Your place or mine

The Minister of Energy and Finance Gerry Brownlee came out a few weeks ago and decided that he wanted a stocktake done of all the mineral resources on protected crown land which includes national parks and reserves. Now granted, it was only a stocktake but you don't do that unless you planning to do something with that stock do you? Even though no future plans have been announced, it was no surprise that it caused a bit of a stink here in clean green New Zealand. Here is where my quandary starts. I work for a gold company and a fairly big one too, that happens to pay my mortgage. That gold mine is based in Waihi at the beginning of the Coromandel Peninsular which has a long history of gold mining and forestry but has also become the spiritual home of the green movement in New Zealand. Pro-mining and anti-mining interests walk hand in hand around town here. A few weeks ago, I was visiting friends at an arts fair and Harry Parke, the husband of the founder and former co-leader of the green party(Jeanette Fitzsimons, above in the photo on the left), was there with an anti-mining petition. Friends and I were out the back and Harry came out for a smoke. Quite quickly the conversation switched to mining in Waihi. I let Harry know that I worked for the mine and he said "I guess you won't be signing my petition then?".We had a bit of a chat and it was nice to have a discussion with someone who was so passionate about their point of view and was obviously used to debate. I can honestly say that while I am pro-mining for obvious reasons, I'm not nearly as pro as Harry is con. It's a great job, and an unique one in really interesting industry with lots of different types of people in it. That said, I've also have, in my former lives worked for the US Air Force, on deep sea trawlers in Alaska and in the forestry industry. I've always joked that after this mining gig that I'll be clubbing baby seals in Canada. OK, it's not a very good joke, but they can't all be winners. The point is, that regardless of my work history I do have a greenish tinge to me that is concerned with what is happening to my planet and what my kids are going to inherit. Like probably most people we are not manning the ramparts of the green movement but we aren't excessive and probably have a low carbon footprint. Now back to my quandary, should I be supportive of more mining on the Coromandel. Part of the conversation with Harry was mining in Waihi specifically and we both agreed that as long as there is gold in Waihi there will be gold mining. I've been with the company long enough to trust what they are doing and confident enough to say to Harry that he should be glad that they are here instead of someone else who may not value their social contract as much as their bottom line. Of course, the company benefits greatly from the gold and silver they extract but there is also great benefit to the community by having this company here. That may not have been the case with another company. Now, would I like for the company to explore other options for extending the life of the mine. Hell yes! Do I feel that we need to tread carefully exploring outside of Waihi. Hell yes! Why? Because, I don't see the benefit for Oputere if we start mining there. That ore will come to Waihi and benefit Waihi. Do I have a solution for the this apparent conflict? Not really. In the bigger picture, what will Minister Brownlee do once his stocktake is complete. He has stated that the lesser valued crown land with protection in place would be under consideration for reclassification if the mineral assets were significant. Where is all this coming from in the first place? In my opinion, it's a bit of Aussie envy. The National party, when they came into power just over a year ago, made it one of their stated goals that they would close the gap with Australia. "The Lucky Country" has large mineral assets that has in part enabled it to become one first countries in the world to recover from the recession. Lots of Kiwis have and continue to emigrate there for the work and better pay. We are not really that keen to go to Aussie. Nevermind the snakes and spiders and crocodiles, even the kangaroos there are cold blooded killers and I'm trying to avoid getting killed. Maybe the National Party needs to promote that more. "Don't go to Australia, the locals want to kill you!" or "Please stay and we promise you won't get hurt" could be their slogans. Even the killers we do have in New Zealand just like to play. Anyways, back to the point I was trying to make. If we have the assets why shouldn't we use them. In the bigger picture, we may be asset rich but cash poor and somehow it seems to me that a great majority of New Zealanders would feel like they are selling their souls if they open up their protected land to mining. That said, in other areas, I've seen where the locals are quite open to industry moving into their town (I'm thinking West Coast with the coal,mining and forestry) but it is the non-locals who are most against it. The mayor of Thames District Council (Coromandel) came out last year and said she would welcome mining back onto the Coromandel. This was after several hundred jobs in the district were lost including at the sawmill where I used to work. The government must decide if they want to risk the backlash of opening protected areas to mining and damaging New Zealand's "clean,green image". It is clearly a case of short term gain over long term benefit. Personally, I feel comfortable with where I am at right now and hope that we can continue mining indefinitely. Ideally, New Zealand would just discover huge oil reserves and we could become a southern hemisphere Saudi Arabia and we could all drive around in Mercedes and pay $0.25 for a gallon of petrol and I could get a Filipino maid for my mansion and buy a football club and wear a sequin suit and smoke a big pipe, but I digress. That fantasy ain't happening. Damn!

