Not a great start to the new year. First the news of Pete Postlethwaite, then the news today of the passing of Gerry Rafferty earlier today.
15 Years Young
Fifteen years ago today, I headed out to the sunny climes of Malta in the late summer, with three new friends. It was a trip that marked the beginning of an incredible bond of friendship, which is celebrated throughout the Bandanna Club website.
For me, it was a life-changing time.
It had been a tough year. My younger brother had recently passed away and his birthday which had occurred a few days earlier, was still a sharp and painful memory.
Rant: Urine my heart
This was written by an Air New Zealand flight attendant in Auckland.
I’m damn sure I’m not alone in agreeing with him…
Hangin’ in Hong Kong

Well, it’s almost time to fly again.
I’ve spent the last 5 days in Hong Kong, braving the drippy-wet humidity levels, the bursts of torrential rain that are always a part of the Typhoon season and for some reason a large influx of extremely fat, loud, crass aussies, in their “best” clobber (i.e. grotty old Bermuda shorts, tank tops and floppy sandals…Jeez, what’s with that?)
Meandering in Macau
I’ve been to Hong Kong a number of times in recent years and every time I visit, a trip to Macau is usually on the to-do list. But somehow I always seem to run out of time.
This time was different. After getting settled in to the Eaton hotel on Nathan road, I started looking into the best way to visit Macau.
A Book is just a Book
Book burning is something that sticks in our craw a bit.
Most of us are taught that the burning of books is a bad thing. Ditto for flags. And world history during the last century has been littered with ominous events of hatred and intolerance, in which the burning of books or flags has played a central symbolic role.
The day the south was rocked

I am immensely relieved that no-one was killed in the recent earthquake in Canterbury.
With a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter scale, the quake struck the South Island of New Zealand at 4:35 am local time on the 4th of September and is believed to be the worst earthquake to hit Godzone since 1931.
Friends of mine who live in an apartment block in the CBD of Christchurch provided a harrowing account of the experience:-



![Gerry Rafferty performing at the National Stadium 1980. Photo: Eddie Mallin [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons Gerry Rafferty at National Stadium](/images/Blog/gerryrafferty.jpg)
![Pete Postlethwaite speaks at Make Poverty History March - Edinburgh 2004. Photo: Dave Morris [CC BY 2.0] (flickr) Pete Postlethwaite at Make Poverty History March](/images/Blog/petepostlethwaite.jpg)

![Brightly lit casino in downtown Macau. Photo: el captain [CC BY-NC-SA 2.0] (flickr) Brightly lit Casino in downtown Macau](/images/Blog/macau.jpg)

