BluesBro's World Downunder

Come and have a look, I've got some friends that I made on the road in the South Island who are hooting out the news on number 3000. They think its pretty cool. Well actually I'm not sure that they knew what I was talking about, but they were cool about it:-)

I've been thinking. This morning as I sat on the throne with section two of the paper, I read about survival of poor people in New Orleans and remembered conlifcting images. On one hand there were people walking out of department stores with TV's that they couldn't use because there was no power and probably no transmitters either. On the other hand there was an Afroamerican who was totally apologetic for taking some tinned food and said that he had left a note to the owner apologising, listing what he had taken and promising to come back and pay for it, when this was all over.

Then I read about 2 teenagers in Huntly (a small town suffering with unemployment) an hour south of Auckland, who decided it would be fun to pour highly flammable glue on some cats and set them on fire. Around the same time a local policeman's cat was found cut in half.

The next page talked about North Korea and Iran upping their nuclear programmes, terrorist suspects being picked up in London (they no longer need to be charged with anything and can be held for 3 months). Now don't get me wrong, if they are guilty, my primal instinct cries for their deaths, but what if they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time?

On the same page a Manchester rapist used his mobile phone to film an attack on a young woman, to send to his friends. Then I read that arctic ice has possibly reached a tipping point beyond which nothing can reverse the continual loss of sea ice and with it the massive glaciers of Greenland. Can you name a country that has not experienced weather extremes in the last few years?

I've just got back from a nice spring drive around the South Island. I saw seals basking in the sun on the side of the road and lambs learning to walk in Southland. When I turned on the radio and listened to the weather forcast, they were predicting 20cm of snow to fall in those same areas next week, down to 200 meters above sea level.

I won't carry on with what I read, but it was more of the same. I went to the polling booth an voted in our general elections this morning. Very civilised of me. I'm off to the Home Show this afternoon and will be mingling with fellow citizens and will see nothing hinting of signs of carnage and mayhem around the world.

Tonight I will go to an election party and rev up some emotions for fun, amongst friensd who have different political leanings and that certainly is the sign of a democratic country and I do mostly feel safe here. Generally when I walk along the road and say hi to the person walking the other way, they say a friendly gidday back at me. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world:-)

 

I've been travelling for the last week again, around the South Island. Met some great people and seen some awesome scenery. Stopped at the world's longest flying fox, 1.5km each way, but didn't have time to have a go unfortunately. It's initial start is a drop of 800 meters at 100kmph which would be awesome.

Anyway, its great to be back. Have lots more pics to share with my friends:-)

My thoughts go to all those people affected by Katrina directly or indirectly. It is a real wake up call for everyone who thought the words as written by the late Frank Zappa. “It can’t happen here, it won’t happen here. I’m telling you my dear that it can’t happen here.”

 

It’s great that Buzznet has been able to assist with a blog at http://sunherald.buzznet.com/cat/. It is heartbreaking to contemplate the losses and the grief, but also heartwarming to hear of the good people who are out there helping each other. I prefer not to dwell on the ugly side of gangs and looters, although it occurred to me that mobiles (where it can be done safely) would be a great way to take photos of those who should be brought to justice eventually.

 

I had to smile at the gentleman I saw being interviewed on CNN who was saying how he had taken food and drink from a deserted store. He said that he had left a note saying exactly what he had taken and that he would pay for the goods when the crisis was over. That’s a good man and restores faith and belief that most people are inherently good ad caring.

 

I live next to a dormant volcano that they say will erupt, it may take hundreds of years, or it could happen next week. I don’t think we are any better prepared than those who met the wrath of Katrina. For what good it is, New Zealand has officially offered the services of highly experienced Fire and Civil Defense Search and Rescue teams, which right now would be far better than money and blankets. Don’t know if the offer has been accepted or not. NZ is not considered a friend of the USA because we are nuclear free and wouldn’t allow nuclear powered ships or warheads into our ports. Hopefully this will not prevent the US from accepting our genuine offers of support and assistance. Just because we want to be clean and green, doesn’t mean we are bad people.