In conclusion, this is one of the few times where big decisions like this have so directly influenced what I have been doing at that time. Small Picture, lets just find lots of gold in Waihi and not worry about other options for now. Bigger picture, ?????....Don't know. What... you don't think I have all the solutions of the world do you? It is a tough one though isn't it.

New Playlist

I've posted another playlist on Grooveshark. There is no rhyme nor reason to the songs. They just come from a mental list I've been making lately when I hear a song or artist that I like or haven't heard in a while. I've been thinking of making themed playlists but we'll see. I've got a few more posts in the pipeline and normally I sit down and just write them without too much more thought than that but these are demanding more time and research so you'll have to wait a few more days.

Anyways, the list of Dutch artist named after an animal may be small, but this is one of my favourites and she has mentioned me on her website(click on her blog). Feel free to have a look around, but remember, if you break anything you buy it! Mark

The Sporting Life- Greatest Sporting City in the World

A lot of cities claim to be great sporting cities but there has to be a greatest doesn't there? There aren't a lot of contenders. New York,Boston,Chicago and L.A. in the States maybe London and Rio although they are probably too dominated by soccer (they each have like nine professional teams) but the one that sticks out above the rest is Melbourne. Actually, the more I think about it it's not even close. Let's put New York a far second but here are the facts that stick Melbourne out from the rest.

-The AFL (Aussie Rules) is a Victorian thing and Melbourne is the heart and soul of the AFL. They have teams in New South Wales,Queensland and Western Australia but that is due to expansion. Melbourne is the epicentre. In any one week 50,000+ fans are selling out any of several stadiums that dot the the city. You cannot discount how big this is for one city as far as dominance of one sport in one town.

-The MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground or the "G") is one of the 7 wonders of the sporting world. It also hosts the Boxing Day Tests which draws a 100,000+ for each of the five days.

- Melbourne hosts the Australian Open at the Rod Laver Arena. I've always wondered how how the Australian Open became a major. It seems, to me, to stick out. Obviously, Wimbledon is an easy number 1 followed by the US Open and Roland Garros needs to be there for the change of surface but why then Australia? It's in a crappy time zone for it's major market, it doesn't offer any particular point of difference besides maybe the heat, but these days they have covered stadiums and late start times.

- Melbourne Cup. They call it the race that stops the nation but in reality it stops two nations because New Zealand also holds it high regard. The only comparison would be the Kentucky Derby and I would put them on even standing as far as prestige and relevance but just different hemispheres.

- Formula One comes here every year. It is slowly losing relevance through poor management but is still surviving on reputation. Melbourne usually kicks off the yearly schedule.

- Random facts.Melbourne has hosted an Olympic Games and a Commonwealth Games. Did you know that up until the LA Dodgers hosted the Boston Red Sox in an exhibition came recently that the largest attendance record for a baseball game was in Melbourne in 1956! 114,000+. That might be a bit disheartening to Americans but did you also know that the largest haka was also in Melbourne (2200 people! the old record was 800).

- The body of evidence is just too great. The scope of the fanship means to me that Melburnians are really the greatest sport fans in the world. Really, to be honest, I think you could tell people in Melbourne "Hey, you going to the game?" and you wouldn't even need to tell them what sport it was they would just show up. It sounds like my kind of town.

Point of Disclosure- I've never been to Melbourne but to be honest it would be number 1 of cities to visit that I haven't been to yet. Besides sports it really does have a lot to offer. Before the Aussies get too full of themselves though they shouldn't forget this.

Sand Art

One of the websites I like to visit is mental_floss. They have this bit called Feel Art Again which is just a quick summary of all different artists from all over the world and all different genres. I caught this recent clip from Ukrainian artist Kseniya Simonova. Enjoy!

I too will not be meeting with Dalai Lama

I'm not into conspiracy theories normally but here's one for you. This week Prime Minister John Key decided against meeting the Dalai Lama. Recently, the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd also elected not to meet with the Dalai Lama. This was not long after Barack Obama decided that he too would not be meeting with His Holiness. Wow, this guy must either be very controversial or have some severe halitosis. I'm sure it has nothing to do with pressure from China not to meet with the man. Now here's the conspiracy, John Key has worked in Asia as the head of Merrill Lynch's foreign exchange and met with the Dalai Lama when he was in opposition but now refuses to. Kevin Rudd, who speaks mandarin by the way, has met with the leader of China, Hu Jintao, 5 times since coming into office but won't meet with stinky ole Dalai. Obama (can he go by one name now like a Brazilian footballer?) has a half-brother who lives in China, who is busy promoting a book right now. Never mind that the US owes the Chinese like a trillion dollars in bond debt, he doesn't want upset his new friends and affect book sales.

