Grumpy Old Man Pets Giraffe

It has been suggested to me that this blog is starting to sound like an episode of Grumpy Old Men and that when I am actually old I will not want to look back and find that all I can remember is that sandwiches from Subway didn't quite meet my expectations, or that cheese was quite expensive, or that the TV was crap. It is a fair point. So today I am making the effort to write about something nice.

Today we have been to Orana Park, a wildlife park in Christchurch which has African animals like lions, tigers and cheetahs. In other words, it's a proper zoo. We had a good time as well. Toby was super-excited about seeing the giraffes. "Giraffe!" he said when he saw them. "Giraffe". In fact, he said "Giraffe" almost constantly for about ten minutes. The giraffes are probably the highlight of the park; you can feed them and pet them.

They have quite a pride of lions, but as in all zoos they just laze around sunning themselves. Toby can say "roar" but he only did it about 5 times before giving up. It was a teeny bit disappointing: I think they should get a keeper with a cattle prod to go into the enclosure and poke them until they roar for us!

Veggie Disappointment

Whats bugging me today? Subway. Specifically the Subway Veggie Delite. They only give you two pieces of cheese in a six inch role. And each piece of cheese is a processed cheese slice cut in half. That's a single piece of processed cheese in a $4 sandwich. I stood behind a man who ordered a ham sub and they layered that on, about 1 slice per inch - that's 6 times as much filling as us vegetarians get.

Veggie Delite? Veggie Disappointment more like. We deserve better.

Easter Day

I like Easter with the kids. They love easter eggs. It isn't as full on as Christmas which is just a bit too exciting for them.

This year, it was the first time that Toby really knew what was going on. "Egg!" he howled at his easter egg. "Egg!". Then he knawed at it like a dog with a bone. Then he wore it like a glove to walk around the house, whilst shouting "egg". He certainly wasn't going to let go of it.

It was a nice day yesterday so we went to the river up at Whitecliffs, which is like New Zealand 50 years ago, with houses that are made of wood and falling down. It has character. Mostly villages like that are being progressively collonised by yuppies for their second homes, which are enormous, made of bricks and definitely not falling to pieces any time soon. It is a shame.

Northlands Shopping Centre Won't Fool Me.

Here's whats bugging me at the moment. Northlands Shopping Centre in Papanui. After the earthquake they advertised as follows: "All Northlands shops are open and their thoughts are with all Canterbury residents". Do I really care if a shopping centre is thinking about me? And there are over half a million Canterbury residents are they thinking about them all? I don't think so.

Now they are wishing everyone a Happy Easter. They don't really mean that either. They won't fool me!

Happy Memories of Dominic Foley

Part 1 in an occassional series, possibly, in which I reminisce about obscure Watford players who never quite made it. One of the best things about football is watching a new player establish themselves in the team (or not). It cheers you up as you watch your team slide down the league and gives you something to think about during the stifling mediocrity of another mid-table bore draw.

In his four years at Watford, I can only really remember two things about striker Dominic Foley. A vague feeling of disappointment and a single incident where he scored the most amazing goal. It was against a flourescent green-clad Barnsley in August 2000. The match was grinding to a halt. Both teams were suffocating each other and no result looked possible. The man behind me put it well. "They've just come here to grind out a draw like they do every year," he said, then memorably added in disgust: "green wankers."

I think there was a free kick. It was in front of the home fans in the rookery. I think the ball went out from the goal towards the edge of the box. What I do remember is seeing Foley latch onto it and thinking "that's going no-where". But I was wrong. It rocketed past the keeper and curled into the top corner as if struck by David Beckham himself. It was pure shock and awe. We were shocked and awed.

Dom scored 7 times in 41 appearances which isn't great and is why he never really made it with Watford. Apparently though he is now a great success in Belgium. I am pleased for him. I just wish I seen him make it at Vicarage Road instead.

The Great House Swindle

Apparently TV3 didn't swindle us out of half the series of Glee afterall. It seems we were just unable to follow the plot. We might have missed one episode the week before last. Maybe it was a very eventful epdisode. Or maybe we are just too middle aged to work out whats going on, what with all that unexpected singing all over the place being quite distracting.

However, TV3 have definitely swindled us out of the second half of House this year. They just stopped showing it, after having advertised a particularly dramatic episode that was due to be screened last week. We arranged our evening around it, but no, it was cancelled. Apparently its because TV1 are showing Masterchef and they have decided they just can't compete. Instead, there's a series of rubbish films with Adam Sandler in them.

The Great Glee Swindle

Like most of the rest of the world we love watching US school singalong drama Glee. But this week it was very confusing. Music teacher Will went from being just divorced to just seperated from a subsequent girlfriend without us seeing or hearing about the subsequent girlfriend. The short girl with brown hair had completed a year in the celibacy (for god's sake) club which we hadn't heard about before. How could this be? Was it some sort of timewarp?

Or have TV3 only bought half the series and thought no-one would notice that we haven't seen the middle six months? That makes me angry when they do that.

On the other hand, I have heard that the entire 127 episodes of Lost were reduced to 8 in New Zealand and that that was enough to tell all the parts of the story that made sense.

Second Time Around

One of my favourite bands (Terrorvision) from when I was at university (some time ago now) has reformed. This is exciting enough that I almost wish I was back home, but not quite. It is also a sure sign that I getting middle aged, that music I used to like is coming round a second time. Another is when I turn on the radio and all I can hear is meaningless shouting and random beeping noises. Is this what the kids are calling music these days?

New School Girl

A few weeks ago it was Lily's 5th birthday. This means that she is now at school and seems happy. I was a bit worried on the way in on day 2 when she told me it was boring, but she hasn't said that again. So it is probably OK.