), so I cannot understand why, when so many (if not all) religions are based on love, acceptance and trying to make the world a better place, their holy books are used to divide, discriminate against and hate other people.

Women struggled to have a voice within the Christian church due to a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians. That was overcome (in some protestant religions, and somewhat in the catholic church). Then black slaves in the United States struggled in general against Christians who used the bible to label them as animals or half-humans. Even when given the right to vote, initially a black person's vote was worth a fraction of a white man's vote. That also has been overcome (for the most part).

It seems the US and perhaps (some) Christians specifically - they seem to be the loudest squeaky wheels - need to have a villain: some group of people to hate via Jesus. For the past several years, the most hated groups are the Muslims and the homosexuals. Interestingly enough, Morgan Spurlock (of Super Size Me fame), created a show called "30 Days" in which he asks a person to live outside of his/her comfort zone for a month. He has done several episodes so far - now currently in the 3rd season - but the first season contained an episode that placed a Christian with a Muslim family and a different Christian with a homosexual man in San Francisco. The results were astounding, and if you haven't seen the series, I highly recommend renting or buying it.

The latter episode placed a small-town heterosexual Christian military man (Ryan) with a homosexual man living in the Castro section of San Francisco (Ed). To be fair, Ryan was not a raging homophobe, and Ed was not a super-flamboyant stereotypical gay man. However, at the beginning of the experiment, Ryan admitted he believed homosexuality to be a 'choice' and a sin, due to certain scriptures in the bible.

Those familiar with such passages will note that Leviticus is the most damning. However, many of those who judge homosexuality by the bible will fail to admit that Jesus himself never spoke on homosexuality. It seems the Old Testament is used when convenient, but also ignored when convenient, such as the commandment "Thou Shall Not Kill".

This discrepancy was discussed (with no resolution) when Ryan went to meet with a lesbian pastor to discuss the bible. As he was in the military, he felt justified in killing someone if the need arose. He had found a way around a very clear commandment, even though there is no "except..." written in bible. It was not clear whether Ryan believes killing is a sin; it is certainly possible that he feels that way, as he does feel all sins are equal. Ok, the question then is, would he use that part of the bible to discriminate against or even hate someone who killed? ALL people who killed - including his fellow servicemen? Should people who kill another person not be allowed to marry, for instance?

Towards the end of the episode, Ryan met with PFLAG(Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). He met a man who talked about his daughter, and how much he loves her because she is his child, gay or 'straight' (I truly dislike that term). His 'truth' is that his daughter deserves to be treated with all the same respect and dignity and receive all the same rights, privileges and obligations as her two (straight) siblings.

That is what finally affected Ryan. It was very difficult for him to disagree with that statement, and he admitted it would be difficult to deny that his brother, sister, or future children would deserve the same, if they were gay.

At the end of this 30 days, he read a statement at a party thrown for his host, Ed:

"Growing up in a non-diverse area, and not knowing more than two homosexuals in your life, it is very easy to believe stereotypes and form a wrong opinion about a group of individuals you know nothing about. I came to San Francisco very opinionated, believing false information and with a confident attitude that Ed, his friends, and the many acquaintances that I was going to make would not be able to change my views or beliefs. Was I ever wrong. Through this experience, I have learned more than I imagined I would and I am leaving with a very positive image and opinion of homosexuals and their difference, but not really all that different lifestyle. So, thank you to all of you for playing a part in this great and educational experience with me."

(Ryan stated in the commentary to the episode that he wrote the speech himself.)

If you are in the US, you can watch the entire episode for free here.

What does this all have to do with legalizing gay marriage? I've said it before, but it will bear repeating until all the bigots relent: there is no legal argument against legalizing gay marriage, only religious arguments. And again, one of the founding principles of America is Freedom of Religion (there's also the pesky doctrine of separation of Church and State). No one's religion should dictate what another person does. Period.

Even though that should be the end of the discussion, I'll go ahead and address some of the other arguments I've heard -

How about the one regarding the history and tradition of marriage? Well, that's a complicated issue - marriage has meant many different things and has been used for many purposes over thousands of years. Polygamy was commonly exercised in the bible, and still is in some parts of the world (and in some Christian faiths). Should we go back to that? How about marrying your husband's brother or father if your husband dies? That's traditional too.

