Yearly Archives: 2010
Happy Birthday Jacques Cousteau
Today is the 100th birthday of Jacques Cousteau.
Few men have led lives as rich and full as his was; naval officer, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher, Cousteau studied the sea and all forms of life in water. He co-developed the aqua-lung and pioneered marine conservation, sharing his fascination of oceanic life in all it’s rich and diverse forms with the world, in the reams of film he and his crews produced and broadcast around the globe for over 50 years.
+24Advance Australia Fair
I’m expecting to get quite a lot of flak from fellow Kiwi’s for what I’m about to say, but I’ll say it anyway…
Australia is awesome!
I haven’t been to Sydney since I was 6 or 7 and I’ve never visited Melbourne at all. So when a rather serendipitous set of circumstances set me on a Qantas flight bound for the other Great Southern land, I jumped at the chance.
Stunning Sydney
Even arriving in the middle of a fairly massive thunderstorm did little to dampen my spirits and within an hour we were checked into the conveniently located, mid-range Park Regis hotel.
+27Meet the new boss…
Well the UK 2010 election is now over…and at least it’s been an entertaining one.
As usual, the British version of “organisation” (known everywhere else as a “cluster-f*ck”) swung into play, with scores of people prevented from voting for a range of reasons including lost or insufficient ballot papers, lack of staff, resources etc.
+32Bangkok revisited (part 2)
Despite the rather full-on day I had yesterday, I was determined not to miss my planned excursion today. Even so, when the alarm woke me at 6:45am, it took some effort to drag myself out of bed.
Still, it’s amazing what an ice-cold shower and a decent breakfast will do, even without the coffee (no coffee, tea, coke or red wine for 10 days said the dentist) and by 8:30 I was on my way to the Chatuchak markets.
+20Bangkok revisited (part 1)
My second trip to Bangkok was undertaken with some degree of trepidation.
Shortly after I booked my tickets in early March, large numbers of supporters of the ousted president Thaksin Shinawatra started to congregate around the business and government districts of Bangkok. Similar protests had occurred during my previous visit just under a year ago but I had narrowly missed the worst of them; they were reported by the international press around the time I was gratefully dropping my bags on the floor of my parents’ place in New Zealand and I was a little stunned to see TV images of the police clashing with red-shirted protesters outside what appeared to be the hotel I had stayed in less than 24 hours previously!
+27So long…and thanks
Well, my time at the NPIA in Bramshill is now over. It was a very busy 9 months working at my favourite client site and I got a lot done, but as always time caught up with me.
I will miss the terrific team that I was part of, the fantastic site I was lucky enough to work at on and off for over 4 years, the fab meals and the challenging work.
Like any contract, it had it’s down sides on occasion, but on the whole I feel pretty lucky to have worked there.
Ah well – that’s enough looking back – time to look down the road.
So long folks – and thanks for all the fish.
+15Songs of Faith for the Devoted
The Depeche Mode gig at the O2 stadium in London on Saturday 20th February 2010 has been a long time coming.
Having bought the tickets over a year ago, the planned 30th May ’09 gig offered the usual agonizing wait, but then to find it was postponed for another 9 months was excruciating! However, the day finally arrived and not without a little anticipation – not only to see Depeche Mode again, which I have only seen live twice before, but also for the venue; the London O2 Arena I had been told is an amazing stadium and with great acoustics.
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