Now, I've also decided to follow example and I have decided that if I ever have the opportunity to meet the Dalai Lama I will choose not to. If he's in the shop buying smokes and I come in I'm just going to pretend that I didn't see him and go down the back where they keep the milk and wait until he's gone. If he comes into a bar that I'm at, I'm just going leave and I guess I'll find another place to go. If he rings me up to go out, I'll just say that I'm sick or something and that we'll have to catch up next time. It could get a bit awkward but what's the man ever done for me? I mean, can I get shitty tools that work only once before they break from Tibet? No. Can I get pyjamas for my kids that spontaneously combust in Tibet? No. How about kids toys that contain lead paint or toothpaste that contain arsenic? How much does tainted baby formula that kills kids cost in Tibet? I bet it's a lot.

These are tough economic times and it's a dog eat dog world out there. OK maybe that's not a good metaphor but they used to say that a healthy US economy was good for the world economy but these days it's a healthy Chinese economy that's important. I'm mean, where are The Wharehouse, Walmart and Hema going to get all their shit from. It ain't Tibet.

Guess who's coming to dinner part 2

I spoke in this earlier post about having a dinner party where I could get to invite anyone I wanted to. Noam Chomsky is already in. If Noam is in, I really should have a politician as a foil. I really wanted one anyway, but the problem is that I can’t think of one I actually like or admire. Obama at this point is a bit too obvious and for the same reason as Ali. I won’t be inviting him. He is just too big at this moment. John Key (the current Prime Minister of New Zealand) might be next on this list but I’m still not happy with that choice. While he seems to be a likable guy and everything, he’s not a lifetime politico and actually came out of the wonderful world of high finance which isn’t the most likable profession right now. Politician/Financier is too synonymous with murderer/rapist these days. No John is out. I want a lifer. The other problem with having a politician is that I cannot completely trust that I’ll get a straight answer to a question all night. So I need to find a political lifer who will answer a straight question with a straight answer. Wish me luck on that one. How about then someone who was a lifer but is only recently out of politics? Bill Clinton then becomes an obvious choice but I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving him alone with the womenfolk. That’s a bummer because I’d like to have Hilary come too. Unfortunately, I don’t think given current US foreign policy that Hillary and Noam would hit it off at all. I could almost envisage the two getting into a scrap where Noam starts off with something like “Madame Secretary, I believe your policy dealing with the economic threat posed by China and India is flawed until you at least begin to deal with them as equals” Whereas Hillary responds with “Chomsky, get fucked!” and smashes him over the head with an empty wine bottle. She then yells for Bill to get their coats because they’re leaving and Bill comes out of one of the bedrooms like a demented Basil Fawlty with ladies underwear on his head and a dirty sanchez going “Yes dear, coming.” No, no couldn’t have that, although it is tempting. Where does that leave me? I tried to think of an interesting Dutch politician but gave up before my head wanted to explode.I thought about inviting Ruud Lubber's eyebrows but they to like Ali or Obama would dominate the evening Their politics are too full of compromises anyway. They would always try and meet you halfway in any discussion you had with them which is almost like having a discussion with yourself. No thanks. So it sort of brings me back to New Zealand really. By a process of default I’m going to chose the former prime minister Helen Clark. You’ll hear an audible groan from my New Zealand readers but give me a chance to explain my rationale. In the first case, this choice is not a compromise. Sir Helen ticks all the boxes really. She is a lifer who has totally been committed to the cause since the early 70’s. She has only ever wanted to be a politician. I admired her while she was Prime Minister even though my opinion of her party comrades has never been that high. At the end of her reign she was sort of like a captain on a ship of fools. She’s now moved on to 3rd in charge at the United Nations but I am sure that she would have a lot to say on past, present and future New Zealand which is important to me. She is really intelligent and well spoken and can form ideas without an advisor and would, I think form an excellent counter to Chomsky in regards to the fact that while it may be easy to throw tomatoes from off stage but she may be able to give a point of view as to how the decision-making process is made at the highest level. So that my friend is my 2nd guest Helen Clark. Added bonus, I’m sure her husband Peter is really good at washing dishes!

Can you guess what Willie Nelson's middle name is?

Here's Snoop Doggs guess.

Head in the Clouds

Did you know that there was a website dedicated to the appreciation of clouds? Neither did I.

Rockin' with the Finndego

I talked in this earlier post about trying to get music incorporated into the blog through Grooveshark. A playlist that I created six weeks ago as a test has now appeared on the site. It was only a random list but it's here now. It's a bit of mix of older and less old and somewhat newish Kiwi music but by no means complete. Now that I know that it works I hope to post more playlists with lots of different sounds. Kia Ora (that's Maori for Aloha).

How to listen to punk music

All folked up. Scroll down for songs.

Why do the Dutch love their bookcases so much?