What about the statistics of heterosexual marriage in the US? I believe the divorce rate is hovering around 50%. Will letting homosexual couples threaten that percentage? I believe it will affect the number in a positive way: if the hate and judgement against homosexuality is lessened, perhaps more gay men and women will be true to themselves and feel free to love who they choose instead of entering into doomed marriages with the opposite sex.

But what about the freaky-non-baby-making-sex? Conservatives seemed to be fascinated - consumed! - with gay sex. Because all married heterosexuals only participate in missionary-style baby-producing lovemaking, right? Tell that to my Catholic Puerto Rican friend who only had anal sex so she would be a 'virgin' on her wedding night...

So, no, two gay men or women cannot produce a child. Neither can millions of heterosexual couples. There are even married couples who don't want children. Should they be allowed to marry? Or forced to divorce? What about artificial insemination or other birth-enhancing treatments?

The point is, there are no valid arguments against homosexual marriage that do not open the doors to discrimination against heterosexual couples. Nor are any of the religious arguments valid in a legal debate. The hatred, the discrimination and the bigotry only serve one purpose: to create a second, lesser-than class of people in the United States. Constitutions have historically been used to expand the rights of the nations' peoples, and recently there has been a movement to amend constitutions to exclude a particular group of people.

If you live in California, please vote "No" to Prop 8 tomorrow. Watch the 30 Days episode, look past the stereotypes and preconceptions and see the people - someones sister/brother/uncle/son.

Jumpin... err... jimmeny?

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 07:42:00 +0000

Ok so, some animals can jump. I mean really JUMP! They are talented and cute and we love to watch them. A few cases as seen below.

Adorable, strange but adorable.

Aww... who doesn't love penguins?

And of course... frogs are awesome.

Now let's say that you are not at all cute and in theory not supposed to jump. How sad would that be for you? Now let's say you are slowly evolving the ability to jump. Wouldn't that be cool? As a few examples of animals you wouldn't think of as jumpers and yet jump they do. Some scary stuff if you encountered these animals in the wild.

Jumping Crocodiles? Really?

Jumping Great Whites... what the hell?

Leaping Mantarays!

And of course... flying snakes. No shit.

Not sure why this intrigues me but it does. If you haven't seen some of these, ignore the talking and just watch (I just turn off the volume). It is worth it if you have not seen them.

What's the F***ing Difference? Let me tell you!

noreply@blogger.com (Darren) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:41:00 +0000

It has come to our attention several times that many people do not know the difference between Disneyland and Disney World. To us, the differences are large (and many), so it's a tad frustrating to answer "How was your vacation is Disneyland?" with "Well, we didn't go to Disneyland..."

'Trivial', you say! Not to us!

We will now attempt to explain the key differences between these 2 amazing vacation destinations -

DISNEYLAND:

The first of Walt Disney's theme parks, this location (Anaheim, California) was opened on July 17th, 1955 and holds the distinction of being the only theme park to be designed, built, opened, and operated by Walt himself. Disneyland property is 500 acres of land surrounded by a city in CA. Its size is restricted by the city itself, as Walt did not envision the mass consumerism and cheap (and rather ugly) elements that would spring up around the gates of Disneyland and skew his vision even further. He vowed to avoid this with Walt Disney World.

Disney's California Adventure Park(DCA) was the most recent addition to Disneyland. This 55 acre park was added to Disneyland on February 8th, 2001 and in conjunction with the on-property hotels. The name of the park was changed from Disneyland to Disneyland Resort to create a distinction between it and its distant cousins around the world. Sadly DCA has not seen the attendance it was hoping for, and a major expansion (internally) and upgrades are hoping to increase numbers in the coming years.

Attendance Fact: There are nearly 40,000 daily visitors at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. That’s like if the entire city of Annapolis, Maryland decided to go to Disneyland one day. And even more people go on the busier days!

Now, the difference:

WALT DISNEY WORLD (WDW):

The second of Disney's theme parks. Sadly Walt passed away (December 15, 1966) before it was completed and opened on October 1st, 1971 in Orlando, Florida with the Magic Kingdom theme park. Since then, additional theme parks were added starting with Epcot (on October 1, 1982), Disney's Hollywood Studios (on May 1, 1989), and Disney's Animal Kingdom (on April 22, 1998), and two water parks - Typhoon Lagoon (1989) and Blizzard Beach (1995).

