the first steps in something new are sometimes tentative and others one moves as if guided by outside forces driven with a whole path ahead mapped out in the mind.

it is amazing what a little reflection can do in an otherwise dark situation.

thank you rain.

the new zealand maori believe that it is auspicious for rain to fall on an event, a hui [meeting] tangi [funeral] or any gathering of people.

te tangi o te tipuna [the tears of the ancestors]

i mostly enjoy the rain which is a good thing having lived half my life in the sub tropical northern part of new zealand, where there is a fair bit of rain.

a kind man suggested that these pictures reminded him of  jean luc goddard’s film breathless i have to admit that i don’t recall ever seeing the original only the 1983 remake starring richard gere, and if that is anything to go by, i would have a lot to live up to.

a homeless man approached me. this particular man is somebody i am wary of, he is a mean drunk.i don’t know for sure that he is homeless as he could be another of the regular drunks hanging around the surrey cres shops in auckland.

there are a number of homeless/drunks that i have known by name, flicked  them the occasional coin and talked to about whatever comes up. this guy is not one of them. i recall one day talking to one of the guys from nostromo books, shortly after i sat next to the homeless man at the bus stop. he told me about his great idea for a 1 minute noodles [as opposed to the 2 minutes that ramen usually take] and then looked toward the bookstore and told me i must be a  ’redneck nigger poof’ if they were my friends, he then carried on to tell me i would die of aids.

well it was food for thought.

i have fond memories from a few grey lynn park festivals, well a few moments during grey lynn festivals as it is so often turns into a big day and then a big night.

the first that comes to mind is seeing cassette for the first time, there was a light rain i was with a big group of people sitting resonably close to the stage feeling slightly seedy as my band had played the night before.

the boys were fresh from melbourne and walked up on the stage like rock stars. tom had all the rock moves which was a sight to see coming from a country rock band.as if it was yesterday i can still recall the image of the band playing don’t let anyone tom with his foot up on the monitor, guitar slung low, an eye opener.

easy listening radio is not for the faint of heart

the softly mixed sweetness of the tunes, an innocuous soundtrack designed to take the edge of rush hour traffic, station names such as coast and  the breeze

spending your work day with this playing quietly in the background seems like a safe bet. don’t let the trappings fool into a false sense of security, contained within is a litany of loves lost and won, a roller-coaster ride of the highs and lows of our basic human desire to love and to be loved.

use with extreme caution.

just when i had thought that the pop psychology idea of psychic vampires was taking away all the fun to be  had imagining blood sucking immortals from transylvania.

i stumbled upon this tome Psychic Vampires By: Joe H. Slate, Ph.D to bring the horror back.

are there life forms on other planets?

are they watching over us?

the one thing that i know for sure is that the opening sequence in the novel Communion  by Whitley Strieber had me frightened as much as if the greys were experimenting on me directly.

it can so often be the little things that make one feel like they are at home. i get a warm sense of where i come from whenever i walk down sandringham road. two doors down from papas pizza home of magnificent wholemeal pizza bases [i highly recommend the pestovarian], there you will find the electoral office of the right honorable helen clarke, prime minister of new zealand.

armed guards? high fences? surveillance cameras?

not quite. what you will find is nothing more than a humble suburban shop front.

ahhh home

sometimes a prison is but a matter of perception.