Dad got my letter from massey i got in!

The Carmel Prize Video

Enjoy :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUwkVpy_ylA

A Paris Obsession

Does she have a serious problem ? :) Check out this blog.

Travel in Scotland

(source: Washington Post) Travel in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland - some stunning pics

Robert Fisk on Lebanon

For those interested in Middle Eastern geo-politics....

(Source: Independent) Extract:
"In the Sunni Lebanese cities to the north - in Sidon and in Tripoli - there are families who have sent their sons and cousins to Iraq to fight the Americans. They have videotapes of these young men as they set off to car-bomb - to suicide-bomb - the US occupation forces in Iraq. They have shown these videos to me. They, too, see the "new" Unifil as a Nato force. In the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Helweh, for example, there is now a rumour. That "if you can drive well, you are at the top of the list". In other words, if you can drive well, you are the next in the list for suicide bombing."

Carmel Prizegiving Draws Adoring Parents

Yep - you guessed it - written by a proud Dad. Shot taken of Aimee and Lisa, Lisas's prizes described below. Aimee received an award for excellence in English, Merit in Economics and consistent achievement in Mathematics. Well done !

Shot of The Day

Lisa had her final school prizegiving last night, and walked away with three prizes: Service award, Excellence in Religious Studies, and winner of the Overall Art prize (pictured). She was very thrilled given the huge time investment with taking both Photography and Design.

Lisa and Aimz both to receive awards at school prizegiving tonight

Icebergs off Otago Coast (NZ)

(Source: NZ Herald) Wednesday November 15, 2006
Icebergs just off Otago are endangering shipping, a fishing boat skipper warned last night. An iceberg 50m high and 200m long was last night only 43 nautical miles southeast of the tip of the Otago Peninsula and was heading towards the coast.
Travelling with it are icebergs the size of a house and it is those that ships will need to look out for, Gavin Pope, skipper of the Thomas Harrison, said from his vessel late last night.

Global warming, anyone ?

The world city: one in three Londoners was born overseas

(Source: Independent) A third of Londoners were not born in Britain, according to research which throws fresh light on the capital's status as a multi-cultural magnet. The capital now has its highest proportion of residents who started life overseas, with the foreign-born population standing at more than 2.2 million.

Alien rain : Is Earth being seeded from outer space ?

(Source: BBC) - not a joke :) Check this intriguing story out.

The Walled City: Dubrovnik, Croatia

(Source: Turnhere)

Rich in history and surrounded by walls, Dubrovnik dates back to the middle ages. Check out this short video, click on the title link above.
(Filmmaker: Fred Pickles)

Retired Husbands Syndrome

(Source: BBC) Blokes have a hard time - they can't even retire without feeling guilty ! This story from Japan has echoes of that age-old question: do we work to live or vice versa ?

Technology Change over the last 20 years

(Source EDS): This table is fascinating, charting as it does the changes in (consumer) technology over the last 20 years. Taken from a UK study of food retailing. Shows what our teenagers have grown up with.

Conflict: Marseilles different to Paris

(Source: Scoop) - a fascinating article on the differences between Marseilles and Paris, and why there is a much lower level of violence in the former. I didn't realise that Marseilles was founded in 600BC, which is pretty amazing.

New Zealand's Place in the World

(Source: Scoop) The NZ Prime Minister, Helen Clark, recently addressed the London School of Economics (LSE). Putting some of the political 'spin' aside, this copy of her speech provides a useful overview of NZ's place in the world, and our relationship with the UK.

Leopard Spots

We lie embracing friendly shadows
Wild cheetahs accelerating frame-to-frame
Smoothly grooming hair and hiding faces
Zebra groping for grass roots with antelope
Slaking our thirst on mellow milk
Spear carriers in fire-walled caves
Slowly, gently exposing flesh and fold
Transforming candlelight to sunburnt sky
Purring as each morsel is mouthed
Charging into dense elephant bush horizons
Where the lion stalks so un-silently
And leopards come to have unyielding spots

Stephen Saunders, 1998

Auckland skyline

View from our apartment

Consumer Trends: "TRANSUMERS"

(Source: Trendwatching.com) One of my favourite websites - this article is about how consumers are starting to lead "transient" lifestyles - this is some of the stuff I read at work everyday :)

Oil-rich Dubai redraws the atlas

(Source: CNN) Some amazing statistics on the well-known story of Dubai's breakneck growth. Impressive land-reclamation projects.