Born to Drive?

The Ramones strike again?

Or that would be what Craig would probably have seen!
Actually, the road isn't called that at all - sorry Craig.

It's Everywhere!

NCEA is everywhere, and kids just can't get away from it. Not only does the NCEA website have a 'countdown' to the first exam, we even saw this exhortation, or is it a 'nag', while in Havelock North recently.

Girl on A Swing

Last year Desiree saw a swing-seat at Mitre10, but when we went back to get one, they had sold out. She has long hankered after a swing-seat such as this, saying that she has wanted one ever since sitting in her Aunt Molly's in Auckland some years ago.

So when we were in Mitre10 again recently (not that we spend a lot of time there, but we do visit now and then) she had a quick look again, and Lo and Behold - there they were again! So of course, we had to do the deal, along with a new table and chairs (the current table has been battered a little courtesy of the wind shifting the umbrella).

We eventually managed to get it home, and then it had to be assembled. Craig decided he wanted to that job - and whom am I to argue?

So, that completed, we had to have photos of The Girl on a Swing!

"Girl On A Swing" by Gerry & The Pacemakers

I stand out of sight
And watch as the light from the sun
Shines through her hair
From yonder she came
I don't know her name
Still I love that girl on a swing

Girl on a swing, swing high
Girl on a swing, swing low
Take all the hate from the world that we're in
Girl on a swing, swing high
Girl on a swing, swing low
And you can cast all your troubles to the wind

She comes with the light
Then goes with the night
My heart just yearns
But then comes the dawn
And she returns

Girl on a swing, swing high
Girl on a swing, swing low
Take all the hate from the world that we're in
Girl on a swing, swing high
Girl on a swing, swing low
And you can cast all your troubles to the wind

Over-cooked

I recently tried a new brew of Mac's. Unfortunately I 'over-cooked' it - I must have added too much sugar in the bottle for the secondary fermentation. As a result, when I tested a bottle, it 'exploded' on me, with spectacular effect!

That's the effect spring weather has

Brunch on the deck, on a sparkling spring morning

Shorts make their first appearance for the season. Stunningly white feet and legs mean sunglasses are de riguer!

Hey ho, hey ho

"It's off to the ball we go"
Jayne and Nicky were dressed and ready early for the off, to the Wellington College Ball.

Note Jayne's dress - designed and made by herself, of course!

Chilling 'look-alikes'?

Or is just my imagination?
Two horrendous murders, one convicted killer, and one accused (double-) killer.
In one case, "Clayton Robert Weatherston set about killing and disfiguring Sophie Elliott "in a calm and collected manner", the Crown said as it opened the murder case against him in the High Court at Christchurch" (www.stuff.co.nz). He was eventually found guilty in a case which is still attracting coverage.
In Christchurch, Tisha Lowry disappeared 12 months ago; her body has now been recovered from beneath the house next-door to where she lived, along with that of the woman who lived in the house.
The man accused of both murders has been named as Jason Somerville.
What I find especially chilling about these cases is the appearance of Weatherston and Somerville. Now I'm the first to confess I have never been particularly good at spotting 'likenesses' between people. I am usually non-plussed when people claim to be able to see family resemblances after a quick glance at a photo, especially when it is of a child.
But: take a look at these:


How spooky is that?
Apparently, "Dr Chaplow, New Zealand's director of mental health, said ... Weatherston was controlling and 'appeared to have an inflated sense of his own achievements'" (NZ Herald), and said "that one of the character traits of the narcissist is the propensity for 'narcissistic rage' when frustrated and/or humiliated."
So, my reaction when I saw Somerville's photo and the likeness to Weatherston, was that maybe all those theories about racial and character types having specific appearance characteristics were actually onto something? Maybe this is the facial 'type' of the narcissist? Maybe we will find that Somerville is also prone to 'narcissistic rages' which propelled him to kill two women.
Or maybe I'm seeing things which aren't really there.