The Dutch have an unhealthy love affair with their bookcases. It's not a very well known fact but then again it's not something that's spoken about very much either.It's sort of like that uncle that's not invited to Christmas dinner anymore. It was something that I noticed when I first got there. My girlfriend and all her friends were students and they all had their tiny little flats and their bookcases. Some of these rooms would be 12-15 square meters and would have a big ass bookcase on the only wall available. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against bookcases, I have two myself , it's just that the Dutch make such a big deal out of theirs. It's almost like the room is there for the bookcase instead of the bookcase for the room. The bookcase is almost always the centerpiece of the room. Alternativly, the Americans make the TV the centerpiece of every room of the house so I guess that's probably worse. The other thing is the bigger the house, the bigger the bookcase. It's almost like, once you get a bit sucessful you go out and get more books but then you need a bigger bookcase but your new bigger bookcase won't fit in your room so you end up needing to move into a bigger place etc. etc. In my time in Holland, I've seen some big ass bookcases my friend. Scary big. Like your glad that they are on the ground floor big. Luckily too, they have no qualms about using some endangered tropical hardwood to make sure their shelves don't collapse. (I'm just kidding about that last one, but the Dutch ARE the 2nd largest importer of tropical hardwood in the world behind Japan. Where's all that wood going?). So to me it was no surprise that I was able to find this website. As a matter of fact, I knew before I started looking on Google that I would find something like it. Actually, there are probably more but I quit looking quite quickly. Too easy. For you non-Dutch speaking readers, the website is dedicated to showing off peoples bookcases. My reasearch has indicated that typically these bookcases will contain some,if not all, of the following books: Donna Taart's The Secret History, David Susskind's Perfume, Umberto Eco's In the Name of the Rose, Salman Rushdie Anything but The Satanic Verses (too cliche) probably Midnight's Children( and probably only half read), Gabriel Garcia Marquez either 100 Years of Lonliness or Love in the Time of Cholera, Khalil Gilbrand's The Prophet, Roald Dahl anything and probably bought at a book market or second hand store, and Connie Palmen's IM (ladies only).There will also be some art books or a book on architecture and then a few leftover university books from whatever chosen profession their bookcase owner has chosen. Remember, this list will be 8 years old as I left Holland in 2001 but I'll stand by it. Just as a sidenote: one of the owners of the meanest bookcases I've ever seen used to read a book 4 or 5 times in a row just to make sure he didn't miss anything. He wasn't thick or anything he was actually probably one of the smartest most respected intellectuals I've ever met, but there is no way I'm reading the same book twice never mind 4 or 5.

Guess who's coming to dinner?

I'm planning down the track to do a list of the top 5 people I'd like to have over to a dinner party but I've been unable to settle on a final list. For now I'm just going to settle on the 1st guest for now. I'd been mulling over a few ideas in my head lately trying to create a good dynamic amongst the guests. Some people got put in and then later taken out and some are in and that's it. Noam Chomsky is in. He is my number 1. I would have normally have had Muhammad Ali here as the 1st because I am a huge fan of Ali but I just can't get myself to put him on the list. Ali would have dominated the night. His personality is just too great and respect for him too universal. I don't care who your other guests are, all eyes are on Ali. Plus, the temptation to serve Jello for the dessert is just too great.

Noam on the other hand, I imagine, would be a quiet,respectful guest and after dinner when the table was cleared would start to tell his story and everyone would be quiet and listen with the respect he deserves. Then again I could be wrong, he might come in , drink all my booze, get all mouthy, insult a few people and challenge me to go outside to see who's got the bigger brain (he'd win).

I think that it is the force of his intellect that is most well known. He is actually a linguist but he is more well known as a critic of US government policy. I first saw him in a documentary about himself and it was his ability to convey his massive intellect into words that I would never be able to that I loved. It's always one of those things to have a discussion with someone and then afterwards to think "shit, I wish I had said that". I don't think Noam ever has one of those moments.

A while after that I came across a YouTube video of a debate (you can see Part I and Part II here) between Noam and William F. Buckley where ,well basically, Chomsky hands Buckley his ass on a platter. It's one of those old-fashioned debates that we don't see any more and I don't mean the smoking in the studio. Remember that Buckley is the more renowned intellectual in this period and this is his show (Firing Line) that Chomsky is invited to. Buckley was a thinking man's Rush Limbaugh, a republican intellectual (there aren't many these days!) but even here these ideals are all to easily exposed by Chomsky and it was(is?) a problem for republicans then and even more so now. What I love the most about it is how the visible smugness gets wiped off of Buckley's face quite quickly and he struggles from there on to recover. I also wonder what Freud would have to say about his use of his pencil, 'cause it ain't for writing. Anyway, Noam is invited. I'll sit down and have a think about the other four and get back to you.

If all of that was a bit too much for your brain, enjoy this mother of all beatdowns by Jamie Foxx on some poor dude at a roast for Emmitt Smith. Ouch!