At present, WDW has 32 resorts and hotels operating on-property (22 of which are Disney owned and operated) and the entire complex is considered a separate county. WDW has their own Board and Committee and their own municipality services (including, fire, police, ambulance, monorail, bus service, etc) all under the name Reedy Creek Improvement District.

A few interesting facts about WDW:

More than 5,000 cast members are dedicated to maintenance and engineering, including 750 horticulturists and 600 painters.
Disney spends more than $100 million every year on maintenance at the Magic Kingdom.
In 2003, $6 million was spent on renovating its Crystal Palace Restaurant. 90% of guests say that the upkeep and cleanliness of the Magic Kingdom are excellent or very good.
The streets in the parks are steam cleaned every night.
There are cast members permanently assigned to painting the antique carousel horses; they use genuine gold leaf.
There is a tree farm on site so that when a mature tree needs to be replaced, a thirty-year-old tree will be available to replace it.
The resort features a Automated Vacuum Collection system for waste disposal; just one of two places in the USA to do so.

WDW is broken down into 4 major park and resort locations.
Magic Kingdom
Epcot
Hollywood Studios (previously MGM Studios)
Animal Kingdom

There are of course additional areas within these areas (water parks, resorts, etc) as well as additional shopping (Downtown Disney) and Entertainment areas (Pleasure island-closed September 27th, 2008 and Disney's Boardwalk).

WDW employs more than 63,000 people, spending more than $1.1 billion on payroll and $478 million on benefits each year. The largest single-site employer in the United States, Walt Disney World Resort has more than 3,000 job classifications.

The WDW owned property is exactly 30,000 acres, however only 10,000 is currently in use with 10,000 acres that will never be developed (saved purely for conservation efforts) and another 10,000 that is available for further expansion of the WDW parks and properties.

Attendance Fact: There are roughly 117,260 daily visitors at Walt Disney World just southwest of Orlando, Florida. This includes all four theme parks but doesn't not include people going to the two water parks, Pleasure Island/Downtown Disney, Disney Resorts, or just coming to use the recreation (golf, mini golf, Sammy Duvall's, etc.).

Size does matter! As you can see, 500 acres v/s 10,000 acres is a huge difference, but that isn't the only difference. Some things in both DL and WDW are similar, but not the same size. Both theme parks have:

Pirates of the Caribbean: WDW's is actually much shorter than DL's
It's a Small World: DL's goes outside, while WDW's is strictly contained indoors
Haunted Mansion: The stretching room goes down in DL, while the ceiling stretches upward in WDW. Also, DL decorates the Haunted Mansion with a "Nightmare Before Christmas" theme for the Halloween-Christmas seasons each year.
Enchanted Tiki Room: DL retains the original Tiki Room music and script, while WDW has changed in dramatically (though not to our personal liking)
Matterhorn/Big Thunder Railroad: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is larger and considerably more detailed in WDW than the original Matterhorn in DL.
Autopia/Tomorrowland Speedway: The only remaining Tomorrowland attraction from DL's opening day, Autopia is considered a much more fun ride than the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway at WDW. The Autopia cars each have their own personality, and you get to travel through different terrains on the journey – including an off-road section!
Splash Mountain: Though nearly identical in both DL and WDW, the order of the scenes are changed and it is a common opinion that the logs in WDW are much more comfortable.

We hope that clears everything up! Any questions?

Our Eleventh Day

noreply@blogger.com (d) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 05:01:00 +0000

This was our last full day in Disney World, and we really hoped to do all the things we had left on our list (check out the Beach Club's awesome pool, some rides in Magic Kingdom at night, pictures in MGM and Epcot). Due to another afternoon of thunderstorms, we only succeeded in getting to Epcot. Guess we'll have to make another trip next year!

The weather today was… cloudy, then afternoon thunderstorms, then clear (after sunset).

The best thing today was… recycling game at Innoventions. Fun and informative!

The worst thing today was… the weather and stressing about getting to things we wanted to do.
The funniest thing today was… playing in the puddles in Epcot.

Today we tried… to get everything done.

And the result was… spectacular failure!

The most magical moment today was… Pam at the Art of Disney and getting the print we've wanted for two years (with free shipping!).