…this lonely view

I have had the laziest Sunday in history. It’s been an overcast and cooler day so it seemed the perfect time to take a break from summer and lounge around inside for the day.

I have surfed the web, caught up on news, published a couple of posts, watched some TV and finished a book I started (re-reading) a few days ago. The book is great so here’s a quick review for anyone looking for something easy to read. Scar Tissue was released in October 2004 by Hyperion and authored by Anthony Kiedis with Larry Sloman. 

Red Hot Chilli Peppers vocalist and songwriter Anthony Kiedis shares his personal experiences in a first-person, chronological narrative of his life from childhood through to today.

Anthony has lived a breathtaking life. He started doing drugs with his father at the kitchen table from 12 years old and at around the same time his dad ‘loaned’ him his girlfriend so Anthony could lose his virginity.  Scar Tissue recounts the fascinating and tragic story of Kiedis’ life and the history of the RHCP. His tale of heroin addiction, love, fame and making music lurches the reader from one crisis to the next and gives us an often shocking insight into lives almost crippled by drug dependency. I read this and can’t believe how RHCP made a success of music making for 20 years and still continue to survive and grow today.

A superb read for anyone who enjoys autobiographical non-fiction; a simply fantastic read for RHCP fans.

Count your blessings

I just finished reading the story of American Roey Rosenblith who was a passenger on the almost ill fated Northwest Airlines flight 253 to Detroit. It’s a chilling recount of confusion, lack of information and eventual realisation. It’s well worth the longish read if you haven’t done so already.

Huffington Post 27 Dec 2009

Keeping our heads above water

New Zealand has shocking drowning statistics every summer. Kiwis (and our visitors) are far too casual when swimming from our highly tidal beaches with swift currents and fearsome rips.

Piha, west coast black sand beach, north Auckland. Photo from Wikipedia.

Water Safety New Zealand states that on average 119 people drown in New Zealand waters every year. Only road crashes kill more people accidently. There is a chilling physiological explanation of the drowning process there too if anyone has a morbid curiosity.

All major beaches in New Zealand are patrolled by surf lifesavers through summer but on any given day you’ll see most people swimming well away from the patrolled areas – I think it’s got something to do with the fact that we don’t like being told what to do. The lifesavers do an admirable job of keeping an eye on the whole beach and mostly they’re successful but they’re fighting an uphill battle; we New Zealanders think we’re indestructible because we grew up swimming in the sea.

In the last two days a grandfather and a father have drowned in two separate incidents when they were trying (successfully) to save young children swimming with them. In both cases some foresight about the conditions might easily have prevented them getting into trouble. A teen also drowned jumping from a waterfall.Photo from throng.co.nz 

What’s really sad is that our visitors die too. Our beaches are beautiful and look harmless so people just run into the water at the closest spot to their towels and umbrella rather than checking out where the rips are. I was pleased to see yesterday when I was at Piha beach that there were lifesavers handing out pamphlets in different languages explaining about currents and rips and what swimmers should look for before choosing where to swim.

New Zealand beaches are safe as long as we’re all sensible, know what to look for, supervise our kids PROPERLY (always use flippers with boogie boards) and stay out of the water after drinking. With little children always head to the safer east coast Auckland beaches. Maraetai, east coast inner harbour, Auckland (15 minutes drive east from my place)

EDIT: I just did some research and found that Australia’s latest figures (the year to June 2009) make our figures look even worse. Australia lost 302 people to drowning in that year when of course their population is more than 5 times ours (4m here vs 21m there).

I also note that another person (35 year old male) is missing and now presumed drowned from Piha at about the time I was publishing this post yesterday.

My name is Scout

DuPree and Bob did this surprisingly interesting internet quiz about what book matches your personality. It appears I am as below which is pretty cool seeing as I love this story -

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Perceived as a revolutionary and groundbreaking person, you have changed the minds of many people. While questioning the authority around you, you've also taken a significant amount of flack. But you've had the admirable guts to persevere. There's a weird guy in the neighbourhood using dubious means to protect you, but you're pretty sure it's worth it in the end. In the end, it remains unclear to you whether finches and mockingbirds get along in real life.

Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

The most dangerous place on earth?

Earlier today in Lakki Marwat city in northwest Pakistan a suicide bomber drove an explosives-packed vehicle into a crowd of people watching a sports game, killing at least 75 people and wounding hundreds of others.

According to the news report I just watched, residents of the city have recently formed a militia force to try and drive the militants out of their city and I understand that the Pakistani army also continues to wage an ongoing offensive against the Taleban in the same area. Looks like these efforts may have provoked the numerous reprisals that have already killed more than 500 people in the last 2 months.

I’m obviously no expert on the Pakistan situation and I certainly don’t wish to minimise the terrible loss of life happening there already but don’t this lot have a nuclear arsenal? I worry about the ability of the fragile Pakistani government to keep their nukes secure in the face of an advancing Taliban. It’s scary stuff.

Friday flowers

This is the pretty pink flower of our native manuka tree (Leptospermum scoparium).

The manuka is our most common native tree. It grows to 4 metres tall relatively quickly and provides a perfect habitat for other slower growing native trees to germinate and grow underneath.  The manuka has proved integral in regenerating native New Zealand bush in areas which were deforested by European settlers on arrival here 150 years ago. Wind blown manuka trees

It’s a similar looking tree to the Australian tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) but is a different species with some very different medicinal properties. Manuka oil has excellent antiseptic, antifungal, antiviral and antibacterial activities.  The honey resulting from manuka nectar is pretty special as well.